The Dragon's Chase

Chapter Ten

Clang! The sound of swords connecting in midair rang through Fabeldyr as Grizin was helping to teach Ava how to use a sword. It wasn't going very well. He was constantly shouting criticism mid-fight.

"Widen your stance! Don't hold your arms like that, you're leaving yourself open! If you stood like that in a real fight, you'd be dead," Grizin told Ava as he fell back and readjusted his grip on his sword.

Ava was hot, sweaty, and sore. Grizin had insisted on using real swords when they practiced so that she could get used to the weight. That didn't mean he was going to go easy on her, however. She was bruised from him hitting her with the flat of his blade over her entire body, with the exception of her neck and head. Ava hadn't managed to land a single hit.

"Can't we stop for today?" Ava whined, panting heavily. "We've been at it for hours!"

"No," Grizin said flatly. "It's only midday and we've still got a lot of ground to cover if you can ever face an enemy with a blade. Back into your fighting stance."

Ava groaned, but reprepared her stance. Grizin walked around her, poking or kicking wherever he found weak areas. Three months had passed since Ava had joined the dragons. She was getting better with a sword, but still wasn't even close to the level Grizin was at. At least she managed to last a couple minutes against him now, the first few times he had knocked her down in seconds.

"Do you have to do that?" Ava snapped as Grizin made her foot fly out from under her again. She only just managed to replant it in order to stop herself from falling. The first few weeks Grizin had done that, she hadn't been so lucky.

"It's how you'll learn," Grizin answered. He sighed when he noticed Ava holding her arms incorrectly-again-and finally decided that maybe he should move them into the right place himself.

"What are you doing?" Ava demanded as Grizin gently took her arms and moved them into a more comfortable position. Okay, yeah, she could see how this was better.

"I'm tired of you constantly putting your arms in a position that leave your midsection open for attack, so I'm fixing them," Grizin answered.

"You never fix them like this," Ava told Grizin a little bluntly.

"Yes, well, since your arms have remained atrocious, I decided to actually put them into the right position since you can't seem to do it yourself," Grizin stated, sounding rather annoyed.

As annoying as Grizin could be, Ava knew that him helping teach her how to use a sword was very kind of him. He was starting to act a little bit like a father to her and she didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, it was nice to finally have someone that was willing to take up the role, but on the other. . .did it have to be Grizin? He wasn't exactly likeable.

"There," Grizin said when he had finished adjusting Ava's stance. "Now let's try again."

Ava groaned again. She really just wanted to sit down and take a break, but she knew Grizin wouldn't let her. Thankfully, he didn't have to.

"Hey, guys!" Cecelia's voice rang through the arena. "I brought lunch!"

Ava sighed with relief and relaxed her stance, the tip of her sword blade falling to the ground. "Oh thank you, Cecelia," she breathed.

Grizin pursed his lips, but said nothing to stop Ava from going to get lunch. "Alright. Fine, we'll break for a half an hour to eat. Then, we're back at it."

Ava fought the urge to groan again. Only a half an hour? Jeez. . . She turned to see not just Cecelia and her basket of food, but also Merrik. Over the past three months, her and Merrik had grown close, he was becoming a really good friend to her. He was carrying a long thing wrapped in cloth.