Page 75 of Ecliptic

Dyani rolled her eyes and landed her palm on her hip. “I onlythreatenedto torture and kill you. I could have done far worse.”

“See?” he said, looking at me to defend him. “She’s terrifying."

Dyani’s expression softened despite keeping her tone and body language staunch. “You will want to learn how to use your opponent's strength against them. It’s how I am able to defeat those who are bigger than me,” she said, her chin raised high.

I frowned, glancing between her and Maddock, “How come he doesn’t have to start at the beginning?”

Dyani gave a short laugh. “We don’t have that kind of time. Besides, haven’t you seen him watching from the trees, learning? Plus, by how he holds the blade, I can tell he’s done this before. Unlike you, who looks like?—”

“—Like a youngling with a stick. I know, I know,” I interrupted with a sigh. “Let’s just get on with it.”

Our coach hid a smile as she continued her instruction, “The knife is an extension of your arm, an extension of you. It’s a simple, beautiful object; but in the right hands, it can fell armies.”

Dyani performed a series of quick attacks with her blades. Her precision and power still amazed me.

Maddock and I mimicked her movements, exchanging glances. We were both determined to master the skill before the other.

“Attack me,” Dyani said to Maddock, just as she said to me my first day.

Madds obliged, and she dodged his attack, mimicking a blow to his middle. “You’re dead.”

“How did you do that?” he asked at the same time I said. “Hey, why didn’t you knock him to the ground?”

Dyani ignored my complaint. “You are too stiff, Madds. Relax and let the blade become a part of you.”

Her quick eyes turned to me. “Now, you. Show me what you got.”

She darted towards me, and I blocked her blow for blow. Barely. “You are stronger than you used to be,” she said, her sharp gaze lingering on my elongated ears and the other subtle changes in my body. “But it is clear that you do not trust your instincts. Or the blade in your hand.”

I took up another blade, testing its weight and balance, but something still felt off. I tried another and then another. “I guess I don’t trust any of these.”

“A poor warrior blames her weapons,” Dyani said, her stare as unyielding as the metal in her hand.

“Yeah, yeah. What does it take to get a compliment around here?”

We continued training under her watchful eyes, but despite everyone’s focus, a part of me couldn’t help but think that ourefforts might be in vain. All these weapons were useless against the Voro-Kai. Yet doing nothing wasn’t an option either. We had to prepare, even if the odds were impossible to beat.

I pushed the useless thoughts aside and continued to work on my drills, incorporating the Five Phases of the Moon. I tried to make my movements precise and fluid as Dyani and Madds focused on disarming techniques.

Dyani flicked the blade out of Maddock’s hand, and he froze, eyes wide as he stood dumbfounded.

“Do not stop. Think quickly. On the battlefield, if your weapon gets knocked out of your hand, your enemy will not stop to wait for you,” she ground out, gesturing for him to do something. Anything.

Maddock’s eyes slowly sharpened with understanding. He frantically glanced around and picked up the nearest rock, lifting it as if it were a sword.

“Good,” Dyani said. “Use whatever you can as a weapon.”

Something about how Maddock held the rock made me remember, like a wish granted by a shooting star.

I grinned.

There might be hope for us yet.

28

“The shooting star we saw crash to the earth in silver flames. It might contain a metal we can use against the Voro-Kai,” I said to Rowen, Maddock, and Dyani after practice. “It’s already infused with Light. Or at least it was.”

I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about the meteor that had nearly crushed me to death.