The Rise of Light (Book 3: Together Forever)

Blades

Trygve's POV

I couldn't help but watch Shadow as she swung upside down. She swiftly wrapped some excess fabric from her clothes around her.

All of her movements reflected those of a wild animal. Her feline and bat-like behaviour made me nervous, yet I was drawn to her as I had never been with anyone before.

The next day

I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep until there was a strong smell coming from below me. I blinked at the darkened sky.

"You can help yourself," she told me as I climbed down the tree. I blinked. She wasn't even facing me. There was indeed a pile of roasted fish. I hesitated. "It's not poisoned. Call it an apology for attacking you after you had freed me." 

I took two of the fish and sat beside her. She was sharpening a knife.

"Where did you get that?" I asked her. As far as I was aware, she hadn't been carrying any weapons on her.

"My Uncle," her response was short as usual. 

"Where did it come from?" I asked her.

She just gave me a look. "That's basically the same question," she replied. I was about to rephrase the question when she flicked her wrist. Another blade appeared.

She dutifully went on sharpening blade after blade. It shocked me that anyone could move as gracefully as she did with that much steel on them.

"How do you move with that much weight?" I asked her as I finished my fish.

She didn't even glance at me as she tossed me one of the knives. I instinctively caught it. It was incredibly light. 

"This will break if it were to come into contact with anything, Shadow," I told her. She just huffed a short laugh. 

"Throw it at that boulder then," she said while nodding at a small boulder just over her shoulder.

I raised my eyebrows as she pulled out a short cylinder on her leg. "You want me to break your incredibly beautiful but insanely light knife?" I asked her incredulously. I inspected the blade in my hands. 

It was well cared for. The tip ended in a fine point. The handle had an amazing grip. There was even an inscription on one side of the blade. I read the beautiful writing, 'protect your family or the world will feel your fury,' it read. 

I ran a finger over them. It was the most amazing blade I had ever laid hands on. If only, it wasn't so light.

"By all means, try," she said suddenly, shocking me out of my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes and tossed the dagger back to her. Instead of catching it, like I thought that she would, she twirled out of the way. I winced as the blade of the dagger struck the rock. Shards of metal flew everywhere.

I grimaced at the damage. When I glanced up at Shadow, she was grinning broadly. She walked back to the rock and pulled the knife out of the stone.

The blade was completely intact, not a dent, crack or missing shard. She lifted the knife to eye level. Wiping off the blade with a sleeve. I was gaping at the scene as she picked up her whetting stone. 

Carefully, she ran the whetstone over the blade. When she had finished, she lifted it to eye level again while weighing the blade on either side. She slid it into a sheath on her thigh that I hadn't seen before, and when she moved, it disappeared again.

She picked up the cylinder that she had left on the ground a couple of feet away.

She scowled at the little tube. "What happened?" I questioned.