The Heir of Moon-Fire

Chapter 34

Emily's POV

I found Mal sparring with another male who had silver hair that was even shorter than Mal's was now. However, his skin was equally tanned. I felt a part of me mourning the loss of Mal's long hair, especially while I watched them move in a fearsome dance.

Out of the two of them, Malatyr was easily the more skilled swordsman, hardly working up a sweat as he effortlessly dodged the other male's blows. I smiled to myself as I recognized what he was doing. It reminded me of when we were younger and carefree before we knew the pain of almost a century and a half apart.

"Okay, okay, you win again, Mal," the silver-haired male breathed as he walked out of the sparring ring. Mal rolled his eyes.

"Guess I'm up then," I said with a smirk as I picked up a discarded sword.

The other male surveyed me curiously. "Who are you?" he asked me.

"I could ask you the same question," I retorted with a broad grin. I approached him, stopping just in front of him and looking up into his narrowed pine-green eyes that reminded me very much of Rowan Whitethorn. "So you're Mal's brother. I'm Emily Hunt, you're future sister-in-law," I stated.

He scrunched up his eyebrows as confusion flew over his face. "I'm Connall..." he said unsurely.

I tilted my head with a smile. "Are you unsure of what your name is?" I asked him with a hint of a laugh lining my voice.

"No... I just-" he was cut off by Mal speaking up.

"Are you coming up?" he asked as he gestured to the ring.

I swung the sword a couple of times, getting a feel for the weapon as I strode towards him. "Just a heads up, I've been practicing," I warned him with a grin.

"Good. So have I," he replied with an equally large grin. 

Connall rolled his eyes at Mal. "I'll say..." he muttered under his breath. "Mind if I watch? I want to see if someone other than Tiya and our parents can beat Mal in a fight," he stated.

"Sure," Mal replied nonchalantly. "But only if Ems is okay with it."

He arched a brow. "I take it that you two know each other?" he said hesitantly.

I rolled my eyes. "No, we just enjoy calling random people nicknames," I deadpanned as I gave him an unimpressed look.

He raised his hands above his head in surrender. "You're as bad as Mom!" he exclaimed.

I smiled broadly. "Thanks! I aim to impress! And by the way, feel free to watch. It'll just prove that you don't want to mess with me," I told him as I swung my sword to meet Mal's.

He twisted out of the way of my next swing while I blocked his. I hardly registered his movements as I ducked out of the way of his next blow. He jumped over my leg as I attempted to knock his feet out from under him, bringing his sword down as I twisted, blocking his sword with my own. Neither of us touched our magic as we fell into the familiar rhythm of the duel. Our feet moved in a steady flow as we fought, somehow even after all these years, knowing exactly where the next strike would come from.

It was at least twenty minutes in before I felt his sword scratch against my arm. I stumbled backwards in surprise before quickly raising my sword up to block the hit coming for my legs. I aimed for his stomach with a punch from my fist, which he managed to dodge while backing directly into the swing of my sword. It never touched his skin, though, as he managed to deflect it with his own sword, twirling away from another blow to his legs. He was smiling with me as he struck out with a fist of his own. I arched a brow with a smirk as we both dropped our swords, pulling out a pair of daggers each instead. The clash of metal against metal once again filled the air as we battled fiercely, meeting blow for blow.