Her knife slid into her hand like it had a thousand times and I stepped back. Whatever she planned to do was not something I wanted to be in the way of- and the smirk on her face told me she knew it. "Relax, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it ages ago."
That didn't mean Jack crap as far as I was concerned. Arlia's greatest hope and dreams could change on a dime if she saw something new she wanted. When I still didn't move she sighed and held out a hand, "Don't make me pick you up."
That got me moving. I would sooner pet a rabid dragon with a hot poker than take the hand of the woman in front of me. She may not look it, but Arlia could crack the world in half if you gave her an hour and her knives. When she realized I wasn't going to take it, she dropped her hand. "Glad to see you've recovered your sanity. As for the knife," Arlia seemed to flinch and a blur flew in my direction, "That's our way through the gate."
When I was finally sure that I hadn't been scratched or scathed anywhere, I stood up, looking to see what she had been aiming for, if not my head. As it turned out, Arlia was right, as per usual- although I'd never tell her that- the stone wall that had previously been blocking our path was now parting. And it wasn't quiet. Both my and Arlia's hands flew to our ears in a futile effort to shield ourselves from the sudden noise
