Sweat dripped off her brow as Elena fought to hold the hover for a few more seconds. She was aware of Illuim holding the same position next to her, although his face was grinning and not in a twisted snarl as Elena gave in and landed. "Ten minutes, 14 seconds." Illuim landed next to her, showing her the stopwatch. "That's two minutes longer than last week."
Elena wiped the towel over her face and neck and sighed. "I still hate that I'm so painfully weak."
Illuim rolled his shoulders. Elena watched his muscles flex. He was shirtless, as they were back in the Refuge, her training sessions with Galen too important to skip. Elena had volunteered for the journey, loathed to separate the sweet but strong Jessamy from her handsome brute.
Illuim smiled at her, and her she felt her heart expand just a little more. Illuim was her favourite of Raphael's Seven, but their relationship was purely platonic. They were totally at ease with each other, and she returned his smile, tossing her towel at him when he made a joke about her choice of clothing. Archangels were curious creatures, and the balls that they held tended to be double edged swords, beautiful and lethal. If Elena was going to be attacked, again, it would be a show, to prove how weak she made Raphael. Because of this, she often chose to train in full ball armour. On her feet were her thigh high boots, black and flat to allow for easy movement, the full-length dress she wore, had a zipper from the hem to just under her bust, that she could zip quickly when she intended to fly. She never ever wanted to flash anyone her underwear.
"Don't you have a session with Galen later?" Illuim arched a perfect eyebrow at her, as she snarled again. "Yeah." She sighed. "I better so get changed."
Illuim laughed at her tone, blowing her a kiss before taking off, straight up towards the clouds, disappearing quickly.
Elena took a quick shower, shaking out her wings to dry them out. She dressed in flowing black pants, and a top with straps that she could fasten herself. Lastly, she strapped herself with weapons before giving herself a grin in the mirror; her silver eyes sparkled at her: a sign that her immortality was evolving. Galen was busy when she arrived, so Elena pulled herself up on the wall to watch. Some of the younger angels sat next to her and watched as Galen and Raphael fought with flowing elegance. Anita, a small angel with purple and blue striped wings, sat on Elena's lap. "Can you fight like that Ellie?" Elena smiled. Being female in the angel's world didn't automatically mean you were weaker. "I'm hoping that I'll be as good as Raphael someday." She tucked the girl's hair behind her ear. "That's why I'm training with Galen." She lowered her voice. "Although I think he enjoys knocking me on my ass a little too much." Anita giggled so loudly, Raphael looked over, taking a blow to his chest. Elena heard the small gaps from around her, but kept her face neutral. Raphael was an archangel; a small punch to the chest would barely leave bruise.
Galen took a step back. Bowing once before striding off to wipe his face on a towel. He looked over at Elena. She stood, sitting Anita back down in her spot. "Keep it warm for me, kitten." She winked at the girl and strode over to Galen, keeping her eyes of Raphael as he would only distract her. She caught the weapon Galen threw at her. It was a relatively light weight sword; she noted the ornate markings on the handle as she tested the weight, before taking a defensive stance Galen had taught her. He did the same. "Have you been practising, Guild Hunter?" She narrowed hey eyes but said nothing, monitoring Galen's feet as he began to circle her. She kept her eyes on him, and her feet pointing away from the direction she was planning on moving. He flew towards her, his wings soundless, but she was ready. Elena flattened herself as much as possible, wings spread out on either side to stop them getting crumpled. She turned swiftly, retaking her stance as Galen ran for her again. Their swords met in a clash of metal. She met him every step of the way, blocking most of his aggressive moves. Thinking fast, Elena threw a knife at him, sliding in front of him as he was distracted to hold her sword against his throat. Only Galen was just as cunning, and she felt a small blade poke at her chest.
"Draw." Raphael walked towards them both. Galen bowed with respect, taking off to the other side of the hall, where a tall slender womena tall slender woman waited for him.
Raphael kissed her gently on the lips, aware of the little eyes watching. "You did well, Elena mine."
She smiled not caring when he scoped her up to fly her through the clouds. Showering could wait, she thought.