13
Warrick was distinctly less forgiving of an instructor than Isaac. The first few days of blade training left me unable to walk, my muscles sorer than I had ever imagined possible.
I limped home and spent my nights soaking my sore and battered muscles in a hot bath before falling into bed. Liss woke me each morning, and each morning I pulled the covers tighter, dreading the inevitable.
I knew I had to train hard, to learn to wield a blade and to protect myself, but I was tired. I was covered in cuts and bruises in various stages of healing.
Each time Liss applied a healing skin spell, I would return to the safe house with more bumps and bruises.
Tess was taking to the sword training as a fish took to water. Being naturally athletic, she was a natural. But I had to admit…my aim was better. Stormslayer was a light blade, and it felt natural in my hand. Each time I bested Warrick, pushing him back, I could see Nik smirk out of the corner of my eye.
Today Nik and Puck joined in the sparring, and we broke off in pairs. Liss was an unparalleled swordswoman, and I couldn’t help but wonder how she was so skilled with a blade having been in the service of Donika as a maid, with no formal training at all. Isaac never joined these training sessions, but he did send Kenna.
Kenna was a scrappy fighter. She was slight and thin, but she was a quick thinker, and like me, she was fast. Saanvi joined us for the first time today, and I found her to be the most challenging opponent yet.
As her Nightshade form would indicate, Saanvi was catlike in her movements. She was always one step ahead, and she certainly had nine lives. She never tired, and she was never bested. I thought she might be going easy on me, despite ending up on my back each and every time.
Warrick had brought mats out to the training field so we hopefully wouldn’t injure ourselves too greatly.
Lot of good that did.
Saanvi whipped out with her leg so fast my feet came right out from underneath me, and I grunted as I hit the mat flat on my back. She was on me before I had time to roll and regain my footing, her blade poised over my heart. I brought my arm up hard, thankful for the leather training cuffs Liss had gifted me, and knocked her arm out of the way. I lifted my hips, rolling her over in one smooth movement.
“Yes, Diana! Use your speed, never stop moving!” Warrick called from the sidelines, clapping his hands together. Tess was whooping and hollering, cheering me on.
Warrick was much younger than I had imagined he would be, only a few years older than me. He had a strong build and was tall, not to mention incredibly handsome. His eyes were a piercing green, and I had found our first few training sessions awfully distracting.
As quickly as I had turned us over, Saanvi snuck out from underneath me and I turned, her foot coming towards my face almost faster than I could get my hands up. I took the brunt of her kick on the leather cuffs, ducking at the impact. I whirled quickly, bringing Stormslayer down in an arc, but she was equally as fast, and blocked my advance easily.
Sparring was similar to dancing, a back and forth between the opponents. It was intuitive, and even when I wasn’t sparring myself, I loved to watch the other matches. There was always something to learn from the other fighters.
I ducked as Saanvi’s closed fist sailed towards me, her arm swinging over my head and missing. We squared off again, pieces of my auburn hair coming loose from my tie and falling into my face. I was dripping with sweat, and while I had started off in a jacket due to the cooler spring weather, I soon found myself in only my tank top and leathers. The thigh strap for Stormslayer was tight against my leg, holding another, smaller, throwing knife.
I also had one stashed in my boot.
I lunged forwards, faking left but moving right, creeping under Saanvi’s arm and hitting her on the back of her shoulder with the blunt end of Stormslayer. She fell to her knees, kicking out with her leg and hitting my legs, dropping me to the mat.
Again.
She was on me before I could think of my next move, her dagger poised to strike. I raised my closed fist and hit the mat hard, twice, tapping out.
Warrick shook his head from the sidelines, but I took his smile as an indication he was happy with my progress.
“Great match, Diana. I think you’ll be able to take me in no time.” Saanvi reached her hand down to help me up, a smile on her face.
I took her hand as she tossed her long black braid over her shoulder, and she pulled me upright. I took a moment to catch my breath, the wind knocked out of me.
Saanvi was my third match of the day.
“I’m not so sure about that. You are a cat, after all.” I laughed, breathless.
She tilted her head in thought. “True, but you’ve made a lot of progress. I was certainly not this skilled after only a few weeks with a blade. It took me much longer to learn.”
“She really wasn’t,” Puck called out from the side of the mat.
Kenna elbowed him in the stomach and he doubled over, whether with laughter or pain I couldn’t quite tell.
“Whose up next?” Warrick asked, stepping forwards to the center of the mat.
I used my tank top to wipe the sweat from my forehead, Tess handing me a much-needed canteen of water.
Nik stepped forwards, a long broadsword strapped across his back.
“Anybody want to take me on?” he asked with a grin. His arrogance had me rolling my eyes at the back of his head. “How about you, Warrick?”
“I don’t want to fight you, Nikolai.”
Warrick crossed his arms over his chest. I had a feeling there was history between the two of them, maybe bad blood. They appeared to hate each other and avoided one another at all costs. There were always jabs or witty quips being exchanged between the two of them.
“You don’t think it’s time we hash it out?” Nik asked, cocking his head to the side, a gleam in his eyes.
He unsheathed the sword in one fluid movement, his stance wide.
“I’m not sure you want to be embarrassed in front of your friends,” Warrick replied, his jaw tight.
“Me? Embarrassed? Never.” Nik grinned at Warrick in challenge, his eyebrow raised.
I had seen Warrick spar with, and best, everyone in our group. Including Liss. But never Nik. He had laid Puck out in under a minute and Puck had complained for days that he was out of practice, and that was the only reason he had lost so easily.
Nik wasn’t going to back down. “Are you afraid, Warrick? Afraid someone might be able to teach the teacher a thing or two?”
Warrick stepped forwards, unsheathing his own sword. We collectively backed towards the edges of the mat, waiting for the match to begin.
“Enjoy the show, ladies,” Kenna murmured with a raised eyebrow and a knowing glint in her eye. She tossed her long black hair over her shoulder with a laugh.
“I’m only going to shut you up once, Kolya.” Warrick’s words dripped with scorn. “Then enough of this.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what had transpired between them, and why they hated each other so much. Warrick had at least a few inches of height on Nik, and while Nik was all lean muscle, Warrick was bulky. Nik had the agility in this fight, but Warrick had the brute strength.
Nik made the first move, his blade moving in a downward arc towards Warrick. He quickly parried, the steel clanking together and sending a shiver running down my spine.
Sparring with a sword was always different from sparring with a dagger. There was something so…primal about it. Nik and Warrick wielded their swords with expertise, and I was surprised to see the supposed sword master of the resistance meet his match in Nik.
As I watched Nik move, I couldn’t help but admire the way he moved, his blond hair slicked back from his face, his tunic riding up to reveal the tattoos on his abdomen. I shook my head, trying to shake those thoughts loose.
Nik had betrayed me…end of story. I couldn’t be thinking about his hair, his tattoos, or anything else. We had a civil dinner together the other night, but I had gone right back to pushing him away, keeping him at a distance.
My head moved back and forth quickly, watching Warrick and Nik move across the mat.
Nik was fast.
By the time Warrick could bring his sword around Nik was already onto the next move, forcing Warrick back further and further.
“Have you had enough yet?” Nik asked through gritted teeth as their swords collided again.
“In your dreams,” Warrick spit out, hitting back hard enough that Nik had to take a step back, his eyes wide.
Nik was always crouched, ready to spring. He was light on his feet, and he moved with his sword as if it weighed nothing. As if it was simply an extension of himself.
He swung quickly, but Warrick managed to duck the blade, hitting Nik with the blunt end of his sword and splitting the skin on his forehead. Blood trickled down, but that didn’t stop him. He spun out of Warrick’s grasp and was almost able to hit him from behind, but Warrick ducked at the last minute, barely missing Nik’s strike.
Nik used his tunic to wipe the blood that dripped down his face, revealing his toned abdomen for only a moment. Tess coughed not-so-quietly beside me, and I shot her a glare that had her shrinking back, but not without a smile on her face.
Warrick had first blood, but it had ignited a fire within Nik. He was moving even faster now, slicing out with such speed Warrick wasn’t able to move out of the way in time. The slash to his thigh dropped him to his knees. Nik knocked the sword from Warrick’s grip and pressed his sword to his throat equally as quickly, skimming the skin light enough to make Warrick wince.
“Do you yield, cousin?” Despite the effort from the fight, Nik’s voice came out smooth, as if he hadn’t even broken a sweat.
Cousin? Is that what this was about…more family drama? When we had spoken about his family the other night in the townhouse, he hadn’t mentioned his cousin being a part of the resistance, let alone the one training me.
“Yield,” Warrick spit out.
He rose to his feet, shoulders hunched. Nik was officially the one to beat, he had yet to lose a sparring match. He grinned as Puck clapped him on the back, and I could all but feel Saanvi and Kenna rolling their eyes next to us. They knew this would feed Nik’s already inflated ego, and they never hesitated to remind him of it.
“Who’s next to face me?” Nik asked, searching our faces.
I wasn’t sure any of us would want to take him on at this point. We had been sparring all day, and we weren’t at our full strength. I didn’t think any of us could beat him, even on a good day.
“How about you, firecracker?” His eyes landed on me, his sword leveled in my direction.
I had yet to spar with Nik, and for good reason. I had been avoiding him ever since our dinner in the townhouse the other night, and I was doing everything in my power to keep my distance from him.
“I’m not sure I want to challenge someone who just beat the teacher,” I pointed out, crossing my arms over my chest. “And besides, I haven’t been training with a sword. I’m playing to my strengths, remember?”
“I can use a dagger just as well,” he replied, sheathing his sword at his back.
He moved to the center of the mat, wiping the blood from his face once more. Puck tossed him a dagger that he caught by the hilt, twisting it around in his hand skillfully.
“What are you so nervous about, firecracker? I’ll go easy on you. Promise.” He met my gaze with a wicked grin, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
I wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk right off his smug face, but I had no hope against him in a sparring match. Even if he did go easy on me.
“I don’t think so,” I replied with a shake of my head.
At the same time, Tess pushed me from behind and I unintentionally stepped forwards onto the mat.
“We have a taker!” Puck announced, clapping his hands together.
I shot him a glare that silenced him immediately. Puck was—without a doubt—scared of me.
All eyes were on me as I reluctantly stepped to the center of the mat across from Nik, rolling my shoulders to loosen them.
“Do you remember what I taught you?” Nik asked with a wink.
“Mother above,” Tess muttered under her breath, running a hand down her face.
I needed to put this jackass in his place.
My anger fueled me, and when Nik made the first move I was ready. Nik was fast, but so was I. He hadn’t been coming to most of my training sessions with Warrick, and he didn’t know my fighting style yet. It made it difficult for him to anticipate my next move.
I ducked his blade several times as he moved forwards, swinging his dagger downward and pushing me back. I rushed him, deftly slipping to my knees and turning, my dagger slicing him in the thigh as I moved past under his arcing blade.
“Well, shit,” he muttered, surprised.
He cracked his neck and re-set his stance across from me. He came at me again, but I had been expecting him to make the first move. I ducked his blade and brought my own forth, almost knocking his out of his hands, but his grip was tight on the hilt.
I spun, but he anticipated it this time and kicked out with his leg, hitting me square in the hip. I winced and jumped back. I was smaller than him, and I needed to use that to my advantage. When I made my next move, I ducked and kicked, throwing him off balance as one of his feet left the ground. I pushed the advantage, knocking him off his feet. He hit the mat on his back and rolled, taking me with him. He was stronger than I was, and he had my arms pinned above my head.
A shock of heat ran through me as his hips pressed against mine, his hands around my wrists, a wicked smile on his lips.
“You know what to do!” Warrick called out from the side of the mat, grabbing my attention.
Warrick and I had gone over how to get out of this hold many times. With a grunt I bucked, my hips coming up and freeing my knee to hit him in the groin. I rolled him over as the breath left him, quickly regaining my footing.
“Maybe I shouldn’t be going easy on you…” Nik coughed, breathless.
He moved forwards again, but he hadn’t regained his composure. I easily knocked his arm away, my blade quickly moving to his throat. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, raising his hands as if in defeat, the dagger still in his grip.
“I have to say, I’m impressed, firecracker.” He pressed closer, encroaching on my space, the blade still pressed against his throat.
“Yield,” I told him through gritted teeth.
He inched closer as he raised an eyebrow at me.
“Or what?” he asked, leaning into the blade.
“Any closer and you’ll get burned,” I warned, my magic readily moving from my core and up my arms, towards my fingers that gripped Stormslayer.
“I’ve always liked to play with fire.” His eyes were molten despite my blade at his throat, a sinful smirk across his lips.
“You are seriously disturbed,” I replied, my jaw set.
I pressed the blade harder, ever so slightly. If anything, his gaze darkened further as a trickle of blood crept down his neck.
He held my gaze for a long, heated moment. I desperately hoped the sweat and exertion of the sparring match hid the flush of pink I knew painted my cheeks.
“Yield,” he conceded, taking a reluctant step back.
I dropped my arm back to my side with a deep inhale, his eyes never leaving mine. I had thought he would happily flatten me to the mat…but he had let me win. Or had I simply caught him by surprise? I could practically feel Warrick’s disapproval from the sidelines.
“Intoxicating,” Nik murmured as he stepped back, loud enough for only me to hear.
My eyes blazed, and I hated myself for the reaction my body still had towards him. That his words could still raise the hair on my arms and set my core on fire. I narrowed my eyes and his gaze only intensified, a spark of electricity taught between us.
Tess cleared her throat, loudly, and broke whatever spell I had fallen into. I stepped away, rejoining her at the side of the mat and guzzling back the remainder of the canteen.
I needed a hot shower.
Or maybe a cold one?
I pinched my fingers on the bridge of my nose and internally cursed myself. How could I let myself feel anything but anger towards him?
The sun was beginning to set, leaving the meadow swathed in pink, dusk sunlight. I couldn’t wait to wash this day off and crawl into bed and stay there. Preferably for the next several days.
“What was that?” Kenna asked, pointing towards the forest.
“What was what?” Saanvi asked, turning.
“That black figure…” Kenna trailed off as we all turned towards the tree line.
Without much natural light to see by it was difficult to make out the shape of the figure, but it was certainly nothing I had ever seen before. The thing that emerged from the trees was a creature from the deepest depths of hell, or my darkest nightmares.
It had the legs of a spider, long and spindly, the creature standing at least ten feet tall or more. Its body was round, with a head that was distinctly human-like, but it was completely eyeless. Its teeth were razor sharp with long, protruding fangs. It had a barbed tail that swished about in agitation.
Or was there more than one tail? The creature moved in the dim light and my eyes had difficulty tracing its movements against the backdrop of trees.
“What…the hell…is that?” My voice came out small as I backed away, Stormslayer tight in my grip. “Are there monsters in Istmere?”
“No.” Nik replied, his jaw tight. “At least…there weren’t.”
The creature advanced, moving rather quickly despite its immense size. It was flanked by two more, and as the sun set behind us the horrible creatures let loose a bone chilling shriek.
What the hell were those things?
“Get behind me,” Nik instructed, pushing me back and shielding me with his body.
The creatures advanced and Warrick moved to meet them, slashing forwards with his sword. He was able to slice off one of the creature’s many legs and it howled in pain, easily reaching out with another of its legs and knocking him to the side effortlessly.
Nik moved to advance on the one before us, jumping up and trying to slice his sword and catch the creature in the head. It reared back with a horrible sound, and Nik slashed out, lodging his sword directly in its forehead. He pulled it loose with great effort and hacked forwards again, slicing its head clean in half. It fell in a heap at his feet, and equally as fast it disintegrated into a puff of black smoke, leaving nothing but black sludge in its wake.
Was that black liquid…its blood?
“What the…” Tess spoke from beside me as we continued to back away.
I wasn’t ready to face any real threat, I hadn’t trained enough. What were these things, and where had they come from?
As Saanvi jumped onto the back of another creature and drove her sword down through the top of its head, I had a sinking feeling these creatures were sent by Donika.
“Diana, watch out!” Warrick’s voice rang through me as a spider-like leg lashed out and knocked me off my feet as if I weighed nothing at all.
I hit my head against the ground as I landed in a heap, Stormslayer skittering from my grip. I tried to crawl through the grass to reach it, but the creature placed a hairy, spindly leg on my back to stop me. I could hear the wet, grinding noises it was making as it lowered its head towards mine. I tried with all my strength to push out from underneath it, but I couldn’t budge. Nik was still too far away, and I wasn’t sure where Warrick or Puck were.
My magic surged up without even calling on it, as if to remind me it was right there, waiting. As I dipped into the core of my energy, a whirling ball of fire in my palm, a wet, gushing sound filled my ears. Someone was on top of the creature and had beheaded it, its head rolling to the ground beside me in a sickly, wet thud. Its eyeless face met the dirt and came to rest mere feet from where I lay.
The creatures body slid to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The figure deftly jumped to the ground and rolled, never losing grip of their sword.
I raised my eyes to theirs, my brow furrowing in confusion.
What was he doing here?
He had saved my life. He could easily have let that monster consume me…but he hadn’t.
And I wanted to know why.
“What are you doing here, Tyr?”