Disobey

Chapter 11- Fighting the Truth

"Dodge," Paige called from the other side of the room.

I looked at her to ask her what exactly I was dodging, but I got my answer when a fist landed in my stomach. 

I crumbled to the ground, cradling my poor bruised tummy.

"Oh... That."

Tori scoffed at me, not even bothering to give me a hand as I wilted and tried to become one with the training mats.

"Paige, ma'am, I don't think he's getting much better." She glanced at me. "I mean, he didn't puke this time, so I guess that's a plus."

She said it more like a question, though. It hand the underlying tone of, please the masster, insult the magician despite him not being a bonefied magician. Or something like that.

Point being, I wasn't meant for this. The lie detector thing, I could do. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to sit across from another magician, but at least it didn't involve bruises.

Anyways, Paige wanted to do some last minute training, at midninght, so here we were. I was glad it was late, though. There were no other Black Hands in the room to poke fun at me and Ice Queen, so that was a plus. 

"Call it a night, Tori," she said, standing up. "I'll take it from here."

She nodded, apparently more trusting in me now that I was lying on the floor. I mean, it's not like I could ever in a million years hurt her, but Tori was never so sure. I mean, me taking a shot at her was like throwing bread at a bull. I'm not sure why that was the first analogy that came to mind, but it makes sense. She would either eat me alive or destory me, no in-betweens. 

"Can you stand?" 

She didn't lend me a hand either, but one of her arms was in a sling and the other was resting on her hip to give me a disappointed look, so that made a little bit of sense.

"Yeah- yeah I'm all good," I groaned standing up to face her.

"Alright, get in position. My turn."

"What?" I gaped. "No- no thank you? Um, it has nothing to do with the arm, actually it's the opposite, I kinda value my life and wellbeing so please no thank you."

"Get in position."

"Getting in position."

I lifted my arm the way Tori had roughly shown me the first day and spread my leg until my feet were about shoulder length apart. 

She studied me a minute, making me feel incredibly self-conscious about how my hair was pointed and the way my cheek was probably welling from a few rounds ago.

She walked around me until I couldn't see her, but I didn't turn. All my movie watching experience had taught me better.

"This arm," she said, grabbing onto my right arm, "lower. Lift your other arm just a little. Good." Bare foot brushed against my ankle. "Spread your legs further. Good."

My positioning felt a little more natural when she swung around in front of me and eyed me over one last time. 

"Good. In a normal fight, you won't have time to get into position, but this is where you want to be. You have a range of motion to go forwards or back and your arms protect most of your face. With your ability, if you can train it, you'll always have the upper hand."

"Okay, can we train something else now?"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "No! I didn't- Stop that. Stop that right now. I meant the lie detecting thing."

"I know what you meant, but I want you to be able to protect yourself first. At least learn the basics before The City. It'll be dangerous."

"Fine, then can I at least ask questions while we practice?"