Violet
The training ground felt far too exposed.
It was larger than the area where ribel had trained yesterday, a wide expanse of dirt bordered by grassy patches, and situated in full view of anyone passing through the compound. Several wolves moved about their own training in the distance, but I could feel the attention of other wolves’ drift toward us periodically.
I tried to ignore them, focusing instead on the figure standing beside Ila.
She clearly looked younger than I was, she was shorter too, but bigger in size. She had dark hair pulled back in a practical braid, with gentle features that hadn’t quite lost their childhood softness. Her posture was relaxed, almost casual, arms hanging loose at her sides, but her eyes were fixed on .
They had been fixed from the start. Curious and surprised.
"Violet," Ila said, gesturing between us, "This is Toda. She is our youngest soldier and has been training with for over a year now. Toda, this is Violet."
My eyes widened.
’Wait. Soldiers?!’
I have been amongst soldiers this whole ti?!
Toda regarded with a short nod, her lips pressed tight as she suddenly clasped her hands behind her. "Hello..."
"Toda will be your sparring partner today," Ila continued, moving to stand off to the side. "I want you to show what ribel taught you yesterday. Apply the moves and techniques you learned. You can be creative about them too."
I looked between them, uncertainty churning in my stomach, which still felt a bit full despite the hours that had passed since I ate.
"Against... her?" I asked, the question coming out before I could stop it.
Toda’s expression didn’t change, but sothing flickered in her eyes. Annoyance, maybe or amusent.
"I’m so sorry. I did not an what you’re thinking," I imdiately blurted out, correcting my mistake. "I just thought I would learn a bit more today."
Toda just smiled faintly. "It’s alright."
That was stupid. It sounded like I was looking down on her.
She was young, but sothing about the way she stood made her seem more intimidating than ribel. My instincts sent out a low warning.
This might turn out worse than yesterday.
’Stop it. Just stop it!’
I needed to stop the negative thoughts.
Ila stepped back a bit more and I felt a slight tinge of panic. Why was she moving so far out. She crossed her arms before settling into a watchful stance. "Begin when ready. Toda will attack, and you will have to defend and counter using what you’ve learned."
Oh, no...
My stomach tightened.
I was anticipating being on the offense, not the other way around.
I imdiately focused, acutely aware of where I stood, where I placed my feet and how I stood. The rest of my attention drifted to her, and I fought the urge to further finetune my senses.
Toda shifted her weight slightly, her casual posture lting into sothing more focused. Her eyes locked onto mine.
I stiffened.
Then she moved.
One mont she was there, the next she was a blur of motion. My mind registered the attack, but my body was too slow to react.
My feet went out from under , and suddenly I was airborne, the world tilting sickeningly before my back slamd into the ground hard enough to drive all the air from my lungs.
I clutched my chest as it spasd. Panic surged within as I blinked up at the clear skies. Air rushed back into my lung in painful gasps as I tried to process what had just happened.
"Get up."
Ila’s voice cut through the air. It was stern, and the usual playfulness and gentleness I was used to was nowhere to be found in her tone. I turned my head to see her standing exactly where she had been, arms still crossed, her expression more focused than I had ever seen.
Not harsh. Not sympathetic. Just... expectant.
Toda stood a few feet away, back in her starting position. She waited.
I groaned and pushed myself off the sand. ribel had never thrown down. Neither had she slamd this hard. I could feel the eyes of the distant wolves on , could imagine what they were seeing. What they were thinking.
I got to my feet, my entire back throbbing where I had hit the ground.
"What happened?" Ila asked .
I paused and then looked at Toda.
"I... She was too fast, I couldn’t—"
"No." Ila shook her head, cutting off. "She wasn’t too fast. You were too slow. There’s a difference."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to say that I had seen the attack coming, that I had also known what to do, but...
I swallowed the words.
All that did not matter because I truly was slow.
For so strange reason, it seed faster and easier to use my syzygy than my body itself. This would have turned out differently if I had just—
’What if she moved before you could even lock in on her with it?’
I stilled at the sudden realisation.
I had mostly practised against still objects.
This was completely different.
"Violet!"
I flinched at Ila’s sharp tone.
She clapped once, her eyes narrowed. "Focus!"
"I’m sorry," I whispered.
I had never seen this side of her before, and it was scary.
"Your stance is good and fine. But I can’t see how you use what you were taught if you’re not moving on ti." Her voice carried clearly across the space, loud enough for other wolves to listen clearly.
’Stop thinking about them!’
She continued, "Techniques are useless if you can’t apply them, you need to work on your speed too. You clearly froze the mont she moved. Don’t do that again."
"But... I—I could see what she was doing—"
"That ans nothing when you don’t react on ti," Ila clipped. "Pay attention to your reflexes. Trust your body and think less. Can you do that?"
I slowly nodded.
Ila gestured toward Toda before pinning in place with her sharp gaze.
"Again."
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