Alfheim

XVIII. A new friend

"Aaah!" I screamed as I was about to fall down. "Ivy!" I hear Gideon shout. Luckily Gideon reached down for me just in time. He was holding onto me with both of his arms. My hands trembled. I'm so scared.  He quickly lifted me up and put me next to where the girl sat somewhere near, but not too close, from the edge of the cliff. I took a deep breath in and out and looked over to the girl. What...just...happened... I can't think of myself right now, Ysabel. I have to make sure the little girl is alright.
"Are you alright?" I ask her with a smile. She nods with tears in her eyes. I give her a big hug and ask her name. Her name is Jade. Meanwhile, Gideon was analyzing the rope.
"Shouldn't you worry about your own health. You almost died," Gideon says while staring intensely at me.
"I'm fine," I lie. I stand up and help the little girl back on her feet. "Jade, let's bring you home. Do you know the way?" I ask her. She nods. I lift her up and carry her in my arms.
"We're with three which means someone has to be left behind temporarily," I say. "I will stay here. Maybe the others will come back here."
As I was about to hand the girl over to Gideon, he grabs my wrist tightly. "No need, we can ride without a saddle."
"Ouch. Ok, you're hurting me, Gideon. Let go of my wrist," I respond. Suddenly he realizes he is holding my wrist too tightly and quickly lets go.
Geez... what's his problem.

During the ride Jade talked about her village.
"Our village is small, but really nice. Mom and dad run a diner. Mom cooks and dad helps the guests," she says with a smile. "Unlike other people mom and dad love each other very much."
"Sounds like you have really nice parents," I say.
She nods. "Do you love each other?" she suddenly asks.
I cough. Gideon coughs as well. All of a sudden Gideon stops the horse.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"Shh...I hear something," he says while looking around. I also look around.
The little girl hops of the horse. Her eyes lit up and she said: 'There is potential. Give it some thought and we'll meet at the top of the mountain,' she says to us before she walks away and disappears into the forest.
"Wait!" I shout. But she's gone. "Gideon, go follow her!" I command.
"She's gone," he says. "It's a thick fir forest, we'll never find her back."
"But still... we have to try to find her, right?" I say frustrated.
"I have a feeling she'll be just fine," he says. "Let's try and find the others."
"But-," I try to argue. "I can still kill you," he says. I rest my case.
"I have to say for an ice elf, you're totally different," he says.
"What does that mean?" I say flustered. I'm sitting in front of Gideon while he is holding the reins. His breath tickles my neck.
"Just take it as a compliment," he says irritated.
"Thank you," I say. "A while ago I heard from a servant you really hate ice elves. I know everyone hates each other because the ongoing war, but is there more to it?"
"I don't want to talk about it. We hardly know each other," he says.
The fact that he called me a stranger somehow made me feel really sad.
"Is that so... And you and Sienna know each other oh so well," I say frustrated.
"Well. That is different. Sienna is going to be my future wife and because of the wedding preparations we got to see each other on several occasions. But why do you care about our relationship?" he asks with curiosity.
"No reason!" I shout with my head down. I feel my cheeks starting to burn. Oh no. I cover my face with my hands.
"What's wrong?" he asks worried.
"Nothing. Just a little tired," I whisper.
"We can take a break," he says.

Without waiting on my response he stops the horse and offers to help me get off the horse. When he helps me get off the horse our face ended up getting really close to each other for a moment. We both get flustered and quickly look wthe other way.

"It's getting dark. We should set up a tent," Gideon says while looking at the sky.
"Do we have the materials for that?" I ask.
Then Gideon makes his suitcase appear with a foldable tent in it.
"This will do," he says while opening the tent and setting it up.

After setting up I look at the tent. Only one blanket to sleep on. The tent is actually for one person, but two people could also fit under there tightly.
Gideon goes into the tent and lays down.
"Come,"he says.

There's no way I'm gonna sleep next to him. In a panic, I look around. Aha! A rock with a thick layer of moss on it.

"I will sleep over there," I say while pointing to the rock.
"Suit yourself,"he responds.

I toss and turn. It's really uncomfortable. Sadly a rock is still hard even if you cover it with moss.
All of a sudden it started to rain.
"Get in here!" Gideon shouts.
"I'm fine!" I say while covering my face.
Then the rain came pouring down harder.
"Ivy, just get in here!" Gideon shouts. I give in and go into the tent.

Inside the tent

Now we are laying back to back to each other. I try to close my eyes and fall asleep. But I feel wide awake and can't fall asleep with Gideon this close to me. The rain is still pouring outside.

"Psst... Gideon, are you still awake?" I whisper.
"I am," he answers. "Can't sleep either?"
"No," I answer. "Not after my brush with death," I then whisper under my breath.
"What did you say?" he asks.
"Nothing," I respond. "I just can't fall asleep."
"Because you still don't trust me, right?" he asks.
"Well, you did try to kill me several times," I say irritated.
"Fair enough. I'm sorry about that. I will tell you why I wanted to kill you," he says.
"Alright,"I respond.
"At first, I didn't really have an opinion about ice elves. When I reached the age of 17 I was forced to join the army. I've fought in several wars and have seen the cruelties. So many elves were killed by the ice elves. Later I became a commander. I fought side by side with my father who also was a commander. Unfortunately, he got killed on the battlefield. Since then my hatred for ice elves grew. You look like my father's killer. Except for the hair and eyes. The first time we met I didn't realize that you looked like my father's killer. I just hated you for being an ice elf and wanted you dead. But later I realized it. Ever since I lost my father I've tried to avenge his death,' Gideon told me. "But I realize now you're not my father's killer. From your reaction on the troll attack and the way you get on the horse, you seem too inexperienced to be someone who has fought in a war."
"I'm sorry about your dad. And I'm indeed really inexperienced," I admit.
"How about this, I promise I won't hurt you again,"Gideon suggests.
"And how do I know you will keep your promise?" I ask.
"How about we become each other's guardian. We do a bounding spell to ensure each other's safety. If you die, I die," he says.
Sounds like a fair deal. I turn around and am greeted by his large muscular back.
'Turn around,' I say. Gideon turns around and our faces meet. Our faces are really close to each other. I feel my face beginning to burn again. He didn't seem to be bothered by it.
'Pinky swear?' I say while putting my hand in front of my red face.
'Pinky what?' he asks.
'Just give me your hand,' I say while I grab his hand. And then and there we made the promise and performed the binding spell. 

We made a promise to protect each other.