So… any suggestions to salvage this? He asked.
Well… you should try to not lose too badly? She made that sound like a question.
Uhm, yeah, that’s a good idea. Hopefully, that’s a possible idea? Now he was making statements sound like questions!
You could call off the duel! She suggested.
No, it’s gone too far. And everybody is waiting to see what I can do, Jace said.
Your training is quite good, Jace, but Khoth’s a master at this, she told him. I think… I think you can hold your own if you allow yourself to just react. Don’t overthink! And Khoth does not want to hurt you. So there’s that.
Jace met the Thaf’ell Commander’s blue-on-blue eyes. They were unreadable. Khoth wasn’t big on showing his emotions, but Jace knew that there was no antagonism there. After all, Khoth had given up so much for him to live. So much, that if he thought about it, it made him slightly ill. Not that he wanted to die. No way, no how. But maybe the fact that he’d been allowed to live had made him want to seem like he was all cool, calm and connected before he actually truly was. But Gehenna was definitely right that Khoth wouldn’t want to harm him at all.
No, he doesn’t, Jace answered with a sigh.
But Khoth wanted to see what he could do so he could assess Jace’s skills. Jace winced again when he thought of how he had suggested he would protect Khoth. The thing was that he wanted to protect Khoth. He wanted to protect everybody. But was it the smartest idea to act like a badass or maybe be a little more humble?
You are the Pilot, the Osiris’ voice rolled through his mind.
Yeah, well, Khoth is the Sword Master.
You are the Pilot, the Osiris repeated.
No pressure or anything. I’ll do my best! Jace laughed internally then sighed. The Osiris did not answer further. He wondered if Osiris would be disappointed in him if he lost. Another person counting on me! Just great.
Khoth was waiting for him now. He wondered how one started a duel. Khoth would, of course, know.
“So how do we do this?” Jace asked as he surreptitiously wiped his sweaty hand on his thigh.
At least, he didn’t have a headache or was seeing auras or had the tinny ringing in his ears from tinnitus. No wonder he’d thought he was invincible. Compared to before, he certainly felt it!
“We bow.” Khoth demonstrated.
He bowed without taking his eyes off of Jace. Jace tried to do the same but instead of the fluid movement that Khoth made, he was stiff and awkward, but at least he didn’t fall forward. He switched the blade from his right to left hand and back again. It felt good in his hands. Light and balanced. It also felt familiar. He’d done this before.
Don’t overthink this. Just trust in the training, Gehenna urged.
Right. Got it.
“Now, we touch blades,” Khoth said.
“Wait, wait, one more question. How do we stop from cutting off limbs?” Jace asked. That was one thing he didn’t want to replicate from Star Wars. He didn’t look at his parents though he was sure his father was gnawing his whole entire thumb off with those words.
“Our suits will protect us,” Khoth answered and patted the front of his suit. “The rahir will not cut through the material, though any score marks will show up before the nano-material fixes them.”
“Oh, that’s good. But… ah… our heads are not covered,” Jace pointed out and slid a finger across his exposed throat.
“Don’t go for the head!” Thammah said helpfully.
Great! Now I have to worry about cutting Khoth’s head off? Jace thought.
That is highly unlikely. His speed would seem to indicate, he’ll be able to block you, Gehenna said. Then she put two of her pincers together. That wasn’t helpful, was it?
No, we’ll have a talk about pep talks later, he told her.
We used all of the training manuals I was able to find for the Pilot, Jace, she told him. The Osiris has added a lot of stuff to you. I was so proud of you for facing off against the Khul. You were fearless with ice in your veins. Remember that. You’ll do just fine.
Now THAT was a great pep talk, Gehenna!
