Graced

Chapter Fourteen

Lia slept, despite the thoughts now rushing through her head. She could only stay awake for a few minutes after Cyra left before she fell asleep once more, exhausted. She dreamt of knights and dragons, something straight out of a fairy tale. However her fairy tale dreams quickly took a much darker turn, and she began to dream of a war ravenged land, man against beast, both sides suffering huge casualties.

When she woke up breathing heavily and drenched in a cold sweat, it took her several long minutes to remember where exactly she was. The hut was pitch black which made it impossible to see anything at all. And the aching pain quickly returned, reminding her of her injuries. Curiously, they didn't seem to be as bad as when she first woke up, Lia mused. The observation intrigued her, and she dwelled on it for several minutes before realizing that maybe she had been given the ability to heal unnaturally fast. It was an interesting theory, although she really did not want to try to test it out because that would involve injuring herself on purpose.

Lia decided that she wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon, so she decided to think about all the things that she learned from Cyra. Dragons? If she hadn't just been almost killed by one, she'd think these people were completely insane and need to bent sent to a mental institute. But since she'd almost died... Although maybe it was all just a dream, she considered. But that's what everyone in every book thinks when crazy stuff happens and it is rarely a dream. Great, so she was stuck in a not-dream filled with giant murderous reptiles. Joy... Speaking of murderous, she tested to see how well her injuries were doing. Moving around only slightly she notices that the ache has subsided even more. In fact... She swings her legs over the side of the bed. Standing up required immense effort and she nearly blacked out as is normal when you stand up too fast. Her legs wobbled beneath her adn she wondered why it was so difficult. She hadn't been knocked out for that long. Puzzled by the thought, she didn't notice someone enter the room.

"Maybe you should be more careful," a low voice spoke in Lia's ear. She jumped, startled, and found herself falling since her legs were unable to handle the sudden movement. Landing on the hard floor didn't help her injuries in the slightest, instead causing pain to shoot through her body. Laying on the floor she looked up to find the same boy from earlier standing above her. He laughed and moved over to the wall, hitting a switch which made lights flicker to life above them, illuminating the room. He returned to stand near her, looking down on her as she lay on the floor.

"Graceful," he smirked, brown eyes twinkling with laughter. "And I always heard that girls were taught to be the epitome of beauty and grace. You," he chuckled, "aren't doing so well." She looked away, a little embarrassed and more than a little angry. She decided that she didn't like this boy, he was far to arrogant and rude. In all the stories the boy would've caught her, she complained silently.

Once he seemed to have decided that he had laughed at her enough he held out a hand. "Need a little bit of help there?" She hesitated, not wanting to depend on this boy for anything. But she couldnt get up by herself, she was too weak. With a sigh of resignation she accepted his hand and he helped her to her feet.

Lia now stood directly in front of him, but he was several inches taller than she was so she had to look up to see his face. With surprise, she noticed a faint scar that traced it's way from his hairline, through his left eyebrow, and down along his cheek. Another matching scar went from just above the left corner of his lip down his chin. She wondered where he got them from. Noticing she was staring, she looked away quickly but the sudden movement caused her to wobble again.

Noticing how she was still unsteady, his voice took on a more gentle tone. "You should probably sit down you know. You're not quite completely healed so you really shouldn't push it." He looked at her with something like pity which immediately made her stiffen.

"I'm fine," Lia replied shortly. 

He smiled as though enjoying a private joke. "Fine then." He paused as if considering an idea before adding, "Since you're feeling so well, would you like to come for a tour around the camp?" He said it in an offhand way as though not expecting her to agree.

However, not wanting to accept defeat she replied, "I'd love to." He opened his mouth to reply, but she had already crossed the room and was standing at the open door. "Shall we?" He chuckled again, following her over. She disappeared out the door and he rolled his eyes.

As she stepped outside the fresh air hit Lia like a wave. Ah, the great outdoors. She stood, eyes closed, enjoying the felling of being out of that little room once again. Footsteps approached and stopped next to her.

"Tired already?" he joked. She opened her eyes to give him a glare. Raising his hands in surrender, "Okay, you win. I can see you're fine. For now at least." He winked and she rolled her eyes before looking away. So obnoxious, she thought.

They stood in silence for awhile just looking out into the forest. The hut she had been inside faced an immense wall of ancient trees, obviously on the edge of their little village. A dirt path led around the small wooden hut. Forest sounds were the only thing Lia could hear, and it was incredibly peaceful.

As though realizing that they hadn't been formally introduced, the boy broke the silence. "You know, I don't actually know your name. But I'm Caleb. My brother," he frowned. "The one that came to warn us of Cyra's visit? His name is Levi."

Lia nodded. She knew what their names were, just not which one was which. So they would be her caretakers, judging by what Cyra had said. Maybe she should have accepted the offer of a girl. Oh well, she decided. She didn't plan on spending long healing anyway. She wanted to be out as soon as possible.

Without looking at him she simply said, "Lia." He nodded, giving up on conversation for another few minutes. But he quickly appeared to grow bored, Lia could hear him fidgeting.

She sighed before turning to him, "I'd like to see the rest of the village."

He seemed surprised that she had spoken more than three words to him, but started to follow the dirt path. "Ladies first," he gestured ahead of him. Lia rolled her eyes again before following.

~~~~~

Hello again. In case you were wondering, I am still alive. And here is yet another chapter that is waaay overdue. My apologies. And I'd make it longer, but I'm starting to get too tired to write so this is what you get for today. Once again, my apologies.