Left In The Night

Chapter53

"Zyrah!"

"Zyrah!"

Startling awake from her nap to the sound of Einar's voice, Zyrah immediately shot her arm out for her sword and hurriedly attached it to her belt, not prepared for what Einar wanted.

Blueheart warbled in a low tone out of concern, but Zyrah held her hand out, assuring the female Night Fury to remain calm.

"Stay here," she instructed firmly, closing the door of the small room behind her. Upon leaving the room, Einar stood at the end of the short hallway, leaning on the wall.

"You called for me?" The man nodded, gesturing her to follow him as they made their way above deck, passing Ragnhild, also sharing a quick nod with the teenager.

Quickly shielding her eyes from the bright sun overhead, Zyrah observed that the main deck was mostly empty, save for a few barrels and crates of supplies and tools for ship maintenance. The only thing that caught her eye was the sword resting against the main mast, still in its leather sheath.

"I know you're wondering why I've brought you up here," the man started, grabbing his sword.

"I can think of a few reasons..." Zyrah replied curtly. Einar glanced at her, his dark blue eyes glinting in the sun. The corner of his mouth twitched into a half-smile, almost like he wanted to... laugh? Was he amused by her uneasiness?

"Now, what kind of father would I be to lure my one and only child out on an empty deck to just kill her?" This earned an unamused raised eyebrow from Zyrah. What was he getting at?

"I wouldn't use the word 'father'. That said, a pretty shitty one,"

"Agreed. No. I've brought you out because I am very curious about your combat skills versus mine. Perhaps you inherited your skills from me."

"No, I didn't." Came an immediate response, "I learned from the best teachers in my village. Not all great swordsmen get it from their parents." She reached for the handle of her sword, "and... if you wanted to fight me, all you had to do was ask." Pulling her sword with a metallic ZING, she charged at Einar, keeping her blade level to her chest.

Unprepared for the sudden charge, Einar grabbed his sword, barely having enough time to pull it from the leather sheath, angling his blade down to block her initial upward swing. The blades clashed, the metal ringing in their ears. He pushed her off, also swinging up before switching hands, and aiming for her thigh. She swiftly angled the targeted leg back and around, nearly losing her balance.

Taking advantage of her unbalanced stance, bearing a nasty snarl, Einar shot his hand out, grabbing the front of Zyrah's leather tunic, gripping it tightly, and holding her up at a sharp angle. The force of his sudden grip on her led to her sword falling from her hand, and her head recoiling. His face was still stuck in his snarl, bearing his teeth, and the dark circles under his eyes appeared darker with the furrowing of his eyebrows from his deadly glare.

In that moment, Zyrah felt afraid, her steely-blue eyes wide with alarm, her heart in her throat.

Their fight ended as quickly as it started, but Zyrah did not feel proud of herself. The way her birth father's cold, dark blue eyes stared at her... into her own eyes, frightened her.

"...Let me go." She quietly requested. Suddenly expressionless, he did what she asked, and she dropped to the deck with a thud. Though, she wasn't going to yell at him for just dropping her.

He could have easily killed her at that moment, but he didn't.

"Keep your ambitions in check," he said.