Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

WARRIOR BLOOD

T hat night, our ride was the shortest yet. Leuffen and I had grown close in the last few days, and my fast progress had transitioned us from teacher-student to near peers. He continued to instruct me, but in time I shared some tricks of my own—moves that had either come back to me from previous study or were inventions of my imagination. Despite his size (his palm could encompass an entire side of my face), I had bested him several times.

Warrior blood, I guess.

“Ye’ll have te start trainen’ weth Ezren, lass. Ye fight smart, and there isna warrior that fights smarter than that bloke. Plus, ye’ll have te get te a point where ye can fight us both at once,” Leuffen said to me with a wink during our evening ride.

My body sang in response to the idea of fighting with Ezren. It itched for contact with him—there was no denying it now. I became aware of whenever he was near, every nerve ending responding to his presence or lack thereof. And though I continued to ignore Leiya’s comments, I grew too tired to deny it to myself.

But we had not spoken once since our exchange in the creek, and he seemed determined to ignore me. As tempting as it was to test his resolve, I resigned myself to reciprocating his behavior. I suppose it felt easier—safer—that way.

“Is that really necessary? Shouldn’t I be moving on to learning the way of the blade? If my returning memories serve me right, I once was quite formidable with a scim. For a twelve-year- old, at least.”

Leuffen only chuckled and said, “Aye, then. I’ll try an’ find ye a sword once we make camp.”

We were nearing the coast of the North Sea, and Jana prepared to stop at some distance from it to plan the next leg of our route. The scouts had yet to pick up any sign of Fayzien or his men, but caution was in abundance, Sanah told me. The decision of whether to travel by land or by sea to Valfalla—the capital city of Viribrum—would be made tonight, with preparations beginning at first light. If we crossed the sea, the Witches would need a full day to magically craft a sufficient ship.

We set about forming our tight camp, everyone moving efficiently in rehearsed synchronization. My eyes stung from the lack of sleep, and my muscles ached from the constant breaking, tearing, and rebuilding. But I saw a definition in my arms and unfamiliar lines of tension on my abdomen that weren’t there before. In another triumph of the week, my appetite had finally caught up with that of the Fae. Leuffen certainly took advantage of it, forcing extra portions onto my plate whenever he could.

After camp was readied, the council gathered in the meeting tent, candles ablaze with Dane’s Witch Fire illuminating the dark early morning. I’d been welcomed into a strategy meeting for the first time, and it did not come easy. They only allowed me in after much arguing and advocation on the twins’ part, though they did not share who opposed my attendance, or why.

Jana stood at her usual place in the center of the long wooden table, with Sanah and Dane adjacent to her on each side. Ezren sat at the far end of the table, looking broody. The usual resident council members occupied the rest of the ten seats. I stood behind Leiya’s seat, determined not to seem out of place.

Jana began. “We have until dawn to decide about traveling to Valfalla. Land, or sea? Over the past several days, I’ve heard arguments for both routes, and many valid points. I want to hear everyone’s vote before deciding—either path will pose significant risks. Parson, please begin.”

Jana sat, and Parson rose. He had been the other Fae male present at my cleansing. He stood at my height, with light brown hair pulled into a low bun at his neck. He was rarely present, for he was always scouting, Leiya once told me.

“My argument is for travel by land,” Parson said in a low and gruff voice, and I realized I had never heard him speak. “Travel by water when being hunted by a Water Witch is madness, if you ask me. He will always have the advantage. Any warrior knows not to enter a battlefield where his opponent has the advantage.” He ended his speech there, sitting once more. I got the feeling he was not a male of many words and would not speak again unless addressed.

“We won’t have material advantage if we go by land either,” Dane cut in, staying in his seat. “We will be moving much slower than by ship, and we’ll be heavily exposed. The North Sea is known for thick fog, which could be intensified by some of our Air Witches. By sea is the prudent decision.”

“Of course, we have an advantage in going by land,” Leiya pointed out. “We have a bloody Earth Wetch.”

“Not a trained one,” Sanah said firmly, not meeting my eyes. “She can’t control her power at all. Asking her to call to the Earth would bring more risk than advantage.”

“She’s progressed well en warrior trainin’. Perhaps her misstep en callin’ her power had more te do weth her teacher and the fact that she’d almost died days before,” Leuffen growled back at Sanah. “Not te mention, she likely hadna’ finished settlin’.”

“Nearly killing Dane is a misstep ?” Sanah’s voice remained level, her brows raised. My throat tightened at her comment. She did not seem angry—only fair—though I wouldn’t have faulted her for the former.

“And I suppose you could teach her to command an element, Leuffen?” Dane jumped in. “Yes, that makes perfect sense. The Fae brute knows best about an Earth Witch’s ability to control such a potent force. Perhaps you wouldn’t be so quick to defend her if she had nearly killed Leiya in the attempt to call her power.”

Leiya launched back at Dane with a sharp retort about not being easy to kill, at which point I stopped listening and turned my focus to the lick of a candle. The flames flickered and the tension rose. Eventually, everyone talked over each other, and the chaos level of the tent escalated. I glanced at Jana, who was staring off into the distance, silent, as if her mind drifted elsewhere, analyzing some alternate solution.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, shut up,” Ezren cut in, slamming his hand on the table and rising to his feet. The room quieted. Whether in deference or surprise, I could not tell. When he spoke, his voice was low and even, the trained tone of a warrior. “You’re all talking about Terra like she’s not here. Someone at least get her a gods’ dammed seat.” He avoided my eyes as if they would incinerate him. Parson stood and motioned me to take his chair next to Ezren. He seemed more than happy to fade into the background of the room.

“Jana, could you safely assess Terra’s ability to call her power? Perhaps by conducting a test of some kind?” Ezren asked, his voice measured and his gaze trained on Jana as I walked over to his side of the table. His words seemed to pull her back into the room.

“I believe there may be a way,” she said. “And I will do it regardless of if we go by land or sea.” She turned to me. “You will need to face this part of yourself, dear, whether you wish to or not.”

I slid into the chair next to Ezren, conscious of my body position in relation to his, where my feet fell under the table, where I placed my hands. I nodded in response, but images of flying branches and a tornado of debris flashed in my head. I looked at Dane, still cut and bruised, regarding me as if I was a bubbling volcano about to erupt at a moment beyond prediction.

“If it doesn’t work, if there is no way for me to control it, I mean, could you re-bind the magic inside me?” I asked, turning to Jana.

“It could be possible,” she considered. “But it would fight me, of course. I would need assistance, and it would likely be as painful as the cleansing, if not more so.”

“I would help you, Jana,” Dane said, eyeing me suspiciously. “Should it be necessary.”

“Et should be out a’ the question,” Leuffen bellowed. “Ye weren’t there Dane, but et was a right awful theng. I’ve seen suffering en me life, but nay like that. Ezren had te cover her whole damn body wi’ hes te keep her from thrashin’ so hard she’d injure herself. We canna allow et.”

“It is not our decision.” The quiet but firm comment came from the Dragon-shifter seated on my left. He looked at me now, his blazing eyes searching my face. For what, I did not know. It was the closest I’d been to him in a week, and I could feel a heat radiating from him.

I didn’t dare move as he leaned back into his seat, his attention cast toward the group once more.

“I’ll do my best to learn to control it. But if Jana deems me to be incapable, I will take the necessary action to keep everyone safe,” I said, nodding to Jana.

At that, the discussion of “if by land or by sea” continued to unfold. Eventually, the council settled on a two-pronged approach. Jana deemed it the wisest course, though some opposed dividing our forces. A ship with over half the group would go by sea as a decoy for Fayzien, tempting him to gain advantage on the water. The best Fae warriors and battle-tested Witches would occupy the boat to fend him off long enough before he realized I was not on board. By which time, the smaller group, my company, would have already navigated through the Adimon Mountains. If all went according to plan, we’d be well on our way before Fayzien resumed his search for me. Then, the sea-faring group would slip into the Viri port of Panderen under the cover of night and wait for us to make the remainder of the journey together.

The Fae warrior twins were assigned to the ship. The idea of them fighting Fayzien on my behalf made me nauseated, and I wondered how they would defend themselves against a Water Witch on the sea.

“Didna worry, lass,” Leuffen said to me with a wink after the meeting ended. “Fae have some magic too, remember? Ye just havna seen et yet. We’ll give hem a run for et, promise.”

Sanah was also assigned to the ship, given she was the most skilled healer and they expected to need her abilities. Jana would lead my group, along with Ezren, Dane, Parson, and a few others not on the council. Twelve of us—three Fae, six Witches, and one half-breed, would travel on horseback through the Adimon Mountains.

I was bleary-eyed by the time we all stumbled out of the canvas structure, looking for cots on which to catch a few hours of sleep before preparations began in the morning.

I was so exhausted I hadn’t noticed a Fae warrior approach me from behind. Any trace of sleepiness vanished when Ezren pulled me behind a tree, out of the torchlight, out of earshot from the rest of our group.

“You don’t have to bind your power. There will be another option, a different way to keep everyone, and you , safe.” He bent his head close to my ear, so close that I could feel the hot air of his words against my skin. My chest constricted. “You don’t want to spend a lifetime denying something that is you. Trust me. It’s painful, and it will eat away at you, bit by bit. The Earth will always call to you, whether you run from it or not. Rebuffing your nature brings only suffering.”

I opened my mouth to ask why he’d cared or what pain he’d suffered—but before I could utter a sound, he was gone, stalking off into the direction of his own tent.

Leaving me in the heat of a moment that had fled as quickly as it arrived.

I rose earlier than the rest, no sign of life at camp except for those posted on watch. I found a clearing a few yards off and began my drills. I ran through the different combat combinations I’d learned the past week, picturing an opponent before me. Occasionally, a lone aspen became my adversary, taking the brunt of my beatings, the calluses that had formed over my knuckles protecting them from abrasions. I longed for the weight of steel in my hands. The feeling of power and the strength of it had come back to my memory. I swung an imaginary blade, whipping it around with force, fantasizing about the chime of metal on metal.

“Did ye really thenk I’d let ye train all alone this mornin’?”

I jumped, startled by Leuffen’s voice floating out from beyond a tree.

My mouth turned up in a smile at the gentle-faced, unarmed warrior, and I wiped the sweat from my brow with my forearm. “Well, if I’d waited for your lazy ass, who knows when I would’ve started,” I chirped back.

Leuffen let out a deep chuckle and then charged at me. We fell into a familiar combat. He tried to pin me in his signature position, with my back to him and my throat in the crook of his arm, his other hand placed on the top of my head to show he could snap my neck with ease. I didn’t let him. I was too fast when he tried to grab me, and I snapped the edge of my hand against his throat. He bent over and gasped for air.

A throaty chuckle came from behind me. “I think it’s time you let me take over, Leuffen.”

I whirled around to see Ezren making his way towards us at a casual pace, his hands clasped behind his back. The morning sun glinted in his soft waves, burnishing the dark auburn locks. His eyes were practically molten, purring with a royal green hue that I could have sworn glowed like the sun hitting his face—even from several yards away. The tips of two swords peaked out from above his shoulders. One of the hilts cased an emerald, casting prisms of light.

“She requires a blade, anyhow. And I happen to have two,” he said, his eyes still fixed on Leuffen, who’d resumed a standing position.

Leuffen furrowed his brow. “We’re en the middle a’ sparren’.”

Ezren smirked. “From the looks of it, the two of you were no longer sparring by the time I arrived.”

Leuffen made to protest again, but Ezren cut him off. “Why don’t you go back to camp and grab your blade, mate? We can show Terra a few tricks for fighting two-on-one.”

Leuffen hesitated a moment longer, looking agitated at the hijacking of his training. He eventually glanced at me and nodded. Just like that, he turned and jogged off into the wood.

I eyed Ezren. He watched Leuffen until he was gone before turning back to me.

A familiar heat bloomed on my face in reaction to his predatory gaze. “How long were you watching us?”

He sauntered over, keeping his hands clasped behind his back. “Long enough to assess Leuffen’s training of you,” Ezren said lightly. He unsheathed his blades, tossing the Emerald-less sword in my direction. It landed in my hand with some heft.

“Its size may be a little awkward for you, but it’s better than nothing.” He shrugged.

I turned the blade over in my palm, admiring its weight and gleam. I clasped it between two hands and buried it into the side of a nearby fallen tree.

The blade cut deep in the dead wood, and the power of it reverberated back through the hilt and my intertwined fingers. I yelped at the backlash, my hands screaming in pain. The sword stuck out of the fibrous trunk. I glanced at Ezren, who was chuckling. I shook my head in mild embarrassment and tittered. He went over to the tree and yanked the weapon from its base.

“Well, your first lesson will be proper grip. These blades can’t cut straight through surfaces like solid wood, even if the wood is rotting. They can cut through flesh, sure enough, but if you ever hit anything harder than that and don’t have the proper grip, well,” he winked, “you will feel it.”

My cheeks heated further.

“Eventually, you’ll fight one-handed, and maybe even with two blades, like Leiya and I do. But for now, place your dominant hand at the bottom of the hilt… yes, perfect. And your other above it, touching, like this.”

He took it easy at first, demonstrating the various blade positions and how to properly make contact. But once he realized I could keep up, the pace quickened. He was faster than Leuffen and equal in strength, despite Leuffen’s enormity of size. He knocked the weapon from my hand numerous times, critiquing the vulnerability I allowed when holding the sword at a certain angle. Before I quite realized it, we were sparring. Metal against metal, I spun around to meet his every move, to block his every hit. I was on the defensive, but I could tell I was making him work harder than he expected.

“Your training has come back to you a little.” Ezren huffed, jumping back, barely missing the tip of my blade.

I whirled around, bringing a knee to the ground so that I could continue my swing from a lower vantage point. He blocked the risky move at the last second.

“Only a little?” I asked, looking up at him from below my eyelashes, our blades still connected.

Ezren stepped back and let me rise, laughing at my feigned innocence. “Tell me something—about your human family.”

My brows pinched together as I sprung for his unguarded left side, and he parried, pulling us into a sequence of strike and block.

“Don’t try to distract me.” I whirled on him, sending a kick to where his midsection should have been. But he was too fast, and my foot struck only air. He took advantage of my stumble and pulled me into his body, sword pressed to my throat.

His warm voice tickled my ear. “I would never.” His mocking tenor was low and sent vibrations into my core. He paused a moment longer, relaxing his grip. “I want to know, really.”

I pushed his armed hand away, resuming the fight stance. Ezren one, Terra zero.

“Alright.” I sighed. “How about a question for a question?”

A beaming smile spread over his features, and my heart stumbled.

Focus, Terra. I gripped the hilt of my blade harder.

“I accept.” He faked right and went left, but I’d been watching his feet and was prepared for it. I struck his blade back, nearly knocking it from his grip, but he recovered and whirled on me.

“Were they good to you?” His question was devastatingly genuine, and I paused a moment, considering.

Had Mama hit me for disobedience once or twice? Had she created nights of unpredictability when she turned to drink? Had Papa never intervened?

All yes. But… “I felt very loved,” I whispered.

He softened at my answer, and I lunged. He was on his back foot, and I took advantage of the poor stance, whirling myself around him. I had to stand on my toes, but my blade found his throat this time.

He stilled.

I could have asked him a million things. Should have. But what popped out of my mouth was beyond my control.

“Why did you lick me?”

The body in my grip warmed, chest heaving.

“I suppose I thought you would taste good.” His voice was so low I almost couldn’t hear him.

“And did I?” I breathed, not daring to move a muscle.

He disarmed me with ease, in a blink, throwing my sword to the ground and twisting out of my arms. “Not your turn, Bellatori .”

I picked up my blade, but before I could raise it high, his blade clashed with mine.

“Why,” he huffed, “do you insist on putting yourself through pain?”

I hit back harder, gritting my teeth. Sweat formed on my brow, threatening to impair my vision. “I. Do. Not,” my breaths and blows separating each word.

“Yes, you do.” Ezren struck my blade with such force that my weapon flew from my hand. Irrational rage poured over me, at his better fighting or his patronizing words, I wasn’t sure. Although he paused to let me retrieve the blade, I placed both hands on his wrist and slammed it into a nearby tree. His sword fell to the ground.

We were close now, and I tilted my head back to see the shock register on his face. I sent my fist towards his jaw, eager to land another blow and keep my advantage. But he caught my hand, his grip tightening around my fist. In one swift motion, he turned us, and I was the one pinned to the aspen, my hand pressed into the tree above my head, his knee jammed between my thighs, and our gazes locked on one another.

He dipped his head so that I could better see him as he towered over me. What almost looked like a sliver of guilt flashed across his emerald eyes. “You’ve built your strength, that much I can see, so a part of you must want to live. You have to learn to control your power, Bellatori . If you deny it, if you deny who you are, its hold over you will only grow.”

Something white-hot—maybe anger, maybe not—flared in my chest. “You say all of this as if—as if you care,” I spat. “Yet you have no reason to.”

Conflict wore on his expression. “Terra,” he whispered. There it was again—my name like a prayer. His eyes darkened, scanning my face, lingering on my lips, falling to my necklace. “A Dragon made of silver,” he murmured. “Why?”

“My mother made it. They called me firebreather. ”

Ezren’s fingers tightened around my wrist possessively, his entire body a bow loaded with tension. I squirmed in reaction, feigning escape from his grasp, pretending like a small part of me didn’t revel in the friction.

“Is that why you’re always so damned flushed?” His voice was a graveled heat wave, flaring across my skin.

Words evaded me; I could only breathe in desperate gulps of air, my body screaming for him to be closer. He cupped my cheek with his hand, his other still pinning my wrist to the tree. His thumb raised my chin, brushing it lightly, and I trembled at the silvery tingling that ran like lightning through my veins. My heartbeat grew so violent I thought it might jump from my chest.

I will turn to ash in this man’s arms.

Unable to bear another moment of building, raging fire, I raised my free hand to his cheek to pull his face towards mine.

But when I did, I heard a loud and somewhat angry “Ehem” from Leuffen, who stood several yards away, ripping Ezren and me from our delicate little world. He pushed himself away, and my arms dropped to my sides. I looked at him, but he turned his gaze to the brush in the distance, his expression cold and removed. It was like I’d been punched in the gut, and redness spread even more across my face—down my neck. I lingered like that only a moment longer before I straightened, and Leuffen said, “Jana requires you, Terra.”

I didn’t look away from Ezren as I said, “Understood.”

And then I sprinted back to camp.