“That was adequate,” Jaax sniffed.
This was a surprise to Jahrra. She thought she’d done rather well. She just sat straighter in the saddle, trying to look unaffected by the dragon’s judgment.
“Is that all you can do?” he continued.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Jahrra stammered, feeling somewhat flabbergasted.
“You ride well and move with Phrym well, but can you do anything else besides weave through trees and jump logs?”
Jaax was beginning to sound like Master Tarnik and Jahrra was starting to wonder what could be bothering him to make him so aggravated.
“Can you ride fast and shoot with a bow?” he continued fluently. “Could you cover rough ground and fight off five full-grown men while staying on Phrym’s back? Could you make a higher or wider jump if you had to without falling from the saddle? These are things that you’ll need to learn, so therefore, your overall horsemanship is merely adequate.”
Jahrra was stunned. Why on Ethoes would I need to fight off full-grown men!? she wondered in exasperation. She didn’t bring these questions up to Jaax, however. She thought that he was just being overly dramatic and assumed further questioning would only anger him more. Jahrra slumped in the saddle, waiting to receive her next set of marching orders.
“I guess we’ll test your archery skills next,” Jaax said shortly, and then added mordantly. “You did bring your bow?”
Jahrra slid from Phrym’s back and untied her bow and quiver from the back of her saddle. She allowed Phrym to wander off to graze and then turned back towards Jaax. “Do I have a target, or am I to just shoot at whatever moves next?”
“I’ll tell you what to aim for, and you’ll try to hit it. That is generally how it works,” the dragon answered to match Jahrra’s cynicism. “Not all of your targets in real life are going to have bull’s-eyes on them you know.”
Jahrra burned with annoyance, but she pulled her gloves on quietly and readied an arrow.
“Alright, what am I to kill?” she said as pleasantly as possible.
“I’ll go easy on you on your first attempt. Do you see that tree over there?”
Jaax nodded to a small apple tree, about fifty yards away that was covered in new leaves and unopened buds. Jahrra noticed the large knothole on its trunk and was happy to agree with Jaax on this next task being easy, that is, until he spoke again.
“I just want you to hit any of the blossoms growing on that tree for now.”
He couldn’t be serious. Most of the buds were smaller than her thumbnail.
“You must be joking!” Jahrra blurted out, making her thoughts known.
“No, deadly serious,” the dragon whispered dangerously. “You can’t always risk missing an exact target, you must be precise, or it could mean your life.”
Jahrra stepped back nervously. She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. It could mean my life? Who could possibly be that threatening to me? Then she thought with a slight panic, Maybe someone told him and Master Hroombra about what happened in Kiniahn Kroi! Could Ellysian and Eydeth really be trying to kill me?
Jahrra swallowed hard and pulled back on her bowstring, aiming at the largest blossom she could find. It’ll be a miracle if I hit any part of the tree, she thought apprehensively. She released the arrow with a thick twang, but it sailed right past the tree, not even nicking a leaf. Jahrra stood there, turning bright red. Jaax didn’t say a word, and Jahrra was sure he was savoring the moment.
Finally, the dragon spoke, his voice calm, “I am very glad I decided to start your training early. Now, the last thing I want to see is how you defend yourself when provoked. I’m going to attack you and I want you to fight back. In a sense, I want you to try sparring with a dragon. A dragon is probably the deadliest thing you’ll ever have to face, so this is a good learning experience for you.”
Jaax walked away from the numb and embarrassed girl and, using his teeth, broke off a dead limb from a nearby tree.
“Here,” he said, spitting it out at her feet, “pretend that is a sword. You have a good imagination, something you proved with the story of the unicorns yesterday.”
Jahrra’s eyes were stinging with humiliation and rage, but she wouldn’t allow herself to cry, not in front of him. She picked up the branch and broke off the end to a suitable length. She was somewhat afraid to attack Jaax. After all, he was a huge dragon and she was just a girl, but her pride ruled her more than she wished. She took a deep breath that was meant to steady her mind and stepped forward, holding the branch as best she could from what she’d gathered about sword fighting.
Jaax rose up on his hind legs and let out a mighty roar mixed with fire and smoke. Jahrra stopped dead. She’d never heard him roar like this before, and she became even more apprehensive. Now she understood why people feared dragons.
“Come on, attack me! Don’t be afraid!” Jaax boomed down at her.
He was twice as tall as usual as he balanced on his hind legs and tail, his great wings stirring the air as they held up his great weight.
Jahrra lifted the stick she held and swallowed hard, bowing her head against the beat of his wings. She took a deep breath and let out a yell of her own, charging at full speed with her eyes shut tight and her heart racing. She felt a crashing as she sprinted forward, and before she knew it, she had been slammed to the ground, gasping for breath. She felt the earth shake slightly as Jaax returned his forelegs to the solid ground.
Jahrra opened her eyes and looked around dazedly. She was lying on her back and her lungs ached. Groaning, she rolled her head to the side and saw her imaginary sword lying on the ground a few yards away. Phrym was whinnying in distress but seemed too timid to approach. Jaax was standing above her, his great tail wrapped around the perimeter of the battlefield.
The dragon leaned his enormous head down right next to Jahrra’s and said in a whisper, his breath moving the sand beside her head, “Never approach an enemy in anger, and never, ever close your eyes.”
He lifted his head and walked off to the other end of the field and sat down, his back turned to the stunned girl. Jahrra sat up, furious with herself and extremely angry that Jaax had actually knocked her down. She shook the dirt and dead leaves from her hair and glared at him, hurtling as much hatred through her eyes as she could.
Since his back was turned, she decided to take the opportunity to surprise him by creeping up on his blind side. She kept her eyes wide open this time, and as she drew nearer, she lifted her wooden sword in preparation for an attack. Jahrra thought she was doing well. She’d gotten within a few feet of the dragon, but it was no use, his hearing was too good. He swiftly turned around, and as Jahrra swung at him, he grabbed the branch with his scaled hand and lifted both the girl and her weapon high above the ground.
Jahrra clung to her stick and hung helplessly in the air, kicking and flailing as Jaax held her up to his face.
“Not good enough, Jahrra. Come now, you should be able to hit me at least once!” he taunted, smiling in amusement.
He dropped her from five feet up, but this time when Jahrra hit the ground she got up much quicker than before, taking Jaax by surprise. The dragon began to lift up once again on his hind legs, but before he could get his front legs into the air, Jahrra swung her branch with all her strength. The hard wood cracked against one of his left knuckles, and to Jahrra’s surprise and horror, a scale went flying off.