‘If you’d be so kind, Tova dear, please do it outside the house and away from my garden this time. The winter roses are partial to water, not fire.’ Pa’s eyes sparkled with amusement. Like Tova’s sister Caleigh, Pa was a Terra. Even when winter was at its harshest, he made sure his garden didn’t falter.
Tova groaned, closing her book as she sank further into the oversized chair. ‘Is it reallythatbad?’ she muttered from beneath the arm she’d tossed over her head.
Aya glanced at her father before they turned to Tova in unison.
‘Yes!’
9
‘Do you think he knows they’re imagining what he looks like shirtless?’
Aya could hear the amusement dancing in her friend’s whisper as she followed Tova’s gaze across the large, open training room where the Visya students were gathered.
The students that had returned to the Quarter after they’d finished with basic affinity demonstrations at the school were interested in combat. They included three teenage girls who were sitting in front of the raised training ring and staring at Will.
‘They look like they want to eat him.’
‘It would save us the trouble of having to kill him one day,’ Tova quipped.
Aya coughed, trying to hide her grin behind her raised fist. Galda shot her a scathing look from her place in the center of the training ring, and Aya’s cheeks burned. The trainer was small, her black skin weathered, her curly hair shocking white. And yet her round dark brown eyes still held the fiercest stare Aya had ever seen.
She may have aged, but Galda still managed to put the fear of the gods in her.
Will lounged against the far ropes, looking gloriously bored as he toyed with a loose thread on his worn black fighting leathers. Their suits were flexible in all the right places and reinforced in their weakest – the perfect armor for the weapons that they were.
‘You’re just as bad as they are,’ Tova breathed, followingAya’s gaze. Aya’s jaw clenched, and Tova winced as her elbow met her gut.
‘You’re disgusting.’
Tova rolled her eyes and bid Aya goodbye as the students were dismissed. Aya watched her friend go, Tova’s long hair swishing in its ponytail as she followed the other Elemental Wielders to the outdoor ring.
The Corpsoma followed shortly behind the Dultra, as they also needed plenty of space to practice with their physical affinities.
Which left the Espri, the Manipulators of Mind and Sensation, inside. Aya sent up a silent prayer of thanks that they got to stay indoors. The Ventaleh had yet to release its icy hold on the city.
Will had asked Liam and his twin Lena to join the demonstrations. Cleo, another Sensainos, had been eager to assist as well. She stood toward the back of the ring, her sleeveless fighting leathers hugging her supple curves like a second skin. Her brow was pinched in concentration as she surveyed the remaining students.
The three girls remained, their smiles widening as Will shoved himself off the ropes and strolled toward the center of the ring to explain the drills.
‘We’ll start with a few defense demonstrations and exercises. Then we’ll see what you can do with your affinities.’ He nodded to Liam and Cleo, and they stepped into the center of the ring, each unsheathing a long blade.
Cleo tucked a piece of her short hair behind her ear, giving Liam a tentative smile.
A trick – to look soft and unprepared. Aya had it in her arsenal as well. And it was why she wasn’t surprised when Cleo suddenly lunged, her body uncoiling like a snake primed to strike.
Liam raised his blade in time to block her, and soon the only sound in the room was the clang of metal on metal as they sparred. Liam was handy with a sword, but Cleo … her footwork was far superior. She had him on the ground in the span of a few minutes, her blade pointed at his throat.
‘And that’s why I told you to work on your footwork,’ Galda growled from the corner of the ring.
Aya bit back a smile. She remembered being a student in this very room, watching the older Dyminara go through drills and get scolded by Galda even though they were supposed to be the teachers for the day.
Of course, Aya had already been training with Galda by then – had been for years. But it didn’t stop the awe that overtook her when she watched the trainer instruct the Dyminara as she did now.
Cleo and Liam started again, going slowly as Will marked each move for the students, before he broke the group into pairs, Galda passing out wooden swords so they could practice.
Aya wove between the students, correcting quietly as she went. She stopped only when one of the girls from the trio disarmed her partner spectacularly.
‘Well done.’
