Elven Legacy

Chapter 26

Noah

The clashes and scrapes of their short sword's slim blades rang across the simmering desert air. And in between the blows and parries, the heaving of their breathing as they circled one another. Soon, the sun would approach its zenith. Noah and Fenek would be forced to interrupt their training and go home.

But not just yet.

Noah sidestepped, Fenek's sword slashing the air where he'd been a second ago. Fen recovered fast, finding his balance again as he swiveled and brought up his blade to block Noah's downward arc. The grating clash rang in Noah's ears, and his eyes were temporarily blinded by the intense reflection of sunlight on pale steel.

They pulled back, panting, and prowled around each other, their feet stirring up sand and dust. A few yards away from the Drisia River and the reeds banking it, the air was fresher than elsewhere on the plains, but the sun was still unforgiving. A film of sweat shimmered across Noah's skin, his hair sticking to his forehead and down his neck. The Wraith uniform of dark brown pants and mottled-beige short-sleeved tunic clung to his skin.

If Noah didn't have a magical stone in his chest, which he was trying to hide from the world, he might've taken off his shirt like Fenek had.

His sparring partner leapt forward with a grunt, his sword sweeping across the air. Noah twisted himself away at the last moment, deflecting clumsily. Then, he used the momentum to spin and come at Fenek from the other side, striking low. Fenek jumped back in a move that would've impressed even Kitera.

Kid's better than me, Noah thought and couldn't help but smile.

Fenek grinned back, then moved forward again, scouting for an opening. Today he wore his long thin braids held back with a cord, keeping them out of his face. His dark brown skin gleamed with sweat too, especially the sides of his face, collarbone and lean torso muscles. At seventeen, he was already tall and athletic; standing at six foot one, he was the same height as Noah, though Fenek would surely grow taller still. And if anything, Fenek was more athletic. He'd had many years of training with Seyar to make that happen.

But Noah was catching up.

They went at it one last round, Fenek lashing out, all offense with nimble arcs and strikes of his short sword. Noah held his ground, keenly anticipating his sparring partner's movements and effectively meeting him blow for blow.

When it was over, and they drew back, panting louder than before, Noah made the sign for, "Tie?"

Fenek nodded, with two fists together then spreading apart, "Break?"

It seemed they agreed.

Side by side, they stomped across the mix of rock and sand, and then through the knee-high reeds that separated them from the river. At this dangerously hot time of day, no one else was around. And the Drisia River, this far along into the continent, was too thin and shallow for riverboats.

Dropping their swords, they sat together by the water, splashing it up their arms, necks, faces and hair. Noah sat back with a content sigh, enjoying the tranquility of the moment.

Fenek's hands moved beside him and Noah reflexively glanced at them to catch what he was saying.

"You're getting decent at this, rookie."

Noah laughed. "Screw you, Fen. Decent? Please. I'm amazing," he replied, splayed fingers tracing across the air before his face.

"In your dreams." Fen's index finger touched his temple then curled away.