Below the Peak (Sola)(71)

“You are awake,” Calemir said, his voice gruff.

“It’s hard to sleep with the storm” Nara replied, keeping her eyes on his face, and far away from his bare chest.

Calemir rolled his shoulders. “Is it just the storm or are you afraid what’s in the dark?”

Nara bristled, his closeness unnerving her.

“I am not afraid of anything” she fired back.

Calemir rose one eyebrow. “Explain the dagger your holding then,”

Nara’s stomach sunk.

“You didn’t think I have not seen it, did you?” Calemir stared at her intensely, his face brooding.

“Whether you have seen it or not, it matters little to me” she replied indifferently except it irritated her of him knowing about it. How had he come to see it, when she had been hiding and keeping it with her all the time. And from the way he said it, it appears he had known of her dagger for a while.

He smirked a smirk which could tell horseshit from dung. He didn’t believe her.

“Where have you been?” Nara asked instead.

His expression hardened and tightened. “Performing duties” he replied darkly.

“I just wanted to know. You have been gone for the last couple of days” Nara explained, seeing how cold he suddenly turned. His eyes flashed with an emotion she couldn’t pin. A burning stirred inside her, crawling its way up to her spine. She felt agitated… having an urge to smash something. Nara blinked. The need to do it continued growing.

Where was, this urge coming from?

“I’m going to sleep” Nara muttered, taking a step back and dodging around him.

“Our ears are our weakness” his deep voice made her freeze on the stairs. Nara tried not look curious when she faced him. Her ear cocked in anticipation. “If you cut them, we are easy to kill. Sleep tight” Calemir finished.

Nara resumed her walk, feeling his gaze the whole time until she disappeared down the hall. Why reveal his kind’s weakness to her after he indirectly confirmed she didn’t trust his kind, feared them and was armed to protect herself if the worse situation arose?

Still, it wasn’t until much later she realized that he was enjoying her.

“Bastard” she hissed in the dark.

***

Nara was standing at dining hall window, looking over the wet field. It was a good thing the house was on a hill, or they would have had water inside. Fortunate, the rest of the houses below the hill were stilt houses, and the water wasn’t very high to flood.

“You should see the town once the water dries” he spoke.

Nara glanced over her shoulder.

Calemir stood a few feet away from her. In clean clothes, blonde hair dry, he was less intimidating in the late morning light. The warm beams created a sort of crown over his head.

“That was the plan before it rained.” She replied.

“The rain is the norm here, I’ll advice you to get used to it very quickly.”

Nara scowled, rising a chuckle from him. His chuckle was neither too deep nor too light but smooth and pleasant to hear. She turned her head back to the window, and her eyes narrowed at the mountains. “There is smoke rising from the mountains.” There was so much smoke, it was alarming.

He drew closer, standing close beside her. Nara tensed and eyed him. Why was he standing so close? He was practically invading her personal space, but he didn’t look like he noticed or cared as his peered at the mountains and calmly said. “It is nothing to worry about.”

“Are you certain? It could be fire outbreak” she said with concern, focusing on the object of their talk. Although how could there be a forest fire when it had just rain, and the warmth had started returning.

“Perhaps, the rain must have disturbed the dragons.”

She stared at him, mouth parted. “Dragons?”

Calemir smiled, liking her innocent reaction. “Uruloki means dragon. It was once a land inhabited by dragons, but now they live in the mountains.”

“Oh.” The amazed expression was still on her face. It must be the reason the air here had a tint scent of smoke. “Do you not fear them?”

“No, I don’t,” he replied most confidently. Nara wondered how having a giant winged creature that breathed fire, that could burn cities to ash and in soar the skies not be terrifying.

“The old ones were feral, but their descendants are gentle.” He folded his arms on his chest.

“Are you lying to me?” she asked, her eyebrows quirking suspiciously.

“Why would I?” he stared at her.

“Because you lied to me yesterday about your ears being your weakness” she retorted, her eyes going to his pointy ears for emphasis.

“You actually believed it” Calemir smirked. Nara’s face heated from embarrassment. He thought her a fool.

“I speak the truth, they are not gentle as lambs, but one could ride them before they kill you that is.” He said so casually as if it was a simple matter.

Huh, Nara had doubts but decided to reserve them.

Calemir shifted his gaze to the mountains and said, “I had gone patrolling the days I had been gone.”

Nara lifted her eyes to his face, looking at his strong jaw twitching.

“There had been problems at the border near the mountains that had to be dealt with.”