Birth of a Dragoon

Beginning of Training

Cearúil tread quietly down the College's halls, pulling Gwen in his wake. He was quite happy she finally stopped trying to talk him out of this 'inane attempt of awakening skills she just didn't possess'. He was just hoping he wasn't mistaken with what he was about to attempt.

Cearúil stopped at the end of the hall and peered down the next one. A Grandmaster Mage was strolling away from them, back toward the classrooms. Cearúil ducked back into the original hallway and turned to Gwen. He didn't honestly think she would speak of his secrets; as she stated so many times in the past, she had no friends to tell anything to. But would Gwen become frightened of him and go to the High ArchMage Diaz? If she did, he would be screwed.

Shortly he would find out one way or another. He just hoped his original assessment of her was correct. Cearúil took a second glance down the new hallway, the Mage was nowhere in sight. Taking Gwen's hand once more, he pulled her down the hallway in the opposite direction the Mage had gone down. In an hour or so, they would reach the clearing in forest he found a year ago.

I cursed as I stumbled over a log and fell to my hands and knees. Rising to a sitting position, I glared at Cearúil as he knelt before me. A bit of curiosity filled me, his yellow-green eyes were practically glowing in the darkness surrounding us. After a moment my own eyes darkened in rage. The bastard could see in the dark!

"Are you ok, Gwen?"

A stream of expletives flew out of me, as I shoved to my feet. "You bastard! You can see in the dark and yet here I've been tripping over everything. I swear if I trip and fall over one more thing, I am going back to the College and you can shove this entire idea straight where the sun don't shine!"

Further fury filled me, as his eyes lit up brighter. He was laughing at me again! "Forget it, Cearúil. I'm going back."

"Wait."

Cearúil stated as he reached out and grabbed onto my arm, stilling me instantly. I glared once more as I turned back to face him. "What?"

"Yes, I can see in the dark quite well. I apologize for not helping you to traverse the forest safely, it was…thoughtless of me. Will you stay if I promise to aid you through the last stretch before the clearing?"

"I should make you carry me the rest of the way for being such an ass."

My eyebrows lifted when he shrugged. Before I could figure out just what he was scheming now, he reached out and lifted me into his arms. I instantly squealed and tried to get out of his hold, but the damn man's grip was like a vise.

"What the hell are you doing, Cearúil? Put me down."

Cearúil only laughed as he twisted around and started traversing through the forest once more. After a couple steps and a few moments of my steady cursing, he finally stated: "I am only doing as you requested."

"I did not request for you to carry me…"

"Request – threaten, there's not much of a difference to me. You should be happy that you no longer run risk of tripping over things and falling to the ground. Well…unless of course, I decide to drop you. You are squirming around a lot; I may just lose my grip. You never know, it just might happen."

"Don't you dare." I squealed again and wrapped my arms tightly around his neck when he purposefully slackened his grip on me. It earned a laugh from him, which annoyed the hell out of me even more. Cearúil always seemed to find reasons and excuses to laugh at me, damn him.

"You know, I will get even with you over this. You just wait and see."

"I look forward to it."

Cearúil sat across the clearing from Gwen in deep thought. An idea had formed as he carried her the rest of the way to the clearing, one that didn't involve him revealing any of his secrets to her, but it hadn't worked. Raising his gaze, he starved over at Gwen. The poor girl looked completely miserable, even more so than her normal sulky way. Cearúil sighed deeply as he lowered his head once more in thought. He should have just stuck to his original plan, instead of thinking the new one would be easier.

"Cearúil?"

His gaze rose once again to stare over at her. "Yes?"

"I'm tired, can we return to the College now?"

Without answering, Cearúil rose to his feet and slowly approached Gwen. She watched him wearily, obviously contemplating what he was up to now. She quickly back-pedaled when he knelt before her, causing a grin to appear on his face.

"No! I am perfectly capable of returning to the College on my own two feet."

"Hush, Gwen." He stated as, despite her struggles, he lifted her once more into his arms. His grin widened when, after a few moments, she gave up her weak struggles and slumped against him.

"It would be easier if you wrapped your arms around my neck."

"Why ever would I want to make things easier on you?"

Amusement filled Cearúil at Gwen's contradictory words and actions. Not only did she do as he suggested, she also laid her head against his shoulder. He didn't mind carrying her back to her room; her present weakness was entirely his fault. He had pushed her way too hard when the small puff of smoke appeared after she attempted an easy fire spell.

Cearúil smiled at the memory, though it was small, that puff of smoke had been quite a victory for Gwen. Her smile had been so beautiful and even her spirits had lifted drastically, until she tried the incantation again. Every single attempt after that one had ended in failure, crushing Gwen even worse than she had been before casting it. Cearúil sighed deeply, it was going to be even harder now to lift her spirits and get her to try again. At least now he had something to work with if he could get her to try another private lesson with him.