The Tale of the Huntress

20. Unfair Advantage

Shiiiiiink.

Iridian stirred in his sleep slightly at the muffled sound.

Shink!

His eyes shot open at the next sharp noise and he rose his weary head from his pillow to find the source. Armageddon lounged at the foot of the bed as per usual for the lazy Axius while Lilium remained snuggled up at his side. Nova, however, was nowhere to be found.

Shink shink!

He spun his head finding the noise to be coming from outside in the forested area of the estate. The balcony doors were wide open and a cool breeze was coming in, ruffling his messy hair before he pulled it back into a half ponytail. Without waking Lilium, he crept out of the bed and put on appropriate clothes before venturing outside. Nova was hard at work sharpening a blade with a stone at the edge of the forest. So as to not frighten her into attacking, he made sure he was quite noisy in his approach. Once he had climbed over the balcony, the huntress had paused in her work to look back at him with calculating eyes.

"Good morning," he said to her as he drew closer. She grumbled something in response before scraping the rock against the blade once more.

Shink! He flinched as the noise hurt his ears even more at close range. "Are you ready for your fight today?" He asked hoping that she would stop and talk rather than give him a headache with the noise he could best describe as Armageddon's claws against marble floors.

"Usually but I wanted to sharpen my favorite blade first. It hasn't seen blood in a long time and I hope to shed plenty today," she replied with a smirk. He shook his head as he noticed the Tyrian in her emerging at the mention of a fight. "Why are you awake so early?" She questioned and put down the rock to give herself a short break. He sighed in relief that the sound would be temporarily silenced.

"Well you didn't close the balcony doors so the noise woke me up," he said motioning to the still open doors. Nova poked her head around his figure to look and then returned to her normal position.

"Oh, I suppose I forgot," she said thoughtfully. "Well I apologize but I couldn't fight knowing that my blade might not pierce flesh." At her words, she picked up the long knife and pressed a fingertip to it. She hardly winced as it drew blood at the slightest pressure while Iridian paled at her demonstration. "This will suffice," she approved and rose from the ground.

"Y-you just," he put his hand to his head and the other on his hip in bafflement. At the raise of her eyebrow though, he shut his mouth. They walked back to their room together and Nova nimbly leaped up over the balcony ledge while Iridian had a much more difficult time climbing up from the outside. She helped him by grabbing his wrist and giving him the support he needed to clamber over. He mumbled a thank you in embarrassment as she smiled slightly.

Lilium yawned after hearing the thud of his feet on the wood of the balcony. She peeked open her eyes to see her father sit at the edge of the bed while Nova made her way to the large closet to change into something Perrice would deem appropriate for breakfast. "Armageddon, make sure no one touches Centauri while we are at breakfast," she said before closing the door of the closet.

"Centauri...?" Iridian said to himself and Lilium leaned her forehead against his side as she struggled to stay awake. The little one was definitely not a morning person as she continued to yawn as she woke.

"It's momma's knife," she replied groggily and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, staying in the same position against her father. Once she had become more aware, she leaned back into a sitting position and gave him a tired smile. "Morning poppa."