I’d noticed some of it clinging to Mari. The ogress hadn’t said a word, seemingly focused on her food. “Mari, you were paired up with the Dragon?” I supposed it made sense. He was the only one large enough to tackle her. The guy was huge.
And quite gorgeous. Although not, I guessed, by ogre standards. Insufficient warts. Or any.
She sighed. “Yes.”
I contemplated her heavy features and offered a tentative, “How did it go?”
Mari’s orange eyes flitted to me, and away again. “Apparently, planting my feet is insufficient defense against a Dragon.”
Matt snorted again and then started to laugh. My mouth twitched, and when Mari grinned, I let my own mirth free, too. Even Talakai’s lips quirked.
Discussing fighting was Matt’s element, and he peppered me with questions. My head soon spun with possible counters to every move I described. His entire rugged face was lit with enthusiasm.
He’d never looked so frigging handsome.
Between him and Talakai, my efforts to keep my heart on an even keel were destined to fail miserably. Thank goodness for Mari.
“So... Exactly how many times did you end up in the sand?” I asked her, when Matt paused to draw breath.
Mari looked uncomfortable. “Four times. But the last one was only because I wasn’t paying attention.”
It silenced Matt, and even Talakai shot her a look. I had to admit, I was also amazed. Tyrez was a mountain of muscle. Teamed with him, I would have made myself a nice comfy bed in the sand, and stayed there.
Talakai looked over my head to Mari, and rumbled, “Impressive.”
Mari shrugged. “Dorinthians plant very well. Once we do, we tend to be kind of unyielding. It’s our go-to move. We aren’t fighters.” She hesitated. “At least, not for many generations.”
Talakai’s eyes narrowed. “Your skin may be thick, but if someone comes at you with a Scarnian blade, it won’t save you.”
I had no idea what a Scarnian blade was, but Mari merely shrugged again. “Not everything is resolved through conflict.”
Oh, boy. I swallowed my mouthful so that I wouldn’t choke on it. Them was likely fighting words.
I wasn’t wrong. Talakai’s eyes sparked fire. “As a team, we have to be prepared to fight to defend not only ourselves, but others, too.”
A frown wrinkled Mari’s craggy forehead. “Tyrez pointed that out. He stated that I might, however, be more suited to smiting and crushing.”
“That makes sense,” I agreed, keeping an eye on Talakai. The big Dragon looked as though he were biting his tongue.
Mari pulled herself up tall. “Dorinthians do not smite and crush.”
Talakai’s mouth opened, but I beat him to it. “If one of us were threatened, wouldn’t you smite to help us out?”
Mari hesitated.
“And then there’s your Shaker talent,” I pressed. “Nothing breaks up a fight like the ground heaving beneath you. You could always do that.”
The big head tilted sideways. “Yes, I could do that.”
I smiled. “So it is just a matter of deciding where your line is, and then we can fit that into the team.”
The tension drained out of Mari as she nodded. “Yes. That would be good.”
I sensed Talakai relax, just a fraction. He didn’t seem the type that trusted, not easily, anyway. He’d have to learn to if we were going to work together as a unit.
It seemed that trust was also in short supply on the academy level—they no longer had any faith that we would monitor time. A loud bell clanged through the building.
With a sigh, I shoved the last bit of lunch into my mouth as we headed back to the coliseum. With whiteboards and a podium on the lower level, it also functioned as the main classroom. I noticed that the area roped off for instructors was crowded—the advanced class was sitting in on the lecture. Dani had mentioned something about that.
