Peacebringer

Chapter Sixteen - Training

Asha awoke before the sunrise that day, surprisingly well rested. She had stayed in a small house next door to Havi's house that was uninhabited at the moment. It felt a little weird to have a house all to herself, even though it was small. She had gone to sleep instantly after dinner. She finally felt refreshed.

Even though she had only met Finn two days ago, it felt like she had been on a journey for months. Her life up to this point had been so dull in comparison. She wasn't used to so much action and activity packed into each day.

She was increasingly nervous as she approached her training time with Tana. She was mostly excited, but the incident of her lack of control was still burned into her memory. There was also the question of whether or not Tana could actually be trusted, based on Finn's comments the day before.

She climbed out of bed, still smelling the lingering scent of whatever soap had been used to wash the sheets she was using. Havi had said that this was kept as a guest house because the resistance never knew if passing travelers or escaping magic users would need a place to stay. Havi's family were actually the ones who maintained it. Havi and his older sister were in charge of making the bed and making sure the kitchen was clean, while his younger brother and two younger sisters had become master dusters, always making sure that the house was completely eradicated of any dust bunnies. She grabbed a sweater and slid the black stone into her pocket for safekeeping. She also put on her father's ring.

Asha certainly noticed the lack of dust inside the quaint little house, and it reminded her a little of home. There were two small bedrooms, a kitchen, and a room with a table and chairs. There was also a wonderfully plush chair in the bedroom Asha was using that she just knew would be lovely to sit and read in. Sadly, there did not appear to be books anywhere in the house. She would have to ask Havi if he had any, as she doubted Finn would. He didn't seem like a big reader at all. But Havi seemed like the type who might, especially if he had siblings. Maybe his older sister would have books that she would like.

Asha stepped out of the house into the crisp fall air, breathing in the scnet of the trees and the leaves. Asha had always thought that fall air had its own unique smell to it, somehow the trees smelled more like trees. She was never quite sure how to describe it in a way that made sense.

She was very glad that she had thought to grab her sweater from her bag. It was one her mother had made. Even though she had primarily grabbed it to stay warm, she was also glad to have a reminder of her mother there with her. She was very glad that she hadn't waded deep enough in the cave pools to get her backpack wet.

She felt a pang of homesickness as she chose a rock to sit on right by the edge of the trees. She stared into the forest, quickly becoming more and more aware of how far from home she was.

She twisted her father's ring around her finger in anticipation, watching how the red stone glittered in the early morning light. Why had she left home without telling her mother anything? She could have at least given a vague description of where the base was, or told her that Mr. Seeyerto worked with the resistance. Now there wasn't any way her mother could find her.

Then a more horrible thought hit her stomach, causing it to drop like an anchor. What if she died helping the resistance and her mother never found out what happened to her? She would never really find out the truth about her father, and her mother would be left searching for her forever.

She needed her mother to come to the resistance camp. She suddenly realized that she didn't think she could do this alone.

Just as she was about to explode into a full-blown panic, Tana came up behind her.