The Faery Vow

Chapter 22

It took a week to convince Kheelan and Drake to let me start training again. It also involved many broken objects thrown mainly at Kheelan's head. I hadn't hit him yet but my speed was definitely improving.

"So, what are we going to do out here?" I asked Drake, limbering up as he tested the balance of his sword.

"We'll start where we left off." Drake swung his sword. "We'll try and get your body back into shape. You need to build up your strength again after being unconscious for a few weeks. We'll also start working on building upper strength. Wielding one sword is hard enough but two short swords will drain your strength faster."

"Alright, let's get physical."

I spent the next two months in a blur. Events melded together. Training and sneaking off with Kheelan and Sorcha so they could spend time together consumed my days. Any spare moment I had to myself I read about the dark forest, still believing it had something to do with my father. Unfortunately I kept coming to dead ends. There was no information about locations or even any of the survivors.

Drake became a drill sergeant while training. Every small error was scrutinised and I was pushed to perfect my swing. Drake also encouraged me to work on hand to hand combat. It was difficult to concentrate when his hands were touching me though, so my skills were still poor by his standards.

With swords though, I became dangerous. Ambrus trained me for one week while Drake returned to Court to attend to some problems and he was shocked at the speed of my progress.

"What has Drake been teaching you? I thought you guys were just out here playing with each other."

"What? Ew that's so gross Ambrus, I can't believe you just said that! I've been training my ass off out here." I held up my left sword. "Drake is a stickler, the other day I wasn't holding my left sword properly and he made me practice for three hours before he was satisfied I was doing it right."

"That sounds like the Captain. I trained with him when I was beginning. We joined the guard close together. He used to be training long after we all finished for the day. It was like he couldn't stop until he felt he'd perfected what we'd learned for the day."

I thought about Drake and Eva and how different they were. "It's weird, how Drake and Eva are so different though their siblings."

"Drake came to court when he was only a child with Eva only a young toddler. I don't know where he came from but he'd seen his fair share of demons. He's always been protective of her. I think that's why he joined the guard. So he could be strong enough to look after his little sister."

Damn, I hated hearing sweet things about Drake. It made me like him way more.

Two months of sweat and aching limbs all lead up to this moment. Sweat dripped in my eyes and I wiped them quickly, trying to remain focused. Drake stood before me, sword raised as he looked for an opening.

Today we were fighting with real weapons. We'd had a couple of practice runs and after a few shaming girly squeals whenever I got close to hitting him, I felt I was ready this time. I couldn't help but hesitate when I attacked, knowing he wasn't an enemy. I knew Drake was getting annoyed at my hesitation. For some reason it was important to him that I get this right.

Feeling tired, I made my final move. Lunging forward, I swung low with my left sword. He swung fast, intercepting my attack and I braced my arm as the shock reverberated up my arm. I knew Drake was going easy on me but easy was still strong.

Spinning, the swords scraped against each other and I raised my right sword, aiming for his neck. Gritting my teeth, I tried to remember that he was meant to be the enemy. Drake's left hand snapped up and grabbed my wrist, stopping my sword inches from his neck.