New Beginnings by Jada Fisher

Author:Jada Fisher [Fisher, Jada]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2019-10-22T16:00:00+00:00

7

All Good Things Must End

Breathe.

Sweep staff up, change grip. Spin. Kick high. Kick low. Step back and find balance.

Don’t forget to breathe.

Ukrah ran through her drills, trying to engrain them into her very bones. Ale’a had left perhaps an hour or so earlier, and Eist was off somewhere with her dragon, and Athar wasn’t around either, meaning she had time until the next meal.

“Shouldn’t you stop? You’ve been going at it for quite a while.”

Ukrah didn’t spare a glance to Crispin, going through another drill as soon as she stilled. “I’m fine.”

“Come on, at least have some water. You’re sweating buckets there.”

She was. She could feel that the cloth band across her forehead was absolutely soaked, but she didn’t want to stop. A sort of energy was building under her skin. One that made her feel restless and uncomfortable. One that made her want to do more to be worthy of the kindness she had been shown.

After all, if Eist wanted her to be stronger, faster, and better prepared than all the initiates who had a head start on her, she had a long way to go.

“Later.”

“Ukrah, come on. Just take a break. The tiniest break. Like…three breaths or so.”

The tall boy wheedled at her from where he was standing, a canteen in his hands. While he indeed had been putting in much more effort than he had before, he still didn’t push himself to the brink like Ukrah did every time.

And that was what she intended to keep doing. Turning, she went up on one leg to perform a jumping kick that she’d been struggling with. But as she pushed off the ground, something went wrong, and the next thing she knew, her knee jolted, and she fell to the earth.

Crispin was at her side in a moment, helping her sit up.

“Hey, you okay?”

Ukrah went to growl that she was fine, but a sharp stab of pain in her leg had her gritting her teeth instead. Looking down, her knee certainly did not look normal.

“Ow,” she managed to wheeze.

“Oh no, I’ve seen this before.” Crispin moved so that he was able to gently rest his hands on either side of her knee, his touch featherlight. “You’ve dislocated this. Do me a favor and take a really, really deep breath, okay?”

Ukrah nodded. Simple orders were good. She could do that. Drawing it in through her nose, she barely finished dragging air into herself before Crispin suddenly moved, his hands clamping down and jerking her leg roughly to the side.

The scream she let out was real, and for a moment, pain swamped everything. But it cleared quickly, followed by a strangely warm sensation and a dull throbbing in her knee.

“There you go. It’s gonna be stiff for a while, and probably pretty hot from all the blood rushing there. Come on, let me get ya up to your bed.”

Ukrah paled at that. “I don’t think I can make it up the stairs.”

“It’s fine. I’ll carry you.”

Ukrah looked at the man dubiously. Although he was definitely taller than her, he was so thin.

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