The Dragon's Gift

Chapter 23

"Oh. I have a question," I say.

"Go for it."

"Okay, would you spar with me?" I ask hopefully, "So I can get back into fighting shape?"

"I don't know, I can't fight you when you're in that condition. I'm afraid you'll hurt yourself."

"Please? I've rested, and I've regained some mobility, as long as I don't stretch or lean too far, I should be fine."

"Fine, but you better be careful, and if you get hurt, I'm not going to spar again, got it?"

"Yes! You have my word," I say cheerfully.

"Go grab your sword."

I give a nod of acknowledgement and head off for my sword in my room. As soon as I get there, I find it laying on the bed. Strange. It should've been on the weapon rack right beside my bed. Not thinking much about it, I strap it to my side and start for the door. Just before I make it, I hear a noise. A man leaps from the shadows, positioning himself right in my way. Clearly, I was in no position to fight someone who meant harm to me, but before I could figure a way out, he was already on me. The man smashed in to my side, sending me into the floor, right on my back. A cry of pain slips out of me, the man still on top of me. Just then, a knock came at the door. About to cry for help, I find a hand covering my mouth, preventing me from making a sound.

"I bet you forgot about me, didn't you?" a strangely familiar voice asks. Alex.

"Lovely. A visit from a dear friend," I say, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Let's see you make a smart aleck remark when your dead, cripple," he spits, with special emphasis on the word cripple.

"Oh you're tough, you can't win unless you fight an injured opponent," I spit back. If I was going to die, I'd at least have the last word. Just then, I notice the window to my right. An idea worms its way into my mind. Just before he can draw a knife from his belt, I force my legs into his stomach. My plan worked, he stumbled and crashed into the window, shattering it and plummeting downwards. The window wasn't that high off the ground, so I knew Alex wasn't dead. It was hardly two feet off the ground. Careful to avoid any shattered glass, I jump out the window, my landing jarred my back, shooting pain up my spine. Then, Alex got up. He seemed to be in pain, but who wouldn't be? Obviously not able to fight well, and not wanting to kill him, I bring water around my hands, waiting for his move. A twitch in his left shoulder gave him away. As he lunged for me, I was ready. I wielded a tendril of water up and froze him in the air. But he wasn't unprepared either. Wielding a rock up, he thrust it into the ice, obliterating it. He landed with a soft thud. I hesitated. I wanted to encage him with fire, but I didn't want to torch the houses beside me. The split second hesitation gave Alex just enough time to get his bearings and draw his sword. Hoping that my ice would be enough to defend myself, I brought my hands into a defensive stance. He charged, and I threw up a wall of ice between us. Just as before, he destroyed my attempts with a rock. Dang, I was at a disadvantage. I couldn't make use of my fire, but my ice was ineffective. Now, he was upon me. Narrowly blocking or dodging, I could already tell I would tire before he would. He had already landed a blow four times, each drawing blood. Soaked in blood, sweat, and grime, I knew my time was coming. Then, someone walked by, kicking a stone. The noise drew Alex's attention, making him turn his head. Seeing my chance, I leapt at him, landing a hard strike just below his jaw. Immediately, he crumpled to the ground. The random person came running. They knelt down and checked for a pulse, seeing relief wash through him, I knew I had only knocked him out.

"What was going on?" the stranger asked.

"He attacked me, I tried defending myself, but I couldn't use my sword," I say, gesturing towards my injured back. "So when you walked by and inadvertently drew his attention, I was able to knock him out."

"Well now what?" he asks.

"I'll wait for him to wake up, you go on about your business," I tell him.

"Are you sure? You seem pretty shaken," he says, concern in his voice.

"I'm fine, just get going before you attract more attention," I say hurriedly. The stranger walks off, muttering under his breath.

About an hour after, Alex finally stirs. Just as he does, Kai comes running.

"What happened? After you didn't come back for an hour, I started looking for you. I looked everywhere, I knocked on your door, but there was no answer, so I assumed you weren't there. And now, I find you pointing a sword at Alex. What happened?" he asked.

I filled him in on the evenings events.

"What?!" he shouted, "I ought to kill you!" he said to Alex, who had just aroused. Then, Kai slammed the hilt of his sword into Alex's stomach, forcing him to double over, coughing.

"Kai, stop! I've already beaten him, I'm pretty sure he knows I'm still his better," I say, even though I had had some luck when the stranger walked by.

"Shut up, you know why you landed that blow, it was a cheap shot!" he says.

"Oh, but ambushing an injured individual wasn't? In their own home I might add," I say, reveling in the sheer hate I heard in my own voice. He just stood there, contempt in his eyes. "Get out of here, and the next time you attack me, I won't hesitate to incinerate you." He just stands there, making no move to acknowledge what I had just said.

"Or would you like me to send you to the icy depths of space?" Kai adds. Then he finally walks away.

Kai and I sparred once in the following month. It turns out, he was easily better than me in my condition, so I had arranged for a private teacher to allow me to get better, and so I could learn how to cope with my injury. My back seems to have healed as much as it was going to heal, so I saw no reason to delay practice. I met with my teacher, a tall, lean man, with two swords strapped across his back in an "x".

"You must be Phoenix. Shall we begin?" the man asks.

"Yes, you're already aware of my injury, correct?" I say.

"Yes, and it's going to be tough to work around that. But we should start." I drew my sword, and leapt straight for him. My back allowed only a fraction of my mobility before the injury, but I was still formidable in battle. He easily blocked it with one sword which he held over head, the other he held straight out in front of him. Quickly, he slashed with one sword and just as I blocked it, his other sword hit my shoulder, the guard causing it to bounce back. My swings and blocks were slower, so I could no longer keep up with two swords. Soon enough, I wound up with many bruises and welts. I had only landed one blow, and even it was weak. Clearly losing, I launched myself into a flurry of quick strikes that only allowed him to block and afforded no time for him to attack. I was pushing him back, but just barely. Then, I misjudged the angle on one blow. Seeing my mistake, the teacher quickly jumped at the chance. With one flick of his wrist, my sword was sent flying out of my hand. I saw his blade coming down, right for my head. Instinctively, I jumped back and fell into a roll. I made a move for my sword, but before I could, he had already positioned one blade behind my neck and one right in front of it.

"You're never going to keep up with me if you only use one blade. I think you'd fare much better if you used two blades. Hand me yours," the mentor said.

"Okay," I said as I handed over my sword, "Why?"

"I'm going to have a blacksmith forge a twin sword. You can't use two different swords, your swings would be off-balanced and inaccurate," he said.

"Oh, how much money should I give you?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I have plenty of money. You needn't hand over one copper," he said.

"That's very generous, thank you," I say, true gratitude in my voice.

"Don't mention it," he replies.