Chapter 28: Chapter Twenty-Eight: Intuition

“Akira!” Wolfric called out as they walked through the forest.

“You won’t find her that way,” a small voice said.

“Did you kill the Arachne?” another small voice asked.

“Who’s there?” Malique demanded as he turned in a circle.

Two Trolls jumped out of the bushes, both wearing leather and a sword on their back.

“Hello,” they said at the same time.

“What do you know of our Havent?” Wolfric asked.

“We saved her from the Arachne,” the female said, placing her hand on her hip. “So, she owed us a favor.”

“You better not have enslaved our Psychi,” Darius said with a growl.

“If she didn’t already belong to someone else, we might have kept her,” the male Troll said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Wolfric growled. “Where is she?”

The Trolls grinned.

“Follow us,” the female said, then turned and ran.

“Try to keep up,” the male said with a huff, then chased after the female.

“Do you think they have her?” Malique asked Wolfric.

Wolfric shrugged. “If they do, let’s hope what they asked of her doesn’t kill her,” he said, then took off after the Trolls.

Malique and Darius followed after Wolfric.

“Either way, we should be careful. Trolls can’t be trusted,” Darius said.

The three Warriors nodded to each other and concentrated on chasing after the Trolls.

~⚔~

“Grandmama, we’re back with the girl’s Warriors!” Stella called out as she entered their home, the Warriors close behind her and her brother.

“Quiet child,” the elder Troll said as she stepped out of her youngest grandchild’s room.

“Did it work?” Fin asked, pushing past his sister.

The elder Troll smiled. “It did.”

The two Warrior Trolls squealed with joy as they ran to their grandmother and hugged her.

Wolfric watched the three Trolls. He still was not sure of what was going on. Do they have Akira or not?

The elder Troll looked up at the three Warriors and whistled. “Lucky Havent,” she whispered. The elder Troll set her grandchildren aside and walked toward the three large men standing in her small living room. “I am Brizell.” She held her hand out to the largest of the three men. She could sense that he was their leader.

“Wolfric,” the Warrior said, shaking her hand.

The elder Troll, Brizell, smiled, then shook the other two’s hands. Malique and Darius. A Direwolf, Upir, and Pegasus. The girl is special indeed to have three Mythical Warriors.

“Where is Akira?” Wolfric asked.

“This way,” Brizell said with a crook of her finger.

The three Warriors started to follow her, and she held up a hand.

“Only one. My home isn’t big enough to handle so many large men.”

Wolfric motioned for his friends to wait for him and followed the elder Troll to a room. They stepped inside, and Wolfric paused when he saw the young Troll lying in bed, Akira on the floor beside it.

“What happened?” Wolfric asked, rushing to his Psychi.

“She did the impossible,” Brizell said with admiration of the young girl. “She healed my youngest grandchild of a disease no one could find a cure for.”

Wolfric sat on the floor, lifted his Psychi into his arms, then kissed her cheek and sighed. ‘She is safe.’

“I think the Arachne took a lot of her blood. She was pretty weak when she arrived. And healing Corien drained her of what little strength she had left. I think she should rest for a few days, replenish her blood and energy.”

Wolfric nodded. “Yes. But we need to be on our way. We still have two Warriors to find.”

Brizell nodded. “Yes. But is your Havent’s health not more important?”

“Of course it is,” Wolfric grumbled.

Brizell smiled. “Then the four of you shall stay here. You can either sleep on the floor of the extra room or upstairs under the trees.”

Wolfric nodded. “Thank you.”

Brizell smiled at the girl. “We owe her everything for saving my grandson.”

Wolfric looked at her. “But didn’t the other two save her first?”

Brizell laughed, “indeed, they did. What she did trumps what my grandchildren did. The girl would have been saved by her Warriors if Fin and Stella had left her in the web. They saved her for selfish reasons. They had seen her heal herself without using her hands. They wanted her to owe them a favor, so she could try her healing magic on their little brother.

“But what your Havent did was pure and unselfish. She could have said she was too weak or asked for a chore to do to repay them. We now owe her our service for life.”

Wolfric blinked. Was she serious? He has never heard of a Troll owing anyone anything. But then again, he did not know much about Trolls.

Brizell smiled, seeing the Warrior was shocked and confused. “Rest,” she said, then left the room.

Wolfric leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He pulled Akira closer to his chest and let himself relax, then fell into a deep sleep.

~⚔~

“How is she?” Malique asked of the elder Troll when she returned to the living room.

“She is currently resting in the arms of her mate,” Brizell said.

They watched her walk over to the stone fireplace and kick one of the logs. The fire blazed higher, and she turned back to them.

“You two can sleep on the floor in the extra room or upstairs under the stars,” she said, then headed for the kitchen.

“Did she say, mate?” Darius whispered to Malique.

Malique nodded. “We always knew.”

“But how does she know?”

“I can hear you,” the elder Troll said as she returned from the kitchen with a pot. “And I can sense these things.”

“But she hasn’t even found all five of her Warriors yet,” Darius said as he watched the elder Troll place a pot over the fire.

“That girl is special. I can see the connection between her and the wolf,” she said, then kicked the pot.

Malique stared at the strange Troll.

“Food will be ready shortly. I hope you don’t mind sharing your meal with Trolls,” the elder Troll said, then returned to the kitchen.

“Something is up with that Troll,” Darius whispered.

Malique nodded. He agreed, but he did not want to piss the woman off. She seemed to be more than meets the eye.

~⚔~

Wolfric woke with a start and looked down at Akira, who was still sound asleep in his arms. He sighed as he watched her sleep. She is so beautiful. How was he so lucky to get such a Havent as her?

“Wolfric?”

Wolfric looked up as the door opened and smiled at Malique.

“How is she?” Malique asked.

Wolfric nodded, and Malique walked into the room.

“I thought I could give you a break,” Malique said, walking over to his friend and their Psychi.

“Yeah, my body is starting to stiffen,” Wolfric said, handing Akira over to Malique.

Malique sat against the wall with their Havent in his arms. Happy to be holding her.

“Get you something to eat,” Malique said without looking up from Akira.

Wolfric nodded and left the room.

When Brizell saw the wolf walk into the living room, she walked down the hall and opened the door to her grandson’s room. The Vampire sat against the wall with the girl in his arms. What she saw made her take a step back and close the door. Shit, things are getting stranger and stranger.

Brizell walked to her granddaughter’s room and knocked on the door.

“Come in, Grandmama.”

Brizell entered Stella’s room and closed the door. “We need to talk.”

Stella looked at her grandmother. “What’s bothering you?” she asked, watching the older Troll.

“Not bothering me, but I want you to keep an eye on the girl.”

Stella’s eyebrow raised. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing to worry about,” Brizell said with a smile. “We owe that girl a lot for saving your brother. I want you and Fin to help them find their other Warriors.”

“Okay,” Stella said with a nod, “if they will allow us to tag along.”

“Don’t ask, just go,” Brizell said, then left the room.

~⚔~

Malique opened his eyes when he felt movement against his chest. He looked down and found himself staring into beautiful amber eyes. He smiled and brushed his knuckles across her cheek.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

Akira cuddled closer to her Warrior. “Exhausted,” she mumbled against his chest.

Malique smiled as he held Akira close. “I would expect so after everything you’ve been through.”

Memories swamped Akira, and she moved away from his chest and looked at the bed. She smiled when she saw the green rather than blue skin of the young Troll.

“It worked,” she whispered.

Malique smiled and pulled her against his chest. “It did. And you need to rest more.”

She sighed as she cuddled against him. “I’m hungry,” she whispered.

They chuckled when her stomach growled.

“Okay, we’ll get you some food, then you’re going back to sleep.”

She nodded in agreement, and he stood with her in his arms.

“I can walk,” she mumbled.

Malique chuckled. “Let me have this moment,” he said, looking into her eyes. “We almost lost you.”

She smirked. “You will never lose me.”

He snorted as he walked to the door.

They found the others in the kitchen. As soon as they were spotted, Wolfric and Darius were at their sides, looking Akira over, making sure there was no lasting damage to their Psychi. Akira giggled as she tried to push their hands away, to no avail.

Wolfric took Akira from Darius and walked to the table. He sat on the floor and held a cup of herbal tea to her lips. She looked up at him and took a sip.

It was sweet like honey, and she could feel the effects as her body relaxed.

“It’s made from a special root you can only find here,” The elder Troll said as she watched Akira sip the hot tea. “It has minor medicines, but nothing like you,” she said with a smile.

Akira smiled at the elder Troll and took another sip.

“We’ll be staying here for a few days so you can rest,” Malique said.

Akira watched her Vampire Warrior sit on the floor and pick up the small bowl of soup the elder Troll placed in front of him.

The Warriors were so big they feared breaking the Troll’s small chairs.

“But we need to find my other Warriors,” Akira whispered.

“There is no time limit on that,” Darius said.

They watched Akira with Wolfric as the wolf held a piece of bread in front of her mouth.

Darius chuckled when Akira glared at Wolfric, then took a bite of the bread. Their Havent was not keen on being pampered.

They finished eating, and Wolfric carried Akira to the extra room Brizell had offered them and laid her on the bed. She barely fit on the bed, which shows how small she was.

Wolfric stood back and watched Akira, her eyes were drooping, and it did not take long for her to fall asleep.

“She’s still exhausted,” Malique said as he entered the room.

Wolfric nodded without looking at his friend.

“I guess we’re sleeping on the floor?” Darius asked as he pushed past Malique and walked over to the bed.

“I’m not leaving her,” Wolfric said as he sat on the floor beside the bed.

“How is she so small?” Malique asked as he sat on the floor at the foot of the bed.

“Was her mother small?” Darius asked, sitting behind Wolfric.

Wolfric shook his head. “No. Actually, she was tall like their ancestor, Brynhildr.”

“Maybe it’s from her father’s side,” Darius wondered.

Wolfric thought of Apollo and how big he is for a human, then remembered that the asshole is not Akira’s father. What will the man do to their Havent when he finds out Akira is not his? They will not allow him near her.

EVER.

“Did the Gods tell you who her father is?” Malique asked, looking at Darius.

Darius shook his head. “Just that he is Zeus’s great-nephew, and his parents are both demigods. His mother was not born a demigod; she came into her powers and position after she met her husband. They would not tell me much. Just that we must protect her.”

Wolfric and Malique nodded.

“With my life,” Wolfric said, taking hold of Akira’s hand and kissing her knuckles.

“With my life,” Malique and Darius said at the same time.