Chapter 20 #3
Words were exchanged, but I’d become a more basic creature, and language was passing right through my head.
There was a promise of a fight, and I couldn’t take my lusty gaze off the wooden staffs.
Every fiber corded through my body was vibrating with the will to move, and a sparring match was a more delicious relief than sunlight after three days in a cave.
It wasn’t a fair fight — but when were they ever?
Still, the experience was a pleasure compared to that ordeal of the first trial.
Sarah Jane and Carolina, both Blessed and experienced Hunters, wielded their wooden staffs against me, and I dodged every blow I could, making a game of it.
After weeks of training with Fenton, I wasn’t deterred by going up against stronger opponents, and I’d learned a few dirty tricks from him that the Hunters would never think to teach.
I could use their proper posture and footwork against them.
Of course, the moment I disarmed Carolina with a sucker punch and turned her staff back on her, I earned a sharp bark of disapproval as opposed to praise. What else was new?
Behind me, the still mountain air ripped apart, and though I’d begun to duck, a thick rod of wood met the back of my head.
I rolled to my left into a crouch, but Sarah Jane was positioned over me before I was reoriented, thrusting the tip of her staff an inch or two from my face.
Josephine, the attacker responsible for the growing lump of pain on my skull, leaned on her staff and looked down her nose at me.
If she was expecting an angry outburst, she didn’t get it.
Dead, Fenton said smugly in my own head. Like every time it happened in his training room, I got back to my feet. I tossed the staff back to Carolina and angled my body to keep all three armed mothers within the range of my vision.
The onslaught of hits from three Hunters became more of an exercise in staying on my feet through pain.
Even with my tricks and rule-breaking, even with my recent rush of experience in near-nightly vampire hunting, I was strictly in defense mode, burning energy while I danced across the even grass.
The mothers were not holding back, either.
I couldn’t get a single hit in, much less disarm any of them without opening myself up to another’s quick thwacks.
I was the training dummy again, just like that young Hunter sister I’d accidentally seen, just like I’d been as a child.
Anger surged, fueled by the burn of unfairness.
If there was nothing I could do to stop it, I’d let them stop each other.
I met Josephine’s eyes, flung my hand out to make her think I was grabbing her weapon, then twisted my arm away from Sarah Jane’s protective slap aimed at my wrist. I grabbed her exposed staff and gave it a pull towards Jo, sending Sarah Jane’s momentum forward just enough so that she stumbled and hit my mother instead.
The satisfying cracks of wood colliding with wood as the three women’s weapons tangled between them was my only victory.
None of the mothers looked particularly happy, but there was no way they could deny that I’d danced my way through that trial.
I could fight, even facing stronger opponents, even against the odds.
I smugly suspected they reset and made me continue the drills even longer to regain their own proud control than for any need to test me further, but I was happy to try out my upgraded body.
My new powers were snapping into place with practice, and it felt good to drain off the excess energy.
My clothes were soaked through with sweat by the end of it, and as much as I wanted to collapse on my back into the grass and stare at the impressionist painting of the night sky in its fullest glory with no light pollution and with my stronger set of eyes, I didn’t allow myself the show of weakness.
Sarah Jane and Cora’s whispers carried, labeling me with the same condemnation — Diana’s daughter.
It was never a compliment. The dramatic roll of my eyes could have rivaled Amanda’s.
“Humility and restraint are equally important as strength and cunning, Fallon,” Jo said, revealing that she’d been observing me.
“Of course, Mother.”
Her gaze lingered, searching me for insincerity. I’d become skilled at hiding parts of myself, so she couldn’t detect the bitterness. I was a stone statue staring back at her until Cora interrupted.
“Come. You’ve earned your next Blessing.”
“I was hoping I’d earned a shower.” My lighthearted quip was ignored.
Another Blessing already? I’d barely been able to bask in the afterglow of showing off my fighting skills. I wasn’t sure my exhausted body could take more so soon. Nobody said these trials were meant to be easy, though.
Back to the shed, back to the chair, back to the navy circle that was my focus point. I peeled my sweaty t-shirt from where it stuck to my skin, but there was no chance of getting comfortable. The fabric only clung to me again when I let go.
“What is it now?” I asked.
“Shh, shh. Concentrate. Just focus. Open your mind and relax.”
I loosened my shoulders and rested my hands in my lap, letting the shed wall fill my vision. I was relaxed until she spoke again.
“This one will hurt.”