Book 2 Season's Change Spring's Revenge

Part 16 Going Through The Motions

His movements were far from erratic, but they only slightly resembled the smooth and easy grace that they would normally possess. Everything about the way he was moving was not right. He wasn't angry, he wasn't hurt, annoyed or frustrated. He was simply distracted. And yet he was still more focused and graceful than any warrior she had ever seen.

Katana watched Avriel as he went through the motions of training. It was clear to her that he was not invested in what he was doing. But every move he made was carefully executed with grace and speed, skill and strength. She adjusted her stance as she watched him. He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. He had not stopped the flow of his movements when he threw the dagger. He simply added the motions he needed to use to free his dagger from its sheath and send it flying into his movements then carried on as if nothing had happened. He did not need to watch it to its destination. He knew where and at what he had thrown it. If the dagger had hit Katana, he would have known a split second after. He knew before he released it that it did not have a snowball's chance in the ninth hell of ever hitting her. She moved out of instinct with precision, skill, and foresight. She knocked his thrown dagger from the air with a practiced hand. "Kotas?" She questioned gently.

He found himself smiling as his dagger clattered to the floor. He had hoped that she would join him in the training room and that they could spend the morning hours training together. He wanted to work through the aggression he felt for that brigand and he needed to explore the odd dreams he had been having. He would be able to do that on the training floor. He could do it on his own if he had to. He often did, but it was a slow process and he really didn't feel like they had much time left in their cave.

As she joined his sacred dance, he turned his mind off and focused on the air around them. He kept moving, a counter and weave, a balance and a weight, to her every movement. They had been dancing that dance for what felt like forever to him. He closed his eyes and pulled his mind inward while pushing it out. He could feel the air pressed against his skin, detect the slightest change in its flow and moved accordingly. Avriel both heard and felt Katana move. He was often able to "see" her attacks three movements before she made them. This gave him a great advantage, yet she seemed to have an ability very similar, if not the same. Katana left her eyes open and moved with and against Avriel as they shifted effortlessly about the entirety of the training room while they sparred.

Their blades were in their sheaths, his dagger had been picked up and put in his hand only to find its way back to where it belonged. They sparred, each taking on the roles of defense and offense in turn. She no sooner landed a single strike against him than he did her. They settled into their own rhythm, time and space. Their breathing normalized as sweat covered their bodies. Their hearts beat in time as they twisted and turned, rolled and dove over and around each other. They practiced for hours before Avriel opened his mouth. "Katana?"

"Yes?"

He didn't respond. His thoughts held his tongue.

"Kotas?"

"After we eat." He caught her wrist in a lucky grab and pulled until she was just slightly off-balance. He didn't give her a chance to react to the subtle shift he imposed upon her. He pulled her up over his shoulder and rolled her under him and carefully pinned her to the floor. The action was pure instinct. His pin prevented her from moving as it trapped her legs and both arms completely. He was in control of her body. His eyes shot open and connected with hers. His heart suddenly started racing as he looked down at her beneath him. He was ready to move to let her go and to roll away, but he stayed frozen where he lay. He dared not move and feared to make a sound. He expected her to fight and to resist him in some way or to completely freeze. He couldn't believe he put her in that situation again. The last time he had her pinned below him was disastrous. This was very different. She did none of those things. It was not fear that he saw as he looked into those beautiful silver blue-flecked orbs of hers. His breathing rate picked up again as he struggled to breathe.