The Hope Of The Three (Book 2 of the Hidden Trilogy)

Chapter Twenty-Four: T-rayn-ing

Rayn
(AQ)
(I'm back!😃)

My hands tingled slightly as I moved them under Alena. Resting her head on my chest, I easily lifted her up and carried her bridal style. The feelings I got when I touched or saw Alena were slowly getting stronger. What I once thought was nerves or hormones, I now question as something else. I looked down at Alena's face. She shouldn't have healed me or Tsuki before herself. Her list of unhealed injuries kept getting longer, concussion, multiple cuts and bruises, overexertion, and exhaustion.
I pondered why she refused to heal herself instead of me, and why Tsuki offered her sword to me so I could kill her. Why do girls have to be so complex?
We started to walk again. Kaito leading the way as always, Tsuki by his side laughing softly as they talked. Surprisingly, I felt a slight twinge of jealousy inside of me I shook my head lightly. Why did that happen? I already let her go. I have no interest in her. It is over. I felt Alena stir in my arms.
"Alena?" I whispered kneeling down. The heat from her body warmed my chest as I held her tighter, so she wouldn't fall off. A green eye cracked partially open and looked straight at me.
"Hello there." She opened her mouth about speak but no words came out. Alena frowned and tried again. Still no sound.
"You overexerted yourself healing me and passed out. I guess you lost your voice as well." She made a small sighing sound and tried to get up. I pushed her down quickly.
"Alena, rest. I've carried you this far, it won't kill me to carry you the rest of the way. Please." Reluctantly she laid back in my arms and closed her eyes. I stood up and continued to follow Kaito and Tsuki who didn't bother to wait for me. Alena's breathing became slow but even and she didn't stir again until we stopped to set up camp. I fumbled with a tent as Alena ran her hand over herself healing her injuries. After she was done she came up to me pressed her hand on my back. I felt my wound completely closing. She moved to heal my scratches but I pushed her hands away.
"Don't your no use to us unconscious." She smiled.
"And your no use to me injured."
"What?" I was worried about what she meant. Did she like me? What did she mean, to me?
Alena let out a frustrated sigh.
"You heard Tsuki. If we are to survive the next battle you need to be trained. I can't protect you without getting killed."
I breathed a sigh of relief. And then caught myself. Train? I was about to object when Alena pulled out her daggers and handed me my sword. It felt heavy and unbalanced in my hand. I sighed. There was no way out of this. When Alena decides to do something, she does it.
We stood in a roughly drawn circle that Alena drew in the dirt.
"Okay, now. Today I will teach you how to block an attack. It is the most important part of fighting." She went into a fighter's stance, ready to pounce. I weakly lifted my sword with both hands and bent my knees slightly.
"Now when I attack, you block. Got it?" I barely had time to agree when she was upon me. Not knowing how my arms flung my sword up blocking both of her daggers. She landed with one knee bent on the dusty ground.
"Good! Now again, but this time don't flail. If you look like you don't know how to fight  your opponent will target you and you will be easily defeated."
"What?" I asked and she rewarded me with a sigh.
"Fake it, till you make it."
This went on for another hour until I finally began to improve.
My feet and arms began to open me as Alena attacked. Left, right, left, right, under, over. She held me with my sword over my head. I thought that she had relaxed signaling that the match was over. But when I slid my sword out her dagger came down and hovered over my chest. Right, where my heart was.
"Never think that a match is over until one of you is dead or they are disarmed." She pressed lightly with the tip of her blade on my chest. A second passed and I was able to soak up the intensity of her eyes and threat of her knife in my chest. She released me and I was able to breathe again. For such a nice person she was extremely lethal.
"Why didn't you cut me a little instead of stopping it." She had prevented many injuries she would have inflicted. She sustained no injuries from me except a small scrape on her hand that didn't even bleed. I figured by getting injured I would learn from the natural fear of pain, how to prevent the same pain from reoccurring.
"Because I didn't want to heal you. I am still weak and my energy is sapped from training."
"Ya, I wouldn't want what happened to Tsuki to happen to me."
I knew it was her soft spot as soon as the words left my mouth. She flinched and the scowled at me. That's normally my punishment from her but I must have really ticked her off because she reared back and let a dagger fly. Having no weapon to block with and a sharp dagger flying at me I lifted my arms in a last defense. The dagger froze the blade touching the tip of my nose. A bead of blood dripped off of my nose and onto the ground.
"Like I said," Alena strode over to me and plucked the dagger out of the air as easily as she would an apple from a tree. "Dead in an instant." She sauntered off towards the camp leaving me to breathe and collect my thoughts.

Like I said.
Girls=complicated.