Greylith, page 15
“Ahh!” I yell, but the noise of the bonfire is drowning me out, even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t care who hears me, let them all hear me.
“Fuck, I’ve wanted this,” Xander grunts. “You’ve wanted this. Fuck you’re tight.”
I swallow hard. I lift my legs in the air and he gets upright. He places a hand on each of my ankles and spreads my legs wider.
“Fuck I’m close,” Xander shouts, fucking me harder than he was before.
“Stay inside,” I say, wanting a part of him with me. “I’m close too.”
Xander grunts a few times and his body jerks a few times, but he keeps thrusting his hips, pushing me to the point of climax. My vision blurs and I get slightly lightheaded from the release, but fuck, it feels so good.
As we both gasp for air, he looks down at me and smiles.
“Kiss me,” I whisper.
He lowers himself to my face and kisses me passionately.
We both climb to the top of the bed and share the pillow. I face the wall of the tent, Xander spoons me, his hardness still pressing against me as we fall asleep, sweaty and naked.
The following morning, I wake up and see that Xander has already left the tent.
“Where’d you go?” I reach out to him, but get no response.
As I stand, I feel sore from the night before, and can still feel Xander deep inside of me. My legs tremble as I start to get dressed. I rush around to find my clothes and trip over myself as I hop around the room putting on my pants. I open the flap of the tent and exit before I finish putting on my shirt.
“Xander?” I reach out again but still get no response. “Where the hell are you?”
I walk around the other tents, whispering his name as I walk by. I walk over to the pit where the fire was lit last night, and no one is there, except for an Officer that must’ve passed out from being too drunk.
I walk back to the underground bunker where the medical beds are. Before I reach them I see my sister, “Wren!” I shout.
“Hey, Phoenix,” Wren gives a smile. “You have fun last night?”
“What?” I ask, confused how she found out. “Who told you?”
“Told me that you were at the fire that all of us were at?” Wren looks at me oddly.
“Oh,” I fake a laugh. “Yeah.”
“Shut up!” Wren yells, slapping my hand. “You and Xander fucked?”
“Wren!” I yell.
“Oh shit, I love this,” she starts laughing.
“Stop,” I give her a shove. “Seriously though, have you seen him?”
“No, but he’s probably at the briefing,” Wren walks away.
“Briefing for what?” I ask.
“Not sure,” she shrugs. “I was just told to go to the briefing room. You want to come with me to see if he’s there?”
I nod and follow Wren.
We head into the bunker, but instead of turning left to go down toward the medical beds, we go straight through a set of double doors. In the space are most of the Officer’s at Camp Laith along with Xander and now Wren. There’s a large table in the middle of the room with a large map of Aetheria. On the map are little figures of castles, camps, and ships. White must be the Aetherian Army and the black must be the Shadow Army.
Xander rushes over to us, “What are you doing here?” he asks, grabbing my upper arm and pulling me out of the room. “Did you bring him here?”
“Yeah,” Wren says with a little attitude as she walks past him.
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be here?” I raise my eyebrows and plant my feet firm.
“This is only for Officer’s and a few Senior Recruits,” Xander says. “Why don’t you wait outside?”
“Why are you trying to push me out of here so quickly?” I ask him.
“I’ll tell you late-,”
Xander’s voice is cut off by the sharp voice of Celeste. “The Shadow Army is on the move.”
That’s why he wants me to leave.
“For the last six weeks they’ve been sending more and more Shadow Puppets to Fort Weave, urging us to turn the Reality Weaver over,” Celeste starts.
“I have a name,” I shout without thinking.
All the eyes in the room turn to me.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Celeste shouts in my direction.
“He’s with me,” Xander shouts back.
Celeste gives a look of disapproval, but keeps talking to the group. “The Shadow Army have now threatened to attack. The Commander-in-Chief will be pulling a few of us back to Fort Weave to help fortify our defenses there.”
“And how many will be staying here?” Xander asks.
“A few,” Celeste says.
“Who?” Xander asks again.
Celeste looks irritated, but stands up straight and looks at me, at us, “You three.”
She’s pointing at myself, Xander, and Wren.
I look at Xander and fury floods his face.
“Three of us?” Wren yells. “Are you fucking crazy?”
“Stand down Recruit,” Celeste snaps. “You’ll do as you’re ordered.”
Wren steps back and sticks her lower chin out, glaring ahead.
“Why don’t you just send me back?” I step forward. “If it’s me they want, let them try, I’ll fight them.”
“Not going to happen, Greylith,” Celeste laughs.
“And why not?” I lean forward.
“Because you haven’t been trained in combat yet.”
She’s right. I don’t know the first thing about fighting. I’ve had one sparring session with Xander and Wren but that was months ago, so I’m sure I didn’t retain much.
“Alright, everyone, pack your bags,” Celeste shouts to the room. “We leave in one hour.”
As the room begins to clear, I step back in line with Xander and Wren.
“If we’re staying here, we should start training you in combat,” Xander says with his eyes fixed on Celeste.
Wren nods.
“We’ll start first thing tomorrow,” Xander sounds.
No, if the Shadow Army wants me, then they’re going to have to work for it. I went to Fort Weave to fight for Aetheria, not to cower and hide. I could be the strongest Weaver alive, and I’m tired of waiting.
“We’ll start right now,” I say, lifting my head, holding it high.
Xander, Wren, and I walk outside and see everyone scrambling to pack up.
“Why the hell would the High Council order just the three of us to stay here and the rest of them to go back to Fort Weave?” Wren turns to Xander.
“I know exactly why,” I say confidently, still watching everyone pack.
Xander and Wren both turn to me.
“Because, in this moment, you two will do everything in your power to keep me away from Fort Weave.”
“Why do you think they want you away from Fort Weave?” Xander asks me.
“If we go off the idea that Ironleaf was the one that tried to have me killed, he must assume that I know,” I look at the others. “He knows that I want to kill him, and I’m telling you both now, if I get the chance, I will.”
Xander looks ahead again and gives a slight smile.
Exactly an hour later, everyone is gone. The only thing left at Camp Laith is the standing bunker, two tents, and the three of us.
Wren sits down while Xander kicks some rocks.
I walk away from the two of them and head into the woods.
“Where are you going?” Wren shouts.
“To start my training!” I shout behind me. “Are you coming?”
I hear Wren grunt and two pairs of footsteps follow me.
I make my way to the clearing that Xander brought me to last night and turn around to face them, “Alright, where do we start?”
“Well, that depends,” Xander starts. “Do you want us to do it the Fort Weave way and gently work your way up to fighting, or my way, and throw you in the deep end?”
“Seeing as the Shadow Army could be at Fort Weave any moment, and the only way to stop them, is me, let’s go with the latter,” I breathe out.
“Great! First things first, list out all of your known abilities,” Xander studies my face. It’s almost like he’s quizzing me to see if I lie to him.
“Flight,” I pause. It’s hard to think about all of my abilities when I feel like I’ve barely used them. “I guess I can move things and people with my mind.”
“Telekinesis,” Xander tells me.
“Right, there’s also teleportation.”
“You can teleport?” Wren asks.
“I think so, I’ve only done it twice, but I’m sure I could do it again,” I tell her.
“What else?” Xander shouts.
“I don’t know?” I stand there thinking hard, what else can I do?
“Think about War Drill,” Xander says, narrowing his gaze on mine, like he’s putting it into my mind.
“Oh, I can make a force field?” I say, because I’m still not sure what that was.
“Self-preservation,” Xander nods. “Yes, you need to be able to fight, but in dire circumstances, you need to be prepared to self-preserve and use your Weave to guard yourself.”
“And then just sleep for a few months at a time,” Wren chuckles.
“Not funny,” I snap. “I’m not doing that again, not if I can help it.”
“Love, you-,”
“No!” I yell, “That’s not up for discussion. I was unconscious for two months where everyone did with me what they pleased and I had no say. I’m so far behind on my training and I still don’t have a great grasp on my abilities, so no, don’t ask me to do that.”
“Okay,” Xander walks over, with a very calm voice and places his hands on my shoulders. “I’m sorry, I won’t mention that or ask you to do it again.”
I shake my head and try to rid myself of the frustration. I need to be focused.
“You ready then?” Xander asks me as he walks back to the edge of the opening.
I nod.
Out of nowhere, Wren comes up and punches me square in the jaw, knocking me flat on my face.
“You asked for this,” Wren laughs.
I roll over quickly, feel a surge of energy in my hands and raise them in a pushing motion. Wren flies off her feet and soars twenty feet away from me and crashes to the ground.
“What the hell was that?” she shouts.
“That?” I laugh, climbing back to my feet. “That was me fighting back.”
Xander gives a smile of approval.
I wake up before the sun, like I have for the last couple of weeks. Xander and Wren have been training me from sunup to sundown, with a short break for lunch. Wren is giving it her all, and I can tell she is, but part of me thinks that Xander is holding back, even when I beg for him not to. If I can fight him when he’s actually trying, then I would actually stand a chance against the Shadow Army.
“Xander,” I whisper. “It’s time to wake up.”
Xander lets out a slight grunt and waves his arm shooing me away.
“We need to train,” I say to him.
“Let’s sleep in, Love,” he says into his pillow. “We can train in an hour or so.”
“The longer we wait, the more likely it is that the Shadow Army attacks Fort Weave,” I groan.
Xander rolls over, with an angry face on, “I agreed to train you, but you promised me you were mine, but lately, it feels like all I am to you is a trainer and not a lover.”
I swallow hard. He’s right. I haven’t been treating him the way I want to treat him, I’ve been so focused on training that I’ve put him on the back burner.
“You’re right,” I lower my head. “I’m sorry, you deserve better. I guess an hour isn’t going to make or break my training. Lay back down and roll over.”
Xander lays his head back on the pillow and faces the tent’s wall. I lay behind him and wrap my arm around his waist, pulling him closer to me. I kiss his muscular shoulder. Just as I close my eyes, I hear a branch crack outside.
Xander and I both sit up quickly. He pulls a knife from the side of the bed.
“Who’s there?” Xander shouts.
“Xander?” a familiar whisper says. “Are you in there?”
The tent flap swings open and in walks a face I haven’t seen in weeks. Another person I’ve always been able to count on.
“Lyric!” I shout. I jump off the bed and tackle her in a hug.
Lyric looks as though she’s well rested and ready for the day to begin. Her hair in a neat braid, which is impressive seeing as she must have gotten here by riding on Niko.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Xander says, tucking his knife away.
“Commander Ironleaf called me to his office late last night and told me I was being relocated. All he said was that I’d be happy where I was going and told me to get to Camp Laith as soon as I could.”
“Ironleaf?” I ask.
“Yeah, why?” she asks me, clearly unaware of everything.
I look at Xander, he gives a slight nod.
“You’d better sit down so we can catch you up,” I tell Lyric, pulling her arm to sit on the bed.
We tell her everything that we think we’ve figured out so far.
“So wait, you’re telling me that Commander Ironleaf has been trying to get you killed? You guys think he hired those Air Weavers who threw you off the roof during War Drill?” Lyric laughs. “Do you guys know how crazy you sound?”
“Does it really sound that crazy though?” I ask. “I mean, who are the biggest threats to Commander Ironleaf and his command? Xander and I. Maybe not right now, but someday, yeah, probably. So of course he would want me dead, that’s one less opponent to worry about.”
“Why is Xander?” Lyric looks at him.
“Because if something happens to me, your brother wouldn’t hesitate to kill Ironleaf.”
Xander sighs and looks up at Lyric. “He’s not wrong.”
Lyric nods her head a few times, trying to take in all the news we just gave her. “So you guys have been training Phoenix here?”
“Yep,” I confirm.
“And you’re doing well?” she asks.
“I think so,” I say, giving a nervous smile.
“Yeah, if he’s going up against an army of pillows,” Xander bites his lip while fighting a smile.
“You just think you’re so funny don’t you,” I smile back. I lean back and grab the pillow from the top of the bed and hit him with it.
Xander and I start cracking up.
“You two are so weird,” Lyric says awkwardly, laughing as she walks out of the tent. “Come on you two, let’s go wake Wren so I can see the progress you all have made. I haven’t gotten the chance to spar with him yet.”
“So much for that extra hour of sleep,” Xander pushes my shoulder, knocking me over on the bed.
We both crawl out of the tent and follow Lyric to Wren’s tent, where Wren is already standing outside and waiting. Lyric walks up and wraps Wren a loving embrace while rubbing her back. Lyric pulls away slightly and pecks Wren on the lips.
Xander and I stare at each other raising an eyebrow.
“Do you guys have something to tell us?” Xander asks.
“You two can fuck in a tent and I can’t kiss her?” Wren asks us.
“You two had sex?” Lyric shouts with a giant grin on her face.
“Lyric!” Xander yells.
I blush.
“Alright, let’s leave them alone,” Wren elbows Lyric softly. “We started seeing each other like a month ago. It’s casual, and we’ll just see what happens.”
“Oh, thank god,” I say. “Maybe now you’ll be more pleasant, Wren.”
Xander laughs.
“Anyway,” Lyric says, rolling her eyes sarcastically, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Lyric shifts into a fighting pose. “Show me what you’ve got.”
“Um, normally we fight in the woods,” I start to walk away.
Lyric jumps in my way and swings a fist.
I actually manage to dodge it. “What the hell?” I shout.
“Are all of your fights going to happen in those woods?” Lyric kicks upward toward my head, but I manage to dodge that as well.
“She’s got a point,” Xander says, crossing his arms and stepping back.
“Fine then,” I nod. “Sorry, Lyric.”
“For what?” she asks, but before she even finishes asking, I’ve already teleported behind her.
I grab her braided, red hair and pull her straight to the ground. She slams hard on the grass, gasping for air.
“What the hell was that?” she breathes heavily.
“What’s wrong?” I mock. “Didn’t see that coming?”
Lyric rolls over and spins her legs, kicking my ankles and putting me on my ass. “Did you see that coming?”
My body vibrates due to the impact on my tailbone, which I can tell is bruised. My head gets slightly blurry from the sharp pain.
Lyric jumps up into a crouched fighting position, pulling a knife from her back sheath. “Get up.”
I gather myself and stand up, trying to regain my balance. I’m still slightly dizzy and can’t put a lot of pressure on my feet.
“Use your Weave,” Xander thinks to me, but when I glance over at him, his eyes are fixed, studying Lyric.
Lyric jumps up and charges me, but she’s not fast enough, I lift myself off the ground and fly up into the trees, out of her view.
I land on the branch of a tree, but remain hidden. I can see Lyric but she can’t see me. I focus my mind on her’s and try to tap in and figure out her next plan.
“Where are you?” Lyric thinks, “Niko, find him.”
