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In a field at the back of the Academy, Master Achebe's gaze sweeps over the kids as they struggle to complete the long and painful obstacle course he's designed for them.

"Do you realize," he says as he marches back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back like an Army general, "that if a Demon ever catches you, before it rips your heart out, it will torment you, it will torture you, and it will try to usurp your powers?"

He leans over Jake, Patrick, and Ava who are scrambling on their bellies through the dirt beneath a cargo net stretched wide and adorned with thorny vines and tangled branches. "Did you? Did you realize that?" He tosses out the question only to be met with beleaguered grunts and sighs.

"And by 'usurp your powers,'" Master Achebe raises his voice so everyone can hear him. "They will suck your powers from your very soul!" he barks out. He's well aware that he's laying it on thick, but he's doing it for a very specific reason. He knows that fear is an excellent motivator; fear will drive them to train as hard as they can.

Jake, who is the first of the kids to make it through the course, jumps up onto his feet like an army recruit.

"So, what does that make them, Jake!"

"A grave danger to both myself and my people!" he shouts back as if he were the model soldier preparing for battle, which of course, is essentially what he is.

"Exactly!" Master Achebe proclaims as he claps Jake on the shoulder, then he wanders over to the finish line and waits for the other students to make their way through. "Remember," Master Achebe continues, "there is no shame in running; retreat is always an option. Evasive tactics will be critical to your mission because you won't always be able to stand and fight."

Cameron, Inez, and Aidan--surprisingly--are the next ones to finish the course, and the pain they're suffering for the privilege is evident. Cameron's face scrunches up as he chugs back an entire water bottle in one, long gulp. Inez walks in tiny circles, her arms wrapped so tightly around her midriff, she looks like she's performing a ritual to keep from vomiting. And Aidan is lying flat on his back on the grass, his arms and legs spread wide. His eyes are shut so tight it's painful, and his fingers are clenched into the dirt, like talons, as if he's trying to hold on to both the earth and his consciousness at the same time.

A few minutes later, Fiona, Farid, and Sebastian straggle up to the finish line. All three are a total wreck. Fiona and Sebastian drop to the ground and sit with their knees up, leaning against each other, back-to-back, the only thing propping the other one up, while Farid is hunched over, holding his stomach and wheezing--completely out of breath.

The Vampyr kids aren't proud of coming in last and seem just as surprised by their poor performance as Master Achebe is.

Master Achebe leans in and gently lays a hand on Farid's back, "You okay, son?" he inquires. Farid straightens, his hand resting on his throbbing chest. He draws in a long, painful breath, then tries to speak. He starts to say "I'm fine" but instead coughs violently into his fist. He catches his breath and tries to speak again, but can't get the words out, so eventually he just looks over at Master Achebe and nods.

Master Achebe takes a long look at all three Vampyr kids, and he's concerned. "Hmm..." he says. "I'd always heard that Vampyrs were legendary for their strength and stamina." Master Achebe's eyebrow arches. "But it looks like we'll have to take a few extra measures to get you three into shape."

Sebastian, Fiona, and Farid look at each other, sheepishly, as Master Achebe shakes his head and leaves the field.

"Well, that was encouraging," Sebastian deadpans.

After a beat, Farid grabs a clean towel from his gym bag and, wiping his face, says, "He's right, you know. Our Vampyric training never prepared us for this kind of battle. Our methods rely far too heavily on our weapons. And we were never pushed to be so physically fit and certainly never learned how to fight, mano-a-mano, like the Shifter kids do."

"But seriously, Farid," Sebastian retorts. "Would you really want to learn how to fight by rolling around in the dirt, clawing each other like animals?"

"Sebastian!" Fiona cries out. "It's much more than that and you know it!" she chides. "And Farid is right. We have to do much better. We can't let these other kids carry all the weight of the mission."

Sebastian rolls his eyes. "Whatever," he drawls. "All I know is that I have no intention of getting up so close to a demon that I have to fight mano-a-mano, so I think I'm good. Plus, all of this training is more for politics than protection. I think we all know demons don't really exist."

Fiona gives Sebastian the side-eye as she and Farid gather their things together and start to head back to the dorm. But Sebastian waves them on so he can finish off his water bottle filled with synthetic blood.

As he's drinking, his gaze is drawn to a rustling in the hedges that surround the Academy field.

Curious, he walks over to investigate.

Sebastian tries to get a better view, but there is a knot of branches in his way. He bends over and shoves his arm into a small clearing in the middle of a giant hedge and tries to push back the branches so he can get a good look inside.

Feeling around the space, aimlessly, his fingers suddenly brush against something that feels a bit off, a bit out of place, but he can't quite figure out what it is.

It's not a leaf, which was his first thought. And it's not a bird's nest filled with featherless chicks, which was a reasonable guess. No, that's not it. That's not right. To him, it feels like...

...skin?

Sebastian snatches his hand back, and the creature or entity moves farther into the middle of the hedge where it's too dark to see. Sebastian's eyes narrow quizzically, and he can just make out a blur of movement. And the weird thing is, he can tell by the shape of whatever it is, that it's almost as tall as him.

The creature, or entity, starts to slowly move towards him again, and Sebastian's first instinct is to panic because, seriously, who knows what lurks inside these hedges? It could be anything! As a child, his governess used to tell him stories of gnomes, and wood nymphs, and vengeful pixies that made their home on the outskirts of the forest, especially the one surrounding the Enchanted capital where he was now. Maybe some of these fairy tales are actually true?

Okay, this is ridiculous! He scoffs at himself. Part of his training is to learn how to be brave and face the unknown. And the last thing he wants to do is to act like a coward when he's supposed to be toughening up to become a soldier, of sorts.

So, instead of pulling his arm completely out of the bushes, Sebastian reaches in further. He's determined to get past these pesky branches to see what the hell it was he'd touched earlier.

Feeling around in the bushes again, his lips begin to purse. Okay... Okay... He holds his breath and reaches in further. Now this is really odd.

His fingers dance across something even more unsettling than before. What is that? It almost feels like... could it possibly be... scales? Yep! That's it! That's what he's touching, scales.

Wait, what?!

Scales? Skin AND scales! 

Crap!

Sebastian rips his hand out of the bushes and slaps his hip with his other hand, reaching for his sword. Then, he realizes, of course, he doesn't have it with him.

Damn it!

Sebastian straightens, takes a few steps back, and scratches his head. You know what? It probably doesn't even matter because he can't see anything in the bushes now, so he must have been imagining the worst. His mind immediately went to demons, which was silly because despite having sent Sebastian to this highly questionable school for some grand mission, his father didn't believe in demons, and neither did he.

So what is it?

Sebastian is about to push the branches apart to try and crawl inside and get a better view when he hears Farid calling out his name from the other side of the field. He takes a moment and considers whether or not he should stay and continue this investigation because who knows? He might have discovered an unclassified animal or a supernatural creature. If he could find a way to capture the being, whatever it was, and bring it in to show the Masters, he just might win a few brownie points, which would give him a significant edge over the other kids.

Farid calls out again, this time with a bit of urgency, and Sebastian hesitates for a moment. On the one hand, he really wants to figure out what this thing is. But on the other hand, he's alone, he's unarmed--and when he's totally honest with himself--he's out of shape and his fighting skills could use some work.

Yeah... going after this thing right now is probably not the best idea. When he hears Farid calling out his name for the third time, he decides maybe he's not so curious after all, so he turns and runs across the field to catch up to the rest of the gang.

Moments after Sebastian leaves, a low growl emanates from the bushes, right at the spot where Sebastian had stuck his arm in .

The bushes rustle more violently this time, until there's a loud zap, like a wayward electric wire, and then an angry, responsive hiss. 

In retreat, the entity that Sebastian discovered crouches low to the ground, slips underneath the branches at the bottom of the hedges, and darts out from the bushes, headed back into the heart of the forest where it lives.

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A/N - Well! I guess Sebastian called that one wrong, huh? I love how his arrogance gets in the way of his reason. Hmm... I wonder if this will become a pattern? 😏

Until next week!

~ Paula ❤️