Chapter Five

It was a little after noon by the time I'd dragged myself out of bed, got cleaned up, and walked into the training house. I was a little stiff and sore from my session with Deyro last night, but it wasn't a bad feeling. In fact, I was feeling pretty good – better than I had in a little while.

Of course, getting laid and getting a solid eight hours of sleep helped tremendously.

I had a training session scheduled with Ella Bourne – the founder of the Children of the Dawn. She was a nice enough woman, though I honestly didn't know all that much about her. She was always there training, but kept to herself for the most part.

What I knew about Ella was based on rumors and gossip – not exactly the most reliable source. What I'd heard though, was that she was hooked up with a Ranger named Zarik – one of Quint's lieutenants. She was at one time, part of this fanatical cult called the Order of Midnight – hunters, like us – but believed in killing everything that was not human. Including the Dragonborn.

Though I'd never heard the specifics about it, Ella had apparently left the Order of Midnight and had founded the Children of the Dawn. The Children – many of whom had come from the ranks of the Order – still hunted, trained, and did everything they did with the fanatics. The only difference was, they differentiated between the good guys and the bad guys. The Children actively sought out and established an alliance with the Dragonborn.

An alliance made easier by the fact that some of the key players were on both sides of the human and dragon divide were together.

Personally, I was thankful to the Dragonborn for accepting the alliance. As a member of the Children, I'd also had to carry a job just to pay the bills. But working with the Dragonborn meant that hunting was my job. I received a modest stipend every month, and the apartment I was living in was paid for.

Once you graduated from our own little Ranger Academy – lovingly dubbed Dragon U – we were dubbed “Scouts” to the Dragonborn's “Rangers” and were allowed to move out of the dorms and into an apartment of our own. We trained by day and hunted by night. That was our one and only job and focus – protecting the people and the city of LA.

When I walked into the training house, it was buzzing with activity. We had about two dozen recruits in their first phase of training at Dragon U – meaning, they lived in the dorms on the floor above the gym.

The recruits were out on the floor – some of them lifting weights, some sparring, some taking lessons with various weapons. The inside of the training house echoed with the sound of music, voices, and weapons clashing together.

I made my way into the locker room, hanging up my bag and sweater before heading back out onto the floor. Moving over to one of the mats on the side, I stretched out and got myself warmed and limber. The music was thumping through the gym and I felt my blood begin flowing. I stood up and jogged in place for a bit, did some more stretching, getting good and loose.

Once I was ready, I moved over to the sparring rings and looked for Ella. I found her speaking with Quint off to the side of the gym and when I caught her eye, she gave me a smile and waved me over. When I arrived, Quint greeted me and then walked away, leaving me with my instructor for the day.

“How are you today, Alexis?” Ella asked me, her smile wide, a mischievous glint in her eye.

I looked at her curiously. “What are you up to?”

She giggled. “Me? I'm not up to anything,” she said. “Are you ready for your session?”

I nodded. “Absolutely. Hopefully, you have something new to teach me today. I really want to up my repertoire.”

“Today's lesson is going to be a little bit different,” she said. “We're going to work on a different aspect of your training today, Alexis.”

“What aspect?”

“Your confidence,” she said flatly. “I had a long talk with Quint and we both agree that you're one of the most skilled fighters we have. Your natural ability is – it's through the roof, sweetie. We just want you to be able to harness that skill and blend it with some confidence. If you can do that – wow – you'll be a force of nature.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “So, how are we going to do that, then?”

“Funny you should ask,” Ella grinned.

A bell was rung, it's deep gong reverberating around the gym. As all activity stopped, the conversations and the music suddenly fell silent. It was quiet enough that you could hear the proverbial pin drop.

Of course, I knew what the tolling of that bell meant. I looked over at Ella and raised my eyebrows.

“Really?” I asked.

She grinned back at me and nodded. “Really.”

The tolling of the bell meant that we’re about to have challenge bouts – a favorite activity the trainers liked to put us through. When we had challenge bouts, the trainers would pit the recruits against one another in a “fight to the death.” Of course, we used bamboo swords in all of our bouts.

“Gather around, everybody,” Quint called from the large sparring mat in the center of the gym.

His voice boomed like thunder through the interior of the training house and everybody quickly made their way to him, surrounding the mat anxiously. The recruits loved the challenge bouts every bit as much as the trainers did.

Personally, I was bored with them. They served a purpose and helped keep you sharp, but I wanted more of a – well – challenge. Nothing against the recruits, of course. They were training and many of them were proving to be very skilled. But I had several years of experience under my belt already and had been through my fair share of fights.

I was seasoned. Sparring matches just didn't offer a whole lot in the way of learning anything – new.

When everybody was gathered around the sparring mat, the excited buzz of conversation started. All of the recruits were anxious to get out there and test their skill – to show our trainers how far they'd come. For some, the challenge bouts were the springboard to graduating from phase one of the training. For others – it just showed them how much farther they had to go.

Quint held his hands up and the recruits fell silent. “Today, we're going to see something a little different,” he said, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Something a little special.”

I groaned to myself, knowing what was coming next. He was going to throw me into the ring – the only question was, how many of the recruits was he going to pit me against.

“Alexis, make your way to the ring, please,” he called out.

With a sigh, I grabbed two of the bamboo “swords” from the rack and made my way out to the ring. I bowed in Quint's direction and looked around, wondering who he was going to throw out there with me. Some of the recruits showed promise. Some looked like they were going to be very good fighters.

I swung my swords and got loose, got myself ready for a fight. Whoever Quint picked was going to be coming at me hard, was going to be trying to show they had what it took to be elevated to the ranks of the Scouts.

“Deyro,” Quint's voice thundered. “Make your way to the mat, please.”

A stunned silence seemed to settle over the gym. As a general rule, the Dragonborn didn't spar with the recruits. The Dragonborn were already full Rangers – they came to our world battle hardened and ready to fight. It would be like throwing a child into a boxing ring against Mike Tyson.

All eyes turned first to me and then to Deyro, who made his way through the crowd, a look of smug amusement on his face. As he stepped onto the mat, his bamboo swords in hand, he shot me a small smirk – one that said he thought this whole exercise was cute. That he was going to play along with the game, but the outcome was already sealed.

And in that moment, I never wanted anything more than to knock that stupid smirk off his face.

Yeah, I was sleeping with him. But that didn't mean I necessarily liked him. He was convenient. There was a level of comfort and trust between us. And I was a woman with needs. He served a purpose. It's not like we were getting married.

Given the fact that his stupid smirk had gotten my blood was up and anger was surging through me, I was going to give him my best. I might not be able to beat him, but I was going to bloody him. I was going to make him regret taking me so lightly. I was going to make him hurt.

And once I did that, even if I had wanted a relationship with Deyro – which I most assuredly, did not – he wouldn't touch me with a ten-foot pole. He had an ego the size of California and if he let himself get beat – by a human girl, no less – in front of a gym stuffed with people, he wouldn't take it well.

He was a big, tough, strong man, no doubt. But he had a fragile enough ego that he could also be a whiny little bitch too.

Deyro circled me, dragging the tip of his sword along the ground, his eyes never leaving mine and that infuriating smirk never leaving his lips.

“You ready for this?” he asked.

“Are you?” I shot back.

As he tapped his two bamboo swords together, making a loud clacking sound, the first ripples of doubt began to wash through me. I'd never sparred with Deyro before. But I'd seen him fight in live combat. And as insufferably arrogant as he was, there was absolutely no doubting his skill. His ability. Outside of Quint, I'd never seen anybody close to his equal with a blade. I wasn't even sure that seasoned Rangers like Zarik or Glyn could best him.

Given that, how in the hell did I think I could beat him in a one-on-one fight?

Don't overthink this, Alexis, Quint's voice sounded in my head. And don't psych yourself out.

I looked over at the big Warden and found him staring straight back at me. I had no idea he could communicate telepathically. Apparently though, he could, because I was hearing his voice loud and clear. And the expression on his face told me that he'd meant for me to hear it – that he was talking to me. Without talking, of course.

You are skilled with a blade. You are powerful. You are a warrior, Alexis, Quint said. You know how Deyro fights. You know his moves. Use that to your advantage. And use his arrogance against him. You can do this, Alexis.

It felt nice to know that Quint believed in me. That he thought I had what it took to beat Deyro in single combat. It felt nice to know he believed in me because I wasn't sure I actually believed it myself.

Deyro stopped circling me and held his swords at the ready, waiting for the signal to begin.

“Did you want to make this last a few minutes?” he whispered. “Make it look good? Honestly, I don't want you to come away from this looking bad, Alex.”

A cold dagger of rage plunged itself deep into my heart as I listened to him. He wasn't even aware of just how pompous he sounded in that moment. And it was all the worse because he wasn't being snide. He wasn't trying to be flippant. He was simply asking if I wanted him to delay his inevitable victory so I didn't lose face in front of everybody – and meaning it.

He thought he was doing me a kindness by allowing me to string out my defeat for a few minutes to “make it look good” for me. So that he didn't embarrass me too badly. And he actually believed he was being kind and generous to me.

What a guy.

I gripped the hilts of my twin bamboo swords and readied myself for the sound of the bell. A moment later, it chimed loudly. The fight was on.

I stepped forward, my twin blades whirling. Deyro was ready for me and parried each slash with his own weapon, seemingly with ease. That cocky smirk was still on his face and the son of a bitch actually had the nerve to wink at me.

I went high with one blade, bringing it down with force as I speared straight ahead with the other. Deyro blocked the high blade easily enough – as I'd intended for him to since it was my distraction. But when our bamboo blades clacked together, he realized that I was coming low with the second blade. He spun to his right and slashed with his sword, barely knocking my blade away in time with his own.

We separated a few feet and circled one another. The smirk was still on his face, but I was pleased to note that it was smaller – that a few beads of sweat dotted his brow. If nothing else, I was making him work. If he was going to beat me, he was going to have to earn it.

Deyro lunged forward, launching a counterstrike of his own. His blades were a blur as he moved toward me. I had just enough time to take a deep breath and let it out when he launched his attack. Both of his blades were coming in low, but I was able to deflect them away as I spun to the side. And as I spun, I threw my elbow down, catching Deyro in the nose. A devious grin touched my lips when I heard the distinct snap of something breaking and saw the blood running down his face.

Deyro skipped away, out of my reach, and checked his nose. He touched his fingers to it and then looked at the blood that coated them. He looked up at me and showed me the blood on his fingertips – as if I couldn't see it from where I was standing. That arrogant, amused smirk crossed his face again and I wanted to bloody him even more.

Deyro and I circled each other again, our swords at the ready. He still carried that arrogant smile, but for the first time, I saw uncertainty in his eyes. It was incredibly slight, but I could see it. It was as if for the first time, he was beginning to think that he could have possibly underestimated me. But as soon as I saw that brief flicker, it was gone. It was like seeing fish beneath the surface of the pond – there one minute, gone down to the depths the next.

For the first time, I became aware of the crowd around us. They were cheering and chanting like this was some big, exciting sporting event. Hell, maybe it was. I heard my name being called by a number of people – although, it seemed like more people were chanting Deyro's name.

But still, that anybody at all was cheering me on was humbling. And it made me want to really beat him. For them. To show them that if they worked hard, trained harder, and put in the effort, that they could be every bit as lethal with a blade as the Dragonborn. That, just because we were human, we weren't second fiddle to them. Or anybody.

Deyro moved in quickly, closing the distance between us, his blades whirling. I'd seen this move from him more than once over the time we'd been paired up. He was relying on me focusing on the blade in his right hand – the one he was going to slash at my midsection with. He was hoping I wasn't paying attention to the blade in his left – the one he would thrust directly at my throat, hoping to run me through.

I'd seen him take down more than a few creatures that way. And they'd been simple enough to fall for the diversion while they missed the killing blow entirely. I quickly ran through an inventory of my available moves and thought it was the perfect time to spring something on him that he'd never see coming – something he didn't even know I could do.

As he closed in, I crouched down and quickly jumped upward, turning a somersault over his head. Deyro looked up, an expression of astonishment on his face as I cleared him. Landing softly on my feet behind him, I had my swords in motion before he got himself turned around.

The first bamboo sword caught him flush across the cheek. His head snapped to the left and I saw blood spray from his nose and mouth. My second bamboo sword caught him in the midsection, driving the air from his lungs with a whoosh. I'd scored a hit, but knew that Deyro wouldn't be knocked out of commission. I knew he would retaliate – and he'd retaliate quickly.

A scowl on his bloodied face, Deyro shoulder rolled to the right, coming up quickly and slashing with one of his swords. I got mine up to block it in time, and had my other sword in place to block the blow to my side I already knew was coming.

With his two swords pressing against mine, I moved quickly to seize the advantage. I jumped again, this time turning a simple backflip and catching Deyro below the chin with my foot. I heard his jaws snap closed as my foot made contact and he looked stunned when I landed on my feet, swords at the ready.

There was a glazed look in his eyes I hadn't seen before. Such was his skill level that he wasn't used to anybody getting a hand, foot, or blade on him – and he clearly wasn't impressed with how it felt. I had to move quickly, had to press my advantage before he came back to his senses.

I stepped forward and brought my left sword up in a hard slice, catching Deyro square in the crotch. He grunted and moaned, his face turning red as my bamboo sword connected with his nuts. My second sword came crashing down on the back of his neck, dropping Deyro to his hands and knees, gasping for breath, moaning at the fact that I'd crushed his nuts.

I walked around behind him and slashed with my sword, catching him flat in the ass and driving him down to his face.

As he lay there, he gasped and curled himself into the fetal position, cradling his injured testicles. His jaw was clenched, his eyes were squeezed shut and he looked like a man not just in agony, but in stunned disbelief that he'd been bested.

By me. A human. A woman.

The crowd around us went wild, many of them cheering my name, all of them clapping. Even though the guy they'd backed to win had lost, they had still appreciated the show. I looked up to where Quint and Ella stood and they looked back at me with a fierce pride etched upon their faces. They applauded me and smiled wide.

Quint held up his hands to quiet the crowd – he had something to say. My cheeks were already burning bright with the amount of cheering for me. It was something I wasn't used to at all. The crowd eventually quieted down and everybody looked to Quint.

Until from behind all of us, near the front door to the training house, came the sound of one man clapping – the sound of it echoing around the gym sounding incredibly eerie. I looked and saw an older man standing there flanked by four large, bulky men in armor – Dragonborn, no doubt.

I looked back to Quint, whose eyes grew wide with shock and outright horror. But he quickly dropped to a knee and bowed his head – as did every other Dragonborn in the gym. Well, every Dragonborn save for Deyro, who was still curled up in the fetal position on the sparring mat.

“Well done,” came the voice of the stranger. “Well done.”

I looked from the Dragonborn back to the man at the doorway and he seemed to be looking straight back at me – as if he were reading my thoughts and weighing my soul. As he studied me, a chill colder than a wind on the tundra in Antarctica swept through me, sending goosebumps up and down my arm.

I didn't know who the stranger was, but I had a really bad feeling about him being there.