Warrior's Mind (Book 2 of The Warrior Chronicles)

Chapter 1

Dear Readers ❤️
This is the Second novel in the Crossing Novel series which starts off from where "Warrior's Heart" left off. I haven't written them as standalone books so I strongly recommend starting with the first book as I'd hate for you to feel lost 😞 

As ever, I'm grateful for all of your comments,  feedback and support and hope you continue enjoying the odyssey that is Leyla's life 😊🤣

Happy Reading!

Mina

P.S. I wasn't able to use different fonts so I've used bold when characters are speaking in Asch 😊 hope it doesn't confuse anyone!

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CHAPTER ONE

She was sinking.

Leyla opened her eyes and stared up at the cold water that closed in over her head. Pale blue silk danced around her, waving goodbye to the shifting light above, while the darkness below beckoned. For a moment she wondered if it would be so bad to give in, to just float down into the peaceful quiet and let it all end. After all, what did she have left to go back to? Her identity as an officer of the Warrior army had been wiped out. There was no way for her to find her father. And  Alec...a sharp ache pierced her chest at the thought of the man who was her first everything. The first to give her a kind word, the first to defend her, the first to care for her, the first to kiss her and make her feel wanted...even if it had only lasted two days.

There was nothing left.

Leyla blinked as she sunk further into the blue. She was so tired. So very tired. And she didn't know how to swim. Would it do any good to struggle?

Suddenly a hand reached through the cocoon of silks and grabbed her wrist. Leyla stared at the tall form as it pulled her back up towards the light. Raphael.

Reason returned in a flash and she thrashed, her limbs flailing as she attempted to push herself up. She had run out of air! She couldn't breath! Raphael jerked back and forth with her frantic movements, the silver band on his head coming loose in the process. He glared back at her, his expression telling her to stop moving. Pull yourself together. The red gem at the centre of his headpiece sparkled as it drifted down past her feet. Forcing herself into stillness, Leyla let him drag her the last bit of distance to the light.

They were both gasping for air when they broke the surface.

"Hold still," Raphael was behind her, pushing her onto her back so that she was floating on top of him.  "There's land over there. Just stay calm, it wont take long."

Leyla clenched her fingers, fighting against the instinct to kick. When they reached the shore a few minutes later, she clung to the grass and pulled herself out of the water before collapsing onto her back. Raphael lay down beside her, drenched and breathing hard. "You...you don't know how to swim?"

Leave it to the Prorex to say something so obvious at such a moment. "You have keen observational skills." Leyla pushed strands of wet hair out of her face, breathing hard. High above, a smattering of clouds rushed across three pale moons.

They really had crossed into Asch.

"I do." Raphael agreed as he turned his head towards her. He was drenched, from his eye-lashes to the tips of his navy boots, yet the wry smile on his lips seemed to suggest he wasn't bothered. "Are you alright?"

Leyla suddenly remembered her dishonourable thoughts from earlier. She may have been disoriented from the crossing, but even so, how could she have forgotten about Raphael and the promise she made? She had no right to be worrying about her own life, when another's was entrusted to her!

She saw concern enter Raphael's golden eyes as he waited for her response.

He had saved her at the Warrior dungeons and risked his life, trusting that she would honour her words and get him home. And she would. She would take the Prorex back to the Land of Light no matter what the cost.

"I'm sorry about your head band," She said.

Raphael gazed at her for a moment longer before shrugging. "We are alive. The rest is insignificant."

Even though Leyla knew little about the Land of Light, she was pretty sure the bands were very significant since only the High Thinkers wore them. In fact, this was the first time she had seen the Prorex without his gem.

"We are alive," she repeated, "Now let me get you home." Her breathing steady, Leyla sat up and looked around. The water spread out in front of her as far as the eye could see while behind her, tall trees with multicoloured flowers blocked her view. An Aquafarm?

Damn. She got up quickly cursing herself for being lax while she scanned the trees for movement.

"Where are we?" Raphael was up and looking at his surroundings. "And are those tubes sticking out of the water?"

"Yes," Leyla nodded, then pointed at his waist. "I need your sword."

He looked her way, then narrowed his eyes. "I think you need my coat, not my sword."

She followed his gaze down to where the silks of her wet dress clung to her body. She was used to Light Lander's strange sensibilities from living with Mikhail, but this was not the time to indulge them. The sound of shifting from the bushes to their left had her stretching out her hand: "Sword. Now."

Raphael raised a brow, but began unbuckling his belt. "This must be one of the Aquafarms Michael wrote about in his journals," his voice was calm, belying his swift movements. He had obviously caught on that something was about to happen. "Are they growing crops under the water?"

"Yes," Leyla nodded again, taking the sword and putting it on the ground in front of them.

"Crops would have to be protected," Raphael went on conversationally, but his eyes were scanning the trees. A branch cracked to the right. 

"Raise your hands over your head," Leyla said.

"Raise my hands?"

Leyla grabbed his arms and raised them, ignoring his indignant look, then took a step forward so that her foot was close to the hilt of the sword. If this didn't go well, she might still have to use it.

"Nam sud zil ig ed zil!" She called out in Asch, her fingers stretched away from her body.

Five spear tips appeared between the trees, tall shadows following right behind them.