Grey bowed out of the circle and was replaced by the two tall, silvery elves. I found myself startled again; I had not seen them sitting with the group, or anywhere else. For some reason, it was much more eerie than the little wiry man who blinked in and out of vision. One of the men spoke, his voice smooth and melodic. “We will not demonstrate their full power at this time. We will not short our forces a man for mere display.” I thought there was humor in his voice. “As you can see, they can be frightening, however, without attack.”
At that, the dogs walked into the circle. I had not seen them either, before they were approaching their masters. They came forward to snarl, one regarding Ruby and one Steed, and I could only be glad it wasn’t me as their muzzles pulled back and exposed a vicious set of teeth, complete with meat-tearing fangs. The hair rose on their backs and I was suddenly positive they were larger than Ruby. A horrific growl ripped from their chests in unison and I cringed. Then, at once, they settled back into relaxed seated positions as if they had never been angry. “We also do not do tricks.” Yes, there was humor there. I was relieved to see the intimidating pair might not be as formal as I'd imagined. “We will return to watch.” They nodded toward me and walked out of the circle in unison, disappearing from view.
I twisted the feather I was holding in my hand. Something about it, something about the dogs. How remarkable it must be to master a beast. I wouldn’t have to be battered during training then. I winced a little at the thought of Ruby cracking one of those wolf-dogs with her whip. Better them than me, I guess.
Chapter Eleven
An Education
The next morning, Ruby was in the main room waiting for me. She instructed me to bathe and change; we would be spending the day training. I followed her directives but couldn’t decide whether to be grateful or worried when the clothes she’d laid out for me were plainly meant for a hard day. It was still early as we stole out the back, cloaks covering out heads, and made our way to the ridge.
Steed, Chevelle, Grey, and Anvil were there. I imagined the others, Rhys, Rider, and their dogs were there as well, though I couldn’t see them. Watch dogs, I thought, all four. It was comforting, but Ruby wasted no time in getting to training. She immediately trounced me. Repeatedly. I felt whipped, literally and figuratively, before we’d gone half an hour.
After watching us for a while, Steed stepped in to save me. “Frey,” he'd converted to the nickname the others used in place of the sunnier ones, “why don’t you take a break for a while, let us spar so you can watch… we’ll give you a few pointers.”
I didn’t know if I liked the idea of the group sparring, whether it gave me a break from the beatings or not, but Grey stepped forward and my opinion no longer mattered.
“Just watch… and learn.”
I backed away and sat, cross legged on the ground. Ruby joined me; I could tell she was excited. It seemed everything excited Ruby. Everything that made me nervous, I amended in my head.
Steed and Grey stood opposite each other in the center of the flat we circled. A cursory nod at one another signaled the onset of the bout and both tensed and crouched slightly into a ready stance. I found myself leaning forward in suspense. Chevelle moved to stand beside me, he, too, watching intently. Grey wagged his eyebrows at Steed, taunting him to make the first move.
“Come on, Suzie,” Steed teased back, “let’s see what you’ve got.”
At that, Grey disappeared and then, in a flash, was behind Steed, reaching up to smack him in the back of the head. But just before he struck, Steed ducked into a squat and spun, his extended arms taking Grey’s legs out from under him. And suddenly I was jerking with their moves enthusiastically. Grey caught himself and was gone again, this time reappearing midair in a flip above Steed’s head, reaching down to tag him on the way by. It was a loud smack, I was sure it had stung. Steed was standing again, focused on the spot where Grey had landed and now flickered in and out of view so fast I couldn’t keep up. I made an effort to consider possible responses in my head, but was coming up blank.
The nerves were gone, I found myself wanting Steed to win and leaned with his strikes, tensing as if they were my own. Grey bounded through the air once more, showing off, confident in his evident lead, and then a small rock rose at chest height in front of Steed. I was wondering who had lifted it when I saw Grey flash back into view and hesitate, only a moment, as he considered the rock. At once, his face changed; he knew he’d been beaten. As he'd paused to study the floating rock, Steed had immobilized him and, just like that, the match was over.
Ruby leaned toward me as she spoke softly. “Steed is stronger than Grey, he only needed to catch him.”
Grey conceded, his walk slower, no longer jerky as he made his way out of the makeshift ring. Steed threw me a quick wink.