"Stop moving so stiffly!"
"Well, maybe that's because I've been standing here for two hours!" I snapped with annoyance and anger, my back straining and my joints creaking as I tried to move with flow.
Murtagh was bending his knees and moving his arms fluidly as if what we were doing was simple. When Murtagh instructed me to follow his motions, I had thought it would be a piece of cake.
Wrong.
Whatever I was learning, some sort of exercise that would help with focus and strength or something, according to Murtagh, was a lot harder than it looked. Right now, I felt like my entire body was made of lead, and my neck was sore as hell.
"Aren't we done yet?" I asked through gritted teeth, "I'm starving!"
Briefly, my mind flicked to Naolïn, who had flew off with Thorn to train and learn. Surely she was having a better time than me.
Murtagh cast a sideways glance at me, frowning.
"Some people are hungrier than others," He muttered and I scowled.
Standing straight up and stretching his arms, my new mentor declared, "Alright, I suppose we'll stop here for now…"
"Finally!" I breathed and rolled my sore neck, rubbing it with my hand. My muscles were burning with fatigue and I couldn't wait to take a nap.
Murtagh smiled, "Oh, but I didn't say we were stopping. We're continuing later on today."
I goggled my eyes at him.
"Oh come on!" I shouted exasperatedly.
He ran a hand through his hair and said deviously, "Hey, I'm not the one who came looking for someone to teach me. You want me to teach you then you better do what I say."
I growled one last time before stomping away. I had a feeling he was just doing this to torture me. Immediately after grabbing some spare, clean clothes (we bought new clothes when we stopped by a village a couple days ago), I headed off towards a hot spring. When I slipped into the water, it was soothingly warm and felt like heaven. After a long, tired morning, I was totally looking forward to a wonderful bath like this. Slowly, I began to cleanse my pale blonde hair of sweat and dirt from sleeping on the forest floor. It had grown long as I had not cut it in a long while.
I hummed while I washed, when I detected something. I felt eyes watching me and surreptitiously, I scanned around.
Naolïn, I said urgently, Something's out there watching me.
She did not reply at first, for our link was weak this far apart. Over time, our link would become stronger, but not right now.
"I'm coming then," my dragon said at last and I felt her approach.
Slowly, I inched my way to my dagger (one that I had somehow picked up from the tavern) and my clothes. Just when I grabbed a hold of them, Murtagh came dashing over, with Naolïn flying quickly beside him.
Shouting a spell, the leaves of a faraway bush suddenly burst like confetti and there, hiding behind the now bare branches, was a man, looking embarrassed and frightened when his cover was blown. A pervert.
I shrieked as I covered my chest, ducking into the water, a blush forming on my cheeks. A man was spying on me! How disgusting and mortifying! It was a good thing I had remained in the water the whole time.
Murtagh apprehended the man and soon, the poor guy left stumbling away, his memory altered and erased.
I was still in the warm water when Murtagh stepped towards me, eyebrows raised, and asked, "When are you getting out? You're not living in the water now are you?"
He was smirking and looking down at me. My cheeks grew warm again; enraged, I splashed water on him, screaming furiously, "Get out of here, you pervert! You just looked! You're a pervert just like that guy! No, even worse!"
My mentor laughed hilariously as he turned on his heel and left before I could splash more water onto him. Angrily, I climbed out of the hot spring and speedily pulled on a tunic and trousers. Naolïn hovered near me protectively, worried and wary. I was sure she could feel my seething wrath and fury.
Then, hobbling back to our makeshift campsite, I refused to look at Murtagh as I cooked three birds I caught in a trap. I ate with stony silence as Naolïn sent comforting and relaxing feelings my way, trying to calm down my anger.
I handed her dinner and went to rest early that day. I suppose Murtagh felt sorry enough for me to break the promise of having to do more grueling exercise and for that, I was thankful. But that didn't me I completely forgave him.
I looked forward to tomorrow.
(I was being sarcastic, in case you're wondering)
Note: Murtagh and Era were performing the Rimgar in the beginning.
