Chapter Three
1595 Words
Chusi was sleeping peacefully when she began to dream.
The handsome man approached her, his warm smile bringing her comfort. She watched him in awe as he shifted in front of her. Transforming into a massive deep brown wolf, his paws touching the ground softly. His eyes telling her he was of no harm to her.
"Who are you?" she asked softly unafraid of the beast before her.
The wolf remained silent, he wanted to tell her, but he couldn't. He just wanted to see her, his human came of age today and was so disappointed that his mate wasn't in the pack, Topor wanted to find her. The only way to see her would be in her dreams as she wasn't of age yet. He knew that he had to cautious with seeing her, and this may well be the only time until they are to meet, but he wanted reassurance that his mate was indeed safe with the elder council.
Chusi woke up with a strange feeling of disappointment as if her dreams were taunting her with joy she has yet to experience. As she entered her shower she decided she would speak with Aislinn about it at breakfast.
The elder council was deep in a meeting and thirteen-year-old Chusi knew better than to interrupt them. She paused outside their door, however when she heard her name.
"Chusi must be kept safe! That is why she is here, and not with her family," Brigid argued.
"How long?" Hyptu asked, he was always grumpy around Chusi and never understood why. Anytime she would try to ask him, he just brushes her off as "too young to understand."
This was the first time she had heard, though that she actually had a family.
"Until we know that the danger has passed, or that she can defend herself," Rhiannon said to the rest of the council.
"She's just a child," Hyptu said, "How can she defend herself?" He actually sounded worried.
Chusi gave a small smile, one of the housekeepers caught glimpse of Chusi just then.
"Miss Chusi, you know you shouldn't be there. Come on, let's get you to the dining room. You must be hungry," she said kindly, but firmly guiding the errant teenager away from the doorway.
Chusi couldn't help but be disappointed but listened to the kind housekeeper. The last thing she heard though made her smile deeply.
"I will begin her training," the grumpy troll said.
Cassius grinned, he knew that Chusi had been outside of the door. The others were too involved in their conversation to realize they had an extra set of ears at their door.
"I will assist you, Hyptu," Cassius said knowingly.
They ended their early morning meeting and headed to breakfast.
Chusi was seated at her usual spot, eating her favorite winter breakfast, oatmeal with apples, and dried cranberries with a little maple syrup. She was mulling over the fact that they had said she had a family. What other secrets were they hiding from her?
"Good morning, Chusi," Brigid said warmly. The vampire witch hybrid has kept her soft spot for the child since the day she saved her.
"Good morning," Chusi said, trying not to sound as if anything was different. But, oh was it ever.
"Aislinn," Chusi began cautiously, " I wanted to speak with you later, if I may?"
"Of course dear, is anything wrong?" Aislinn asked worried for the young teenager.
"No, ma'am, I just had some questions about a dream I had," Chusi said truthfully, "But I'd like to have it in private?" she hedged when the council all looked at her.
Aislinn smiled, "Of course, we can speak about anything, Chusi," she assured her.
"Now, as for today, " Hyptu said his gruff voice breaking into Aislinn's calming one. "You are going to begin to have fighting training," he informed her as he took a bite of his own breakfast.
Cassius was hiding his smile behind his glass of deep red liquid, "I will be assisting him, Chusi. That way he won't be too hard on you."
The rest of the council struggled to hide their grins as Hyptu grumbled about how he wouldn't be any harder on her than he felt she could handle.
"May I ask, why I need this kind of training?" Chusi asked, curious, but careful to not reveal she had been eavesdropping on the only people she had known as family.
The members of the council looked at each other, Brigid chose to speak, "Because, Chusi, we want you to be prepared for anything. You will be coming of age soon and we are unsure of what your powers and weaknesses are. So, we want you to be able to defend yourself as a human as well as when you shift."
The excuse made sense to everyone including Chusi, so they left it at that. Although, it did begin to cause more questions for the young teen than not.
Hyptu cleared his throat, "We will begin your training after you finish breakfast," he said and got up from the table, "Meet me in the training fields." He left the table in his usual fashion, with a look at Chusi.
"We can speak after your training," Aislinn assured the young lady, even though she was curious as to what the young girl dreamt the night before.
"Focus, Chusi, this is important!" Hyptu growled at the teenager when she missed the mark again. They have been at it for almost two hours now and she was getting tired. He didn't mean to be gruff, but if he would be true to himself, he has grown to care for the young girl. Not in the romantic sense, but in a father figure type of way. If she knew what dangers were actually out there, she would be trying harder.
"Hyptu, it's her first day of training! You can not expect her to be perfect at swordsmanship!" Cassius snapped at the troll.
"Listen, bloodsucker, I want her to be the best and she won't be if you're soft on her from the get-go!" Hyptu bit back.
Chusi watched the exchange with interest, the older she was getting the more her curiosity was growing.
"Chusi, run the field two times, then hit the showers. Your training is done for the day," Cassius said to her. "Hyptu, we will discuss this later," he said giving the troll a warning.
Chusi didn't have to be told twice, she was ready to get cleaned up and speak with Aislinn. Her dream was still weighing on her mind. The field was huge, but she did it twice and went straight to her room.
She showered quickly and went in search of Aislinn. She found her in her chambers, Chusi knocked softly.
"Come in, Chusi," Aislinn said gently as she slid the photo she was staring at, back into a drawer. Chusi would see her stare at it. Whenever she would ask about it, Aislinn would dismiss it as nothing.
"You always, know," Chusi said smiling at the seer.
"Now, what did you dream about?"
Chusi blushed, " I dreamt about a man, coming to see me. But then, he shifted into a huge brown wolf." Chusi said, recalling how comforting the image was.
Aislinn stilled at the mention of a wolf, "Were you scared in this dream?"
"No, actually, he was really handsome, and I felt so calm," she said.
"So what is your question?" Aislinn asked, "If you weren't afraid then what was the problem with the dream?"
"I want to know who he was, he never spoke," Chusi said bluntly.
The fact that the wolf in her dream was silent spoke volumes to Aislinn, but she couldn't tell Chusi, just yet.
"You know that, I don't usually say this to you, but you're not ready to know," Aislinn hedged. "But I will tell you this, he is harmless."
Chusi was disappointed, she wanted more answers than this, "When will I know?"
"In a few years," Aislinn said, "I promise."
"Then will you tell me who my family is?" Chusi said before she could stop herself.
Aislinn paled, "I think I better get Brigid and Rhiannon for this."
The women all sat with Chusi in the council library, Brigid handed her a book.
"The Dragon's Tale?" Chusi asked, "This is a book of fairy tales, I've read it many times. It's one of my favorites" She handed the book back to the elder.
"I know you have. Do you ever wonder why you love it so much?"
"I don't know, it's well written?" the thirteen-year-old, said sarcastically.
"No," Rhiannon said firmly reminding the girl that she needs to watch her tone.
"Sorry," Chusi said.
"I think you need to reread it and come back to see us when you're done," Brigid said and sent the young girl off to her room
Chusi shrugged in compliance and settled into her bed, it was getting late and she was tired. She knew she would be sore in the morning.
She fell asleep reading the book, her dreams that night filled with dragons and swordplay.
- Writer
