“While I doubt Dix would appreciate being labelled as ‘hot’ or a ‘distraction’, I’m glad you have her, and I’m glad you’re doing so well,” Alex told him. Her voice gentled as she added, “I’m really proud of you, Jordan.”
Pulling her close as they walked, he smiled down at her. “Couldn’t have done it without you, Alex. My life changed for the better the day Bear and I found you in the forest. You know that, right?”
Warmth spread through her at his kind words, and she whispered, “My life changed for the better that day, too.”
Jordan, surprisingly, snorted. “Wasn’t that when you first met Aven?”
Alex made a choking sound of laughter and corrected, “Okay, so most of my life changed for the worse that day, but some parts changed for the better.”
“Ah, the relentless balance of life,” Jordan reflected. “We can’t know good without first knowing bad, we can’t see anything without first being blind, we can’t feel heat until we’ve been cold, we can’t hear sound until it breaks the silence, we can’t hold—”
“Is this going to last a while?” Alex interrupted when it appeared like he was going to continue being a walking, talking fortune cookie.
Frowning at her, Jordan said, “You cut into my monologue. People pay for that kind of wisdom.”
“People should get their money back,” Alex said bluntly.
Thankfully they reached the dorm building then, and they parted ways before Jordan had a chance to argue—or, worse, continue soliloquising again.
It was in the early hours on Saturday morning when the summons came. Alex was sleeping soundly, but when Soraya started growling a deep, warning sound, she shot up in bed and gasped when she saw something move in the shadows.
“Be at ease, human,” Shirez said, quiet enough not to wake D.C. who had managed to sleep through Soraya’s warning. “I’m here to pass on a message.”
Heart pounding from the instant hit of adrenaline, Alex could only stare at the Shadow Walker while wondering what the point was of the bio-sensor security for their dorm rooms if the other races were able to come and go as they damn well pleased.
“The vatali targo has come to a completion,” Shirez said, causing Alex to sit up straighter. “A victor has been named.”
Alex’s already thumping pulse ratcheted up a notch.
“The elders have since announced publicly that the victor will face a final battle—a battle against you.” Shirez paused. “There has been much protest to this announcement.”
Alex was hardly surprised.
“The victor, however, has agreed, which has helped calm the outcry. By all accounts, it would seem as if she is eager to fight you again.”
Licking her dry lips, Alex asked, “Again?”
“The victor was Trell Roven,” Shirez said. “She was one of your combatants the other day.”
Trell—the one who had sucker punched Alex before she’d known the match had started.
With a sinking heart, Alex drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, not caring how uneasy she must look. “When do I fight her?”
“Today,” Shirez said. “Noon.”
With a shallow inhale, Alex nodded. “I’ll be there.”
Shirez nodded in return and, just as she was about to leave, quietly said, “Unlike last time, today you will use weapons. Trell Roven favours a double-bladed staff. She is one of our finest warriors.”
Alex swallowed. “I figured as much, since she beat six others to win your trials.”
“She is also overconfident, especially when it comes to you. She will not expect you to be prepared.”
Alex peered into the shadowy corner where Shirez stood as still as a statue. “Why are you telling me this? Why tell me what weapon she will use?”
“Knowledge is power, Alexandra Jennings,” came the Shadow Walker’s barely audible reply. “And you will need every advantage you can get.”
A moment later, the shadows rose and Shirez was gone.
Middle of the night or not, Alex drew back her covers and pulled herself out of bed, hushing Soraya when she gave a low whine and a pointed yawn.
Niyx? Alex called, then louder when, for the first time ever, it was she who got to wake him. Not surprising, given the time.
Kit’n, s’three ’n th’mornin’, came his grumpy, slurred reply.
I’m really sorry, she said, moving to her wardrobe and grabbing her warmest outdoor gear. But I need your help.
Shirez was right: knowledge was power. And knowing the kind of weapon Trell would be using was a great advantage indeed. So, despite the early hour, when Niyx heard that Alex’s battle was scheduled for noon that coming day, he swept in to collect her.
Hours went by as they sparred relentlessly, Niyx attacking her with a staff and Alex trying out different weapons against him. In the end, while she had more power in her strikes when she too fought with a staff, she was more comfortable with A’enara in her hands and needed to be as confident as possible during her fight. Her magical blade rarely let her down; there was no other weapon she would trust to help her in the coming battle.
As the sun began to rise across the horizon, easily admired from their position atop Mount Paedris, Niyx brought their session to an end.
They still had plenty of time left before Alex was due at Graevale, and she told him as much.
“You need to rest,” he replied, tossing her a pouch full of mixed berries and a flask of warmed laendra. “It won’t do you any good to wear yourself out before your match.”
Throwing back some of the fruit and chasing it with the heated nectar, Alex said, “I’ll be running on adrenaline anyway. Might as well make sure I’m as prepared as I can be.”
“Kitten, you are,” Niyx said firmly. “You won our last three rounds, and I’d have the cuts and bruises to show you if I hadn’t just drunk my weight in laendra.”
Alex winced in apology, since she had nicked him a few times. And by ‘nicked’, she meant stabbed, sliced and very nearly gutted him.
Her Meyarin friend deserved a medal for being such a good sport. He hadn’t even protested when Soraya had eventually decided to join them and, at Alex’s request, ran around their legs to make their sparring more challenging than it already was. He’d actually encouraged the wolf, instructing her on how to be the most distracting to Alex. Soraya had thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the team and now lay panting in the snow, waiting to see if they would start fighting again.
“The only way you could be more prepared is with months, even years, of additional time,” Niyx went on. “And that’s something you don’t have. But what you do have are keen reflexes, strong intuition, practised skills and natural talent.” He reached out and tilted her head up to his. “Your opponent might have her shadowing ability to her advantage, but on every other level, you can more than hold your own. And if you manage to pull off Aes Daega’s plan with your Shadow Ring, then you not only have a chance at winning, you almost have a guarantee of it.”