Ordinary

Chapter 13

I stormed through the halls, not caring if anyone would be wandering at this time. I did not stop until I made it to Arlo's bedroom. I pounded on the door until it swung open.

"What do you want child?" he said as he opened the door.

His face softened as he saw my red eyes and tear-soaked cheeks. "What has happened?"

Slumping down in exhaustion, I told him. He pulled me into the room with a gentle hand and sat me on a chair near the window. His face darkened as I told him what Marcus had done to me. I didn't tell him who it was, but he was furious anyway.

Finally I let out, "I never want to be helpless like that again."

For a moment he was still, then nodded. "You won't." He stepped back, motioning for me to follow. The man still stunk of alcohol, but something in his eyes made me trust him. He lead me out the door, down a few halls, and into a wide room, empty save a mat on the floor and some chairs around it. A training room.

I gave him a confused look. I wasn't sure if this short, stubby, drunk man was the one who should be giving me fighting lessons.

As if he read my mind, he assured me, "We're not training your body here, we are trying your mind." As if that made any sense. But after what happened with Marcus, I would take any help I could get. "I hope you're ready for a rough night. But if you do everything I say, you'll be compulsion immune for your journey tomorrow."

I nodded. Suddenly his mind, almost like a real physical force, reached out and grabbed my mind. My body went rigid.

"Push me out," was all he said. I stayed frozen in place, unable to move, to think, everything reminding me too much of what had happened with Marcus. "Push me out." His mind was invading mine. I knew he'd be able to destroy me, make me do things much worse than Marcus.

"PUSH ME OUT," he bellowed, and as he did, I felt my mind hardening, as if it had a physical force itself. I imagined two hands pushing out against him, against his power over me, with all their might.

The grip on my mind was gone. I was panting. He smiled. "Good. Let's try again."

Three hours later, I was dripping in sweat and felt as if someone had used a hammer on my skull, but Arlo nodded thoughtfully at me. "You're as ready as anyone could hope."

I relaxed, satisfied. I wished we could have practiced more, but both of us were certain Marcus, or any other faerie, would not be able to get into my head again. Suddenly Arlo's eyes glazed over.

"You will be death."

Giving him a confused look, I asked, "I will be dead?"

He reached towards me, but I took a step back. "You will be death," he repeated. His words terrified me. I knew he could see prophecies. Was he telling me I was going to die?

I took another step back almost to the door. "Magic does not grow, it flows," he added, his eyes still glazing over. I wish I could see what color his marks were.

The door was mere feet away. "You will have nothing and everything." I jumped back, pulling the door open, but before I could get into the hall, he grabbed me. He looked into my eyes as if he could see into my soul. I wondered if he could.

When I saw his eyes roll back in his head, I screamed. Out of nowhere appeared Ash, eyes wide, body ready to fight whatever was there.

"Arlo!" he snapped, ready to physically take him off of me. Before he could tackle him off of me, Arlo's eyes went back to normal, and he released my arm.

Chuckling embarrassedly, he stepped back. "I'm so sorry about that. The Sight must have taken over me again."

Before he could say anything else, Ash pulled me into the hall, pushing me away from the room. When Arlo was out of sight, he asked, "What the Hell are you doing out so late? You should be asleep."

I was about to snap at him and tell him he wasn't my mother until I read the concern in his eyes.

"I needed help with something." He raised an eyebrow in response. "A faerie took over my mind today. I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again. So I can be ready for our quest tomorrow."

He shook his head. "Well your mind may be ready, but is your body?"

"I'd like to think so," I snapped.

Chuckling, he shook his head. "I meant," he said, "that I can see your mind has found its strength, but how would you hold up in a fight?"

I looked down. "I probably wouldn't do very well," I admitted.

Ash looked out a window at the full moon. It looked as it did in the human realm. All effects of the flower had worn off.

"Well if you're already up this late, we might as well do some training as well," he said. "Do you mind if we do it in your room? Mine is right below the king's, and he would have a fit if we woke him."

I nodded as we walked to my room. "What are you doing out this late?" I asked him.

He winked. We made it back to my room. He looked over the carpet spanning from wall to wall and nodded in approval. "The carpet is soft, so it won't hurt when I drop you onto it," he laughed, but I just glared, which made him laugh even harder.

"I heard you were a feisty one," he flirted. "I heard you even talked back to the king," he said, admiration in his voice.

I shrugged. "I wanted to come. I wasn't going to let him stop me."

He gave me a quick nod of approval. "Let's just hope your fist is as strong as your words."

Ash raised a hand out in front of him. "Punch it." I gave him a quizzical look, and he laughed. "Don't worry, I doubt I'd even feel it."

I'm not sure what it was, maybe the long journey I'd already had, the feeling of being powerless here, or what Marcus had done, but I stepped forward and with all my might, I drove my fist into Ash's opened palm.

A look of pain shot through his face, but my pride was over shadowed by my own pain throbbing through my knuckles.

"Damn, Sam," he chuckled, "that was much better than I was expecting."

I glowered. "I'm taking that as a compliment."

"It was meant to be one," he said. "Imagine what you could do with good form."

At least another hour had passed, Ash successfully teaching me how to through and block punches. He'd even taught me how to kick someone at the right angle to break their knee. Knees break on both human and faerie alike. But here you had better be fast enough to run from a crippled, but very pissed off faerie, he had said. I'd never been so thankful for my cross-country training.

"Sam, I know you're strong, but even a faerie would be exhausted after all your training today. You should get some sleep."

His words were comforting, as if he knew exactly what to say. What he had left out was that I had a lot of extra training I had to do to even stand a chance against them.

But he was right, I was exhausted. Sweat poured off of me, and every bone in my body ached. The bed suddenly looked very inviting.

"I need to know more," I told him. He lead me to bed, and I was too weak to stop him.

"If you do anymore tonight, you'll be useless on our journey tomorrow." I knew he was right.

I pulled down the duvet and slipped into bed, the sheets feeling like Heaven after my long day. I had a feeling the days would keep getting longer.

After seeing that I was tucked into bed, Ash gave me a smile. "I usually don't leave women alone in bed at this time, but I'll have to make an exception."

With the last of my strength, I threw a candlestick at him from my nightstand. I heard his bellowing laughter as he shut my door. His laughter had not even subsided before I fell into a deep sleep.