Twin's Luck by Kelsey Hunsdon (best management books of all time .TXT) 📖

come at me." I stabbed forward and he backed up criticizing it. I repeated this so many times I thought my arms would fall off, each time a small critic made. I saw that he was getting frustrated and I tried harder but I didn't seem to be getting anywhere.
" Your hopeless." He said readjusting my hand again. My body grew numb with the insult and after a few more I was doing it mechanically my body shut off. That's when I noticed that the dagger was glowing with light. He ignored it but I couldn't stop watching it. I knew that it must be because of some powers I was unaware of.
" Your not even trying." I felt on the verge of tears and I threw everything I had into the next one a grunt escaping my clenched teeth.
" Good." He said it quietly only slightly adjusting this time. After a few hours he had me stop to eat and drink, making sure I didn't get dehydrated or exhausted. My legs and arms were like jelly already as I collapsed under a tree. He disappeared and I ate what I had before I got back up. I didn't wait for him and I was anxious so I practiced against a tree. I pretended to stab at it but I could tell I wasen't doing it quite right. I got aggrivated and stuck the dagger into the bark. A root shot out of the soil and I jumped back. It lay idle and I looked around but Ash was no where in sight. I had to catch my breath as I went to examine it. It seemed normal and it felt as if it were a regular tree root.
" Ready?" He called from across the clearing. I straightened up and grabbed the dagger ignoring the root. He didn't say anything and I kept it to myself as we began to train again. I felt like I had gotten better but by the time darkness fell I couldn't form a thought. I collapsed under a tree without eating and I passed out quickly and completely exhausted.In the morning I woke to damp air, thankfull the branches prtoected me from the rain. I sat up and stretched underneath the make shift shelter. The rain thudded against the ground and I looked around. the horse was laying under the tree safe from the moisture but Ash was no where in sight. I sighed and ate the berries from last night. My body was slightly sore but not as bad as I expected. I glanced up and he was standing there. He was not far away under a tree. His dark hair had rain droplets in it and the gloom of the rain seemed to suit him. He watched me quietlty and I starred but not knowing what to say. His purple eyes were intense on me and he seemed to be thinking about something. I thought about waving but it seemed too formal. He leaned against the tree and broke eye contact looking at something behind me. I lowered my gaze to the ground and watched the rain thud in the small mud puddle. Something touched my head and I reasched up to feel a drop of rain in my hair. It had slipped through the canopy. I wiped the moisture away and then leaned back closing my eyes. I had no idea what we did now or how long we would have to wait. After a while I got bored and opened my eyes. He was gone again and I stodd and paced. Another rain drop hit my head and I reached out beyond the branches to let the rain thud into my palm. It was warm and it felt good on my skin. Without thinking I stepped out and stood in the rain. I fell down into my hair and along my back. It felt nice on my skin and I found myself smiling. I sighed and closed my eyes as it trailed down the lids. Thunder cracked loudly and my eyes shot open. A streak of lightning jutted down and struck a tree not far from me. I darted back under my canopy to find Ash watching me, a bewildered expression on his face. I looked back soaked now, I probably looked horrid. He tilted his hand upwards and I watched as the rain turned to snow for a moment. He met my eyes and when I looked again rain was falling. I summoned up some courage and walked across the space. He watched me carefully until we were under th same tree.
" How old are you?"
" Centuries, it's hard to tell time here." He shrugged and the number surprised me. His cold eyes watched my face examining it.
" Can I do that?"
" Can you?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at me knowingly. I shook my head no and he looked away.
" Why are you helping me?" His head turned back towards me and he took in my expression carefully.
" Your not like anyone else, you worry more about caring for others. It's admirable." He said it matter of factly and I didn't have a responce. It felt nice to have something good said about me but I only remembered my brother, his face in the dirt. My eyes swam with tears and I walked back out into the rain away from him. My pain was a weakness that I was bound to keep to my self. He may assume but he will never have evidence. I stormed into the woods. The rain became almost unnoticable underneath the thick canopy of trees. It sheilded me and I stormed through stunbling on roots. I fell and stayed down covering my face with my knees. I was still so ashamed with myself that I didn't know how to cope with the waves of guilt that crashed into me. I tried to swallow it down but Oliver's face kept coming into my head, and then Puck's words, "Have you lost your mind?" I began to werious judge my mental state, had I gone off the deep end? Was the stress too much and Iw as too far gone to tell? I couldn't judge. I forced my self to stop crying and then I walked back to Ash. It had stopped raining and he was sharpening his sword with a rock. He didn't look up when I came back and I grabbed my dagger.
" I'm ready." He looked up curiously and then saw what I was doing. Without question he rose and faced me starting the lesson where we left off last night. It was easier now that I knew some of the basics, I didn't shy away from his blade any more I simply stepped out of the way. I was once again sore and shaking but I felt accomplished when we stopped to rest. I laid under the tree and curled up. I closed my eyes quickly without bothering to eat again.

Finding Shujii

The nightmare was unexpected. I was walking through a field when my feet suddenly got cold. The ground beneath me had frozen and when I looked up I could make out a shadow in the snow. I ran forward and comfronted Mab her eyes dark as night. A corpse laid on the ground at her feet and I recognized my brothers face the way I had last seen it. Anguish filled me and my mind made me run towards them. Mab swooped in and grabbed from behiind. A seering pain shot through my chest and I looked down to find an ice spear sticking through me. I clutched myself and then thought that I would wake up. Instead I was pulled into a darkness. There was nothing but air around me and I was falling through nothing. A voice was in my ear but there was no shape in the darkness.
" It is time." The words were spoken clearly and as soon as I acknowledged them my body was shocked awake. I sat straight up and looked around. The sun was just coming over the horizon and everything was quiet. I found Ash at a stream merely sitting st the edge and looking calmly into the waters.
" I have to go." I said he stood and walked past me to where the horse was waiting ready.
" I know, but I must warn you," He swung up ono the horse effortlessly. "It will not be an easy trip." I nodded and he held out his hand. We locked forearms and he pulled me up behind him. I wrapped my arms loosly around his waist as he dug his heels into the sides of the horse. We took off without a second thought and plunged into the woods. I closed my eyes and held on tight burying my head in his back. He didn't say anything just merely held the horses reins althought it didn't seem to need direction.
" How did you know?" I said in his ear. I merely whispered but I knew he heard me.
" You were talking in your sleep." He said it quietly and I wondered why I wasen't embaressed by this. I hadn't had a history of it, but then again I had never slept with someone else in the same area. We rode in silence for a while.
" What was your life like in the human world." It was such a random question but I wondered if his mind was simply rambling,
" We lived with an elderly human couple, but the night we left they changed into monsters." He nodded matter of factly and I felt like he was storing information.
" Did you leave anyone behind?" I understood the meaning of the question a moment later and heat rose to my cheeks.
" No, we were not accepted."
" Why not?" He asked turning his head to look at me from the corner of one purple eye.
" We have never been normal, orphans aren't exactly treasured. Oliver made more of an effort to fit in than I did though." I remembered him hanging with the punk kids outside of school. He would skip class and I'd listen to the calls from the principal on the answering machine. I even caught him smoking a cigarette once.
" Do you miss it?" He interupted my train of thought and it took me longer than usual to answer.
" No." I shook my head slightly. Trying to remember the details of our old life. How boring it seemed compared to now.
" Your a horrible liar." I examined the side of his face.
" Your not." He tilted his head slightly, not denying or accepting.
" It's the only reason I've survived so long, the only reason any of have survived at all." He let his voice trail off. The only sound was the horses hooves on the ground as we continued to gallop along, it never slowed down or changed pace. Suddenly a horrendous smell