The Bloodwood Curse: An Epic Fantasy Adventure of Swords, Magic and Romance. (The Rosethorn Chronicles Book 1)

by Peter Summersby

  The door to the room opened and Taya came in bringing a water pitcher and a couple of cups. Taya set them down on the table and sat on the floor to watch. She was dressed again in her thread bare tunic.

  Aquillia attacked Akuchi in a classic water strike. Akuchi defended in a stone defensive posture and counterattacked with an air attack. Aquillia blocked with rock defence and side stepped in a classic water move. Akuchi followed the attack with a fire attack. Aquilla darted back in a wind move and they took their positions again.

  Akuchi took rock stance and waited for Aquillia to move forward. Aquillia attacked in wind stance and then shifted in water rolling around Akuchi’s defence. Akuchi moved forward with a water move and turned to face Aquillia again.

  “What happened?” Aquillia breathed. “You fought with more imagination last time.”

  “I got nicked in the fight with a troll leader.” Akuchi indicated the scar on his arm.

  “So, you are going to only defend?” Aquillia taunted.

  “I am not going to risk getting hit again.”

  “Come on. Attack me,” Aquillia demanded.

  Akuchi looked at Aquillia. She was standing with her sword at the ready, held to one side in typical water stance. His gaze travelled over her body. She was limber and strong. Her muscles were taunt, her nipples erect, and her brow furrowed in concern.

  Akuchi shifted his feet, swept his blade in a wide arc and raised it above his head.

  Taya leaned forward from her position on the floor and Aquillia’s eyes widened in surprise.

  Akuchi’s blade was held now above his head with both arms, leaving his body exposed.

  Aquillia looked at him in disbelief. His muscles were taut and poised. She swept her eyes over his body. The leather strap that held his scabbard was draped over his chest. His trousers were taunt over his legs.

  Taya watched Akuchi her brows furrowed.

  Aquillia eyed the falchion held aloft, unsure of how to attack him.

  Akuchi waited, sweat beaded on his forehead.

  Aquillia stepped forward and attacked. Her rock attack aimed low at Akuchi’s exposed chest.

  Akuchi brought the sword down. Aquillia saw it coming and she twirled her blade to intercept. As the sword came down, the force of the impact brought her to her knees.

  Aquillia had blocked the strike at the last second and the swords impacted only millimetres from her face.

  Akuchi lifted the blade and stepped back. Taya rushed forward and went straight to Aquillia. Akuchi sat, drawing his sword across his lap.

  “What was that?” Taya demanded, as she helped Aquillia up.

  “I am not sure exactly,” explained Akuchi, looking down at his sword,

  “It was surely effective,” Aquillia muttered, sitting cross-legged in front of Akuchi.

  “Where did you learn it?” Taya asked sitting down with them.

  “I didn’t learn it from anyone.” Akuchi lifted his head to look the two women, “I used it on the troll leader, Xukundi.”

  “Did it work on him?” Aquillia asked.

  “Wait,” interrupted Taya. “Since when did trolls have names?”

  “It stands to reason. They have some sort of structure; they are able to construct some form of siege weapons and are able to make weapons.”

  “Well,” muttered Taya. “I’ll be.”

  “Go on, Akuchi,” Aquillia prompted.

  Akuchi tore his eyes from Taya.

  “The troll I fought was at least a good thirty centimetres taller than me, so I needed the height to defeat him.”

  “That is one tall troll,” said Aquillia.

  “They are normally about our height,” agreed Taya. “So, you thought that if you had your sword up high you could overcome his reach?”

  “Exactly, we both used a shorter version of the falchion,” Akuchi said, “He was taller and heavier than I, so I had to do something that would overcome them.”

  “Hence the unusual fighting style.”

  “How unusual is it?” Aquillia asked turning to Taya.

  “The trolls have names?” Taya exclaimed. “I always thought they were dumb animals.”

  “If they were dumb animals, then a fortress here would not be needed, but a slaughter yard,” quipped Akuchi.

  “Don’t you remember the histories?” asked Aquillia, “The trolls used to control the whole continent, until we came along and pushed them out.”

  The door crashed open and all three turned to see a man wearing brown trousers burst through the door. All of them turned to see who had come in.

  “What is it, Tadala?” Taya asked.

  “A sail has been sighted on the horizon,” Tadala informed excitedly.

  Taya didn’t hesitate. She arose from her position and barrelled out the door, doing so flashed her bare bottom at Akuchi, and Aquillia. When she had left, Aquillia laughed as Akuchi went bright red.

  “I didn’t expect her to be nude under her tunic,” Akuchi defended.

  Akuchi arose from his sitting place, holding his falchion in one hand.

  “Help me up, Akuchi,” Aquillia demanded.

  Chapter 16 Confessions

  That evening Akuchi and Aquillia headed back to his barracks. It was alive with activity. Several people filled the room, including Mayu and Nurarfed. The soldiers in the barracks were in various states of dress, some naked, other wearing some form of night gowns. In the middle of the room Mayu. The room buzzed with activity. People were talking in small groups and others were sitting on their bed listening to the conversations. In one corner a couple under a blanket giggled and panted as they made love.

  Akuchi walked in with Aquillia in tow. He walked up to his bed and noticed that the bed on one side of his was empty.

  “You can put your things in here.” Akuchi pointed to the empty trunk.

  “Thanks.” Aquillia smiled and placed her weapon into the trunk.

  Akuchi placed his falchion into his trunk and then divested himself of his trousers. Then he walked over to where Mayu stood. There are so many people here; I hope I don’t embarrass myself.

  Aquillia removed her skirt slipped it into her trunk and followed Akuchi.

  As Akuchi approached, Mayu turned and greeted him. “Akuchi, have you met everyone in the barracks?”

  “No,” replied Akuchi. “I have been kept very busy, since I arrived.”

  “This is Lyuba Timko, and Borka Janda.” Mayu indicated to the two women standing with her.

  “Nice to meet you,” Akuchi greeted, as Aquillia wandered over. “This is Aquillia Fidelis.”

  Lyuba was muscularly plump; her hair was a dark black and was tied by a band at her back. While larger than normal, her body didn’t have any fat on it. Instead her body rippled with muscle.

  Borka was the opposite of thin to the point of being gaunt. Every bone was visible and her hair was cut close around her ears. She looked fit but her muscles her thin on her frame also without any fat on her body.

  “Akuchi, Aquillia, Lyuba, Borka, and Nurarfed, I want you to join me on a scouting mission,” Mayu explained.

  “Sweet, it has been a while since I have left the Fort,” Lyuba exulted.

  “Is it wise to take fresh recruits on a scouting mission?” Akuchi asked.

  “Nurarfed, is more skilled at fighting than I,” explained Mayu, “and Aquillia being an elf is most likely a better fighter than you.”

  “He actually held himself up better than I expected,” commented Aquillia.

  Lyuba, Borka and Mayu all chuckled at this as Akuchi stared at Aquillia with a shocked expression on his face.

  The conversation moved on. Akuchi didn’t hear much as he processed this news. He had come freshly minted from the army but Aquillia was very experienced. She did mention that she was three hundred years old. A wash of embarrassment swept over him as he considered the sex he had had with Aquillia not a couple of hours ago. If she was that old surely, she had made love before…

  “I think I will go to
sleep now,” Akuchi excused himself. A round of good nights was returned to him from the people standing in the circle. He walked over to his bunk and climbed inside, and he watched the circle of people that he had just left. They all seem so confident, so comfortable. Aquillia seems so at ease in the nude, not at all like someone who had never had sex before.

  As the sun set and the room grew darker other soldiers started to go to bed. As those that were awake shrank the noise level dropped.

  ***

  Aquillia was the last to go to sleep. The dwarf, Nurarfed had not propositioned her tonight which had been a nice change. Aquillia folded her legs and sat cross-legged on the bed, and watched the soldiers fall asleep. She contemplated Nurarfed and Akuchi. They were so different; it was hard to work out which she liked. Nurarfed was also long-lived like she was; he was also very crude he hadn’t taken his eyes off her breasts while talking to her in the group. Admittedly he did have this exciting aura of desire pulsating around him, which drew her to him. Akuchi was short lived but his body was so well sculpted that she went weak at the knees around him. After the revelation that she was a better fighter he hadn’t quite recovered, all being said Akuchi was the gentler soul.

  She reached across the space between her bed and his and gently stroked his face. His skin was rough under her delicate touch. The sensation sent ripples of anticipation down her arm.

  Akuchi’s eyes opened at the touch and saw Aquillia pull her hand away from his face.

  “Do you want something?” Akuchi whispered.

  “Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” Aquillia whispered back.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured. “Are you really over three hundred years old?”

  “Yes. My people don’t consider me an adult till I was three hundred.”

  “Was today…” Akuchi sought for the right words. “Your first time?”

  “What we did during practice?”

  “Yeah, having sex or making love.”

  “Yes, it was.” She looked down her cheeks, reddening at the memory.

  “But you’re three hundred years old, isn’t that hard?” he followed up.

  “My people live a lot longer than yours do. Until I return I am not considered of age.”

  “Do you age slowly or at the same speed we do?” Akuchi asked propping himself up on his elbow.

  “I am not sure what you mean.” Aquillia’s brow furrowed.

  “Well for us we can have sex, at about fifteen years old,” Akuchi explained.

  “Oh,” said Aquillia. “In that respect, we are much the same.”

  “So how come you hadn’t had sex till today?”

  “While at home before our three hundredth birthday our skin is blue. When we leave it is painted green and when we return it is washed off altogether,” she explained. “The paint doesn’t come off with water, but with a special tree sap. Elves with coloured skin are considered unattractive by other elves, and since we don’t leave till we are three hundred we don’t encounter anyone willing to make love to us till then.”

  “Wow,” exclaimed Akuchi. “That sounds elaborate.”

  “It is. Every so often a couple of young elves will overcome the restrictions and have sex.”

  “What happens to them?” Akuchi asked.

  “They are cast out of the community and never heard from again,” Aquillia answered eyes down cast.

  “Did you know someone that was cast out?”

  “Yes,” Aquillia said. Moisture gathered at the edge of her eyes. “He was my big brother and his mate. They were cast out three years ago. I hope to find them one day.”

  “Have you learnt anything?”

  Aquillia shook her head and climbed under the sheets. She and faced away from Akuchi before falling asleep.

  Akuchi looked at the green-skinned elf in front of him and whispered, “I hope you find them.” He then lay back down and closed his eyes.

  “I hope so too,” murmured Aquillia into the darkness.

  ***

  Akuchi, Mayu, Aquillia, Nurarfed, Lyuba and Borka gathered in the muster yard at dawn. They mounted up and Mayu took the lead on her horse. The gates opened and they left the fort. As they crossed the grasslands, Mayu led with Nurarfed half a length behind her. In the middle, Lyuba and Borka rode side by side and Aquillia and Akuchi took the rear. The day waxed and waned without much talk. Until at night fall they came upon a small gathering of trolls.

  Four trolls marched two by two each with long pikes in hand and scimitars in hand. Mayu called a halt to the horses and Akuchi came up beside her.

  “Dismount,” Mayu called out.

  They all dismounted, holding the horse’s reins.

  “Akuchi, tend to the horses,” Mayu barked.

  The order surprised Akuchi as he took the reins from the other members of the scout force. He took out a stake from a saddle bag and rammed it into the ground. He then tied three horses to the stake.

  Aquillia did the same with the other three horses. Completed they approached the remaining soldiers as Mayu gave orders.

  “Lyuba and Borka will flank the trolls.”

  Aquillia and Akuchi drew their swords as the others did. Mayu and Nurarfed moved off in opposite directions keeping low under the grass line.

  “Lyuba, what is the plan?” Aquillia asked.

  “We attack now,” answered Borka, as they both charged at the four trolls.

  Aquillia and Akuchi followed after them. The trolls formed a line and lowered their spears as Lyuba and Borka came crashing out of the grass and onto the clear round that made up the troll’s camp.

  Lyuba and Borka stopped outside of the spears’ reach as Akuchi and Aquillia burst out of the grass. Aquillia side stepped the spear pointing at her and twirled her blade past the spear. She brought it down taking, the spear head off in one clean movement. Akuchi followed her lead and cut off the spear head on the other side. Aquillia stepped forward and charged up to the troll at the far end of the line. The troll dropped his broken spear shaft and drew his sword. He raised it to block Aquillia’s downward stroke. Akuchi also charged the troll on the opposite side. The troll dropped his spear shaft, drew, and raised his sword to block as Akuchi brought down his falchion. Mayu and Nurarfed charged out of the grass and thrust with their swords, impaling the two trolls blocking Akuchi and Aquillia. As the bodies crumpled to the ground, Akuchi and Aquillia turned and skewered the last two trolls.

  With the trolls dead Mayu glared at Akuchi. “Why did you do that? That wasn’t part of the plan”

  “Maybe if you informed us of the plan,” Aquillia responded in a smooth calm voice, “we would have known what to do.”

  “I didn’t tell you the plan because I wanted you to stay by the horses!” yelled Mayu.

  A loud horn echoed across the plain. Mayu turned to face the source of the noise and her face went pale.

  “Get back to the horses,” she ordered as she started running through the grass.

  They all raced after her and untied the horses from the stake in the ground and mounted up, before bolting away from the second horn bellow.

  A loud cry echoed and the sound of many running feet caused the ground to rumble. The sound increased as several drums sounded a driving pace following them. On the back of his horse, Akuchi looked over his shoulder and spied a large host of trolls running after them.

  Their shadows lengthened as they raced back to the fort at full gallop. The trolls kept pace with them, growling and snarling at their heels through the day.

  With dusk the fort came into view, the gates swung open and they raced through, once they were all through, Mayu called, “Shut the gates. The trolls are upon us.”

  The soldiers at the gate reversed the crank and with a small sound of grinding closed the gates. The trolls came up to the gate and beat on the gates in frustration. A soldier standing in the gatehouse opened a hatch in the floor and dropped a large rock on the troll’s heads killing a couple of them before the rest pulled back to a safe distan
ce.

  Oghenekaro emerged from his command tent and took Mayu’s reins. “What happened Sergeant?”

  “We encountered a small squad of trolls,” Mayu informed as she dismounted.

  “They were, pike trolls,” Aquillia said as she dismounted.

  “I instructed Lyuba and Borka to run at the trolls and stop short, creating a distraction,” continued Mayu, “but Akuchi and Aquillia attacked with them and destroyed the plan.”

  “We killed the trolls, how is that a failure?” Akuchi asked.

  “We needed one alive,” Mayu growled, turning on Akuchi. She rested gloved hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

  “Which we would have known if had informed us of the plan,” Aquillia defended.

  “Enough,” Oghenekaro commanded, “Mayu come with me. The rest of you stable the horses then sentry duty on the wall.”

  Mayu turned and left with Oghenekaro. The rest of the team led their horses into the stables.

  “What did you do to piss her off?” Nurarfed questioned, walking alongside Akuchi and Aquillia.

  “Did she tell you about wanting to capture a troll of interrogation?” asked Aquillia.

  “No, she didn’t.” They walked over to the stables in quiet, Akuchi’s mind awhirl. What have I done to incur Mayu’s wrath? She has barely spoken to me in a month and now she is mad as a summer storm. She didn’t tell anyone about the plan to capture a troll. Though I am not sure it would have been successful without us all knowing about it.

  ***

  Aquillia watched as Akuchi left heading back to the barracks. She followed him watching him think. She is mad at Akuchi and not me, maybe she is blaming Akuchi for something? Does she know that we made love during training? She was asleep when we mentioned it, well at least think she was. Maybe she found out and blames him for it, but why not me? I was the aggressor, I wanted to make love that time, even though I didn’t know what it was. If Akuchi and Mayu were an item, that would explain her reaction. She could think that Akuchi has cheated on her, and she doesn’t blame me because she knows that I am inexperienced. If that is the case, then I need to ease up on him, I need to find someone to make love with again because I really want to do it again, it’s like an ache in my crotch.