THE IMMORTAL: Dance with the Dragon

10: Clawesome

She knew this was wrong. She knew this ... whatever this was—whether it was her holding on to the past or wanting something new—would end in heartbreak.

Unless she could convince him to renounce his father....

***

Every night, Samara set a soft alarm to meet Danteous at the willow after midnight. They lived night by night, avoiding the subject of Cyril and the future. Samara knew that if they spoke about it, she might have to make a difficult decision that she wasn't ready for.

She was going to enjoy Danteous while she could.

Their night had become routine. They would walk together, either to the clearing or to the beach. They would sit beneath the stars in the clearing or watch the waves roll in while sitting together on the sand. They held hands. They kissed. They spoke of the past, but never the future.

Danteous asked about Leela every night. He missed being her brother, that was obvious to Samara. She hoped when she became brave enough to talk to Leela that Leela would agree to talk to her brother.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Samara would fall asleep against Danteous' shoulder or in his lap, letting the sound of the waves or the chirping of insects lull her to sleep. He let her rest, watching over her until it was time to walk her home. Samara always made sure she was home before Leela woke up.

Growing more and more concerned for her well being, Danteous suggested one night that they return home early so Samara could get a decent night's sleep for a change.

Samara reluctantly agreed. She hated parting with him, but she was exhausted.

They walked back through the forest from their spot in the clearing. Close to the house, they heard a shuffling noise in some of the brush ahead. Danteous stood in front of Samara protectively, listening further and looking in between the leaves to see what was making the noise. It turned out to be a deer, which froze when it caught scent of them. After a minute it sprang off in the other direction.

"What did you think it was?" Samara asked. He had seemed overly concerned about the noise, as if he were worried something dangerous was in the forest.

"Nothing, you just never know what might be out here." Danteous put his arms around her and flashed a sly grin. "Don't worry, though, I'll protect you."

Samara playfully shoved him backwards and said. "As if I need your protection."

"Oh yeah?" Danteous laughed. "Show me what you can do."

"There's not enough room here," Samara said looking around at the closeness of the trees and brush. She would trip over roots and fallen branches for sure.

"If you think that then you can't protect yourself," he challenged. "You should be able to fight anywhere."

That was true. She and Leela had always made sure they had plenty of room to move around and she wondered then why Kalahari had never thought to have them practice in tighter spaces.

"Fine," Samara said.

And they sparred right there in the forest. Samara blocked Danteous' advances, though she had a feeling he was going easy on her, which frustrated her. She had been training since she was twelve years old; she knew how to fight. Although she had never fought a half-dragon before.

She also had the disadvantage of fighting without much room to move and having to dodge a bunch of obstacles (low branches above, rocks, roots, and brush below).

She tripped more times than she could count, and while dodging one of Danteous' attacks, she almost ran smack dab into a tree. Good thing this wasn't a real fight or she would have lost early on.