Rider (A Kili/ Hobbit novel)

Chapter 12: Fight Like a Girl

It has been almost a week since my strange nightmare, and Kinjal had been no help whatsoever. Though I pretended it did not affect me, I am now terrified to fall asleep.

Wandering around by myself when I cannot sleep has given me a relatively good idea of where everything is, and the gaps in my knowledge Kinjal is easily able to fill in for me.

Late yesterday evening I had discovered a training room, filled with every sort of weapon imaginable, aside from bows. I guess they were not too keen on using the choice weapon of the elves.

I had vowed to return the next day and explore more, which was where I was heading now. It was easy to reach my destination; I had been sure to memorize the way so as not to get lost, which was how I managed to find it in the first place.

I try to be invisible as I slip into the large room, keeping to the back with my head down. Most of the dwarves in the room are fighting against one another in circles carved into the rock. I quirk my head to the side a bit, curious as to why they were standing in circles on the ground to fight.

Two dwarves each would stand inside a circle that stretched maybe six meters across. They would each yell something I didn't understand to the other, something in their own language, and then they would begin to fight. As soon as one of them stepped a foot outside of the circle though, both immediately would stop, and the winner seemed to be the one still standing in the circle. I suppose it is like a ring, then.

"You gonna just stand there lass, or are ya going to fight?" a rather large dwarf asks. He has a balding head and an intimidating set of his face; a slight smirk peeking out from under his black beard.

"You any good with a sword?" he asks smugly, thinking a weak-looking girl like me would barely be able to lift a sword let alone wield it. All of the Riders were built short and lean; strong enough to be fierce warriors in battle, but still lithe enough to move and bend with our dragons in the air.

I keep my face carefully blank. "I have some skill." I respond neutrally. Oh, if only he knew what he was getting himself into. Although he is by far stronger than I am, he is not nearly as agile as I.

"Would you like to have a go then?" he asks.

I know by now he is trying to scare me off, so I simply reply, "It would be my pleasure, Master dwarf."

I spin on my heel and walk to the wall where all of the weapons are lined up. I take my time, testing the weight and balance of many of the swords before choosing. I finally pull a long, curved sword from the others. It is a two handed blade, almost exactly like the type used by Riders. We have little use for swords when we have dragon fire and arrows, but there will always come a time when close combat is necessary. Our kind has mastered using slim blades; easy to maneuver and control, as well as light in weight.

As I slowly make my way over to the proud dwarf, he speaks again. "Do you know the rules, lass?" he asks, leaning his weight against his weapon; a large single-edged sword.

"I have to knock you out of the circle carved into the ground?" I ask, and a dwarf watching confirms I am correct.

"Shall we begin then?" the dwarf asks lazily, but I can see a gleam in his eye; he still believes this will be an easy win for him.

I chuckle slightly, "Why not?"

I pad into the circle, gripping lightly at my sword. I rock back and forth on my feet, stretching out my fingers before gripping more tightly at the hilt of the blade. Someone begins speaking from outside the circle, but I take no notice of who specifically speaks; my entire mind has switched gears to thinking as a fighter.

"One round only, the only rule is the first to step out of the circle loses. Begin!"

The dwarf lets out a ferocious cry, and I raise my voice to meet his. My own cry turns into an inhuman growl as he lunges forward, sword swinging at my neck. Realizing there is no way I will be able to block the force with which he swings, I duck down and shoot past him, kicking out at the back of his knees to force them to buckle.

He swings again, lower this time so I will not be able to duck under it. I simply leap over his head, landing on my feet after a tuck and roll, and crouch down to face him again. I watch, grinning happily, as his face go from casual amusement to anger.

"Looks can be decieving, Master dwarf," I hiss, my voice more menacing because of the rush of adrenaline in my system.

He lunges at me once again, and I bring my sword up to meet his. The weight of his swing is jarring, but I grit my teeth and push my own blade forward, sliding it along his sword to the hilt and using all my weight to turn and force it down. As the sword clatters out of his hands I elbow him in the stomach and then shove him swiftly backwards out of the circle. He looks at me with a mixture of disbelief and respect.

"Where'd you learn to fight so well?" he asks gruffly.

"All my kind learn to fight from a very young age." I respond humbly, "I do not think my fighting would be considered very good compared to others of my kin."

I hear a snort at that from behind me, and turn to see Kili looking at me with one eyebrow raised. "I very much doubt that."

"He caught you, little one." Kinjal chuckles in my head.

"Although," he continues, "I would like to challange you to an archery match."

I narrow my eyes, thinking about it. I knew that dwarves were generally repulsed by using bows, so he must be very good if they do not look at him strangely as he says this. There is no harm in shooting just for fun, anyways.

"Of course," I reply, nodding my head.

"Come on, let's get you a bow."

He leads me around a corner that is cleverly concealed by the way the wall is shaped. The small entryway opens up to an enormous, oblong room with targets at one end.

"You can pick out whichever bow you wish," Kili calls to me. In the time I had been staring at the room, he had moved to a wall lined with multiple bows.

I trek over to stand in front of the bows, looking all of them over. Most of them appear to be similar in draw weight as I test them out, so I end up picking the bow that feels most similar to my own.

It is a composite bow, slightly heavier than my own bow, but with the exact same draw weight. I pull the string back to my lip and sight down the arrow, testing it. Satisfied with my choice, I turn back to Kili, who is now holding out a quiver of arrows to me and wearing a slight smirk.

"Don't look at me like that," I tell him, taking the quiver of arrows he offers me and slinging it over my back. "I may beat you yet."

"We shall see," is all he replies with, and lines up facing a target