School Battle

Talon materialized his own weapons and put a slit up both sides of her skirt.

“It is a little high, don’t you think?” Wren complained. ~Damn it, I liked this skirt too.~

Talon looked at his handiwork. The slit went almost to her hips but did not reveal anything.

“I cannot see anything.”

“I would be indecent if they were any higher,” she commented dryly.

“I like it,” Talon gave her a saucy grin.

“Would you two stop your foreplay and focus. We have work to do,” Emerald scolded them.

Talon looked back at her and sighed.

“So true.” He turned to Wren. “Shall we?”

Wren nodded and put her foot on the sill.

“After you,” Talon commented.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Wren jumped out the second-story window.

The rest of the room gasped as the other three followed her. They rushed to the windows to see what was going on.

“Evan…if you would.”

“Of course.” Evan immediately put a barrier around them, keeping the school behind the barrier.

Wren landed on the head of a Being and crushed its skull as she and Talon immediately started to make a path to the large ones in the back.

“Emerald, you and Evan keep the little ones out of the school. Wren and I will take out the leaders,” Talon said.

Emerald nodded. “Let’s go, Evan.”

Evan nodded, and they were off.

Talon and Wren jumped up and ran along the heads of the Beings, cutting off arms and heads as they went.

In perfect sync, they ran up the right arm of two of the larger Beings, slicing their blades through the arm as they went, taking it off at the shoulder.

They then leapt up and over the top of the head, stopping directly above the head and drilling down, pushing their blades deep into the skull of the Beings.

Wren shot a bolt of electricity, and Talon shot a bolt of fire into the Beings before pushing off and falling down the other side.

***

“They are good,” the English teacher commented.

Though they could not see the Beings, they could watch the people below them as they fought.

Evan had only put up a barrier, not a force field. They had seen a few small skirmishes to realize that even if they could not see the Beings, the blood and gore were real, along with the abilities of Talon.

This was not the first time the school had been threatened.

“Very good,” the physical education teacher agreed. “I think there is more there than meets the eye.”

“Mr. Evan and Miss Emerald are doing a nice job as well,” another teacher said. “Did you know they were fighters as well?”

Everyone shook their heads.

It had not been told to them that they had students who fought as well.

They had only known of Talon until now.

It must be a pretty big fight if they had called on Emerald and Evan.

They looked to where Evan was shooting shards of rock through a couple of the Beings that were closing in on Emerald and then took the head off of two more.

At least that is what they would have seen if they could see them.

***

Evan turned, ducking down, shooting another shard up and through the head of another Level I Being.

They were easy kills, but they threatened to overrun Emerald and him.

“You good?” he asked.

“Of course.” Emerald shot a sound arrow at a row of Beings, taking down three of them before the sound dissipated in the wind.

She turned, shooting several arrows in quick succession at several Beings moving in on Evan’s back before unsheathing the short broadsword at her side and slicing another Being from groin to head.

She hated using the damn thing, but there were too many and her arrows were a hindrance in close-quarters combat.

***

“I did not know they were part of the team.”

The principal looked at the group of teachers.

Every teacher and student who chose to come to this school was informed about the risk of the Beings attacking due to the proximity of the training compound, but the school board had done their best to keep the identities of those who fought a secret.

“We were hoping they could at least have a normal school life. Guess that is about to change.”

***

Talon took down the last Level II Being.

Only the Level IIIs and a couple of dozen Level Is were left.

Wren stood next to him, covered in black ooze and small cuts.

“You got a nasty one on your forearm,” he commented.

“Not as bad as the one you have on your shoulder,” she replied.

Talon pulled her up to him and briefly touched his eyes to the crown of her head. Both immediately felt the connection between them strengthen and revitalize them.

“Better?”

“Much.” Wren turned back to the Level IIIs. “Ready for this?”

“I missed lunch for this,” Talon grumbled as they moved in.

“…Kill…”

“Yeah, I have heard that before,” Talon commented as the Being shot a flame of fire at him.

Talon took the flame in his hand, wincing as it began to burn his flesh.

~Poison?~ Talon threw it back at the Being, scorching its left shoulder.

The Being hissed. “Die Creature.”

“Human,” Talon corrected him as he dodged the next fireball, using it to camouflage his moves as he moved in closer.

“Human?” The Being paused, cocking its misshapen head. “Zentith…Kill…Human.”

Talon attached two blades together, merging them into a sharp, round disc.

He flung the disc, slicing off the Being’s head. The disc spun back to him.

He split the weapon into two once more as the Being—no, Zentith—fell before him.

~Interesting. They are evolving to counter our abilities even more.~

***

Talon and Wren made their way to Evan and Emerald, finishing off the last of the Level Is.

“Good fight,” Evan commented.

“Not bad. It was fun.” Talon looked over at Wren.

She, along with the others, was covered with dirt, gore, and cuts.

Wren stepped up to the two kids.

“Allow me.” She placed a hand on their shoulders and healed the minor cuts they had accumulated during the fight.

Talon reached over and wiped some blood from Wren’s cheek, uncovering a nasty cut.

“My turn,” he told her as he quickly healed her and then himself.

“Thank you.” The principal approached as they were finishing.

“No big deal. That is what we do,” Talon turned toward him.

“Why don’t you all get cleaned up. I am afraid your cover is blown, though,” he told Evan, Emerald, and Wren.

“It is all right,” Evan commented. “It will be easier this way. When we have to leave, it will not be as hard as lying to everyone. They will know what is going on.”

“Still…”

“Let it go,” Talon interrupted him. “We need to get cleaned up.”

Wren stayed behind as the others headed for their car. Talon turned back once he realized she was not following them.

“What is wrong?”

“I do not have my change of clothes. You insisted on driving me again.”

“I have got it covered,” Talon grinned, pulling out two bags from the trunk of his car. “I did not think I would ever see you wear it, but here you go.”

Wren took the bag and went to open it.

“Oh no. You may not open it until after you shower.” He took the bag from her hands, not trusting her. “Come on.”

***

Wren stepped out of the shower and peered into the bag before letting out a long sigh. ~I am going to kill that man with my bare hands. Anything else would be too good for him.~

She stepped out of the locker room a few moments later, completely self-conscious.

Talon let out a low whistle. “I knew it would look good, but I had no idea it would look that good.”

Wren turned to see that he was in a matching tunic to the one he had worn that morning, and now Wren was in a matching tunic of red and black with a dragon draped over her shoulder. It was form-fitting, with slits up both sides, and it accented her trim waist and large bust.

“How is this any better than what I was wearing?” she asked.

“It is clean and looks really, really good on you with your hair down,” Emerald commented, walking around her, checking her out from top to bottom.

“When did you get here?” Wren asked. “You are supposed to be in the students’ locker room.”

“I was not missing this for anything.” Emerald turned and motioned for Evan to come around the corner. “Wren is hot.”

Evan was blushing as he appeared around the corner. “You…look good,” he mumbled.

“Do not fall for her, young man. She is mine,” Talon commented with a smile, patting Evan’s shoulder. “You guys did good. Now let’s get everyone to class.”

The two nodded and fell behind Wren and Talon as Wren shook her head and headed down the hallway toward the classrooms. Talon fell into step beside her.

“Do not talk to me. I am thinking of the best way to kill you right now.”

Talon grinned. “I did not think you would ever have the occasion to wear it, but they are right. It looks really good on you.”

“Shut up,” Wren growled, taking a page from Talon’s book.

Emerald and Evan grinned at each other behind them as they walked. They dropped Evan and Emerald off at their class and continued on their way.

Once they were alone, Talon pulled Wren around the corner as they entered the second floor of her building. He pushed her up against the wall.

He buried his head into her shoulder and neck, nibbling as he traveled up and claimed her earlobe in his mouth.