“Ouch! You sliced me!” Chel came walking away from Daegan, cradling her arm. As she walked past Kaeleigh and Finn she shot Kaeleigh a look. “The big oaf can’t control his strength apparently.” She went over to pour some water over the cut that really didn’t look that bad.
Kaeleigh looked on slightly confused. She knew Chel could whine, but she really was a tough girl and no way would she have made a big deal about such a graze.
“Finn, can you do your voodoo magic and see if he nicked an artery or anything important,” Chel asked as she looked for something to bandage her “wound” with.
Finn frowned but walked her way. “Sure, Chel.” He looked back to Kaeleigh. “I’ll just be a minute, Kae.”
Kaeleigh nodded and of course wanted to show her concern for her friend. “Get over it, Chel! It’s just a cut.” She rolled her eyes.
“Kaeleigh! You’re up,” Daegan shouted even though he didn’t need to; she would hear him just fine—unless it was for someone else’s benefit.
Kaeleigh took a deep breath. She wasn’t too excited about clashing swords with Daegan, as he had been in nothing more than instructor mode since they started, unlike earlier that day. As she headed toward where he impatiently waited leaning on his sword and watching her intently, she glanced back as Finn was grumbling under his breath and Chel winked at her and mouthed, you’re welcome. Kaeleigh glared at her, infuriated that Chel would set up not only to get herself out of practicing, but to set Kaeleigh up against Daegan.
“Ow, Finn! Not so hard!” Chel shrieked. Kaeleigh relaxed her glare and chuckled as she got in position in front of Daegan. Serves her right!
“Ready?” he asked softly in comparison to his hard, serious demeanor.
She nodded and brought up her sword in front of her. As she felt the energy of the sword buzzing once again, she began to move in time with Daegan’s moves. She watched him and mirrored his steps, her eyes never leaving his as he had taught her. She watched for imperceptible signs of his next move, but he was fast and she was barely able to block his strike let alone counteract. She glared at him.
“Your enemies are not going to go easy on you. Neither will I.”
“I am not asking you to.”
His eyebrow quirked in that obnoxious way she hadn’t seen him do in a while. “Are you not?”
Ugh. He’s right. I hate it when he’s right. Fine. Bring it on! She looked at him defiantly then nodded as they began their steps again. She could hear Chel cheering: “Take that gorgeous warrior down!” Then Finn: “Chel! She needs to focus... on the fighting.” Then their voices faded into the background, leaving nothing but her and Daegan caught in this deathly dance with nothing but the beauty of the forest surrounding them. Settling into a rhythm, Kaeleigh felt the energy hum through her mixing with her sword, guiding her movements, and she blocked and parried like she was born doing it. Daegan lifted a brow in surprise before his mouth turned into that smirky grin that told her she had just exceeded her status as an imbecilic beginner in his eyes. She felt him relax a bit and push her harder.
Suddenly Kaeleigh noticed that the sky had grown darker and the creatures from the forest had become quiet, settling in for the evening. What had felt like not very long must have actually been an hour or more. She took a brief second to note that Chel and Finn were gone. Huh, they must have gotten bored and gone back to Hunter’s for food. I’m hungry too, now that I think about it. Uh oh. That brief second she lost her focus, Daegan gained ground on her, literally, as she was on the downward side of a slight incline with her back toward an edge of the forest as he swung high. She blocked. He swung low. Again she blocked, all the while being pushed back into the forest. There was a spark of fire in his eyes, a spark of danger that caused her insides to flutter with nervousness. She fought back with all she had left, gaining a little bit of ground but not much.
“I’m getting tired.” Kaeleigh grunted as their swords were crossed at an impasse that she was sure he was allowing her to sustain.
“I know.”
“Then what are you doing?” She held her sword strong, but she allowed him to push her back further as she didn’t have the strength left to hold him off. She inhaled sharply when her back hit somewhat roughly as she was driven against a tree trunk that was suddenly behind her.
Daegan simply stared at her, his eyes dark with intensity mixed with confusion and fear, slowly taking in all her facial features. Swords crossed between their bodies. Chests heaving as they breathed hard trying to catch their breath. Not speaking, they stayed like that for what seemed like eternity. Kaeleigh’s softness and the purity he saw in her eyes radiated between them and something in his chest pinched as he was once again reminded of his duty and who he was.
Kaeleigh could stare into his eyes and feel her soul connect with his. He felt familiar, yet foreign—he felt... like home. She could breathe differently around him. Even though he made the butterflies in her stomach come to life, she felt alive. Kaeleigh wanted to keep studying his face, watching his eyes move across her face even though she could feel the blush sneaking up her neck, his intensity warming places inside her that she hadn’t felt before. Too soon, he took a step back, dropping his sword, his stance once again shutting her out. Immediately feeling the loss of his closeness and heat, she deflated. Blinking and shaking her head as if entranced, she looked at their surroundings. They had entered into the forest not far from the cottage, but closer to the small river where they had been the day before. She looked back at his face, trying to understand him. Where did he go?
“You did well, Kaeleigh... really well.” He chuckled surprisingly as he ran his fingers through his hair. “You were performing as someone who has trained for many years. It should be impossible, and yet I witnessed it.”
“It was the sword, I could feel it responding to your strikes. Once I felt its energy and its intent it wasn’t hard to follow its lead.” She spoke with her eyes to the ground, suddenly feeling like a fraud.
“No. It was you as well. You have a natural ability and when you merge that with the sword’s magic, you make quite the formidable component.” He sighed. “I haven’t had that much fun fighting in quite some time,” he admitted.
“Really?” Fun? Well, that’s something.
He nodded then walked away further into the trees.
“Where are you going?” It didn’t really matter, she had already decided to follow him.
He pointed to the water as he laid his sword against a felled tree covered in moss and various growths of mushrooms. She simply watched him in awe as he lifted his shirt over his head exposing a deeply tan, strong-muscled back. Her throat felt suddenly dry as she stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do as he threw his shirt to the ground. Kaeleigh’s heart rate began to accelerate and she instantly tried to calm herself, knowing he would be able to sense her sudden spike in energy.
He turned his head slightly in her direction with a confused expression, but offered, “Good control, Kaeleigh.”
She huffed. The nerve! She thought indignantly that she couldn’t even hide her body’s reactions to him, but he seemed to be confused by her reaction. He was actually praising her control as opposed to making a cocky response, which confused her in return. Was he actually confused by my reaction? He has to know that anyone with eyes and an appreciation for the male species would have the same reaction I did. He’s so... other! Kaeleigh rolled her eyes, relaxing at the possible thought that maybe she shouldn’t be as embarrassed as she felt.
Lost in her own head, which was nothing new, she almost missed him leaning down to the water’s edge lapping up water to drink and splashing his face to cool off. Being reminded that she too was thirsty she slowly moved up to the water’s edge a little ways downstream from Daegan. She drank some of the cold, refreshing liquid that tasted like water but sweeter, with a texture unlike any water she had ever tasted, smooth and velvety as it went down her throat.
She glanced over at Daegan, who had leaned up si
tting back on his haunches running his fingers through his now wet hair glistening where the last remaining spots of sun hit it as it descended for the day. Kaeleigh couldn’t help but let her eyes roam a little. He was gorgeous, with his tight muscular arms and defined chest and abs. Once again she noticed the jagged scar that ran down the side of his neck crossing in front of his collar bone. It wasn’t the only one he had either. There were smaller scars across his chest, probably from years as a warrior, but rather than detracting from his beauty they added to it. Her eyes ran across the marking on his forearm marking him as Ferrishyn, and the one on his bicep that had the look of a snake encircling some kind of symbol, but he had some other markings across his lower ribs and abdomen on one side that moved around onto his lower back. She couldn’t decipher what it was, but it was very eye catching. Her eyes drifted back up to his, which were now watching her intently. She blushed and turned back toward the river. As he reached back over to grab his shirt she couldn’t help but glance back and watch his muscles bunch and shift as he put his shirt back on, but before he got that far, his image wavered slightly.
Her intake of breath caught him off guard and he spun to see what she was reacting to, but apparently it was him. He frowned, putting his shirt on even faster than when she had made him uncomfortable by simply watching him. He had never had a girl stare at him that intimately, at least not that he was aware of. She couldn’t have possibly seen anything. No one has.
“Daegan,” Kaeleigh said quietly. He barely looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. “Daegan, are those scars on your back?” She waited, but nothing. She shook her head then looked at him again with confusion. “It was only a brief flash, but I saw something... and the snake on your arm looked at me... It moved.”
Daegan’s head whipped around to face her, and the glare on his face and the fire in his eyes was enough to make her stagger back a few steps. Then he doubled over in obvious pain, clutching his head. Kaeleigh didn’t even hesitate; she went to him whether he wanted her to or not. She didn’t know what she could do but he had offered her comfort so many times, she wanted to try and do something for him.
“Daegan. What can I do?” she whispered as she touched his back with one hand, feeling his muscles bunch at the shock of her touch. Her other hand went to his head, covering his hands where they clutched it tightly.
Her hand was cold from the chill of the water, and the shock of it loosened the blinding pressure he had suddenly felt. Most of all her concern and care seeped into him, not necessarily comforting the pain of his head but reaching in and touching the pain that was held captive in a part of his heart. The pain had been alleviated almost as quickly as it had come upon him. It had happened many times before this one, but never had he felt the pain as sharply. It had momentarily taken over his faculties as his vision had blacked out and his hearing had been blocked... until he heard her voice. Kaeleigh’s words had penetrated through the binding he felt around his head. Slowly, very slowly, he brought his hands down from his face, but held onto hers as he lowered them. The coolness of her other hand had chilled the fever he had felt through the light fabric of his shirt at his back. She was scared, but not of him, he realized... for him. She was standing so close.
“Are you all right, Daegan?” she whispered.
He nodded, but instead of speaking moved in closer, his eyes moving over her face. He pulled her closer where his hand still gently gripped hers, leaning in to her face, pausing for a brief moment to allow her to stop him, but when she didn’t he made a split-second decision to follow his heart and not his conscience. His lips found hers and gently, tentatively, he kissed hers, asking permission. When she kissed him back, surprisingly, his heart lifted. Her lips were so soft he wanted to envelop her but he didn’t want to scare her either. Kaeleigh. There was just something about her that drew him in. His kiss remained gentle and hesitant until she reached up with her other hand and gently pressed it up against his cheek, drawing him back into reality. Almost as quickly as it began, he pulled back, looking her in the eyes and feeling the same loss that he saw there like a splash of cold water in his face. Daegan stared at her, wide-eyed.
“I, uh, I apologize, Kaeleigh. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m not sure what came over me, I’m sorry,” he said as he went back to the water to do exactly that—splash water.
Kaeleigh stood there, stunned into silence. She put her hand to her lips in shock of what just happened. Did she want him to kiss her? Of course. Had she wanted him to stop? No. Did she want him to do it again? Most definitely. She started to go after him. To say what? she wondered to herself.
“I’m not sorry,” Kaeleigh mumbled to herself but figured he’d hear her. She sighed, moving on to his relief. “Daegan, what happened? Are you okay?”
He felt her at his back and he stopped splashing water in his face for a moment, staring straight ahead. “It’s never been like that before, but something bad always follows it. We need to get back, we shouldn’t be here.” Stone-faced Daegan was back.
“What is it?”
“We’re done talking about this. We need to go,” he said and dipped his hand once more to get a final splash and drink of water.
Done, huh? Before she could stop herself, Kaeleigh lifted her foot to his back and shoved. Turning to pick up her sword and head back toward the cottage, she was satisfied by the large splash and the exasperated grunt she heard.
“Kaeleigh,” Daegan whisper-growled at her. He pulled himself out of the river then wrung his clothes out, grabbing his sword and trailing water behind him. He didn’t need to yell; she would hear him.
He had just caught up to her, grabbing her elbow and turning her toward him, glaring at her, apparently going to say something, but she stubbornly glared back, daring him to scold her for what she did. Their silent torture was interrupted by a very distant thundering sound. Daegan spun around, trying to determine the direction of the sound, scanning the woods behind them.
“What...” Kaeleigh said breathlessly, but before she could even finish Daegan, still gripping her arm, was hauling her toward the cottage very quickly.
“I don’t know, but it sounds like horses heading this way. We must hurry to warn Hunter.”
Eyes wide, Kaeleigh gripped her sword as she ran with Daegan.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Exhile
The Realm of the Unforgiven Dead
“I found them,” a female voice with a rugged timbre spoke into the darkness from the center of a circular haze of fog. She moved toward the voice with a sultry sway of her hips, darkness flailing behind her as a train of smoke attached itself to the black silk gown that clung to her body like a second skin. Her hair, long, wild, and white as snow, practically glowed as the only thing capable of reflecting the light of the crystal-clear pool that was able to harness her magic to communicate with her servants in other realms. Focusing on the small amount of water that had pooled together, she watched new drips of the deceptively refreshing-looking water squeeze their way through a crevice in the cavernous rock. However, she knew if she were to taste the water its evil acids would tear apart her throat, as she was not of this realm. A handy trick the spirit of her predecessor had quickly taught her. She placed her hands on the edge of rock, cradling the water in a rocky bowl that was waist high, peering into the veil of fog that would not allow her to see to whom she spoke, but only to make contact. That was more than enough for her though.
“And?” She didn’t have time for the incompetence of worthless followers.
“And... I am your extension here in this realm. You can do nothing from where you are. Without me, you would not be as far in your plans. A little patience would be appreciated.” The haughty voice bristled.
“Remember your place, Maleina,” she spoke with a cold cruel smile as she waited.
Choking sounds coming through the fog gave her the slight satisfaction that her point had been made. “Now, while I do appreciate your ‘extension’ as you referred to yourself
, as you can see I am not bound to doing ‘nothing’ from here. In fact, there is quite a bit I can do from here. However, I prefer to align myself with subjects such as yourself.” She flicked her hair behind her in irritation. “Is there anything else you would like to report on?”
“I have sent guards to ensure the Sol-lumieth makes it to my domain along with a little surprise for her. I will await your instructions... Mistress.”
Empowered by Maleina’s servitude, she stood taller. “I will contact you when it is time. It is imperative, the Sol-lumieth does not leave your territory by any means necessary!” She swiped her hand through the fog, disintegrating it in closure.
She did in fact need her minions in Alandria as she was bound to the realm of Exhile until the appointed time when there would be an opening. Unfortunately, she had to wait—something she was not accustomed to doing well, but she felt that her plan was foolproof and being executed well enough from where she stood. She had others besides Maleina that she had in play. Her most trusted accomplice, the Droch-Shúil, had yet to report to her. Pacing in the dark cavernous space that was, and had been, her home for some time now there was something agitating her that she couldn’t quite articulate. Everything appeared to be going as planned. As she paced back and forth she walked into her own trail of darkness that was swirling to catch up with her, but instead ended up climbing up her body and sensually surrounding her arms like a lover’s caress.
Abruptly, she stopped. Lingering for a moment, allowing the darkness to ease her agitation and feed her soul, she breathed it in, absorbing it. Her eyes flashed open with an unearthly fire. The Droch-Shúil, had just sent images, impressions of its most recent encounter with the Sol-lumieth. Her power was growing and their element of surprise had been foiled.
“The Orchids!” She released a growl worthy of the Droch-Shúil itself as she left her chamber with dramatic flair, the darkness trailing behind her angry and agitated as a smolder attempting to feast on a damp forest.
Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two) Page 11