Chapter 2

Ash

            I walk out of the tree line holding the equipment I had found in a hollow tree here. The gear was old and beat up as if the owner is poor. I look up and see a woman standing at the opposite end of the clearing.  A smirk crosses my face as I realize that she is probably the owner. 

            Her hair obscures her face. I walk to the center of the clearing and hold out the equipment.

            “I take it this is yours?” I ask the woman.

            She stiffens a bit and shakes her head. I tilt my head as I watch her.

            “You sure?” I ask.

            She squares her shoulders and looks me in my eyes.

            “If it is? Are you going to report me?” Her voice was strong, but almost calming.

            “What good would it do me if I reported you?”

            The woman runs her hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face. I look over her and take in her complete appearance. Something was almost inhuman about her, she has strong features, yet looks almost elvish. I lower the gear and take a few steps closer. She takes half a step back.

            I wonder what she is doing out here, why she is risking her life by owning this sword. Keeping my movements slow set the equipment down. 

            “I’m not some wild animal,” she snarls. 

            I chuckle and stand with my hands held up. “Just trying not to scare you.”

            Her eyes narrow as I take another step towards her. I am finally close enough to see that her eyes are a clear grey color and that she has a bruise forming on her face. She must have angered one of the men from town. I have always hated how women get treated there. 

            “Who did you anger?”

            Her face flushed as she places a hand to the offended cheek. 

            “A Baron,” is all she says as she eyes me, her tone cold and distant.

            I guess I struck a nerve with that question. The wind shifts and I end up down wind of her. The smell of iron and wildflowers hits me, the scent is familiar somehow. I pause for a second trying to remember where I’ve smelled this combination. 

            The woman moves towards me and it pulls me from my thoughts as I watch her. She brushes past me quickly and grabs her gear. A twig snapping causes both of us to look back towards the tree line. I catch the scent of blood and steel; it's probably guards men on their rounds. 

            I run in the opposite direction and hide myself from the view of the woman and anyone else that may enter the clearing. I silently scold myself as I run through the forest, why did I approach her today? I have seen her in this clearing a few times before but what about today made me approach her? With a shake of my head I run in the direction of my cottage.

 

Seraphina    

            I am crouching over my gear when I hear the snapping of twigs from the tree line. Not again, I silently groan to myself and turn towards the direction of the noise. 

            Standing at the edge of the tree line is a man dressed in royal guardsmen leather armor. I froze in my crouched position as I lock gases with the guard. 

            This is it; this is where I am going to die. The thought swarms my mind as the guard’s eyes flick to the spot behind me. I slightly shift my weight to try and block his view of the weapons but the smirk on his face tells me that he saw them. I quickly pull my hair up into a sloppy braid, slightly wincing as my hand brushed against my cheek.

            In an instant the guard draws his sword and rushes at me. I instantly dive for my sword and roll out of his path, unsheathing my weapon as I get to my feet and settle into a defensive position.

            “Is there a reason why you are out here in the woods?” the guard asks as he turns towards me. “And with a weapon no less.”

            The guard walks towards me slowly, his eyes never leaving my blade. I back away from him, keeping distance between us. His smirk is now a full smile, he is excited for the fight that is about to happen. He lunges for an attack and I do my best to block his blow. The thrum of steel on steel vibrates through my arms and causes me to wince. I have never had the change to spar with someone, so the sensation is painful.

            The guard starts to chuckle and my anger coils in the pit of my stomach.

            “What do you find so funny?” I ask as I push him away from me.

            “Never thought I would get the chance to see a woman with a sword,” he says as he moves in for another attack. He is fast with his blows, I can block most of them, but one of his blows slips through. The smack of metal on flesh echoes in the clearing. My arm stings from the impact, but it doesn’t hurt. Taking a chance, I look down to see not a scratch is left from here he had struck me. He is hitting me with the flat side of his blade.

            Shaking off the shock of what he just did I go back to defending myself from his blows. I’m able to get a few attacks in but for the most part I’m backing away and blocking as many attacks as I can. I start to feel exhaustion creeping into my muscles, my arms tremble with the weight of my sword and my knees buckle with every blow I block. I won’t be able to hold out much longer. His attacks are fast and hard, if it wasn’t for him going easy on me, I would have been dead by now.

            I stumble back as I block one of his attacks, he takes the faulter and ends up pushing me to the ground. I’m sprawled on my back and the guard is standing over me with his sword pointing at my throat. My breathing is labored and my entire body aches, but for some reason laughter bubbles up and spills from me.

            I enjoyed that, I enjoyed getting to fight with someone and get an idea of how it feels.

            The guard watches me for a second before taking a step back and putting away his sword.

Author's Note

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.