I wake out of my sleep after witnessing a minor yet quick dream about fighting Melonians in aggressive fists to cuffs. My heart is pounding so hard that the vessels in my eyes make my vision jitter. I’m not frightened by what I saw, but my high adrenaline is mildly freaking me out. Somehow I manage to avoid waking up Vodkis. She seems to be dreaming about something causing her to talk in her sleep and shift around under the covers. I gently put my hand on top of her forehead, hoping it’ll calm her moments. It stops her from speaking and moving all over the place. All of a sudden, she gasps as if she sees something frightening.
“Oh, gosh. I didn’t mean to wake you,” I say in a quiet voice. “Go back to sleep.”
“In a sec. You took me out of a crazy nightmarish dream.” She scoots closer to my body with one hand caressing my abdomen.
“Tell me about it.”
“I was, uh,” she pauses, laughing a bit. “I was flying.”
“Flying?”
“Mhm.”
“What made it nightmarish?” Her hand momentarily stops rubbing me.
“I was fighting Melonians. They tried their best to take me out, but I was too strong for them. I was kicking ass like you and the boys.” Her dream surprises me. She is not known to me as a fighter of any of the sorts. Maybe a verbal one, but no physical contact.
“That’s not like you.”
“Right? The way I was punching and kicking them, I’m shocked none of my bones broke.” She nudges her hand on my chest when she scoots her face near it. I move my right arm away to allow her head to rest on my chest, but I decide to put her on top of me to cuddle. This type of hold where I become the pillow is my favorite kind of snuggle. Her soft purple nightgown tickles me by how gentle the fabric is. “So, did you have any dreams that were crazy like mine?”
“I did. That’s why I’m up.”
“Oh. I hope you haven’t been up for too long.”
“Just a few minutes before you did.”
“That’s good,” she says, adjusting her face on my chest. “Were they bad?” I look back on the details of what went down to check if it’s more serious than what I originally thought.
“Same thing you had, but I was on the ground.”
“Do you think we had a vision?
“I’m not sure,” I say, yawning. “I wouldn’t think too much about it. We have Purah’s training to get ready for in a few hours.”
“I’m a bit nervous about that. What if I suck?”
“Suck at what?”
“Ya’know...” She clicks the inside of her mouth when she softly punches my chin. “I’m frail.”
“Far from it.”
“Don’t lie to make me feel good, Zazy. I’m a weakling, thin, unable to fly or conjure those firery balls like you can. I don’t know why Purah is making me do this.”
“So you can have a fighting chance,” I say after giving her a kiss on her forehead. “We’re nowhere capable of taking on an entire nation.” I close my eyes to head back to sleep. After a few seconds of not feeling Vodkis rest on my chest, I open my eyes to find her examining her nails. “Vodkis?”
“Yeah... I’m coming.” Once she rolls off of me, she lays into the curvature of my body when I lay on my side. Her butt sits in my lap. I lock my arm down over her lap to keep her from moving out of this arousing position. She lets out a long quiet sigh, then redirects my arm to rest over her chest.
“You okay?”
“I’m a little bit anxious about the training.” A lewdful idea comes to mind, but I’m unsure if she wants to do it with people a few feet from us. We’re in a tent, plus we have sensitive ears. I decide to kiss different areas around the nave of her thin neck. She starts purring after the fifth kiss. “If you keep kissing me like that, you’re gonna regret it, you big dummy.”
“I doubt it.” I continue to smooch her neck, and she continues to purr. She turns around, putting her finger on my lips. It slowly moves away to be replaced by her lips. She stops abruptly to snuggle her face into my chest. Her purring is at its loudest at this point. I start to purr a bit when I try to continue kissing her.
“Zazy, that’s enough,” she says in between our kisses. I can tell she wants more by how close her lips are and the constant purring. “We need to sleep.”
“If that’s what you want.” Her upper lip touches mine. She steadies her breathing as the air from her nose gently blows against my face. The loud purring is starting to get quieter. “Fun’s over?”
“It is, but we’ll come back to it.”
“We’ll go somewhere far.”
“So no one can hear us.”
She lays halfway on top of me, putting my right leg between hers. We fall asleep in peace without any interruptions until Purah’s distant yelling for everyone to get up wakes us.
----------------------------------------
“Okay, guys! Follow what I do!” Purah says. Eighty Spargarians, including Vodkis and I, watch Purah in silence. “These series of motions will hone in you’re power from within.” She flexes, waves, rotates, and punches in slow motion. Her tight clothing with an exposed stomach is throwing me off. I have never seen a woman wear such conforming garments. They don’t seem Spargarian fashioned, nor do they fit the attire of any Melonian I’ve seen.
“Alrighty! That’s the first display,” Purah says, sitting on the ground. “Anyone wanna try it?” She looks around in circles. No one dares to try. “Come on, guys. It’s not hard.” We all remain silent. “Umpkin?”
“No, I’m good,” Umpkin says.
“Chini?” Chini shakes her head, no. “Zazarel.” Purah points at me with both of her hands.
“No,” I quickly reply.
“Sorry, kid. Get your butt over here, or I’m gonna drag you by your beautiful ebony mane.” Some men around me chuckle. Even Vodkis is laughing.
“Fine, but I wasn’t paying attention.”
“That’s fine. I don’t expect anyone to understand nor pay mind.“I float out of the spot I’m in and stand next to Purah. She floats up to stand on her feet. “Okay, Zazarel. Follow what I do.” She gets in a stance as if she’s getting ready to fight me. Her right leg is behind her. The right palm lays out flat to the sky, under her breasts. On the other hand, she shows me her palm. “Come on.”
“Like this?” I copy what she’s doing, then she suddenly punches the air with her right hand. A gust of air blows forward from her fist. It slams into a guy, knocking him over and three others.
“Ooopsie. I seriously need to find my minimum output. Are you guys okay?” They tell her they’re fine with grunts and head nods. “Zazarel.”
“Yes?”
“Try it.” I look at my hand, then look forward. The people in front of me lean down or move out of the way. “Um, okay.” I punch the air as hard as I can. No air forces out my hand like hers.
“Good. Now do this.” She alternates with the other hand but doesn’t punch as fast. “Don’t copy my speed. Punch with all your power, kay?” That’s exactly what I do. This time, a small breeze of wind flies out.
“Whoa!”
“Aw, nice! You’re pretty strong, Zazarel.”
“Well, I lifted heavy stones for years, but... How did I do that?”
“Our verve is very unique. We can manipulate it to do wonderful things.”
“Interesting,” I whisper, looking at my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, something dimly glows white. In Purah’s hands, she holds a flaming ball of white fire. It radiates warmth and energy. “What is that?”
“This is verve manifested. It’s called verum.” People around us awe in amazement. “We all have different colors, and sometimes it can change depending on what we conjure it to do.” She smothers it under her hands.
“So that’s what the stuff that comes out of me, huh?”
“Do... do you think I can bring it out?” Vodkis says, standing up from the crowd.
“Yes,” Purah says.
“Do I need to be as strong as him? I’m no fighter and I barely got any fat or muscle on me. Is there a chance?”
“Yes, Vodkis,” she says, giving Vodkis a firm point. “Spargarians naturally obtain strength when we reach our teens according to my notes.” She adds on saying, “The Melonians knew that and made sure our strength wouldn’t rise to a certain level.”
“Looking at what I went through, the Melonians watched me and the others in my field with immense awareness,” I say.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
“Do what I do, and I guarantee you’ll see results.” Her words bring a smile to Vodkis’s face and some people sitting around her. “It’ll take some time. We all have different ways of learning, and I got all the time in the world till everyone is ready.”
“Whatever it takes to achieve freedom,” Vodkis says. Her statement makes me smile.
“For freedom,” a woman shouts from a distance. Everyone echos her words out of sync to the point I can’t differentiate their words. Purah puts her hands up to silence everyone’s voices. As they die out, she goes back into her strange stance.
“Okay, Zazarel. Let’s practice some more,” Purah says.
“I’m ready,” I say.
For a month, Purah teaches everyone the basics of what she calls dynamism. This term is new to me and everyone I question. She tells me that it is one of many self-defense types but is considered the basic form for survival against attackers. Since our people are relearning about one of the biggest parts of our culture, she thinks dynamism is a good start before getting into the more complicated practices of it.
For the flightless Spargarians, Purah teaches them how to use their verve to at least levitate. Half of the people struggle, including Vodkis. She has the fighting lockdown and understands using verum, but the flight is still a problem. Her flight only lasts seconds before she comes down. It’s a bigger improvement from what I saw when we were on the run. For a week, early in the morning, she practices her dynamism before attempting to fly. Each day she comes back to me defeated by her failed attempts. I have to give her consistent encouragement to keep her trying. It’s heartbreaking to see her sad when she tries to achieve her impossible task, but the task must be done so she can be ready for the raid.
When we are not training, we learn about the history of our people through thick books Purah recorded through the years. All the years of hearing my people used to be kings, queens, princes, farmers, traders with local planetary neighbors, inventors, doctors, etc, make my blood boil to see us fall from grace.
The second week after dealing with Vodkis’s flying attempts, I sit on a small hill she jumps off to make herself fly. On the third attempt, she slips on the ground, landing on her butt. She rolls on her stomach and lays there motionless.
“Vodkis?” I say, hovering over to her. “Are you okay, my love?”
“I’m okay,” Vodkis says, rolling on her back. “I’m gonna try again.” When she sits up, I place my hand on her shoulder, so she won’t go anywhere.
“Take a break.”
“Zazarel. I need to fly. It’s the only thing left I need to pull off.” She rolls her shoulder to slip my hand off it, then leaps back over to the hill. “I gotta keep trying before we’re sent off. I can’t be of use if I can’t fly.”
“Vodkis, wait a sec. Don’t overexert yourself.”
“This needs to happen now. I don’t wanna be a liability to everyone.” In one massive lunge into the sky, she flattens the small hill she jumps off of. I chase after her just in case her flight doesn’t activate.
“Okay, now! Try to hover!” Her speed slows down when she puts her hands forward.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I place my hand under her stomach so I can quickly catch her in case she drops. “Don’t slow me down.”
“I’m not. I’m just cruising with you.” We start to come to a stop. I start to ease my hand away from where my palm is not touching.
“Oh, my goodness! Am I doing it?”
“It looks like it.” She laughs with cheer while clapping her hands. I almost join her in cheering until she dips a bit in the air. We immediately grab on to each other. Her weight sinks down on me, but I firmly hold her. “I got you.”
“Damnit,” she whimpers softly.
“Don’t be sad. You’ll get there. You’re making amazing progress.” She doesn’t say anything about my encouragement. “Vodkis, say something.”
“I guess I’ll take that break now,” she says in a weeping way.
“Don’t cry,” I whisper, descending to the ground. “Be patient. You’ll get what you want. Just be patient.” When I land at the flat part of the hill she created, someone blows a horn in the center of the encampment.
“Are we being attacked?”
“I hope not. Hop on my back.”
“Okay.” We zoom over to the source of who’s blowing the horn. There’s a small gathering beginning to circle around Purah. Umpkin blows the horn again before slinging it around his back.
“Purah, what’s going on?”
“I have big news!” Purah says, floating up to me. “I’ve heard reports that King Melon is losing control of his work force that are scattered around our world.”
“Is that good?” Vodkis says.
“Of course it is. Why question that?”
“Because I’m worried the King will take them out as he did with ours.”
“That’s an important concern,” I say, glancing over my shoulder to see Vodkis. “We need to bring them here, Purah. It’s safer here than where they are.” Some people below agree by their side chatter and head nods.
“I can’t do that.”
“What?”
“I mean, I can’t harbor all of them here. The rocks you see floating around us have a range limit from what I read.”
“Well, we can’t just wait and see what’ll happen. We should do something,” Vodkis says. Purah presses her index knuckle on her lips as she contemplates what to do. “There’s no need to think.”
“Yes, there is. I have to consider the safety of everyone here, Vodkis. The more I expose myself, the higher the chances of us being found.” As much as I dislike her reasons, I have to agree with the concern. We’ve been here a month, and it has been peaceful. I don’t have to worry about anything here.
“She’s right,” I say.
“Who?” Vodkis and Purah say together. I point at Purah to answer them.
“We can’t endanger ourselves by flooding this place up.” Vodkis says my name as if I said something shocking. My name comes out slowly in a growl. “It’s the safest choice.”
“I’ll do what I can to bring in more people.” Vodkis sighs through her nose behind my left ear. Purah gazes straight up to the clear skies with her eyes closed. “Tagenta, please come sooner,” she whispers. “Umpkin!”
“Yes, ma’am?” Umpkin says.
“Will you continue training them while I’m gone?”
“I will. You can count on me.”
“Thank you so much.” Purah waves everyone goodbye while she exits the camp. “Don’t worry, guys! I’ll be right back! And don’t worry, you’ll be safe without me!” In a blink of an eye, she bolts out of my line of sight.
“Alright, everyone. Today will begin some flight training with evasive drills.”
“Nope,” Vodkis quickly says. She drops to the ground and walks off towards the tents.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“I’m going back to our tent! I’ve struggled enough! I’m not going to make a fool out of myself today!”
“Is she okay?” Umpkin says.
“No. Flying is proving to be a major challenge to achieve.”
“It’s like that for many of us,” Umpkin whispers. “Are you coming or going with her?”
“No. I’ll stay,” I say as I watch Vodkis walk away. “I need to be ready when the time comes.
----------------------------------------
Another month goes by. It seems like all I’m doing is training, waiting, and training some more. I’m confident in my ability to do great damage against our enemies. Purah claims I’m the strongest here among my people. I don’t believe her words, yet she insists on it being true. It’s still kinda hard for me to take her seriously. My trust in her changes like the phases of the moon. She’s unusual, different from everyone, and superior in strength. She probably can single-handedly take out the Melonians, yet makes us battle-ready to fight them. But now I think about it, I hope that’s the case she’s going for. I want vengeance. I’ll never forget that day.
It’s early in the evening. Vodkis and I practice sparring on the ground. She’s still struggling to fly, so I don’t perform any moves that’ll force her to use flight. We’re both quick in blocking and deflecting our punches. For three straight minutes at intense speeds, we try our hardest to hit each other.
“You’re amazingly great, Vodkis,” I say. I go for a kick to her upper arm, but she sees it coming. She throws my leg further up, causing me to perform a backflip to catch myself. The moment I land, she aims her fist right for my stomach. “Crap!”
“I win!” Her hands stop inches from my stomach, then she takes a handful of it to squeeze. “Mmmm.”
“Wow, you caught me off guard. You’re getting quicker... than me.”
“Does that scare you?” She grabs me around my waist and lifts me up for two seconds.
“And stronger.”
“Don’t forget the muscles I’m growing,” she says, letting me go. Her progress is remarkable. Just to think that she was a petite woman a month ago, now she’s bigger and stronger. “Hey, Zazy, let’s do some flight training. I’m feeling confident I can make it happen.”
“Sure. Let’s give it a shot. Which position do you wanna try?”
“Take me high,” she says, pointing up. “Really high!”
“Alright. Hop on.” I take to the skies but get stopped by Purah calling out for us halfway to the height Vodkis wants to train in. “Purah, whatever you need, can it wait? Vodkis and I are training.”
“This can’t wait. Tonight is the night.” My heart pauses for a moment when I realize what she means.
“We’re doing it tonight?”
“Not tonight, but we’ll set off for the outskirts of Garavis. So, get ready. I have uniformed clothing for everyone.” She flies away before I can mentally digest what she said.
“Damnit,” Vodkis whispers. “I still can’t fly yet. Can she postpone until I’m ready?”
“We can try to ask her, but it looks like she’s ready to get this going. Our camp is triple times the number of what we came into. We’re a village now.”
“Go to her quickly, Zazy. I’m not ready to fight.”
“Got it.” I head back down to find Purah. Many people are dressed in conforming outfits like the Purah wore when she saved Vodkis and me. But everyone’s shirt is a sleeveless gray with matching color pants and shoes.
“When did she get the time to make those clothing?” Vodkis says.
“I have no idea. Wouldn’t it be impossible to make that much within two months?”
“By herself, yes. But if she had hundreds of workers, I think it’ll be possible.”
“Purah is a mystery that gets complicated by the day.” Vodkis taps my shoulder then points at Purah talking to Umpkin. He’s wearing the same attire as everyone else. “Purah!” Once I land on the ground, Vodkis jumps in front of me and then heads straight to her.
“You need to postpone the attack. I can’t fly yet.”
“No. We leave tonight,” Purah says in a way she didn’t want to argue with her. Her response is quick and stern.
“Purah, she needs more time,” I say. Purah glares at us with angled brows pointing down into the bridge of her nose.
“The lack of flight will have to do.”
“Are you insane?!” Vodkis screams. “You told us to achieve these goals, and now you’re saying that a flightless fighter is fine now?” Purah looks away from her with a deep frown. Her face is screaming with a sort of sadness I’ve seen too many times.
“Purah, what’s going on?” I say in a soft voice. Purah keeps looking away. “What’s troubling you?” Her face starts turning pink. She walks a few steps away from us, breathing heavily but slowly. I ease up behind her then gently hold her upper arms. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“I don’t want my people to suffer anymore. When I was getting our people from the plantations, I saw an innumerable amount of death. Oh, Tagenta... there was so much.” Her tears stream out of her eyes uncontrollably. “Our people were slaughtered by the Melonians for revolting. I can’t wait anymore as the body count rises, you guys.”
“You have the power to end our suffering. Why don’t you free us from this hell?”
“Believe me, I’ve considered that. But vengeance is not mine alone. I’ve only been alive for a few months. I never experienced what you guys went through. I’d rob everyone of their revenge if I did it alone.” Now I see her reason. This all makes sense now as to why she’s training us.
“I get it now. Tagenta gave our people visions for a reason. He wanted us to not be docile anymore. We are a strong nation. We are greater than them.” She clears her tears with her forearms, then looks back at Vodkis.
“I believe in you. Your lack of flight won’t hinder you.”
“Are you positive?” Vodkis says.
“I am. Don’t worry about it. You can cause mayhem on the ground. Our brothers and sisters can cover from the skies.”
“I got you covered too,” I say, to add more comfort. Vodkis acknowledges Purah with a smile and a head nod but gives me a wink. “So, this is it? The moment we’ve been waiting for?”
“Yes,” Purah says, looking up to the skies. “The moment you all been waiting for is about to come. Do whatever you want in the remaining time we have. But remain sober.” She squints at Umpkin.
“I will, I will,” Umpkin says, backing away. “No more Stardust for me.”
“Be ready at dusk. Umpkin, come with me.” She flies towards the healing tent with him close behind.
“I wonder what they’re doing,” I say.
“Who cares,” Vodkis says, hopping on my back. “They probably need healing or something.”
“I guess so, but they looked fine to me.”
“Bwah! You’re nosey.” I scoff at the thought. “What do you wanna do?”
“Let’s go somewhere far, hmm?” She says in a quiet voice. I turn to her to see what kind of face she’s making. Even though I can only see half of it, she’s blushing with a smile. “Don’t tell me you don’t wanna...”
“Of course I do. You just... caught me off guard.” Our purring comes at the same time. “We better go.” She squeezes her arms over my stomach and puts her jaw on my shoulder. Her purring gets louder than mine.
“Jeez, Vodkis. You really want this.” I fly up away from everyone’s sensitive ears.
“Hurry, you big dummy.”
“I’m going, I’m going. Sheesh,” I laugh. “You really want it.”
image [https://cdn-gcs.inkitt.com/story_images/big_43bcef6f5780e1e423df2fe5e94c1eab.png]