Wings of Roses

Chapter 4

By lunch each day I am drenched in sweat. Jogging in the early morning beside Kora and Elswyth is nice until the sweltering heat kicks in. Then it's miserable and suffocating. When we reach the training ground for our sword lessons, we can barely breathe. Captain Glaphyra doesn't let up, though. He's ruthless and cold, just as you would expect from a squadron leader. Lieutenant Ammentra, on the other hand, is a little more forgiving. Though my father trained me well, Ammentra has been helping me perfect my technique. He watches me spar with the others, corrects my stance or how to maneuver my body to deliver the most devasting blow.

"Juliana and Aeris," the captain calls from the sparring ring after my friends and I gather around the water table following our run Friday morning. "You spare first."

Elswyth and Kora glance between each other before leaning close to me. "The girl with the orange hair?" Kora asks, looking past my shoulder. I follow her gaze to the woman striding over to the captain. "I've been watching her. She knocked out some of the men during sparing yesterday. Don't hold back, Aeris."

"I won't," is the last thing I say to my friends before I make my way over to the other side of the ring. Juliana sneers at me as she raises her wooden sword. Ochre eyes narrow when I ready myself. Captain Glaphyra stands between us, one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"No magic. No steel. Keep it clean. Only the wooden blades in your hands." He backs up, and as soon as both feet are outside the circle drawn in the dirt, Juliana lunges.

I block swiftly, blow after blow as she tries to tear through my defenses. A particularly hard blow against my weapon sends me stumbling, but before she can land a strike against my side I pivot. We circle each other then, studying each other through panting breaths. "What's wrong? Had enough already?" A grin spreads across her flush lips.

"I'm just warming up." I move and begin a fury of strikes. Juliana is fast but I manage to keep up with her, looking for an opening with each clash of our blades. Around us a crowd has gathered, their silent judging eyes daggers in my back as our feet sweep across the dirt. My sword whistles as it's brought down against Juliana's. A test of strength, of inner determination and focus. Our gazes meet, and for a moment I think I see swirls of fire within them. A distraction, one that costs me when she sweeps her leg beneath me.

The landing sends a spike of pain throughout my spine, but I manage to roll, avoiding the tip of her blade from striking flesh. It embeds in the dirt, buying me time to stand. I breathe in deep to replace the air that was knocked from my lungs with my fall. She leaps toward me once her sword is freed. I steel myself as splinters rain from our weapons' kiss.

Our feet move with nothing but grace and elegance during our little dance. Blades sing through the air, a chorus of sheer will and power. I let go of the reigns kept tethered within and unleash everything I have to offer. My muscles strain to keep up but their ache only pushes me to move faster, to pour all my strength into my sword. I was holding back as I felt her out, but now I am the weapon my father has molded me into. It's as if something primal and instinctive takes over. My blade rises above me, poised to strike down—

"Stop!" My head swivels to the captain, who's beginning to enter the ring with Miser. When I turn back to Juliana it's not her face I see. A fist connects with my jaw so hard I swear my teeth rattle and I'm sent flying backward. My head hits the ground first, then the rest of me, and my body rolls until it finally stops with a soft thud against the stone wall of the perimeter. I pull myself to my knees, trying to blink away the stars that gather on the edge of my vision. My head is swimming with dizziness and my jaw aches from the blow. I touch it gingerly, wincing at the soreness already gathering there.