Avery and the Dragon stone

Chapter Thirteen A head full of unexplained thoughts

"Shall we continue training?" Abraham said as Avery stood in the middle of the path watching as Atlas went into the inn. 

"She probably needs time to cool off and I do need to learn more" Avery thought to herself and she turned to Abraham who raised an eyebrow, Avery nodded, and Abraham suddenly threw the sword sending it flying through the air. Avery caught the handle perfectly, taken back slightly but proud of herself for catching it. 

"Let's get to work Miss Avery." Abraham said as he walked back to the training area behind the Forge. Avery followed him a million thoughts flooding her head. 

"Ready?" Abraham said with a confident grin placing one foot in front of the other placing his feet firmly into the ground, Avery does the same holding her sword. Abraham wasn't holding a weapon which worried her. Abraham nodded signifying that it was to begin he lunged forward to grab the handle of the sword, instead he grabbed Avery's hand which flustered her. He then spun her around grabbing her waist. For a second Avery was very confused until Abraham shifted his weight to the left side using his hand to turn the blade against Avery's neck. He whispered softly into her ear.

"Never let your guard down princess." He let go of her, her entire face bright red. At this point Avery couldn't tell if he was playing mind games or if something else was on his mind. 

"Get your bow, shoot that one, then that and that" Abraham picked up a stick and pointed to each of the targets in a certain order. Avery nodded listening as she pulled the bow off her shoulder putting an arrow against the string hitting each target. She hit every target perfectly, suddenly she saw Abraham smirk.

"Your good at that, let's see how good you'll stay when I do this." Abraham says as he walks behind Avery, placing his hands on her hips he presents a small smirk as he begins to sway her hips from side to side. At first, she is obviously tense as he keeps swaying her hips.

"Loosen your body, allow yourself to lean back against me-" Abraham says as Atlas comes back out from the Inn wanting to apologize when she sees this but says absolutely nothing. She turns bright red with anger.

"Good let your body lean against mine and loosen your hips so I can sway them more naturally" Abraham says standing there not noticing Atlas. 

"O-Okay" Avery says doing as he said, she leans her body back against his. It was like leaning against a rock she knew she was sturdy even though he could move at any moment, and she would fall. Her bow started to sway with her hips causing her to lose focus and lose aim.

"I-I can't make a clean shot like this" Avery said nervously trying to. 

"Stop thinking about it, just aim time it and shoot you got this." Abraham said as Avery nodded looking at the targets lining up a shot and letting go hitting the target in the dead center. Avery jumped forward in excitement, but Abrahams's arm was around her waist stopping her. He smiled gently as Atlas finally spoke up.

"Good shot" Atlas said as Avery turned her head and smiled.

"Thanks, are we okay?" Avery questioned as Atlas nodded.

"Yeah, were good, I'm sorry for getting pissed Abraham. it wasn't right of me." Atlas said as Abraham nodded letting go of Avery. There was a slight tension in the air before Abraham spoke.

"Okay, let's get you girls trained." Abraham said as they all smiled. 

A few hours passed and the training ended for the day.

"When will we be ready?" Avery asked curiously

"About three more days should do it." Abraham said smirking slightly.

"You both have come a long way in just the few days we have been doing this." He said as Atlas and Avery looked at each other and smiled.

"Alright take the rest of the day, or afternoon and rest. you pushed your limits today I could tell" Abraham looked over at Avery and smiled.

"Each of you overcame my expectations, I was highly impressed." Avery smiled and stood up grabbing her weapons. 

"I'll meet you back at the inn I want to head to the market" Atlas said walking past Avery after placing her hand against Avery's. Abraham turned and seen this as he raised an eyebrow. 

"You should go sharpen that sword and knife of yours, today was a good day." Abraham picks up his things and heads inside. 

Avery nodded and picked up her weapons heading inside to the grindstone turning it on and pulling the knife out. 

"Wait" Abraham said as she turned around and he handed her the helmet. She took it thankfully and put it on. 

Abraham leaned back against the wall watching Avery as she sharpened her blades. He was impressed after only doing it once with his guiding hands now she's able to do it on her own-

"Ow! Damn it." Avery said and put the blade down on the table. Abraham walked over turning her by her shoulders and pulling the helmet up. 

"Are you alright, did it kick back?" He said looking down at her hand which had been bleeding down the palm part of it. 

"Y-Yeah it jumped back" Avery said her hand shaking. 

"it's alright it happens I should have warned you, come sit down" Abraham guided Avery to a stool and walked into the bathroom grabbing a clean rag, water, and bandages.

He walked back to Avery who was shaking now, he knew the blade was clean so there wasn't a fear of infection. He took her hand gently and she quicky pulled away wincing in pain. 

"Sorry" Abraham's voice changed from impatient to concerned she had noticed. He was annoyed slightly when she forgot the helmet and yet suddenly his tone was gentle and caring, it was like he was showing a softer side of himself. A caring side. 

Abraham put his hand out in hopes Avery would allow him to see hers. She put her shaking hand out as he gently placed the wet cloth onto it wiping the blood away looking at the cut. Avery looked down at her hand seeing the cut and began to shake more.

"Hey no, don't look at it keep your eyes on me, okay? Can you do that?" Abraham said as Avery nodded, Abraham put his hand under her chin tilting it up, so she was looking at him. He gently cleaned the cut and wrapped it with the bandages. The entire time she looked into his brown eyes, they were the color of the bark on the trees. They soothed her and her hand stopped shaking as Abraham looked up at her both of them making eye contact. In that moment everything went silent. Abraham slipped his hand up to her cheek gently rubbing his thumb against her face. Everything fell completely silent. 

What is going to happen next? 

Is Atlas and Avery's friendship okay now? 

Why did Abraham suddenly rush to Avery's side and put up such a concerned front? 

We will find out in the next chapter.