Shady

"Perfect!" Aerik said. "Then I think the two of you are ready to go!" He turned and suddenly wrapped Jerica in a hug. She tensed. This... wasn't like him. At ...

"Yeah, I've got some extras. Let's go grab them." Aerik took the weapons from Elias and directed him into Jerica's bedroom, where he'd laid out some clothes, then walked to ...

"Well, as long as we're all in agreement!" Jerica said, voice a bit too bright. Mocking. "Jer..." Aerik said tiredly. "Stop mocking him for, let's say five minutes? I feel ...

"I mean, other than the fact that you look like a complete freak?"

"Alright, that's what I was thinking, too," Jerica said with a nod, then turned back towards the weapons wall and assessed the options. She pulled out a stock sword and ...

Jerica lifted her sword, surprised that he'd actually tried this time. She thought she was going to have to threaten him before he put in an earnest effort. 'Hit me, ...

Jerica raised her sword and deflected his clumsy blow easily. It wasn't a particularly good attempt, but it was an attempt, which was an improvement from moments before. "Yeah, alright," ...

She rolled her eyes. "It's not like you're going to be able to manage it anyway. Just try." She sighed loudly at his hesitation. "HIT. ME."

"Like..." Jerica hesitated a moment as she noticed for the first time that Aerik didn't have any of the training dummies she made her recruits practice on when they were ...

"Oh, we're gonna suit you up with both," Jerica sighed, throwing the door to the weapon's room open. "See if you end up actually being good at either of them." ...

She stared at him in dumbfounded silence for a moment, and when she responded it wasn't even to him. She turned towards Aerik, disgusted. "He can't ride a horse or ...

"Yeah, well." Jerica started down the stairs again, taking them two at a time, not even bothering to look back to ensure he was following her. "You'll learn, I guess. ...

“Yeah. We’ll have to walk to the nearest town, though. Aerik has Kaidren so he doesn’t need a horse — and mine is back in Atraya. I never got to ...

Jerica smirked, pleased that Elias seemed to be finding some reserve of good sense that he’d buried deep inside him. But then she got too excited to gloat as she ...

“It’s entirely up to you,” Aerik said, watching the exchange with a smirk. “You can go back to Earth right now. Or go with her to see if you can ...