Don't Forget

19. Unremarkable

Where are we going?" I trailed several paces behind the fallen angel, trying to keep up.

            Instead of going to the sparring room like usual, Shar led me across the campus. He didn't tell me why or even where we were going, just to follow him.

            He still didn't answer me. He glanced at me from over his shoulder and then looked back in front of him. He shook out his wings—I wondered if he was itching to fly.

            My lips pursed. I hurried to keep up with him, but without running, I wouldn't be next to him. His strides were too wide and powerful. He did everything with strength and speed, even walking.

            Then we came across a building I had never been in before. It looked like all the others on campus: long and tall to accommodate the creatures.

My brows lowered. "What is this?"

The angel opened the door and gestured me inside. When he turned on the light, my jaw dropped.

            Guns, swords, shields, axes, bows and arrows—every weapon imaginable lined the walls. On the other side of the building were targets, either mobile or stationary. There were padded sparring rooms and medical equipment in storage rooms. It was a weapons training center.

            Shar studied my face. "Never been here?"

            I shook my head. "I didn't even know this was here. I always just figured everyone used those smaller training rooms."

            "Those are only good for basic knowledge." He walked along the walls, hands stroking the weapons lined there. "This is for advanced weapons' use and more intense weapon training."

            "So you've learned how to use this stuff?" I stared at a weapon I had never seen before. I couldn't even think how to hold some of these things.

            He selected a sword off the wall and swung it around himself with fluid movements. He went through a routine of slices and wrist-twists and actions my eyes couldn't follow. He grinned at me, a sort of "That answer your question?" look.

            "But . . . why are we here?"

            His grin went lopsided. "What do you think?" He held the sword out, pointing the sharp end at me. "You're going to learn how to use these."

            My eyes widened. "What?" I yelped, voice several octaves higher.

            He jerked his head behind him, and somehow that was enough encouragement for me to agree to this stupidity.

I wasn't very good. Many of the weapons were too heavy for me. I was skilled enough at using a gun, but when the difficulty of the moving targets increased, the more I missed.

            Shar decided I should learn how to use a shield. That way I could at least protect my body somehow, without relying solely on evasion tactics. As Shar had said, I could run only so far before I would have to attack head-on. And I couldn't attack a well-trained creature and expect to win. But if I could, at the very least, handle a shield, that could be enough.

            The first shield was a training shield: light and easily destroyed with an actual weapon. But with it, I could learn the basics and go from there.

            Shar stood behind me and reached his arms around me, showing me where to place my hands and how to stand. The proximity caused me to blush, and I tried to focus on what he said, rather than his skin on mine or the feel of his breath against my head.