Chapter 13: Heart over Hate

Dante' woke up around six on the day Lyss was supposed to head back to earth. He looked at her seeping figure in the other bed across the room. He went to the window and did his mourning meditation. He floated two feet off the ground for about an hour. When he finished he looked over o see Lyss still asleep. He was going to wait until she got up so he could say goodbye, but finally said to himself, "Goodbyes aren't my strongpoint" and he walked out the door. He told Tenomas he'd meet him at the forest entrance at 8, but got there an hour and 10 minutes early, so he walked into the woods, hoping to meet Tenomas on the way.

Dante' saw Tenomas meditating in a tree. "You're early", he said with a smile.

"So", asked Dante'

"No it's fine, the more training the better. Well, are you ready to begin?" Dante' couldn't answer; Tenomas flew through the air and dive-bombed him. Dante' jumped out of the way and went with an offensive of his own. His punches were all over, and weren't connecting at all. "Your style is wild, we'll have to fix that." Tenomas was only testing Dante', but Dante' was still getting frustrated. His power flared and his pace quickened. "You fight with your anger, you'll ware yourself out doing that." Dante' tried to flip over Tenomas but his body wouldn't let him. The sword wound in his ribs caught fire and he fell to the ground. "You have to know your limits. Know yourself, before you read your opponent."

Dante' looked up at the sky in pain. "Do you think I stand a chance against Akeo?" Tenomas stood with his back to Dante' and sighed.

I don't know. Truly you are a strong fighter, Dante, but you still have much to learn. Your anger is what controls your powers so we mustn't destroy it, but it is also your greatest weakness. Your anger makes you stronger and faster, but it also makes you wild. Without a focused target that power is useless." Tenomas stood rigid for a short while as Dante' got up slowly and dusted off his tunic. "Learn to fight with your mind. Your anger is a deadly weapon, but you need your mind to control it. Today I sensed your mindset in that 10 seconds of battle, and I saw a valiant heart and strong mind. The one problem is you never use your heart. You have locked your heart away when your parents died, but you need it now." After Tenomas speech Dante' felt guilt for the night before

"Maybe Lyss was right, maybe my heart in stone. I have to go talk to her."

"To late, the ship left 3 minutes ago, I'm sorry," said Tenomas with a sorrowful look on his face. "She was angry, she probably didn't mean what she said"

"But she's right, I don't trust anyone, and that's my biggest problem." Dante' felt something he had never felt before, remorse. Tenomas looked at Dante' and felt his pain.

"You can't turn this way on me. Everyone has a heart; we just need to reestablish yours." Teomas waited for his words to sink in. After he was sure Dante' had reflected on it, he said in a confident voice, "Lets get this training started. We have so much to do, but not much time."