The War Within

Chapter 7

The leaves crunched under my heavy lace up boots. I was originally wearing that heavy ball gown, but fortunately I found clothes hidden away in the forgotten library. So I'm now free from the layers of unnecessary clothing. I wonder why there were clothes there in the first place. Strange. The leather shirt has started to become an irritation, and the pants start clinging tightly to my thighs. I should be used to tight clothes by now, it's all princesses ever wear. I was always forced to wear long dresses which I would trip you over and there was the tight waist ribbons which cut off your blood circulation and my breathing. Totally not cool. Leaves crunched behind me, pivoting my head around quickly, I couldn't help but groan in frustration as I noticed that it was only Anakin. How could I forget that he was with me. "Where are we going?" Anakin asks, increasing his speed so that he was now trudging beside me. "Somewhere." I grumble back. "Not to judge your knowledge but do you even know where we're going your highness?" He asks looking around at silent forest , "Or where we are for that matter." Ezra forest was always the forest that we would walk past and joke about how scary it sounds and now we're walking right through it.

"To be honest with you. I have no clue where we are going. What we are going to do." I replied sadly. Closing my eyes for a split second. "So. It's a survival game now" I hummed. Continuing to walk straight forward. I would presume we are out of reach of eavesdroppers now. Hopefully.

As we continued to walk for the next few hours. The forest would very slowly begin to open up. Less tree's and more flat ground. We were heading into new territory. How were we already nearly out of Erza Forest? I halted. "We are about to step into a new border line. This looks like... Bandit land" I eyed my bodyguard. "More like sketchy land, "Anakin mumbles, "Maybe we should go around, uh, for your protection of course!" I frowned. Is he serious.... Rolling my eyes I continued onwards. "My only worries is that you may trip over the next rock." Jinx. Within a few seconds, the loud nose of sticks snapping at once was heard. Flinging my head around, I barked out a laugh. He actually tripped over. "Yea. I'm going to need you to protect me." I said sarcastically. Watching as he stood up and brushed off the dirt from his pants. Which looked pretty stained now. "Boys are so disgusting." Sticking out my tongue. I turned around and continued to march on. "Liora, wait up" I stopped as Anakin put his hand on my shoulder.

"Are you sure this is the best idea..." I sighed. I could tell why he is worried. Since our castle just got attacked. We have no clue who or where those people came from. And they could be out hunting for us. We don't know. "For know it is. I'm going to read up on those books and see if I can find anything... that can help us." Not wanting to explain further. I continued to walk. Desperate for this to be all over. "How can you read in a time like this? Unless your certain those books can help us, I still despise reading." Out of the corner of my eye, I see him fold his arms and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Lucky me. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere is fine but being stuck with Anakin just makes things a whole lot worse. There's just something different about him. He's not like the other guards I've had. He seems.. special. "And if you want to read, don't you need to like I don't know maybe sit down!" He bellows arms wide. Does he seriously think I'm stupid. "Anakin just shut up , I know just about as much as you so stop criticizing me, your giving me a headache."

"Can't we just try and find a home or a cottage to sleep in for the night," he checks his watch, " it's almost sunset and it's my job to protect you so I suggest we find a safe place to do your reading." As much as I'd hate to admit it, he's right. The sun will set soon and being outside in an unknown place during the night time is probably not a very smart idea. But at the same time the next village could be anywhere. We didn't even know where we were.

"Lead us on then." I stated boldly. He looked at me, like he was thinking. He mouthed an 'o' at me. Also knowing that he has no idea where we are.

"Freja. Do us the benefits of finding us a village." Grinning. The small dragon took of from my shoulder, gliding easily into the sky and off. South-west by the looks of it. She disappeared from eye sight and Anakin groans, "She better be back."

"If we die. I blame it on you and your trust in me." I grinded my teeth. Why did I have to be stuck with him out of all people. "Pfft, I trust you. I'm concerned about your trust in me, " he raises an eyebrow, " I am your guard, I need to know that you can trust me." I grunted. "I'll trust you once you trust me" I stubbornly crossed my arms. I was not going to let him win. "So you admit you don't trust me." He stated. "What makes you think that?" Turning on my heel, I glared away from him and back to the sky. Which was slowly turning a deep orange. The dark blue ocean leaking into it. "I.. I've had a tough life with people not being able to trust me.." He says randomly, walking up behind me to look u at the sky. "And I've had a tough life of trusting others. It goes both ways." I spoke with a clear understanding voice. I didn't want to show my emotions. "Yeah, the sky's beautiful tonight," he seemed like he wanted to say something else but he kept his mouth shut.

A small mew caught my attention. After the last conversation. Anakin and I didn't even attempt to look at eachother. "She's back. " "Cool." Anakin awkwardly replies. Um okay? Freja skitters across the grass, stopping abruptly in front of Anakin and myself. Her little wings fly forward and fold over her face. She shakes her body, sneezing like a cute little puppy. "How cute." Anakin chuckles. "What did you find Freja?" I look down at her, smiling. At least she wouldn't annoy me. I know that for a fact.

Freja began to run around in circles and roar small crackles of fire. I could understand her, but I didn't want Anakin to know. "What is it girl?" I crouched down, scratching the top of her head. She created a purr from the depths of the back of her throat. "Did you find a village?" The dragon shaked her head. "Alright. Did you find a safe place to start?" She nodded her head eagerly. "Looks like that's where we are going." I looked at Anakin. He looked unsure about it. "Suck it up big boy"

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It was midnight by the time Freja had led us to a cave. The walls were made of solid grey stone that blended in with the dark atmosphere. The mouth of the cave was a perfect circular shape, and just looking into the darkness of the cave made you wonder, does anything live in here? "Great, we found the cave, now you can start reading." Anakin puts a hand on my spine , giving me a gentle push towards the entrance of the cave. "Hands off." I walk forward to get away from his contact with my skin. Well more like my clothes. But whatever. We enter the cave and instantly the atmosphere changes from light to dark. It's like the good and the evil side of life. "Okay now sit down and start reading." Anakin points to the ground, and I frown, "Patience is key idiot. You should have looked at the guard qualifications before you applied for this job because you do not have patience!" I felt the anger bubbling in my throat, he is seriously a pain in the ass. "How can I be patient when we were just attacked by.. Demons! Who knows if there were more. Maybe they even followed us.. We don't have time to wait." he raised his voice slightly and Freja growled. "Shh it's okay Freja.""Anakin you need to calm down." I was tempted to slap him. "How can I calm down when that just happened.. Those creatures killed my mother! I need to get revenge." He starts pacing. "You mean you're becoming suicidal right now? If you go out there. It's going to be you and thousands of demons. Go ahead. Be my guest and fight them. But let me tell you-" At this stage I was right up in Anakin's face. "You won't survive a second." He seemed to be staring deeply into my eyes, before he smiled, "Why do we fight about shit like this, Liora. We need to work together, not rile each other up. Look I'm sorry." His expression changes. He's feeling sorry? I don't believe it. "Well then. Trust me. Because I know what i'm doing. Now i'm going to go read." He moves to the other side of the cave. "Okay well I'm going to practise my combat skills." "And my fire skills ." he adds in a lower voice, probably didn't expect me to hear, but I have great hearing. I was about to open one of the books when I hear grunting noises. Noises of effort. I gaze at Anakin who is happily punching a wall before I roll my eyes, "Can you keep it down, how am I supposed to read if you're making baby noises." How irritating. "Of course Milady." He winks, and sits down cross legged. Sighing in relief, I hear a faint humming sound. Meditating. Seriously!? "Anakin," I sweetly sing. "Mm. " He responds still humming. "SHUT UP or go outside." I raise my voice. He gets up and moves towards the entrance of the cave. I turn my eyes down to the words of the book till I hear a bashing noise outside. I groan loudly and throw my head onto the book. This is going to take forever. 

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Sorry for the wait for chapter 7. Here it is! (Finally).

Please leave a comment if you want us to make a chapter with the meanings of names (Such as the names of a dragon) and how to pronounce it. :)

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