The Warrior's Assault

by Kristen Banet

She did just that, pulling out one drop from the cut, then touched that power again. This time, she gave in to the heady power and took it for herself, feeling it rush to her chest and wait.

  “Now, use it to accelerate the healing of the cut,” he ordered.

  She pushed the power back down her arm to the very cut she had already made, pushing to help knit the skin closed again. Being so small, it was a considerable push, forcing the edges of the cut to close right before her eyes and the rest to scab as if it had been done hours earlier.

  “Good control this morning,” he commented, nodding at her hand. “I wanted to make sure because if you were called to see Jesvena, that meant you had to deal with Allaina.”

  “She didn’t give me a real hard time.” Mave shrugged aimlessly. “Wished me luck on learning how to play before the end of winter. It wasn’t in good spirit, but it doesn’t have to be.” She eyed him as he continued to stand there. “What else are we going to work on today? Please tell me it has nothing to do with the festival.”

  “No…I know the rituals that are performed during the festival, but you don’t need to learn them. I was thinking we could spar and continue to test your control of small blood magic use.”

  So, we’re going to do what we do every day. Fantastic.

  Mave unsheathed her new morok, made for her by Senri’s husband, Gentrin, shortly after the Company settled in for the winter. Mave swung it in her right hand then pulled out her second morok with her left. She now felt the blades were extensions of her arms as if she had always owned them. Gentrin had made them smaller than the average morok to compensate for her fighting style.

  Luykas unsheathed his larger blade across from her and shifted into a defensive position. She didn’t wait for a go, rushing him and attacking him with a flurry of lightning-fast strikes. He deftly blocked and dodged, not allowing her to find an opening, steel clashes ringing out over their empty field. Mave knew the closest structure to them was Alchan’s home, meaning the village had no idea what sort of things they did during training.

  If they could, they would see two highly trained and powerful warriors meeting blades as equals.

  She slid her right blade over his forearm, causing him to hiss. A kick found her thigh, forcing her back. When she was righted, Luykas backed off, holding his sword up to defend again. Baring her teeth, she knew he didn’t try for a killing blow because he knew how she fought. Mave had a habit of turning a disadvantageous position into a victory, and he wouldn’t give that to her. He’d made that mistake early in this training, and she wouldn’t expect it to be made again.

  When they clashed again, it was more of the same. Her frustration grew when he was able to draw a dagger and score her once.

  “Damn it,” she snapped, jumping back to see the thin cut on her hip. She felt the blood running from it as she continued to block him, pulling the energy from the blood and throwing it into the injury, forcing its healing to accelerate even faster than she had ever tried. That was a dirty trick.

  “Be careful doing that on the fly,” he warned. “You’ll burn through your energy.”

  “Isn’t that why we’re practicing?” she asked with a growl as their swords locked and they got stuck in a standstill.

  “Yes, but I don’t need you accidentally killing yourself,” he reminded her.

  “I won’t.” Mave shoved him back hard enough to stumble. When she reached for her blood to continue trying to heal, he attacked faster than she would’ve thought possible. The sharp edge of his morok slid over the back of her right hand, forcing her to drop the blade.

  Fine. I’ll play dirty too.

  She reached out with her now free hand and grabbed his bare neck, shocking him with the bond and forcing him to pause as their emotions collided. Her frustration was the most evident one, but she could feel his as well, along with several other things she didn’t want to feel. She used the grab to shove him back again, dropping her left sword.

  “I’m done,” she declared, looking down at her right hand to make sure the damage wasn’t too bad.

  “That’s cheating,” he said, breathing hard. “Using the bond to throw me off my game like that.”

  “I win,” she hissed back. “I’ll do what I have to. You’re the one who pulled a hidden dagger out. I didn’t think you could use your sword with one hand.”

  “I can if I have to.” He shoved his blade back in its sheath. “So, you’re done? What does that mean?”

  She growled softly, her pulse barely elevated from the workout. She was honed for this and wanted more.

  “This is what we do every day. We’ve been doing it since the beginning of winter. When are we going to move on? I’m ready for more, Luykas.”

  “We’ll move on when I decide you’re ready for more,” he said, his Elvasi-gold eyes turning hard.

  “Please. You know I’m ready.” She met those eyes and waited. For months now, they had been in a pissing contest over who was more dominant, and neither was ever the winner. While she was now accepting of it with Alchan, due to his social rank, she refused to lower her eyes to Luykas. “I beat you in most of our fights, and I have never slipped in the control of my magic.”

  “I don’t care. You aren’t going to rush your training. We’re taking this at my pace.” He crossed his arms. “Stop complaining. You’re good, but you have to be perfect.”

  “There’s no such thing as perfect,” she scoffed. She wasn’t so foolish as to believe that. “But I’ll be the closest thing you’ve ever seen to it.”

  “For some reason, I have little doubt of that,” he replied, his eyes softening as a smile took over his face. It made her uncomfortable, so she reached down to grab her sword.

  “Let’s get back to this, but I want us to do something new before the end of this week, Luykas, or I’m finding a new teacher. I like you more than I used to, but I’m getting bored with this. I’ll replace you just like I would anyone else wasting my time.”

  “Sure,” he answered casually as if he didn’t really hear her. It wasn’t the first time she’d said it, but this morning, something made her mean it. Normally, she said the empty threat and hoped it stuck. This was the only time they ever really spoke.

  They sparred for hours, each quickly pulling on their magic to try and close injuries as they got them. She wondered why Mat never used it during a fight and resolved to ask him at dinner.

  She was panting as the winter sun climbed over them, and so was Luykas. He stumbled going for her legs, so she took the chance to cut open his arm at the elbow, forcing him to drop his sword. However, before he lost his hold on the hilt completely, he was able to cut into her thigh, making her stagger into the snow.

  “See? Not good enough yet,” he declared, motioning between them.

  “Yes, well, hours of combat are going to wear people out, and I’m not practiced in the snow after hundreds of years like you are. I still hit you first, and while I’m on the ground, I can still kill you before you pick your sword back up,” she retorted. “That was our last one for the day. Tomorrow, same time, and bring something new for me to do.”

  “I’ll consider it. Maybe I’ll make you wait all week.” He was chuckling now, picking up his sword and pulling a cloth out of his pocket. She watched him wipe down his blade.

  “I’m serious this time, Luykas. We’ve been doing this nearly every morning for months. If I’m not good enough now, I never will be.” She eyed him. “I’m not kidding.”

  “Even if you aren’t good enough for advanced blood magic, why would you train with someone else? We spar well together.”

  “Because Nevyn could probably teach me more than you. We’re fairly even, you and I. The biggest difference between us is I have more ferocity in battle than you, and you have sorcery and magic you refuse to teach me.”

  That made him stop and stare at her as if he realized she had a point. She didn’t give him a chance to reply, though.

  “I’m heading out. I’m going to clean up, get lunc
h at the hall, then…learn the flute. I haven’t really decided.” Something about the thought made her want to scoff, but she wanted to be Andinna, and the spring festival was seemingly important. She would learn.

  “You might like the drums more,” he said as she stood up and brushed snow off herself. “They’re more aggressive and require less dexterity in the fingers. Lots of kicking and hitting.”

  “Maybe the flute will be good then. It’ll give me more control over my fingers,” she fired back.

  “You turn everything into war.” His voice was soft as she wiped down her swords and sheathed them. “Why?”

  “It helps me get over the fact that I’m about to learn a fairly useless skill. Music is pretty, but it’s not useful.”

  “It’s our culture.” His eyes went to her horns, which she knew were bare because she never wore the pretty little jewelry that everyone else did. Even training, he wore a few dangling pieces on his horns and a simple, masculine necklace with an onyx on it.

  And I refuse to wear mine, something he notices every time he sees me.

  “I know, and I’ll learn, but it doesn’t make it any less useless. Playing music is never going to save my life, feed me, or protect people I care about. I’m going to learn because I want to know what our people are like, and this seems like an interesting way to…be involved. Every other female is doing it, even Senri, so I should.” Mave tried for a small smile. “Doesn’t make it any less useless.”

  “Fair point,” he finally conceded.

  Something about him frustrated her more that morning than he had in a long time, and his words gave her a way to needle him back as he sometimes did to her.

  “I mean, you’re supposed to be teaching me useful skills, and you’re not, so maybe I need to find some cultural reason for you to. Is there some title I can work for if I’m a fully trained Blackblood? Maybe if I can claim you’re holding me back from learning more about our people, I can force you to teach me something interesting.”

  The answering growl and anger that bloomed in the bond wasn’t the reaction she was expecting, but it was more than she had gotten in weeks.

  “You get more comfortable every day here, and every day, it brings out more of this fucking attitude you seem to have,” he snapped. “I’ll teach you more when I think you’re ready for it.”

  “Or you’ll teach me because you’ll lose your best pupil if you don’t,” she said. “Also, my males love my attitude.”

  “Your males are insane,” he muttered, shaking his head. She watched him relax after that, though, putting on a friendly smile, one she had seen before. “See you here tomorrow.”

  “Of course. Promise not to be late.” She took off, leaving him in a flurry of snow. She didn’t bother heading home to clean off, opting to land in front of the community building she had visited earlier in the morning and walk in the way she was—bloody, dirty, and aching. She knew she should have gone home, but she was starving already. No matter what she ate, the cold and her training regimen always burned through it.

  She caught glances from dressed females this time, instead of naked ones. They were what Luykas probably expected her to become. They had the jewelry, the fashion of their people. They were all unscarred and clean. They knew the culture and would probably accept whatever training they could get if it was offered to them. Mave didn’t see the appeal. She didn’t like fussing with the jewelry, which she had worn for all of two days before deciding it wasn’t worth her time. She knew the males came in dirty from training, so why couldn’t she?

  Mave grabbed a plate and walked through the food line, letting the males working the counters dish up whatever they wanted to give her. When she was at the end of the line, she looked down and felt grateful they understood she was a warrior who needed food to keep up her body. Even though she hadn’t had a battle in months outside of sparring, she still had only a shred of fat on her body and probably needed more if she wanted to survive more winters like this.

  “Mave! Come sit!” someone called out.

  She grinned as she caught a glance of Nevyn, Varon, and Kian at a long table across the room.

  “Our favorite female!” Kian declared, opening his arms as she walked closer. Her heart swelled, even though she knew the next words coming out of his mouth. “Except my wife, of course!”

  “Of course,” she agreed as she sat next to him and across from Varon. Nevyn sat to Varon’s left, grinning like a fool. “I saw her this morning. Spring festival preparations are apparently kicking off.” She gave each of them an annoyed look. “No one wanted to let me know about that ahead of time? A warning that females play music for it would have been nice.”

  “Yeah…For most Andinna, we don’t really think about the festival until it’s nearly on us.” He chuckled sadly. “And the Company is all male. I, for one, didn’t think about how you were female and would maybe want to join it. Sorry.”

  “It’s no one’s fault. I’m just fucking with you. It seems there’s a schedule. Jesvena called all the females in to see how they were and get everyone practicing. Seems no one thought about it until that moment.” Mave glanced at Varon, whose hands moved slowly just for her. He always spelled out very simple things for her, but it was something.

  “Senri is going to teach you? I know both from my time living in a temple if you need more help.”

  “I’m sure Senri will be fine, but thank you for the offer.”

  “You’re going to need all the help you can get if you want to have a spot among us, Mave. Don’t pass up the priest’s offer too quickly.”

  The males around her froze, and Mave recognized the voice, wanting to sigh. Varon’s jasper eyes traveled over her head slowly, hardening as they went. His hands moved again quickly, forcing Mave to keep her eyes on them and not turn on the new addition to the conversation.

  “I have as much faith in Mave as I do our gods, Allaina.”

  That made her finally turn to see the sharp, ruby-eyed female. Varon’s high praise of Mave made her warm, but Allaina’s look did its best to cool her off again.

  “What do you need, Allaina?” she asked boldly.

  “I saw you come in and caught what Varon was signing. Before you ask, yes, of course, as future mativa I learned how to communicate with him. He is the only fully trained priest here, and that’s useful.” She stepped closer. “I actually wanted to speak to you about your injuries. Do you need to see the healer? We generally don’t see you come in with such…” She waved a hand, probably at the cut on Mave’s hip, the worst of the injuries. Well, the thigh wasn’t pretty either.

  “I’ll be fine. I get cut up during training. It happens.” Mave eyed her.

  What’s her game today? Sometimes, she just wants to make a cutting remark, but sometimes, she wants to remind me that she’s the one with real power. I wonder what it’ll be today.

  “Ah. Well, if you remember, the healer will treat anyone who needs it.” Allaina gave a proper head nod, respecting Mave’s dominance over her.

  “I heard you’re good with a sword,” Mave said quickly. “Senri told me.”

  “Of course, I am,” the female laughed. “What kind of Andinna would I be if I didn’t learn to use a morok?” The sly smile at the end reminded Mave she wasn’t a friend. “Real Andinna females know how to balance our violent lives with the beauty of the world, which is at the core of our culture.”

  There it is.

  “Thank you for the lesson,” Mave said kindly, holding back her growl.

  “Always,” she said blithely, turning and walking away. When she was out of earshot, Mave turned back to her friends and exhaled the breath she would have used for the growl.

  “Try to compliment her, and she insults me. Try to ignore her, and she insults me. Try to fit in, and she insults me. There’s no winning with her,” Mave sighed, grabbing her fork. Kian shifted further away from her.

  “She’s a bitch,” he agreed. “Senri dislikes her, but there’s nothing that can be done exc
ept hope she grows up a bit more. She’s young and in power, without the realization her position isn’t perfect, and it won’t allow the behavior any longer.”

  “Why did you move away from me?”

  “I don’t want to get stabbed with a fork!” Kian laughed, pointing at her hand. She was holding the fork like it was a weapon, not an eating utensil. She saw his point and grinned.

  “I would never! Senri would kill me.”

  “For a little fork stabbing?” Nevyn chuckled. “No. She might throw you a party.” Varon nodded as Nevyn spoke, a smile blossoming on his face.

  “Oh, she’ll cancel the party when she finds out where I like to aim my stabs,” Mave teased, watching Kian choke on his food as he registered what she meant.

  “Mean. Why are you so mean today?” He placed a hand over his heart. “What have we done to you today?”

  “Nothing. I would never,” she promised. She grabbed Nevyn’s mug and took a drink, savoring the ale. Nevyn shook his head but didn’t stop laughing. “Now, let me tell you what I would do—stab Luykas. If she thinks I look bad today, you should see him.”

  “Oh, this promises to be good,” Nevyn declared. “Tell us more.”

  “He’s an ass and refuses to teach me anything new. I proved I could control my blood magic ages ago, and yet we’ve been sparring and practicing the same thing, day in and day out,” she grumbled, taking another drink of the ale. “Tell me I’m not crazy, and he should be teaching me more.”

  Nevyn’s smile turned into a frown. Varon looked at his lover while Kian distracted himself with his food.

  “If you aren’t satisfied with the training, then it isn’t helping you.” Nevyn narrowed his eyes. “I can step in if you need me too.”

  “That’s what I think!” She was glad to have someone agree with her. “I’m giving him until the end of the week to find a new thing to teach me. I’ll handle this one on my own, but thanks for offering.”

  “Of course. I’ll leave you to it.” He stabbed his food with his fork, not taking his eyes off her. “How’s everything else? We don’t see you two together…ever.”