Saphora vol.1 Retention
Page 54
“Now, when I attempt to strike you, I want you to push my wrist away, and blow fire at me with your other hand,” Hydra instructed, easing her stance into a more battle-ready one. Saphora shook her head slightly, her stance similar to Hydra’s as they stood in the middle of Maverick’s living room. They had pushed Maverick’s furniture out to add to the space they had.
“I don’t know if I can do that so quickly … And even if I could, I don’t want to hurt you – or Maverick’s apartment,” Saphora argued warily. Hydra reassured her.
“You won’t. I’m covering myself in a layer of water. It will absorb the fire that makes contact. I’ll put out anything that misses.”
“I still don’t know if I’ll be able to do it,” she said, glancing down at her hands.
“That is why we’re practicing. I’m not expecting you to get it right the first time. Come. Are you ready?” Hydra stepped forward. Saphora sighed, raising her hands and swallowing the lump in her throat.
“Whatever that means,” she said, steadying herself. And without any warning, Hydra came at Saphora, swinging her right fist towards her face. With hesitance and shock halting her before she thought to raise her arm in defense, she was too late by the time Hydra’s knuckles stopped about a centimeter away from her left eye. Her eyes were wide, staring straight at Hydra, who was looking back with somewhat of a frown. A few seconds passed before she lowered her hand and took two steps back.
“Again,” she said, putting her right foot forward. Saphora sighed, feeling her heartbeat come back with a thump.
“What if I hurt you?” she asked worriedly.
“You won’t,” she reassured, taking a step forward. But Saphora took a step back. Hydra frowned. “You need to learn. You must attack as if you believe I am trying to hurt you.”
“But I can’t.” Hydra paused, before making a necessary decision.
“Very well,” she said, spinning as she stepped forward towards Saphora with a quick pace. Saphora blinked repeatedly, taking a step back off guard. But the spinning continued, until Hydra’s left palm made contact with Saphora’s jaw, knocking her back and to the ground with a thud. Saphora curled up on the floor slightly, as she went to lift herself up in shock. She looked up at Hydra with wide eyes, one of her hands going to delicately hold her stinging chin.
“You … You hit me,” she breathed.
“Get up,” Hydra instructed. Saphora scoffed and stood up, keeping her eyes on the slightly swaying Hydra. She didn’t actually know which one of them was swaying.
“Hydra-“
“Again.”
“This is ridiculous. I’m not-“ Before Saphora could finish her sentence, another blow was delivered – this time, just below her ribcage. The breath was knocked from Saphora as she stumbled back and doubled over in pain. She hissed and groaned as air returned to her lungs a little slower than she would have liked. She grit her teeth, blinking hard. It wasn’t long before her eyes began shifting colour as she blinked – being brought on by pain and anger. A known stimulant for Saphora’s power. She looked up at Hydra, who backed away again.
“Again,” Hydra demanded. Saphora slowly corrected her posture, her hand still against her ribs. “Defend yourself as your life depended on it. Attack with power blinded by rage. Again!” she shouted, coming at Saphora once more. Her right fist aimed for the side of Saphora’s skull. But this time, Saphora reacted. Her wrist came up to deflect the blow as instructed, and her other hand pushed forward, her open palm thrusting itself into crease of Hydra’s ribcage, knocking her back.
But Hydra didn’t stop at being pushed away. She spun on her heel and went to send a kick towards Saphora’s shoulder. With wide eyes, Saphora ducked, coming back up when the leg had made its way around. But when Saphora stood back up, she was greeted with a blow to the crease of her neck by Hydra’s vertical hand. Saphora cried out in pain as she stumbled back, gripping the area. An involuntarily slash of wind whipped off of her body, and Hydra paused her attacks.
“Do you expect to make a difference on our planet like this?” Hydra jabbed. Saphora’s eyes narrowed as they found Hydra’s. Taking a jab at losing her home was a bit of a push, but one that was needed to get Saphora motivated in putting forth some effort in combat practice. She stood straight again, shaking her head.
“Don’t,” Saphora warned.
“Then show me you can handle going home. Again!” she said, going at Saphora again. Saphora countered most all of Hydra’s moves, taking some hits and giving some in return. What fire she did manage to spawn from her hands was small, but Hydra was happy to take the progress.
Saphora continuously shocked herself during the spar. Never in her life had she so much as taken a self-defense class, and yet she was able to see and manage some way of blocking or avoiding most of the attacks. She didn’t know if was because she had been taught early on in her childhood, or if she was just getting lucky.
About 15 minute into their sparing, the door to Maverick's apartment was unlocked, followed by his entrance. But his appearance caught Saphora off guard, having interrupted her concentration. Her hand shot towards Maverick before either of them could realize, and unleashed a fireball. Maverick dropped his keys as Saphora’s eyes widened. A gasp left her lips as the glow in her eyes immediately dissipated, and the fireball stopped in midair. Saphora’s palm had widened, as if to stop the ball. And as it turned out, she had. Hydra had spun around, ready to put out the fire, but stumbled to a halt upon seeing the fire floating in the middle of the room, closer to Maverick. Maverick looked on with wide eyes and a held breath, as the fire hovered just over a foot away from him. He swallowed, looking up at Saphora.
“Did … Did I do something wrong?” Saphora was speechless as she strained to keep the ball where it was, worried about it hitting Maverick. Hydra slowly walked up to the ball, circling it as she observed the consistency. Finally, she smiled, looking back to Saphora.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Chapter 12