Chapter Eighteen

Rayne eyed the weapon curiously, testing the weight and balance with her hand as Gideon moved across the way from her. She spun it with her hands, but the moment her left hand took it, she lost sight for a second, losing the grip she was maintaining and it clattered to the ground. She stared at it, reaching with her left hand, but it felt awkward. She shifted her weight to pick it up, turning her head so her right eye had a fuller view and it felt sloppy to her. She left it on the ground, the confidence she wanted to gain from this quickly fading away. Xerath stepped forward, picking up the staff and placed it in her left hand, waiting until she had a good hold on it before letting it go.

"It will take time to get used to your condition, but like I said before it's only temporary." he said, stepping back toward the fence.

"You also said you weren't sure how long temporary was." she said, glaring over at him. He shrugged, unfazed by her look.

"You're not intimidating with only one working eye." he said, and her shoulders slumped at the comment. He was hitting all the buttons that would have triggered her, but she didn't have the power to bite back. The lack of assurance within herself was evident in her face as she looked at the transparent staff, watching the ghostly power ripple through it like calm water.

"Small steps, Rayne. You start." Gideon called to her, pointing his staff at her. He looked laxed compared to his normal stance. She leaned the staff against the wooden fence, reaching into her pocket to pull out a string and pushed her hair back. She blinked several times, looking around the area to familiarize with it. Although she couldn't see through her left eye just yet, she worked with her other senses. She felt the wind against her back, which didn't help her sense of smell for the time being. So, she left the trust to her ears as she picked the staff back up. Rayne let out a breath, closing her eyes as she ran her left hand over the spiritual weapon. When she opened her eyes again, she went into action.

Rayne lunged forward, spinning the staff with her right hand and makes a horizontal swing from the right side. Gideon brought his staff up to block, barely being pushed. He shoved her staff aside, bringing his right fist around and lands it in her left ribcage. She grunts, dropping to her knees, holding her ribs as her breathing labored. He gripped his staff so the butt end of it was hovering over her head. The wind blew gently against her back, but a soft whistling sound caught her ears and she rolled to the side as his staff came down and missed her head.

"Good job." he smiled at her as she rose up to her feet, still holding her ribs tenderly. She knew now she can rely on the sound of the wind. She winced when she inhaled deeply as Gideon swung his staff around, aiming for her head. She ducked just in time, moving into his space as he switched the staff to his right hand. She needed to hit him before he got another swing off that she couldn't see. She gripped her staff at both ends, slamming it into Gideon's stomach. He let out a loud grunt, doubling over and she shifted her grip, bringing the staff up and slams it into his chin. His head knocks back, his balance off and falls onto his back. The staff in Rayne's hands disappeared in a mist. Xerath's laugh caught her attention, followed by clapping.

"Looks like you catch on quickly. That's good. There's still hope for you after all." he stopped. clapping, tucking his hands away into his sleeves. Rayne patted her ribs gently, wincing at the lingering pain and sat down in the snow. Her heavy breathing was visible in the chilly morning air, but it was refreshing with her boiling adrenaline. Gideon sat up across from her, resting an arm on his knee and spits blood at the snow. He meets her gaze and she looks at him innocently.

"Don't give me that look, that won't work on me." he said as he rubbed his jaw, wiping the blood from his mouth. She closed her eyes, clenching her fists.

"It's odd." she said, opening just her left eye, but darkness was the only thing she saw. She closed her eye again, her hands sitting in the snow at her sides, clumping the cold powder in her hands.

"It's going to be for awhile, but you'll get used to it. Then eventually your sight will return, and you can leave the wound in the past." Gideon said, picking up snow and forming it between his hands.

"How can you be so sure, Ryder? What if this is it?" she felt the uncertainty in her mind when a small force hit her chest. When she peered down, there was snow sitting in her lap. She looked over to Gideon who had another clump of snow in his hand. He met her gaze and hid his hand behind his back, smiling at her. "How old are you? Five?" she asked, and grunted softly as the snowball hit her chest again. He let out a deep chuckle, the sound filling her heart with a feeling she was unfamiliar with.

"Now that you had your break, get back to it." Xerath said to them from the center of the field. Gideon got to his feet and leant his hand out to Rayne. She hesitated before taking it, wincing as she got up and rubbed her side gently.

"Does it still hurt? I didn't realize how hard I hit you." Gideon asked worriedly, but she waved away his concerns.

"I'll be fine. Nothing I'm not used to anyways. I'm just surprised you can even hit a woman." she teased, and he held her hand firmly in his.

"You're not just any woman, Rayne. I consider you my equal, and I'll treat you as such." he said, pulling her to him, but as she mistook the pull as an embrace, his head clashed into hers and she yelled out, stumbling back as he let her go. "Which means I won't hold back to kicking your ass." he said, shifting his feet and raised his fists. She adjusted her footing to maintain balance, waiting for her vision to clear when she heard the crunching of snow. With the wind gently pushing against her back, she focused her attention on that. Even with the tighter armor he adorned for combat, she could still hear the wind brush against it. She shut her eyes completely, sliding her left foot in an arc in front of her and spun on the ball of her right foot as she lifted it off the ground, making contact with his arm. His wrist twisted slightly, grabbing hold of her leg with both hands and started to swing her around. The moment her left foot was off the ground, she twisted her body so her legs wrapped around his neck. She arched her back down, using the strength in her legs to pull him down. Once her hands were placed on the ground, she let out a yell as she moved most of her strength to her legs and hoisted Gideon through the air and flying into the snow. She rolled to her feet, bringing her fists up again as she formed her stance. She opened her eyes, finally seeing clearly and Gideon wobbly getting to his feet. He brushed off the snow, tilting his head until it cracked and faced her, his expression serious.

"What? I thought you liked being between my legs?" she asked, a light shade of pink appearing on his cheeks as she ran at him. This time she let her instincts take over. She swung with her fists, making sure to stay in close range of him. She made sure to hit certain spots of his body. When Gideon started to slow down with the blocking, his body started to lock up. Now!

She brought her fists down to her waist, focusing her energy into them and unleashed a flurry of blows into his chest and stomach. As the last burst of energy coursed through her, her left fist shot out, slamming into his chest. A force pushing against him, forcing Gideon off of his feet and flying twenty feet back into the fence. He crashed through it, the impact bringing him to a stop just past the fence. Rayne panted heavily, the tension in her body releasing and collapses into the snow.

Xerath rushed over, kneeling beside her as Gideon groaned painfully, slowly sitting up when he noticed Rayne laying down. He struggled to his feet, and hurried over to her side.

"Rayne? What happened to her?" Gideon asked worriedly, carefully rolling her onto her back. Aside from snow, her face was paler than it was earlier and her breathing was rapid. Xerath touched a finger to her forehead, and Rayne's breathing leveled, but her features remained pale. "What did you do?"

"I put her to sleep." Xerath replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "She managed a second burst of energy to hit you with those attacks. Interesting. Those monks taught her well." he nodded slowly.

"Monks? Wait wait wait, you knew about them?" Gideon looked between Xerath and Rayne.

"I know many things, boy. I know more about her than she does herself. Now, quite fussing over it and get her to bed. She needs to nurse those ribs you broke." he said as he got to his feet. Gideon scooped Rayne up into his arms, letting her head fall against him, her hair loose from the tie up and cascading over her face. Gideon peered down at her with such affection he never shown anyone else, then raised his gaze to Xerath, anger flaring in them.

"You think she'll move forward with this quest when you withhold information from her? She has the right to know everything." Gideon said, and Xerath shrugged nonchalantly.

"All in due time..."

"There is no time!" Gideon raised his voice, letting out a breath and lowered his tone, "She doesn't deserve to be left in the dark. She's had enough bullshit in her life."

"And you think I won't be adding more to it by telling her her story?" Xerath asked, and Gideon fell quiet, returning his gaze down to Rayne who was sleeping soundly during their conversation.

"I think at the end of the day, she will still decide to write her own story." Gideon responded before heading inside with her. Xerath watched after them until they were out of sight. His guardian approached him, holding up the broken pieces of the fence. He eyed the wood and nodded. The troll turned and headed into the forest.

"That is not how the universe works, Sir Ryder. Her fate has been written since the day she was brought into this world, and until the day she leaves it."

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Each day, training was scheduled in the morning, followed by meditation in the afternoon. Gideon sat with Rayne each night, going over Xerath's books, learning new techniques to reform her way of fighting or enhancing it to it's full capabilities. Then some nights, Gideon stayed with her, giving her mind and body a break from the consistent training. Her vision still remained dark in her left eye, but Gideon always gave her reassurance that it would return, maybe when she least expected it to. He supported her, and didn't lie about treating her as his equal, however it didn't stop her from kicking his ass more often than he wanted to admit. He also changed, and maybe for the better. He was hesitant to discard his armor, he had taken an oath, but with his King conquered by evil and his home drowning in darkness, there was no oath to uphold no longer.

"Are you sure you are ready to head out tomorrow? It'll take a day or so to get to the cave's entrance from here. And your eye isn't healed yet." Gideon addressed his concerns as he lay in her bed naked, his arms folded behind his head. Rayne lay naked above him, the quilt half covering her. She yawned, her fingers tracing one of the scars on his chest, watching goosebumps form on his skin as she did so.

"We need to. We are already behind schedule, Ravnyk would be suspicious by now." she said, peering up at him. He brushed her hair behind her ear, looking into her emerald eyes and let's out a sigh.

"Fine, but I better not hear any complaining." he said, and she raised a brow up at him, rising up, the quilt falling down around her waist. Gideon inhaled sharply at the sight of her, his hands already at her waist.

"Me? Complain? Don't mistake me for you now." she said, and he scoffed, reaching up with his hand and flicks her nose gently. She wrinkled it, settling her hips onto his. He let out a pleasurable sigh, laying his head back and shuts his eyes.

"I have no reason to complain anymore." he said, his hands gripping her waist gently. She ran her fingers over his chest lightly, making him shiver and open his eyes.

"Like that has ever stopped you." she said, and he smirked, sitting up. His hands slid around her waist and rested on her back, using the motion of him sitting up to lay her on her back. She gazed up at him with lust burning in her eyes. He leaned down, his lips hovering just over hers as he rocked his hips against her slowly.

"Rayne Winters, I have no reason to complain so long as you stay at my side." he whispered against her lips and she let herself fall into the lust and passion he happily showed her.