Typhon's Revenge

Chapter Twenty-Three

WIND

"Again."

I heard her say and I couldn't help the groan that escaped my lips. She had managed to suck all the air out of me and I couldn't find the strength to get up. My muscles were screaming in pain. 

I looked up and saw that Aileen had turned her back on me and I willed all the strength I had left to get on my feet and charge at her. I tried to move as fast as I could to take her by surprise but it was as if she had been expecting my move because she quickly turned around and dodged my move while pushing me down and making me land on my face on the mat again.

"Kind of a cowardly move if you ask me," Aileen said a bit harshly and I stiffened. I really hoped she wasn't taking all of her anger out on me right now. 

"Good thing I didn't ask you," I mumbled and my eyes widened as I realized I had said the words out loud. 

Aileen didn't respond and I slowly turned around and got to my feet. She had a neutral look on her face as she eyed me closely but she kept her comments to herself. I didn't back down from her stare and the two of us closed the space between un. 

I felt the temperature around us increase as Aileen's eyes glowed, just as a gust of wind flew past us, making my powers present. If she wanted to have this fight now, I wasn't about to back down. She was no one to challenge me like this.

Aileen crossed her arms in front of her chest without taking her eyes off of me. Next thing I knew, Aileen opened her mouth to say, "switch!" 

She broke off our gaze and Andrew replaced her spot as she walked away towards Mason and Alex. They were going to take turns fighting Aileen and I felt my body relax as I thought, she's someone else's problem now.

"Hey, what was that? what's going on?" Andrew whispered through gritted teeth as he tried not to look nervous. 

"So you noticed, huh?" I said as I rubbed my shoulder blades that were starting to feel sore and tired. 

"Everyone did. I think it's kind of obvious when all the air around you starts to feel as if you were outside in a hot summer day and a breeze comes out of nowhere when you're inside," he replied, rolling his eyes.

I sighed and shrugged as I stretched my arm sideways. "I didn't start it. She did. I don't know what happened. This morning she was more relaxed but a couple of minutes ago it felt as though she wanted to kill me. Or maybe not kill me but actually hurt me."

Andrew raised an eyebrow and shook his head in defeat. "You shouldn't play along. Whatever Aileen is feeling... it's complicated. But there's no need for you two to fight it out. Aileen might be hurt and a tad spiteful, but you have to admit that you're prideful. You never back down."

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms in front of my chest. "So you're saying I should just roll over and let her step all over me?"

Andrew shook his head and frowned, "I never said that. I meant that there are other ways to handle your differences. Take the high road."

I sighed and shook my head. I shouldn't be mad at Andrew but I couldn't help it. Aileen had left me all riled up and I wanted to blow off some steam. "Fine, let's just get this over with," I muttered after a couple of seconds as I raised my arms in a defensive position and Andrew followed my lead.

I lost track of how much time had passed but when Aileen cried out 'stop'. I was surprised because it felt as if I had only been practicing with Andrew a couple of minutes. 

"I'll see you later," he said and I nodded my head. 

"Mason, Alex and Kalani. Please step to the mat in the center. We're going to change the dynamic slightly," Aileen called out and we slowly made our way to the center. 

"Here's how things are going to go. The three of you are going to practice what you learned today as you try to push the other players out of the mat. Of course, it won't be tolerated that you use your powers. It has to be something you do on your own. Please try not to hurt your partners, remember that that isn't the point of today's exercise. We're just practicing defense. Are there any questions?" Aileen asked as she looked at the three of us.

Slowly, Alex raised her hand. "Yeah, I have one. The three of us are supposed to 'fight' each other at the same time? There aren't going to be different rounds?"

Aileen nodded her head and smiled, "that's right. The goal is for you to be able to defend yourself from both sides. It's double the work because you have to be able to anticipate the others' moves, but maybe at some point, you will find yourselves in a situation like this and you'll thank us later."

Andrew chuckled but didn't say anything as he told each of us where we were going to start. He made a triangle with our positions and I gulped as I found myself in between Alex and Mason. I didn't know who I should be more worried about. Mason was an Elemental which made him slightly stronger than an average human, not to mention he was a man. But Alex was smaller, she could be faster and given that she was the one who knew Aileen and Andrew the longest, she had more training that Mason and I combined. Truly, I really believed the odds were against me.

"Are you guys ready?" Andrew asked and each of us nodded our heads.

"Alright then," he said before placing a whistle between his lips and blowing into it. "Start."

Neither of us moved as we looked at each other, waiting for someone else to start. My body had already stiffened but I tried to keep my heart from racing and feeling as if it was going to burst out of my chest. Alex and Mason were also assessing the scene. They looked for any sign of weakness in our stance as they weighed on whether they should strike or wait. 

"Oh, I forgot to mention. There's going to be a price for the winner," Aileen said with a smile but neither of us turned to look at her.

"Whoever wins will get out of the morning run tomorrow," Andrew said and I clenched my jaw tightly together. 

It didn't bother me to wake up early nor to do some exercise in the morning. I had been a cheerleader captain for gods' sake. Energy pumped through my blood as if I were a machine. But I did want to get a breather from Aileen and if that meant skipping the morning run then so be it.

Taking a deep breath, I made up my mind and adrenaline started to pump through my veins, fueling me even more. A smirk made its way to my mouth and I quickly charged at Alex with my hands in fighting position. Alex looked a bit taken aback but she quickly composed herself as she dodged my initial attack and stepped aside. 

Mason had also taken my lead but now he was trying to push both Alex and I off.

Swinging a blow in my direction, I felt it pass in slow motion as I ducked and his knuckle unly grazed my hair, making me shiver. 

In a moment, I took my chance and barreled against him, pushing all of my weight onto him as I tried to push him out of the mat. He yelped in surprise and took a couple of steps towards the edge before anchoring himself and stopping his movement. 

That's when Alex took the chance to sweep them floor with her leg as she moved it under our feet, making us trip. I yelped as I placed my hands on the mat to keep from falling and it was as if Alex knew what my reaction would be because she quickly pushed me aside with her whole body and I fell to the side. Out of the mat. 

My eyes widened when I realized what had happened and I stared back at the mat where Mason and Alex were circling each other as they analyzed what the other might be thinking. 

I felt someone's presence behind me and I turned around to see Andrew and Aileen looking down on me. Andrew offered me his hand and I took it as he helped me up from the floor. "Are you okay?" He asked as his eyes bore into mine.

I quickly nodded my head and wiped my hands against each other before turning to Aileen. "I'm fine. I have taken worse falls."

Aileen nodded as she looked at me with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "What was your mistake?" She asked seriously and my mind went blank. 

"Um... I don't... I mean... I guess I hesitated," I whispered unsurely. Truthfully, with all the adrenaline that was still coursing through my body and by the way everything had seemed to be happening in slow motion, the last thing on my mind was to think of what my mistake could have been.

"Yes, partially. But there was one more thing," Aileen said as she eyed me closely and I opened and closed my mouth as I tried to find the words to respond.

"You turned your back on your opponent. For a second you felt confident and that was good, you almost managed to push Mason out of the mats but you forgot about Alex. And she saw your weakness," Andrew explained and Aileen nodded her head in agreement. 

"Yes. You were doing fine but you forgot that you had two opponents. Thus you had to keep one eye on Alex too. Maybe you could have seen her intentions and jumped over her leg. That would have given you an extra impulse to knock Mason out of the mat and dodge Alex's leg," Aileen suggested and I raised an eyebrow at her. 

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," I whispered and she nodded her head before turning her attention back to the mats. 

Following her gaze, I noticed that Mason and Alex had barely moved since I had been pushed off the mat. Their eyes were still looking at each other. 

Suddenly, Mason charged forward and he tried to lower his body enough to place Alex's torso on his shoulder and push her off but Alex managed to break herself free but not without losing her step and tripping out of the mat. She cursed under her breath and tried to get back on but Andrew blew the whistle and she froze.

"Okay, that's enough for today. Mason, you managed to be the last one standing. Alex, you did great, but you were supposed to stay on," Andrew said and Alex turned to him and rolled her eyes.

"And how would you have dodged that attack?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she walked towards him. 

Andrew shrugged and smiled, "honestly, I would have jumped over Mason and spun in the air to land behind him. Then I would have thrown my leg back and kicked him out of the mat. But, you guys are not ready yet. Mason had you cornered with that move."

Alex stiffened but didn't say anything as she nodded her head and rubbed her lower back. 

"Mason, you did good. It wasn't perfect, you still need to learn to cover yourself more. Aileen or I could still be able to defeat you easily. But a deal is a deal and you won. So tomorrow you won't have to go on the run," Andrew said.

Aileen raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Fine, he won't go running tomorrow morning but since the two of you slept in this morning, Alex, Kalani and I deserve a morning off too."

Andrew chuckled and turned to Aileen with a smile. "And what does that mean?"

"It means tomorrow you'll be the only one going for a run. Don't worry, I'll get Noah to go with you so that you know where the trail is and you don't get lost," Aileen said before turning away. I didn't think she realized that Andrew had stiffened and had clenched his hands together tightly as she said that. 

Confusion seeped through me as I walked towards him with a questioning look. "You don't like Noah much, do you?" I asked and he jumped at the sound of my voice. 

He turned to me and slightly shook his head. "How could you tell?"

I shrugged and chuckled. "You stiffened and your eyes seemed to darken when Aileen mentioned him. Why don't you like him? He's a sweet guy," I said in surprise and Andrew sighed and shook his head.

"I wish everyone would stop saying that. But to answer your question, I don't know. There's something about him that... it just doesn't feel right. I have a feeling he's not who he says he is," he said with a slight groan and I raised an eyebrow at him as I analyzed him. He was dead serious.

I sighed and shook my head. "I haven't felt anything off about him, but I'll keep my eyes open in case I see anything, 'kay?"

He nodded his head as the others started to make their way towards the exit. 

"Come on guys, let's take a shower and meet in the dining room for dinner. I'm starving," Alex called from the front and I chuckled and shook my head as I trailed off after them. Andrew stayed behind and I decided it was best to give him some space. Whatever he was thinking, I doubted he wanted to share.