The Forgotten Prophecy

Chapter 34

'Wake up, you lazy humans!'

Ines groaned in frustration. It was too early to face reality, too early to leave her soft pillow. She opened her eyes and glared at the source of the noise. Inerma was leaning against the doorway with a big smile on her face, like she had ticked her annoying Ines off her to-do list of the day.

'You two, pack your things. You are leaving,' she announced to them.

'Where are we going?' she asked the elf, but she had already gone outside.

Ines glanced at Matthew who was still lying on his bed, his eyes staring at the ceiling in dismay. His beard had grown significantly during the last days, which made him look more manly and rugged, and Ines found herself staring at him in a daze. Matthew caught her indiscreet gaze, and Ines quickly averted her eyes, raising from the bed and getting ready for the day.

The previous night she had gone to sleep with a sense of change inside her. Without meaning to, she had begun to lean on him, to need him near, and it terrified her. Those feelings were unknown to her; she was walking on uncharted territory, but she had no other way but moving forward, because her love for him she could not defy.

While she was fastening her belt, she heard Matthew's bed creak as he got up. She turned around and saw him lazily dress up. Before he caught her staring at him again, she walked out the building. The sun was rising between the dark clouds, bright amidst the blue, bidding the stars to rest. The old elf was waiting for them at the square, pacing back and forth in impatience, and Ines headed towards him.

'I was assigned to teach you our ways,' he said once he noticed her. 'Your training begins today. Let's go.'

Ines frowned. She wasn't expecting such a fast development. She didn't even know what kind of powers she possessed. She stood there looking at him in confusion, until Matthew came beside her and pulled her with him to follow the elf.

'A bit sudden, huh?' he commented.

'Yeah. I'm a bit worried.' Ines sighed. Things were going much more quickly than she would have preferred, and she wasn't sure if she could keep up. 

Matthew must have seen her worried expression, because he patted her shoulder in comfort and said. 'Don't worry. You just need to take one step at a time, and I'll be there to meet you.'

'Thank you,' she gave him a weak smile.

They crossed the tall bridge, the sound of the waterfall muffling their footsteps on the stones, and entered the lush vegetation outside the city. Ines guessed they couldn't train back in the city, since they would attract the others' attention, so a more remote place would be more suitable. In winter's icy kingdom the trees spun all around them, creating a dazzling mixture of green and brown. The old elf led them to a clearing in the woods, where they would have plenty of space to train freely. 

Matthew sat down, his back rating on a trunk of a pine tree and looked at them in anticipation. 'Come on. Amuse me,' he ordered jokingly, and the elf rolled his eyes.

He stood in front of Ines, his expression dulled. 'Today I will be testing you to see your level of skills. Lesson number one; defense.'

The old man's eyes turned white, and she automatically knew what was coming after. She took a defensive stance and readied herself for the fight. Thumping paws were heard approaching from her left. Soon enough two wild wolves appeared through the trees. Their thick grey coat was short over their bodies, and longer at their necks, their eyes matching the elf's. The wolves bared their fangs at her and charged. 

Ines gripped her sword. Fear filled her body with adrenaline, and her instincts took control of her mind; she moved like she had learned that choreographed dance of destruction by heart. There in the opening there was no beauty in their fighting. Claws and metal clashed fiercely, shouting and growling echoed in the forest.