RYLIE
"What knowledge do you have about combat? or weaponry?" His attention was on me, his warm green eyes not leaving mine.
"Uh, nothing at all, I've never had the need." I walked farther into the ring, him following behind me, till we reached the middle. The wooden training ring was intricately carved with symbols around the sides that I didn't recognize, and the sound of the wind seemed to harmonize with the movements in the building, as if nature itself was part of the training.
"Ok, we'll start with the basics; you need to be in good form; you do look fit, but I'm willing to bet it's just looks?" We paused in the middle of the ring, and I silently inched farther, maintaining the distance I had put between us.
"I do a little bit of jogging, sometimes running but that's all." My nights of sneaking around Dad's property and running back to not get caught flashed in my head.
"Well, we've been given a tight schedule, so I'll be your closest friend in the next few weeks." Both of his hands went to rest on his hips, "I can make it happen."
"We were given a tight schedule? You can make it happen? What are you talking about?" My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.
"Have I been taxed with this as well?" He muttered to himself. "Rylie, please sit." He said to me, and we both sat. I had been nothing but confused since the first moment I arrived here.
"You may be a goddess, Rylie, but you possess no true powers yet." He started seriously. "It is suspected to have been locked away at birth by your father, no doubt."
"So...?" I replied, urging him to finish so I could go through the process of denying this claim again. I was getting tired of hearing this.
"We have to unlock your arcana, but a strong spirit needs a strong body as well. Your body needs to be strong enough for your spirit and powers. We'll work the body, and then, unlocking the spirit comes easy." He finished, the serious look still on his face
I rubbed my forehead in distress, "I am not a goddess, I don't know how we all got to this point," I stressed, closing my eyes. "But I think you're all wasting your time.
He smiled in understanding, "Before a few years ago, I lived a fairly ordinary existence. I was just a normal person, and I had no idea of the existence of anything." He stood up and I had to look up to keep looking at him.
"You were not born here?" I asked, dismayed.
"No, Rylie, I wasn't. I'll continue; then, I lost my mom; she had been one of their links with the outside world, you see," Sadness clouded his gaze for a moment, and then it was gone. "Orion came for me and I found here. A year later, I could do this." Dizzying fast, he went round the ring and back to his spot. My eyes could not follow his moving form and the only indication I had was my hair blowing in my face.
"What did your father have to say about you leaving?" I uttered, tucking my hair back. It was the only thing I could think of saying.
"Nothing, he had never been in my life." This time, it was a hardness that filled his eyes.
Sensing that I had touched a sore spot, I veered the conversation away to other things. "All tree people are that fast?"
"Some can also do this," he moved his hands rhythmically together and a gentle breeze lifted my braided hair, whispering in my ears and caressing my cheeks and my neck.
I rose from my spot, trying to watch his hand movements and understand. The light breeze was all around me, and I swore I could almost touch it.
"Tree people control the wind then."
Surprisingly, he burst out laughing and the gentle breeze faded away. His laughter was as rich as his speaking voice. "No, Rylie, if you seek to control nature, then you seek to get nothing. Instead, we seek to become one with it. We become one with the wind, learn its secrets, and allow it to use us as we also use it."
"That sounds like a lot."
He laughed again; I liked making him laugh a lot; I could not get enough of the sound.
"Yes, it is; it is a lot." A smile remained on his face. "It took me a while, but eventually," he gestured with his hands, "well, you know what, eventually."
My laughter filled the air at that. I could suddenly feel the urge to be that which they wanted me to be; the thought of being a goddess was laughable, yet something in Silas's eyes made me want to believe. What if they were right? What if there was more to me than I ever realized? I wanted to be Rylie, the goddess with powers, I wanted to stay here where I knew there was peace, and what was more, I could bring my family here as well where Dad couldn't find us and they could have that peace as well.
But I was none of these, my heart shattered as I spoke my next words, "I am ordinary, Silas, I'm not any of you."
"I'll be honest, I don't know if I believe anything I've heard about you, but I'm interested in finding out. Think of the possibility." he moved forward till he was almost toe to toe with me . "Moreover, you can't convince these people to let you go, and you most definitely cannot go on your own. You should find out who is wrong and who is not; if they're wrong, you get your normal life back, you get your family and home back and if they're right," he shrugged, "you'd be a goddess with enough strength to get your family back too. It's a win-win on both sides if you ask me."
"I didn't want this, I still don't want this." I had to lean back before I could see the eyes on his tall frame. The last one was a lie, I was starting to want this a little.
"We don't get to choose our destinies, Rylie, they choose us. Also think of what would happen if you did nothing and they were right, your mother and sisters? Look at it as doing what is necessary, and from where I'm standing, it doesn't look like you have much of a choice."
He was tall, he could probably see farther than I could. The silly thought made me giggle, and I covered it up with an audible sigh. "Perhaps you're standing at the wrong point," I said, trying weakly one last time.
He laughed out loud again at that. "I am tall enough, I could stand at any point and still see." His tone was cocky.
"What do we start with?" I sighed.
"You will have to work out a lot, also a lot of meditating," easing back a little, he swiftly punched the air in front of my face and I ducked too late. He continued like it was nothing, "A few exercises to sharpen your reflexes and make you nimble on your feet, you'll need that up here in the trees; we don't want you falling to your death since you have no powers yet."
"That could happen?" I asked, my eyes widening in their sockets.
"Yep." He answered nonchalantly.
"Has any such incident occurred before?"
"Not that I know of; it just seems like a possibility for you since you have no powers. People of the wind tribe would always land on their feet." He explained.
I quickly processed that piece of information; it would mean then that the only way to get to the floor would be to fall to the floor. That seriously canceled any plans of leaving on my own.
"Your body looks good, we just need a little more." He stated frankly, bringing me to the present as his eyes raked the length of me. I could feel a blush coming on.
"Genetics I guess." I silently prayed for the blush to go away, it would become problematic if I kept on reacting this way to him.
"Come on." he walked me to the edge of the ring and helped me out of it, and my feet touched the wooden floor. "Today's knowledge is enough. I'll let you process it, and we can start tomorrow."
I nodded, that sounded like a good idea, and I needed to think and restrategize, but I could tell right away what it was I needed to do; I would stay, for as long as I could and when we finally realized that this was a waste of time, I would plead my case. There was no going back to Dad's house, and there was no way I was leaving my mom and sisters so I would find the help I needed here. And all I had to do was wait.
"Tomorrow, Rylie?" His voice cut my internal thoughts short.
"Yes, tomorrow," I answered his pending question.
"And so it starts," he murmured, repeating my earlier thoughts. I caught a whiff of his smell as I moved by him; it was so earthly and male. I liked it; I liked a lot about him already, so it was no surprise there.
"And so it starts," I repeated after him.
They had their goals, and I had mine. When all was said and done, this was an opportunity, and I damn well was going to make good use of it.