“What shall we do first?” Senton asked.
It was then that Jahrra realized she didn’t have any weapons with her.
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll be able to practice much today. My gear is back at home.”
“I think we’ll manage,” he answered, his gray eyes sparkling as he indicated a large barrel standing next to a tree.
It was full of wooden swords and bows. A sign on the barrel read: Practice Equipment; please return when finished. Jahrra’s face split in a wide grin. She jumped the fence and ran over, choosing one of the swords that wasn’t too splintered or damaged from overuse. She chose a similar one for Senton and the two of them went through a warm up routine before Jahrra made him square off with her on a patch of empty grass.
The practice was fun at first with Jahrra laughing at her new friend’s attempts at getting past her guard. After half an hour they were both breathing hard and Senton, she was sure, was sporting a few bruises, though he refused to admit they bothered him.
They stopped to rest, both pressing their hands to their knees and letting their swords drop to the ground. After a while Senton looked up. His look of exhausted joy disappeared only to be replaced with a frown.
“Hey, isn’t that the girl from our class? The one who was being so bold?”
Jahrra stood up and glanced to where Senton was looking. Standing against the fence, her elbows supporting her, was the dark haired girl who had found it offensive for their professor to be late. What was she doing here? Had she followed them?
She simply stood there perfectly at ease, watching them the way one might watch a river rush by. Finally after several seconds she jumped the fence with extreme ease and walked over. Jahrra froze and she felt Senton do the same beside her.
Once she was five feet away the girl stopped, rocked her weight onto one leg and crossed her arms.
“Not bad with a sword,” she said to Jahrra, ignoring Senton. “Do you really know what you are doing or are you just playing warrior?”
Jahrra couldn’t tell if the girl was being purposely uncouth or if her question was simply honest curiosity. After a moment of turning it over in her head, Jahrra gritted her teeth. Could this be Ellysian all over again? If it was, Jahrra wouldn’t tolerate it this time around. Instead, she would fight back.
Donning a look of cool composure, Jahrra answered, “Would you like to see for yourself?”
Taking Senton’s sword onto her toe, she flipped it up with her foot and grasped the wooden blade, handing it out for the girl to take. The grin that crossed her face was pure malicious delight, or so Jahrra thought. Senton mumbled something incoherent and stepped aside, not at all wanting to get caught between two young women intent on outdoing one another.
The girl lunged first and Jahrra quickly slipped into the years of training she had received from the elves. She seemed to have the upper hand at first, but the other girl soon began showing her true colors. She was good. More than good. She was a match for Jahrra, both in speed and technique. The two sparred for several minutes, Jahrra ducking her opponent’s swings or parrying a strike in her direction. Both girls managed to make contact with the other’s skin, and Jahrra cursed inwardly at the discomfort. She was going to be black and blue tomorrow. Despite her weariness and pain, she wasn’t about to give up.
The fight went on a few minutes more but finally the other girl raised her arm calling, “Truce! You do know what you’re doing!”
Jahrra almost fell over in surprise when the girl smiled at her, reaching out her hand in introduction. “I’m Torrell, and you are?”
“J-Jahrra,” she breathed.
The girl called Torrell looked over at Senton, who had gone to tend to the horses.
“He’s not much of a fighter,” she said, tilting her head in his direction.
“He asked me to teach him,” Jahrra answered, shrugging.
Torrell nodded then looked Jahrra up and down.
“What is it?” Jahrra asked, suddenly feeling strangely exposed.
“Nothing, just a rumor I heard,” Torrell sniffed, stabbing the wooden tip of her sword into the ground.
She gathered up her curly hair and wrapped a string of leather around it.
Jahrra froze. “Rumor?” she asked.
“Yeah, something about the dragon Raejaaxorix finally returning to Lidien to stay for more than a fortnight.”
Jahrra’s heart skipped a beat. Senton may be a bit oblivious to the obvious but this girl surely wasn’t.
“Oh?” she said, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“Yup, my mother overheard an acquaintance of hers telling her employer about it. Said he was back and this time he brought with him a young woman who is supposedly the human the Oracle’s promised.”
Jahrra felt her hand start to shake. No, don’t panic. It’s not the end of the world. They’re all going to find out eventually.
Torrell continued on as if she hadn’t noticed Jahrra’s change in demeanor.
“She’s supposed to have blond hair and blue eyes, my mother’s friend said. She’d seen the girl herself you know, riding a marble gray semequin with the dragon Jaax.”
Jahrra closed her eyes and swallowed. It was pointless to keep up this façade.
She took a deep breath and said, “Look, what is this all about? What do you really want? An autograph, the chance to go home and tell your mother who you saw today?”
To Jahrra’s great surprise, Torrell snorted.
“Well, don’t we have a rather high opinion of ourselves? So you are her then. Shorter than I imagined, though. But you are good with a sword. I figured if you are destined to save the world, you’re probably really good at fighting. I needed someone with a decent amount of skill to practice with, so, you’re it.”
Torrell had her chin in hand, her dark brown eyes narrowed as she looked Jahrra over. She had an inch or two on her, but she was far more slender and her eyes slanted just enough to remind Jahrra of Gieaun and Scede. Unlike her two best friends, however, this girl was all fierceness and sharp wit. Despite her seemingly insulting way of going about things, Jahrra liked her. She went straight to the point and seemed to avoid unnecessary nonsense.
“I’m sorry,” Jahrra said, feeling slightly embarrassed by her assumptions. “That’s just how most people have responded to me so far. If you can believe it, I just found out who I was a few months ago.”
Torrell arched an eyebrow. “How is that possible?”
Jahrra laughed. “I was told I was a Nesnan while growing up. Jaax only told me the truth recently. So,” she continued in order to keep the conversation off herself, “what is the general opinion of Jaax, in Lidien that is?”
Torrell grinned. “He’s well liked by most. Severely stern and unyielding, I’ve heard, but no one dares disrespect him. What’s he like in private?”
Jahrra laughed out loud.
“The same, I’m afraid,” she said.
Senton, having worked up the gumption to rejoin them, walked up. “What’s so funny?”
“Your swordplay,” Torrell said with a sniff.
Senton blinked at Jahrra and she merely shrugged, grinning hugely.
“Did you know that your friend here is the human the Oracles promised us?”
The question caught both Jahrra and Senton off guard. The young man looked at Jahrra with wide eyes, then his eyes grew larger and he parted his lips in a silent gasp.
“Are you?” he asked in a whisper.
Jahrra crossed her arms. Torrell’s blunt acknowledgment of the truth just a minute ago had chased away all of her jitters.