"No," I replied. "I can't. I won't. It's too dangerous."
"You're too powerful to be a coward," he growled. "When you get pissed, hit me, yell at me, throw all your bullshit at me every chance you get. I can take it. Stay mad if it keeps you from being afraid but don't, for one fucking second, turn your back on who you are. Not for fear. Not for anything. Because people are counting on you, Adrian. And not because you're a weapon but because you represent something they haven't had in a thousand years.Hope. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let you piss it away because you're too scared to own up to your own capability."
Rage exploded within me and, perhaps it was only proving him right, but I couldn’t help it. I pulled my hand back and slapped him, hard, across the face. He let the blow turn his chin sideways, a red hand print already blooming upon his chiseled cheekbones. I whirled on my feet, ponytail swinging over my shoulder, and stormed away from him toward the entrance of the cave.
“Tonight,” I hissed over my shoulder as I fled. “Don’t be late.”
***
The asshole was late.
Hours later, my friends and I were gathered in mine andZya’stent, simply staring at one another as we waited. They hadn’t argued with me when I'd told them the plan, explaining that we weren’t getting anywhere on our own and their safety was important enough to risk allowing the surly commander to train us. I’d noticed a few exchanged glances between them which told me they probably didn’t agree but they didn't voice those arguments. Not yet. However, if he were any later…
Suddenly, the tent flaps flew open and he drifted in with the breeze, scowl already set in place as always. His arms were full of various weapons. Swords and daggers mostly, but I noticed one crossbow and a pair of regular bows as wellamongstthem. He tossed them onto the sand in an unceremonious heap before looking up at us, blue eyes blazing.
“Pick a blade,” he said simply.
And so it began.
Kane and Darius both chose swords, unsurprisingly. Roxy and Hugh went for the bows andZyapalmed a few daggers, testing the weight of them in her hands. I reached for a sword butGryfonslapped my hand away with a glare that had my fists clenching at my sides.
I waited throughout his basic instruction of each weapon and how it was to be used. Then I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently as he taught Roxy and Hugh how to thread an arrow onto the bow before leaving them to practice and moving to Kane and Darius to show them some formations I'd never seen before. He left them to test their balance with the blades while he moved toZyaand had a whispered conversation regarding the versatility of the dagger and how it was a weapon of stealth but could be a weapon of distance as well. She told him of her knowledge of touch points and he informed her that touch points could be effective slash points as well. She grinned at that and he stepped away, leaving her to practice tossing her knivesinto a circle in the sand he'd drawn with his foot only a few feet away. Then he stepped back and watched them all go through the motions he'd taught them, interrupting here and there to offer instruction or help advance their progress.
He was a good instructor. As furious as I was to be kept out of the training, I couldn’t help but feel relieved by the idea of a skilled fighter like him teaching my friends how to defend themselves. If the cost of such valuable training was to hold my tongue and standidlyby while they learned, I would pay it. Not happily, but I would pay it.
He didn't look back at me once throughout the duration of the training. He simply moved between them, switching from sword to dagger to bow and arrow instruction without hesitation. My friends, however, met my gaze each in turn, seemingly uncomfortable with the clear tension between me and their instructor.
He was ignoring me on purpose, I knew that, and part of me wondered if he'd decided upon the moment we met that it would be his duty to piss me off every chance he got. But still, I held my tongue. Because Darius’ stance was improving and Kane’s balance was nearly better than mine.Zyawas already hitting her target more often than not and Hugh and Roxy had gained such confidence with their bows they were smiling as they pulled the arrows back to aim. So I stayed in my corner, silent and glaring atGryfon’s back as he taught my friends how to defend themselves.
After what felt like hours, he finally stepped back and announced we were finished for the night. I watched as my friends deposited their weapons at the center of the tent, practically bouncing on my toes, eager to finally do something myself. Even if itwastraining with the supposed darknessGryfonbelieved I could wield, it was better than standing to the side and waiting all night. But then the warriorknelt to scoop up the weapons, nodded goodnight to my friends, and left the tent.
I stared after him, lips parted in equal parts shock and confusion, as my friends broke out into excited chatter about all they'd learned.
“Adrian?”Zyaasked after a moment, but I was already moving.
I stormed through the tent flaps and into the cool night, stomping after him through the quiet camp.
“Where are you going?” I snapped when I was only a few feet behind him.
He slowed his stride for a moment before turning to face me.
“To take these back to the wagons and then get what sleep I can before morning comes,” he answered easily, casually.
I just stared at him.
“We made a deal,” I reminded him. “You agreed to train my friends if I trained with you in my…in the darkness.”
“And I told you you weren’t ready,” he reminded me in that infuriating drawl of his.
“So you won’t train me?”
“Call the dark, Adrian. Call the dark and I’ll train you.”
Then he turned and strode away from me, leaving me standing in the sand, glaring after his retreating form with fists clenched so hard my nails dug into the skin of my palm.
I stomped all the way back to the tent until I heard the happy, chattering voices from within and determined I was too angry to interrupt. I didn’t want to ruin their euphoria at what they'd accomplished this evening, and I knew there was no way I would be getting any sleep in my fury anyway. So I turned and made my way out of camp until I found one of the desert’s familiar orange boulders. Muttering a string of curses that would have had my mother fainting if she’d heard them, I scrambled up the rock, wiped my palms off on my pants, and sat.
I stared out into the moonlit sands for what felt like an eternity before I finally calmed enough to think properly again.Gryfonwas an arrogant, brooding asshole but he'd been clear. He wasn’t going to train me until I learned to use the darkness, whatever it was. But facing that endless void again, and alone, was much more intimidating than I'd admitted in the cave.
