Broken Kingdom

20

"Keep your eyes on the target, Storm. Otherwise you're aiming at a ghost. Again." I say to Thomas, who I'd given half of my throwing knives to practice with. The target was about thirty feet away, more than enough distance for him to hit it, not nearly close enough to hit its center.
"So you've told me. I am hitting the target, am I not?" he says frustrated.
"Barely. Again."
"Oh like you can do better." I take one of my knives from its sheath and throw it, hard. It hit the wooden target dead center with a dull thud, the knife wiggling a bit from the impact.
"Of course. Can we just do something differently?"
"You wanted to work on your magic and we shall, but you have to be able to focus. Focus you aim in this case. Throw it again."
"Well I am focusing, and I still suck."
"You don't suck. If you sucked, you wouldn't hit the target. Again."
"I'm not good either."
"Because your technique sucks, not you. You throw with a decent amount of power, just wrong. Which is why I've corrected your stance twice already. Again."
"My muscles ache-"
"So you've said you big baby. You need to get used to it. Again."
"Stop saying again. It's so bloody annoying."

I smirked and repeated myself. Thomas yelled in frustration and just plunged the dagger into the ground. "Seriously! Do you have to be an obnoxious bitch?" he screamed, his body moving with his anger. I shrugged, my hands on my hips.
"If you could focus for longer than two seconds and hit the target's center, I wouldn't have to."
"I can't focus. I'm sore, I have a headache, and honestly, I hate knife throwing. Why would I possibly need it?"
"One throw can be enough. Now it need to be a last resort. Keeping your weapons close is best, except throwing knives, like the ones you're using now. The more skills you have, the bigger the chance you survive should you ever end up in a fight."
"With you close I'm not exactly getting in fights."
"A lot can happen. Take your stance again. Take a breath, aim with your eyes open, and throw the goddamn knife. Whine again, and I'll beat it out of you. Then you'll feel what it's like to be sore." I cross my arms in front of me, sending him a death stare. His throat bobbed, and he did as instructed. The knife hit closer to the center.

"Again." Even closer.
"Again." Nearly there.
"Again." A bit further off this time.
"Again." The inner ring. He grabbed the five knives and returned with a proud smile.
"Again, and wipe that smile off your face." Thomas rolled his eyes, taking his stance again. With a loud sigh I adjusted it before he threw again. The knife went into the inner ring again. In looking over his shoulder at me, he shifted and wanted to throw again. I blocked his hand and adjusted his stance once again. He rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. Without a thought I had him on the ground, eating the dust that came up. He coughed loudly, and looked at me with big eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded, as he crawled up.
"Check your attitude, prince. I am doing this so your dumb ass can survive," I say calm, crossing my arms.
"Oh yeah I'm the one with the attitude. I've been throwing knives at a wooden target for an hour," Thomas sneers.
"You've been trying to. Every time you shift, you don't even notice. Every bad throw you roll your eyes, as if you already knew you were going to do bad."
"So what? I don't have years to learn. Why not teach me something I'm good at."
"Because the more versatile your skill set, the more likely you are to survive."
"With my magic, I think versatile is covered."
"And yet you can't aim for shit when you concentrate. You wanted to try smaller magic today, fine. Let's do that. Make that ball of wind and throw it at the target. Hit the center. My shadows will show where you've struck."
"Fine. If it gets you off my back."
"What gets me off your back is showing even a sliver of discipline. The whining, the nagging, your stubbornness won't. Get your attitude in check and use your magic. Though I think I know the outcome."
"Why don't you enlighten me then?" He throws his arms up, a challenge. I grin and raise my eyebrows slightly.
"You are going to horribly fail. You can make the ball, and then you're going to fail."
"We'll see."