The Shadow Within Me

Chapter Twenty One - Don't leave

Crystal Raine Meadows

Confused, I still changed into my training clothes. Why would we train outside? I already talked to Liam to meet me here outside after training.

I paced towards the door and reached out towards its doorknob, it made a huge creaking sound after I opened it and revealed to me Calyx waiting on the front.

"Hey, I'm done, but why are we leaving the school premises? Is it safe?" I worriedly asked, but he didn't respond to me as he grabbed a lot of bags placed on the ground and thread them lightly on his right shoulders.

"It's safe, you don't have to worry about anything, you have me there the whole time," he reassured coldly, so I just sighed.

"You see, I have to get back to the University early because I have plans with someone, later on, I promised already," I bit my lower lip after I said those words.

He then turned his back on me before pacing towards the main gates, "You're not going, you still have a lot of training to do, you fainting eats up a lot of time and routines so you have to make it up for it," he scolded, so I felt guilty for a moment.

"P-Please, I already told him that I was going," I pleaded while trying to catch up to him, he's such a fast walker! Can't he slow down? Someone is talking to him!

"I already said no, you can't change my mind, plus this is not for me, you can just ask to stop this training if you really want to go there and waste time," he sounded colder than usual, so I just sighed.

"F-Fine, can I at least just tell him that it's going to be moved and canceled?" I politely asked, I can't leave Liam hanging while waiting for no one.

"Don't leave with him," I heard him whisper, so I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment before tilting my head at him.

"W-What? What did you say?" I curiously asked, so he coughed for a moment while averting his gaze at me.

"Nothing, do whatever you want, I'll wait for five minutes on the main gates," he coldly stated, so I beamed before thanking him as I ran to look for Liam and my friends at the fields. See, he could be nice sometimes if he wants to.

My lips lifted when I saw them training in the fields. I got nervous for a moment when I decided to approach them because there's a lot of our classmates around.

I haven't informed Jenny about this, so I called Liam because he's just sitting on the corner while talking to other human dragons.

"Liam, hey," he flinched when I tapped his back, "Can I talk to you for a sec?" I requested, so he immediately stood up and approached me.

"C-Crystal, is there a problem? Are you alright?" he bombarded me with questions, so I just shook my head and sighed.

"You got my message last night right?" I curiously asked, so he smiled before nodding at me as he scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it," I didn't notice that he blushed as I played with my fingers guiltily.

"You see, we might have to move it on the next day," I bit my lip before raising my head to level his eyes, "I'm going to train somewhere far today and I'm not sure when I'll get back," he noticed how guilty I was, so he just tapped my head.

"Hey, you don't have to feel bad, we can just move it next time," he beamed, so I sighed in relief before clutching to my chest.

"A-Are you sure? I feel really bad about moving it. I already said yes yesterday," I mumbled, so he shook his head and laughed.

"Where are you going exactly?" he asked, so I thought about it for a moment and Calyx didn't give me a straight answer.

"I-I have no idea, Calyx knows the place and he'll take me there he said," I informed, so Liam wondered for a moment.

"Did he do this on purpose?" he whispered, so I tilted my head at him because people around me were always mumbling that I can't hear them clearly.

"What did you say, Liam? Sorry, I didn't hear it quite right," I curiously asked, so he flinched while shaking his head.

"Nothing, I just said that it's alright dummy like you said, we can reschedule it," he stated before looking at me.

"Now go, you have to leave right?" he reminded me, so I flinched because Calyx might be furious with me.

"Y-Yes, thank you so much, Liam!" I bid him goodbye as I sprinted on the main gates, it took me a while until I reached Calyx who's waiting for me with a dragon on his front. I noticed that it was the same dragon I always ride into.

"You took seven minutes, you were two minutes late," he coldly stated, so I glared at him before catching my breath. How can someone even count the minutes while you were gone?

"Give me a break, jeez," I complained before looking for my bag and beamed when I noticed that he took it with him.

I was about to thank him when he dragged me on that small dragon, "Hey Flash!" I greeted the small red dragon and it just roared like it was greeting me.

"His name is Red, why did you give him such a hideous name?" Calyx coldly stated while fixing some things inside the pouch of the saddle.

The small dragon roared like it was complaining at what Calyx said, "It's not! It suits him because he flies so fast that this dragon couldn't even wait until I settled down," I giggled before looking at Flash who looks like he was guilty of what he's doing to me.

I noticed that Calyx was staring at me intently before he offered to sit on the saddle, "You were not affected by what happened a while ago," he stated, he didn't ask, but he just stated it.

He's talking about what happened inside of our room huh? Does he have to bring that up now? I really don't want to talk about it.

I averted my eyes, "I-I should be the one asking you that, you attacked Henry like you were the one who was harassed verbally," I bitterly smiled.

He looked surprised at my statement before feeding Flash something from his hands, "He was being noisy, I just have to shut him up," he coldly stated, so I flinched before shaking my head.

I know he did that for his own accord, but I can't help but think that he did that to help me or get back at Henry for me. I must be out of my mind thinking about those kinds of things.

"Thank you, you're not as bad as what I thought you'll be," I acknowledged before smiling, so he stopped for a moment like he noticed something incredible among his front.

"I didn't help you, woman," he sounded defensive, I wanted to laugh because he's being too obvious that he really did that for me or I'm just assuming things.

"Where are we going? if we have to leave, let's leave now," I suggested, so he didn't mind me as he rode Flash on the front.

I stared at his back for a moment and he irritably looked at me, "What are you waiting for woman? Sit on my back," he fumed, so I flinched before nodding at him.

After I sat comfortably on the back, he stopped like he was waiting for me to do something, "Aren't you going to hold on to my waist?" he coldly asked, so I was startled once more.

"N-No, I-I'm fine," I stuttered, "You can leave now, F-Fla--Ahh!" I screamed when Flash flew swiftly upwards that forced me to hug Calyx back.

I didn't look at where we were going, like I said, I wasn't a fan of heights and I badly don't want Calyx to find out about it.

The slow flapping of the wings made me raise my head as I noticed that we're landing in the middle of the enchanted forest.

"H-Here? W-We're training in the enchanted forest?" I asked while staring at our vast surroundings.

"Yes, don't state the obvious," he mumbled before unmounting Flash and grabbed all of the things he brought with him.

"W-What am I going to do here? Didn't you say I have to focus on core workouts?" I confusingly asked and watched him prepare a track by the small orange cones that he fished out from his bag.

"Yes, you'll do it right here," he coldly informed me, so I wondered for a moment. Here? But how would I do that?

He stood up after setting up the cones on a specific route, "Why didn't you warm up yet? Go do your warm-up cause we're starting," he scolded me, so I flinched before deciding to warm myself up.

I watched him set up the routes on the big space inside of this enchanted forest, he looks really familiar with the place.

After I warmed up, I approached him and he immediately pointed at the routes he set up with the small orange cones.

"Run there, 20 times and when you get back start dangling and jumping on this rope," he pointed at the rope behind my back and was astounded upon seeing how high he tied the rope there.

"I-I can't reach that," I stated a fact, but he just motioned me to do the running, so I just sighed before running like my life depends on it.

Running around didn't feel as bad as before, Ate Kathy also helped me with massaging my muscles when it hurts and she told me that it'll help me run faster. I smiled because Ate Kathy feels like a mother and a perfect cousin for me, she's really special to me. 

I gasped when I felt that I was running out of breath and I still have two more laps left, "Do it faster!" I heard him yelling from somewhere, so I flinched before sprinting. He's going to kill me if I don't do this right!

My legs felt like they were shaking as I stopped running, I was about to sit down when Calyx appeared on my mind. I remembered that he told me not to sit down after running.

"W-What's next?" I asked and noticed that he was sharpening his sword with some other sword while Flash was sleeping peacefully right beside him.

He looked at me and then pointed at the ropes, "I said do that after right?" he sounded pissed, so I just bit my lip while shaking my head.

Those red eyes were beaming with emotions that didn't match with his expressionless face. I just shook my head and decided to look at the rope from above.

"I can't freaking reach this, my legs already feel so heavy right now," I complained, but Calyx didn't say anything as he motioned me to start doing it.

I just sighed and decided to jump. I didn't even manage to reach the middle part of the tree, I tried jumping once more and my knee landed on the ground.

"O-Ouch,'' I almost teared up because it hurts, "I-I can't do it," I pleaded, but Calyx just looked at me while shaking his head.

"Stop complaining, don't think about it, and let your strength help you," he suggested while glaring at me.

"Complaining won't get you anywhere," he stopped like he noticed something weird, "You complain so much here when you're having a hard time and you also always have a hard time inside that University," he claimed.

"So why aren't you complaining like that inside of our classroom?” he added, so I stopped for a moment before biting my lips.

“And also, stop biting your lips, you don’t look attractive when you do that,”  he coldly said, so I furrowed my eyebrows at him. What the heck does he mean about that? What a freaking weird statement!

“What do you mean? I’m not doing this on purpose and most especially, I’m not trying to seduce a cold being like you,” I fumed while shaking my head. 

Sometimes, you won’t really know how to deal with this guy, he’s just a real piece of work that you won’t understand what’s going on inside of his mind.

I tried standing up again and jumping to reach that rope he tied up on the tree, I can’t reach this.

“You still haven’t answered me yet,” he stated a fact, so I just sighed before scratching the back of my head.

“I-I don’t know, some part of me agrees with them of me lacking skills despite my knowledge, but sometimes they’re stepping way out of the line,” I sighed.

“So you’re just going to let them do it? That’s not a smart thing to do,” he claimed, so I just glared at him.

“What do you know about me?” I firmly asked, trying to control my emotions. He says things that I find so unpleasant.

“Nothing much, but I just know that you don’t like this and you just keep it inside you, it’ll destroy you,” he sounded like he was threatening me, but I know that he’s just scolding me.

I gripped my hands because I hate it, I hate how he can see me that easily even if I tried so hard to hide it.

“If I were you, I’ll get stronger, so that one day, I’ll smack my strength and knowledge right in front of their faces, it’ll be the greatest revenge you can give,” he stated before leaving to look for something inside of the enchanted forest.

I just sighed before staring at the rope right above me, he’s right. I have to get stronger, not for them, but myself.

To be continued...