SWNOVELS Chapter Alex XIII
The elves joined their cause.
They gave only twenty thousand soldiers though. All of them were archers, though they could also wield a blade. And while that might sound like a good thing, it wasn’t. Not to Alex.
His anxiety was heightened. This upcoming battle made him nervous, for so many reasons. Octavia and Eddie would be at this battle which put them in immediate danger. Any sane man would be frightened before their first battle. For many, the first would be the last.
Aria sat down in the grass next to him. “Are you well, Alexander?”
“Yes and no.”
She furrowed her brow. She was confused, but she wasn’t about to say anything about that. She could sense that it wasn’t the time. “What is it that bothers you?”
“I’m going to die,” Alex stated. “Again. And so is Octavia and Eddie.”
“Again? Why, you’ve never died, I put a lot of work into making it so that it never did happen.” the white-haired girl told him. Her hair was turning auburn, but she hadn’t noticed. Nobody was going to mention it to her. And her eyes had stayed the same grey.
“It’s how I got here, Aria,” the black-haired boy admitted. “I got in trouble for fighting at school and I had to stay late. So, I was late getting Octavia from school and getting home. We cut through Calderstones Park, we waited for the cars to pass, and when they were all gone, we began to cross and this car came out of nowhere and it hit us. Two kids walking home from school got killed in a car accident on Menlove Avenue. I died. And I didn’t know it until Omdrus told me. I got Octavia killed because I was too proud to walk away.”
“You didn’t get her killed, Alexander,” Aria told him. “It was your destiny to come here. It’s your destiny to fight this war.”
“People die in war. If we lose, that means that Octavia dies again. Eddie dies. You die. I die.” Alex told her.
“And that’s why we can’t lose,” the white-haired girl spoke. “You want to get this war over and done with? Good. You want to live to see the aftermath? Even better. But you cannot wield a sword, and without that skill, you’re rendered weak on the field of battle.”
“We don’t really use swords in my world anymore.”
“Well, then, it’s about time you learned,” Aria told him. She stood up. He looked up at her.
“Like now?”
“Unless you want to die horribly in battle.” Aria replied. “Come on, unsheathe that sword of yours. Get to your feet.”
With a sigh, he did as she ordered. But of course, then he stood there, feeling like an idiot holding the sword. She too unsheathed the sword she had on her hip. Though he knew that soon, she’d be discarding it in favor of the axe.
“What now?”
“Have some confidence, bring a little dignity. It’s a sword, not a bloody stick.” Aria scoffed. “Act like you know what you’re doing.”
He raised the sword higher and put an arrogant look on his face. He could tell that it took everything she had to keep herself from laughing.
“I did what you said, I still feel like a fool,” he told her. She cleared her throat.
“Alright, alright, let me show you how a real warrior wields their sword,” Aria spoke. She held the sword in a tight grip and performed a flourish that knocked the sword out of the boy’s hand. “And what did you see?”
He picked the sword up off the grass. For a moment, he thought she was going to take his head, even if it was an accident. “I saw you knocking the sword out of my hands.”
She huffed. “Obviously. But what I meant was, what did you feel when I was doing it? What did you observe from it?”
“You were a bit too confident.”
“Yes, I was. But that was because you made that easy for me,” she told him. “Now, you try to disarm me. There’s no need for a fancy flourish. Just hold the sword tight in your grasp.” He thought he’d be able to surprise her if he made it look like he’d hesitated. But her sword clashed against his. “Good. Now parry.” she came in for another attack and he just barely evaded it. “Thrust.”
He did as she said. It seemed that by coaching him and fighting him simultaneously, he was learning faster. He was getting the hang of it. But it wasn’t easy, and he knew that he had far more to learn. She coached him further. And by mid-day, she deemed him worthy. Especially after his sword cut clean through one post.
“Spar with me.”
He wanted to argue with her. He wanted to say that she was far too better than him, and that a fight with her would surely kill him. But he trusted her. He had high hope that she’d be easy on him.
She was the first to strike. He parried and then riposte. She thrusted and sliced. But Alex had the upper hand nonetheless, that is until a flourish knocked the sword out of his hand, and her foot swept his feet out from behind him.
“Your footing was off.” Aria told him. That was all she had to say. He’d nearly beaten her. But she couldn’t be sure.
She didn’t know if it was luck.
Or skill.