The Seeker's Apprentice (Chapter 8): Dangerous Territory
"No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong." -Albert Einstein
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
Previously on The Seeker's Apprentice:
Jorund has given Nadira her first task in her apprenticeship. But it isn't going to be an easy one. This time, she faces a Caela. With a haunting song, razor sharp fins, and a mouth full of teeth, it aims to be a formidable first foe. Her assignment? Capture the beast, collect a scale, and throw it back, all before it cleaves her in two. Oh yeah, this is going to be fun.
Chapter 8: Dangerous Territory
The water was colder than she expected, hitting her ankles like sheets of ice, shattering the serenity of color and erasing what warmth was brought by the sunlight. Her body shuddered and her lungs ached with the sudden jolt but she didn’t have time to think about it. Doing as Jorund instructed, she shifted her boots around in the sand, causing them to sink. Sure enough, with it up to her calves, the water’s current had little effect on her now.
The Caela’s song grew louder, almost overpowering any other sound in the wood, deafening. Peering through her lenses into the water, she could see flashes of light as it struck another tail, whipping around faster than her eyes could keep up.
“Don’t worry. If you are patient enough, they will slide right into your hands,” Jorund shouted.
Nadira had her doubts. Still, she adjusted her glasses one last time, then slowly slipped her hands into the water.
“No matter what they do, keep very still. Earn their trust.”
“And just how am I supposed to do that?”
“Make them believe you are no more than a part of their environment.”
“Can’t they smell me?”
“Yes, but their sense of smell is secondary. They will trust their sight first. As long as you keep your glasses on, they can not use their magic to compel you. If they can not compel you, they will lose interest. Only then will they trust your presence enough for you to take your advantage.”
“And how long will that take? My back is already starting to ache.”
Jorund let out a hearty chuckle. “Get used to it, girl.”
“I don’t like that, you know.” It came out before she was ready, with a bite at the end of her tongue.
“What?”
“When you call me ‘girl.’”
“Are you not a girl, then?”
“Yes but— That isn’t the point. It’s how you say it. Like I’m—“
“Like you’re what?”
“Like I’m a child or something.”
“Watch it!”
She had taken her eyes off of it for just a moment. A split second. That’s all it needed, grasping tightly around her leg and pulling her down.
“Nadira!”
Her glasses flew from her head as she went under, taking in a large gust of air to keep herself from drowning. She shut her eyes tight. Not that it matters, she thought. They’ll have eaten me before then.
Thrashing about, she put up a fight as more and more of them joined in, determined to get their piece of juicy morsel. She felt the first bite go in around her ankle, sharp, with a sting like a cat’s claw. Instinctively, she kicked as hard as she could. All that did was flail it about. But doing so gave her a small nudge back toward the shore. Not enough to get to firmer ground, but it did give her a chance to take another breath before being tugged under again.
It wasn’t long before she felt an even stronger bite on her knee, teeth hitting bone. Without a thought, she let out a yelp, losing much of the air she had captured. Now, it was dire. They had a firm grip on three of her limbs, the water churning with fresh blood from every bite. Fighting for breath, the ache deep in her lungs, with her last free arm, she was able to unsheath one of her daggers and slashed it about blindly in every direction.
Finally, she felt it make contact with something. Whatever it was wriggled, a piercing shriek rippling through the water around her, and a set of teeth came unlatched. With everything she had left, she struggled hard against them, anxious to push towards the surface. It was then, she felt an even stronger tug, not from below, but from behind. Two sturdy arms hooking themselves under her shoulders and wrenching her out, collapsing in the sand further up the shore, the last of the teeth unclenching from her flesh.
She turned on her side, coughing out the water still lingering in her lungs before throwing her back against the warm sand. Jorund lay beside her, his breath hitched as well, though it was odd seeing as he hardly ever got winded. After a moment, he chuckled nervously, bringing himself up on his arm, bracing just above her. Though his mouth was stretched into a smile, his eyes gave him away, a bit of panic behind his crimson shield.
“Are you all right?” Taking a hand gently to her face, he slid a wet strand of hair aside. The way he looked at her then, not with condescension, but something else. Something deeper. Something neither of them could name. Though her breath had been freed of any watery invaders, she found herself coming up short again, her heart beat wavering.
“I can sense that, you know, when your heart shifts.”
“It happens every time.”
“Every time?”
“When you are near.”
That seemed to catch him off guard. He froze, his eyes now filling with something else entirely. Tension. Pain. She thought he might move away, yet, every moment he held there, staring, she felt something growing. A new ache had settled behind her ribs. Only, this wasn’t from her bout in the water.
She wished he would do something, say a word, adjust his posture, even take a breath. This heaviness was too much. When he finally did, however, it wasn’t what she expected at all.
Leaning himself down, he brushed his lips against hers. And this was no timid trace. This kiss was full of intent, of what he had been holding back all this time. She found herself…bending, relenting to it. She let him in as he deepened the kiss, pressing her into the sand, his heat on the rise, pulling hers with it.
Without warning, he broke the kiss, his breath heavy as he turned away, sitting himself upright, an elbow on his bent knee. He ran his fingers through his hair, a frustrated sigh on his lips.
She was stuck, in shock, her mouth still tingling from where they joined. For a moment, she thought she felt it, his control letting loose, cracking. The wall between them finally fracturing.
“We shouldn’t have done that,” he murmured.
Her eyes fluttered as her mind caught on, coming to a seat beside him. “You just…kissed me.”
“I know.” He hung his head, his fingers suddenly occupied with a fray on his trousers.
“Why?”
He couldn’t even bring himself to look at her now. Nadira was stung. Sharper than the teeth, his words punctured her, threw a sword through her gut. But she wasn’t giving up. She wanted to hear it.
“Why, Jorund? Please, do not– I can not take this silence any longer. The dancing about, always avoiding or ignoring all together. I can not take it.”
“Then perhaps this isn’t going to work.”
“What? What do you mean? Me? I’m not going to work? Why, because you can’t keep from looking at me? Because you desire me?”
He jerked his gaze around, eyes alight with fire, the flame of his anger flaring, beginning to boil. There were more words there. Still, he wouldn’t voice them. Hastily, he pushed himself hard off the shore, marching toward the tree line, dusting the sand off his hands.
Now her anger churned, raging. They didn’t think she would cut it, didn’t think she had it in her. She wouldn’t be good enough to train, good enough to do what was asked. More than the sting of Jorund’s rejection was that nasty inadequacy, the nagging voice of her mother as she said she wouldn’t amount to anything, the other villagers gawking at her strange attire, the way she was always practicing with her daggers, disappearing into the forest. In that moment, she felt it all.
Her breath heaving, she rose herself, eyes not on Jorund’s back nor the tree line, but on what lay in front of her. A task that had yet to be done. A task she was more determined than ever to complete, no matter the risk.
She didn’t know if it would work, but she had to try. Not for anyone else, but for her. Because as much as Jorund’s words hurt, she had to believe he was wrong. She had to prove herself wrong.
Later that afternoon, toward the edge of dusk, the other seekers and staff had already returned to the great hall for supper. All seated merrily around the table, their usual guffawing ensuing boisterously, Jorund was the only one away from the group, leaning against the wall. Quiet. A tension held tight in his posture.
Mack knew something was up, idling to Jorund’s side, a goblet of ale in his grip, his free hand on Jorund’s shoulder. “Your silence speaks quite loud tonight, my friend.”
He didn’t respond.
“She’ll find her way back. If not, perhaps it was for the best.”
Jorund wasn’t having it, letting his anger get the better of him, throwing Mack’s arm off of him and twisting the neck of his shirt in his fist. Mack was little match for Jorund’s elvish strength, at his mercy. But he knew Jorund wouldn’t strike. Mack’s expression went stern but he didn’t provoke. After a tense moment, Jorund released him.
“Careful, friend,” Mack uttered. “You’re playing a very dangerous game.” He didn’t say any more. There wasn’t the need. They both knew what he meant.
Mack returned to the others at the table while Jorund took up a frantic pacing.
A hushed rain had found its way across the basin, dusting the light in a foggy grey haze. When the doors opened, Jorund perked up just in time to see Nadira strolling in, only, she wasn’t alone. It was light, he was right about that. Much lighter once it was out of the water.
She stomped to the group with heavy feet, throwing her catch across the length of the table, causing several to jump back, slinging water everywhere.
“Well now,” Mack grinned, “what’s this?”
Caring not for Mack or anyone else, she glared straight at Jorund, making certain to bore her eyes right through him. “You asked for a scale, there’s your fucking scale.”
The story continues…
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Oooo, I love this chapter so much. The tension between them, her definace in succeeding. Beautifully written Makenna. Loved it.