Chapter Thirteen
Zarik
The ring of blade on blade echoed throughout the forest around my cabin. I spun and parried the arc of Ella's blade a moment before it would have cut into me. Or at least, would have cut into me if Ella didn't hold up – which I knew she would.
For the last few weeks, we'd been spending a lot of time together – most of it at my cabin. We talked, got to know one another, and of course, practiced together. Ella was amazing with blades in her hand and thought I hated to admit it, she'd bested me on more than one occasion as we trained. She was fast, efficient with her movements, and seemed to have an instinctive knack for knowing when to press an attack and when to fall back on defense.
There was no question about it, she was an incredibly gifted fighter.
She thrust one of her blades at me, but I knew it was a feint to draw me in. I blocked the thrust with one of my daggers while at the same time, throwing up my second to block the swing from the other that was aimed for my neck. Steel rang against steel and I grinned as Ella's eyes slightly widened in surprise – but it was an attack I'd seen from her before, so I wasn't completely unprepared.
I gave her a grin in return as I used my leg to sweep hers out from under her. She landed on her back with a grunt and a grimace. I was on her before she could move, my knees pinning her arms to the ground, the points of my two blades on her chest.
“Looks like I win this round,” I chuckled.
I got off of her and helped her to her feet. She was shaking her head but smiling.
“Yeah, I know it's not a familiar feeling for you, so enjoy it,” she said.
She slipped her blades into the sheaths on her hips and brushed herself off. I put my own blades back into their sheaths and grabbed a bottle of water off the tree stump, taking a long drink. The sun was high overhead and it was warm. Sweat made my t-shirt stick to my body uncomfortably.
“Call it a day?” I asked.
“Tired of getting your ass kicked?” Ella grinned.
I laughed out loud. Ella had a fire in her spirit that was like a bright, shining star. She was tough as nails and yet, I sensed that underneath it all, she was somewhat delicate. Something happened in her past that had led her to donning the armor of a warrior – armor that was as hard inside as it was on the outside.
“Yeah, that must be it,” I said. “Although, by my count, I was up on you four to one today.”
“Oh, we're keeping score now, are we?”
“Haven't we always kept score?”
She smirked. “That's a sign of male insecurity,” she said. “Having to tally up the score to stroke one's ego?”
“A good ego stroking can work wonders for one's mental health.”
We walked back up to the cabin and took a seat on the covered back deck to give ourselves a chance to wind down a bit – not to mention, cool down, after a fairly intense practice session. I leaned back in the seat and drained the last of the water in my bottle. Ella came over and fished a couple of bottles of water out of the cooler next to her seat and handed one to me.
“Thanks,” I said and twisted off the top before taking a long drink.
I relished the feeling of the cool water as it slid down my throat. A gentle breeze touched my skin, taking some of the heat out of the day. Ella dropped down into the seat beside mine and looked out at the land.
Beyond the trees, you could see the sun glinting off the surface of the lake in the distance. The light glittered dazzlingly off the surface of the water.
“It's so peaceful up here,” she said. “Is that why you come?”
“Partly,” I said. “I belong to the Forest Clan and the woods are our sacred space. I come here to feel connected to the land and my people. It energizes me. Renews me. Feeds my soul, as humans like to say.”
She looked at me a long moment. “Does it ever get lonely?” she asked. “Being one of what, a handful of your kind here?”
I shrugged. “It's a small sacrifice for the honor of what we do.”
Ella cocked her head. “Leaving your family and friends behind in Chondelai is an honor?”
I nodded. “It is,” I said softly. “Many train, but only a few are chosen to become Rangers. And all Wardens had to have been Rangers first. To be one of the elite – yeah, it's an honor.”
“Why did you – the Dragonborn – come to our world to begin with?”
“To atone for the stupidity and mistakes of our ancestors,” I said. “Long ago, there was a war that nearly tore Chondelai apart. During the course of that war, one of the Kings, mad with his lust for power and dominance, unleashed monsters upon your world. Some, you may have seen. Many, you have not. Not yet, at least. It's our responsibility to make sure that humanity is protected from them. They would not be here if not for us.”
Ella nodded as if she understood perfectly what I meant. And maybe she did. She took a long drink of water, her eyes focused on the lake in the distance. There was no doubt that she was a beautiful woman and it was hard to not be distracted by that. But she was more than just her physical beauty. Far more. There was a depth to her that was refreshing. That drew me to her.
I resisted getting close to people. Given what I did, it was almost impossible to maintain a healthy relationship – especially since I had to keep what I did a secret. And because there were few Dragonborn women around, if I did want to take a lover, they would most likely be human – which necessitated the secrecy.
But Ella knew what I was and what I did. And in many ways, she was exactly the same. The fact that we were so open and honest with one another was a new feeling for me. It was one I enjoyed. One I relished. It invited an intimacy I found uncommon in my time in the world of man.
Truth be told, Ella stirred something deep inside of me. She awoke a fire within me that had been dormant for some time – simply because I had nobody to share it with. But as I looked at Ella, marveled at her, I began to wonder if maybe I finally did.
“Why is it that you do this, Ella?” I asked. “Why do you fight the monsters?”
She hesitated a moment before speaking, as if collecting her thoughts. “I guess it's much the same reason you do,” she said. “It's to protect the people. It's a sacred duty to me as well – making sure that no other little girl out there has to –”
Tears welled in her eyes and I could see that she was struggling with the emotion of a painful memory. I had my guesses and assumptions about what that memory might be of, but I wanted to hear her story.
“So that no other little girl has to what, Ella?” I asked gently.
“So that no other little has to watch her parents be butchered by those monsters,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “So that no other little girl has to have that memory in her head and never has to know what it feels like to lose her family to those – things.”
I thought her passion for the fight stemmed from something like that. She fought with a rage and fire burning brightly inside of her. But unlike most, who let that fire burn too bright and lost control, Ella seemed to draw her focus from it. It seemed to give her more control and at the same time, made her absolutely lethal.
“I'm sorry you had to endure that, Ella,” I said. “I truly am.”
“After my parents – died,” she continued, as if she hadn't even heard me, “Jacob took me in. He shouldn't have, but he once told me that I reminded him of his own daughter. Anyway, he brought me into the Order. They started training me almost immediately. Weapons. Martial Arts. I must have learned ten thousand different ways to kill somebody. They also gave me an education that would rival even the Ivy League colleges. They believe that developing the mind is every bit as valuable as developing the body.”
I nodded. “I agree with that wholeheartedly.”
She gave me a small smile. “But they also infused my life with plenty of propaganda,” she said. “Non-humans are bad. They must be eradicated. They're a plague upon this world and must be wiped out.”
I shrugged. “In a lot of cases, they're correct.”
She looked over at me very pointedly. “But not in all cases,” she said. “And that's the problem with the Order – they don't differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys. If you don't have human DNA, they think you belong on the point of a sword.”
It was something that had always been a curiosity to me, but a question I hadn't yet asked. “How is it that you overcame that type of – programming?” I asked. “Why did you not just kill me when you had the chance since that's what you were taught to do?”
She shook her head. “I don't know,” she said. “I just sensed something – different – about you. I've been dealing with monsters for quite a while now and you just didn't put off that bad or evil vibe I get from the bad guys. I just didn't think you were – bad.”
I grinned at her. “Well, I appreciate it,” I said. “Very much.”
The sun was slipping toward the horizon quickly, bringing another day to an end. We both stood up – it was time for Ella to go. Much to my regret. I found that the more time I spent with her, the more time I wanted to spend with her. Nonetheless I knew that Jacob would never approve of her spending time with me – a non-human. And the last thing I wanted was for her to get into trouble because of me.
“When will I see you again?” I asked.
Ella looked at me and gave me a gentle smile. But instead of answering, she surprised me by closing the distance between us and putting her hands on the sides of my face. We stared into one another's eyes for the briefest of moments before she leaned in and kissed me.