Waltzing With Fate

The First Training Session

We head over to the center of the room and start to prepare ourselves to train. My muscles ache with any movement I make, but I know that I have to fight like they aren't hurting me. I feel Matteo place his hand on my arm and I feel a sudden warmth that catches me off guard. My muscles stop aching and I feel a sense of relief. He removes his hand from my arm and the warmth subsides, but my muscles don't ache. I take a few steps forward and my muscles don't fight my every movement. I look over at Matteo and smile at him. He gives me a small nod and strikes up a conversation with Asher.
"Fall in soldiers," Rose yells over the chatter. Everyone falls into their places other than Matteo and I. "Today we will be welcoming one new soldier and one returning soldier to our ranks. This is Matteo and as many of you know this is Leigh. They will be fighting for their spots in our ranks, so we will start that process right now. Leigh, you will start with Mallory because I don't want to waste my time and yours on my other fighters. Matteo you will be starting with Nate, the best male fighter in my ranks, seeing as you have already beaten the third best fighter in my ranks."
Matteo approaches Nate and everyone backs away as the fight ensues. Nate throws the first punch and hits Matteo in the left side of his rib cage. Matteo backs away after that and he encourages Nate to chase him by the slight change in Matteo's body language.
Matteo watches Nate's body language as Nate approaches. Nate's body language is aggressive and cocky. It's almost as if Nate has never found anyone who can beat him. Matteo takes notice of this and by the glint in his eye I know that he intends to exploit this to the fullest extent.
Matteo doesn't move or change his expression as Nate approaches. He lets Nate throw another punch and Matteo lets Nate believe that he flinches by playing off of Nate's punch. As Matteo acts like he is hurt by Nate's punch and he takes this opportunity to observe Nate from another view.
Matteo inches closer to him and slamming his elbow into Nate's stomach. Nate doubles over and Matteo lifts Nate's head so Nate is looking at him.
"I win," Matteo announces as he places a final punch to Nate's jaw. Matteo walks over to me and puts his hand on my arm. I feel the warmth again and he looks at me with a look that says you better win. He removes his arm and the warmth subsides, but the ache of my muscles stays away.
I walk over to Mallory and smirk because I have beaten her more times than I can count.
"You are getting cocky for someone who has no idea what she is dealing with." Mallory states as I start to watch her every move. I watch her get into her stance and I realize that she has been training. Her sloppy errors that were present in her stance prior to when I left are minimal now and she seems more prepared than she used to be.
"I am going to beat you in record time, so I have every right to be cocky. Seven seconds was the previous time correct?"
"You haven't fought me in a while so I wouldn't count on beating me in less than seven seconds."
"We will see about that," I declare as I start to circle her. She starts the fight with an attempt at kicking me in my ribs. I grab her foot and I flip her onto her back. Her head slams into the mat, hard, and I look at Rose for a time.
"Four seconds; you have improved a lot since you left. Both of you take your places in my ranks and let's get started. Everyone pair up with the person to your right."
I run over to the bo staff racks and I grab two of them. "Hey Matteo, catch."
"You aren't going to get me that easily princess."
"Why not!" I exclaim as I try to hit him with the bottom portion of my bo staff.
"I have trained with a bo staff since I was seven, so don't think your little games are going to get you very far."
"Attention everyone, Mr. I-have-trained-with-a-bo staff-since-I-was-seven has arrived and is challenging me to a duel." I yell loud enough that the entire training room hears me. Everyone laughs and circles up around us and Rose.
"We have a duel ladies and gentleman," Rose yells as Matteo looks at her with a confused look on his face.
"For those that aren't familiar with the concept of a duel I will explain what they are. Duels are when someone challenges another person in the room, and there are three rounds. These rounds include hand-to-hand combat, bo staff, and my favorite round of all freestyle. Now that the concept of a duel is explained fighters pick one person from the circle to be your second. Leigh, since you are of higher ranking you choose first."
"I choose Asher Damon." I shout with a smirk on my face.
"I'm sorry dear," Asher yells to Matteo.
"I choose Mallory," Matteo announces with the same smirk that I had on my face earlier.
"Once you have everything settled with your second you may begin with round one which is: bo staff."
"Leigh, don't mess up his face for me," Asher pleads.
"That wouldn't be my first priority on things that you wouldn't want me to mess up."
"Okay, on another note kick his ass," Asher whispers to me. I laugh and I walk towards the center of the circle where Matteo waits for me. He grabs my arm and I feel the warmth again and the aches subside. He lets go and he backs away from me.
"Hey princess, I think this is the first time we have actually fought."
"Yeah it is, and I am going to win just like I won against Jackson when he challenged me."
"We'll see about that princess."
Rose gives us the signal to start and Matteo rushes me. Crack. He attacks with his bo staff and it slams against mine. I lift my bo staff to counter his move. I step forward and try to knock him off balance. I dodge his blow by crouching down. I try to take his legs out from underneath him with my bo staff, but I fail. He moves out of the way. He takes advantage of the different levels between us. He uses his bo staff and knocks my feet out from under me. He bends down and he uses his bo staff to lift up on mine. I kick him in the ribs. He jumps back to avoid my foot and frees me. I get up and he rushes me again. He uses his body weight to push me backwards. I fall. He pries my bo staff from me. He wins that round.
"One point to Matteo. The next round is hand-to-hand," Rose yells.
I walk over to Asher and he has a look of disappointment on his face.
"How dare you let him get to you."
"I'm no-"
"You are and don't tell me otherwise. The next round is your specialty, so pull it together. You have this match although I have a feeling that this could be the first duel that has ended in a tie."
"It won't end in a tie Asher because I always win duels."
"That's the Leigh that I know and love, so go out there and win this duel."
"Got it."
I run out to the center of the arena the trainees have created for us and I prepare to fight. Matteo is still talking to Mallory and she is visibly flirting with him. Matteo is starting to look annoyed, but the minute that I notice the slight annoyance in him it disappears. He finally walks to the center of the arena.
"She's a little flirty isn't she?" I ask with a smirk.
"I can't deny that," he replies.
"Begin," Rose yells as we get into our fighting positions. Matteo and I circle each other as we size each other up. I notice that he tripped himself up and he caught himself before it was visible to everyone else that he tripped. I circle closer to him and I give him the opportunity to throw the first punch. He starts with a kick and I shove his foot out of the way before it hits me. He keeps his balance and I close the space between us even more. I start with a left hook and I land it. He retaliates with an punch to my kidney. I dodge out of the way and I try to trip him up by dropping low and placing my leg out to catch his foot as he moves it to get to me. I manage to trip him up and he falls to the ground. I move to pin him and he flips me to the ground. I shove him upwards and he moves to get out of my grasp. I use this to get leverage and I flip him on to the ground. I pin him to the ground by placing my knee onto his chest. He struggles against my pin, but he fails to escape.
"Leigh wins this round," Rose shouts over our audience.
"Good round," Matteo says as he grabs my hand to get up from the mat. I feel the warmth flow through my body again and he smiles at me as he lets go.
"Thank you." I say as I move to get off of the mat.
"The last round starts in ten minutes," Rose tells everyone as I head over to Asher.
"Damn girl that was awesome."
"Why thank you kind sir," I say as I flip my hair to the side in an overly confident way.
"Don't get too confident Leigh because he can still take this match from you."
"I know. I just have to stay focused and I have to remember to assess the situation before I make my move. I also have to remember that this is the freestyle round and we both can use any weapon that we want this time."
"Yep," Asher responds as I work my way over to the weapons rack. I grab a set of twin daggers on the top shelf and I grab a sword along with them. I position my daggers on the belt that I found, one on each side and I twirl the sword in my hand. I feel how heavy it feels in my hand and I go over to the corner where I used to keep my weapons. I check for the panel in the wall that I hid them behind is still slightly visible and I tug on the lip of the drywall. The piece came free and the weapons I used to use were still there. I set the sword that I have in my hand against the wall and I take the daggers out of the belt. I remove the belt and I exchange it for the one in my cabinet. I grab my sword out of my cabinet and I hold it in my hand to get used to the weight again. I put the piece of dry wall back and I gather the other belt, daggers, and sword and I go over to the other weapons and put the weapons I got from the racks back in their place.
I walk over to the ring again and people look at me with confusion on their faces because of my weapons. My weapons were designed for me. They were crafted by a Magjik who is very skilled at crafting weapons for the families of the counselors and the counselors of the Magjick realms. Mine has an emerald at the end of the hilt and there are diamonds covering the top of the hilt. The daggers are designed the same way. The only thing that is different is the etching on the blade of the dagger. The etching is the phrase: rice beadurinc. The modern meaning of it is powerful warrior.
The crowd is still staring and Asher looks at me and smiles. I walk over to him.
"Remember these," I ask him as I hold them up.
"I do. I made sure that they stayed in the compartment that you made, so you would have them when you came back."
"Thank you, I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome Leigh. Now I want you to use how familiar you are with the weapons that you have in your hands to your advantage. That will give you the advantage because Matteo isn't used to the type of weaponry that we have here. He is used to using shorter swords and shorter daggers. He is best with shorter weapons and he is going to try and close the space between the two of you. Keep a bit of distance and you will be able to throw him off his game."
" I can do that," I reply as I walk to the center of the crowd to prepare for the last portion of the duel. Matteo is standing in the middle of the crowd twirling the sword he grabbed in his right hand. He sees my sword and daggers and his eyes widen.
"Have you never seen a pair of twin daggers and a sword built for a magjick?"
"I have, but I have never seen a set of daggers and a sword like those. Although, I have seen some of the ones that my mother had made when I was little."
"These were given to me by my uncle. They were forged by the best blacksmith, and out of the best iron that can be found. They were inlaid with my uncle's colors: emerald and gold."
"Fancy," Matteo responds as he surveys each weapon I have.
"How are your swords working out for you?"
"Pretty good. They seem longer than I'm used to, but it's not going to change anything."
"That's true it won't change that fact that I am going to beat you."
"We'll see about that."
"I guess we will," I say with a smirk. The people watching start placing bets on who is going to win. Most of the whispers I hear result in them thinking I am going to win. I glance over to the terrace above the training room and my uncle stands there watching. Staring at us. He is watching our every move.
"My uncle is watching, let's put on a show," I mouth to Matteo. Matteo nods and smirks at me.
"The fight will begin in one minute. Contestants prepare yourselves, the person to draw first blood wins the match."
"Let's make it more interesting, Rose," Matteo yells.
"What do you suggest?"
"I suggest that the first person to tap out or the person with the most injuries after the time ends loses."
Rose thinks about it for a moment.
"Leigh, is this something that you would be interested in participating in?"
"I'm in," I answer and everyone gasps. None of the duels that have ever occurred in this training center were ever until someone taps out, they usually end after first blood.
I look up at my uncle and I can see him grinning. He knows that the fight he is watching is going to be a good one.
"Let's go Matteo."
"Fighters get ready," Rose announces and we both take our places.
"Begin," Rose yells. Matteo makes the first move and tries to close the space between the two of us. I leap back to create more distance and he tries to over power me by slamming his sword into mine. I push back and so does he. Our swords slide against each other creating sparks. Our eyes lock. He pushes forward even more and I back away and slide left to get my sword away from his. He steps back as I take a step forward. I swing at his right leg and he parries my attack with his own sword. Our swords are locked together again. I lessen the weight I have on my sword and he pushes forward. I move forward quickly and I catch his leg with my sword. His sword dips and I feel a burning sensation on my thigh. I look down to see blood gushing from a tiny cut on my left leg. I look at him and I step forward. He steps back as he watches my every move. He studies me with an intensity I only saw when we fought against the soldiers in the woods. I do the same. While I study him I watch the cut on his leg drip with blood.
He catches me off guard by moving to the right and positioning himself so he is beside me. I turn toward him and he has a smirk on his face. He readies his sword and lunges at me. He barely misses me. I lean back like I am going to step back and then I lunge forward catching him off guard. I reach out with my sword. My sword catches his right wrist. His sword clatters to the ground. Blood seeps from the cut on his wrist.
Before I can do anything he steps closer to me. I do the same. I drop my blade to even the playing field. He grabs the daggers he has at his side. I grab mine. We circle each other again. This time the circle is smaller than the last. He strikes first. I parry his deliberate movements with my own. I slice out at his other arm. I miss. He catches my left bicep with his knife. My bicep burns. I shrug it off and minimize the space between us. His hand juts out and grabs my wrist. I try to shrug him off, but I can't. He pries the knife out of my hand. I reach out with the knife in my right hand. He grabs my other wrist.
I struggle to get away from him and he smirks at me. I stare at him unfazed by his actions. I turn myself out of his grip. I place my leg out behind him. He steps back and gets caught by my leg. He stumbles and falls to the floor.
"30 seconds left." Rose shouts over the crowd around us.
I grab the knife that fell out of my hand and I kneel down beside Matteo.
"That wasn't much of a show," I say as I place my knife to his throat.
"Are you sure?" Matteo asks as he smiles with a devilish grin.
"Ye-" I start to say, but he grabs my ankle and pulls my leg out from underneath me. He escapes my knife. He gets to his knees.
"Times up," Rose yells to the two of us. We get up and walk toward the center of the ring.
"Matteo has sustained two cuts from Leigh's hand, and Leigh has sustained the same from Matteo's hand. We have ended in a stalemate ladies and gentlemen."