The bulky Matias makes a humble shrug as he hefts his two-handed broadsword into a guard position. “Don’t worry about it, Luke. We were only fighting for five minutes while you weren’t paying much attention and I was still having trouble. Your instincts and reflexes are amazing. Hard to believe you’re a student like the rest of us.”
“Yeah . . . hard to believe,” Luke nervously agrees, starting to dance around Matias. It doesn’t take long for Luke to slide under a wide swing and slice across Matias’s stomach. Luke makes sure to use just enough force to let Matias notice the contact. They continue sparring until Luke leaps into the air and lands on Matias’s outstretched sword, its flats facing the ground and sky. Luke skillfully leaps over the stockier student and thrusts both swords behind him, hitting both of Matias’s shoulders. There is no reason for Luke to turn around as his opponent drops his sword and awkwardly falls to his knees.
“Callindor! The object is not to cripple your classmates!” Selenia exclaims, approaching the younger warrior.
“Sorry about that,” Luke apologizes as he helps Matias to his feet. “I got carried away. I didn’t think I was hitting you that hard.”
Matias smiles as he admits, “Honestly, I barely felt your strikes. I lost my footing when I tried to turn around. Seriously, I’m fine.”
Selenia grabs Luke by his shirt collar and tosses him aside, which leaves Matias to fall back to the ground. Theresa cautiously joins them as Selenia chooses two other students to bring Matias to the infirmary. He continues arguing that he is fine while the students help him up and lead him away. Selenia is about to verbally rip into Luke when Theresa fearlessly steps between them, the tip of her tail flicking Selenia’s chin.
“I think I see the problem, headmistress. The boy’s ego is too big for his head. All the years of being called a hero for nothing has made him cocky, which makes him a danger to the other students. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize his attitude problem before today,” Theresa says as she begins to remove her armor. “Am I right, forest tracker? Do you believe that you are better than your peers?”
“I’ve had previous training, but that doesn’t mean I’m better than my classmates. I take my share of beatings,” Luke declares, noticing his classmates gathering around them. Several of them nod in agreement with him and chuckle.
“Matias called you a challenge. I’m always up for a challenge, so what say the two of us have a duel,” Theresa suggest, arching her back for a stretch and yawning. “I will be fair and not use any of my magical gear. Even a great warrior from the Callindor family should be given a fair fight.”
Theresa places her armor on the ground and strips off her amber leather boots, leaving her clawed feet bare. She tosses both of her magic daggers into the ground and chooses a pair of training weapons from a nearby weapon chest. In an attempt to intimidate Luke, she spins the wooden daggers in her hands until they are blurs at her sides. The only reaction from the young half-elf is a worried glance from Theresa to Selenia and back again.
“Arrogant kitten,” Selenia growls under her breath. “Always ready to use your blades and your mouth. Your kind is always causing trouble.”
“What was that, Ms. Hamilton?” Theresa asks with a cocky grin.
“You heard me perfectly, Ms. Marley,” Selenia angrily snaps. “I am not going to watch this. I have a class to run and I doubt my students will learn anything from this. All I will demand is that no major injuries are inflicted on my student.” She turns to Luke and adds, “Beat her into the ground.”
“I’ll have this lady knocked out in a matter of minutes,” Luke promises, his eyes practically glowing with excitement. No longer afraid of getting in trouble with Selenia, Luke faces Theresa and proudly crows, “We fight until one of us can’t get up. Just the way my grandfather trained me.”
The other students follow Selenia to the next training zone to continue practicing, but many of them keep an eye on Luke and Theresa. Selenia snaps her fingers and coughs to get their attention. Only a handful of them listen because they all notice that Selenia has positioned herself so that she can watch the upcoming bout.
Unknown to her students, Selenia could care less who wins as long as Theresa and Luke batter each other’s pride. Selenia had felt Luke’s restlessness growing over the last few days. She recognized the look of a forest tracker who longs to return to the wild no matter how much Luke tried to hide his frustration. He was becoming a caged animal, which was dangerous to his classmates. Theresa did not help the situation with her open desire to fight either Luke or Daniel Skyblade. After discussing her options with Kevin over breakfast, Selenia agreed that the best way to handle Theresa and Luke would be to pit them against each other. Inviting Theresa to watch the advanced swordsmanship class under the pretense of scouting for potential knife-fighters was the easy part of the plan. The hard part was getting Luke or Theresa to challenge the other, but Luke managed to cause that event without much effort. Now, Selenia would subtly watch, making sure they didn’t kill each other.
“Ladies first, Theresa,” Luke offers as he slides into a fighting stance.
“Have it your way, boy,” Theresa callously responds. “Just try not to cry. I hate the smell of tears.” She doesn’t bother getting into a stance before she is in Luke’s face. The half-elf barely sidesteps the quick slashes to his stomach, rapidly backpedaling and sidestepping to keep his footing.
Luke can feel his ego swiftly deflate when he realizes that Theresa is a lot faster than he expected. Her slashes are precise and quick enough that he has to concentrate on seeing them instead of attacking. Another slash at his stomach forces him to leap backwards, pushing him out of her slashing range. Once his back foot hits the ground, he launches himself at her. One of his sabers comes down for a headshot while the other slashes for Theresa’s chest. Neither attack makes contact as Theresa blocks both swords and fluidly trips Luke with a spinning kick to his ankle. Luke tosses a sword into the air, freeing his hand for a back handspring to his feet where he catches the falling weapon.
Frustration plays across Luke’s face as he leaps over a shoulder rush and barely ducks a kick to his head. He is kept on the defensive as Theresa lets her every move flow into the next, easily managing to block everything Luke throws at her. It is a fighting style that is similar to his own, but the daggers’ shorter reach and Theresa’s speed give Luke less time to counterattack than he is used to. The inclusion of martial arts maneuvers gives the experienced calico another edge against Luke. Losing appears to be inevitable, but Luke is determined to get a few strikes in and make Theresa admit he was a challenge.
Luke dodges a thrust at his chest and catches Theresa’s arm. He is surprised to find himself pulled against her and it takes all of his strength to keep her arm outstretched, trying to flip her to the ground. As much as he tries to twist her arm, Theresa continuously flips and moves enough to prevent him from controlling her movements. With an angry hiss, she attempts a few kicks that he manages to block with his legs. Out of desperation, Luke rolls backwards, hoping to pin Theresa underneath him. He can hear her shoulder pop out of its socket, but she twists it back in and rolls herself and Luke back to their feet. He can feel his shoulder starting to give while Theresa starts circling him, gently spinning him in place.
“Enjoy the combat rush while it lasts because this match is almost over,” Theresa claims with a vicious twist to Luke’s arm. “You may know about swords, but you don’t know anything else, boy. Speed, steel, and reflexes will only get you so far if you don’t add other styles into your repertoire. My style is all about close range and negating the swing of larger weapons. I will give you a chance to give up and save yourself from injury.”
“Go kiss an ogre!” Luke shouts, pushing off the ground and leaping over Theresa’s head. Still holding her arm, Luke twists in mid-air and can feel her shoulder pop out of its socket for a second time. This time Theresa bites her lip in pain and surprise.
Not letting up on his small success
, Luke tries to kick Theresa only to have his other leg taken out from under him with a sweep kick. Theresa quickly pops her shoulder back into its socket as Luke flips up to his feet . They stand still for a moment, sizing each other up and catching their breath. Theresa rubs at her numb shoulder while Luke flexes his bruised, throbbing knee. Suddenly, Luke drops his swords and sprints toward the woman as fast as he can. A dagger swings high, catching Luke’s hair when he ducks under it and runs past Theresa. He stops a foot behind her, starting a savage back kick as Theresa begins to turn around. Luke’s confidence soars as he watches Theresa’s face transform into an open-mouthed expression of shock.
“Luke!” screams a high-pitched voice before a purple blur slams into Luke’s stomach. The force of the impact rockets him past Theresa and into a tree. He hangs against the tree for an instant, eventually sliding down the rough, dented bark. He doesn’t even have to look in his lap to know that Fizzle just rammed into him at top speed.
“Fizzle happy find Luke. Fizzle need help. Forest need help. Luke promise help Fizzle and forest. Why Luke not talk? Please say,” the drite excitedly rambles.
Luke can only whimper an unintelligible response. His gut aches from getting hit and his groin hurts from his legs being forced into a vertical split. Theresa heads toward Luke to check on him when Fizzle flutters into her path. The small dragon quickly darts around her as she gingerly stops advancing on the half-elf. With her tail nervously twitching, she puts her hands up only to realize that she is still holding the training daggers.
“You try hurt Luke. You no hurt him more. Fizzle stop you,” Fizzle announces.
“Wai . . .” begins Theresa before Fizzle hits her in the face with a puff of rainbow mist from his nostrils. She falls to her knees, her eyes glazing over as she collapses to the ground. Luke watches her try to move, but her muscles are barely able to twitch.
“What is going on here?” Selenia asks as her students cluster around the area. They immediately clear a path for their teacher. Theresa begins making strange hiccup-like noises, but she is ignored as Selenia walks up to Fizzle.
“Selenia! Fizzle miss you!” the drite shouts, tackling the headmistress. She rolls backwards, using the momentum to roll back up to her feet. Holding Fizzle by the back of his neck, she looks at both Luke and Theresa. Luke tries to get up, but a sprained groin muscle wracks his body with intense pain. Theresa mumbles incoherently about giant frogs and dancing centaurs while her dilated eyes frantically dart from side to side.
“Great. I have an injured student and a hallucinating instructor,” Selenia mutters, rubbing her eyes. She clears her throat before ordering her students to action. “You four will carry these two to the infirmary and return immediately. I want everyone else to go back to practicing. Thomas will take over the sword fighting classes for the rest of the day. He will be here shortly with his quarterstaff class.” Selenia turns her attention to the drite. “You have some explaining to do, Fizzle.”
Fizzle waits for the crowd to disperse before talking in his native tongue. “Two evil beings are in the forest. One is a Hellfire Elf and the other is a Lich. I believe it is the Lich from the Caster Swamp. I could not clearly hear what they were talking about, but they killed the centaur guard who lived in the western quadrant. I barely escaped and had to take time to let the forest heal me. They pose a danger to your students and your academy. I do apologize for the late warning, but I came as soon as I was healed.”
“My Dragonesse rusty,” Selenia slowly responds. “Me look in tonight. Duggan and Clarence sent. Lich always come back. We be ready.”
“Not Duggan or Clarence. Send Luke and his friends out to investigate,” Fizzle requests with a serious look that catches Selenia off-guard.
“No way!” Selenia exclaims in trade-speak. She is hit in the nose by a quick burst of Fizzle’s breath attack, which immediately calms her.
“I heard them say was that the Callindor might cause a problem,” Fizzle continues in a low whisper. “They are worried about him and are watching him. I would go so far as to say they are more scared of him than you. Send the youth out to see what he is made of and to see if there is something you missed. Not just about the area, but about him. Both of us have thought that there is something off about Luke being here. His presence here might be for something other than training. I will follow to keep an eye on him.”
“I hate it when you hit me with that stuff. One of these years I will figure out what your breath actually does,” Selenia complains as the effects of the mist wear off with a few shakes of her head. “I agree about Luke. I have had a strange feeling about him since he showed up. There is no reason for Duke Solomon to send someone with his amount of skill to this academy. Even if the boy had won a tournament and made the request, the Duke would have known that sending him here was a waste of my time. The only things Luke is missing are hand-to-hand combat training, experience, and discipline. That boy needs a lot of discipline. He’s a wild card and a magnet for trouble. That is why I do not like the idea of sending him into the forest.”
Fizzle smiles tenderly at the half-elf. “I have yet to meet a young hero who is not a beacon for trouble. That includes you. Need I remind you of your first adventure into the Caster Swamp?”
“Luke is my student and I must protect him,” Selenia stubbornly swears.
“I understand, but this must be done,” Fizzle insists, his voice hinting that he is getting tired of the conversation. “I will go with him to see what he does. If it makes you feel better, I will test Luke to see if he has been holding himself back. Trust me like you always do. We will get to the bottom of these questions and keep your academy safe.” Fizzle vanishes in a puff of smoke and Selenia can feel his weight suddenly push down on her shoulder where he invisibly perches.
Shaking her head in annoyance, Selenia turns to three students who are sitting by the nearby dormitory. “You three! Find Aedyn Karwyn, Nimby, and Fritz Warrenberg. Have them meet me at the front gate! I will be waiting there with Luke Callindor in an hour. Tell them to prepare for a small excursion into Visindor. Move out!”
*****
“This makes no sense,” Aedyn announces as the four companions leave the academy. He turns to look back at the gaping entrance. “Am I alone in noticing that we are missing some facts about this mission?”
Fritz pats Aedyn on the shoulder as he rides by on Bessaria. “Actually, my moody friend, we don’t have any facts. So, in reality there is nothing that could be missing since we do not have any information in the first place. We should be happy to get the chance to enjoy a real adventure and return as heroes!”
“I would like to know what we are doing out here. Are you not curious?” the priest declares.
“Very curious, but I have learned patience in my old age,” Fritz states with a friendly grin. “Selenia told us to meet Fizzle at the forest edge and investigate the area after he explains the problem. You can wait for the short walk to discover the facts. After that, we can go on our small adventure and return to the open arms of women who adore rugged men such as ourselves.”
“It’s probably just a few critters that wandered out of the Caster Swamp. What else would you send a carpenter, a pervert, a priest, and a student after?” Nimby asks before adding, “No offense, Luke.”
“You seem distant, Luke. Is something wrong?” Aedyn inquires, falling back to where Luke is trailing behind the group.
The forest tracker had not said a word since Selenia had gathered the group at the academy entrance. She had been brief and to the point, so the others guessed Luke had nothing to say to her. Yet, as they crossed the killing field, they began to notice that his silence was different than that of someone pondering an assignment. Fritz and Nimby slow down to let the half-elves catch up and quietly wait for Luke to share his thoughts.
“I don’t know how to explain what is on my mind,” Luke admits with a subtle, childish shrug of his shoulders. His voice is whimsical as he struggles to put his thoughts into as
few words as possible. “I’ve been feeling out of sorts since this morning. All I want is to be among the trees right now. Feel the tree-scented breeze on my face and hear the birds like I did before I arrived here. I thought it was my wanderlust fighting against my, for lack of a better word, captivity, but it might be something else. I feel like . . . something is waiting for me in Visindor. Whatever it is, it wants me and only me. I’m sorry if this makes little sense to you guys, but I can barely make any sense of it myself.”
“Looks like this is where you get sent back, Bessaria. Off with you,” Fritz says as they reach the edge of the forest. He dismounts Bessaria and gives her a smack on the rump to send her trotting back to the academy. “It is probably nothing more than your wanderlust as you said, Luke. After all, you have been at the academy for a week and have never left to explore Visindor beyond the edge of the killing field. You have the morning run, but that might not be enough nature time for you any more. You’re becoming restless.”
“I agree with Fritz,” Aedyn chimes in.
“Or your instincts are telling you that you are being hunted by an agent of the Lich for your intrusion into his plans,” Fritz bluntly states, causing Aedyn to glare at him. The priest lightly knocks the gnome on the head with his staff. “But what do I know? I’m just the genius gnome of our group.”
“Thanks for the talk, but we should concentrate on the assignment,” Luke announces, a feeble attempt at a smile on his face. “I think Aedyn is right. Something doesn’t seem right about all this. So, we should stop goofing off and work as a team.”
The others nod in agreement before Luke takes a step into the forest. Almost immediately his body becomes rigid and cold as if a giant, icy hand has wrapped around him. An acrid wind chokes his throat and he stumbles back against Aedyn who helps him steady himself against a tree.
“Luke sense too. Strong evil in forest,” Fizzle cautions the small group, appearing on a low tree branch. His face is worried and his scales have begun to lose their glossy shine.
Beginning of a Hero (Legends of Windemere) Page 21