23. A new recruit
Once his hand was pushing open the door to The Rock Tavern, there was no more hiding. As he walked in, Shandy bounded over to him, dressed for the gym, in the tiniest of shorts and a beautifully skimpy sports bra, partially covered by a cropped hooded jacket.
“Fred! Are you ready?” she asked, bouncing onto her toes and pulling him down for a kiss. “Bob reckons we should spend a while in the normal gym before we head to the studio for some proper target practice. Pow! Pow pow pow POW! If someone’s got Cara, they won’t know what’s hit them!”
Fred smiled. Shandy’s enthusiasm was infectious, even if he was mostly immune for the moment.
“We should definitely do some target practice,” he agreed, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight.
Throughout the short drive to the gym, Shandy chattered away about all the ways she might be able to use magic to demolish anyone who dared hurt Cara. It was cute, but not very believable. It was far easier to imagine Cara in the role of warrior than the adorable Shandy.
“If it was some smarmy wizard, I’d send a zap of energy at his cock, and wither him to nothing! And if it was a gaggle of sex-crazed harpies, I’d blast them with fire until their wings burnt off!”
“We don’t even know if you have fire power yet, do we?” Fred laughed.
“Let’s find out tonight! Let’s try a bit of everything!”
“A new recruit? You have been busy!” Chester greeted them at the entrance, beaming at Shandy and winking at Fred. “Do you want to go straight to the studio, or would you like to start in the main part of the gym?”
“Give me the tour!” Shandy giggled.
Chester leaned down between the two of them. “Bob told me about Cara,” he whispered. “I think splitting up to cover more ground would be a great idea.”
Fred nodded. “I’ll be in the free weights area when you’ve finished,” he said, loudly enough for anyone trying to listen to hear.
Fred headed straight to an empty squat rack, nodding towards the customers he recognised. The bunnies were bouncing on the treadmills again, and for a moment he imagined Foxy chasing them, all of them in their semi-human forms, all naked.
Listen! he told himself. You’re meant to be listening out for any news, not filling your head with fluffy butts!
He set up his weights, trying to keep in mind everything he had learnt with Dina and Chester the first time he was there, but mostly distracted by trying to listen out for anything of interest.
“So you’re alone again, big boy?” Dina said, catching his eye in the mirror as he shouldered the bar, a smug smile playing on her lips. Her wings were out and she wore the same intricate top that had intrigued him the first time they met.
“Not exactly,” he answered, mustering a cheeky grin, while his heart beat hard, remembering what Bob had said about not giving anything away. “This time I’ve brought Shandy.”
“Ah yes, Bob’s little toy,” she laughed, with a shudder. “Has she had the same special Fred treatment too then?”
“Well she’s training here for a reason!” he said, winking.
“No more Cara then? What a pity!” Dina’s voice dripped with insincerity.
“Are you just going to pollute them all with elven magic and leave them? You know, human girls aren’t often that open minded.
You have to pick one and stick with them, or there’s hell to pay.
Does Shandy even know about Cara, or did you dump Cara first? ”
“I’m still with Cara,” Fred answered, before starting his reps.
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Dina replied. “When did you last hear from her?”
Fred finished his set and placed the bar back in the rack before answering. “We still live together. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Suit yourself! I’m just trying to help.
I’d say stick to us longer-lived magical creatures.
We have a much more pragmatic outlook than these minor mortals, who are always scrabbling to fill their minuscule lives with intense emotions.
When you’ve lived a bit, you have a more realistic perspective. ”
“Not me!’” Fred said, his voice cracking.
“Well, you know where I am if you ever grow up,” Dina laughed, running a nail down his chest before stalking away from him.
He finished his squats, did some overhead presses, and then some bench presses. It was strange to think that, once upon a time, Dina was going to be his gym buddy. Chester and Shandy joined him just as he was finishing on the bench.
“Any news?” Chester whispered.
“Nothing, but I just remembered! Dina can disappear!” Fred said, throwing anxious glances around the room. “She could still be here! Did you see her leave?”
“I did not, but I wouldn’t worry too much about her. She’s a horny drama queen, but she’s harmless really. Are you two ready for some proper training?”
In the studio, Chester had set up a human target at the far end of the room.
“I think we’re going to have to work pretty fast and hopefully get you as far as targeting today, that is, assuming you’ve gained all the same powers, Cara had,” he explained. “Worst case scenario, depending on where Cara is, we might need you battle ready too!”
Shandy’s eyes lit up, and she grinned at Fred.
Fred’s stomach lurched. His natural urge was to protect her, as he had wanted to protect Cara, so the thought of her in battle sickened him.
The softness of every human he had met so far, even of the thief he had immobilised, did not bode well for the necessities of war.
On the other hand, Chester was right. Who else could Bob reasonably call on to fight what was, most likely, Fred’s battle? It was better Shandy learn what she could than be left defenceless.
“Where do I start?” Shandy asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet, as if she were ready to pounce.
Chester grinned at her. “Let’s start with anger. Let’s see if you can summon the same fires Cara could. Now Fred, help her find her anger, while I help her to control it.”
Fred stood one side of Shandy, and Chester the other.
“Someone took Cara from us,” Fred murmured in her ear.
“Someone took her just as you finally had the chance to be with her. Some bastard is with her now and they don’t deserve to be.
She should be with you and with me, and we should be enjoying the most perfect time together, the three of us. Someone took that away.”
“Take that anger! Feel it!” Chester said, watching Shandy’s soft features harden. “Reach out your arm and let your anger run from your chest and out into your hand.”
Shandy gasped as flickers of flame started to stand out from her fingers.
“Good!” Chester continued. “Keep fuelling that flame, Fred!”
“They might have hurt her. She might be crying. She should be here with us right now!”
Shandy’s eyes blazed and the flame at the end of her fingers shot up in a plume of rage.
“Now, I want you to try something, Fred. I want you to try to help Shandy to form that rage into a weapon. Help her to shoot it from her palm,” Chester ordered.
“How? How do I make that happen?” Fred asked. This definitely wasn’t a type of magic he had ever accessed before.
“It’s like a partial mind merge. You don’t have to touch heads. Lay your hand on her shoulder, and try to will the fire out through her hand in the same way you would shoot your own magic. Shandy, all you have to do is be open to Fred’s control.”
Fred placed his hand on Shandy’s shoulder and pushed his mind into a corner of hers. From there he harnessed the same forces he had used to shoot the thief’s legs and sent them rushing through her arm.
“Oh!” Shandy laughed, as the flame flew from her hand to land on the target, where it soon burnt out.
“Again!” Chester roared. “Again, the two of you!”
A new flame bloomed, and Fred sent it flying, where it burnt more fiercely this time.
“Again! Try two hands! Again!”
Chester barked his orders and the flames flew, reaching their target in increasingly destructive forms.
“Aim for the head! Aim for the chest!”
Once each burst was reliably on target, Chester said “Fred, slowly withdraw. Shandy, keep firing. When you feel it isn’t quite working, will it to. Will the flames to your goal!”
Fred pulled back his thoughts.
“I can’t!” Shandy wailed. “It won’t work!”
Fred pushed his thoughts back in, twisting them around Shandy’s, but loosely.
“Try again,” he said, his voice calm and controlled.
As she willed the fire forward, Fred combined his mind with hers, but just before it left her hand, he withdrew. The flame flew, but only half of the way to the target.
“Keep it up,” Chester rumbled. “You can do it, Shandy!”
Fred did the exact same thing as the previous attempt, but this time it did reach the target. From there he slipped back, further and further from her thoughts. He resisted that final retreat until she was reliably firing straight on the target. Even then, he kept a hand on her shoulder.
Finally he stood back, and Shandy fired on the target completely by herself.
“Excellent!” Chester grinned at both of them.
Shandy swayed, reaching a hand back towards Fred, who leapt forward before she could fall to the ground.
“I think that’s enough for today! It must have taken me years of playing with my magic to get that far!”
“I could do with a drink!” Shandy croaked. “But I want to keep training!”
“Not tonight!” Chester said. “I’m with Fred on this one. Get a good night’s rest and recharge. I’ll see you again tomorrow.”