Such silence pervaded Serena's mind as to dumfound her. Awareness returned, but slowly, as she realized she lay on her side, curled into the fetal position. The ground around her burned with only the smallest of fires now. She lay like that, embracing the Inferno, for seconds or minutes or maybe even hours. For all of its previous heat, now the device felt cool to the touch. Its runes no longer glowed, but were dull and lifeless. She still clutched the odd-shaped metal as well. Afraid to let go of it, Serena tightened her grip until her fingers hurt. Finally, she rose to her knees to take in the world around her. Small fires and smoke dotted the Burning Block, but nothing beyond looked to have been affected by the Inferno's resurgence. She took in a ragged breath, trying to stop herself from shaking. Across the burned-out landscape, at the block's fringe, the crowd had grown sparse because people had run away, though Serena saw them returning now. Still clutching the Inferno and the metal filament, Serena tried to stand. She managed it, but barely. The ground crunched beneath her feet as she took first one unsteady step and then another. By the fifth, she stumbled and almost fell, but every one thereafter became more sure until she took her last step from the Burning Block and back onto unburned ground.
The crowd had grown. Many who had just arrived didn't even notice Serena, as their gazes went to the place where the Inferno had been for so long. But those who had seen what she'd done—and knew what she carried—gave her a wide berth as a semicircle formed before her. Serena looked at their faces, seeing a mixture of fear and wonder. Emily was amongst them. The girl had her hands clenched before her. She smiled at Serena. Serena, still trying to sort out what had just occurred, didn't think to return the gesture. If not for the strange filament, she very well might have incinerated all of them. She was supposed to have brought the metal straight to Aaron. Though she was glad she had not, she knew she'd bring it to him now. After this, they needed to know more about it. The crowd parted for her. She didn't look at any of them as she passed. As for the Inferno, she'd give it to Aaron and be done with it. Let him perform his analysis. Once she handed it over, she never wanted to see it again.
13. The Circle
INSIDE THE DOJO, THE FLICKER of torches set shadows dancing across walls and ceiling. Ensel Rhe remained just outside, listening to his daughter and her weapons master practicing.
"Your shield is raised and you've dropped your sword's point again."
Ensel Rhe recognized the voice as Gerwyn's, the krill from Ingrid Kane's rooftop.
"Mind your footwork. Good. The shield protects you, but it is the point of your sword which keeps your enemy at bay."
Quick feet scraped across the wood floor.
"Present him only with the face of it and you've done nothing but invite him closer. Invite him closer, and you'd best be ready to—"
Metal rang on metal and the sounds of rapid movement heightened, continuing for a few moments before the room returned to the sound of labored breathing and the occasional footfall. Ensel Rhe heard Jakinda Rhe's voice.
"What did you just say, Master Gerwyn? I was too busy luring you in to listen."
The mischief in her tone remained the same.
"Do not count deception as your friend, Jakinda," Gerwyn said with a growl, "for it all too often will turn on you when you least expect it."
More scuffing, along with the occasional ring of clashing weapons.
Ensel Rhe listened to their sparring a little longer before he stepped into the chamber to reveal himself. As a warrior entering the training room of another, he stopped just past the threshold to wait for the most senior teacher to notice his presence. In this case, there was just the one. Gerwyn saw him. In a fighting crouch, the krill squared off against Jakinda Rhe from within a ring of pole-mounted torches. Gerwyn took one last blow on his shield before turning his weapon up and straightening. Jakinda, whose back remained to Ensel Rhe, did likewise. She did not immediately turn to see the person at whom the krill stared, for first she clicked her heels together as she bowed to her opponent. Gerwyn did likewise. Only then did she turn to face their guest.
Her eslar eyes, stark white like his, shone out, but the rest of her remained obscured in shadow behind the flicker of torchlight. But she saw him well enough, for her eyes widened, answering the question of recognition. Jakinda Rhe's sword point dropped.
Gerwyn stepped out of the circle of torches and went to one wall, where he returned his practice sword and shield. Then he approached Ensel Rhe.
"Welcome, sinjee-ka," he said, bowing. "You honor this humble dojo with your presence."
Gerwyn bowed halfway. This was his training room, and so he was master here. Ensel Rhe, as his senior, was not obligated to make any gesture more than a nod. He offered the same bow, though, out of respect for the master who trained his daughter.
"It is I who am honored, Master Gerwyn. I ask admittance."
Gerwyn stepped aside, allowing him entry. The motion removed all obstacles between the eslar and his daughter, for while Gerwyn had seen to ceremony, she'd come out from within the ring of torches. She still held tight to her sword and shield. The sword was a dull training weapon. But the shield was genuine and heavy, for Ensel Rhe saw the stress it put on her shoulder.
"Jakinda Rhe," Ensel Rhe said, nodding.
She said nothing back.
The silence allowed Ensel Rhe more time to study her. Her rust-red hair remained long just as he remembered, though now it fell to her back in a single, economical braid. Her fighting garb consisted of leggings and a tight-fitting, sleeveless tunic, which fell just below her knees. Lean, muscled arms, with blue-black skin like all eslar, shone with a fine layer of sweat. From her figure, Ensel Rhe saw she'd the beginnings of womanhood about her. The hard edge of her eyes never wavered from her father's.
"I know you have many questions," he said.
"I have no questions for you," Jakinda Rhe said, her voice firm. "Nor have I any words save these: You are not welcome in this dojo. Leave."
"Jakinda!" The hardness of Gerwyn's tone matched his student's. "You will not speak so to a guest in my training room." The krill looked from father to daughter. "Perhaps I shall take my leave and allow you two to—"
"No," Jakinda said with the same hard edge. "Stay." Then, in a more conciliatory tone, she said, "Please."
The krill master leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms, obliging her.
Ensel Rhe looked at Gerwyn and asked, "What do you teach her?"
With his arms still crossed, Gerwyn said, "The famed sword and shield techniques of High Holt."
High Holt, a fortress-city in the Freelands.
"There is nothing 'famed' about their methods of combat," Ensel Rhe said. "They have lost more battles than they have won."
"That is because they are human," Gerwyn said. "But the methods are sound."
"What of the ways of her own people?"
"We have studied the forms of Gin-dar, the slashing motions of Serren, and the elusions of Pendrogin-lar."
All eslar masters of old and all highly regarded, even by Ensel Rhe. But these were masters of the art of combat and nothing more.
"True battle is not a dance," Ensel Rhe said.
"We practice form and technique in this dojo as much as delivering the killing blow. On our way through the Merrow Woods, we visited the sanctum of Hirosha, where we saw firsthand the—"
Jakinda stepped between them, her stare no less harsh as she addressed her father. "What do you know of battle or fighting?"
Gerwyn growled once more. "You dishonor both of us with your question, Jakinda. He is sinjee-ka."
Jakinda's attention swiveled to Gerwyn. "You've said that word twice now. What is 'sinjee-ka'?"
Gerwyn looked over her head at Ensel Rhe. "She does not know?"
"We have not seen each other in many years. She knows very little."
Jakinda bashed her sword against her shield. "I know enough. I know my father abandoned his family." She waited, poised to strike at the merest denial.
>
"I do not disagree with you."
The words of her rebuttal died on her lips, but she recovered quickly. "Also, I know why he left."
"You do?" Ensel Rhe asked. "What is the reason?"
"Because he was a coward."
Gerwyn visibly bristled, but he said nothing this time.
Ensel Rhe held nothing against his daughter for her words. She had a right. He'd left her, her mother, and her brother behind, but it had never been by choice. He wanted to explain everything to her, but saw just by looking at her that now was not the time. More anger burned inside of her than his words could quell. He may not have arrived with expectations of sealing the rift between them, but neither did he wish to widen it. Here, in this dojo, he thought he saw a way to at least hold the line.
He walked to one of the weapons displays, feeling Jakinda's gaze on him all the way. Selecting a long sword typical of the region's weaponsmiths, he walked to the edge of the ring of torches. Still, her gaze was fixed on him.
"You know the Mantra of the Circle?" he asked her.
The question startled her. She shifted the grip on her sword before she answered. "Yes, I know it." Then, with a hint of challenge, she asked, "Do you?"
Ensel Rhe stepped across the circle's threshold. "This is my Circle. Nothing shall enter unless I allow it. As long as I draw breath, I will defend it and those taken refuge within its sanctity. Those who attempt to enter unbidden will meet with death." He stopped off-center and faced his daughter. The circle, unbalanced, required another combatant.
Jakinda Rhe accepted. But first she threw down her dull-edged practice sword and selected a light, medium-length blade from the assortment on the wall. About to cross into the circle, Gerwyn's voice stopped her.
"Be wary, Jakinda. You are but a learner. He is a master."
Jakinda scoffed. "He is no master."
Then she entered the circle, taking a position directly opposite her father. She bowed to her opponent out of necessity. The moment Ensel Rhe had straightened from his return gesture, Jakinda Rhe attacked. With the blade of her sword balanced on the shield's upper edge, she came in fast, feinting with the shield just as she jabbed with the sword's tip. Ensel Rhe sidestepped and she stumbled past him. Recovering quickly, she spun about and slashed, but her father hugged the edge of the circle and evaded her. She was at him again, delivering an ascending cut. She hit nothing. Keeping to the circle's edge, Ensel Rhe let her strike again and again, each attack as ineffective as the last. Finally, as she came at him with her stance slightly askew, he leveled a front kick into her shield, which sent her stumbling back. Her feet became tangled and, unbalanced, down she went. Ensel Rhe did not press his advantage as he glanced in Gerwyn's direction.
"She does not mind her footing," he said.
"Yes," the krill said, folding his arms across his chest. "It is something we continue to work on."
Jakinda picked herself up and, without hesitation, charged her opponent once more. This time, Ensel Rhe met her blow for blow, deflecting and blocking every attack of hers with ease. When it seemed the exchange wore on her arm strength, he knocked her sword aside and pushed into her shield. She was ready this time for the initial push, but not the subsequent move where, with one foot, Ensel Rhe hooked her leg and pulled it out from underneath her. She hit the floor again, shield-first this time. Jakinda let out a cry of frustration, but she picked herself up and turned to face her opponent again. This time, though, she made her own circle of the perimeter, waiting for her father to make the first move.
"Your fortitude is impressive," Ensel Rhe said. "But you hide too much behind your shield."
He moved in swiftly, using his heavy sword to deliver a staggering blow against her protective device which must have set her arm ringing. She cried out again, either in surprise or pain, but held firm to her weapon and took the blows Ensel Rhe rained down on her. With her feet right at the circle's edge, Ensel Rhe finished her off with another kick. This time, she staggered outside the circle's perimeter but did not fall. Jakinda removed her shield from her arm and slammed it to the ground.
"Always you must see your enemy," Ensel Rhe said. "A shield becomes a hindrance if you intend to hide your eyes behind it."
Jakinda pursed her lips and cast a venomous stare his way. "I do not need advice from you." Then she spun around and walked not to the weapons wall, but to a corner of the room where a long box was set on the floor. She opened it and withdrew two swords of medium and equal length. Torchlight danced across the blades as she returned to the circle's perimeter. But she did not enter. Not yet.
Ensel Rhe recognized the swords' design. Short, straight blades, each light enough for a single hand but long-hilted enough to allow a two-handed grip. They were not the weapons of an eslar girl, but a sinjee warrior. Ensel Rhe's questioning stare fell on Gerwyn. "You train her with these weapons?"
"Not by choice. The kinjatos are mine. But she refuses to give them back." He shrugged. "She's quite adept with them."
Jakinda held the swords at the ready, but still she did not cross the circle's threshold, for having been bested, she must first ask permission to re-enter. By the way she chewed her lip and glowered at her father, it was not something she relished doing. In the end, her desire to have a second go at her opponent overrode her pride.
"You have bested me," Jakinda said, forcing each word, "and so I ask re-admittance to the circle."
Ensel Rhe nodded his acquiescence, then took his position and waited for her to do the same. Once she had, and bows were exchanged, she returned to her initial strategy, attacking first. Ensel Rhe expected another explosive outburst. Instead, she held something back. Ensel Rhe had seen such tactics used before, oftentimes by those either too cautious or else too scared to engage their enemy. But Jakinda's demeanor suggested neither caution nor fear, but rather intense concentration and purpose, for her eyes remained locked on his, and her blades were held in a sure grip as she leveled halfhearted blows at him meant to test him, as if she hadn't already seen enough. Something had changed in his daughter, so much so that Ensel Rhe wondered if he even faced the same opponent. Then he recognized the difference. It was the swords, and the confidence she had in them. The blades were to her credit, for they were short and light, easy to swing and quick to strike. She used both with little disparity in skill, which was no surprise since he knew she was ambidextrous. Seeing her in such control and exhibiting such ability, he felt compelled to issue her a compliment.
"It is often said a warrior does not choose his weapon, but that the weapon chooses the warrior. You have achieved a symbiosis not often seen in one so young."
She said nothing in response as her kinjatos continued to flash out at him. He had just the one blade, and it heavier and somewhat unfamiliar in his hand compared to his khatesh, and so he found himself working twice as hard keeping ahead of her dual strikes.
"The mastery of fighting with two swords is typically reserved for those who have already mastered a single blade. Who taught you to fight with two?"
"I taught myself. I had to, to defend my house against our enemies."
Ensel Rhe stopped. "What enemies?"
Jakinda's blades blended into a whirlwind as she charged. For the first time, Ensel Rhe gave ground.
"You are skilled," he said, "but lack experience. You believe because you have two blades in play that I cannot turn from the defensive, to the offensive." With a motion too quick to follow, Ensel Rhe knocked one of her blades aside and, before the other took its place, he slashed down hard against her. He expected her to yield ground. Instead, she caught his sword with her own, letting his blade slide down the length of one kinjato until she brought the other back in to catch his sword in the 'X' formed by both her blades.
"A foolish move," Ensel Rhe said, "for now both of your weapons are committed to the offensive. In two-handed swordplay, one must always hold one sword back to—"
She lunged forward, scissoring the blades. With his daughter's swords as
well as his own all coming for him, Ensel Rhe flinched. Jakinda took full advantage, slamming a shoulder into him that sent him stumbling back. He expected her to press her advantage. In this, she did not disappoint. With her lips formed into a satisfied smirk, she again unleashed the whirlwind of her blades on him. Already at the circle's edge, she had only to drive him a little further to force him from it. Though he saw a myriad of ways to avoid that outcome, in a moment of fatherly acquiescence, he let her. He shuffled back, crossing the circle's line and thus ending the duel.
"You have bested me," Ensel Rhe started to say when, instead of pausing, Jakinda Rhe kept coming.
Like a thing possessed, she stepped right over the circle's edge as her kinjatos came at him like alternating streaks of lightning. His long sword became an even greater liability then, for she neutralized its greater reach by keeping close to him, and its heavier weight was too slow to fend off every attack of hers. He leapt back, dropping the sword and, before she closed again, drew his khatesh. Jakinda's eyes grew larger at the sight of the blade.
"You still have our sword?" she asked, her attacks still coming, but at a slower rate now as her eyes focused on the curved blade.
Eslar did not name their weapons like humans, dwarves, or goblinkind, and so the khatesh had no unique designation other than that it was the Sword of Rhe Alon, handed down from father to sibling in a ceremony of succession.
"It was one of the only things I was allowed to take with me when I was forced to leave Isia."
The Nullification Engine (The Alchemancer: Book Two) Page 23