Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
KYELLA
There had been many reasons for me to run while imprisoned in Malakai’s empire, usually from some sort of danger or a threat, like one of my guards.
The need was never very far, and never for the purpose of exercise.
This experience in the training yard was something brand new, and I was starting to think it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.
Or blood? I guess it wasn’t my cup of blood now.
My chest felt tight, and my lungs were starting to burn from the rapid, short breaths leaving me.
Despite being faster and stronger than before, I still got tired.
Quickly, unfortunately. My initial burst of energy—the one that had me outrunning Dakath during sprints—was short-lived.
Now my muscles tingled, and my limbs were heavy.
I had a feeling if I stopped, they’d begin shaking.
I didn’t dare give up, though.
I kept pushing, my chin raised in determination.
Kolvar had now mentioned to Elijah—you know, the jerk who had told me to run a ridiculous amount of laps around the training yard—several times that I should stop early, but each time I’d insisted I was fine and that I could keep going.
Even Dakath, who was running next to me, had tried to convince me to at least take a break.
Besides the fact that if I stopped I wouldn’t be able to pick this back up, there were other reasons I didn’t plan on giving up.
First of all, Elijah was watching me like a hawk, and I fully planned on showing him that I was capable of handling this little training routine he’d cooked up.
I knew it was a silly thing to be so adamant about, but I wanted to prove my strength.
Prove that I was what Myrin said I was and not some weak human after all.
There was a growing respect in Elijah’s eyes as I pushed past my limits, and I found myself pleased by that.
Secondly, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this.
With every day that passed, I opened up more and more to those around me, and found myself focused on what was important to me—what I wanted out of life.
I wanted to be someone destined for greatness, someone who could bring change to the world, and in order to do that, I needed to get in shape and learn how to fight.
It was inevitable that war was coming, something Myrin had made abundantly clear in our conversation. I refused to back away from the fight or stay behind. I wanted to stand side-by-side with the soldiers, fighting for a worthy cause.
Finally, there was the small little fact that Myrin was sitting up on a raised balcony, Barnabus sitting on her shoulder as she watched my ordeal with interest. I knew her intent wasn’t to make me nervous, but she did.
I felt like she expected something amazing out of me, and while she had never put that pressure on me openly, I still felt it.
Frankly, I was just glad for Bailey and Rina, who had joined her for the day and served as a partial distraction as they talked. I didn’t know where Tristan was off to, but my hearing had picked up something about a job and housing. I was happy they were getting settled—they deserved that.
“Alright! You’re done.” Elijah’s voice had me stopping in my tracks. I groaned and sagged, Dakath wrapping an arm around me in support and walking me towards a bench as my legs began to tremble.
“Don’t have her sit.” Kolvar frowned in concern, his brows pinching together. “Her muscles will tighten up.” His hazel eyes settled on me. “Can you do some stretches, darling? I know you feel exhausted now, but I promise in five minutes you’ll feel ten times better.”
I shot him a doubtful look while Elijah offered me a large, closed canister. I drank it down, realizing at the first sip that it was chilled blood—unfortunately, very human. It was interesting how easily I could discern the difference in blood sources already.
Shockingly though, Kolvar had been right. Within three minutes I was feeling back to normal as my body healed the aches training had caused.
“That’s amazing,” I breathed out, stretching my arms above my head.
“Makes training a lot easier,” Dakath agreed, his eyes running over my frame.
I tried to not get distracted by his wandering gaze.
The man knew exactly what he was doing when he looked at me like that.
In fact, the vampyre Lord seemed to always know what he was doing.
I tried to keep my mind from straying to thoughts of lunch, not only the romantic gesture of bringing me to a beautiful rooftop garden, which had been beyond sweet, but the way his mouth felt against my center.
I hadn’t realized it could feel that amazing.
Thankfully I hadn’t blurted out my inexperience—I worried he’d view that as a bad thing and would call a halt to further…
action. I wanted to explore Dakath even more.
I wanted to know how I could make him feel similar, and I didn’t want him to be hesitant or nervous if he knew exactly how innocent I was.
Not only him, though—I wanted that with Kolvar as well.
I’d been watching the sweat roll down their large, muscular bodies throughout the training session, and I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t make my skin heat.
My eyes snuck over to Elijah, his gaze darting away from where he’d been staring at my body.
I couldn’t help but smile at that, considering it a win.
I had no idea on what to do with the situation between us, but I would give the man this—I found it so attractive the way he could command the space.
I didn’t even realize that would be something I’d find appealing, but when he dropped commands at me while in training, my body reacted a lot differently than I would’ve thought.
“Alright, what’s next?” I asked curiously. Judging by the way Elijah was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and the challenge in his eyes, we were far from done.
“Testing out weapons,” he answered as Kolvar came out of a small shed to the left of the yard, carrying a large pile of canvas material that made a scraping noise with every step he took.
“Eventually,” Dakath said as he gently ran his fingers up my back, causing me to shiver and Elijah to narrow his eyes, “you will have your own weapons made to fit your frame and fighting style, but first you need to decide what type fits you best.”
“What are my options?” I asked, examining the pile Kolvar brought over. I had no experience with weapons, but the idea of yielding such an impressive and dangerous piece of metal made me both nervous and excited.
Elijah motioned to the pile. “A lot, but with your small frame, you won’t want something too large. It would be too heavy to properly work, even with your newly enhanced strength. We want it to feel like an extension of your body when you fight.”
I nodded in understanding as Kolvar sorted through the weapons, hyper-focused on the task. I had no idea what it was about training, but the man hovered far more than usual, examining every piece of equipment as if it was going to hurt me.
“I bet you will like a sword,” Dakath mused, his eyes flashing with interest. I offered him a curious look, prompting him to add, “It’s what I use.”
“I have a small single handed battle ax I found for her,” Kolvar said, looking proud as he stood with the weapon.
“How about whichever of our personal weapons she likes best is who she goes on a date with next?” Dakath suggested, flashing a small smirk that changed his expression completely. He was clearly feeling very confident I’d choose a sword.
Before I could say I liked the idea of the challenge, Elijah appeared behind me, electricity moving between us as I turned into him.
I didn’t know what I expected, so I stood there silently while he picked up one of my hands and examined it, measuring it against his own. Then, without a word, he disappeared.
“Where is he going?”
“Who knows.” Kolvar shook his head, seemingly amused, before handing a long, thin sword to Dakath.
When he turned it, offering me the hilt, I took it hesitantly.
I felt nervous with a weapon in my hand, but there was a part of me that also felt secure in holding it.
It felt like an immediate shield between myself and anyone who wanted to hurt me.
I hadn’t realized how desperately I needed that control until now.
I’d only had a small idea of the notion prior to holding the metal in my palm.
“Looking good, Kyella!” Myrin called out, causing me to look over and smile.
“Yay, Ky!” Rina clapped her hands as Bailey offered me a big thumbs up.
“Come over here,” Dakath commanded, leading me to the center of the training yard.
He positioned me so I was holding the sword comfortably before taking out his own.
My eyes widened as I realized his weapon was far larger and more intimidating, but I didn’t back down.
I tightened my grip and listened to the instruction he began to give.
For the next five minutes, he walked me through different fighting forms before turning to sparring, and I found myself using the sword like it was second nature.
Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. I still felt a bit clumsy, trying to acclimate to my newfound speed and rapid reactions, but I could hold my own to a small extent.
It helped that I had a cheering section encouraging me every time I managed to get past Dakath’s guard.
They had me smiling ear to ear and actually enjoying the sparring and training.
“You did fantastic,” Dakath assured me as we finally walked back towards Kolvar, who was watching us with amusement.
“I actually felt pretty comfortable with it once I got used to my grip and how I had to move my hands and wrists to accommodate certain moves,” I admitted, smiling up at him.
“See? I told you the sword would be her favorite.” Dakath pointed out to Kolvar.