An Eternal Wintre

Chapter 25

Anai walks the halls and listens to servers' gossip, guard's armor clinks against their swords as they shift their feet, the yelling of men as they fight one another. Her eye patch is cool against her skin and a calm has shrouded itself over her, protecting her from anything.

Some guards salute her as she passes them by. She walks towards the dining hall but doesn't go inside and passes it by to go straight to the training yard.

She wears black men's trousers and a white tank top with a bandage to press in her breasts, making her look almost like a boy save for her curves and long hair. Her hair is tied up into a ponytail, exposing her eye patch for all to see and stare at in awe and pity. They can save their pity for somebody who cares, she thinks to herself as her boots crunch over dirt and pebbles.

She finds Quinn quickly and taps his shoulder. The large man turns and takes her in. "Good day Quinn, I'm here to continue my training," she says in a flat voice. He says nothing and instead, wraps her up in an embrace, squeezing her tightly to his large body. He smelled of sweat and the woods with a touch of beer.

"It's good to see ya lass! I've been worried but I can see you're fine!" He bellows out a laugh and throws her a sword. "Just because you're injured, don't think I'm gonna go easy on ya." Anai curls the side of her mouth slightly upward.

"I wouldn't want you to."

Their swords clash and Anai easily keeps pace with Quinn, blocking every one of his strikes. Sweat beads on his brow but Anai is dry and not even panting.

Anai slashes upwards when Quinn misses her again, his body slightly turned away from her and his sword towards the ground. Her sword catches on his and flings it into the air. It clatters a couple feet away from them and she points her sword at his throat. "Match," she says. Quinn smiles despite the piece of sharp metal directed at his throat.

"Good job Anai. You've learned faster than any man I've ever trained before," he praises. Anai doesn't react, only slides her sword in the scabbard she placed at her hip. Quinn trots towards his fallen sword and replaces it back with the rest.

"Quinn," she calls. The red-haired man raises his eyebrows in response. "I want to fight your best swordsman." Uncertainty flashes across his face. He frowns.

"Are ya sure 'bout that Miss Anai?" he asks.

"Yes."

Quinn withdraws a sword and calls to a tall man. "Leo! Come over here." The man walks with long strides to Quinn and takes the sword with confused eyes. "Miss Anai here wants to fight ya. Best not keep the little lass waitin'."

By now a large crowd has gathered to watch the strange orphan girl fight their best fighter. Curious glances, whispered bets all around. Anai drowns them all out and focuses only on the man –Leo.

She can tell he's not going to hold back. A smile forms on her lips at his audacity and she plants her feet shoulder width apart. They match each other's stance. Rookie mistake is to make the first move, giving the opponent enough time to calculate what you're going to do but Anai strikes first by running straight for him, holding the sword in her right hand only.

Leo is ready and when she gets mere feet away from him, he slashes just as she dances backwards and twirls in a circle, bringing the sword down as she turns. As she slashes it downwards towards his chest, she freezes it into a sword of ice and twitches her wrist to hit his arm instead. He comes away with a cut and pants heavily trying to run out of her way.

He comes for her but Anai's ready as he charges, sidestepping and twisting on his foot to give himself leverage. His sword arcs into the air before coming close to slashing her arm. She jumps out of the way gracefully and throws the sword to the side, hearing it clank against the ground. When Leo looks over to it in distraction with wide eyes, Anai runs and slides between his spread legs and comes up behind him, pushing him hard to the ground, releasing frost to cover his back and travel to his sword, freezing it over and shattering it.