Evmor: The Calling

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I threw myself at Rey, my two daggers ready. He jumped out of reach just in time and executed a perfect turn, ending up behind me. But I had anticipated this and whirled around, swinging my arm at his neck.

Rey’s arm shot up, his muscles straining against the thin material of his shirt, and blocked my arm. Now it became a struggle for the upper hand. I knew I was unlikely to win since I was physically weaker in brute strength, so dropped low into a crouch. At my sudden move, Rey lost his balance and stumbled forward, giving me just the opportunity to strike.

Spinning around to his right, I ended up just behind him, my dagger held directly by his throat. He froze immediately.

“I think I win.” I said, panting, with a smug grin.

With a rueful chuckle, he replied, “Just this once.”

With the absence of Rocco, Killian had been my sparring partner. However, Killian had announced one evening that he was leaving for a short while to collect more information on the ring’s whereabouts. I suspected it had also to do with the fact that he wanted some time alone, to be far away from those who would continue to ask after him. I had a hard time dealing with them as well although I also acknowledged they were only doing it because they cared. Killian and I had both suffered through the loss of hope after finding out the rumor was wrong and the loss of a friend. I coped with it by letting my close friends comfort me about it, like Adalia, Harriet, or Kyle and Lucinda, and throwing myself into training. On the other hand, Killian seemed to be less inclined to open up, always trying to keep up the façade of carelessness and happiness. So I understood the only way for him to truly deal with his grief and despair was to travel and keep moving, looking for more information.

Then I realized I was left alone with no sparring partner until Rey had stepped in. He was closer to my age and had a shocking pair of eyes that were dark brown with a peculiar silver ring around the pupils of his eyes. He was easy to laugh, very skilled at swordsmanship, and had been a good friend of Rocco’s. On the day when I returned to the training grounds, uncertain on how to approach a new sparring partner, Rey had stepped up to me with a bright smile. Rocco had introduced us to each other before so it hadn’t been the first time we had met. But it was the first time we had sparred and it took both of us a few days until we had become somewhat accustomed to each other’s skills and weaknesses.

I noticed that the longer we trained with each other, the longer our sparring sessions became. I had to think harder and be more creative of ways to attack and dodge and he challenged me to improve myself.

Working on my bow and arrow was also another one of my pastimes. I had started with shooting at standing targets but now I worked on shooting moving targets, which was more likely to be the case when I would have to shoot. It was a complex system of ropes and wooden boards that served as a target hanging from the ceiling, and it would swing from side to side or drop to the ground, as I had to maneuver around obstacles on the ground.

Just as I weaved my way through another set of obstacles, I almost ran into someone, failing to notice I had company. A pair of hands shot out to steady me and I looked up to see Rey grinning down at me.

“You can be such a klutz,” he teased, his wide grin never leaving his face.

“Shut up,” I muttered, pinning him with a glare. I couldn’t keep my stony expression for long and broke into a grin myself. His smile was just so contagious.

“You’re improving,” Rey commented as we walked side by side.

“I try,” I answered, sending him a cheeky smile. But then I remembered training in this same place with Rocco, and him saying the same thing once. My smile immediately dropped from my face and I looked down at my boots.