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Authors: Emily Williams
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latter of which looked rather concerned about her safety.
Eli was left alone this time. A rather cunning and sly girl named Mabel had opted to go with him last time, thinking that his wounded leg would slow him enough to make him a feeble opponent. Bruised physically, her pride in tatters, she had limped away herself from her encounter with Eli, who had seemed to sense her motives for pairing herself with him, and, as expected, had not liked them one bit.
Faith sighed as she realized that that meant that the pair of them would have to go together. Brilliant. She half wondered about using the sword.
She went over to join him, picking up the sturdiest stick she could find. Eli looked at her, stony faced. She had no idea what he was thinking, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know.
“Okay, everyone!” she called, deciding to just ignore him if he was going to be childish. “We’ll try that again. Make sure that you block your opponent!”
The clatter of sticks soon rang out through the forest clearing, and Faith turned to meet Eli with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. He was waiting, arms folded.
“Ready?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Aren’t you going to disadvantage yourself? I’ve got a… well, a bad leg, so you have to have something taken away to make it fair.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake, Eli!” Faith couldn’t believe her ears. “In battle, it’s not going to be fair. The person you’re fighting won’t take your limp into account! Don’t be stupid, you know full well that you’re being unreasonable.”
“You should have one arm behind your back,” Eli said, stubborn as ever.
“Didn’t you listen to a single word I said?” asked Faith furiously. “I said that in battle, your opponent will-”
“Yes, I heard what you said, idiot,” Eli growled. “Just shut up, and stop acting as if you’re so above us all. If anyone should be leader, it should be me. At least I know what I’m talking about.”
The weight of Eli’s words hit Faith with considerable impact, and she found herself feeling weak. It was clear that Eli hated her, but she had never realized just how much he detested her. The unfairness of his words stung at her- she hadn’t elected herself leader, the others had all just clung to her for guidance, which she had been attempting to provide as well as she could.
“Eli, if you’re going to be a child, you can just go back to the huts, and stay there,” she said, as firmly and as steadily as she could. She was relieved to hear that her voice had not shot up in pitch as it usually did when she got angry.
Eli scowled. A loud snapping of wood interrupted them, as Isabel broke her stick clean in two. Martha appeared to be cowering in fear, but then Faith realized that she was in fact nursing a black eye. She sighed.
“I think we’ll call it a day!” she shouted, above all the noise. She went over to help Martha up, as Isabel seemed to be too busy frantically apologizing.
“I knew going with her was a bad idea,” Martha muttered darkly, as Faith hauled her up.
*
It took them a while, but soon Faith ’s fighters were fighting… well, much better than Faith had ever expected. Some days were an improvement on others, other days were dismal, but on the whole, it was all going fantastically well. Every day, after quickly doing their assigned jobs, they would train. Faith pushed them harder each time, and was sporting several large bruises from fighting the other, especially Sibyl, Martha and on one occasion Eli, who had some bruises now himself from that particular match.
Eli was becoming a lot more helpful now. Thankfully, he was working on keeping his childish tendencies to himself, though Faith would often catch him scowling to himself. However, she thought that he might just be enjoying the training; once or twice, she had seen him looking exhilarated after a particularly
Eli was left alone this time. A rather cunning and sly girl named Mabel had opted to go with him last time, thinking that his wounded leg would slow him enough to make him a feeble opponent. Bruised physically, her pride in tatters, she had limped away herself from her encounter with Eli, who had seemed to sense her motives for pairing herself with him, and, as expected, had not liked them one bit.
Faith sighed as she realized that that meant that the pair of them would have to go together. Brilliant. She half wondered about using the sword.
She went over to join him, picking up the sturdiest stick she could find. Eli looked at her, stony faced. She had no idea what he was thinking, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know.
“Okay, everyone!” she called, deciding to just ignore him if he was going to be childish. “We’ll try that again. Make sure that you block your opponent!”
The clatter of sticks soon rang out through the forest clearing, and Faith turned to meet Eli with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. He was waiting, arms folded.
“Ready?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Aren’t you going to disadvantage yourself? I’ve got a… well, a bad leg, so you have to have something taken away to make it fair.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake, Eli!” Faith couldn’t believe her ears. “In battle, it’s not going to be fair. The person you’re fighting won’t take your limp into account! Don’t be stupid, you know full well that you’re being unreasonable.”
“You should have one arm behind your back,” Eli said, stubborn as ever.
“Didn’t you listen to a single word I said?” asked Faith furiously. “I said that in battle, your opponent will-”
“Yes, I heard what you said, idiot,” Eli growled. “Just shut up, and stop acting as if you’re so above us all. If anyone should be leader, it should be me. At least I know what I’m talking about.”
The weight of Eli’s words hit Faith with considerable impact, and she found herself feeling weak. It was clear that Eli hated her, but she had never realized just how much he detested her. The unfairness of his words stung at her- she hadn’t elected herself leader, the others had all just clung to her for guidance, which she had been attempting to provide as well as she could.
“Eli, if you’re going to be a child, you can just go back to the huts, and stay there,” she said, as firmly and as steadily as she could. She was relieved to hear that her voice had not shot up in pitch as it usually did when she got angry.
Eli scowled. A loud snapping of wood interrupted them, as Isabel broke her stick clean in two. Martha appeared to be cowering in fear, but then Faith realized that she was in fact nursing a black eye. She sighed.
“I think we’ll call it a day!” she shouted, above all the noise. She went over to help Martha up, as Isabel seemed to be too busy frantically apologizing.
“I knew going with her was a bad idea,” Martha muttered darkly, as Faith hauled her up.
*
It took them a while, but soon Faith ’s fighters were fighting… well, much better than Faith had ever expected. Some days were an improvement on others, other days were dismal, but on the whole, it was all going fantastically well. Every day, after quickly doing their assigned jobs, they would train. Faith pushed them harder each time, and was sporting several large bruises from fighting the other, especially Sibyl, Martha and on one occasion Eli, who had some bruises now himself from that particular match.
Eli was becoming a lot more helpful now. Thankfully, he was working on keeping his childish tendencies to himself, though Faith would often catch him scowling to himself. However, she thought that he might just be enjoying the training; once or twice, she had seen him looking exhilarated after a particularly
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