Page 115 of Akarnae

Sometimes, life just wasn’t fair.

“Three, two, one,begin!” Karter called out for the final time.

Alex brought her sword up in front of her, balancing her feet and distributing her weight evenly. If ever there was a time when she needed to pay attention to a fight, it was now. Not only was Kaiden talented, but he was also fast and creative. She didn’t stand a chance against him, but she wanted to at least put up a bit of a fight—hopefully without losing a limb in the process.

“Ready to dance, Alex?” he asked, his eyes sparkling with the challenge. “I’ll lead.”

She didn’t get the chance to respond before he lunged at her, thrusting his sword towards her abdomen. She blocked him just in time, and the force of their two blades clashing caused her to back up a step in order to brace herself against his strength.

Alex stared at him in shock, certain that if she hadn’t blocked his sword it would have sliced her in half. All he did was wink at her and pull his weapon back before thrusting it towards her again.

Game on,she thought as she deflected his attack and knocked his blade aside again. She didn’t wait for him to come around a third time, and instead she pivoted to aim a powerful side-kick at his stomach. He was too fast, jumping out of the way with ease.

Once again he lunged at her, changing his attack at the last moment to come from above. She watched as the blade sailed in an arc towards her head and she threw herself at the ground, somersaulting out of the way. Alex continued rolling and used her forward momentum to jump back up to her feet again—remembering to keep her sword well away from her body.

Kaiden seemed surprised by her unexpected gymnastics and she took the opportunity to leap towards him while he was partially unguarded. She stabbed her sword at him but he parried it effortlessly, knocking her arm away as if she was a fly and he the flyswat.

Clearly he hadn’t been as unguarded as she’d thought.

She stood back for a moment, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she waited for his next move. He seemed to be waiting too, but for what, she wasn’t sure.

And then, as fast as lightning, he lunged at her, almost catching her unawares. She managed to meet his blade in time, but then she realised that the unexpected attack had only been to distract her from his real intention. It wasn’t just the sword she should have been watching for.

Alex was on the ground before she even realised that he’d tripped her, and she watched in slow motion as his sword streamed once more towards her head. She knew he would pull it before actually beheading her, so she took the chance to kick out at him—her aim actually good for once. He grunted in pain as her heel landed on his ankle with much more force than she’d intended.

It was a stupid thing to do, in hindsight, since her kick broke his concentration just as he was pulling out of his attack. He jerked with surprise and his sword naturally followed the movement. At least he had enough sense to flick the blade away from her neck rather than continue its downward path, and his fast reflexes were the only thing that allowed her head to remain attached to her body. But she still hissed in pain as his blade grazed her from collarbone to shoulder.

Kaiden’s eyes widened as her skin broke, his expression immediately remorseful. But this was a fight and he wasn’t supposed to feel bad for hurting her, especially since she’d just injured him as well. The cut wasn’t deep, and he could have easily done much worse.

His hesitation gave Alex the time she needed to spring back up to her feet with renewed determination. He must have noticed the resolve in her eyes, and not fear or pain, because his own face cleared of its concern and he was once again back in attack mode.

Alex feinted forwards, figuring that if Kaiden could do a fake move, then maybe she could too. But as she twisted her arm and spun it around, aiming to hit him with the hilt of her sword, he was one step ahead of her. At the very last second he surprised her by dropping his weapon and throwing his right hand out to intercept her swinging arm. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward, causing her to lose balance and stumble straight into him. Using her unsteadiness to his advantage, he quickly spun her around so that her back was pressed up against his chest. She struggled and almost managed to pull away, but his left arm wrapped around her waist, trapping her against his body.

The entire manoeuvre had been so unexpected that she was left a bit stunned. She wasn’t exactly sure what had happened until she felt the cold, hard steel of her own blade pressed against her neck, with Kaiden’s hand engulfing hers on the hilt of the sword.

Alex froze, remembering the night of the Gala when Gerald had held her in a similar position. She stopped breathing for an instant and shuddered as the memories washed over her.

Kaiden must have felt her distress because his arm around her waist squeezed reassuringly and then loosened a fraction.

“It’s a dance, remember?” he whispered in her ear, his breath on the back of her neck raising goose bumps along her skin. “But sometimes your way works too.”

Her eyes lit up as understanding flowed through her. In one single motion she heaved his arm with the sword away from her neck—only gaining a few inches but it was enough—and she used his advice andstabbedher other elbow into his stomach.

Kaiden grunted and hunched forward, and she took the opportunity to spin out of his hold. But she’d forgotten that his other arm was still wrapped around her, and she ended up spinning him as well, unbalancing them both. They fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, each trying not to impale themselves on her blade.

Alex twisted violently, trying desperately to extricate herself from his embrace, and then she was on top of him—not even knowing how—and her hands held the sword steady at the base of his throat. She was certain he could have easily pushed her aside and retaken the lead in their ‘dance’, but at that moment Karter blew his whistle and Alex looked up to see the rest of her classmates watching as she straddled Kaiden in the middle of the Arena.

Despite everything, she felt herself flush with embarrassment, and she looked back down to find Kaiden grinning up at her.

“Good dance,” he said. “We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

“You cheated.” She was puffing from the exertion and she quickly slid off him and stood to her feet.

“How so?” he asked, standing beside her and collecting his sword.

“You let me win. You could have easily beaten me a heap of times, but you didn’t.”

“Maybe,” Kaiden said with an amused, one-shouldered shrug. “Maybe not. Either way, I think it’s safe to say we now know why you have the potential to be in this class.”

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