As I came to the conclusion that I was in charge of who I was and how I react in any given situation, my mind cleared itself, and I thought up a new strategy. The creature was expecting me to fight angrily, blindly, with a fury of attacks all aiming for his head. He expected me to make every blow a paralyzing one, instead of taking advantage of the small spots in his defenses that he left open. The little things that I was ignoring because I wanted every punch to hurt him to the point that he couldn't fight anymore. If I wanted to win, maybe I was going to have to wear him down little by little.

And that's exactly what I did. I started aiming for the little nerve centers in his back, his throat, his feet, his knees, the joints in his arms...and to the shadow's surprise, I began to get the upper hand. I was relentless, everytime he moved, I was right there, pressing my attack so hard that he had no choice but to take the hit or run from it. But I wasn't prepared for what happened next. The figure suddenly stopped blocking my hits. Instead, it began to move and dodge so effectively, that even when my blows DID connect, there was no real power behind them. It was as if the movements of his body 'absorbed' them somehow, or they rolled off to the side of him. My power was being deflected in ways that tired me out and kept him from feeling any kind of damage. Something about my attack had to adapt to this new technique.

Quote #6: "Don't push yourself into this life so fast, take your time. There's a lot of stuff you've got to learn. And trust me, some of it WON'T be fun and games."

1) Jenna
2) Taryn
3) Bryson
4) Dion