CHAPTER 11

The cheetah zipped to the left and right, dodging the spheres of energy flying at her. Swiftly and majestically, she pounced from side to side, expertly dodging many of the spheres. She missed a particularly large sphere, however, that came barreling at her as she had her back turned.

"Power sphere!" Rose called, her hand extended palm up. The sphere evaporated, only to reappear above her palm, she pulled her arm back and threw it at the boy who threw it at her cousin.

Said boy threw his arms forward, and then stretched them horizontally. A force field appeared before him, making the returned sphere ineffectual. Rose ran forward, Jenny at her side in her cheetah form. The brown haired boy jumped back, force field still in front of him.

Another boy jumped forward, ebony eyes shining as he rushed the girls. Leaves crunching beneath his sneakers, he powered up an orb of swirling black energy in each hand. His sandy blond hair whipped back, his eyebrows drawn down in concentration.

Pulling both arms back for a moment, he swings first one orb, then another. They careened toward the girls. Rose waved her right arm in front of her, a shield of emerald and gold appeared, blocking the ball of power, making it fizzle away. Jenny, cheetah form, jumped into the air, swirling to become a silver falcon. She flew over the orb, screeching. Swooping toward the boy, she swirled again to become human form, falling onto the ground, her silver eyes shining brilliantly. Extending her right arm, palm jutted forward, she summoned a bolt of lightning. Shaking her arm left then right, she extends the bolt, and then grabs it, as if it were a whip.

The sandy haired boy stumbled back slightly, caught a bit off guard he fell onto his backside. The girls, one beside the other, smiled triumphantly.

"Let's make it even girls," Pogue called out, jumping in front of a fallen Reid. Tyler jumped out from behind a tree, standing at Pogue's side.

"Yea, Caleb and Reid had their turns. Let us have a go!" Tyler said, Pogue nodded in agreement as Caleb walked over, smiling and picking Reid up. They stood on the side lines, watching the two pairs face off.

"We are still going to kick your butts!" Rose said confidently, Jenny looked at her cousin in shock, then, smiling, turned to their opponents, nodding. She loved a good sparring match.

Recently, they had been facing off against each other randomly to heighten their senses and power levels. Most times it was Jenny and her cousin teaming up against the boys, but sometimes they tested their skills against each other, Rose often times coming out the victor. Jenny did not want to use her full powers just yet, even though before every match, the older girl cast a spell to allow them to use their powers for up to three hours without the possibility of aging.

Their sparring so far had paid off, in Jenny's opinion. They had all improved immensely, the younger two, herself and Tyler, proving that though they were youngest, they could fight fiercely.

"So are we going to stand here all day, or are we going to fight?" Pogue said, taking a fighting stance. Tyler followed his lead, standing across from Rose as the other boy stood across from Jenny.

"Let's go," Jenny laughed, brandishing the whip. Running forward, the silver eyed girl looked out the corner of her eye to see that her cousin was already engaging in a fight with Tyler.

"I am your opponent today Jenny, don't worry about anything else," Pogue said, smiling as he dodged Jenny's lighting whip and grabbing her arm. Jenny turned quickly to him, smiling back as she transformed into a rather large boa constrictor. Pogue, who had been holding her arm a moment before grasped at the air. Slithering away, Jenny gathered her bearings before becoming human again, while Pogue powered up multiple little orbs on each hand.

On the other side of their hidden battle grounds in the woods, Rose and Tyler were trading heavy blows.

At that moment in time, the blue eyed boy was blocking an onslaught of projectiles being flung at him. Rose used her summoning ability with great gusto and expertise. It took the boy all he had just to keep his shield up.

Feeling he had to go on the offensive, Tyler released the shield, dodging to his left quickly to avoid a large rock heading toward him. His eyes shining at the challenge, he decided to try out his new move. A move which Jenny had helped him master, he smiled and rushed forward.

Rose was starting to feel tired, she breathed deeply, wanting to see what the boy would try next. She thought she could take him, either way.

Running to the girl, Tyler simultaneously created a large sphere in his left hand and a whip of coal colored lightning in his right. Throwing the sphere at her, Rose laughed, jumping back, avoiding the ball, which hit a nearby tree. Before she could land, however, her body was wrapped tightly by the black lighting whip. Struggling, Rose cursed as her body became numb from the small shocks the whip gave out. The boy slowly lowered the limp girl to the ground.

"You give?" He asked, keeping a firm grip on the bolt of darkness.

Rose nodded slowly; the boy released her from his hold. The whip vanished and he went to help her up. Rose smiled up at him, taking his offered hand and pulling up.

"Dang, you got stronger Ty… I got too confident." Panting, Rose turned to see how her cousin was faring. Tyler turned too, wanting to see how much stronger the younger girl had become.

Jenny was hunched over slightly, breath ragged as she looked at Pogue, who seemed to be just as tired as she was.

"You ready to give up yet?"

"No way, I was just letting you have a rest," Jenny said, standing straighter and whispering an incantation. Pogue stood up as well, watching her wearily. The girl stopped muttering, looking up with blazing eyes. Pogue looked on coolly, a sphere beginning to grow large in his right hand.

"Cheetah, hawk and gorilla," the girl said aloud. The two sitting on the sidelines, as well as Tyler and Rose, stared on in wonder.

Pogue, caught off guard, laughed uneasily.

"Name calling won't hurt me."

Jenny began to run forward, with the speed and agility of a cheetah. Jumping into the air, she seemed to fly, much like the hawk she just mentioned. Above the startled boy, she threw her fist down in a pounding gesture, like a gorilla.

Pogue barely had time to throw up his shield, which cracked as soon as Jenny's fist hit it. The boy flew back at the impact, falling onto the ground with a small thump.

Looking at her, everyone was in shock at her skills. Rose stumbled over to her, throwing an arm around the younger girls' shoulder.

"I knew you had it in you," Everyone nodded.

"Thanks, but now, there is only one thing I want to do…" Jenny said, her eyes becoming normal.

"What is that?" Pogue asked, getting up and panting.

Jenny fell onto her back on the soft floor, panting heavily. She sighed deeply, closing her eyes to rest.

"That was just what I was thinking," Tyler laughed, falling onto the floor as well. Everyone shrugged, smiling as they too fell onto the ground to rest.