Amanda the Vampire Slayer: Trials
by GPN
Trials

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Amanda swung hard and struck her opponent, who took the blow with a shrug and ran around to kick her legs out from under her. Amanda spun around on in a crouch swinging her legs like her opponent had tried to do and knocked Claudia down in mid run. She flipped herself up to her feet and intercepted Claudia as she tried to get up. Amanda pushed her down by her shoulders and raised the stake high above her head. Claudia winced as she swung it down and stopped inches before her heart.
“Good!” Morgan said. “Good job Amanda, her speed is her strength, but you overcame that.
Claudia chuckled as she stood when Amanda released her. “Yeah, one win out of four ain’t bad.”
Amanda smiled, a bit embarrassed. “Thanks.”
It had been two weeks since Claudia had recovered from her possession. She was found to be malnourished and weak since the demon had controlled her body for so long. Unfortunately, the discharge of the powerful demon from Claudia’s body gave her severe amnesia. She couldn’t remember her possession, or Armand or any information on The First. She had to be reminded of her name and what she was. Claudia had grudgingly accepted her new calling and she and Amanda had been training since. Though Amanda was the more skilled Slayer, Claudia took full advantage of her speed aspect.
“I think that’s enough for today,” Morgan said. “Weapon practice tomorrow, you have much to learn Claudia.”
Claudia smiled and saluted sarcastically. “Yes ma’am!”
Morgan turned and rolled her eyes, though she still smiled at the girl’s enthusiasm. “Amanda, may I speak to you privately?” She said as she walked out of the room.
“Sure boss.” Amanda said cheerfully.
“Don’t call me that.” Morgan sighed.
“Sure blondie.” Amanda said, and Claudia giggled girlishly.
“Boss is fine.” Morgan said.
A few minutes later they were alone in Morgan’s makeshift office. “I just wanted to discuss how you were feeling, Amanda.” Morgan said, taking a seat while Amanda did as well.
“What do you mean, how I’m feeling?”
“How you’re feeling about Claudia, more specifically.” Morgan specified.
“Well… Claudia’s great! She keeps kicking my butt due to her aspect, but I really like having her around!”
Morgan nodded. “Okay, but do you think she’s entirely… stable?” She asked cautiously.
“How so?”
“Well, the girl was formally in a demonic cult, that probably worshipped The First. Our Claudia may slip into a relapse…”
Amanda shook her head hard. “No, she doesn’t even remember any of it!”
Morgan nodded slowly. “Very well, but keep an eye on her. I don’t want to lose either of you.”
“I will Morgan.” Amanda said as she got up. “Any word from the Slayer Council?” She asked before turning to leave.
Morgan nodded. “They are sending something… special, to deal with the new threat.”
“Something special? Like what?”
“Giles didn’t say, he said I would know when it got here.” Morgan chuckled softly. “He may still be upset about me not sharing our new weapons.”
“Heh, well, they can’t just ignore this, whatever they have should be arriving very soon…”
“I agree, I would like you to take Claudia out with you tonight on patrol; I want you to watch her in action, and report back to me how she performs. “Ah, letting me off being chaperoned, eh?” Amanda smiled
“Yes, I think you’ve learned your lesson for now. Keep a close eye on her Amanda, she is fast, yes, but she still has much to learn.” Morgan said sternly. “I think… I think she looks up to you.”
“I was curious about one thing though,” Amanda said as she got up from the chair.
“And what is that?” Morgan asked with a brow raised.
“Well, Claudia has amnesia but she seems… awfully cheerful. Aren’t people like that all… like… dire and depressed?” Amanda asked curiously.
“Well, yes and no,” Morgan replied. “Many amnesia victims do grow depressed after realizing what they have lost, but others, such as Claudia, take it very naturally. It could be that she had been possessed so long, she is naturally happy to be free of the demon’s control. Whether she remembers it or not…”
“Ah, I see,” Amanda nodded. “Well, I’m going to go help Claudia get acquainted with Gideon; I know they’ve barely talked since she’s been here. In fact, the only people she has really talked to have been me, you, and Joshua, for obvious reasons.” She chuckled.
“Yes, that may be a good idea, Gideon doesn’t trust her. Helping him get to know her could change his mind.” Morgan said with approval in her voice as Amanda got up..
“I hope so,” Amanda smiled and left the room.
Later on, she took Claudia around to meet a few people. She couldn’t find Gideon, and was only told he was on an “assignment.” Amanda shrugged and took Claudia out patrolling that night. It was a pretty uneventful night; they only staked two vamps, Amanda one, Claudia the other. Soon after, they got back to the hotel and went to bed.
Amanda slept peacefully that night, but when she awakened, she immediately sensed another presence in the room, several presences actually. Without opening her eyes, she reached over to the end table and grabbed her stake.
“Now how could a Vampire get in this room without an invite?” A very familiar voice said.
Amanda dropped the stake and opened her eyes. Though it was still dark out, Amanda could very clearly see the outline of a familiar face. She sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. “Ken-Kennedy?” She said in surprise.
“In the flesh,” The older Slayer smiled. “It’s good to see you alive and well, Amanda.”
Amanda leapt out of bed and hugged Kennedy, who chuckled as she returned her hug.
“Why are you here? Who are those two?” She pointed to the other two figures shrouded in darkness.
“Ah, allow me to introduce two more senior Slayers from the Council.” She motioned for the two girls to step forward.
“This is Alandra,” she began, gesturing to a short Hispanic Slayer, dressed in leather with her hair in dreadlocks. Amanda could see through the moonlight she wore a utility belt that had various knives stored in it, almost all the way around her waist.
“Yo ‘Manda, what’s up?” The young woman came out and began with a hand shake that continued into a strange gesture of gripping, slapping, and hitting each other’s balled up fist on top of the other, which Amanda didn’t completely follow. “Hey, I like this girl!” Alandra smirked.
Kennedy rolled her eyes and pointed to the other. “And this is Emily.”
The second young woman, about 16, came out and looked the exact opposite of Alandra in every way. She had long, reddish-brown hair that was tied into a tight braid around her head. Her clothing was simply a long, frilly dress with a pair of brown boots on her feet. She bowed politely.
“How do you do?” She said with a thick English accent.
Amanda sheepishly returned the bow. “I do fine.”
“Alandra is from Chicago, we found her terrorizing the locals,” Kennedy started and Alandra smirked at the “compliment.”
“And Emily is from London,” Kennedy finished.
Emily simply smiled politely as Kennedy mentioned her origin.
“Anyway, hurry up and get dressed Amanda! Your trial begins today!” Kennedy said.
“My…. trial?” Amanda said with a worried voice.
“Yes, we in the Slayer Council have devised a series of tests to determine the quality of the Slayers. I’ve seen you fight Amanda, I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
“What about Claudia?” Amanda asked.
“Oh, the new Slayer? Don’t know about her.” Kennedy shrugged. “Might be too untrained. We might have to take her with us.”
“Wait, why would you take her with you?” Amanda exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, she’ll just stay with us a few months to get the proper training, and then she will go out on assignments.” Kennedy smiled warmly. “Now come on Slayer,” she said in a commanding voice “get dressed so we can start this thing!”
The three Slayers left the room as Amanda began to get dressed in her training leotard. She wore jeans and a heavy jacket to protect her from the late Fall weather.


Amanda entered the workout area and saw Claudia was already there, talking quietly with Alandra. Kennedy jogged up to Amanda.
“By the way, forgot to mention,” She started. “Because I’m sure you’re curious; Emily over there has an aspect of prophecy. Almost every night when she dreams she gets a new vision. She also can see into realms others cannot see in, so she is very useful to have around while the trials go on. Alandra is our best knife fighter. Vi trained her and she has far surpassed Vi’s own skills. We think her aspect is simply skill with a knife.”
Amanda nodded in understanding. “And what about you?”
“Ah, allow me to demonstrate.” She gestured Amanda to follow her into the parking lot. It was still dark out, Amanda hadn’t checked the time but she assumed it was around five or six a.m. Kennedy continued on to the nearest car; Amanda assumed it was the car she and the other Slayers had driven to get to Brasepoint, and put her hand under it. As easily as if the car was made out of feathers, she lifted the car clear up into the air and smiled at Amanda, showing no real difficulty.
“Wow…” Amanda gasped.
“Wow is right,” Kennedy said, and put the car down before walking back up to Amanda. “All Slayers have super strength, but Giles estimates mine is about a hundred times above the average Slayer.”
”That’s incredible Kennedy…” Amanda whispered.
“Yeah, but I’d love to have your healing aspect, want to trade?” Kennedy smirked.
“Um, I don’t think we can, can we?” Amanda raised a brow.
Kennedy burst out laughing. “Nah, I’m just kidding. I don’t know of any way to ‘trade.’ Well grasshopper, let’s go get you two started. It’s still dark, so vamps should still be prowling at this time of the morning.”
“Are we going to wake Morgan up?” Amanda asked, having not seen her Watcher in the workout room.
Kennedy shook her head. “Nah, the new council is mostly run by the Slayers now. The Watchers are still involved, but mostly for research purposes. Your Watcher just reads books, right?”
“Um,” Amanda started, not wanting to get her Watcher in trouble. “She does… other things too.”
“Oh, like collecting those valuable weapons that the Slayer Council wants?” Kennedy sneered as they entered the training room where Emily and Alandra were warming up.
“Yeah, sure.” Amanda whispered, and then, deciding to change the subject “So we’re just going to hunt some vampires and the Trial is over?”
“Oh no, we need to see how well you work with various weapons, we need to see your combat style, we’ll also ask you questions about various demons you may face.” Kennedy smirked. “First, since it’s early, we’ll go hunting. Emily, Alandra, and myself will observe while you two slay any vamps we encounter.”
“Any specific weapon you want us to use?” Amanda asked as they came across the weapons table.
“Stakes for this outing, or is that a problem?” Kennedy said.
“No, no problem at all,” Amanda replied as she picked up a stake from the table and turned back to Kennedy. Claudia had done the same and also approached Kennedy.
“Okay,” Kennedy said. “Let’s go.”
It took them only 10 minutes to get to the first graveyard. The high rate of fatalities in town meant that graveyards were everywhere. Kennedy let the “senior” Slayers walk ahead, and continued to stay behind the two.
“Okay, here’s the deal.” Kennedy began. “You will be tested on precision, speed, and skill.” Claudia grinned at the mention of speed and Kennedy noticed and turned to her. “Speed does not mean how fast you move but how fast you destroy your opponent. Because our Claudia here is a speed demon, Emily will view her. Emily’s power will allow her to see your moves in slow motion; she will know how long it will take you to finish any vampires you encounter.”
Kennedy turned to Amanda. “Alandra will watch you Amanda, I will watch both of you and judge you according to the information that Emily and Alandra give me.” Alandra and Emily both nodded and approached the Slayers they were assigned to.
“Slayers ready?” Kennedy asked, and Amanda and Claudia gave a nod. “Judges ready?” Emily and Alandra nodded. “Okay, start! Find some vamps to slay!”
Amanda immediately charged through the graveyard with Alandra hot on her tail. Morning was still far from approaching so Amanda knew she had plenty of time. Sure enough, a group of vampires were staring at a grave, obviously waiting for another one of their brethren to spring up.
Amanda charged up to the first one she saw and plunged her stake into its heart from behind, turning it to dust. Immediately the other vampires turned and began to attack her. Amanda tried to remember her training on what to do when attacked from several sides. One approached from each side with one coming down the middle She launched three powerful kicks to the one on the right, then turned to the left and launched another couple of kicks to knock him down.
That left the one coming up the middle, Amanda spun to engage him, but instead of kicking him, she simply plunged her stake into his heart. Two more rushed her in front as well as the two from the side who were just getting up. As the two side vampires closed in, Amanda jumped and stretched out both legs to the sides, which knocked them down again.
As for the two vampires in front of her, one in front of the other, Amanda stuck the stake through the first creatures’ heart and used the moment to pierce all the way through to the second creatures’ heart. Both immediately vanished into dust. Amanda turned and staked one of the fallen vampires she had kicked away as the other came from behind and wrapped its powerful arms around her. She bent her legs and jumped in the vampires grip, knocking his hands loose. She leapt once again and wrapped her legs around his neck and pulled him down to the ground in a classic schoolgirl pin. Amanda than staked him quickly in the heart, destroying the demonic creature.
Amanda stood, rubbed her bruised chest slightly, and walked over to the grave the vampires had been standing around, where she waited patiently as the new birthed vampire pulled free of its coffin. Amanda grabbed his head as it appeared and twisted it off, turning it to dust. Some soft clapping greeted her from behind.
“Good job!” Alandra said. “You have some slick moves, girl. It’s not often that I see a new Slayer take on and kill five at once.”
Amanda looked confused. “Erm, I’m not actually a new Slayer, I was in the Hellmouth battle, and have been slaying ever since.”
Alandra shrugged. “Whatever, anyone who isn’t on the Slayer Council is considered new. Even though you have a Watcher, you’re not on the Council until we test you. You’re definitely in now, though I’m not sure about your friend over there.” Alandra turned and looked to see Emily and Claudia approaching Kennedy.
As the group came together, again Kennedy had Claudia and Amanda stand behind their “judges.” First, Kennedy looked at Alandra.
“Alandra, how did Amanda do?” Kennedy asked, her voice resounding with authority.
Alandra stepped forward. “Amanda did great. I swear, when I first saw this girl I didn’t think she had what it took to be a Slayer—”
“What? I thought you liked me?” Amanda asked, shocked.
“Please do not interrupt the judges, Amanda.” Kennedy said in a booming voice. Amanda looked away, blushing a bit.
Alandra simply turned to Amanda and smiled. “Oh, I do, I just didn’t think you would be a decent Slayer. You totally proved me wrong girl. As I was saying,” She smiled and turned back to Kennedy. “Amanda is an extremely skilled Slayer with some wicked moves that I would sure love to learn from her.”
Amanda blushed again, smiling nervously. I didn’t think I was that good…she thought.
“She took on five vampires at once, and killed them all with very little difficulty.” Alandra chuckled. “One grabbed her from behind and I thought I would have to come in and help, but she was still able to dispatch it rather quick. She’s quite flexible. I recommend her being admitted into the council.”
Kennedy nodded. “From what I saw, I agree.” She smiled again. “Congratulations Amanda, you are accepted into the Slayer Council. Tomorrow you will travel with us to Missouri to receive your assignment. Next, Emily, what did you think of Claudia?”
“Wait, what?” Amanda exclaimed suddenly. “I’m not going to Missouri tomorrow! I have to—“
“Amanda, I’m not going to tell you again to not speak during the judging!” Kennedy said, shouting this time.
Amanda shut her mouth. She could argue her case later. Plus, she wanted to see how Claudia did.
“Once again, Emily, what is your judgment?” Kennedy said, once again turning to Emily, who stepped forward with Claudia behind her.
“I’m sorry to report, though she is quite fast and has much passion,” Emily started in her tight British accent. “her style is quite sloppy, she does not have much skill in slaying, though as I said she is very fast and did stake all her opponents.” Emily shook her head.
“And what do you suggest, Emily?” Kennedy said.
“She does have passion, and potential. I think with a bit more training, she could be very powerful.” Emily said, as Claudia looked down disappointed.
“From what little I saw, I concur. Claudia, you will return to Missouri with us as well. Amanda, Claudia, get packed and get rested. We leave earlier than this tomorrow morning; we have quite a long way to drive.”
“Wait, wait, Kennedy,” Amanda said. “I know I passed and all but I have a team forming here and we’re doing some real good—“
“Oh come on Amanda, this little town is so low on the priority list we’re not even worrying about it. Now stop being silly and get ready to go!” Kennedy ordered.
“It’s worse than it sounds,” Amanda retorted. “Something is rising in this city, and I think it may be able to destroy the entire world—”
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Amanda, every Slayer believes that their enemy is the ultimate evil. It’s up to the Slayer Council to decide what’s more urgent; they are there specifically to balance the most serious threats with the less series ones.”
“Kennedy, I believe The First is planning to rise up in this town. We have evidence that—” Amanda started again, but was once more interrupted.
“Amanda, stop talking like that! The First will return in the future and when it does, we will face it. But Sanders believes The First is in a stupor since we defeated it in the Hellmouth.”
“Wait, who is Sanders?” Amanda asked.
“He is the new head of the Slayer Council.” Kennedy said, and the other two Slayers nodded in agreement.
“Wait, what happened to Giles?” Amanda asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Oh, Giles is fine. Sanders came by a few months ago. He was third in command at the Watcher’s Council, and he happened to be very ill the day the Watcher headquarters was blown up. So he came by, outranked Giles, and now he’s in charge. Giles is down in Africa with Xander training him to be a Watcher.”
Amanda shook her head. “Whatever. Look, I am not leaving, and Claudia is not experienced because she has only been at this for two weeks. She will get better with time, especially with me and Morgan helping her.”
“Well, I’m afraid that’s not an option Amanda. Morgan will come with us and be reassigned. If you want to remain here, than we cannot accept you into the Slayer Council.”
“Fine,” Amanda said, crossing her arms. “I’m doing well enough here on my own.”
“I’m not going either.” Claudia said, stepping forward for the first time. “Amanda’s my friend, and she and Ms. Morgan have been working really hard to train me. I’m staying with them.”
Kennedy shook her head. “Don’t do this Amanda. Not coming to the Slayer Council means you will not have our support at all. You will be totally cut off from our resources and knowledge. You be will completely on your own.”
Amanda walked straight up to Kennedy and looked hard into her eyes. “I am not alone; I haven’t been alone for a long time. The last time I found myself alone, Kennedy, was when you Slayers left me to die in the Hellmouth!” She spat.
Kennedy stared right at Amanda. “Vi said you were dead, we were not taking any of the dead with us, and the whole damn town was collapsing around us, in case you hadn’t noticed!”
“Get out of my face Kennedy!” Amanda said, looking closer into her face. “I’m not alone anymore; go back to your Slayer Council.”
Kennedy sighed and stepped back, turning toward Emily and Alandra. “Well, at least this trip won’t be a total waste. Let’s go finish our task.” The two other Slayers nodded and all three of them began walking back to the Hotel.
“Wait, what other mission?” Amanda shouted at them, beginning to get a bit worried.
Kennedy turned and smirked. “Sanders also ordered us to retrieve the weapons your Watcher illegally acquired.”
“Illegally—?” Amanda started, than quickly turned to Claudia. “Claudia! Run ahead and wake Morgan!”
Claudia nodded and ran back to the Hotel while Kennedy and her minions charged at a run toward the Hotel as well. Amanda turned another direction to enter a manhole that would take her directly to the Hotel.
Amanda ran as fast as she could, and finally managed to get there before the others, besides Claudia of course. When she arrived to the central meeting area, she discovered Morgan and Gideon already awake, talking to Claudia. Joshua and a few other gang members who were just waking up came up to join them.
“Wh-what’s going on?” Stuttered Amy, who was rubbing sleep from her eyes.
“Kennedy and two other Slayers are on their way to take our new weapons,” Joshua said, turning to her. Amy turned pale and ran back to her room. “Huh?” Joshua said, shaking his head and turning back to the group.
“I think the idea of so many Slayers in the same place is freaking her out.” Amanda said, finally joining the group.
“Glad you could make it Amanda,” Morgan said sarcastically. “You know, I am your Watcher, which gives me a right to know when three Slayers arrive early in the morning to take my Slayers out on a ‘field trip.’ Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Kennedy told me not to. She was in one of her moods.” Amanda shrugged.
“Ah and where has that gotten us now?” Morgan said, narrowing her eyes.
“Sorry Morgan,” Amanda said shyly.
“Well, no use crying over spilt milk now, is there? We have more important things to worry about.” Morgan replied. “I can not believe Rupert would go so much trouble to get these items that aren’t even his—”
“It wasn’t Rupert.” Amanda said. “He is no longer head of the Slayer Council.”
“What?” Morgan said, nearly shouted.
“Some guy name Sanders is now the head of the Slayer Council. He outranked Giles, so when he came in, he immediately took over. Giles is in Africa with Xander.”
“Oh, well that’s just wonderful. Could it be this Sanders I’ve been talking to with my weekly e-mails?” Morgan wondered.
“It’s entirely possible—” Amanda began when a loud crash interrupted them as Kennedy and the two other Slayers began walking down the stairs.
“Now see here,” Morgan started, turning to the three approaching girls, “I was sent here by Rupert Giles several months ago. I take orders from him and only him!”
Kennedy smiled and shook her head. “You don’t understand, Watcher. Even though Sanders guides us, we are run by the Slayers. You do not have any authority over us anymore Angelina.”
Morgan stepped forward. “I do not care. You have given us no support so far. These weapons are all that stand between us and the evil that threatens to devour this town. We will not allow you to take our main line of defense!”
“We are taking the weapons, whether you agree or not.” Kennedy said firmly. The two Slayers behind her looked unsure where Kennedy was going with it.
Morgan gritted her teeth. “Very well, but I shall file a complaint with the Slayer Council tomorrow!”
“It will do you no good Angelina Morgan.” Kennedy snapped. “Your precious Amanda here has rejected membership into the Council. Starting tomorrow, you, and your little band here will be cut off completely. You will not have our support or resources any longer. You yourself, Ms. Morgan, will be required to leave this town for reassignment. Your girls may not be in the council, but you still are.”
Morgan slowly shook her head. “I go where my Slayers go. I am staying right here.”
“I’m afraid that is not an option Ms. Morgan.” Kennedy said, stepping face to face with Morgan. “You are a part of us. You cannot leave, we need you.”
“Then I quit.” Morgan said simply. “Therefore, taking these weapons from us would be theft. I will not hesitate to call the local authorities to deal with the robbery of several very valuable artifacts that a collector such as myself has acquired. If you want to check on that, please contact Philip Mensk. He is the man who sent the items to me.”
Kennedy sneered. “You wouldn’t dare threaten us that way. If our group is discovered, all Slayers will be revealed, including yours.”
“Most probably,” Morgan agreed. “Why don’t you try it and see what happens.”
Kennedy cursed loudly and turned. “Girls! We’re going!” she said to her fellow Slayers. Both nodded and turned to walk back up the stairs as Kennedy turned back to Amanda. “Oh, and Amanda, I hear you’re afraid of dragons?” Kennedy chuckled. “Slayers are supposed to be fearless. Perhaps you are not as strong as I thought.” With that final insult, Kennedy turned and followed the other two Slayers out the door.
They group stood in silence for a few moments until Amanda spoke first. “Wow, she sure has changed.” This brought a nervous laughter from several of the gang members, including Morgan, who gave a sharp chuckle.
“All right, everyone should go back to bed.” Gideon said, waving at the gang members who turned and began to return to their rooms. Instead of going back to bed, Amanda turned to Morgan. “How did she know what my fear was?” She asked curiously.
Morgan sighed. “I should apologize for not telling you before, Amanda. The past several months I have been sending reports to the Slayer Council every week. I needed to tell them everything about you, your strengths, your weaknesses, and your fears.”
Amanda began to turn red again. “I…see.” She finally managed. Gideon and Joshua turned and left, followed by Claudia who was already yawning and stretching. Soon the two were alone. Morgan walked closer to Amanda and spoke softly.
“Though what she did was very cruel, Amanda, Kennedy does have a point.” Morgan said.
“W-what point?” Amanda asked, confused.
“You need to face your fear.” Morgan said carefully.
Amanda shook her head quickly. “I-I c-c-can’t…”
“Amanda listen to me,” Morgan said.
“No! I can’t face those…”Amanda nearly shouted.
Morgan grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her quickly, trying to get her to calm down. “Amanda, listen, I am not going to make you face them. I just want you to explain to me why they frighten you so much.”
“I already told you, I saw—”Amanda started.
“Oh, don’t give me that ‘a movie scared me when I was a kid,’ excuse again. That’s bull and you know it. What is the real reason?”
Amanda took a deep breath. “Can we sit somewhere?”
“Of course.” Morgan said and they walked upstairs to the conference room, since Amanda liked the comfortable chairs there. They sat down and Morgan waited for Amanda to begin speaking.
After taking several deep breaths, Amanda started. “I’ve been trying to forget this moment ever since it happened…”
“It’s okay Amanda; take it as slow as you need to.” Morgan said with a comforting voice.
After swallowing hard, Amanda began again. “It was about three years ago. I found out from Dawn later that it was when Glory tried to open the hell dimension.”
“Ah, yes. I remember the outrage from the Watcher’s Council after she had stood up to them.” Morgan chuckled.
Amanda slowly nodded. “I remember that night, there were weird things happening all over town. I saw all these creepy creatures, I-I just thought someone was playing a prank, you know?”
Morgan nodded.
“But than I-I heard this huge rush of air. I was standing in front of my house when I felt the wind blowing down on me.” She took a few quicker, shallow breaths. “It was a dragon… it was huge! I-I-I couldn’t believe it. I kept telling myself it was a dream; I kept pinching myself to wake me up.” She lowered her head to the table and began to cry.
Morgan slowly put her hand on Amanda’s head, stroking her hair softly. “What happened next, Amanda?”
Amanda slowly raised her head again, Morgan still gently stroking her hair. “It… it started to kill… my next door neighbors… they were good friends of mine, they were taking pictures of it… all five of them pointed and stared at it…it saw them because of that… it shot this fire from its nose, just like in the movies… and I-I-I watched them die.” Amanda wrinkled her nose. “It-it then started burning houses…starting with the neighbors, then their neighbors… almost the entire block was on fire…” She began to weep again.
“Tell me what happened, Amanda, all of it.” Morgan said firmly but gently.
Amanda rubbed her nose and continued. “I had known my neighbors since I was a kid. We were like a big family. None of us ever moved away. I-I watched my best friend run from her house on fire. I saw her d-die…T-then, the dragon turned to my house. I started to scream for my parents and brother to get out, but they weren’t fast enough. But, we were lucky. Something else had distracted the dragon and it flew away. I… we had forgotten about it, somehow we had blocked it from our minds. My whole family and I. I didn’t remember again until you brought it up a few months ago. I was struggling to not believe it at first, but soon it all came back. I remembered everything.”
Morgan nodded. “I understand, it is common that someone encountering something so traumatic will block out the event entirely. Now Amanda, I want you to do something for me.”
Amanda nodded.
“Good, I want you to remember this dragon, think about it all the time. Learn to turn your fear into anger, your sadness into rage. Make that your power; use your emotions to empower you if you should ever encounter one. Do you understand?”
Amanda nodded. “I’ll try.”
“Well, I suppose that’s good enough for now…” Morgan sighed. “Get some rest Amanda. You’ve had a long morning. Well discuss what to do about this new situation later.”
Amanda nodded, wiping a tear from her eye as she stood. Morgan walked over to her and gave her a firm hug, which she graciously returned. Morgan released her and turned, walking out the door. Amanda started to walk to her room but stopped in mid-step. She turned and walked to the training room.
Once there she turned on the light, closed and locked the door, and turned to the weapon shelf. It only took her a few moments to find what she was looking for. Taking a deep breath, she carefully took Dragonbane from its place on the rack. She looked over the symbols; running her hands over the glorious Chinese dragons imbedded on the sides, trying to push the fear racking her body away.
Standing in the center of the room, Amanda spun the spear into a ready position, and then began to train with it. She twirled it once in her hand, and then aimed a fierce jab toward the back wall.


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