Chapter 3.5
Skyler met me at the mouth of the cavern with what I assumed was the pack he had when he left to come here. I had gotten the ok from Grandma, who seem resigned to the fact that I was actually considering going to meet Le` Than. She seemed kind of off anytime I mentioned him but I couldn’t place why. It was almost like she knew him somehow, but that would be impossible so I just wrote it off as her dislike of the Kier side altogether.
I shrugged it off and went in. We spent the day setting up the small cave in the back so that both of us would have a place to sleep instead of just me. It was pretty roomy for one person and with both of us there it was actually kind of cozy. We wound up carrying the couch over to one corner and using the extra sheets and blankets to curtain off two rooms so that we both had a private space.
The break from our regular routine was nice, but by the time we finished eating I was starting to feel a bit antsy. I was glad when Skyler finally decided that it was time to go through our forms. Rather then jumping into the most recent form I had learned he went to the weapon racks and got a pair of all the one-handed weapons as well as one of each of the two-handed ones then told me to do the same. I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I assumed he would let me know eventually so I followed suit then laid them out in front of where I would be doing my forms like he had done.
He nodded then said, “We are going to go through all of the forms tonight at a slow pace. While we go through them I am going to tell you a little bit about what it means to be Kier Sona. I want you to pay close attention to each one of the weapons as we go through the forms. One or more of them will resonate with you and the style of fighting you prefer better then the rest. Remember which ones you like the best because they will be used for the next part of your training. Ready?”
I nodded and asked, “Which ones do you fight with?”
He laughed, “Let’s begin.” He started with the first hand-to-hand form as he told me about our race, “According to legends a long time ago there were only three races of Kier named for three sisters who gave birth to them. Lana was the graceful one despite the bulky wings she could never retract into herself. Tanya was a shape shifter, able to go from one appearance to the next on a whim. Sanya was the only one who could never have wings, but she made up for it with her ability to adapt to any given situation through the use of the Elements.
“The sisters and their children lived in relative peace but they had an unknown enemy that wanted to destroy them. One day the enemy came and killed most of Kier before they were finally driven off by all three races fighting together. The sisters knew that the enemy would return and that if they didn’t do something they would all be killed so they made the first Kier Sona. Blessed with Lana’s grace, Tanya’s shape shifting, and Sanya’s gift of the Elements the first of our kind was given one purpose, defend the Kier.
“When the enemy returned to finish off the Kier the First, whose name we have lost to the ages, was able to fight them to a standstill. Not able to gain any ground the enemy withdrew to let the remaining Kier live out their days in peace. We don’t remember who the enemy was or where these battles took place. All we know is that our purpose still holds true. When the enemy returns we will be ready to defend the Kier. It is for this battle we train and train our children.
“The War of the Clans destroyed a lot of our history and split our people. I think it happened because we forgot our way. We had become so focused on the training that we forgot the reason we trained in the first place. This division of the Clans will one day come back to haunt us when the enemy returns and finds us unprepared to fight them. Le` Than has done everything he can to make sure that the Clans under him are ready, but I don’t know if it will be enough. If we are to stand a chance I think we need to find a way to bring all of the Clans back together as they should be. There you have our race. What do you say Yarianna? Will you stand with us on the day the enemy returns?”
I wanted to say that I was still thinking about it but in truth I had already made up my mind, instead I nodded and said, “I will.”
I’m not sure how it happened but my answer came as we finished the last form. With the even tone of the story I almost felt like I was there fighting with the First against an unknown enemy. Everything from the hand-to-hand all the way to the bladed staff was a reenactment of the First’s fight with the enemy. Skyler had told me to pay attention to what weapons resonated with me, but I had gotten so caught up in his story that I had forgotten to.
Skyler looked at me and smiled, “Excellent choices. Now the real work can begin.”
I looked at him and said, “Huh?”
He laughed, “Don’t worry about it. Have you noticed any extra weight?”
I shook my head and asked, “Why?”
All he did was laugh so I looked down to see what was so funny and just stared. Strapped to my waist were twin keris style blades that I had no idea how they got there. Even more surprising was the bladed staff I was holding in my hand. How the hell does a staff just show up in your hand without you even knowing it was there? How do swords show up around your waist? How did I not notice any of it? I was about to ask the questions out loud when the answer came to me. I did notice the blades. They were the same ones I had envisioned when Skyler was telling me about the First.
I looked back at Skyler and asked, “How?”
“We aren’t really sure how old it is or where it originated from, but the story is a three-fold spell. It is designed to tell young Kier Sona about our history, find which blades resonate with them, and answer from the truth of their heart. Each one of us has felt like we were fighting along with the First, and each of us saw it slightly different based on the style of weapon we use. We train in the use of every type of weapon we can, but we specialize in the ones that resonate with us because those are the ones we can call out of the elements. You should feel good about yourself. Not very many of us can call in more then two and even fewer of those that can are able to call in a war bow.”
Now I was really confused so I looked around me without seeing it. I finally felt it when it bumped against my leg when I turned to see if it was behind me. The staff vanished as soon as I tried to set it down so that I could pull the bow out to look at it. Soon after that the rest of the weapons, including the bow, also vanished.
I looked back at Skyler and asked, “How do I get them back?”
He smiled, “They aren’t gone, just waiting for you to call them to your hands again. We will work on calling and dismissing them later. For now we are going to work on your movement in the air. If you want to be named as Le` Than’s heir you will have to be able to fight and move around the field without touching the ground. Every so often a tournament is held and the winner is named second in command. It is designed to weed out those who don’t have the strength or stamina to lead us when we face the enemy again. The winner also has the option of challenging Le` Than himself and a few have. So far there has only been one who got close, but finally lost when he fell out of the sky from exhaustion. It will be a while longer before you have to worry about that though. For now lets see how long you can keep yourself off the ground.”
It sounded simple enough so I launched myself up to the roof of the cavern and glided toward the far end. Circling back was a bit more of a challenge because of a small current of air that I never realized was there pushed against me but I was able to make it all the way back before turning around and doing it all again. Each time I circled back it became a little bit harder to lift myself to the roof and by the fifth time my wings hurt from the constant use. I finally landed half way through my sixth pass and walked the rest of the way back to where Skyler was waiting.
He nodded, “Not bad for your first time. Learn to use the current to lift you back up instead of fighting against it though. Proper use of the currents will be the difference between winning and losing. Knowing how the current moves is half the struggle for long duration flight. Strength and manipulation of your wings is the other half. Go again, but this time adjust the angle of your wings so that the current lifts you back up instead of dragging you down.”
Up I went with my wings crying in protest. Gliding helped relieve some of the stress on them, but when I turned back into the current I could feel the strain. I tried to angle my wings to catch more of the current but dropped a few heart wrenching feet before I caught enough air to keep myself from hitting the ground. I stumbled a bit when I landed and shortly afterward Skyler glided down next to me.
He held out his hand and asked, “Are you ok?”
I took it to pull myself up and shook my head, “I think I felt something pop. Gods, that drop hurt.”
He started running his hands along my wings and said, “You were lucky that you were able to catch yourself. I think we are done with flying for tonight. Nothing feels out of place, but I don’t want to take any chances. Go ahead and retract them so that they can heal properly and we will work on calling in your weapons instead.”
I nodded then pulled my wings in. Tension instantly flared through my back and made me clinch my teeth. I must have made a sound because the next thing I knew Skyler had his arm around me to help me walk to the sleeping area. He helped me to my bed then had me lay on my stomach so that he could help ease the pain. Fingers dug into the knotted muscles and for a brief moment hurt more then it did before he started, but that soon melted away. I’m not sure how long he massaged my back because I fell asleep soon after he started.
The next day Skyler told me was going to be a ground day and to keep my wings pulled in. It almost felt like punishment for hurting myself, but I went along with it. He led me to the middle of the cavern and had me sit in front of him. I sank into the sand with the feeling that I had somehow messed up bad enough that he wouldn’t even let me work the forms.
Skyler looked at me and said, “I know how you are feeling right now and I promise that I am not doing this as punishment. As I told you last night, we are going to give your wings a chance to heal properly and work on calling in your weapons. This lesson usually doesn’t happen until after you have a good feel for the air currents, but I am hoping that by you getting in touch with the energy inside of you the air will become easier for you to feel.
“The first part to calling in any of your weapons at will is your connection to your personal energy. The weapons themselves are just as much a part of you as your wings and claws. The ones that resonate with you will always be the quickest to respond to your call, but any weapon can be called. It takes a lot of time and work with each one you want to be able to call on and that will come later.
“Enter in a waking meditative state and reach for your personal energy. For the most part it will feel formless or like it is waiting for you to learn how to use it. It is up to you to give it form. Start with the Keris blades. You have to know them in every detail. Know how much they weigh, how the grip feels in your hand, the wave pattern of the blade, the length, the width, every flaw and blemish that makes the sword unique to you.
“Once you know the blade in every detail reach in and pull it from your energy. Feel your hand wrap around the grip and draw it out as if taking it from it’s sheath. When you have that one draw the other one. It will be similar, but slightly different. This blade is meant for your off hand. Weight, grip, length, even the pattern will be slightly off from your main hand weapon. Once you know it in every detail draw it from your energy in the same way.
“Always remember that these blades are directly connected to your personal energy. For them to be effective weapons you have to maintain a strong focus on them being substantial. If you lose focus on maintaining them they will fail you. I don’t think you will have too much of a problem with your focus though. The war bow is proof enough of that. It wouldn’t have responded to you if you didn’t have the capacity of maintaining focus over extended periods of time. Ready? Begin.”
I tried to focus like he told me to, but I didn’t have much luck. Every time I thought I had it I would lose focus and the blades would be gone. Over and over again I reached into my energy and tried to pull them out without success. It seemed the harder I tried to call them the harder they were to hold on to.
I went back in to my meditative state determined to try one more time before I gave up for the night and I was met by Nicole. She was sitting by the fountain of energy haphazardly pulling the blades and putting them back as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I sat down next to her and glared at the fountain.
She laughed and said, “It’s not the fountain’s fault that you can’t remember the first instructions Sk` Yler gave you.”
I turned my glare on her and demanded, “What do you mean by that?”
She looked at me and smiled, “Didn’t he tell you that these weapons are as much a part of you as your wings? You are trying to force something into existence that is already there. Forget yourself for a moment and just let the blades be.”
I blinked and said to myself, “Really?”
Skyler gave me a curious look and asked, “Really what?”
I just looked down at my hands and saw myself holding the blades in my minds eye. Instantaneously the weight registered as if I had been holding them the entire time. I blinked again, expecting them to vanish like they had been, but they were still in my hands when I looked up to Skyler’s surprised face.
He shook his head and said, “It took me two weeks to get anything substantial and you do it in an hour. How did you manage to do it?”
I shrugged and said, “Nicole told me that they were already here, I just needed to let them exist. Seems to have worked out pretty good.”
He shook his head, “Well, since you got the easy part over with I guess we can start sparing tonight. It may, or may not considering how fast you pick up some things, get a bit difficult to keep your focus while sparing so we will start slow and pick up speed as you get more comfortable.”
I stood up and nodded then took a ready stance with my blades. He squared up with me and called in a pair of black Gladius style short swords. As soon as he nodded that he was ready we started sparing. I had thought it might be difficult to keep my focus with the blades, but it was like Nicole said, they were just as much a part of me as my wings. We gradually picked up speed until we were going full force and I got to see just how good Skyler really was.
Sometime in the middle of fighting we had gone from twin swords to staves while keeping the same pace. It took most of what I had to keep him from hitting me and I found myself smiling as we danced with our weapons. He nearly got me once and without thinking about it I unfurled my wings and threw myself backward to avoid the hit.
The force of it took me into the air and Skyler followed close behind. The dance became even more intricate as we timed our strikes with the beating of our wings, neither one of us being able to strike the other. We reached the roof of the cavern and turned to grappling to try and at least get a punch in, but even that we were evenly matched.
As we neared the ground I shoved off him and used to space to fire off a couple of arrows before he closed the distance and we went back to swords. I moved through the air like it was second nature and didn’t give myself time to think about it. Logically I knew that I was fighting well above what I should be able to do, but logic didn’t have a place in our dance.
My mind registered the slight change in current that told me where his next strike would be, allowing me to block and counter without my conscious mind filtering the reaction first. Ever since I discovered my wings I had been going through the motions, but it wasn’t until this fight that I finally grasped what it was to be Kier Sona. We were born to fight and it was amazing how free I felt.
I felt myself starting to get tired so I decided that I needed to change things up if I wanted to win. He still had a lot left in him from spending most of his life in the air and I knew that if I ran he would have to chase me so I launched myself toward the roof of the cavern again. True to form, he was right behind me but just before he caught up to me I pulled my wings all the way in and let myself free fall as he shot past me.
I threw my wings back out before I had fallen too far and shot back up the other direction. Pulling my wings back in let me flip around in the air and gave me a clear view of his back as he started pulling himself out of the dive. I didn’t give him a chance to recover. My dive landed me square on his back with enough force to push him to the ground. He rolled to absorb the impact and came to a stop on his back.
I landed next to him and asked, “Are you ok?”
He laughed and said, “I haven’t had that much fun since the last time I spared with Le` Than. If you fight like that when we go before the Kier there will be few who will be able to match you. Help me up and we will work on that being less instinct and more intentional.”
The rest of the summer passed fairly fast. After the fight it was like I had finally woken up and let myself be Kier. I realized that I had been holding myself back because I was afraid of no longer being me. Nicole had been everything about me that was Kier and I had kept her separate because I thought that to accept her was to lose what made me human. It turned out that even though I did grow fangs and claws I was still myself, just more. I could actually feel the changes in the current rather then just letting the wind blow against me.
One of the best days was when Skyler taught me to speak mind to mind. He explained that when we fly to the Kier city we wouldn’t be able to shout to each other very easily so it was more practical to just use mental communication. Along with the explanation came the warning that it was ok to use mental communication while flying and for long distance, but that it was considered rude to use it among a group within earshot because it was too easy to exclude someone from the conversation.
There were also rules of mental etiquette that I had to learn. Before I could start a conversation I had to learn how to send just enough energy to nudge Skyler’s mental defense without seeming like I was attacking him. After that I had to learn exactly how much energy it took to change the volume on my mental voice. Too much energy it would feel like a shout and too little wouldn’t be heard. We had to rope Grandma into helping me distinguish between a single person and a group of people, but I think she secretly enjoyed being involved even if she did complain about it.
With everything else that was going on Skyler also insisted that I learn the Kier language. He said that it wouldn’t do me any good at all to win if I wasn’t able to understand anybody afterward. The days became a blur of sparing, working on forms, language lessons, flying, eating, and sleeping. I was comfortable with the routine and I was disappointed a little when Skyler finally told me that the next day we would be leaving to the Kier city to meet Le` Than.
Skyler met me at the mouth of the cavern with what I assumed was the pack he had when he left to come here. I had gotten the ok from Grandma, who seem resigned to the fact that I was actually considering going to meet Le` Than. She seemed kind of off anytime I mentioned him but I couldn’t place why. It was almost like she knew him somehow, but that would be impossible so I just wrote it off as her dislike of the Kier side altogether.
I shrugged it off and went in. We spent the day setting up the small cave in the back so that both of us would have a place to sleep instead of just me. It was pretty roomy for one person and with both of us there it was actually kind of cozy. We wound up carrying the couch over to one corner and using the extra sheets and blankets to curtain off two rooms so that we both had a private space.
The break from our regular routine was nice, but by the time we finished eating I was starting to feel a bit antsy. I was glad when Skyler finally decided that it was time to go through our forms. Rather then jumping into the most recent form I had learned he went to the weapon racks and got a pair of all the one-handed weapons as well as one of each of the two-handed ones then told me to do the same. I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I assumed he would let me know eventually so I followed suit then laid them out in front of where I would be doing my forms like he had done.
He nodded then said, “We are going to go through all of the forms tonight at a slow pace. While we go through them I am going to tell you a little bit about what it means to be Kier Sona. I want you to pay close attention to each one of the weapons as we go through the forms. One or more of them will resonate with you and the style of fighting you prefer better then the rest. Remember which ones you like the best because they will be used for the next part of your training. Ready?”
I nodded and asked, “Which ones do you fight with?”
He laughed, “Let’s begin.” He started with the first hand-to-hand form as he told me about our race, “According to legends a long time ago there were only three races of Kier named for three sisters who gave birth to them. Lana was the graceful one despite the bulky wings she could never retract into herself. Tanya was a shape shifter, able to go from one appearance to the next on a whim. Sanya was the only one who could never have wings, but she made up for it with her ability to adapt to any given situation through the use of the Elements.
“The sisters and their children lived in relative peace but they had an unknown enemy that wanted to destroy them. One day the enemy came and killed most of Kier before they were finally driven off by all three races fighting together. The sisters knew that the enemy would return and that if they didn’t do something they would all be killed so they made the first Kier Sona. Blessed with Lana’s grace, Tanya’s shape shifting, and Sanya’s gift of the Elements the first of our kind was given one purpose, defend the Kier.
“When the enemy returned to finish off the Kier the First, whose name we have lost to the ages, was able to fight them to a standstill. Not able to gain any ground the enemy withdrew to let the remaining Kier live out their days in peace. We don’t remember who the enemy was or where these battles took place. All we know is that our purpose still holds true. When the enemy returns we will be ready to defend the Kier. It is for this battle we train and train our children.
“The War of the Clans destroyed a lot of our history and split our people. I think it happened because we forgot our way. We had become so focused on the training that we forgot the reason we trained in the first place. This division of the Clans will one day come back to haunt us when the enemy returns and finds us unprepared to fight them. Le` Than has done everything he can to make sure that the Clans under him are ready, but I don’t know if it will be enough. If we are to stand a chance I think we need to find a way to bring all of the Clans back together as they should be. There you have our race. What do you say Yarianna? Will you stand with us on the day the enemy returns?”
I wanted to say that I was still thinking about it but in truth I had already made up my mind, instead I nodded and said, “I will.”
I’m not sure how it happened but my answer came as we finished the last form. With the even tone of the story I almost felt like I was there fighting with the First against an unknown enemy. Everything from the hand-to-hand all the way to the bladed staff was a reenactment of the First’s fight with the enemy. Skyler had told me to pay attention to what weapons resonated with me, but I had gotten so caught up in his story that I had forgotten to.
Skyler looked at me and smiled, “Excellent choices. Now the real work can begin.”
I looked at him and said, “Huh?”
He laughed, “Don’t worry about it. Have you noticed any extra weight?”
I shook my head and asked, “Why?”
All he did was laugh so I looked down to see what was so funny and just stared. Strapped to my waist were twin keris style blades that I had no idea how they got there. Even more surprising was the bladed staff I was holding in my hand. How the hell does a staff just show up in your hand without you even knowing it was there? How do swords show up around your waist? How did I not notice any of it? I was about to ask the questions out loud when the answer came to me. I did notice the blades. They were the same ones I had envisioned when Skyler was telling me about the First.
I looked back at Skyler and asked, “How?”
“We aren’t really sure how old it is or where it originated from, but the story is a three-fold spell. It is designed to tell young Kier Sona about our history, find which blades resonate with them, and answer from the truth of their heart. Each one of us has felt like we were fighting along with the First, and each of us saw it slightly different based on the style of weapon we use. We train in the use of every type of weapon we can, but we specialize in the ones that resonate with us because those are the ones we can call out of the elements. You should feel good about yourself. Not very many of us can call in more then two and even fewer of those that can are able to call in a war bow.”
Now I was really confused so I looked around me without seeing it. I finally felt it when it bumped against my leg when I turned to see if it was behind me. The staff vanished as soon as I tried to set it down so that I could pull the bow out to look at it. Soon after that the rest of the weapons, including the bow, also vanished.
I looked back at Skyler and asked, “How do I get them back?”
He smiled, “They aren’t gone, just waiting for you to call them to your hands again. We will work on calling and dismissing them later. For now we are going to work on your movement in the air. If you want to be named as Le` Than’s heir you will have to be able to fight and move around the field without touching the ground. Every so often a tournament is held and the winner is named second in command. It is designed to weed out those who don’t have the strength or stamina to lead us when we face the enemy again. The winner also has the option of challenging Le` Than himself and a few have. So far there has only been one who got close, but finally lost when he fell out of the sky from exhaustion. It will be a while longer before you have to worry about that though. For now lets see how long you can keep yourself off the ground.”
It sounded simple enough so I launched myself up to the roof of the cavern and glided toward the far end. Circling back was a bit more of a challenge because of a small current of air that I never realized was there pushed against me but I was able to make it all the way back before turning around and doing it all again. Each time I circled back it became a little bit harder to lift myself to the roof and by the fifth time my wings hurt from the constant use. I finally landed half way through my sixth pass and walked the rest of the way back to where Skyler was waiting.
He nodded, “Not bad for your first time. Learn to use the current to lift you back up instead of fighting against it though. Proper use of the currents will be the difference between winning and losing. Knowing how the current moves is half the struggle for long duration flight. Strength and manipulation of your wings is the other half. Go again, but this time adjust the angle of your wings so that the current lifts you back up instead of dragging you down.”
Up I went with my wings crying in protest. Gliding helped relieve some of the stress on them, but when I turned back into the current I could feel the strain. I tried to angle my wings to catch more of the current but dropped a few heart wrenching feet before I caught enough air to keep myself from hitting the ground. I stumbled a bit when I landed and shortly afterward Skyler glided down next to me.
He held out his hand and asked, “Are you ok?”
I took it to pull myself up and shook my head, “I think I felt something pop. Gods, that drop hurt.”
He started running his hands along my wings and said, “You were lucky that you were able to catch yourself. I think we are done with flying for tonight. Nothing feels out of place, but I don’t want to take any chances. Go ahead and retract them so that they can heal properly and we will work on calling in your weapons instead.”
I nodded then pulled my wings in. Tension instantly flared through my back and made me clinch my teeth. I must have made a sound because the next thing I knew Skyler had his arm around me to help me walk to the sleeping area. He helped me to my bed then had me lay on my stomach so that he could help ease the pain. Fingers dug into the knotted muscles and for a brief moment hurt more then it did before he started, but that soon melted away. I’m not sure how long he massaged my back because I fell asleep soon after he started.
The next day Skyler told me was going to be a ground day and to keep my wings pulled in. It almost felt like punishment for hurting myself, but I went along with it. He led me to the middle of the cavern and had me sit in front of him. I sank into the sand with the feeling that I had somehow messed up bad enough that he wouldn’t even let me work the forms.
Skyler looked at me and said, “I know how you are feeling right now and I promise that I am not doing this as punishment. As I told you last night, we are going to give your wings a chance to heal properly and work on calling in your weapons. This lesson usually doesn’t happen until after you have a good feel for the air currents, but I am hoping that by you getting in touch with the energy inside of you the air will become easier for you to feel.
“The first part to calling in any of your weapons at will is your connection to your personal energy. The weapons themselves are just as much a part of you as your wings and claws. The ones that resonate with you will always be the quickest to respond to your call, but any weapon can be called. It takes a lot of time and work with each one you want to be able to call on and that will come later.
“Enter in a waking meditative state and reach for your personal energy. For the most part it will feel formless or like it is waiting for you to learn how to use it. It is up to you to give it form. Start with the Keris blades. You have to know them in every detail. Know how much they weigh, how the grip feels in your hand, the wave pattern of the blade, the length, the width, every flaw and blemish that makes the sword unique to you.
“Once you know the blade in every detail reach in and pull it from your energy. Feel your hand wrap around the grip and draw it out as if taking it from it’s sheath. When you have that one draw the other one. It will be similar, but slightly different. This blade is meant for your off hand. Weight, grip, length, even the pattern will be slightly off from your main hand weapon. Once you know it in every detail draw it from your energy in the same way.
“Always remember that these blades are directly connected to your personal energy. For them to be effective weapons you have to maintain a strong focus on them being substantial. If you lose focus on maintaining them they will fail you. I don’t think you will have too much of a problem with your focus though. The war bow is proof enough of that. It wouldn’t have responded to you if you didn’t have the capacity of maintaining focus over extended periods of time. Ready? Begin.”
I tried to focus like he told me to, but I didn’t have much luck. Every time I thought I had it I would lose focus and the blades would be gone. Over and over again I reached into my energy and tried to pull them out without success. It seemed the harder I tried to call them the harder they were to hold on to.
I went back in to my meditative state determined to try one more time before I gave up for the night and I was met by Nicole. She was sitting by the fountain of energy haphazardly pulling the blades and putting them back as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I sat down next to her and glared at the fountain.
She laughed and said, “It’s not the fountain’s fault that you can’t remember the first instructions Sk` Yler gave you.”
I turned my glare on her and demanded, “What do you mean by that?”
She looked at me and smiled, “Didn’t he tell you that these weapons are as much a part of you as your wings? You are trying to force something into existence that is already there. Forget yourself for a moment and just let the blades be.”
I blinked and said to myself, “Really?”
Skyler gave me a curious look and asked, “Really what?”
I just looked down at my hands and saw myself holding the blades in my minds eye. Instantaneously the weight registered as if I had been holding them the entire time. I blinked again, expecting them to vanish like they had been, but they were still in my hands when I looked up to Skyler’s surprised face.
He shook his head and said, “It took me two weeks to get anything substantial and you do it in an hour. How did you manage to do it?”
I shrugged and said, “Nicole told me that they were already here, I just needed to let them exist. Seems to have worked out pretty good.”
He shook his head, “Well, since you got the easy part over with I guess we can start sparing tonight. It may, or may not considering how fast you pick up some things, get a bit difficult to keep your focus while sparing so we will start slow and pick up speed as you get more comfortable.”
I stood up and nodded then took a ready stance with my blades. He squared up with me and called in a pair of black Gladius style short swords. As soon as he nodded that he was ready we started sparing. I had thought it might be difficult to keep my focus with the blades, but it was like Nicole said, they were just as much a part of me as my wings. We gradually picked up speed until we were going full force and I got to see just how good Skyler really was.
Sometime in the middle of fighting we had gone from twin swords to staves while keeping the same pace. It took most of what I had to keep him from hitting me and I found myself smiling as we danced with our weapons. He nearly got me once and without thinking about it I unfurled my wings and threw myself backward to avoid the hit.
The force of it took me into the air and Skyler followed close behind. The dance became even more intricate as we timed our strikes with the beating of our wings, neither one of us being able to strike the other. We reached the roof of the cavern and turned to grappling to try and at least get a punch in, but even that we were evenly matched.
As we neared the ground I shoved off him and used to space to fire off a couple of arrows before he closed the distance and we went back to swords. I moved through the air like it was second nature and didn’t give myself time to think about it. Logically I knew that I was fighting well above what I should be able to do, but logic didn’t have a place in our dance.
My mind registered the slight change in current that told me where his next strike would be, allowing me to block and counter without my conscious mind filtering the reaction first. Ever since I discovered my wings I had been going through the motions, but it wasn’t until this fight that I finally grasped what it was to be Kier Sona. We were born to fight and it was amazing how free I felt.
I felt myself starting to get tired so I decided that I needed to change things up if I wanted to win. He still had a lot left in him from spending most of his life in the air and I knew that if I ran he would have to chase me so I launched myself toward the roof of the cavern again. True to form, he was right behind me but just before he caught up to me I pulled my wings all the way in and let myself free fall as he shot past me.
I threw my wings back out before I had fallen too far and shot back up the other direction. Pulling my wings back in let me flip around in the air and gave me a clear view of his back as he started pulling himself out of the dive. I didn’t give him a chance to recover. My dive landed me square on his back with enough force to push him to the ground. He rolled to absorb the impact and came to a stop on his back.
I landed next to him and asked, “Are you ok?”
He laughed and said, “I haven’t had that much fun since the last time I spared with Le` Than. If you fight like that when we go before the Kier there will be few who will be able to match you. Help me up and we will work on that being less instinct and more intentional.”
The rest of the summer passed fairly fast. After the fight it was like I had finally woken up and let myself be Kier. I realized that I had been holding myself back because I was afraid of no longer being me. Nicole had been everything about me that was Kier and I had kept her separate because I thought that to accept her was to lose what made me human. It turned out that even though I did grow fangs and claws I was still myself, just more. I could actually feel the changes in the current rather then just letting the wind blow against me.
One of the best days was when Skyler taught me to speak mind to mind. He explained that when we fly to the Kier city we wouldn’t be able to shout to each other very easily so it was more practical to just use mental communication. Along with the explanation came the warning that it was ok to use mental communication while flying and for long distance, but that it was considered rude to use it among a group within earshot because it was too easy to exclude someone from the conversation.
There were also rules of mental etiquette that I had to learn. Before I could start a conversation I had to learn how to send just enough energy to nudge Skyler’s mental defense without seeming like I was attacking him. After that I had to learn exactly how much energy it took to change the volume on my mental voice. Too much energy it would feel like a shout and too little wouldn’t be heard. We had to rope Grandma into helping me distinguish between a single person and a group of people, but I think she secretly enjoyed being involved even if she did complain about it.
With everything else that was going on Skyler also insisted that I learn the Kier language. He said that it wouldn’t do me any good at all to win if I wasn’t able to understand anybody afterward. The days became a blur of sparing, working on forms, language lessons, flying, eating, and sleeping. I was comfortable with the routine and I was disappointed a little when Skyler finally told me that the next day we would be leaving to the Kier city to meet Le` Than.
