Chapter Eleven

Three days later we finally arrived, Elendir leaned over to me and asked, "so… know of any good training places?"

I nodded and kicked Sila gently in the ribs to get her to trot. With Elendir close behind me I trotted Sila into a forest, minutes later we ended up in a meadow surrounded by trees. I stopped Sila and jumped off of her. Elendir rode up beside me and jumped off as well.

"Wow, this is a really good place."

I grinned widely, "oh this is just a resting enjoy yourself place, the training part of it is over here. I walked over to some tall shrubbery, I pushed them aside to reveal a large training area, with dummies, weapons and everything. "This is actually where I trained a little."

"It's perfect!" Elendir walked over to the weapons and grabbed an axe, he turned to me, "have you ever used this?"

I shook my head, "I tried, but I couldn't figure it out."

"Ok, that will be one of the things I'll teach you," he walked over to the trees and bent down, he grabbed something off the ground. He walked over to me, "I want to see you dodge this stick," he held up a long thick stick.

"Ok…"

"Ready?"

I nodded and bent my knees. Elendir swung the stick softly at my head, I dodged it easily, "aw come on! Swing it harder, I'm not going to get mad or cry."

Elendir swung the stick nervously but hard. I dodged it again, instead of waiting like I was expecting, he swiped my feet from under me and I landed on my back with a thud.

He offered his hand to me and I took it, but then I yanked back making him fall on his face in the grass. I laughed, "ha! That's what you get!"

I looked up spitting grass from his mouth, "hey! That wasn't fair!"

I stuck my tongue out, "too bad."

Elendir tackled me, "hey! You have the advantage of being a man, no fair!"

"Too bad!"

"Ooooh, you are so gonna get it!" Elendir pinned me down on the ground, so I brought me feet up to his chest and flung him up. "And that's what flexibility is good for!"

Elendir sat up and laughed, then he stood up and picked his stick back up, "whatever, lets get back to dodging."

I nodded and stood up.

A couple hours later I sat down on a log breathing hard, Elendir sat next to me, "good practice, you're a natural."

I quirked an eyebrow, "what? You hit me tons of times, and I've got the bruises to prove it!"

"Well, you dodged most of my attacks, all you need to work on is watching your opponent very carefully."

I rolled my eyes, "whatever."

"Don't whatever me, little girl!" He said in a mocking voice.

I grinned and leaned in close to him, "oh? And what are you going to do about it?" I closed the space between us sealing our lips together in a long kiss.

We broke apart, I opened my eyes to see Elendir with his eyes still closed from the kiss, he opened them and smiled.

"You know what? I've been wondering for a while about what you said when we met up again."

"Uh…what did I say?"

"We were discussing each other's ages and you said that you were 'noble' twenty. What did that mean?"

He got all nervous again and tried to change the subject, "I think it'll take the rest of the week to work on your dodging until you get the hang of it, do you want to start up again tomorrow?"

I narrowed my eyes, "sure, but Elendir, your avoiding my question."

"I didn't mean anything by it, just a figure of speech."

I rolled my eyes, "whatever." I stood up and stretched, "you can stay at my place tonight."

Elendir stood up, "what?"

I smiled, "I still have a home here, you can stay there with me tonight, although, you'll have to sleep on the floor."

"Where else have I heard this?"

I laughed, "I'm guessing the inn."

He chuckled, "yeah."

I gave him a small peck on the lips then turned and started walking towards our horses, "come on, I'll show you where it is."

Three weeks had past and I was swinging a sword around aimlessly.

"I think you're ready."

I turned to him, "ready for what?"

"To, to face him."

My eyes darkened, "good."

Elendir put his hands on my shoulders, "Arien, are you sure you want to go through with this."

I looked into his eyes with my own burning eyes, "of course! He killed my family, not just my mother, but my whole family! Of course I do! I want revenge!"

"Ok, ok, just don't get mad at me, I'm just making sure you want to go through with facing him."

I nodded and pulled the glass ball from my pocket, it glowed it's mischievous lavender, "I've finally grasped it's powers, so I am ready to confront him. And he will not win, not while I'm alive."

Elendir winced, "Arien, please don't talk like that, I don't want to lose you. I love you, and I would die for you." Elendir grasped my head in his hands then leaned down and kissed me.

"I love you also Elendir, but I have to do this." I looked into his eyes tears streaming down both our cheeks.
"I know," Elendir whispered.