Dragon Deep

Chapter 27 - Many Developments

“He’s mean to people! Shouldn’t you, of all people, understand that? He’s violent…destructive. He’s so unstable, virulent and just plain horrible.” To hear Janice spout out all these nasty words shocked me. It never once occurred to me that she was even capable of saying such words.

“I…well…” I was at a loss for words. I wanted to defend Bain, but part of me agreed with Janice as well.

“There’s no way I’ll ever be with him. The sheer idea…” Janice shook her head confidently.

Disappointment and pity found their way to worm through my heart. Bain’s affection, his hopes and his feelings…were rejected. Janice didn’t want to lead him on, so she pretended to be oblivious. That was now as clear as light.

I was quiet, mostly deep in thought. Part of me was already trying to formulate plans to prove Janice wrong, to have Bain win her over. Part of me still wanted to hurt Bain as much as I could, despite everything he has done for me so far.

“How about you..?” Janice  questioned, “do you like Drey?”

“Drey?” Flashbacks of what happened the day before made me feel guilty again. Unlike Janice, I didn’t even stop to consider his feelings. I tried to use him to comfort myself. I had been selfish, inconsiderate.

“I…I don’t like him that way. I still love Olyrir, my childhood friend.”

“Well, I guess we’re both stuck in the same situation, aren’t we?” She laughed light-heartedly. I smiled back and sheepishly nodded.

We stopped for lunch, resting under the shade of a tree. Finishing my lunch quickly, I got up and walked towards Bain.

“Bain…” I tentatively asked, intimidated by him.

“What is it?”

“Do you think…you could…uh…help me improve my…uh…fighting?” I asked, unable to stop myself from pausing awkwardly.

“Your…fighting?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. I want to get better so…I might as well ask the expert.”

He hesitated, before wolfing down his remaining bread. He dusted crumbs off his fingers and got up from the ground.

“Well…I’m not going to be gentle, nor will I hold back. If you don’t block my blows…there’ll just be a nice fist print to brighten up your face, wouldn’t it?”

Oh crap. He came at me fast, without even waiting for me to be prepared. His punch would have sent me reeling across the forest floor if not for my instinctive dodge. I fell to the ground hard. Luckily, I felt my body respond to being on the ground, by twisting back up to get back on my feet.

“That was rather unsightly. I would compare you to an amputated monkey, but that doesn’t do the monkey any justice, does it?”

I scowled, taking steps back and away from everyone else. I didn’t want to get Drey or Janice into this sprawl.

Bain moved out willingly, before dashing out with his incredible speed. His kick was perfectly executed, flowing with his body motion effortlessly. His momentum was unbelievably smooth, transforming into deadly blows that I could barely dodge. With such an array of continuous, flawless blows, I had no chance, no window to fight back. I dodged, swerving and jumping out of the way, heading further and further from camp.

I was panting. Adrenaline was kicking in and the rush of energy left my head pounding. There wasn’t any way I could win. I knew that. Bain was a master at physical combat. Bain had momentarily paused his blows, giving me time to think and to catch my breath.

Perhaps if I caught him off guard…What does he least expect? I forced my rational thinking to become active again. I can’t…think! He came at me at a blinding speed, slashing out with a hack to the ribs. I ducked, trying a clumsy kick. Amazingly, the kick came out rather fluid, although lacking power.

Immediately after, I jumped up and aimed a strike at his abdomen, which was unprotected. Bain was forced to pull his arms back to absorb the blow.

“Not bad, but you left yourself all open like that.” Bain huffed, kicking his leg out. My right foot was pushed off, and a sudden blow to my stomach sucked all air out from my lungs. I felt a dizzying feeling before the world turned upside down as I dropped to the ground. I heaved, getting air back into my lungs.

That…wasn’t too bad. At least I lasted more than ten seconds…I think. The blow wasn’t as hard as I recalled. Or was it? Maybe he was holding back after all, I begrudgingly convinced myself. I winced when the pain set in. My face was still swollen from the punch Bain delivered yesterday. Now to add another bruise at my stomach. Awesome. Bain stared me down for a moment, before walking away, ending our sprawl.

“Are you okay?” Janice asked, concerned. My hand was pressed over my stomach. I bit my lip to counter the pain, grunting as I stood up with Janice’s support. I looked at Drey, who I hadn’t spoken to at all today.

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m fine.” I repeated.

“Physical combat doesn’t seem to be your strongest point. Especially hand-to-hand combat. You are probably better off with a weapon. You don’t block and absorb Bain’s hits well, you can’t beat his superior strength, which forces you to dodge.” Drey told me later, his first words to me today, when Janice and Bain started to pack their things.

“I’m not fantastic at weapons either. I’m not good at any kind of combat.” I meekly admitted, a bit surprised at this.  

“Don’t you and Hope have some sort of familiar bond, why not use his powers in combat?”

“We tried, but it’s not quite worth the effort it takes to get into the flow and really connect with each other. It’s impossible to activate that in the heat of a battle. It’s unreliable and weak.” I sighed, realising that I have not managed to activate Hope’s powers ever since that one training session with Janice back at the academy.

“Northerners are all mostly adept in all forms of combat, with or without their weapon partner. That is why we have to rely on our individual powers to gain an edge over our opponents.” Drey mentioned, touching his scythe.

“But why a scythe? Isn’t it rather poorly suited for battle?” I asked, curious.   

“I…I just thought it was unique.” He half-smiled.

“But you’re pretty good at it, aren’t you? I’ve seen.”

Drey appeared embarrassed, scratching his hair with his free hand sheepishly. He didn’t reply me. He was smiling, a shy smile that made me feel uncomfortable.

He seemed to have forgiven me then. He hadn’t mentioned anything about yesterday at all. I guess, that’s good. That’s one thing off my list. Now I had to figure out a way to get a bird to sing in front of a feral beast.  

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School work has kept me really busy these few months, but I had inspiration and free time today, so here's a new chapter :) Thank you so much for the comments and votes even though I update at a pace of a snail.