The Keepers of Eternity

XXXVIII

Lenore wasn't surprised to find herself on the ground this time.

"You need to work on your coordination." Monfreid observed as Lenore turned over and rubbed her scraped knee.

I refuse to lose again! She thought to herself. I'm tired of being the helpless one.

Determined, she climbed to her feet and sized up her opponent. Monfreid was just slightly taller than she was. He was slim yet fairly muscular—combined with his military training he was certainly strong enough to take her out. If this was real situation she would be at a severe disadvantage.

Monfreid resumed his stance, and tipped his new, wide-brimmed Rvyni military helmet to her. It glinted in the dewy morning light. "I will allow you to make the first move this time."

Taking a step forward, Lenore approached her opponent.

"Try jabbing him in the back of his knees." Sid suggested. He stood several feet away, fiddling with a miniature crossbow. "You'll win if you target his weak points."

"Shh, Sid. Don't give her any hints. We can't make this too easy for her."

Lenore eyed Sid, who just shrugged and turned again towards his makeshift targets.

On the opposite end of the balcony, Evadrian sat in a wheeled chair, working on an embroidery pattern. His healing process had been slow, but every day his condition was improving with the help of the healers and the castle herbalist, who treated him to their best medicines and therapies. Evadrian had been growing increasingly bored being bedridden, so Lenore requested an embroidery ring to occupy his time. He'd been reluctant at first, but now, Lenore thought, he genuinely was starting to enjoy making his own designs.

He looked up at Lenore and nodded, smiling widely. Seeing him like that made her oddly happy in turn. Determinedly, she looked back to Monfreid.

Gazing at her with that typical smug look on his face, Monty beckoned Lenore closer with a wave of his hand. Lenore lunged forward, her wooden sparring blade snapping against her opponent's. She spun, looking for an opening where she could cleanly hit his leg. Sid was right. If she could only reach there, she might be able to incapacitate him.

Lenore blocked Monty's next swing, feeling a budding sense of hope.

"You're getting better at this." He observed, his eyes flicking down to her feet.

Monfreid relied heavily on sight to gather information about her fighting style. She noticed him watching her steps sometimes after she made her move. There was no mistaking that he was looking for patterns to predict her next move. Perhaps, if she moved unpredictably, or allowed her arms to flow with the fight just as much as her legs, she would gain the upper hand. The pieces were all here, Lenore thought, it was only a matter of completing the execution and she could win this.

Lenore made a full-body dodge as Monfreid came in this time. As she suspected, he immediately side-stepped towards her, whipping his practice sword upward. The tip of the blade only connected the end of her ponytail as she evaded the full force of the blow.

She let out a tired breath, by Monfreid didn't give her any time to rest. As he came at her again, Lenore swept her practice sword out towards him, sloppily, but at least it kept him back a few feet. Adjusting her grip, she waited a moment for Monty to re-establish himself, then feinted to the right.

He took the bait, moving in that direction. With her new grip, Lenore was able to pass the sword from her right hand to her left, and make another wide sweep which caught her friend on his back. The momentum from the hit sent him stumbling.