Offense. Two.
Darric had promised I would always have a home at the Hovel. That if I chose it, I could remain as their sister wherever time took them, for the rest of my life. They were my family now. My brothers. Yet, I couldn’t dismiss the feeling that if I left for Burge, I would never see the Hovel again.
One.
I tore the blindfold off my head and spun, taking in the blossoming trees and the surrounding forest. No sign of Darric. I knew he was here. Watching. Waiting. The serene woods became eerily silent. Beautiful before the squall.
My palms began to sweat. I steadied my breathing, trying to loosen the anxiety of an imminent attack, and listened for anything to reveal his location. Footsteps. The rustle of leaves not moved by the wind.
I was a sitting duck. The anticipation was torture. I turned circles in an attempt to see all my blind spots at once. The knot of nerves in my stomach tightened, and I ran my fingers over the pearly hilt of my sword. No. Don’t draw. Not yet. Those are the rules. Not until you engage—there are no rules. My core ached when I pulled my hand away from the grip.
I backed into the tree line. The fluttering petals made my eyes dart in erratic directions. If he didn’t appear soon, I would have to search the woods. The thick brush made it hazardous to move, and defending myself would become more perilous.
A twig snapped.
A sound so faint it would have gone unnoticed had I not been a Fae.
My heart sped. His breath hit my curls. Behind you!
I wrested my sword from its scabbard and swung the blade. The clash of metal vibrated up my arm as I crashed into Darric’s brilliant weapon.
The first series of maneuvers he performed shamed my own speed. I took several steps backwards to avoid being hit, caught in a swell of unrelenting terror. Too difficult to believe it wasn’t life or death. Too impossible to accept that his razor-sharp sword wouldn’t slice me in two if given the opportunity.
I had the strength. I had mastered agility. I was efficient. The style of my ability mimicked my instructor, yet he surpassed me. Always stronger. Always more agile.
I would be vanquished just like every other fight.
There are no rules.
To ever come close to defeating the full strength of Darric Ursygh, I needed to be more cunning, to take advantage of the skills he lacked. Using his dagger weakness wasn’t enough to overtake him.
In the last seconds before he had a hold on me, I slid under his blade and ran. I had to get away from him. I had to create distance.
“Aya!” he sternly called as I plunged into the forest. I gained speed, jumping over brush and dipping under low branches.
He chuckled darkly at the new game, and the pounding of his footsteps echoed behind me.
This wouldn’t last. He would inevitably catch me. And when he did, I would be finished.
The wind moved through the trees, blowing strands of hair across my face, and rustled the leaves and petals above.
Wind.
I flung my sword arm to the side, creating a violent gust that erupted from my clenched fingers. Crystalline white sparkles slammed into the trunk of a passing tree. The wood exploded from the impact, sending the timber crashing to the ground. Darric narrowly missed the fall and jumped over the trunk to continue his pursuit.
I forced a second gale to the left. Wood splintered and burst as another tree fractured and fell.
“Shit!” Darric’s sharp hiss cut through the chaos, and he increased his speed.
Unwilling to surrender, I sent gust after gust to either side of me, spinning the air so the trees fell in haphazard directions to prevent my assailant from discerning where the branches would fall. He skillfully swerved and dodged the pandemonium, but the effort needed to evade my devastation slowed his chase. I laughed in disbelief and shook glittering white dust from my hair. It’s working!
Credulously believing I controlled the rhythm of our battle, I reduced my pace.
The tree to my left cracked at the base and toppled. Darric scaled the trunk, shifting his weight to control its descent, then jumped to the ground, sliding across the dirt as the tree landed and blocked my path. He taunted me with a smirk and flicked a lock of hair away from his forehead.
I gaped, stunned, and composed myself just as his sword slammed into mine. Avoiding his next swing, I tore Luken’s dagger free. He countered by twisting away from the small blade and breaking his sword in two.
I matched his spectacular dual wielding, and we broke through the mess of shredded trees. He backed me into the open valley. The sun was blinding after the shade of the forest.
The rush of water plummeting into the lake gave me a flicker of hope. I allowed him to back me closer to the bank until my shoes hit the mud. I hopped onto the water and ran to the center. Out of his reach, I breathed deeply to alleviate the uneasy feeling compressing my chest.
His smile widened, and he shook his head, as if I was the naivest person he had ever met. He fused his swords and dived into the water.
My stomach jumped into my throat. I searched beneath me. The blue twinkles littering the crest of each churning wave disguised his location. Without warning, his hand snaked around my ankle and jerked me under the surface.
Surprised, I accidentally inhaled and filled my lungs with water. I kicked for the surface, but he held me down by the arm, trying to shake the sword free of my grip. Control. Concentrate. I need air. My chest is going to explode. I raised Luken’s dagger to stab his throat, but he caught my wrist and fought against the push of my attack. My heart pounded, using up my last bits of stored oxygen. I kicked into his stomach with all the strength I had to spare. The forceful blow made him release me, and I swam for the bank.
With my hands full of weapons and my dress sopping wet, I dragged myself onto the grass. I stumbled and coughed, trying to inhale new air into the spaces brimming with water.
Darric snatched the train of my skirt and jerked me back to the ground. Instinctively, I released my sword to catch my fall, and the blade skidded out of my reach. Still clutching Luken’s dagger, I tried in vain to slide out of his grip, but he pitilessly shoved me back into the grass and pinned my last form of defense above my head.
Using my free hand, I crashed a hardened fist into his jaw and cried out from the painful impact. He took advantage of my distraction and swung his knee over my hips, immobilizing me and fastening my body to the ground. My head slammed onto the dirt, and his sword met my throat.
Darric held the blade to my skin for a long moment for emphasis.
I’d lost.
Again.
I stared at his silhouette, darkened by the sun, and watched droplets of water leave his disheveled hair. His arms quivered with adrenaline, and his chest heaved. My emotions appalled me when they used his handsome face to morph my hatred into lust.
He rolled away and lay beside me. “Damn, your skill is getting faultless,” he said breathlessly. “The falling trees—” he paused, struggling to maintain his breathing “—that was absolutely brilliant.”
“You still won,” I huffed, ripping up a handful of grass and crushing the blades in my hand.
“That action alone would have killed anyone chasing you. It would be suicide to attempt to kill you. You’re lethal.”
I blushed at his praise. “I don’t feel lethal. I thought you would reprimand me for running.”
“No rules, remember?” He propped himself onto his elbow. “How’s your hand?”
“Sore.” I opened and closed my throbbing fist several times. “Hitting you isn’t like hitting Flint. You’re harder.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He laughed.
I laughed with him, exhausted. Combat made me ache both mentally and physically. I took deep breaths, feeling as though I couldn’t get enough fresh air.
Darric trailed a finger across my stomach and up my chest. His callouses brushed my skin as he moved the leather lacing on the front of my dress off the arch of my breast and watche
d my chest heave with each breath. My heart almost broke a rib as I studied his wandering gaze.
“I’m leaving tonight.” His eyes moved away from my breasts. “I need to sleep, since I won’t be getting another opportunity until we arrive in Burge. Once we are on the river, we’ll be stuck on a boat together for weeks. It’s dangerous if I nod off.”
“You would probably hate yourself if you sliced Flint in half.” I giggled.
“Flint is the least of my worries. I’m only telling you this because I want you to know where I’ll be. I’ve always feared you would go against my request and wander the forest alone. I won’t live with myself if I kill you.” He peered intently into my eyes, watching the Fae glimmer come to life within them. “Do you remember the ledge we climbed the night I told you about my family?”
I nodded. “Shame, that is exactly where I was planning to spend my evening,” I teased, pushing a lock of blond hair away from his forehead.
He caught my hand and interwove our fingers. “I haven’t been looking forward to the trip south this year. If it weren’t for Bromly needing to visit Hazel, I would have canceled it altogether.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say I’ve enjoyed the weeks we’ve spent alone in the forest. Even if I have been trying to kill you for most of it.”
Summer moved over Brisleia with a revivifying nurture. The landscape celebrated the warmth, and the animals brought new young out of hiding. Bees and butterflies tasted the abundant wildflowers, and the snow caps receded to their highest points on the mountains. The beauty and brilliancy of the valley never failed to amaze me.
By early afternoon, I missed Darric significantly. He had been gone a full day. My stomach panged, feeling the premonition of the future: I would spend endless hours watching from the cavern for his figure to appear on the horizon. My heart would ache with memories of the wisteria forest until time faded the days I’d spent as his student. Then I might have the chance to be a simple sister for the Hovel brothers.
I waited against the rock arch, trying to calm my nerves. Bromly had taken notice of my distress and softly hummed to himself. A sizzle from the coals broke my watchful attention as he poured a full bucket of water over the smoldering fire. The flames hissed a dying breath, and he shoved his boot into the black mess of smoking mud and soot, scattering the leftover embers.
Today was the day I’d been dreading.
He set the bucket in an organized spot next to the Hovel and joined me by the rock arch. “When Darric gets back, we’ll be leaving. He wanted to go at noon, but it’s past one. Hopefully, he awakens soon. It’s odd. He doesn’t normally sleep this long.” He took off his tan cap and fanned out the heat, then smoothed his black hair before resettling the small hat on his head. “Are you all packed?”
I nodded meekly. My empty haversack lay on Darric’s bed next to his own, which had grown fuller as the bedroom hooks went barren.
Bromly set his hand on my shoulder, and his chubby fingers massaged the muscle. “He’s fine,” he reassured me.
Flint bounced out of the Hovel and skipped across the smoking remnants of the fire, ripping a large piece of dried bear meat with his teeth. “Fire’s out inside. Darric back yet?”
“No.” Bromly removed his hand from me. “Might as well get comfortable.”
“We could jus’ leave him here this year,” Flint said through chews.
“I know where he is,” I murmured absently.
Bromly gaped, a combination of shock and dismay etched into his doughy brown eyes.
“Whoa.” Flint stuck a finger into his ear to dig at an itch. “He’s never told either of us where he goes to sleep.” He flicked a ball of wax off his finger and bit another chunk off his bear meat.
I shrugged, pressing my back against the rock. “I can find out if he’s still asleep.”
“That’s a dangerous idea,” Bromly warned, settling on the seating log.
“It is for the two of you, but not necessarily anymore for me.” I repositioned the sword at my side.
Bromly gazed at the weapon belonging to Darric’s abhorrent history. “Be careful, Aya. You know how deadly he can be.”
“I’ll grab my bow an’ come with ya. It’ll be safer that way.” Flint zipped into the Hovel, choking on the last bit of his bear meat.
Annoyed, I stomped my foot in protest.
“Be nice, Aya. He wants to help in the protection of our sister.” Bromly scratched his beard, snickering at the term I hated.
“Sister.” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. The cat meowed at my feet. No, Flint is not coming with me.
I dashed away from the cavern at full speed, a long bellow of Bromly’s laughter echoing behind me. Staying mindful in case Flint pursued me, I scurried through the valley.
Still a distance from the crag, Darric’s blond hair appeared in my periphery. Rested and serene, he leaned on a birch tree facing a rocky overhang above the riverbank. Thin trees encompassed the ledge, and water washed at the mud around their exposed root systems.
Lost in a still meditation, he watched the waterfall descend into the basin. His chest rose and fell with each new exchange of mountain air. The ripples of his lean muscle shifted beneath his white shirt as he breathed. Even from a distance, the scars defacing his arms stood out against his tanned skin. A warm summer breeze scattered strands of hair over his forehead and swayed the branches, sending beams of sunlight flickering across his handsome features.
He was indeed the most attractive man I’d ever seen. Impressive, rough, and grim—nothing like the feeble, well-dressed men at court. Jagged around the edges, yet built with such a pure heart I found it difficult to remember the deadly assassin lurking inside of him. How effectively peace had eluded him in the wake of his haunting past.
We had never been different; we both struggled with a history we wanted to forget. Yet, my royal upbringing would never compare to his anguish.
I had made peace with the oddity of our attraction. I knew somewhere deep in the recesses of my core what I felt for him, but I would never allow those feelings to surface. Especially since he considered himself my adoptive brother.
Darric would know the time of day and that the others waited for him. I rocked on my heels, rethinking the decision to disturb him, but the irresistible draw he had on me tugged at my feet.
I gripped the hilt of my sword and pulled it from the scabbard, the delicate ring of metal on leather nearly inaudible between the songs of valley birds and the rush of the waterfall. Cautiously, I slid the blade under his chin, relishing the moment of catching him off guard.
He eased away from the tree, his own sword drawn and a smirk twitching at the side of his mouth. The sharp point of his blade touched my belly. “You are not as quiet as you think you are,” he informed me with a chuckle.
“How do you do that?” I asked, both awed and defeated.
“I pay attention.” He flourished his blade. “Though the effort you make to catch me off guard is amusing. Do you really want to know what I’m like with my defenses down that desperately?”
Irritated by his provocative behavior, I summoned all my force to crash my sword into him. He blocked the attack with ease and laughed at my futile attempt to fight him. He countered with a blow so heavy my arm flew backwards, and I grasped my stinging shoulder.
Immediately, he caught my wrist, raised my sword, and stabbed the blade deeply into the branch above my head, leaving me clinging to a weapon buried to the hilt within the wood. I pulled at the grip with both hands, trying to free it, and hung off the ground. Nothing. I gazed upwards, trying to decipher how he had managed to jab my blade into immobility.
When the spell of amazement broke, I tore Luken’s dagger from my ankle and swatted at him. Dodging the blade, he recaptured my wrist. I let out a shriek as he twisted my off hand and plunged the dagger into the trunk.
He took a step back, eyeing his craftsmanship, and vivaciously slid his sword back into his scabbard. “There are still a few t
hings I could teach you.”
“Ridiculous,” I muttered, tugging at Luken’s dagger.
He rested his forearms on the branch above us and hovered over my dismay. “I assume the coalition sent you, since it’s well past noon.”
“No.” I pushed displaced hair away from my face. “I volunteered.”
He pointed a stern finger at me. “You aren’t supposed to be out here.”
“And you are supposed to be asleep.” I stubbornly crossed my arms over my chest and leaned my back on the tree.
“I did sleep.” His steel-blue eyes penetrated mine, causing me to lose control over my heart. I shifted uncomfortably against the bark. “I need to talk to you about something, and I have to say it before we leave for Burge.”
I swallowed hard, hoping my legs wouldn’t turn to jelly.
“Aya.” He let go of the branch to put his hands on my hips. “What am I to you?”
My heart hammered at the inside of my ribs. I put my hands on his chest for distance, trying to prevent him from noticing the unhinging of my sanity. He pushed them away and gathered me into his arms, pinning my tiny frame to the trunk. A gratified smile grew on his lips when he felt my erratic heartbeats drumming against his chest.
“Why does your heart pound like that when I come close to you? Do I make you that nervous?”
Trapped, I gripped his shoulders to support my wobbling. “Yes.”
I needed the Darric who fought me to return. I needed the man who used to hate me. I needed him to send me tumbling away, his sword drawn, ready and willing to slice my throat. Instead, he was pulling to the surface a part of me I desperately needed to forget existed.
Dreams of the Fae: Transcendence Page 40