Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Aela’s POV

The vision of my parents' fighting has been haunting me. I am almost positive they were so real, and I’m now worried they are constantly repeating the fight over and over in their afterlife. I really hope they aren’t.

My mate’s confession to being my father’s brother only confirmed that the vision was real. I didn’t press him to confirm anything else. My father’s description of knowing him at the age of six, being malnourished, abused, and neglected, kept me from wanting to find out more.

The scariest was how ugly my mother had been towards my mate. I still have a good number of memories of my mother, and she was always amiable and considerate to everyone. Even the maids who often annoyed and frustrated her with their stupidity she always was able to mask her anger with a gentle smile. To see her so content in harming my mate was infuriating.

Her expression almost matched Aunt Lana’s when she saw my mate. Anger and disgust are the most grotesque expressions on even the most beautiful of facades.

“Where did you go?” My mate whispers behind me. I pivot to face him, knowing my embarrassment on being snuck up on will show. I offer him a half smile. He moves into a defense posture and speaks lowly “Let’s see what you can do now.”

I close my eyes and fixate my focus of cold steel in my hands. My fists grip, and I open my eyes and peer at my opponent. He hasn’t moved, but two swords I have only seen are in his hands.

Now that I’m closer, I can see his blades are thin and pitch black. The edges have a thin line, which infers they are extremely sharp. They don’t have the reach I imagined. Each blade is shorter in length than his arms. He holds both out, ready to parry any attack I might make.

My blades are different completely. They are white and look almost like they are made completely of light. They reach a little longer than my arms. Follow the trend of being opposite of my mates. They are thicker, and I’m sure if they were made out of metal, they would be way twice as much as my mates.

A rumbling growl reverberates through the air, and I giggle loudly. With a silent nudge from a tendril wrapped around me, which I acknowledge as a protective barrier from elements to keep me from hurting myself if I lose control. I have more confidence in fighting against my mate.

I lunge at him with both swords in a good swipe. He easily parries but doesn’t push the opening. He’s letting me get a few combinations in before I have to fear his return fighting. I move into his fast swipe with three puncture combinations, and he parries but only strong enough for me to feel the pushback of the counter recoil.

At the end of my sequence, he dodges and rolls farther away from me. I rush after him and move to start another sequence of attacks, but this time, he lets the full effect of the recoil of his parry push my blades away. Every time I know it leaves me open to an attack, it has always been my downfall. I place a sword into position to parry his attacks, and they feel light and almost like a feather.

I dodge roll away from him and turn towards him. A tendril around me tightens as I feel a pulse erupt from me. I fall on my knees while all the snow around me hisses in steam.

My mate’s swords dispels, and he stands on the edge of the clearing I created. He doesn’t move towards me at all. “You alright?”

Swallowing hard and relaxing my hands to watch my swords light fade away. “Yeah, I think your shield got the brunt of the burst.”

Suddenly, my legs start to give, and I can feel my muscles shake. My head feels lightheaded, and I can feel my balance waver. I start to fall but land softly in warm hands. “Sleep, Nadar. You did well, and you will adjust to the levels of your reserve.”

I pull my head up to his chest and nestle in. I may be drained of all energy, but I’m more than ever grateful for the trust I have in my mate.