Ever So Lightly- Book 1

32

 After a week of trying, Zephyr still couldn't land a hit on Jasper. They stood a few feet apart from one another in a small clearing within earshot of the river. Zephyr was drenched in sweat, despite the cold, her breathing labored and her pulse racing from exertion. In her right hand she held her staff, now missing the dagger from the top. That had come off on their first day of sparring together, when the flat side of Jasper's sword hit it just right and it popped right off. Not that it made much of a difference, the dull blade wouldn't be of much use in a fight. And Nakomi hadn't taught her how to use it anyways. No, Zephyr was learning to rely on the staff as a weapon on its own. But Jasper was good with a sword.

He lunged toward her and she jumped to the side. Too slowly, for the next thing she knew he had whirled around and had the edge of his sword pressed to her throat. He breathed heavily from behind her and Zephyr could feel the hairs on her neck prickle at how close he stood. Removing his sword so she could step away, Jasper took a step backwards.

"Do you want to go again before we move on?" Jasper asked. Zephyr was exhausted, but the thought of trudging onward for hours and hours once again was enough to make even a tough workout seem appealing. She nodded, still working to catch her breath from their last round.

"Okay, you come at me this time." Jasper waited his sword ready. He didn't look anywhere near as tired as she felt, and for some reason that pissed her off. Zephyr lunged, feinting to the left. As he reached up to block her blow, she whirled swinging the staff in an arc toward his now exposed side. She would have hit him, hard too, except that suddenly his blade smacked against her staff, knocking her off balance. Zephyr retreated, cursing under her breath. He was just too fast. She had been so close to hitting him. She had to be faster.

That thought gave her an idea. She took up a ready stance, giving Jasper just enough time to orient himself before trying the exact same maneuver she had just failed to execute. A look of confusion passed over Jasper's face as he waited for her feint. As she whirled, Zephyr saw where he began to turn to meet her blow, and in that half a moment, as her arms began to tingle, she sent a burst of air against her own weapon. It propelled forward at an astonishing speed. Zephyr pulled up at the last second to avoid seriously injuring him, but before his sword could reach her, she had her staff firmly pressed to the bottom of Jasper's ribcage.

"How did you do that?" Jasper asked incredulously. Zephyr beamed up at him.

"I beat you!" She quickly retracted the staff and threw her arms around his neck, bouncing with glee. Jasper quickly dropped his sword so as not to impale her. He laughed and pried her arms away.

"As happy as I am to have been defeated by the likes of you, I'd still like to know how you managed it." He still held her arms in his grasp, and as he smiled down at her Zephyr felt that tightening in the pit of her stomach. She felt color creeping toward her cheeks and quickly pulled herself away. Turning to pick up her staff, she cleared her throat.

"I used my gift," she said matter-of-factly, still unable to meet his gaze. She knelt down under the pretense of adjusting her socks inside her boots. "I used a burst of air to push my staff forward."

"Huh. I never would have thought of that." Jasper picked up his sword and then reached out a hand to help Zephyr back up. She took it and stood, ignoring what felt like sparks crawling across where her skin met his.

"I hadn't thought of it until right before I tried it, so don't beat yourself up over it." She gave him a smirk, which he returned by bumping against her shoulder, sending her sprawling. For a second he looked genuinely afraid he'd hurt her. Better to allay his fears.

"There was a root," Zephyr said, pointing to the culprit next to her foot. Jasper laughed.

"Should have know." He helped her up once more. They quickly packed up their meager supplies to continue onward. Jasper had fashioned his cloak into a sling to carry firewood. The temperature had risen above freezing in the last couple days, and though it was nice to be slightly warmer and not have to deal with tromping through snow, they now had to worry that rain would come and prevent them from finding dry kindling. Best to try and keep some on them at all times.