The Warrior Princess (Discontinued)

~Chapter Four~

Story: The Warrior Princess
Chapter Four: The Valley of Blooms

The following day, Emma and Dan found themselves following Nixon into a small cave.

"Why are we here?" questioned Dan, getting impatient.

"You will see," Nixon replied. Emma saw light filtering through crevices in the roof of the cave. When the light started to grow brighter, the end of the cave was spotted by the quartet.

Emma walked out of the dark cave and inhaled a sharp breath. The air felt so fresh and rejuvenating. She opened her eyes and spotted lush greenery. Wildflowers and several colourful flowers were spread out everywhere. The place looked absolutely stunning that Emma would easily call it heaven on earth. Two rabbits hopped by and the two girls found themselves quoting 'aww'. Dan merely rolled his eyes as Nixon looked on in apparent amusement to their sister's reactions. Nixon signaled to walk and off the quartet started on their trek.

After a few minutes of walking, the quartet reached a small house. It was a very simple looking one but it had a homely touch to it. Cattle were tied to a nearby pole. A tall black terrier dog sat wagging it's tail as it happily enjoyed being pampered by Nixon, who was petting it. "Austin Wood!" shouted Nixon. A few seconds later the door of the small house flew open and a young boy, about the age of Ash and Lyra stepped out.

"Hello Prince! Welcome to the Valley of Blooms again!" he greeted, cheerfully.

"Hey Austin. I hope you are doing well. I would like you meet my friends, Dan Kimball, the Prince of Kneazleland and the Princess of Kneazleland, Emma Kimball. This is my baby sister, Ash Darfferson," Nixon said, pointing at the trio, "and guys, this is my best friend, Austin Wood. He is a shepherd and he can take us to the grazing grounds. That's where we practice," concluded Nixon, with a look of determination on his face.

"Okay, sir!" the Kimball duo answered while Ash muttered, "I am not your baby sister, Nixon. Stop embarrassing me." Nixon smirked and the other three burst out laughing. Austin did not seem to mind that he was in the presence of several royals and Emma was glad he didn't. It would have been way too awkward if that would have been the case.

"Alright Princess Emma. Let's start practicing. Now, since I'm of age I have been allowed the Darfferson family sword. I suppose even you are, Dan? "

"Of course I am. If you, without brawn obtains a sword, why can I?"

"Oh, shut up, brainless."

"Brawn-less."

Nixon did not reply this time. He rolled his eyes and his hands reached his sheath. "Watch us demonstrate," Nixon said, before Dan and himself walked towards each other, withdrew their swords and bowed to each other, respectfully. They walked ten steps away and held their swords and stood in a professional fencing stance.

"On the count of three!" Ash started , "One...Two...Three! Let the duel begin!"

No sooner did Ash announce than Emma heard the loud clashing of the two metallic swords. She looked carefully and found that Dan was all on offensive and Nixon was defending himself very well. Dan aimed for Nixon's head. Nixon side stepped and attacked his own with full force. Dan, however, managed to block it but he slightly tripped over because of the impact of the hit. Nixon too had a bad recoil but he prepared himself.

"Is that all...Kimball?" Nixon asked, as if Dan was his arch enemy.

"Not ending soon, Darfferson!" Dan said as he got steady and ran towards Nixon. Nixon put his left foot forward and bent very slightly as he held his sword up to block.

Dan aimed for the prince's head again though he faked it and aimed for his leg instead, causing Nixon's eyes to narrow for a mere second before he dodged gracefully. He did not have to wait for another fake, so he striked at Dan's left arm instead. This caused the latter to lose concentration. Not wasting a minute, Nixon quickly swung his sword at Dan's and the beautiful, ruby encrusted sword landed feet away from it's owner. Dan had his hands up and eyes widened at the Darfferson sword which was directly pointed to his chest.

A genuine smile crossed both the boys' faces before Nixon lowered his sword down and bowed respectfully to his opponent. Dan mimicked the movement before commenting playfully, "Whoa, Darfferson. I thought you got rusty in your old age, eh?"

"It should be my honour to say the same to you, Kimball," Nixon smirked before turning to his awestruck audience. "How now, I think we have struck an example, Dan."

Dan looked at his audience too and said, "Of course. I am, after all, the most bravest Prince alive."

Immediately, Nixon's hand shot up and the sword was pointing to Dan's chest once again. Without turning towards Dan, the former said, "Well?"

"I-I was just joking. It's Nixon Cleric Darfferson who is the...er...most daring Prince alive."

"Right." Nixon said with a smug smile before lowering his sword and looking at his friend with a grin.

"Hey! That isn't fair! I don't have my sword!"

"Oh yeah? Try me?"

"No, thanks. Not for now."

Nixon waved it off and turned to face Emma. "Princess Emma, I hope you would have observed our duel. We duel using tactics - tactics that tell if we are to defend or to go on offensive at the right time. You will learn it as soon as you get the hand at the basics. For now, Ash shall teach you the correct stance and some formalities, Dan will teach to defend as he seems to be a master at it. As for me, I will be teaching you the ways to attack and the correct time to attack.

"Please note that timing is important. Timing and aiming - two vital things. I'd say maiming too but since you are just learning the art, it is not required. It will be, if you were to, say, fight a battle against the vile. A low powered hit, aimed rightly at the right time is more powerful than a hit of high magnitude, at the wrong time.

"One disadvantage of using force is recoil. Recoil deters you and your concentration. Try going for low powered attacks until I say otherwise," Nixon explained, "Have I made myself clear, princess?"

Emma nodded. "Thank you, Prince Nixon. I shall keep it in my mind," Emma said with a bow and determined eyes. The other four smiled at her. Everything was going well...

The longest chapter of this book. Oh! I gotta mention this. This is the first action scene I have ever written in my life. The mini duel between Dan and Nixon. Let me know your thoughts about that scene. I had loads of fun writing it! More action awaits you in the further chapters! Also, I changed the cover page. I think I might change it again so it would look better. If you have any ideas, please comment them! Thanks for reading!

Until then,
Marina ❤