Eden-South (10 page)

Wolf knew there would be a couple of key
women seeking him out that night. He was quite popular with the
ladies, and tonight was the night they could act however they
pleased, and no one would notice. It was while he was talking up
the three sisters from the farming town outside the city gates that
he felt someone looking at him. He found her immediately, standing
off by herself, simply observing the other patrons. Their eyes met,
and he knew instantly who it was. There was no mistaking her from
the other masked ladies around him. She looked embarrassed to have
been found out, though, so he pretended not to notice her and
continued with his previous conversation. Out of the corner of his
eye he watched her leave.

“Time to go!” he announced to the table.
Logan gave him a weary look, most likely sensing something else was
going on, but he didn’t question him. Wolf could remember the
feeling of her lips against his.

“Hello? Are you in there?” Logan asked,
nudging him.

“What? What is it?” Wolf asked, somewhat
annoyed with his friend.

“What is it?” Logan repeated, stepping out
of the room and closing the door behind him. “I’ll tell you what it
is: there are three women in there waiting for you—who are
completely intoxicated, I might add—and you’re out here by
yourself. What is it with you? Why are you standing out here?” he
asked again, looking around at the empty halls. His eyes stopped on
her door, his eyebrows shooting up. “Don’t tell me you’re waiting
for her to come home,” he said, sighing. “You’ve already kissed her
tonight. Can’t you just leave it at that?”

Wolf looked at him in surprise. He was well
aware of who the lady had been, but he didn’t realize Logan had
clued in as well. His friend was much more observant than he gave
him credit for, especially considering the amount of alcohol he had
consumed that night.

“What? You didn’t think I hadn’t noticed,
did you? When will you admit that you’re in love with that girl,
and stop acting like you can’t stand the sight of her?”

“What are you talking about?” Wolf asked,
his defences rising up. “You are drunk, friend, and therefore
saying things that don’t make sense. I’m in love with no one,
especially not someone like the one you suggest, who can barely
stand the sight of me. As for me being out here—I was just getting
some air, that’s all. In any case, she already came home and went
back out again, so it has nothing to do with her.”

“Uh huh.” Logan nodded his head slowly. “She
went back out, huh? Interesting …”

“Why is that interesting?” Wolf asked
defensively again.

“You’re right. I guess it’s not.” He smiled,
shrugging his shoulders. He was trying to get to him. Wolf knew
this, and he wouldn’t rise to the occasion. “Shall we rejoin our
party?”

Smiling, Wolf shoved him toward the door,
and they both went back inside. He couldn’t help but wonder where
she had been going, however, especially that late at night.
Reminding himself that he didn’t actually care, he focused on the
friends waiting for him, and the long night ahead.

The training had gone horribly. Not only was
Aiden too weak to hold or swing any of the weapons Diana had laid
out, but he also didn’t appear to have any coordination skills. His
legs and arms were covered with bruises, and he even got a huge
gash on his left side from a mishap with the axe.

“I could have sworn none of these were
sharpened,” Diana said when she saw the blood. Apparently, she had
been wrong, Aiden thought as he winced against the pain. It felt
better now—Diana had put some herbs on it to ease the pain—and by
the next day it was healed. It paid to have a witch as a friend,
Aiden thought when he saw how nicely he had mended.

They spent the next three days practicing,
and eventually he could actually hit the target Diana had set up
with the double-sided axe. It seemed to be his best weapon, which
made him happy. At least he was okay to some extent with one of
them. His arms felt like jelly, though, and all he wanted to do was
rest.

“If you think this is hard, wait until the
Captain and his men get hold of you,” Diana was saying that night
as she made them some tea. He moaned in pain at just the thought.
“You are getting better every day, Aiden. You should be proud and
excited.”

“If you say so,” he mumbled.

She walked over and sat beside him on the
sofa. “I will miss having you around,” she said, smiling at him
sadly. Someone was coming that night to take him into the city
walls. She hadn’t told him who was coming, or when, just that it
was soon.

“Thank you,” he said awkwardly. “For all
your help so far.” She smiled and reached out to give his hand a
squeeze.

“I know you will be everything I had hoped,”
she said, keeping her hand on his. “All you have to do is believe
in yourself.”

If only it were that easy,
he thought
dispiritedly. Even though he could hit the target with the axe, it
still took him quite a few tries, and he couldn’t imagine fighting
someone with it. One knock from an opponent, and it would surely be
knocked out of his hands. He was all bones and skin—there was no
muscle in his arms. The realization made him slightly depressed,
knowing that everyone would have expectations of him, and he surely
would not live up to them.

It was late in the night when there came a
knock on the door. They had been sitting quietly together, both
lost in their own thoughts. Aiden jumped at the sound and looked
questioningly at Diana.

“Your guide has arrived,” she announced
ominously. They both stood up, Aiden anxious to see who it was.
Diana walked to the door and opened it to reveal a small figure
with a hood pulled up. “Good evening,” she greeted the person,
moving aside to allow him or her to enter.

The figure walked in, throwing back the hood
to reveal a girl, not much older than he was. Aiden stood frozen
where he was. He had expected a man, some big, rough-looking man,
who would inflict pain on him throughout the rest of his training.
Instead, in front of him was a goddess in her own right. She wore
plain brown pants, and a shirt that fit tightly around her thin
body. Her golden hair was held against her head by a thin headband,
and her eyes were large and accented by a small amount of
makeup.

“This is the warrior?” the girl asked. Aiden
could tell just by the tone in her voice that she was disappointed.
Clearly she had been expecting more, which was exactly what Aiden
figured. His shoulders fell a bit as he felt the sense of
expectation on him dwindling.

“Elisa, I would like you to meet Aiden, and
yes, he is the warrior we’ve been waiting for,” Diana introduced
them. “He may not be what you expected now, but he will be. Just
give him some time.” The girl looked him up and down, and Aiden
could see the scepticism on her face.

Clearing his throat, he held out his hand in
greeting. “It is nice to meet you,” he said roughly.

She regarded his hand for a moment before
grasping it. “Likewise,” was all she said.

“Elisa is the daughter of Captain Turk,”
Diana explained. “She also happens to be the best archer in the
King’s army.” This surprised him, as he had not realized she was a
soldier herself. The girl didn’t seem impressed by his reaction.
Instantly he felt bad, and didn’t recover.

“Is he ready to go then?” she asked, turning
away from him.
Great,
he thought, kicking himself. Now her
manner toward him would be cold for the rest of their journey.

Diana nodded her head and handed Aiden a
small bag with some clothes in it.

“Make sure you listen to everything they
tell you, and trust your comrades. Most importantly, trust
yourself, and believe that you can do this.” She looked him in the
eyes throughout her speech, and then gave him a quick hug before
going back over to the door. “Be safe,” she said before they left.
“Elisa, keep an eye on him for me, and help him out the best you
can.”

“I will,” the girl replied, pulling her hood
back up. Aiden was nervous to leave with the girl, especially so
late at night, and with all the creatures waiting for them in the
woods. He had already seen one during the day, and he could only
imagine how much worse they were in the dark.

The two of them manoeuvred through the woods
at a quick pace. The girl, Elisa, moved like it was second nature
for her to be in the woods in the middle of the night. Aiden, on
the other hand, was stumbling all over the place, visibly annoying
her.

“Try to keep up,” she huffed. He was, he
thought defensively, but it wasn’t easy. She led the way in
silence, until they finally broke out of the trees and into an open
field. He could see the high walls of the city in the middle of the
field. Elisa held up a hand for him to stop behind her. “We must
stay low to the ground now,” she whispered.

“Why?” he asked instinctively.

“Do you see those men on the walls?” she
asked, pointing toward the city. He could actually, which excited
him, because normally he wouldn’t have been able to. He nodded his
head. “Those men are guarding the city. Ever since Aziz began
sending his monsters down our way, it has been forbidden for anyone
to leave the city walls during the night. No one is to approach it,
either, unless permission is given ahead of time from the King
himself. If they happen to see us, it is quite possible that they
will shoot without asking any questions first.” Aiden gulped down
the saliva that had pooled in his mouth. She looked over at him and
smiled. “Don’t worry. I could shoot them all, before they even had
time to string their bows.” This kind of reassured him, and yet it
also made him slightly afraid of the young girl who stood beside
him.

“How are you here, if no one is allowed
out?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

She smiled again, her teeth glowing in the
darkness of her hood. “I’m not just anyone,” she replied. “Let’s
go. Follow my lead, and stay low.”

They crept through the field, stopping once
in a while for her to listen. Before he knew it, they were up
against the wall, their backs flat to the cold stone.
Now
what?
he wondered. If no one was allowed in, and the front
gates were closed, how were they supposed to enter? Looking up at
the towering stone wall behind him, he prayed that she didn’t
expect him to climb it.

“This way,” she whispered, grabbing his hand
to signal him to follow her. His face heated when she touched him,
making him thankful it was dark where they were. They went around
to the side of the city, where the wall continued down for what
looked like forever. They hadn’t walked far when Elisa stopped
suddenly, crouching down beside the wall. He could see her feeling
around for something. Whatever she was looking for, she seemed to
find it. Aiden heard a click, and then a small opening appeared in
the wall where she disappeared into. “Come on!” she called out from
the other side.

Looking around, he dropped down onto his
stomach, and slithered his way through the door. When he stood up,
he was inside the city, and Elisa stood there smiling.

“So you’re not special,” he said, brushing
off his clothes. “You’re just sneaky.” She laughed, the first time
he had heard her do so. His stomach tightened at the sound. It was
nice to see she wasn’t as serious as she had appeared to be in the
cabin.

“Come on. I’ll take you to the dormitory. I
believe the High Priest will want to see you in the morning, so for
now I suggest you get as much sleep as possible. I don’t know what
they have planned for you tomorrow, but if it is anything like what
I can imagine, you’ll need some rest.”

He followed her obediently through the
twisting lanes of the city. All the streets confused him, some
ending suddenly, others turning onto other streets sharply, or
rounding back to the same street as before. Elisa explained that
the city was built that way so intruders would get lost easily. It
appeared to Aiden that they had successfully achieved that goal. If
she hadn’t been leading the way, he probably would have become lost
for days in there. It didn’t help that the streets were overflowing
with people. It seemed odd to him that there would be so many
people out so late at night.

“What is going on?” Aiden asked, motioning
to the crowds of obviously drunk people.

“It is the spring festival tonight,” she
stopped to explain in his ear. It was hard to hear anything in the
crowd. “It is a night for everyone to party and relax, which as you
can see, the people take full advantage of.” They both smiled as a
group of two men and two women approached them.

“Ah, young love!” one of the men cried out.
He walked over to them, grabbing Elisa and kissing her on both
cheeks, before turning to do the same to Aiden. He froze in the
man’s grasp, completely embarrassed by both his outburst and his
actions. Thankfully, Elisa was laughing, which made the situation
seem less serious.

“You should see your face,” she exclaimed,
laughing. He couldn’t help but laugh back, wiping the spot on his
cheek where the man had kissed him.

“Let’s go,” she said, continuing on. They
finally approached a tall, square building. It was plain-looking,
made of grey stone, with numerous windows around it. “This is the
dormitory,” she said as they stopped in front of it. “Everyone who
isn’t married, and who serves in the army, lives here. A room has
been prepared for you.” She greeted the two men at the door, each
of whom gave Aiden a very disconcerting look. He could feel the
colour literally draining from his face. “Don’t let them bother
you,” she said over her shoulder. “They probably just think I’m
bringing you home from the festival, and they’re imagining what my
father might think. Ignore it.” Her reassurance only made him feel
worse. Clearly, a girl that looked like her would not come home
with a guy like him. He could only but imagine how many guys she
had after her with a face like that.