Cyclone

David met up with me again. The scar that sliced through his stomach still made me cringe every time I saw it. It was my fault that scar was there, and it would never disappear. Like always, David seemed to read my mind.
    “It’s not really your fault. It just proved to me that I needed to train more. Sorry to say but there are more experienced, and stronger Dianima out there, and if I can’t even beat you, then I’m screwed.”
    “I’m the one that nearly killed you. Of course it’s my fault. But yeah, it is your fault because you got beat by a girl.” I stifled a laugh. He rolled his eyes.
    “You ready for round two?”
    “What?” I nearly coughed a laugh
    “I’ve been practicing. One of your friends agreed to fight with me. Kind of scared me because she agreed so fast. But anyways, she taught me a couple of things that I missed last time. Come on, fight me,” he said, a bemused and challenging look on his face. I couldn’t help but agree as well.
    “Oh, and this . . . is for you.”
He pulled out a sword that looked much like his own that resembled a samurais. It was a silver blade so shiny it hurt my eyes when the sun reflected off of it. The handle was gold crisscrossed in black leather for a steady grip. Looking closer, I saw intricate detail embedded along the edge of the blade. The lines resembled fire streaking along side my new weapon. David had to call me out of my trance.
    “Do you like it?”
    “It’s amazing. Where’d you get it?”
    “I made it. It took a good chunk of time I might add.”
    “I love it.”
    “You have to name it you know.”
    “Excuse me?”
He rolled his eyes and folded his arms like I was missing something obvious.
    “If you don’t name it it’s bad luck in a fight. Sort of like a boat with no name.”
I didn’t have to think much.
    “Combattente.”
    “Com-bat-ten-te?”
    “Yeah. It means fighter.”
He nodded, thinking.
    “I don’t know how you came up with that, but I like it. Okay, so let’s give Combattente her first test run shall we?”
    “I hope your weak little thing isn’t scared.” I could already feel her warmed up and ready to fight. “Your in for a fight.”
    This time I knew we were alone. As the wind churned around us, I couldn’t hear or smell anyone hiding in the trees. I got a good grip on the handle with both hands as David said,
    “Ready?”
    “Ready,” I repeated confidently.
    “Go.”
    He barley whispered the word before he raced at me with amazing speed. I blocked his first hit easily and threw him back. He slid for a few feet before regaining the traction on his feet. Again, he charged me. Raising the blade again, I saw as the thin, carved lines on the edge of my sword glowed a deep orangey red, giving it a greater look of fire.
    When that happened, Combattente took on a mind of her own. I no longer had to think of what to do or when to do it. Everything flowed together into more of a dance than a fight. The longer we fought, the brighter the fire colored blade became. Eventually, the entire blade was engulfed in the bright red, and quickly burst into flame. Both David and me staggered a little as we watched the blade, waiting for it to melt away. Instead, it kept it’s fire feature and told me to once again fight. With a deep sense of victory coming, I complied and once again threw myself into battle. With each passing second the sword become more of me than an inanimate object. After only a few minutes, Combattente’s fire went from deep orange to an electric blue, end then to white. The fight ended when under such heat, David’s sword was melted away, piece by peace.
    “I give!” He yelled, dodging one last swing.
Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on taking back the power and energy I had put forth into Combattente; it disappeared obediently. 
    “How did you do that?” He asked in awe.
    “I don’t know. It just kind of . . . happened.”
    “I’ve never been able to do that.” I scoffed. “What?”
    “Because you’re basically human. Of course you’ve never been able to do that,” I forced a laugh.
    “Basically?”
    “No normal human could be that fast or that strong. Say you were just ‘some human’, I shouldn’t have any problem whatsoever when I fight you; but I do. I have to think constantly and guess your movements, and I’m rushed to block the blows. It’d be boring if I was just fighting ‘some human’.”
    “So I’m abnormal? But I’ve never been changed into anything.”
    “I don’t know. Ask someone who actually knows about all this stuff. I’m still pretty new at this whole ‘I’m super strong, super fast, etcetera,’ thing.” I smiled, and he smiled back. There was a short silence. “Well this is an awkward silence.” We both laughed at that
for just a moment before David rolled his eyes. “What?”
    “Rain," he said bluntly.
    I didn’t get a chance to ask what he meant before I felt a tiny droplet streak along my cheek, and then another hit my arm. After that, it was a torrential downpour. We ran for cover. I laughed when he slipped on the mud, almost face planting into the ground. He ran in the trees for a while after that.
    Once we finally reached home, the both of us looked like drowned cats, but we laughed. His dark hair was just long enough to cover his eyes, and once again, I laughed. Pushing all of it back, he made a comment on how my own hair looked soaking wet. Feeling a little cocky, I warmed myself up; a little warmer than needed. My hair lit on fire, and David flinched back. When I pulled the fire away, I was perfectly dry. His face scrunched up at how “unfair” it was, and I smiled mockingly, asking if he wanted it to be “fair.” He quickly refused.
    Loud cracks of lightning and rolls of thunder sang around us for the rest of the night. Brink was quiet — she hated storms. Taking her normal roost for the night, she combusted one last time before the moon rose in its highest point in the sky. A few of her ashes fell
around me before I heard a gentle cooing from above.
    “Goodnight Brink.”
    And then it was quiet. I crossed my legs Indian style in the soft grass and touched each of my fingertips together in a form of meditation. As I breathed in and out, I could feel the air around me get warmer. The air began to lift and twist around me. I pulled my hands slowly apart and cupped the flames that rolled in each hand.
    The flame that warms our skin . . . The fire that burns in our souls . . . The inferno that rages on out of control . . . I heard old voices speak. The fire in my hands started to twist around me with the wind, crisscrossing with each other to form a protective shield around me. I felt the soft flames caress my skin like a silk ribbon yet they would leave no mark or burn. They whispered to my softly, then began to sing in a language I couldn’t understand. I smiled, knowing what they wanted me to do. They knew that a human, so vulnerable, was so close. His warm sweet blood rushing through his veins that could be pierced so easily. It wouldn’t be slow; I’d make it quick and painless . . .
    A loud crack of thunder shook the earth beneath me brought me out of my trance, snapping the fire away and destroying the wind.
    “That was amazing.” I heard a voice say.
I hissed, turning around into a protective crouch to see David not too far away from me. He cringed back at my movement, and his eyes got wide with a moment of fright.
    “What are you doing?” he asked, no longer scared.
    “Get out of here!”
    “What — I — What did I do?”
    “Go somewhere where I can’t smell you’re blood. Please just listen to me. This is hard enough as it is, now get out!”
    He ran from the room, knowing I was telling the truth. He would head straight to the river room. It made sense. I dug my clawed hands into the ground to keep from running after him. After a few minutes, my urge died, and I took a deep breath before I stepped out into the rain. It helped me think — it was freezing. With a quick shudder I ran back inside and heated myself up.
    “Whoa that was cold!” I heard a small snicker and added, “Shut up Brink!” I didn’t have to look at her to see her eyes roll and refold her wings before she laid her head down.
    I needed to go find David now. I probably scared him half to death. With my senses under control, I sniffed the air once, and sprinted
silently to where the streams were that ran through one of the caverns.
    “Knock, knock?” I said, hesitant to enter. David quickly withdrew his sword from his side and tightened his grip. I held up both my
hands and a gesture of surrender. “I’m okay now, it was just . . . It’s complicated. But I swear I’m in control now.”
    “Prove it.”
    “How do you expect me to prove it?”
He thought for a moment.
    “Kiss me.”
    “What?” my voice cracked
    “If you kiss me, I’ll know you’re in control because you’ll be able to stand the smell of my blood easily.”
    “But —”
    “You said you could.” He took a step toward me, gauging my reaction. “I trust you.”
I didn’t move. He took more fluid steps now, and reached me much sooner than I wanted him to. When he was only a few inches from me, he caressed my face with his hand until he reached the back of my head. Gently, he leaned down and kissed me.
    I’m not one hundred percent sure on what happened — I blanked out — but I remember him yelling in pain once, and backing away
with his hand cupped around his neck. Seeping out from his fingers, his warm, seductive blood flowed down his neck. He closed his eyes and shook his head. I could almost hear what he was thinking. I’ve tried and tried. I just can’t take it anymore. I’m sorry Mandy, but I’m leaving and not coming back.
    He turned and sprinted into the darkness without saying a word.