Silver Eyes Chronicles: The Journey Begins Trilogy: Book One: The Reunion

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Nightmare

Naria

After breakfast, Milayna and I go outside for training. The two of us carry two thin poles over our shoulders.

A small field is waiting for us just out reach of the city. I see targets for archery nearby.

"Here?" I ask as Milayna throws off her cloak, revealing a spring green tunic and dark blue pants, her cloak landing in a heap of fabric on the grass. Her blonde hair's pulled to the side in a loose ponytail.

"Yes. This will be a good place," she says, rolling her slender shoulders back and forth, testing them. She then turns to me, a slight grin stealing across her lips. "You ready?"

Before I can say, she charges in, brandishing the poles in her slender hands.

I yell as I block a blow just in time. I duck my head and jump the pole as it comes towards my legs.

Milayna completes a spin as she comes in again. Her hair flies around wildly. This time, I try an attack. I send one pole in front while the other goes in from behind. Milayna catches that, dodging and parrying neatly while making her own attack.

Then I try a new trick that Elebeni taught me: acrobatics.

I drop down and kick out my legs in a straight line, catching Milayna in the stomach. On my back, I leap up again. The elf seems fine though because she's still swinging. Our poles meet and this time it's hard for both of us to parry. I slide the poles down the sides as I complete a fast spin, landing with another whack against one of Milayna's poles. I drop down again and swing one leg around, trying to trip the elf. She catches that trick too and by now I'm getting frustrated.

But Milayna looks impressed because after an hour and a half, she drops her poles and declares. "That was excellent as far as I've seen. Elebeni has taught you well. But we will do some improvements and some other skills."

"Like what?" I ask, still holding my poles, not sure whether she will come into the attack again.

"We'll do some mind spell casting and emotional control because I've noticed that you need to keep your temper in check. And trust me, around someone like Nayuna, losing your temper can be quite an advantage to her." She then grabs her cloak and slips it over her shoulders. "Come on, let's have a break. We'll start your other lessons this evening."

And with that, the two of us go back to the city.

"How was it?" Ronan asks me, as I go into our room and pull out the ribbon from my braid.

"It went as well as it could have gone. Milayna is just as quick as Elebeni," I reply, running my fingers through my hair to separate the braided strands. I shake my hair out, making it wild. I wipe a hand across my brow, removing the lingering sweat.

Ronan's right behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder. His lips press to my cheek in a loving kiss.  "Something tells me that something is on your mind."

Damn it, he knows me well, I think. I look up at him. His intense brown eyes are focused on me, slightly hidden by a lock of golden hair.

"Helene has informed me of the news. Both were not good as far as I could tell."

"What did she say?"

"Nayuna has gathered troops. A lot more by Helene's standard, but we managed to get some of our own, but not enough to counteract what Nayuna has. Not nearly enough. And, Yutrin and everyone else is coming here," the last sentence comes out as a whisper.

Noticing my expression, he turns and pulls me to the front of his chest, my face buried into his tunic, his fingers stroking my hair. He knows what is going on and right now, I am happy to have him close, to have him understand. He doesn't answer, he just holds me.