The Hanes Enigma

Chapter Five: Nova Theasphreyei

Nova Theasphreyei

A flash of thin metal whips through the air beside my waist and I look up, glaring at the girl in front of me. My own sword parries another attempt from my opponent who is getting ever more frustrated at my constant dodging and blocking.

"Fight back, for fuck's sake." She growls and I smirk.

"Seeing as you asked so nicely." She blocks three sequential swipes but misses the roundhouse kick to her stomach which send her stumbling backwards. I take the opportunity to twist the sword out of her hand and smile as it clatters to the floor. I point the tip of my blade to her neck so it barely grazes the skin.

"That was cheating. You're not supposed to kick me; it's against the rules." She rolls her eyes as I lower my sword and give her a hand up.

"But fencing rules don't apply if someone's trying to kill me in real life." I quip, walking back over to where we dropped our things before the training session began.

"Fair point." She chuckles and throws me a water bottle.

"I won't ever beat you if Hollis is watching, don't worry." I tease and dodge the playfully slap from my friend.

"Is that your last lesson today?" Euclea packs up our things and loads them into a satchel which I proceed to take from her.

"You're my bodyguard, not a pack horse." I chide lovingly. "I think that's it. I have out of class work to do, but that's all."

"In which case, what say you to a trip over the river?" Her eyes flash cheekily and I grin.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you." I grin back and the two of us look for watching eyes before sprinting in the direction of the river.

"Girls?." We stop immediately and give each other a look that screams 'not again'.

"Afternoon, Orin. What brings you to this side of Theasphreyei territory?" Euclea offers the faerie a particularly fake smile.

"There was a potential threat by Riverwey. Not that either of you would dare go anywhere near the river." He glares and we chuckle innocently.

"Of course not... We were just finding a nicer spot to continue training. I became bored of the Fountain Clearing." I smile politely and he rolls his eyes.

"Go further in before either of you get hurt." Orin shakes his head and readjusts a strap of his uniform.

Euclea grumbles as we turn back. "One of these days, I'll bash his head in, I swear."

"It's fine. So we can't go this time. We'll find another day." I pat her shoulder and she grimaces.

"It's a stupid rule anyway.. It's not like the river marks the edge of our territory. There are miles to go before then." She complains and I nod along sympathetically.

"Don't mind Orin, he's probably just jealous." I smile, knowing I have the faerie's attention.

"Jealous of who?" She grins and jogs a little to catch up with me.

"You, of course." I laugh and bend down to search through some mushrooms at the base of a tree.

"Me?... But, why? He's been promoted way above me. I'm the one who should be jealous." She frowns, puzzled.

"Yes, but his new boss is utterly awful. Apparently, she makes all of them get up two hours in advance just to polish the buttons on their uniform before their day's work. And if Lilian is telling the truth, he can't even do anything about it because he's fallen head over heels for the man's daughter." I smirk and Euclea's jaw drops.

"No! Kissiae?" She gapes at me as I rummage through the undergrowth.

"So I've heard." I chuckle and finally find the specimen I was looking for. A practically translucent fungus that grows underneath other groups of mushrooms and shrinks away from bright light.

"That's just waiting for disaster to strike." Euclea laughs but her expression quickly falls as she pulls me against a tree and leans her body as a shield in front of my own. A perfectly rounded disk slices it's way through the flesh of her upper arm and embeds itself in the shining bark next to me. A stampede of 7 or so children about half our age comes galloping after it. The faerie turns, fuming. "Who the hell gave you one of those to play with?"

"Sorry, Miss, we were just throwing it at trees to see who could get it dug in the most but Yuli missed..." A boy chuckles nervously.

"Well, your little competition almost killed an incredibly important person." She glares.

"We're really sorry, Miss." A girl attempts.

"Not me, you little twits." She steps to the side and I wave awkwardly. One child gasps and the other's all stare in awe.

I roll my eyes and dig the disk out of the silver birch before handing it to the first boy who appears to be somewhat of a ringleader for the small group. "Be a little more careful next time." I smile and drag a still grumbling Euclea away with me. "They're just kids, you don't need to yell. They didn't mean any harm."

"Say that to my bleeding arm!" She glowers back at the children and I chuckle, pulling her to a stop.

"Let me see." She rolls what's left of her short-sleeve above her shoulder and I wince at the wound. "Okay, that looks worse than I thought it was. Give me a minute." I put down the satchel and fumble inside until I've found the necessary herbs. I rub them in my hands, releasing their juices and squeeze that over my bodyguard's arm before wrapping a bandage around it and pinning it in place. "There. You'll be fine in a few days." I pat the bandaged wound gently and smile.

"Thanks, Nova.. Sorry for overreacting as usual..." She pouts and I shrug.

"I wouldn't like you as much if you weren't as short-tempered. You're being in love with a dryad wouldn't be nearly as hilarious." I joke and dodge the swipe from her outstretched arms.

"Yah! Make another joke about her and you'll regret it!" She laughs but quickly clears her throat as she catches sight of a particular girl to the right of us.

"You're in love with a dryad? Who??" Hollis grins excitedly and I burst out laughing at Euclea's bewildered expression.