Training with Dex gets easier everyday. We moved from hand to hand combat now we are on swords. I am good at it but not great.My parents didn't spend a lot of time teaching me with swords and the only way I am able to move one around at all is because of my martial arts teacher.Dex is very skilled with a sword as are most knights. Max and Ian both come to train with me sometimes and every time they do I show them something different from my years of training. The look on their faces is priceless each time.
Dex thinks so as well. He has gotten better with hos attitude but he still isnt exactly nice to me. I don't even know if that is a word in his vocabulary anymore.We train for hours each day and eventually my father wants tp see me in action. Dex agrees. Max looks worried though. I realize why the day I am to show how much my training has improved me. I have to take on 6 knights at once. Including Max. Dex's suggestion to see if I would fight someone I cares about if it came down to it. I tried to object saying that I could never fight my best friend. As did Max. But as per usual Dex gets his way so now I am standing in the training yard waiting for the attacks to start. My father sets the rules. "I only want to see my daughters improvement. I do not want to see her hurt. If any of you deliberately go against my wishes you will be unknighted. You may land blows to her if possible but not any hard ones that may cause her pain. You may begin." Even though the knights I am to fight are no where to be seen I know they are there. I listen carefully for any sign of movement. I hear a rock connecting with a wooden support behind me. I smile and wait acting as if I didnt hear him.His footsteps get faster and I wait until they are close before I spin out of the way and kick his wooden sword from his hand. (My fathers demand for wooden swords.) He is surprised and that gives me time to land a blow to his stomach and.knock him to the ground just before another knight comes at me.
I duck under his sword and sweep my foot beneath his he falls down back first with an impact I am sure knocked the breadth out of him.I don't have time to celebrate my victory before another attacker comes.He is a bit more skilled and harder to take down.But I get him down in about five minutes.That's three. It Seems that the knights become more skilled when I take one down. It's harder to take out the next one.I can't see his face. It's blocked by a helmet unlike the other knights. We fight for a good fifteen minutes and we land blows to eachother.He gets me in the stomach a few times and me in his legs.I can tell her is tiring by the movement's he is making.
Still skilled and fast but not as much as when we first started fighting. Luckily for me however my parents and teacher both pushed me past my tiring point and made me stronger able to last for a long time.He makes a move for my stomach trying too year it against me but he makes an obvious move.I back out of his line of attack and kick his arm sending his sword flying. Then I take his legs out and he goes down clearly tired.He dosent make a move to get up but I know this trick letting your opponent think you are giving up then when they turn their back attacking them .
To make sure he dosent I pick up his sword and push it through his shirt into the wooden wall,in far enough that he would struggle to get it out on his own."Sorry. But first lesson of facing your opponent never turn your back on your opponent especially if you don't mean to kill them. Disable them long enough to get away from them." I let go of the sword and look around for my last opponent. He is silent and obviously more skilled then the others. He doesn't make the mistake of kicking a rock or running or pulling out his sword. But I was trained to listen for the most silent attackers. To listen for their breathing as it gets louder sometimes when they are about to attack. Its dead silent in the training yard.Suddenly I hear it. The slight intake of breath as my opponent prepares. I was right. Hes up on the platform 12 feet in the air. Hiding behind a beam. I look closer and notice his shoulder that is not completely concealed by the beam. I pick up a small rock and aim it at his shoulder. I throw it hard and it hits him.
He takes a sharp intake of breath surprised but he recovers. He figured out that I saw him and makes a run for it.I smile and climb up the ladder quickly. Now this is more like it. I hear Perry's voice through my head and agree with him. Yeah I was getting annoyed with staying on the ground.I enjoy a good chase. Perry laughs but doesn't respond again. I see my opponent right ahead of me turning around a corner. I push myself up the last few pegs and run towards him. I pull out my sword and turn around the corner to find him gone. I hold my sword in front of me with both hands walking forward slowly. Hes nowhere to be seen. Something knocks my sword out of my hand and knocks it to the ground feet below.
Next something comes at me aiming for my heart. I dont move quick enough and a slight pain sizzles from where the wooden sword hit me. This man has a helmet on as well blocking me from figuring who he is. He strikes again and I dodge but only barely. A sting goes through my arm. The swords may be wooden but they still hurt like hell. This opponent is much more skilled then the rest. I try to dodge and tire him out but its not working. He just keeps attacking and I keep dodging. Then he goes for my neck which contains the necklace my father gave to me on my 13 birthday. A silver moon split in half one side plain and intricate the other studded with diamonds. A sapphire tear drop hangs from the middle of the crescent moon. Time slows for me and I dodge spinning behind a beam. An amused smirk comes to my lips as I hear the wooden sword swishing through the air connect with the post I hid behind. It sounds like the sword got stuck. That gives me an advantage. I spin out of my hiding place and kick the embedded sword a satisfying crack sounding as the sword splits.
My opponent is stunned from the impact I made and I take the chance to flip down to the ground where my sword is. I land on my feet with a soft thump and pick up my sword just as my opponent comes down behind me. He is unarmed now and I think about using that to my advantage as well since he sure did,but I refuse the thought and drop my sword to the ground beside me. I look up to my father and Dex who have been joined by my already defeated opponents. "I will not fight someone who is unarmed. It is unfair and cruel. I will not be that person." My father gives me a look of approval. Dex's face is at first impressed then turns to alarm. A brief flash of alarm that I almost didnt see it but it was enough to tell me that my opponent was coming up behind me while I wasnt paying attention. I listen closely and can tell that he is going to try and knock me down using his weight against mine. I set my feet then bending my legs and pushing up hard I leap over him backwards and land on my feet. I kick him in the middle of his back and he falls spinning around quick enough that he didnt land face first but he still fell. A grunt coming from him as he does. I dont turn my back this time and get down putting my knee on his chest to keep him down. "Just stay down." I emphasize the word down. He doesn't listen. Instead he knocks my knee off and pushes me back. I stagger but regain my composure. I groan. Okay fine. Lets do this the hard way.
Now I give it everything. I was only doing about half before maybe not even that. I move faster and smoother then before and this registers surprise in my opponent. He is strong and fast and still gets hits in. Now I'm just getting frustrated.Suddenly it seems like everything around me disappears. Its like I am not even apart of gravity anymore. Like I am weightless. Before I know it I am on top of my opponent his arms pinned by my hands. His legs pinned by my knees. I come back to reality to hear complete silence. Everyone is staring at me as if they saw a ghost. I look down at my body and I am glowing silver.I jump back from my opponent scared. Scared of what ever the hell is happening to me.