The knife was hefty in her hand, its presence too conspicuous. She sheathed it, finding the knife fit perfectly, then slowly drew it, admiring the beveled blade.
“If you hold it like that, you will cut yourself. A knife is not a stick. Treat it with respect.”
She blinked, taken aback by his strict tone.
“Before you can learn to use it, you must first learn how to hold it.” He carefully took her hand, eliciting a current of tingles rushing up her arm. His fingertips grazed her skin as he adjusted her hold on the hilt, so the edge pointed away from her body. “This is a short-edged blade. Meant for close range. It will cut, lacerate and puncture. Let us begin with the three basic techniques.”
Cassiel stepped back several feet and withdrew another matching knife. The handle was made of white opal with a brass pommel. He spread his feet apart, and she copied his stance. He raised the knife above his right shoulder and cut the air diagonally to his left hip, then left shoulder to right hip. Next, he slashed diagonally in a straight line, left and right. And finally, sliced up and down from head to waist. He moved slowly and deliberately, showing her exactly each angle. She repeated the motions.
“Once you have learned these techniques, they will come easy to you.”
Dyna watched as he combined every motion with a rapid, calculated sweep of the knife. His skill undoubtedly saved him in Corron, but slaying all those Raiders had done something to him.
Cassiel’s jaw flexed, his gaze hardening as if he sensed where her thoughts wandered. “Now repeat until you cannot raise your arms.”
Dyna watched him go through the positions once more. Then she joined him. Cut, slash, slice. Left, right, up, down. Repeated in an endless loop. She didn’t move as gracefully as him, but she managed to awkwardly follow along. The sun crawled across the sky as the hours passed. Her arms screamed for respite, and sweat sprouted on her brow, but she enjoyed it. After so many turns, she didn’t have to think of the movements.
It was dark when Cassiel at last straightened from his stance and handed her a waterskin to drink. She could hardly hold it without it slipping through her numb fingers. Her exhaustion might not have been the only reason for her trembling hands. Now that the lesson was over, there was no buffer between them but the windy silence and the loud buzz in her head. As much as the cowardly part of her itched to go back to camp, she didn’t leave. She wanted to give him a chance.Thema chance—to sort through the tangled knots they’d found themselves in.
“Perhaps we should start with strengthening your limbs first,” he said, frowning at her gangly arms.
After hours of silence, that’s what he chose to say?
Dyna frowned at the wooden ball nestled in the grass at her feet, making it the focus of her contempt. Power rushed through her veins, static dancing on her skin. She shouldn’t have expected anything. There were more important things to do than to worry about what was or wasn’t between them. Why had she thought Cassiel might try to talk to her? He was arrogant, rude, and aliar.
The ball shot up and whacked him on the chin.
Cassiel flinched back, glowering at her incredulously as he rubbed the welt.“Ow.”
“I-I’m sorry!” She covered her chin, wincing. By the sharp sound the ball made when it hit him, she could almost feel his pain. Her mouth fell open. “I—I moved it. I levitated the ball.”
“Yes, clearly.” His idle voice carried no more than annoyed sarcasm.
“Sorry.” Dyna grabbed it and tried again. She may as well have tried to lift the world. No matter how much she willed it, the ball only floated a few inches above her palm. “What had I done differently?”
“Anger,” he said.
“What?”
Cassiel sighed. “I felt your anger before you attacked me.”
Dyna quickly looked away, knowing her face had gone as red as her hair. She hadn’t meant to attack him, but she was angry and—
Oh.
Emotions agitated Essence and expelled it wildly. Hers had surfaced when her attention focused on him, and therefore, so did her power. No wonder she hadn’t been able to levitate the ball before. She hadn’t concentrated on her power, as Lucenna said. She had been concentrating on the ball itself.
Dyna drew on her Essence, and it surfaced instantly. She focused on that, building the energy, and commanded it to rise around the training ball. It lifted higher in the air and continued further than she thought possible. She held the ball in the sky in speechless amazement.
Nearly whooping with joy, she pushed that energy outward and aimed it at a tree. The ball whizzed past and bounced off the trunk. The ball moved with each invisible pull or push of her power. Lucenna was right. It was so simple.
Fatigue soon crept through her aching limbs from a long day of training and from the little magic she already expelled. It served to remind her she hardly had any. But strengthening Essence worked essentially like growing muscle. It would take daily practice to grow her stamina. If she had any hope of defeating the Shadow, she had to push herself harder.
Dyna wrapped a green mist around the ball, drew it back, and caught it out of the air. Cassiel had been of some help, after all. “Thank you.”
The edge of his mouth hitched. “Glad to be of service.”
That playful smirk stalled her reply. How easily he scattered her thoughts. Something crossed his face, and she knew whatever she was feeling had revealed itself to him. It wasn’t fair. She was so exposed.
