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“Sorry, Dream, we’ve just been a little wary around here,” Minna says as she looks around before she approaches the shore, and then pulls herself up onto the rock beside me.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“There is something not quite right, Dream. The animals are jittery when they come to drink, and I can feel the earth is unsettled. There is something unsettling the life here at Eternity Fae.”
This must mean that whatever evil is out there is closer than we thought. When Brog was attacked near the border to Eternity Fae, I automatically assumed it was still far from home, but it seems that it’s not.
“What’s wrong? I can tell by your face that you know something,” Minna says as she turns towards me fully.
I don’t want to create fear, but if there is evil out there, then I must warn Minna so that her and her family can be vigilant. “What I am going to tell you is not certain yet, but I want you all to be careful.” I tell Minna what we suspect about the shadows and that we have been cut off from the outside world. What I don’t tell her is our role in all of this. I still don’t understand it myself, so I won’t be sharing something that might not yet be certain.
“Oh, that’s why the Hobgoblins have been uneasy,” Minna says, inclining her head towards the forest. “Braun was here yesterday, and you know him—he’s not much for words, but he was grumbling about something messing with his oak.”
Hobgoblins live in trees. Their preference is oak trees. They are very protective of their homes. Usually calm, peaceful beings, they can become confrontational and will fight whoever threatens them or their home.
Braun lives in a beautiful big oak just down the path. On the way back home, I will stop by and try to find out what has him upset.
“You have a guard?”
At Minna’s question, I tense, looking around at what she means, but I don’t see anything. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know?” Minna says with a raised brow.
“Know what?” I look around again with a frown.
“One of your men has followed you and is standing guard just behind that big tree before the start to the pond.” I turn around on my perch and am just in time to see what looks like a hand moving behind the tree.
“Who is there?” I have never been followed before. Why would one of our men decide to follow me? All thought leaves me when I see Drez stepping away from behind the tree. I jump up in surprise and lose my balance. “Ahhh,” I scream, my arms flailing to try to keep me upright, but I am already out of balance. I start falling back. I feel Minna’s hand try to grab on to me, but it’s too late, and I hit the water back first. I feel myself sinking, and for a minute, I wish I could stay under this water. The embarrassment of now facing Drez has me wanting to bury my head in one of the dunes in the pond. Straightening my body, I kick my legs to take me up to the surface, feeling a hand around my arm as I break through the water.
The first thing I see is Minna’s smiling face sitting on the rock where we were together. My head snaps to my side, and I see Drez treading water beside me. The hand holding my upper arm is his, a worried look in his eyes as he watches me. “Are you okay?” he asks, embarrassing me even more as I see his wet blond hair covering one eye.
Why am I such a klutz when he’s around? “Umm, fine, you just surprised me.” I can feel my heart racing at his touch and my stomach knotting. His deep-blue eyes look at me as if he can see right into my soul.
“Are you going to stay in there the whole day? I can come in and join you, but you must be a little uncomfortable with all those clothes,” Minna teases from where she’s sitting. I look over and glare at her, knowing she is enjoying this. Drez lets go of my arm and then pulls himself out of the pond, his clothes soaking wet. The loose off-white tunic that he usually wears is plastered to his body, his breeches and dark-brown boots just as wet. As an Eldrin from the high Elves, Drez was born a warrior, his fluid movements catching the eye and holding it like a tree blowing in the breeze.
“Dream?” Minna calls with a laugh. “Are you enjoying your swim?”
“Oh, keep quiet,” I mutter as I place my hands on the edge to pull myself out, but before I can, strong arms are pulling me out in one fluid movement and helping me stand.
“Umm, thank you,” I whisper, feeling awkward, as I can just imagine how I am looking standing here before him with my dungarees hanging down my body with the weight of the water, and my dark brown hair plastered to my head.
Drez nods and then looks up at the sky. “I think we should be getting back; it’s going to start getting dark soon.”
I ignore his comment, instead concentrating on what I really want to know. “Why were you following me?”
“I was assigned to keep you safe.”
I feel my disappointment rise. He wasn’t following me because he wanted to make sure I was fine. He was following me because he was told to. My disappointment weighs heavy on me. I say goodbye to Minna, promising to come see her soon, and then I set out towards home, not once looking back to see if Drez is following me.
I am so upset that only when I reach home do I remember that I was going to go talk to Braun. I will have to go see him tomorrow.
CHAPTER 4
“Come on, you’re not trying hard enough.” I open my eyes and glare at Vain.
“Really, I haven’t seen you doing anything,” I argue. Since coming home, the girls ambushed me, insisting we should start practicing. We have been at it for hours, and I still haven’t been able to do anything.
“Well, if you girls continue fighting each other, you will not be able to do what you want to.” I turn, hearing Selina. She is standing at the door with a kind smile like she usually does. “The five of you are stronger together than apart. You need to support each other, build what you have, and make it invincible. If the five of you are united, nothing will ever be able to break you or beat you.”
