Moirai
Chapter 11

Flowerage was stunning.

The Dryads’ dwellings were quaintwooden cottages that had a very natural feel and, at times, looked as thoughthey had grown straight out of the ground. Nothing looked out of place in theforest as vines and other climbing plants were allowed free range over everybuilding, making it seem like they were made of the greenery. Stalls stood inlieu of shops, lining the streets.

It wasn’t so much a capitol thana city-sized village. The olive-skinned Dryads were everywhere, and at first Ithought it would be a struggle to fight our way through the crowds. However, assoon as the Dryads saw Kasanda, they parted to allow us to go through.

Kasanda obviously held somestatus, though I was wary to ask what it was as she hadn’t already addressedthe matter. So I kept silent as we passed Dryad after Dryad nodding their headsin respect to Kasanda, while curious looks were directed at the rest of us.Some of those looks, I noticed, were slightly angry, and I realised thatCenturion was not the only one who agreed with not allowing humans into theforest.

However, all that was forgottenmany hours later, after being shown the three separate little cottages where wewould stay. Mayran and I had found a large clearing and, true to what he hadsaid earlier, we were working hard on improving my rather pitiful sword skills.

Needless to say, it was not goingwell.

“Come on, Alnya, focus!” Mayran’svoice had steadily increased in exasperation over the last half an hour. Yet againI felt the sword hit my arm where I had failed to block it. I groaned infrustration.

“You are too fast! How can Ipossibly be faster than you?” I demanded, resisting the urge to childishly throwmy own sword to the ground.

“By not thinking so much.” Hesnapped.

“What? That makes no sense.” Istated.

“Yes it does. When I move toattack you, I can see that there is a moment where you think how to counter.Instead, you should just let your instincts do the work. You know how to block,so stop trying to work it out and just do it. Trust me, you’ll replace yourselfmoving with barely a thought.”

I still didn’t understand him. Hewas failing to remember that I had no instincts to go on when it came tocombat. I hadn’t even done martial arts. Of course, being a fantasy fan, I had pretend sword fights with friends usingsticks, when I was little, and at Comic-con with foam weapons, but this was thereal deal. Not to mention the fact that Centurion had been training for years.

After another hour, I simplycouldn’t do it anymore. Too tired to stand, I dropped the sword and plonkedunceremoniously onto the forest floor, pulling my knees up and resting my chinon them.

Mayran offered me his watercontainer, which I gratefully accepted. The water tasted different here; nowater treatment, obviously, so it was likely to be contaminated by a number ofthings. A small part of me absently thought that if I survived long enough, Iwould introduce some modern ‘outer world’ technologies to Renenta.

That train of thought led me towonder what was going on out there. After a few weeks here, which would be afew minutes there, I wondered if my mum had noticed I had gone yet. Probablynot, as she was preparing dinner when I had opened the book. Still, the thoughtof her calling me downstairs and getting worried upon hearing no responseconcerned me.

I felt Mayran’s hand on myshoulder, and I got the feeling that he had an idea of where my thoughts were.

“It’ll work out, Alnya.” He saidsoftly. “You only have to win the majority of the three tasks, and, likeKasanda, I’m confident that you will.”

Little did he know; that was nothelping.

I didn’t sleep overly well thatnight, and when I did sleep, it was to hear Indina’s bodiless voice laughingtauntingly at me, causing me to wake after only a short respite.

By the time the sun had begunshining through the canopy, I had long since given up hopes of a proper night’ssleep. I got out of bed and dressed, sighing in the knowledge that another mostlikely fruitless day of training lay ahead of me.

It seemed like everything we’ddone up until now had just gone down the drain. I would not be able to beatCenturion. Sure, if luck was in my favour I might best him with the mindpuzzles as he didn’t strike me as particularly bright, but I would certainlylose the sword fight and…well, no matter how many times everyone told me howstrong my aura was, I still didn’t know if I could bring myself to use itagainst another person offensively.

A knock on the door interruptedmy musings. It was Loni.

“Come on.” She beckoned.

“Where?”

“We’ll go for a walk. I knowMayran will be coming for you soon and, from the look on your face last night,you’re not in the mood for training. Hurry!” she hissed.

I hesitated only for a briefmoment before following her outside.

“Now, I know you very well,Alnya, and I know that all these negative thoughts are whizzing around yourhead.” She began once we were out of earshot of the houses. “You can’t do that.You’ve got to start trusting yourself more. Think of it the same way you thinkof school exams. You do best when you are confidant.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t some schooltest.” I protested. “It will determine whether we make it to Druge or not.”

Loni scoffed. “Do you reallybelieve that idiot Centurion will actually be able to stop us from leaving?Sure, if you lose he’ll certainlytry, but I’m sure Kasanda can get us out of Flowerage. Besides, it seems likethe Praesul are on your side, and Kasanda said they’re the ultimate authority.”

She didn’t sound completely sure.“You seem to know surprisingly little about Renenta even though you’re actuallyfrom here.”

“Yeah, but I never really paidattention to history, either in the outer-world or here. And don’t forget,” shereminded me. “I lived in your world for years, only coming back for brief staysonce every few months.”

“Oh!” I realised. “So when youtold me the orphanage was going on a trip you were actually coming here!”

“That’s right.”

“But…hang on…if a few minutesthere are weeks here, and you were away for days…then wouldn’t that mean youwere here for years? How were you not aging?” I asked.

She started, clearly notexpecting the question. “Um…not even Kasanda really understands why that is. Isuppose it could be something to do with the fact that the book is your story,but I don’t think we should delve too deeply into it all.” She rather quicklychanged the subject after that.

Wedidn’t talk much on the way back, both lost in our thoughts. Mine returned tothe day after next. I tried to do as Loni had advised. It was true that Iusually did well in exams, and that was because I studied hard. So, I realised,that was what I must do.

Mayranwas waiting for us outside our three cottages, arms folded, but an amused smileplaying at the edges of his mouth.

“Wherehave you been?” he asked.

“Justa walk.” I replied, before Loni could elaborate; I was ready. “Time to start?”I indicated the swords lying beside him.

Heraised an eyebrow at my eagerness, but merely nodded. Loni squeezed myshoulders reassuringly, before heading into her cottage.

Iattacked that day’s training with a vigour that Mayran was clearly impressedwith.

“That’sit, Alnya. You’re getting it now. Just relax, remember what I was sayingyesterday about instinct.” He kept up a running commentary to our battle. Easyfor him, I thought somewhat bitterly, he had already mastered the ‘instincts’part.

However,I felt much better than yesterday, and the lesson was more light-hearted andrelaxed. After having to dodge a particularly well-aimed stab by Mayran,resulting in both of us missing our marks and falling in a heap to the ground,we burst into laughter and couldn’t stop for several minutes.

ThenI realised exactly how we had fallen,and felt my face heat slightly. I extricated myself out from under him andturned away with the pretence of examining my sword for dents, trying to hidemy face.

Mayran,too, had gone silent. I looked around and saw that there was a strange twinklein his eyes. He looked more alive than I had ever seen him; no darkness in hiseyes, no stern, serious expression. As if on cue, a branch shifted allowing aray of light to fall onto him, illuminating his dark hair and emphasising thecolour of his blue eyes…

Istopped that train of thought right there, shocked. Where had that come from?

Breathingslightly heavier, I got to my feet and tried, unsuccessfully I was sure, toreturn to normal; it was clear that my concentration had broken. To mysurprise, Mayran’s had as well, and it wasn’t long before he suggested that wehad done enough for the morning.

Ourhands brushed as he took the sword from me and once again I felt a stab ofshock as my pulse quickened. I hadn’t felt anything like it before. As weparted ways and I headed back to the city, I couldn’t help but allow mythoughts to wander.

Itseemed as though I had a crush on Mayran.

Itwasn’t as though the idea was foreign to me, but I was one of those rare girlswhose love life was limited mainly to celebrities and fictional characters.Sure, there were guys who’d asked me out and I had even been on a date or two,but never anything that could be called a relationship. I just had alwaysthought that the boys in my school weren’t for me and resigned myself to wait.

But it was unmistakable; Mayran, even though I had only known him for a fewweeks, had captured my attentions in a way that no other man had done. Thethought was a bit daunting as I considered the implications…but I also felt athrill of wonder and affection whenever I pictured us together. Somehow, thethought made me feel a bit more certain about surviving.

Ialmost ran into Kasanda, who was walking towards my cottage in the oppositedirection to me.

“Ah,Alnya, here you are. I was just coming to get you. The Praesul are ready tomeet.” She announced, turning so we were walking back the way she had come.There was a tiny smirk on her face and I got the distinct impression that shesomehow knew where my thoughts had been.

“Oh,wow. Ok.” I stumbled over the words, having not expected to meet the Praesul sosoon. I looked down at myself; covered in dust from the training. “Can…can Ichange first?” I asked, indicating my clothes.

Shelooked sideways at me. “There isn’t time, but surely you can fix your clothingup with your aura?”

Ihad not thought of that. Stopping, I thought about how my shirt and trousers –clothes I had borrowed from Loni prior to leaving Nerome – had looked thismorning, before the battle.

Thistime, more than the last, I could feel my aura inside me. It was the same warmfeeling as when it was used, but I was now consciously aware of its constant existance.The feeling was, as much as I hated to admit it, comforting. It felt…right.

Withina few seconds, my clothes were dust-free. Kasanda smiled her approval.

“Youare getting better. You have accepted your aura, then? Sooner than I expected,too.”

“It’sa lot thanks to Mayran.” I said. “He helped me realise how I could use my aurafor good. Except…when I fight Centurion…” I trailed off, but she understood.

“Thatis also a good cause, never forget that.” Her words were stern, but kind. “AndI am sure you are smart enough to avoid injuring him badly. You just have toremember that you are stronger than your aura. You can control it.”