Summer of Frost (Forever Fae #3)(4)
Ariella climbed up on my back and shivered. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to watching you change. The sounds are enough to make me cringe. I can’t imagine what it feels like.”
I huffed at her, making her laugh. Once she was gripped on tight, I took off into the sky, going higher and higher while my wings carried us swiftly across the land.
I was him … I was ‘The Dragon.’
“Are you going to tell him?” Oren’s words came out as grunts as the rod of my spear landed a hard blow against his ribs. He was trying to distract me, but I knew better than to let him take my mind off of training. He knew I wouldn’t falter, but it didn’t stop him from trying. We trained every day, and every day he did the same thing to me.
Dodging Oren’s blows, in one quick breath I said, “How am I going to tell him, Oren? I haven’t seen him since the Winter Ball. I can’t just go up to him the next time I see him and say, ‘Hey, Drake, you know the dreams you’ve been having … well, ever since I became a dream walker I had the silly notion to visit you in your dreams, and now I can’t seem to stop’.”
“I think it would be wise to tell him next time you see him, Princess. You’ve been taking up the man’s dreams for months now. Don’t you think the game needs to stop if you aren’t going to do anything about it?” Oren stated, piercing me with a glare that challenged me to say otherwise.
I huffed in defeat. “I will … someday, when the time is right.”
Whistling, Oren shook his head. “Is that nervous energy I feel coming off of you. Since when do you get nervous? I’ve never known you to care what others thought.”
I kicked him in the shin, and he hissed at the impact. “I don’t care,” I replied silently with force. “Now let’s stop talking about it and get back to training. I need to get my mind off of it.”
“As you wish, ai dulin.”
I wondered what Drake would say when he found out. Our dreams for the past few months have been like nothing I’d ever experienced before in my life. When I turned twenty-one, I had some new abilities come to me. I had always had an affinity for the earth, but now I could dream walk, and I was also a truth seeker. If I wanted to know if someone was telling the truth, all I had to do was touch them and I could sense it. Things worked differently in the dream realm. Drake and I have had several heated moments in our dreams, but in reality it wasn’t real. Our interludes were but a taste of the real thing.
Oren took this time to laugh, and I could only assume he saw what I was thinking in my mind. Giving him an evil sneer, I sent him a mental image of what I’d do to him if he so much as breathed a word about it to anyone. I shifted and swayed from his advances while swinging my spear in the process. I landed a quick blow to his backside, and he howled in pain, the smile now gone from his angelic face. His brown eyes were light as caramel, and sensual enough to see the soul beneath them, but he used to not always be like that. He was a swift and deadly killer, and cold as ice to others, but when he won the title of Guardian to me … things changed. Oren only let me see that certain side of him, just like I only let him see a certain side of me.
In a way, we have no choice since we’re bonded, but right now, he looked intent on making me pay for the blows I’d given him. So much for the sweet Oren.
“What are you waiting for?” I taunted him silently. He didn’t answer, just kept those brown orbs trained on me. His thick, brown curls didn’t even move as he gracefully countered my movements.
The spear was light as I held it in both of my hands, waiting for him to retaliate. We circled each other, mirroring our movements together. The wooden shaft of my spear had been carved and smoothed to perfection, although, I could still feel the ridges of the ancient words engraved underneath my hand. Groval, poldora, nomin: Courage, strength, wisdom. For some reason, saying the words made me feel stronger … faster.
As soon as I repeated the words in my mind, Oren advanced. We parried and sparred for what had to have been hours. I was proud of myself because not once during our hours of training did he get one single hit on me. Oren took training seriously, and he would always push me until he knew I could no longer stand it. Only when exhaustion took over would he let me stop. I dropped to the mat, breathing heavily, while Oren lay down beside me, patting my leg in approval.
“You’re getting better, Princess. Your concentration didn’t waver a bit, even though I know your thoughts were on a certain prince. I must say that I’m proud of you, ai dulin.”
Ever since I was a child he had called me ai dulin, which meant, little bird. It was a name that’s been stuck with me throughout the years, and it didn’t look like he was ever going to stop using it. I actually loved the endearment, since it was the only one I’d ever been given. Oren’s past was heartbreaking, and growing up I could always see the hint of sadness in his eyes over his lost love. On the day he was going to ask her to bond with him she disappeared to the mortal realm and never came back. He searched for years and years, but eventually gave up. He had chosen to never be with a woman since then, and had put all of his efforts into being my guardian.
“Thank you,” I said, nudging him with my elbow. “I have a wonderful guardian who has trained me well.”
Oren looked over at me and smiled. His straight, white teeth sparkled along with the pale perfections of his skin. He kept watch over me as a child, and it wasn’t a shock when he volunteered to battle it out with the other warriors for the title of my Guardian. Oren was over two hundred years old, and had seen things I could only imagine. He didn’t look a day over twenty-five, but that’s how we all were here. He was the one who carved the shaft of my spear, and engraved the magical words into the wood.