Andgiet Scinn: Oneirophobia

XV

"Are you sure you should be jumping around like that?" Luna asked as she looked at Aella who jumped from one tree to another as she sparred with Leo. He was trying to hit her with his wooden knife, she was actually having fun as she felt the adrenaline pumping in her veins.

Doing a summersault landing gracefully behind Leo, landing punches on six of his pressure points on his back making Leo feel his arms go numb and drop his knife. Aella swung her leg beneath Leo knocking him off his feet, the moment Leo returned to his senses Aella already had the wooden knife on his throat.

"I win, again." She said with a smug smile before standing up and offering Leo her hand. He looked at her with disbelief before accepting it and standing up.

Then she laughs as Leo says he was going easy on her because she was injured, walking backwards while she twirled her knife in between her fingers. Her legs suddenly felt weak underneath her, giving way ultimately nearly making her fall until she felt arms catching her as though she did the trust fall unexpectedly. Looking up to the person to see a couple of green eyes looking back at her.

"I told you not to push your leg." Was all he said as he assisted her to stand up straight, not letting go until he was certain that her legs could hold her weight again.

A simple gesture she was sure that meant nothing but friends supporting each other, yet it made her heart flutter a bit. Made her face feel flush, blood rushing to her ears and the feeling of butterflies in her chest and stomach. It felt good but at the same time it made her feel nauseous, as the fluttering in her stomach intensified with the contact of the person behind her it made her bile rise up to her throat.

"Thanks, I am fine though." Aella said as she stood upright, regaining her composure as she kept whatever irrational things she felt in the reigns. She could feel an unnerving tension that seemed to have intensified specially over the weeks when he had taken care of her.

She felt safe in his arms, she felt the warmth from him that spreads and radiates from him to her. It made her feel vulnerable, her walls seemed to crack a bit as whenever he was around. It felt good, more than she would ever admit and she hated it.

The more she felt safe around him, the more she hated him for making her want to lower her guard. He was slowly crawling his way up to her list of people she wanted to unalive but at the same time can't. She could not bear the thought of harming him herself but she wanted him gone as well.

"Saxon, did you say something to offend Aella?" Mia's voice had caught her attention and at the mention of her name she snapped out of her internal turmoil of how she felt for Saxon.

She looked at them with a confused expression, her brows furrowing in question. Looking at all of them one by one, before realising that she might have not noticed that she was staring at Saxon with her gaze slowly darkening as she glared at him.

"I just remembered how he stole my eggs this morning. Also I was thinking about how quickly I can knock you off your feet." She shrugged as she said this while giving a challenging smile to Saxon, hiding her intent of wanting to release her pent up emotions on him by sparring.

They looked amused with her suddenly challenging someone to spar with. It was unlike Aella to challenge someone to spar out in the open, mostly it was the other way around which. She looked at them when she felt their gazes on her.

"What? We'll need all the training we can get if we are to storm the Langen Citadel, we need to train not just combat but mountain climbing as well. Langen Citadel is on Wakethon Peaks, the mountain's reputation speaks for itself."

"Why? What's Wakethon Peaks reputation?" Luna asked as she lifted her leg up to her head testing her flexibility. Then doing a cartwheel and proceeding to walk with her hands clearing the area as the others did so Saxon and Aella can spar.

"It's like a sleeping giant, or so they say. The mountain is steeper than Lavaldow summit and nearly impossible to climb with the addition of numerous avalanches happening each hour." Mia said as she climbed the tree and hung upside down with her legs hooked to the branch.

Leo just shook his head at the antics of the two, but stepped away from Saxon and Aella as they both proceeded to get real swords. Deciding that staying up the tree was indeed safer after he heard Aella ask Saxon the question, "First one to bleed?"

Saxon nodded and proceeded to get into battle stance, holding his sword and looking as though he was taking this seriously. Deep down inside he was really elated with this fight wanting to see how she'd use her mental skill in fighting.

No one moved, waiting for the other to strike, Aella advanced first with her sword at hand attacking with swift and accurate strokes of her sword. Using her small figure to her advantage, her agility to try and wound Saxon. Saxon on the other hand despite his build was quick in defending and countering each of Aella's strikes. The sounds of metal clashing, the sound of breaths getting heavier as they each exerted effort.

At one point, their swords intercepted one another. The force lookin both of them into a close ranged position. He bore into her eyes and could see the spark of excitement and life as he proceeded to give her a challenge in the fight. A smile crept into her face that slightly stunned him for a second before he returned the smile until she kicked his leg which made him groan in pain and push her away from him. Causing her to hit a tree with much force that it made a distinctive sound that made those watching jump forward with concern.

"Aella! Are you alright?" Saxon asked with concern laced all over his face as he reprimanded himself for forgetting to hold back. Approaching to check on Aella, but she looked up with a grin on her face which stopped everyone in their tracks.

Aella chuckled as she flexed her neck and rotating her shoulders to remove the pain she felt. Her sword had flown out of her hands as she had pushed towards the tree. "And I was wondering if you were ever going to stop holding back against me."

Saxon looked at her dumbfounded but amused, shrugging his shoulders as he adjusted the sword in his hand and lunged for an attack. Aella held her ground as she waited for the right moment before she pivoted her hip and delivered a kick that knocked the sword out of his hands. Then quickly crouching low to knock him off his feet, causing him to fall down. Just as she was about to pin him down he used his feet and kicked her off of him.

He felt an internal turmoil within him as his heart felt as though it was being stabbed each time he hit her but at the same time it fluttered when it saw her smiling face. She was enjoying the challenge and he does not want to disappoint her by holding back. Still casually reminding himself that she was mortal no matter how fiery her fighting spirit was, he also had to remind himself to be careful as she might accidentally kill his current form.

Aella had landed on her hands and feet Saxon kicked her off of him, rolling to her side before plunging herself to attack him once more. Saxon aimed to punch her to stop her but she avoided the punch by catching his hand, raising it up so it was out of the way as she got close to him. Her face was a few centimeters away from his. Their eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity, he found himself getting lost in her stormy grey once that were now sparkling with mischief. How he missed that look in her eyes that were similar to when he first saw her eight years before everything fell into chaos.

He was knocked out of his trance, literally, as he felt the pain in his nose. His mistake was he let his guard down during this challenge allowing Aella to bump her head to his nose, hastily going behind him and kicking him to his knees. When he got his sense back, he was on his kneel on the ground with Aella behind him emitting a murderous aura as she held the knife to his throat.

Placing a small scratch on his neck, before whispering to his ears. "I win."

The whisper had him weak, the warm air that emitted from her accompanied by her melodic and teasing voice as she whispered the words. Made a shiver run down his spine, it was the pleasant type of shiver that made him want to just get another chance to pin her down. Making him realise just how much he wanted to keep her out of this chaotic world, to have her eyes filled with mischief with no care of anything what-so-ever. He had to plan carefully how he was going to do that, if it meant having to blind her and keep her in the dark he would most possibly do it.

"Alright, training is over. We need to pack before the whole camp leaves us." Mia said, snapping at them before heading back. Aella, letting go of Saxon before offering her hand to him while looking away to hide the blush fighting to creep up to her cheeks. He took her hand, with the wish of just holding her by his side and never wanting to let go.