TRAINING 3

Aramith watched the two get out and smiled at Lia but she didn't return it. She went forward and picked up the bow she'd dropped earlier. There was a trolley of arrows and she pulled it as she moved toward the place where they normally trained. It was away from the range. There was a large cupola above that area and she stopped before arriving beneath it. Aramith and Mozrael passed her and went forward under the skylight where they were very visible.

Under normal circumstances, one would expect a rapier under normal fencing circumstances, but that was not the case when it came to Gebreth. They had never actually used one before. He made them train with different weapons every time they dueled. The last time, it was the spear, and this time the sword, but this wasn't the first time they'd used swords to train before. The only difference was that they were not to use the same sword they'd used before, so they could be versatile and not constricted to a small group of weapons when the time came.

Aramith stood opposite Mozrael Whose fencing outfit had a light blue color to it. She held the sword she'd picked earlier and pointed upwards as she kept her eyes on Aramith. He on the other hand held the short sword casually They both stood still, unsure of who would attack first. That's what an outsider would have seen, but no, they were both confident of their skills with the weapons they held, they were only trying to observe the other to notice any changes from the last time they'd dueled. Mozrael remembered how quickly Aramith had dodged the arrow earlier and concluded he was a little faster than before, but not so fast she wouldn't catch up to him. Without warning, Aramith shot at Mozrael with insane speed. She saw his sword swing at her abdomen when he was close enough and blocked the attack. She jumped back and he followed after, attacking slowly, but increasing his speed with every attack. She was on the defensive, spinning about and blocking his every attack. Due to their masks, one couldn't see the other's expression so it was difficult to know how the other was faring just from their fighting style. They kept up with what they were doing, slowly but surely picking up speed with every attack, block, and dodge.

Aramith lunged at her, but she spun around and used his momentum to her advantage, quickly appearing behind him. She slashed at him sideways, but he was faster than she'd expected and parried the blow. Still, that was far from enough to push Mozrael away; she attacked again and again with him parrying every attack she sent his way. That was when she noticed something about his sword. He only attacked with one edge, but blocked and parried with the side of the sword. That intrigued her, and she kept attacking him in various ways for him to use the other edge but he was no pushover. It took her some time to finally realize that, unlike her double-edged sword, his' was a single-edged blade. That would put a person at some disadvantage, but not Aramith. He fought easily with his weapon.

Lia watched the two move around back and forth, trying so hard to put the other off balance with no advantage. She'd been watching them for minutes now, but now, she was ready to do what she had been waiting for. She quickly aimed without hesitating and pulled the string very hard then released it towards the two. Aramith either didn't see it or he ignored it totally as it zoomed towards him. Just as it was getting close, he stepped back and its target switched to Mozrael, but she didn't focus on it either. It got closer and closer, and just when it was about to hit its mark, she slashed it quickly, snapping it into two parts that fell to the floor. She ignored it and went back to dealing with Aramith. Lia took another arrow and aimed at the two again. This one went even faster than the other, but just as before, they were prepared for Lia's arrows. Just as it was getting close, Aramith slashed at it. Lia aimed again and Mozrael destroyed it. The next was destroyed by Aramith, then Mozrael. They kept alternating that way, destroying the arrows Lia sent their way.

After a few dozen arrows, Aramith suddenly took off his mask and threw it to the floor away from them. He had a grin on his face and that irritated Lia. She aimed the next one at him and let it go with more force than intended. It flew in an arc that would miss its target, but just as it was getting close, Aramith parried an attack from Mozrael so strong it pushed her back. With that, he leaped toward the arrow and caught it with his free hand then as quick as lightning, hit it with the side of his sword. It planted itself firmly in front of Lia.

"Let your well-trained and mature big brother teach you how to send those arrows, will you?" He said as he went back to continue with Mozrael. Lia was annoyed at his remark but didn't let it get to her head. She focused and kept shooting those arrows at them.

Looking at them, one would be mesmerized and stand watching the two duel. Their movements had taken a form that was nothing short of mesmerizing. Their footwork was truly amazing and it had turned into a dance that looked beautiful, so beautiful it was easy to ignore the fact that they played with sharp swords that could easily slice through weaker metals or the fact that armor-piercing arrows were flying toward them at insane speeds the eye couldn't easily follow. The kind of skill they trained with would be commendable even to a master swordsman. It could take someone at least a decade to reach the skill they moved with, and even such a person would be known as a prodigy to people; someone people would talk about far and wide, but these kids were pulling that off so easily without a second thought. They were amazing alright, but that was what made it even more amazing if one were to think of the person who'd trained them. What kind of skill did Gebreth have to be able to turn such kids into such scary people? They were now like beasts and if that were so, what was Gebreth? A greater monster? He truly more than passed as the advisor to the king. It was now something to think of whether a greater proportion of this being possible was because of the skill and versatility the kids had, or Gebreth. Both sides were scary no matter how one thought about it.

Lia was now shooting two arrows at a time, or that's what it looked like to the untrained eye. She was shooting them at different intervals but timed them so they moved at the same speed. The first was shot a little slower than the first, and the second was shot a little faster than the first so they ended up moving together. She did it so fast that it would confuse one to think she shot two arrows at the same time. But even with that, Aramith and Mozrael didn't hesitate to destroy her arrows. Lia shortened the time interval of her shots but the two maniacs kept swatting them without batting an eye.

Aramith swatted two more arrows away and grinned at Lia. "You're getting slower. Should I come to teach you? I could dodge those shots even if I had one leg with my hands tied at my back and wearing a blindfold. How disappointing" Lia was getting annoyed at his remarks.

"Shut it would you?"

She tried to focus on shooting the arrows, but he said something once in a while and that was getting on her last nerves. After receiving another sarcastic remark, she finally snapped.

"THAT'S IT!" She shouted. Hearing that, Aramith pushed Mozrael out of the area, knowing very well what was coming next. Her sword dropped as she balanced herself. He switched to holding the sword in a reverse grip like a dagger and braced himself as she shot deadly arrows at him. The first whizzed past his cheek, blowing some of his hair, but the next ones were aimed well enough. Aramith was moving fast, one couldn't see his hands as they moved to destroy those arrows. Now the question that comes to mind is why would children at such a tender age be left to do such dangerous things even if they're skilled beyond people way above their age. The answer was simple enough. The arrows though dangerous were infused with some runes with power that made them turn to dust if they made contact with skin.

Mozrael tried telling Lia to calm down but that was all useless. She was now wondering why Aramith was pushing her to such limits. She was getting madder and madder, but it wasn't something they couldn't handle. Or so she thought.

Lia was losing it and before anyone could guess what'll happen, a white glow came over her next arrow. It glowed brighter and brighter.

"Oh no," Mozrael was shocked to see that. "Lia stop it! Someone will get hurt!" She shouted over the rising sound that came from the energy charging into the arrow.

"Don't stop me! Anytime I try to do something to impress you, you always make me feel bad!" That was when they noticed tears on her face. This startled Aramith more than it did Mozrael. How did he end up making her cry? Her eyes glowed and his eyes widened when the arrow was left toward him. To Mozrael, everything happened slowly. She watched in horror as Lia's charged attack flew toward him dangerously. He picked up the sword Mozrael had dropped and shot toward the attack with the swords crossed. This part even happened slower in Mozrael's eyes as she watched in horrified silence as he met with the attack.

BOOM!

CRASH!

There was a loud explosion and Aramith was thrown toward the weapons in a heap. Mozrael rushed there and threw weapons aside as she frantically dug through the heap searching for him. She finally uncovered him, but the front part of his torso was bare and bruises were on his face and chest.

"No no no no no. Wake up wake up! Aramith!" She was scared and didn't know what to do. They didn't know, but the explosion had resounded in many places in the palace, scaring many. The first to enter was Jareth. He paused when he entered, seeing Lia standing aside with tears running down her face and her hands over her mouth. When he saw Mozrael crying beside the scattered weapons, he had a guess of what might have happened, but he was more than shocked to see Aramith lying there unconsciously. He rushed over and checked the pulse. "He's okay," he said, but Mozrael was crying "No he's not. wake him up, help him get up," she cried more. Jareth got up and turned to go get some help, but Mozrael grabbed his arm. "Don't leave him like that, help him! He's dying!"

"He'll be okay I just have to go get some doctors to come to treat him. His injuries aren't that fatal." "but why won't he wake up? Can't you do something to help him?!" No, I -" They both turned when they heard Aramith groan, but Jareth decided to take that chance and left the room. Mozrael was torn as she went to his side again. She wanted to go get help, but she didn't want to leave him there yet. She was scared and couldn't breathe properly even. The only person who could have helped left them saying he was going to get help. What if he died before someone else could come in? Thoughts such as that kept going through her mind as she restlessly stayed there. A shadow fell over him and she saw Lia bringing her hand to touch him. Before Mozrael knew it, she snapped and hit Lia's hand away furiously then came to stand between the two protectively like a mother beast protecting her child from a predator.

"Don't touch him! Get away from him, it's your fault he's like this!" She shouted at Lia. A few scales appeared on her neck and her canines became a little longer. Her eyes looked bloodshot and her irises were looking like a cat's. They looked Beautiful and scary, but Lia saw none of that. She just kept her eyes on Aramith who lay there breathing even though he was unconscious.

It's my fault. It's my fault. I did this I hurt him. What if he... thoughts run wildly through her mind, and out of fear and shock, she finally got up and run out of the place.

Mozrael turned around but then she noticed his eyelids were twitching, almost like he wanted to open them but couldn't, or that he was having some kind of nightmare. Suddenly, without warning, he opened his eyes and screamed loudly for some seconds. Just as quickly as the scream came, it ended just as abruptly and he was still once again. Mozrael was scared now.