Starlight of a Moonbeam

Blood of Sand, Two - Age 17 (Elena POV)

Running on flat field is one thing. Running on hills is another. Running in the mountains is completely different. But running over the sand dunes is a whole new level of difficulty.

I promised myself I wouldn't drink the first bucket this time. But having failed to maintain that self-goal for the last week I wasn't exactly expecting to break that record on today's run. The runs themselves are actually no longer mandatory for the level at which Almuru and I are training, however, both of us continue to do the exercise each day without fail. Something to keep us strong, something to keep us busy, something to keep us sane.

That's really all that we're doing these days anyway. With the constant pull of our magic, the training and exercise is the only thing to distract us from falling into the pull of our hidden magic. Even reading my books have lost their dependable appeal. Oh, I'm sure that's not permanent, but I find that sitting still makes the call worse as the days wear on.

Moving. That's what I need to be doing. What I must do to control it. Keep working. Keep hiding. Keep running.

Clearing the dune that I mark as the two-mile checkpoint, I slow to a speed walk and have a look around me. A group of four of five assassins barely visible at the gates of the fortress makes their way across the dunes toward where I'm currently standing. Turning my head around I have a look behind me. Nothing but dunes and sand as far as the human eye can see, but my fae eyes pick up the far off shadow of the oasis.

Making sure I'm no longer visible to the group nearing me thanks to the great dune in their path, I side down the side of a bank and cut across to the left and round the side, disappearing from the path and wandering eyes.

Picking up the path I come so often these days, I make my way through the blood-stained desert humming a soft tune of sweeter times. A tune my mother would sing to me late at night when I wasn't supposed to be awake. But she never cared, never scolded, only took me in her, and together we walked the private gardens under the moonlight as she sang to me.

I suppose it's been a while since I thought about my mother. I mean sure, I think of her, my father, and the court often throughout my day. I'll be reorganizing my books, or learning a new kicking technique when all of a sudden I'll think about my early years of training with my father. Or last week, when I was knife throwing in the courtyard and all I could think about, was my Aunt Lysandra teaching me better ways to use my claws when fighting in my wolf form. Although Fenrys was also trying to train me different ways of doing just that and the two got in a few quarrels about the best way to go about it, and-

Bam!

Like a title-wave of suffocating hot sand being poured over me, I pause and gasp for breath.

Fenrys.

I haven't thought about him for some time. Haven't let myself think about him. Gods no! Just thinking about him alone opens up a hole in my chest that I've only lately discovered. A pull, a longing, an aching awaits in that dark place inside of me. Only it doesn't feel dark at all, but light, happy, warm. I miss him. I do. I miss hunting with him in my wolf form. I miss training with him and letting my magic swirl with his. I miss teasing and laughing with him, and I miss his ever-glowing smirk-

Bam!

This time an actual title-wave of suffocating hot sand seems to wash over me, as my feet slip out from under me and the sand swallows me up completely!

Or just a foot or so. Either way, I'm covered in sand and pick myself up shaking my body violently in attempts to rid myself of the foul grains coating my every pore. Ugh! I hate sand!