Broken Remedy |L. Odinson|

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning Eir woke up feeling just as awful as she had been feeling the previous night. She had thought that after some sleep she would be able to go back to normal and stop thinking about her fight with Loki, but nothing of the sort happened. If anything, it seemed like she only felt worse.

Nevertheless, she wouldn't let that fight control her any longer. So, she started with her day. She got dressed so that she was ready to go training and grabbed her cane. Quickly and silently so that she wouldn't wake anyone up, she got to the training grounds. She walked in the middle of the area, not bothering to hide herself in the woods nearby. She wanted space. Eir closed her eyes, concentrating. She pushed all thoughts of Loki away from her mind and took in a deep breath through her nose, kept it and then released it slowly. She imagined an opponent standing in front of her ready to attack and finally ready, she prepared to strike.

Eir twirled the cane around her once, then twice with her eyes still closed and then, with as much force as she could muster, she raised her arms and then brought them down, her eyes opening instantly.

Her cane hit a blade.

She reeled back, startled as she hadn't expected to actually have an opponent. She checked her cane so as to make sure it was alright before she looked at the blade, her eyes following its base to the hand holding it loosely and finally to the face of her opponent. Her father stood there, a tiny smile on his lips as he watched her, an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Training on your own is never fun," he pointed out as he took some steps back and twirled his sword, bringing it to his side. "Fortunately, I'm here to be your opponent."

Eir hesitated. It had been years since she had last fought against her father. He was stronger than her, with much more experience. There weren't many chances she would win. Then again, he had been the one to suggest a fight in the first place.

"Well?" he inquired after some time of her remaining silent. He gestured to her with his sword, the smile on his lips fading as he turned serious. "I'm waiting."

She had gotten her decision. Without uttering a word, Eir straightened her posture and twirled her cane around herself, placing it on her side much like her father had done with his sword. She raised her left hand she wasn't using to hold her cane, her jaw set. She was ready for that fight.

Brynjar didn't need any other means of reassurance. He attacked, quicker than Eir had anticipated. She blocked his attack and moved to the side, getting in a defensive stance as he slashed his sword. Before it could make contact with her cane she moved to the side, successfully knocking him off balance. She brought the end of the cane on his back and then jumped away from him.

The only way she was going to win this was by quick, cunning attacks.

Brynjar recovered quickly. He turned back to her and launched a series of attacks, so quick she hardly had the time to protect herself against him. He was strong. She was getting tired. And they both knew it.

Eir jumped to the side as she dodged yet another vicious attack. She swiped the cane at his feet. She thought it was over, that she had won, but her happiness was short-lived as her father, seemingly having expected that move, jumped over her cane and while she had still been in a lower stance, he hit the side of her head with the hilt of his sword.

She fell on the ground, dizzy from that particular hit. Before she could stand up again, he placed the hilt of his sword on her chest, keeping her down.

"It wasn't a bad try," he praised with a tiny smile, and knowing that there would be a long time until she got a praise like that again, Eir nodded with a smile of her own. Brynjar looked at her once again before taking his sword away. He offered his hand to her so as to help her up and she gladly accepted it.