Vander held his sword at the ready. “Again.”
I struck out, and he hit. The blow stung my hand and nearly knocked my weapon out of my grip. He swung at my head, and I ducked. I swung back; he parried and lightly tapped the flat of his sword on the side of my neck. “Dead.”
I groaned.
“Again.” I came at him first. He blocked and kicked my feet out from under me, my back smacked into the ground, stealing my breath, and his sword point pressed to my chest. I swore quietly and watched my breath cloud in front of me. The sun was out but winter was here and my fingers had gone numb. Was I ever going to be good at this? Months of work and I felt like I was on my ass more than my feet. He was relentless too. There was no softness to him during our sessions, rarely ever playfulness. He said if he was easy on me, I’d die.
“On your feet.” He held out his hand, tugged me up, and we went at each other over and over. “If you think this is hard, imagine a vampire that shadow walks and your sword goes right through him.”
“How do we train for that?”
“You don’t until you face one. Trial by fire.”
“Why didn’t those vampires we fought in Emberfall shadow walk?”
“Many of the wildlings don’t know how. The older ones figure it out.”
I nodded. “Again.”
He smiled. “Perhaps if you actually beat me one day, I’ll take you to see your family.”
I grinned and smashed my sword into his, then he shoved me on my ass again.
Vanderand I grew closer through our time together, in trust and bond. Cold nights spent alone with him among the trees waiting for vampires to creep out in the darkness forced me to trust him with my life. If we were alone, he made me watch from the branches while he killed the vampire. He quizzed me on what I needed to know for the final exam coming in May. Sometimes we went out with others, but most of the time it was just him and me.
Once the snows came, and the nights were bone-chilling cold, vampires were harder to find and some days the temperatures were dangerous for us. Even talk of the attacks from Nocturnus were few and far between. Vander explained vampires often slept for days at a time to conserve their strength in winter since prey was harder to find, but when they did come out, they were more vicious than before.
There were times I knew we weren’t far from my home, and I wanted nothing more than to go see my family. I missed them and winter was always a hard season. The sun rose later and set too early. They were trapped inside even longer. I used to get more carvings done in the winter than I did during all of the other seasons combined, out of sheer boredom.
The night Vander and I wrestled for the book seemed almost like I’d imagined it. Nothing like that had happened again. He stayed on his side of the room at night, and I stayed on mine. He snuck away more frequently while he thought I was sleeping, to do whatever it was that he did—secret missions to fulfill his vendetta against his sister’s killers possibly.
Beast and Dred left us alone, although I still kept a close eye on Beast. I hadn’t forgotten his threats.
All through winter, we assassins ate our meals inside the main hall where the roaring fires kept it warm and cozy. On many blustery days we still trained outside to prepare for all seasons, but we wore long, black, fur-lined coats. When the temperature dropped hazardously low, we moved to the indoor fighting hall.
Day after day of training, and I finally began to excel in sword combat. On the nights Vander left, I would stay up, practicing moves and fighting sequences. I still wasn’t the best at throwing weapons, but this I’d gained confidence in. After endless hours, it was finally as if my body was made to use a sword, like my soul knew it. I was obsessed.
When it came to combat without weapons, I wasn’t the greatest striker, but I could beat Celine, Taewyn, and sometimes even Falcon in take-down and submission moves. Not Vander, not unless he allowed me to.
Off and on, I worked on a bone carving for Vander. It took me a while to decide on something. I wanted it to have meaning and purpose. And after fretting about it for too long, I went with a shielding knot for protection. It was special to my people, though I wouldn’t tell him the true meaning behind it. It was the symbol that many of the men wore as a pendant in Neverglade.
For his, I added a viper circling the edges of it. I still had work to do on the finer details of the scales and eyes.
I read books when I had time, about love and adventure and mythical creatures. I retained information well, so I didn’t feel the need to study about Drakthar and history every night. Most of the past battles I read were to help me know what to do in the future, but also to understand what life had been before Nighthaven. Life expectancy had been shorter, and it was even more dangerous than now. Many humans had been thralls kept in prison camps to be pulled out at the leisure of a vampire. It wasn’t until the ducai grew in number and the guilds wereformed that things shifted. My appreciation for Nighthaven and the guilds increased the more I learned.
When the first hint of spring came and the snow began to melt, Vander took me to the rooftops of the city. The sun warmed my black clothes, and I had to shield my eyes from the glare off the icy patches. I crouched near the end of the roof of a high-rise multi-home building along one of the main roads in Nighthaven. We’d been up on these rooftops many times in the last couple months. Vander would often point out different places we’d be able to explore once my training was finished. Apprentices weren’t allowed to go into the city for pleasure unless we were granted a day off. I was looking forward to becoming a level one assassin if for nothing more than extended freedom.
The smells of fresh-ground coffee beans and baked goods from shops on the far side of the street drifted upward. We’d skipped breakfast on the way out and I had half a mind to climb down there and get something to eat. It was like Vander just forgot to eat sometimes, which I couldn’t comprehend. I’d never forgotten a meal. But assassins didn’t often walk openly in public, and I imagined it would cause a stir for us to drop down and order a cup of coffee and a biscuit. I almost wanted to do it just to see people’s reactions.
With the temperature finally above freezing, people shuffled along the sidewalks. A group of children in heavy coats and hats chased each other around a colorful fabric stand. There was an argument over payment at another storefront. A man dropped to his knees in front of a beautiful young woman. I couldn’t hear their conversation above the sounds of the city but people around them cheered. It would seem they were a happy couple now engaged to be married.
I watched a man swipe a necklace off a table while the merchant was distracted with another customer. No one elseseemed to notice the thief. I was learning a lot about people by observing when they had no idea I was there. Thieves, stolen kisses in back alleys, arguments inside homes as I ran across their roofs.
Vander dropped beside me and handed me a foil-wrapped hard candy. I popped it into my mouth to discover it was huckle-berry flavored. He’d taken up a habit of sucking on candies or mints lately, and I benefited from it. I think I’d tried every flavor under the sun by now.
“The second apprentice game is in two days,” he explained.
I nodded, as if it hadn’t been on my mind for weeks now. Everyone had been talking about the game of Vampires versus Assassins the first week of March. I’d been nervous about the approaching date. This wasn’t only about winning for the reward of a day off, it was revenge for our embarrassing loss last time. “I forgot all about it.”
