Page 44 of Draekora

Alex swallowed. “You don’t think…?”

“Legend claims that the Weapon of the Ages was also wrought by the Tia Aurans,” Roka said. “The draekons have a long history with the race beyond the stars. I wouldn’t be surprised if the blade is merely recognising your bond and reacting to it.”

“So, it’s like…” Alex searched for the correct word as the blue flames curled around her wrist. “An upgrade?”

Roka chuckled. “Sure. That works. Consider your weapon upgraded. While in your grasp, not only can it pierce flesh, it can now also burn sinew. Congratulations—you are the proud owner of the Blade of Glory.”

Alex sent him a challenging look, half amused, half serious. “Are you sure you still want me to attack you with this?”

“I must admit, Iamhaving second thoughts.” Roka reached behind him and pulled a second sword from the sheath strapped to his back. He passed it to her and said, “Perhaps until I’ve determined the level of your skill, we might practise with comparable weapons after all. I’m rather fond of my limbs and wouldn’t want to risk the flame of the stars burning through them.”

Alex grinned at him and, with a flick of her wrist, banished A’enara. “Is that what that was? Star fire?”

Roka looked very much like an excited child. “Wasn’t it incredible? I’ve never seen it up close before. Or felt it. I can’t say that Iwantto feel it a second time, either. But still—incredible.”

His demeanour turned purposeful again when he raised his sword between them once more, gesturing for Alex to make the first move. She shuffled from foot to foot as she found her centre of gravity, weighing the foreign weapon in her hands. It was much heavier than A’enara, not as sleek, and it felt cumbersome in her grip. But she knew that to a Meyarin, none of that should make much of a difference—not its weight, not its length or shape. So she brought it in front of her and, without hesitating, lunged towards Roka.

He sidestepped, so she lunged again. And again, and again, and again as he continued dodging her attacks.

“What’s the deal, Roka?” she asked, lowering her weapon. “I thought you wanted to fight me?”

“Finally,” he said. And, having apparently waited to catch her off-guard, he made his move.

She only just managed to bring her sword back up in time to meet his blade in a screech of steel that was painful to her heightened hearing.

Left, right and left again, he thrust his blade towards her as she barely managed to keep up against his attack. It was only because she’d done this with him before—and while blindfolded—that she was able to hold her own, if onlyjust. It also helped that she knew he wasn’t really trying; she could see it in the way he hesitated a fraction before every lunge, as if making sure she would be able to meet his attack without injury. Her mortal eyes never would have picked up on the tell, but her Meyarin sight revealed it clearly. And Alex was beyond grateful, because partway through their fight she realised something that could have had catastrophic consequences.

Her blood wasn’t silver. It was red.

Stumbling over her own feet, she narrowly missed losing her hand to Roka’s blade as she cried out, “Stop!”

Her voice sounded fearful to her own ears, aware that if he so much as nicked her with his sword, her guise as a Meyarin would be over before it even began.

“I—I, uh, think I’ve had enough for tonight,” she said, panting from both exertion and the terror zinging through her nerve endings.

“But you were doing so well,” Roka said. “Definitely a natural.”

Alex was shaking her head. “You were going easy on me.”

“That doesn’t make my words any less true. Are you sure you want to stop?”

“Absolutely,” Alex said, handing back his sword. “Maybe, uh, maybe we can give it a go another time.”

Roka was watching her closely. She tried to keep her sudden panic off her face, but she wasn’t sure if she succeeded.

“If that is what you wish,” he said slowly, “then I guess we’ll just practise again tomorrow.”

Alex wilted with relief. Now all she had to do was find an excuse between now and then in order to avoid the inevitable outing of her mortality.

“You have good speed and instinctual reflexes at your disposal already,” Roka went on, “as well as a keen awareness. But your technique could use some work, as well as your confidence and skill with a blade. I truly do believe you are a natural, as I said, but there is plenty of room for improvement.”

What really sucked was that if this were the future, she’d be all over Roka teaching her how to strengthen her fighting skills. In fact, up until her internal freak out a moment ago, she’d even been looking forward to the Roka of the past teaching her. But now it was impossible—there was no way she could put herself in a position where he might discover the truth, which would happen if she so much as skinned her knee from falling to the ground too hard. She couldn’t believe Lady Mystique hadn’t considered the problem of her blood—because itwasa problem.

“We might as well head to the library and get a few hours of language lessons in before bed,” Roka said, bending to tap the ground and lower the Myrox dome around them again.

With Alex’s adrenaline scoring through her veins, her Meyarin senses were still activated, so she was able to see the faintly glowing disc imbedded into the mat at their feet. How Roka knew what pattern to press into it was another matter, but at least now she could see more of what was once invisible to her human eyes.

It was also a great surprise when she literallysawtheValispathsolidify around them, presumably at his mental summons. It was still mostly transparent, but she was now able to see a blurry outline of the rectangular barrier. Just like the disc on the fighting mat, there was a similar glowing plate at chest level—likely what the Meyarins of her future used to alter the Path’s settings and make it more comfortable for humans.

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