Page 11 of Dance of the Phoenix
Basically, I’d neglected any sort of physical training. So I had to rely on muscle memory for this one, which did not give me a lot of confidence.
Once Kaylon called “Start!” Sulien rocketed toward me with fists flying.
I managed to block the first few punches, but when he feigned aiming at my midsection, I fell for it, and he landed a punch to my jaw. Staggering back, I ignored the pain and spit blood on the floor before bracing myself for another round of attacks.
Sulien wasn’t as strong as others I knew, but he made up for it by being annoyingly relentless. He did not let me catch my breath or be on the offensive. He was attempting to dominate the entire battle.
And that, I couldn’t let him do.
So as I avoided his barrage of kicks, I began preparing for my counterattack. Ignoring my aching, rusty muscles, I began to slow mymovements. It was an extremely gradual process, so much so that Sulien didn’t realize he was beginning to slow down as well to fit my pace.
I hadn’t used Iovan’s Imperium since that time during the first PE class with Logan. The main reason for it was that when one wasn’t at their physical and mental peak, Iovan’s Imperium could be rendered useless. To perfect this martial art, one needed to be in tune with their body and mind after a gruesome training that could last years.
My father had drilled these movements into my bones since I’d taken my first step. And while I was far from peak physical, or even mental, condition, muscle memory played a very big part in performing this martial art. It just wouldn’t be executed in as deadly a fashion as it should be.
Iovan’s Imperium included five Behests the practitioner needed to execute in order. The first Behest,Gradus Diminutio, was about lulling the opponent into a sense of false security, while in fact making them match your pace as you prepared for the next Behest.
The tricky thing was, the opponent had to be completely oblivious to the fact you knew this martial art, or this wouldn’t work.
Unsurprisingly, Sulien was clueless. In fact, his face lit up in bored resolve, as if he couldn’t bother giving his all to this fight anymore.
And that’s what Iovan must’ve considered when cultivating his martial art: a play on the opponent’s sense of supremacy.
We were moving at a far slower pace than before, and my muscles were screaming at me in pain. Gritting my teeth, I knew if I didn’t move to the second Behest,Propero Incrementum, despite not entirely completing the first one, I wouldn’t be able to continue. So I took a slow, deep breath and, with every ounce of strength I had, launched myself at Sulien with an explosive, accelerated movement full of power, backhanding him across his face so hard my knuckles groaned and shooting a fast kick to his ribs, knocking him down to the floor.
Adrenaline rushed through me, propelling me to move even faster than before. Before Sulien could even try to rise back up, I was straddling him, shooting a fast set of punches to his face, making his head bob fromside to side. At first, he tried to struggle against my body, but I caged his legs between my thighs, rendering him utterly motionless.
Only when I felt the tension in his body leaving, telling me he was losing consciousness, did I stop, drenched in sweat and gasping for air, awful pain reverberating through my sore bones.
Panting, I saw Sulien had completely passed out, his face swollen. Grinding my teeth, I released my hold on him and pushed myself off his body, landing on my butt. I leaned my elbows against my raised knees, blinking drops of sweat on the floor. Drool of saliva mixed with blood trickled down my chin, dripping over to my shirt.
I had barely executed two Behests—quite poorly too—and I felt as if I’d been run over by a truck. I’d become so fucking weak, it wasn’t even funny.
“And the winner is . . . erm . . . Aileen Henderson?”
Why Kaylon phrased it as a question, when Sulien had obviously lost, I had no idea. All I could hear was the crowd clapping, though it sounded quite reluctant—or perhaps I was imagining things. I couldn’t even lift my head to see what was going on in the audience. I was that exhausted.
The lights on the stage were suddenly shut down and Kaylon cleared his throat and said into the mic, “That’s it for the improvised show! I hope you all enjoyed it and have a better idea who to vote for tomorrow! Have a good night!”
A moment later, a familiar large, warm hand landed on my shoulder, followed by a soft murmur. “I’m going to carry you. Bear with it, please.”
I couldn’t have resisted if I’d wanted to, and, in all honesty, I did not want to. So when Ragnor slithered his arms under my knees and back and lifted me up, the remaining tension finally left my body, and I leaned my head against his chest, closing my eyes in relief.
“You never told me you knew Iovan’s Imperium.”
I didn’t process Ragnor’s words immediately. He was straddling my back, massaging my aching shoulders, back, and legs, and I was feeling so sleepy as he worked my kinks, it took me a moment to realize what he’d just said.
“Oh,” I murmured into the pillow, moaning when he unknotted a particularly sore muscle in my thigh. “How ... do you know Iovan’s Imperium?”
He didn’t stop massaging me as he spoke. “I studied it a few centuries ago,” he said quietly, “from a martial arts expert. I could tell when you used the correct order of the Behests.”
Surprised, I turned my head to the side and glanced at him. “It’s not very common knowledge.” To say the least. In fact, that he could tell it was Iovan’s Imperium just from the few movements I’d executed, and not even in their fullest form, was quite the feat.
“True,” Ragnor said, his hands sliding up my back to my shoulders. “Very few practice it nowadays. I didn’t know you were one of them.”
I sighed as his thumbs dug into my shoulder blades in slow, circular motions. “Iovan Heka was one of my ancestors,” I said. “He was a Child of Kahil.”
Ragnor said nothing for a few long moments as his hands moved to my sides, massaging my waist. “That explains a lot,” he finally said after a while. “So your father taught you, I assume?”
