Black Sapphire | Xaden Riorson | S/H

XVI

・・・　・・・　・・・

     I take in a deep breath as my finger rests against my forehead. It's dim in the bottom of the valley, but not dark, with the sun rising on the horizon. The grass is tall down here, brushing against my knee, some even reaching up my exposed thigh.
     My mind rolls over every part of my body, slowly forcing myself to relax. My shoulders drop, my arms grow heavy, my hips unstable and legs almost shaky. I push my arms out to swing around me and I step back with their weight. My right swings down and back up as I turn over my shoulder, my left arm trailing behind until it whips in front of me. My torso twists, making my legs cross. I begin falling, only excellerated by my right arm swinging down in front of me, but I'm lifted as it pushes against my torso, my fingers running over my body, and then up into the sky with power. I start to tip back now, my ankles putting in no work to hold me just as I'd trained so hard to do.
     I step out loosely, my right leg brushing against the back of my knee before it lands. My knee pulls me forward and my torso falls toward it. My right arm moves across my vision to my left as it falls, circling around. There's a shimmer in the air as I disrupt the morning dew, almost glittering silver where my fingers trace.

     The motions pull me effortlessly as they always do. This one was one of the last I was taught, and I'm a bit surprised it's so easy for me, especially given how complicated it is. The sun continues rising over the peaks of the mountains, illuminating the sheen of the humid breeze as my body sweeps the grass.
     I finish in the middle of my flattening, the edges marked by two overlapping rhombus shapes. The grass is wet, reflecting back the gold of the sun in a small flash as I take in a deep breath. Times like these, dancing in the morning in a field marked by the scent of the dragons, I swear I can feel magic and energy cracklingly around me. It sizzles against my skin as I continued breathing hard with purpose, like I can suck in the protection I just manifested. The relics on my back almost burns but it's easy to ignore as I focus on the air rushing through my body, sucking in the life around me. My spots have a delicate buzz to them, sensitive to the grass caressing my left hand.

     I finally open my eyes, this time observing my surroundings as I continue to control my rhymatic breaths. Sunlight basks the valley, streaking against the rocks of the mountainside. The river is thin and calm, breaking up the rays, making them glister and occasionally catch my eyes. Littered around are rocks and boulders from the dragons' rough talons, a couple even sporting claw marks. The trees along the stream are smaller than the canopy towering just behind them, grayish-green vines and moss clinging to their orange-tinted bark. The berries on them are no longer periwinkle but a brilliant indigo that I can spot easily from here, now ripened and completely safe, as Violet tells me.
     There's little sounds in the valley. The levels rubbing together gently and the water splashing against itself. It makes me wonder how he ever thought he could get this close.
     "Get away from me, Aetos." I hear him grunt behind me and his footsteps halt in the grass. My shoulders rise and then relax dramatically as I finish my last breath and then slowly turn around. The Colonel stands now before me, a cocky smile on his face and a playful twinge to his eyes. He's trying to look gentle, but his face has always given away every emotion he feels, and none of them are soft or sweet like he wants me to believe.