Return to Inheritance

Chapter VII

"I noticed you practicing with the dagger."

"It's my first time, so I'm rubbish," explained the younger girl. "I've been trying to imitate you." The woman smiled.

"We usually use the dagger for clean kills or quick strikes. Either way, you need to work on your speed. Let me show you some tricks," she offered, and for the next half hour they trained together.

Although she wasn't a master assassin yet, Vex proved to be an excellent teacher. In that half hour, Jade learned how to be flexible with the dagger's orientation, among other things. At first she was afraid she would cut her hand in the process, but was attentive enough so as to end up with no casualties. Another thing that she learned was detecting the weak, and oftentimes deadly, spots in an enemy's armour.

"If you hold the dagger point down-or icepick grip-you are leaving yourself exposed and that's why you need to be quick, but it's better for stealth kills because it's more powerful and easier to penetrate even armour. Like this, you can aim for the neck, right behind the collarbone. Also, you can tilt it 90 degrees so that it's in horizontal position and aim for the throat."

"What if I hold it point up?" asked Jade after trying everything on the dummy. Vex went on explaining, the words slow and clear enough for the newbie to understand.

"You can stab in between the ribs, but that takes much practice. It's easy to miss the spot and hit a bone, and the worst damage you would then deal is minor internal bleeding. If you get it right, however, it's an instant kill. Also, you need to keep in mind that the blade has to lean upwards, as close to the heart as possible. Another deadly spot is right under the armpit, but that one is harder to reach. Don't forget all these spots much be aimed at from behind, and preferably not through armour."

"What if I'm in open combat and I'm forced to rely on a dagger?" asked Jade, eager to learn even more in her free time.

"I'll show you some other time. You could use a break for the rest of the day... you look exhausted! Besides, you don't want to keep Collin waiting," Vex winked and quickly tilted her head to the side.

"Huh?" Jade was confused, but when she looked in that direction she saw Cinder in the distance looking in her direction. He had his hood back on and kept his arms crossed.

Him again! I do hope he's not mad at me, though, she thought.

"Thanks for everything."

"Anytime."

Then the girl started walking towards her could-be upset friend.

"Sorry for earlier," she apologised as soon as she was close enough for him to hear her whisper. "It was very childish of me and I promise it won't happen again."

 "Don't make promises you can't keep," followed his warning. His tone let her know he was quite upset for a moment, but then he spoke again as they started walking towards the spiral staircase. "I see you met Vex."

"I did. She's great, and even taught me some things about combat with the dagger."

"Stealth kills?" The girl nodded in excitement, but Cinder sighed. "You shouldn't learn about stealth kills so soon. Open combat has to be the first thing you're taught, especially how to block and parry. If you can't protect yourself, knowing how to take a life is useless."

The girl simply stared at him. She knew it was Vex he was upset on, not her. He sighed once more and continued speaking.

"Oh well, it might just save your life one day, but let's hope you won't be put in that situation anytime soon... I doubt you're ready," he told her so she simply frowned. By now they were inside and he had taken off his hood so she noticed he was smiling warmly. All he said was well intended, she imagined. "It's a good idea to keep that dagger on you. It's best to be protected at all times, just in case."