Chosen by K.F. Breene

Author:K.F. Breene [Breene, K.F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

“Rachie, what are you doing, boy?” Sanders yelled as he marched toward the two fighting cadets.

Rachie was standing with his hands in the air, surrendering. The boy opposite him was crouched in the attack position, unclear what to do when the enemy surrendered before the fight had begun.

“Sir, he plans on clobbering me, sir, but he is standing off-kilter and it won’t be effective. I’d rather not waste my energy.”

Sanders stared mutely at the curly haired idiot. He was too flabbergasted to be mad. “Do it anyway.”

“But, sir—“

“That’s an order!”

Rachie sighed and mumbled, “I’ll just hurt him and you’ll be pissed.”

“What was that, Cadet?”

Rachie jumped and shook his head. Apparently Shanti hadn’t completely beat sense into the lad.

Cadet Jonhas waited for Rachie to look at him, then jumped at the other boy, arms moving in small circles to the side, wrestling style. He feinted once, throwing his whole body to the right. Rachie didn’t bite. Didn’t even flinch. Jonhas feinted a second time, straight at Rachie. Rachie sighed again with a resigned expression.

The third lunge would go live. Jonhas was indeed a little preplanned, but he was still a Cadet. He had some things to learn in the arena of reality that he could only learn with more experienced fighters. Of which Rachie shouldn’t be one. Not with only a month and a half’s worth of whatever it was he did with Shanti and his fellow Honor Guard members. And though it was his job to be neutral, Sanders hoped Jonhas would ring the kid’s bell. Jonhas was the best of the Cadets and soon to move up in the ranks. He’d been at this a year longer than Rachie and showed ten times the promise.

As if reading Sanders’s mind, Jonhas rushed in, arms and legs everywhere, trying to mix up his opponent before he smacked him down… and landed on his back.

Rachie had barely moved. His movements had been straightforward and efficient, and now he stared down at Jonhas with a distraught expression.

“I didn’t want to,” Rachie said in slight embarrassment. “I told you that—”

“Enough!” Sanders barked. Rachie flinched. It shouldn’t have been as gratifying as it was. “Rachie, head to the Pit. Jonhas, keep at it.”

It was time for Shanti’s Honor Guard to get evaluated. He didn’t understand their style, but he couldn’t argue with results. Rachie had been way behind everyone else before the foreign woman showed up, and he’d just won the fight with no strain. The other guys she trained were showing the same sort of results. If they didn’t excel at one art, they were masters at another. Leilius could barely hold a sword, but with a long knife and some cover, he was silent and deadly. Rachie had just proved that hand-to-hand combat was his forte. Marc was now apprenticing with the doctor, which had always known the kid had talent, but hadn’t been able to get it out of him until recently. Gracas was a blur with any weapon he used and often surprised himself when he won mock battles.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.