He whipped the staff around and brought it toward her. The weapon struck her once more, against her arm, her leg, and then her back. She staggered and fell forward, crumpling to the ground.
“There you are,” he said. “I see the darkness in your gaze.”
“There is no darkness there,” she said, scrambling to her feet.
Imogen tried to stay standing, but everything hurt. She suspected that was intentional. She watched the way Master Liu held his gaze on her, as if he was amused more than anything else.
It was a lesson. Imogen understood that much, but what exactly was he trying to teach her? She wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted her to learn here. He was too fast, and his weapon’s reach was too much for her.
“What have you done wrong?” he asked.
“You have the advantage,” she said. “And I need to compensate for the additional reach of your staff.”
Which meant she needed to be faster. She thought she could do that.
He chuckled, and there was a brightness in his eyes that glittered. Excitement, or maybe a flash of irritation. “Do you think it’s only the additional reach that makes the difference?”
Imogen regarded him for a moment. Was this a trick? Her training had taught her to analyze every opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and to be prepared for all of them so she could overwhelm them. He had advantages over her. She had come to see that immediately.
“I think that makes quite a difference,” she said.
“And what if I used something shorter?” He pulled out a small length of wood, no longer than his forearm. It was a twisted branch, made of some blackened tree, and he swept it in a quick circle. “Do you think I would have as much success this way?”
“No.”
“Then we will try again.”
Imogen bowed, and then she darted forward.
The patterns were crisp. Precise. Easy. She knew these patterns as well as she knew the contours of her hand. Her sword, though a recent gift, was still an extension of her arm. She was quick. She didn’t have to worry about the reach of his staff or about him striking her on the fly and startling her the way she had worried about before. She could—
His branch struck her on the neck.
If it had been a sword, it would’ve been a killing blow. As it was, it still staggered her. She twisted, bringing her blade up, but Master Liu was already there. He drove the branch forward, into her belly. Imogen grunted, trying to bring her hands down as quickly as she could, but the speed did not come to her.
He stepped back with a laugh. “Was it the greater reach that made the difference?”
Imogen shook her head. “No.”
“Then what was the difference?”
“I am not fast enough.”
He regarded her for a long moment. “Do you believe it is all about speed?”
“Yes.”
“Then you will fail.” He brought the branch down, clutching it in front of him. “Most who come to the sacred temple do so with an open mind, wanting to understand. What is it that you want? Why are you here?”
“I am doing it because I must,” she said.
“Must you?” He shook his head, and there was a hint of irritation in his tone this time. “Perhaps you must fail.”
Imogen wasn’t about to do that. She wasn’t about to allow him to succeed. She was here because she had been chosen. Because she could handle this. Because she would get through it.
And yet, she still couldn’t.
Imogen spun the sword around, but again it whistled in the air. He tapped on it three times in quick succession, his staff smacking the blade quickly. He danced back, all of his movements in familiar patterns—only far faster and more precise than any she’d ever made.
And then he looked at her. “Is it the pattern?”
“No,” she said, breathing heavily and watching him.
“Then it is the skill of the fighter.”
“Yes.”
“And what must you do?”
“Get faster,” she said.
“Faster? Is it the speed that matters?”
“You are faster than I am.”
He shook his head. “It is not always the speed.”
“You’re still faster,” she said.
“Yes, but perhaps that is not always the key. What if I moved slower? Do you think I could still defeat you?” He smiled and stepped back, and he looked as if he were moving through water. “Try again.”
Even as she powered through a series of patterns, she couldn’t get to him. He wasn’t where she expected him to be. She tried, but every time she found herself thinking she was getting close to him, she could not reach him.
She had to find a way to prove to him that she belonged here. That was what this was, after all—a test. Imogen had thought she’d passed all the tests she needed to simply by reaching the sacred temple, but perhaps it was only the beginning.
She darted toward him, sweeping the blade around. He turned, and though he didn’t move quickly, he still managed to avoid her attack. She lunged at him, but she came up short each time. He was not fast, at least not traditionally so, but it seemed as if he was anticipating what she was going to do.
Imogen channeled her anger as she lunged at him, trying to get to him, but she could not. He turned out of the way, and he slapped her hand with the branch.
“Is that all?”
She stopped, and she gritted her teeth, staring at him. “Yes.”
“Very good. Now, if that is all, then perhaps you can tell me what happened this time.”
“I am not fast enough.”
He chuckled. “Again, is it speed?”
“If I were faster, I would have been able to get to you.”
“Perhaps,” he said. “Or perhaps you would not.”
She clenched her jaw and stayed off to the side.
“If it’s not speed, and if it’s not strength, then what is it?” Master Liu asked.
“The patterns,” she said.
“Indeed. The patterns. What do you think they can offer you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Perhaps not. But you must find the answer. You must find that within you, and only then can you understand what you must do.”
“I must understand the patterns.”
He nodded. “Understand them, and perhaps master them as you must. It is not speed. It is not strength. It is trusting in the sacred patterns.”
He spun, and the staff became a blur. She tried to follow it to see if there was anything within that blurring movement she could understand. The air crackled, almost as if a lightning storm was forming around him.
Her eyes widened. She had never seen anything quite like it.
He was right. Not only was it speed, it was also precision and skill and the way he moved. There was something almost like a dance within it.
And then he stopped.
“When you can find that within yourself, when you can find the energy and the understanding, then you can know,” he said. “We will continue to work. That is the lesson for you. You must find understanding, and you must understand that what you know is not what you need.”
The strangeness of the electrical activity around him continued, and she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps there was something greater within it—some aspect of power, some part that she needed to try to understand. She had certainly never seen anything like that before, but having seen it now and recognizing the energy within it, she couldn’t help but feel as if there was something she might be able to master.
Imogen would learn what he knew. She would complete this training and get his power. She would be the greatest sword master in the Leier lands.
She took a step back and bowed.
Master Liu watched her. “We will work until you have mastered the first of the sacred patterns.”
She shook her head. “I’m going to work until I can do what you can.”
“If you do, you will be the first.”<
br />
Chapter Fifteen
Imogen came awake slowly, staring at the fire.
In the years since leaving the sacred temple, she had thought of Master Liu many times, though not so often of late. There had been no reason to think of him. She had attempted to use what he taught, tried to understand the sacred patterns he had demonstrated for her, which she had not been able to master to his satisfaction. She had left the sacred temple without a notch on her blade—a failure.
Imogen hadn’t abandoned her attempt to understand them, though. She had continued to practice the sacred patterns, knowing that if she could eventually master them, perhaps she could then return to the temple, demonstrate her proficiency to Master Liu, and receive the notch on her blade she longed for. It was something only a few had ever accomplished, something she still wanted for herself. It was proof that she was what she believed herself to be.
Imogen still didn’t know if there was something to the patterns she could utilize in another way. Perhaps there was, and maybe returning to the sacred temple would help her to fully understand. When she’d been there before, she may not have been ready. But the idea of returning to the sacred temple after all this time, and after having left the way she had, made her feel unsettled in a way that few things ever did.
It wasn’t until she came fully awake that she realized the cold air had returned, gusting through the clearing, leaving her uncomfortable. Her brother rested, and Benji sat across the fire from her. He said nothing, though perhaps there was nothing for him to say.
“How long have you been watching?” she asked him.
He frowned at her. “Does it offend you?”
“I suppose not.”
“Then stop asking.”
The sky was still dark. She supposed she should be thankful they hadn’t gone through the entire night with no one standing guard.
“You were talking in your sleep,” Benji said.
She arched a brow at him. “I was not.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps not. Maybe that was only my imagination.” He chuckled and stretched out. “You offered something to me as I slumbered. Did you know that you did?”
She looked across the space at him, watching for a long moment before nodding. “I was just using the patterns to disrupt any sorcery that might be around here.”
Benji regarded her, tossing a handful of berries into his mouth. “Don’t try to blow smoke up my ass. I’ve lived long enough to recognize the fire from the smoke.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I suspect there is something to the patterns, but I’m not exactly sure what it is or what it means.”
“Still blowing smoke. Might as well cool me off after.”
She flicked her gaze to Timo before turning back to Benji. “I have suspected for some time,” she said. “I have known for much less.”
“Interesting. The First of the Blade recognizing there is power within the movements she uses.”
“I haven’t known for sure,” she said, speaking more hurriedly than she probably needed to. At this point, what did it even matter?
“Then I should thank you.”
“It shouldn’t have been necessary,” Imogen said.
Benji leaned toward the fire, and it seemed as if the flames leaned away. “It should not have been, yet it was. Unfortunately, the attack upon me made it difficult to feel its effects. I don’t know if I was its ultimate target or if there was something else, but either way, I could not withstand it.”
“I know,” she said.
He chuckled. “I find that most intriguing.”
“Why?”
“Think about everything your people have been through. The Leier, the hunters of sorcerers.”
“Not all sorcerers,” she said, though her voice barely carried.
Benji laughed again, and she was reassured that there was no longer the same darkness in his laughter as there had been before. Still, there was an edge to it. “Not all of them. Does that mean you target specific sorcerers?”
“Ones who have misused their power,” she said.
“Not just those,” Benji said. “Koral. That’s the reason your people have developed the skill they have.” He shook his head, sniffing at the air. “It’s no different than it is in any other land. A people develop a skill because they need to defend themselves, or to defeat their enemies. Your people chased understanding of your sword skills out of a desire to do both. The difference is that you have harnessed it to such an incredible degree that you are now unrivaled in this particular skill.”
They sat in silence, and she shifted in place. “You know an awful lot about my people.”
“I know an awful lot about many things. I am Benji the Elder, after all.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
“It means what it needs to mean,” he said. “What do you think it means?”
Imogen leaned forward. “I don’t know. What should it?”
She took a deep breath, welcoming the warmth of the fire. For whatever reason, sitting here and talking to Benji had her feeling on edge. A chill had worked through her, one she could not quite place.
He laughed again. “There you go, looking for answers from others when you should find them yourself.”
“I didn’t realize that I was looking to you for answers. I was asking you a question.”
“A question you should know the answer to, Imogen Inaratha, First of the Blade.”
She sat back. “There was a time when that title mattered to me,” she said. She didn’t look up. “There was a time when I believed that it was the beginning to all that I wanted.”
“And then you began to question it?”
She raised her head and met his eyes. “I began to question myself. I began to wonder if what I did and the way I fought were tied to something greater. And because of that, and because of who my people are, I started to doubt myself.”
“It has been my experience that all people must question themselves. Even those who think they do not need to. Perhaps they are the ones who need to do it most of all.”
“My people don’t view it that way,” she said.
“Your people view themselves as separate from magic, yet I believe you have come to see something different about it, have you not?”
She nodded slowly. “I have.”
“And does it bother you that you occasionally draw upon magic?”
She let out a long sigh. “I do not know.”
“What it means is a fairly simple thing, First.” He studied her. “You may believe that this is all about what you can do and the way you can command the power within you, but it’s more. So much more. It is about what exists in the world. Everything is interconnected.” He tapped his hand on the ground, touching the rock, though he didn’t do it with nearly the same force as he had when trying to disrupt the enchantments. “Feel this stone. Is it so different than what you found in the cave?”
She placed her hand on the ground. “No,” she said.
“And is it so different than that which you would find if you were to go even farther into the forest?”
Imogen shook her head.
“And is it so different than what you would find if you continued traveling west, to one of the villages, or perhaps one of the cities, such as the great city of Yoran?”
She looked up at him, holding his gaze.
He was smarter than she gave him credit for, and he probably knew things she didn’t think he did, which was dangerous. She had to be careful with him and what he knew. It could be possible that everything he knew about her would be used against her. Or used in whatever magic he intended.
“This land is connected to those lands, and to those beyond,” he explained. “If you keep moving, you will feel the flow of the world and how it changes beneath your feet. I imagine you have traveled extensively. And while there are differences, there are also similarities. What I am trying to say is that all of these powers you believe are separate are actually interconnected
. It is that interconnectedness that puts some in danger of others.” He curled up on the ground and watched her with one eye. “You will keep watch?”
Imogen frowned before nodding.
She got to her feet and circled the clearing. Her brief rest had given her enough recovery that she felt refreshed in a way she had not for some time. She made a small circuit, staying close to the fire, partly to allow herself to feel the warmth radiating from it and partly because she was nervous about getting too far away from it. Taking a deep breath, she began to focus.
She wasn’t exactly sure what she was focusing on. At this point, it might only be knowledge. There was something appealing to her about chasing understanding, of learning the truth of the patterns so she could master them in a way that would make her a truly invincible sword fighter. That was what she had pursued her entire life. It was the reason she had wanted to go to the sacred temple.
And then she had failed.
Only, not only had her failure led her away from her people, it had opened her eyes in a way they wouldn’t have been had she remained. There was a part of her that wondered if that was the reason she had truly been sent on her bond quest.
She stood motionless, feeling the energy in the air, and she continued to focus. In that focus, she thought about the part of her that she remembered from all those years before, what she had seen when she had been with Master Liu long ago. He had attempted to teach her, and she thought of how his power had seemed like an electrical storm of energy and magic, a combustion of power that was unlike anything she had ever witnessed. At the time, she’d simply thought him an incredibly skilled sword fighter. While that was likely true, especially given what she had seen from him in the months and years following, it was more than that. Master Liu had known what he was, and he had known the way he used power. He had done so willingly—and openly.
She closed her eyes, breathing in and out, and imagined the sacred patterns. As those patterns crawled through her mind, one after another, Imogen saw the way they took hold and took form, almost as if the patterns themselves flowed from one to the next. Each one gave her an understanding of the world and what she needed to do within it. Meditation helped her feel the patterns in a way she couldn’t otherwise, and it helped her see them in her mind, even if she couldn’t use them quite as well as Master Liu could. She didn’t have his surprising skill.
Unbonded (First of the Blade Book 1) Page 15