Aodh chuckled as he slipped his hand over hers and then squeezed.“That is Khuzaimah,” he gestured toward the woman with a single, short, thick braid along the center of her head, barking commands.“She is our battle trainer.Very few are as skilled as she.”
“Stop charging.Stay on your toes.Think!”Khuzaimah growled.
“Okay.”Kai winced again as another of the young men ended up on the ground, this one with blood spilling from his jaw.“But these boys can’t win against someone so big.”
“They are not boys, little flame.Young adult Drahk, males and females, must enhance their skills.”
The boys looked to be around Morlie’s age, barely adults.Kai didn’t see why it was important for everyone to train.Where she was from there were only guards who kept order and maintained the gates to the Consumer Providence and the Wall, but in this territory, it looked as if they were training for war.“But Liekki is hurting them.Can’t they fight against someone their size?”
“No,” Aodh declared.“You can only become better when the challenger is greater.An enemy never sends out their weakest warrior.”He leaned down to whisper in her ear.“Look, the bleeding halts as quickly as it starts.”
Kai stared at the young men anew.This time, she looked closer and paid attention instead of wincing at each attack.Aodh was correct.The wounds appeared and disappeared in a blink.Even when the young men limped away, they came at Liekki again in full strength.
“Watch.”As Khuzaimah marched into the fray, she reached behind her head and pulled up a massive broad sword, which appeared to have diamonds embedded above the hilt.“Laegdri,” she rumbled the order in Drahk as she moved beside one of the young men and sank, matching Liekki’s stance.“Laegdri.”
“Lower.”Aodh interpreted, his lips still beside her ear.
Shivering, Kai worked hard to keep focused on the scene instead of the heat coursing through her body in response to Aodh.She would never know how the man could make such a coarse language sound so sensuous.
Adding the new word to her minute lexicon of Drahk words, she studied the woman with a skin tone deeper than hers.She worried the woman would trip on the hem of her dress that brushed against the ground.“Wouldn’t it be more practical for her to wear pants?”
“It doesn’t matter for one as skilled.”Aodh patted her hand.
Sure enough, Kai observed the trainer’s graceful movements as she cross-stepped her feet but kept her gaze locked on Liekki.With patience, Khuzaimah waited.When she did, her movements were meticulous and well-thought-out.It forced Liekki to charge her.In a flash, she side-stepped and swung the massive, gleaming blade around at her opponent’s back.
Kai slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the outburst that would have come out, warning Liekki of the deadly strike.
Soon, Kai realized her alert would have been unnecessary because Liekki’s movements were just as agile, as his emerald gilded sword, instead of his flesh, clashed with the woman.
The woman is badass.
Anyone other than someone with Leikki’s level of skill would have had their spine cut in two.
“Phew.”Relief washed over Kai.Even if their kind did heal fast, she didn’t want to see anyone hurt so severely.
“Khuzaimah can train you if you’d like.”
Kai chuckled low, not wanting to disturb those in the practice area.“I don’t see a reason I would need to know how to fight at such a level.”
“Having a skill and never using it is one thing.Needing a skill and not having it is death.”
She didn’t doubt he was right, but Kai only knew about fighting from her father’s military history.She’d lived after fighting and wars had caused such destruction, and she couldn’t see herself having any part of it.She held her tongue.Aodh lived a different existence than she did.
“We will go now.”Aodh pressed a hand to the small of her back again and guided her away.
“Mckenna.”Like when they started early in the day, each person they passed acknowledged Aodh.
Most met her gaze and offered her a short nod as well.
Feeling odd at the recognition and not knowing what to do, she gave a small smile, more of a greeting than accepting any position.
The tension left her body now that they were leaving the training arena.“Do you train also?”
“Yes.Multiple times a week with Liekki or Khuzaimah when he is not available.”Aodh guided her toward another two-story building.All the ones he’d escorted her to had similar designs.The only difference was the coloring of the stones in which the Drakh built them.It didn’t matter if they were living suites or work edifices.Each had one or two thick, expansive platforms that jutted out the second floor.
Even though she’d seen many dragons high up in the sky, she hadn’t witnessed anyone shift or take off from the landing.She wondered if Aodh had forbidden them to be around her.
“Because you are that good?”she teased.
