🔥 The Path of Fire (Path of Light and Fire Book #1)(Completed) 🔥

Chapter 1.1: Heroes Are Made

Nothing says 'I love you' like a father who wants you dead.

The loud clash of swords reverberated throughout Toro. Sabin's muscles glistened with sweat and fatigue and his lungs burned. As his father raised his blade for another strike he focused, ignoring the roar of the crowd as they cheered for each side, the training exercise a welcome reprieve from their daily chores. Aegis's thighs twitched, so Sabin knew a strike would come soon.

Aegis feinted for Sabin's throat, then thrust towards his belly. Sabin was not fooled by his father's motions. He adjusted his stance and deflected the incoming strike. He was taller than Aegis and the proper leverage, mixed with the lean muscle from daily combat training made it easy enough.

An overhead strike followed, meant to draw Sabin's sword up and leave him exposed. Instead, he stepped into Aegis, ramming his shoulder into the man's gut. Aegis grunted and kicked forward, the heavy boot sending Sabin stumbling back in exchange.

Sabin occasionally worried that Aegis might accidentally kill him, but he knew it was necessary. Enemies on the battlefield would not hesitate to run him through and he needed to get used to the idea now.

Sabin had come very close to defeating Aegis the last time they sparred and he was determined to win this time. He'd been practicing a trick on his own time and he wondered if it would work in live battle. Time to give it a try.

Sabin came high, knowing that Aegis would come at his ribs, followed by chastising him for such a technique. Before Aegis's blade could connect, Sabin pulled on something inside of him. He wasn't sure of the source, but it was something deep within that yearned to be free. When his eyes refocused, he was standing behind Aegis.

It worked!

Sabin quickly placed the flat of the blade on the side of Aegis's neck for good measure.

People who had been hollering seconds ago fell quiet. It was an uncomfortable silence, one that reminded him of the weight of being a foreigner in Acadia.

A young girl shouted, "Sabin won!" It was followed by a quick cheer from the rest of the crowd. The action eased the tension in Sabin's broad shoulders and he felt like an idiot for his apprehension. The people of Toro had never made him feel other than at home.

Most of them anyway.

"Yield." Aegis didn't move. His mouth remained open, his black mustache hanging under his jaw. "What was that?"

"I'm not sure, but I learned it from watching you. I've been practicing it for a while and figured I could use it in our fight."

Aegis finally closed his mouth and gave Sabin a forced smile. "The sword?"

"Right." Sabin grinned sheepishly and removed the blade from Aegis's neck.

Aegis turned to Sabin, his eyes filled with pride. "Did a great job there son. I never saw it coming."

"I've finally beaten you, father." The young man placed his sword in its sheath and bowed formally, student to sensei. As Sabin looked at Aegis, with his thinning, fine hair and white skin that contrasted with his unruly, coarse hair and brown skin, he once again wondered his place in Acadia.

Am I foolish to think such things?

His father was a warrior, of that Sabin was sure, though Aegis refused to talk much about his past. Sabin knew Aegis was foreign-born as well, though his difference in appearance to the Acadians was not as striking.

Aegis inclined his head to Sabin and then clasped his thick calloused fingers on Sabin's shoulder. "Your success is my success."

"Sabin, I can't believe you did it!" The creaking of the rickety wooden gate, meant Kaita had entered into their makeshift practice field.