Chapter 5 - Mysteries of the opposite sex

The girl was frozen in her crouch, until she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and said, "What, did I hurt your feelings?"

Valor's chest rose and fell heavily, the anger swelling in his chest threatening to burst. "What exactly did I do to piss you off?" he said.

He didn't dare move, his arms were extended, holding his two swords in front of his body in a crossed formation. He tried to probe her with his galden, to see just exactly how dangerous she really was. To his surprise a sensed a faint signal of galden, not from her, but from the Téad léim.

The girl slowly rose out of her crouch, with a flick of her wrist the Téad léim snapped up to rest neatly across her shoulder. "You're in the wrong business if you're looking for friendship and good manners."

Valor let himself relax and sheathed both his swords; his recent anger now felt misplaced due to the girl's sudden calmness. Attempting to smother the anger that burned in his throat, he managed to choke out "Don't flatter yourself."

Valor's biting remark made the girl pause for a second, she gave Valor a smirk and dropped her hostility, Valor noted a new form of thoughtfulness in her gaze as she looked him up and down, "then good, I'd rather not have to kill any friend's tomorrow."

Valor shook his head in annoyance and confusion at how their interaction changed pace so rapidly. He turned to leave and felt his anger dissipate as he started to walk near the stone railing. "Last time I talk to a girl, sheesh", He thought to himself.

Valor climbed over the stone railing and headed towards the exit, this time he paid no attention to the intriguing figure in the sand pit.

"My name's Ameera by the way!" A voice called out to him.

Valor turned away to see Ameera leaning up against the stone rail closest to the exit, the sweat from the humidity was making her shirt stick to her skin. "What's your name?" Ameera inquired.

Valor gave his head a quick shake, "Uh, Valor?"

"Word of advice Valor don't expect kindness from anybody, regardless of where you are. It will only get you killed." Ameera said.

With a quick nod Ameera gave the railing a smack and turned around to face the open training ring. She grabbed one end of her Téid léim and rose her arm to begin her training.

Valor stood for a second in silence, soaking in her advice before he called out and said, "Well I'll see you tomorrow then."

The Téid léim whipped through the air with a loud crack that echoed off the cave walls, looking closer Valor could see the glint of sharp metal protruding out of the opposite end of the heavy rope. Ameera wiped sweat from her forehead and did not bother to turn around to face him.

"No, hopefully you don't," She called out.

Valor walked through the dimly lit tunnels wondering where his friend wandered off to. He was still trying to wrap his mind around his interaction with Ameera, and the roller coaster of emotions that he had experienced. The intrigue, the confusion, the anger, and then back to confusion. Valor let out a sigh, "girls are so confusing, I don't remember it being that bad". He thought aloud.

The last time Valor saw a girl was five years prior, when he travelled with his dad twenty-two miles to the nearest marketplace. The desert drought was going on longer than expected and the well was dangerously low on the water. The girl who greeted them at the marketplace had been cute and she seemed to find Valor's jokes and remarks funny. Valor reminisced on those days fondly as he wandered aimlessly through the caves, lost in his own thoughts.

"Valor" A familiar voice boomed in his head.

"Diargo! Where are you?" Valor responded.

He stopped in the tunnel and closed his eyes to focus on Diargo's galden that he could now feel pulsing through the cave.

"Oh, you got to get over here, it's amazing" Diargo's said in a tone filled with lazy pleasure.

Valor opened his eyes and started to trot down the tunnel, traveling in the direction of the galden. "Well, I'm trying to find you; these tunnels are so confusing."

Valor stopped as he reached an intersection of caves, he closed his eyes once more and then chose the right most tunnel. After another five minutes of following Diargo's galden trail, he finally reached the end of the tunnel that he was travelling in. The tunnel opened into a massive cavern, three times the size of the training room. This cavern had lights situated in the ceiling and in the walls, though these lights were covered by a translucent red shell, bathing the massive cavern in a red glow. Valor scanned the room, before finally realizing the black stone floor wasn't a floor at all. The cavern was filled with black water that stretched from either end. He knelt down to feel the black water and realized with glee that it was hot to the touch.

"No way… this stadium has hot springs?!" Valor said aloud, his voice echoing across the black water that was as still as glass.

Valor quickly ripped off his shirt and the rest of his clothes until he realized that his friend was still nowhere to be seen. Valor closed his eyes once more to try and find Diargo. A split-second later Valor's eyes snapped open from the galden pulse that threatened to overwhelm his senses. Before Valor could scramble away from the edge of the water, a giant arm shot out of the water locked onto Valor's leg. With a scream of terror he found himself thrown into the air, crashing far into the middle of the hot spring.

A few seconds later, Valor's head broke the surface and he spit out warm water, "DIARGO!"

Diargo's massive head rose out of the water, and he snorted out water from his nose, a deep rumbling could be heard from his chest as he laughed.

"That's not funny," Valor slapped his hand into the water, trying to splash Diargo in the face.

"It was pretty funny; you should have heard your scream! I've never heard you make a noise like that.". Diargo said, not bothering to hide laughter that shook his whole body.

Valor submerged his head underwater, trying to escape Diargo's laughter and hide his embarrassment. Finding peace under the hot water, Valor closed his eyes and let the heat soak into his sore muscles.

"You can't escape me, I'm in your head" Diargo's voice invaded Valor's mind once more.

Valor chose to ignore his friend and swam up to the surface, he took a breath and then made his way for the rocky shore. "How did you find this place, it's amazing."

Diargo massive body rose powerfully out of the water. The monkey pulled himself up onto the shore and laid back on the dry ground.

"While you were busy training, I had the pleasure of finding this place, I've been here this whole time."

Valor sighed and lied down beside his friend, the two of them basked in the red glow of lights. "I wasn't training, I met someone."

Diargo raised his wet head from the floor and looked at valor with mild interest. You met someone? What does that mean."

Valor turned his head to look at his friend, not lifting it from floor. "Another rider… a girl."

Diargo raised his eyes, remembering the last time Valor met a girl, the kid was head over heels for a straight month. "Okay and?"

Valor sighed, "well she said I ride like dogshit and that she was going to kill me tomorrow."

Diargo let out a loud snort, "So she's ignorant prey."

"And then she told me her name and she smiled, like in a good way."

"Wait what."

Valor threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, "Yeah I don't really get it either."

Diargo was about to insult her further when he noticed something that made him inwardly grin. "You like her!"

Valor looked at Diargo in horror, "No I don't! I was about to cut her to pieces; I don't like her… ew."

Diargo raised his eyebrows unimpressed at Valor's childish remark, "ew? What are you five years old, I can sense your heartbeat quicken just at this conversation." Diargo paused before continuing. "What were her pheromones like?"

Valor scrambled to his feet and shoved a finger in Diargo's face, "my pulse is faster cause I'm pissed at her! And I'm sorry, her pheromones? I don't sniff people."

Diargo gave Valor a knowing look, "I guess we'll find out tomorrow when we see her again, you know… when I'm around and I can sense everything that happens in your body and brain".

Valor looked at him horrified and then shook his head, "We have more important things to worry about right now, so let's go over our strategy again."

Diargo grunted in agreement and climbed to his feet. He put a heavy hand on Valor's head and then started to walk down the tunnel. It was fun to tease him, but he liked talking about racing more. The two of them talked about their strategy for hours as they walked through the tunnels. Eventually they exhausted all strategy options, and for a while they walked in silence contemplating the race tomorrow.

Finally, it was Valor who broke the silence, "Yeah she had pretty nice pheromones."

Diargo bared his fangs in a fearsome smile and barked out a laugh, "I knew it!"

The two of them laughed together until they reached their rooms, and within minutes they were both fast asleep.