and I offered him my hand to help him up. He accepted it, and nodded at me in thanks. I smiled and shrugged at him. I’d tried a risky strategy and it had paid off, that was all.
I looked around and saw that I was the first to win any of the rounds. Everyone seemed to have a renewed focus on defense, and there were almost no bold attacks or indeed any of the moves that Commander Hawk had taught us. I watched Boe’s match, and smiled when I saw him perfectly execute a double feint and then slice his sword upward to strike at Irvin. I was surprised when Irvin lunged backward suddenly and brought his own sword around and hit Boe in the back, taking the victory. That was a new move. I checked and Warley wasn’t watching any of the other matches, just breathing heavily, lost in thought.
When our second round began, I considered taking the same approach as the first, then decided against it. Warley parried my first exploratory blow so expertly that I would have surely lost footing if I’d had anything other than retreat in mind. So that worked out for me. We circled each other and I looked into the burning coal of his eyes and saw that he was watching only my sword. I waved my blade around in the air and watched him; his eyes darted around following it as he took two steps further away from me, unsure what I was doing. Well, I could always confuse him further. I tossed my sword forward and up into the air, then I ran forward and leapt up to grab the sword and bring it down on him, hoping to have enough force behind the move to break his defenses and strike another quick victory. Not my best idea ever. I wasn’t able to get a proper grip on the sword’s hilt and he easily blocked the blow and sent my sword flying out of my grasp. In an instant he tagged me on my backside and I had lost the round.
We traded two more rounds; I took the next and then he took the round after that one. Neither match was especially close. I was able to simply overwhelm Warley with a strength move in our third match but I never came close to getting a winning blow in our fourth. He simply let me wear myself down with attack after attack, easily defending each until I was too exhausted to properly block one of his own attacks. I was feeling pretty down, but I tried to keep in mind what my father said about winning big challenges. Still, after that fourth round I was definitely winded. I was hoping that the other fourth round matches would go on for a while, giving me a chance to rest or at least fully catch my breath, but there was only one match still going on and one of the Stone Souls looked like he was moments away from simply collapsing. Sure enough, he was too slow trying to dodge the next attack and was eliminated. I looked to Boe as I leaned forward, panting, and Boe shook his head at me. He’d lost and been eliminated. Gable was over by Bayrd, jumping up excitedly and slapping him on the back and I could guess that even if Gable had lost, Bayrd had won.
“Jade and Elias, to the center of the ring. Now please.” Master Walker didn’t bark our names as Commander Hawk would have. He was firm, but quiet. I had to strain to hear his words over the sounds of my own hoarse breathing, but I could clearly identify his tone as one of pure authority. I waited to hear who else had a fifth match, but to my surprise none of the other match-ups had gone a full five rounds. So it was just me and Warley.
Looking at Master Walker I could see that I wasn’t going to be able to stall for time, so I raised my sword and stood up straight, making sure I was ready when the round began. Warley did the same. Everyone else formed a wide circle around us, hoping for a good fight. Boe saluted me and I nodded at him. Out of habit, I looked around to see if anyone else was watching, maybe a certain one of Walker’s wives. I didn’t see anyone. That was just as well, it had been nearly two months since I’d seen Kamelia, and I’d never seen her when Walker was
I looked around and saw that I was the first to win any of the rounds. Everyone seemed to have a renewed focus on defense, and there were almost no bold attacks or indeed any of the moves that Commander Hawk had taught us. I watched Boe’s match, and smiled when I saw him perfectly execute a double feint and then slice his sword upward to strike at Irvin. I was surprised when Irvin lunged backward suddenly and brought his own sword around and hit Boe in the back, taking the victory. That was a new move. I checked and Warley wasn’t watching any of the other matches, just breathing heavily, lost in thought.
When our second round began, I considered taking the same approach as the first, then decided against it. Warley parried my first exploratory blow so expertly that I would have surely lost footing if I’d had anything other than retreat in mind. So that worked out for me. We circled each other and I looked into the burning coal of his eyes and saw that he was watching only my sword. I waved my blade around in the air and watched him; his eyes darted around following it as he took two steps further away from me, unsure what I was doing. Well, I could always confuse him further. I tossed my sword forward and up into the air, then I ran forward and leapt up to grab the sword and bring it down on him, hoping to have enough force behind the move to break his defenses and strike another quick victory. Not my best idea ever. I wasn’t able to get a proper grip on the sword’s hilt and he easily blocked the blow and sent my sword flying out of my grasp. In an instant he tagged me on my backside and I had lost the round.
We traded two more rounds; I took the next and then he took the round after that one. Neither match was especially close. I was able to simply overwhelm Warley with a strength move in our third match but I never came close to getting a winning blow in our fourth. He simply let me wear myself down with attack after attack, easily defending each until I was too exhausted to properly block one of his own attacks. I was feeling pretty down, but I tried to keep in mind what my father said about winning big challenges. Still, after that fourth round I was definitely winded. I was hoping that the other fourth round matches would go on for a while, giving me a chance to rest or at least fully catch my breath, but there was only one match still going on and one of the Stone Souls looked like he was moments away from simply collapsing. Sure enough, he was too slow trying to dodge the next attack and was eliminated. I looked to Boe as I leaned forward, panting, and Boe shook his head at me. He’d lost and been eliminated. Gable was over by Bayrd, jumping up excitedly and slapping him on the back and I could guess that even if Gable had lost, Bayrd had won.
“Jade and Elias, to the center of the ring. Now please.” Master Walker didn’t bark our names as Commander Hawk would have. He was firm, but quiet. I had to strain to hear his words over the sounds of my own hoarse breathing, but I could clearly identify his tone as one of pure authority. I waited to hear who else had a fifth match, but to my surprise none of the other match-ups had gone a full five rounds. So it was just me and Warley.
Looking at Master Walker I could see that I wasn’t going to be able to stall for time, so I raised my sword and stood up straight, making sure I was ready when the round began. Warley did the same. Everyone else formed a wide circle around us, hoping for a good fight. Boe saluted me and I nodded at him. Out of habit, I looked around to see if anyone else was watching, maybe a certain one of Walker’s wives. I didn’t see anyone. That was just as well, it had been nearly two months since I’d seen Kamelia, and I’d never seen her when Walker was
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