The gym was state-of-the-art and designed for supernatural creatures. While we had a separate section for humans and other magical creatures who didn’t have the super-strength, many of us were just naturally stronger than they were. The weights were spelled to resemble the size of human dumbbellsand barbells, but the starting weights were significantly different. It was easy for many of us to lift a bus with one hand.
Most of the more humanoid creatures were tall for humans. I was not one of those people. I was short, even by Human standards. It was a point of contention growing up in Underhill. Most Unseelie thought I was a changeling until I was gifted with my powers and could show them differently. The Sidhe Fae, typically the royal class of Fae, were always tall, lithe, and cunning. I was cunning, but I was short and built like a body builder. The gym was a requirement for me, even when I didn’t want to be there. I was more of a danger to the people of St. Louis than any external threat.
I yawned widely as Athena and I changed out of our clothes and into our workout gear. I started trying to get my head into gym mode and out of work mode, but I wasn’t even in work mode to begin with. I stripped down into a black sports bra and teal biker shorts, then began to put my unruly hair into a bun on the top of my head. Athena was throwing on her tennis shoes, and I started to stretch.
“What are we working on today?” I asked.
Athena scrunched her nose in thought. “I don’t know about you, but today is leg day for me. It’s going to be a grueling session. With your concerns and some of the changes coming up, I need to be in better shape than I’ve been over the last few years. Even I’ve gotten a little lax.”
I scoffed as I gave her a once-over. Athena was built like a brick shithouse and always had been. She and I often were in friendly competition with one another about who spent more time in the gym. Her long, lithe body was literally built for war. Athena was a dedicated gym junkie and probably hadn’t missed a training session in centuries. I sort of flailed around until I remembered what my last gym session was. I thought back on it.
“Yesterday was leg day for me, which means today is shoulders and lats. With everything going on, and how exhausted I am today, I am probably going to work out with the humans today,” I said awkwardly, trying to defuse the magic literally trying to crawl out of me. I often masked those intense battles for control by either becoming friendlier to make up for how scary my magic was to most people, or by making jokes that almost never hit.
“Well, you definitely smell like a bar. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Humans bested you today.” Athena’s voice was a little muffled as she pulled a shirt over her head.
“Thanks, dude. I’m flattered by your confidence in me,” I chirped happily, sarcasm bleeding into every word.
She laughed. “Well, then let me help you kick your ass into shape, and you won’t have to hear me tell you that.” Athena grabbed her water bottle as she made her way toward the door.
As we walked into the gym, we were greeted by our friend group. I stood next to Valen, taking a couple steps back so I could see him clearly. Valen was the head of the Elven faction for thePax. I hardly ever saw him since he was usually away working within Alfhame. The Elves, being one of the only factions who still had a good standing with their home plane, were one race none of us ever took for granted. It was a unique system because Elves were one of the only neutral powers in the realms.
Alfhame was known for having large beings, including Elves. They were all certified giants to us, even knowing the beasties in Underhill. Humans did get one thing right. He resembled a character from theLord of the Ringsfranchise. Valen was easily seven and a half feet tall. He wore a dopey grin on his face, which was funny considering he was one of the most intimidating beings in this room. If you didn’t know him, you’d find him terrifying with his large stature and theweapons he carried on his person, but honestly, he was a teddy bear with a heart of gold.
“Valen, how’s it going?” I asked.
He nodded in greeting. “Ready for a heavy workout. I’m planning on sparring today. You up for it, Little One?”
My eyes hardened, “You’re on. Before or after hitting the weights?”
He bounced on his feet, “Now. It’ll be a better workout for you than hitting the weights.” Valen leaned down and got in my space, taking a deep breath in, “You smell like whiskey, brimstone, and your natural scent of petrichor. My, Little One, what have you been up to?” Valen smirked as he rose back up to his staggering height.
“Goddess blessed. You assholes have been doing nothing but asking me about what happened last night. I took a shower this morning before I came in. Your noses are too sensitive,” I huffed, annoyed at the gossip of centuries-old hags. “Before anyone else asks, I don’t fucking know what happened last night. Can we get to this workout yet?”
Valen was a fighter, and a master shit-talker. For a race who was largely docile in nature despite their appearance, he enjoyed sparring. Valen’s power was in mind control and telekinesis. Like me, he wasn’t really interested in using his powers, but he understood that sometimes you had to hone your skills. We both preferred physical altercations to using the gifts we received at birth, but we both knew that fighting fair was a fool’s game.
As we walked over to the mats, our friends started bantering at us.
“Daela, you know you’re going to get your ass kicked. It happens every single time you spar with Valen. You’re two and a half feet shorter than him!” Daedalus hollered, nudging his shoulder into Loki.
Loki, always the shit-stirrer, said, “Aw, Daddy, let her fight. It was hilarious watching her get thrown into the wall last time.”
I glared at Loki while Sephy, Athena, and Daphne cackled in the background. “I may be small, but don’t forget I can still kick all your asses. Get back to work, slackers.” I stepped toward the mats, then sat down to stretch out my hamstrings. We healed quickly, but I still didn’t play about stretching. I was a whiny baby when I sprained a muscle.
“Ooh, the wittle Daela thinks she’s a big tough guy,” Daedalus taunted as he sat near the edge of the mat, keen to watch me get my ass kicked.
I let go of the hold on my shadows, allowing them to expand from my core and out into the world. They wound slowly up Daedalus’s legs, then his back, to lightly caress his neck. He shivered, then turned his head toward me with apprehension in his eyes. My shadows nipped at his ear, and I let them whisper, “I’ll kill you”.
He jumped. “Fuck, I always forget you can do that. That’s creepy as fuck, dude.”
I chuckled, switching to stretching out the other leg. “Don’t forget it again. I’m still able to kick your asses in other ways.”
Valen stood in the center of the mats, impatience written across his face. “Are you ready?”
I stood up from the mats, jumping up and down a little to finish warming up my muscles, then nodded. Valen struck out as quick as a trained fighter who knew my moves well, letting the tail of his whip wrap around my ankle. I hadn’t even seen him pull it out. I went down hard, letting my forearms catch my fall without hitting my face on the mat. I quickly moved to the side and swiped my foot out at his ankles. Valen jumped out of the way, and when his back was turned, I kicked the back of his knee out so he dropped down. As Valen went down, he reachedbehind himself and easily lifted me up above his head to throw me into the wall. I grabbed hold of his neck before he could, wrapping around him like a spider monkey, and put him in a chokehold. He chuffed, but fell backwards, forcing his weight on top of me, and all the breath left my lungs.
“You didn’t think that I would be able to hold you with my ‘wittle’ hands, did you?” I gasped, released his throat, then pushed him up as if I were bench-pressing him to toss him away from me.
I quickly moved out of the way as we both got to our feet. Valen swiped a large hand toward me, which I blocked with my forearms, the burn of the hit numbing my fingers. Circling him, I tried to find a weak spot. My shadows slithered around him while I tried to figure out how to get him to tap out. I was so busy focusing on my own powers that I forgot who Valen was, and he grabbed hold of my mind, forcing my own shadows to pin me to the ground. My shadows began to put me into a full-body hold, enough that they began to restrict my breathing. They were wrapping tighter than I was comfortable with, so I tapped out while my hands were still available. Pissed at myself for not anticipating that Valen would use everything in his arsenal, I lay there with my arm across my eyes as I caught my breath.
