Starbright (The Starbright Series) (17 page)

Seth stepped forward, holding his weapon in front of him and slinking down into a crouched-ready-for-action position.
I
mimicked his pose,
sinking back into my thighs, but staying alert on the balls
of my feet,
letting instinct lead the way. A smile played at the corners of Seth’s mouth, and his eyes twinkled devilishly.
I
couldn’t help but get distracted by the perfect lines of his jaw and the way his shoulders flexed with his readiness.
It didn’t seem fair that
I
should have to train with an
A
ngel…. maybe there was an uglier version of a training partner available?

“Seth, make first contact, but tread carefully for now,” Jupiter instructed.

All
I
had time to do was swallow
my
anxiety
and
brace
my
body in preparation for the hit.
I
moved
my arms into my
preparing for the impact
before reaching
my
sword out to meet Seth’s in a swift, aggressive motion. Pride would not let
me just
hold a weapon and wait for the hit to come. Seth met
my
blade in the air, a little shocked by the force from
my
end and
our
two deadly weapons met with clanging clarity.

I
stepped b
ack with one foot, stabilizing my
body that felt like it was wobbling right along with the metal in
my
hand.
I
was shocked at how jarred
I
felt after just one hit, it was as if the hilt of the sword connected straight to
my
bones and
felt the full
strength
of
Seth’s swing.

Still,
I
couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across
my
lips as
I
realized how good combat felt.
I
liked to believe, being a Star, a lesser
A
ngel, that
I
was made up of only good things. But the instinctive thirst to swing
my
sword again whispered otherwise. Blood thirsty wasn’t a word
I
was ready to throw around just yet, but
I
was created for battle, destined for war,
I
could learn to love this new aspect of
my
life.

Easily.

Before Jupiter could instruct
me
further,
I
took the initiative and parted the locked weapons, noticing with satisfaction that Seth had become comfortable and had to adjust by taking a quick step forward.
I
raised
my
hands again and met Seth’s blade in the space between them with crashing finality. Seth
was
quick to recover and an almost criminal expression lit up his face.

I
stretched my
W
arrior instincts further and met Seth blow for blow, the quickness in
my
step and swiftness of
my
hands attributed to
my
supernatural origins.
Our
swords c
l
ashed between
us
as
ou
r feet made arching circles in the
now
disheveled snow-laden field.

I
knew
I
had limitations. Beyond a friendly back and forth,
I
wasn’t prepared to make an all-out attack on
Seth
and the muscles in my shoulders and arms had already started to burn with the unfamiliar movements. But it felt
good to get a
sense
for the weapon in
my
hand
and I ached for the time when it would be second nature
. That is until Seth stepped forward as if to strike at
me
and then at the last minute leapt into the air, flipped over
my
head and landed with his sword
at
the base of
my
throat.
He stood close behind
me
, pressing
me
against his body with his sword
at my neck and his
arm wrapped around
my stomach
.

Stunned and in jealous awe,
I
dropped
my
sword and raised
my
hands in the air.

“You win!”
I squeaked. The heat of his body pressed against my back and I relaxed my head against his shoulder, promising that it was just to get further away from his sword
.

“Ah, you give up too easily,” Seth laughed
in my
ear, with a low, husky chuckle. He
re
moved the sword from
my
neck and released
me so I could
pick up
my discarded blade
.

“Only the first time,”
I
promised back.

“It only takes one time to get yourself killed,” Jupiter
ground out grumpily
from his place a few yards away. “Again,” he commanded.

I
readied
my
body again, and this time when Seth’s sword came at
my head, I
was quicker to defend
my
self.
I
let natural instinct take over and met his blows time after time with matched strength.
I
could tell he was going easy on
me
, letting
me
find
my
way around a battle field, but the feeling of power and strength was intoxicating, even at a
beginner’s
level.

Jupiter would stop
us
occasionally to critique
my
stance or hold, or technique and every great once in a while to reprimand Seth about his own performance. But for the most part,
I
learned what
worked for
me
through trial and error. Expert skill would come with practice and use, but basic technique was something
I
had been born with.

Seth moved around
me
with the
talent
of a trained Warrior. His feet danced across the frozen ground, even buried up to his shins in snow. His sword moved easily from one hand to the next just as effortlessly as when he used both hands to wield it. The power and strength in his arms seemed to be endless, and the muscles in his arms from shoulder to wrist flexed with each movement he made and promised to be a serious threat when put to real use. He
could jump, and flip and maneuver out of danger in a cacophony of acrobatic moves that made
me
excited to continue
my
training
and just the tiniest bit jealous
. He had to be the best of his kind for his age.
I
had no doubt.
I
had watched
my
father train before, in the same ways that
we
were now, and
I
knew that Seth shouldn’t be as good as
my dad was
for his age.
I
knew Seth shouldn’t already rival
my
father for skill.

But he did.

And he was shining magnificently with the effort of it.

Human boys could always be just as attractive as Warriors on the surface, but when Seth radiated from the core of his being the true power he held inside, there was something so brilliant
and intoxicating about
him
I found myself way too distracted and way too often staring at him
;
I
could only describe him as beautiful. His already golden skin shined with warmth,
there was a glow of light surrounding him and
the pupils of his eyes lit up with the thrill of the challenge.

We
worked like that
for hours, so I could
get acquainted with the
huge arsenal of swords. Jupiter let me
get the handle on
the difference in a double-edged blade and a single, or a two-handed sword and a single
without too many impatient outbursts
.
I
was a bit clumsy, and more than a little slow, but
I
was getting the concepts and the movements. Seth was an easy partner to work
with;
he knew the weapon so intimately that every one of his calculated movements
was
thought out to allow for
my
beginner’s instincts.
He was careful with
me
, instructive but also protective.
I
admired that about him, his willingness to teach
me and not just train with me
, but his inability to put
me
in harm’s way. Although the
re was a fight inside of me that
hungered
for a little danger.

“You have a long way to go,” Jupiter interrupted a back and forth battle between the two
of us
that had gotten competitively aggressive
.

Seth and I slowed ou
r forward attempts and backed away respectfully.
I
caught
my
breath, and wiped
my
wet brow with the back of
my
hand.
I
had been using all of
my
supernatural strength to stay in step with Seth, but still he seemed unbeatable. Even now, only one bead of sweat trickled from his hair line down his temple and
I
inwardly cursed him for remaining so perfect.
He probably didn’t even feel the uncomfortable burning in his shoulder blades or the
J
ell
-O
-like feeling of his arms.

“But she’s not as bad as you expected her to be,” Seth chimed in, his eyes glinting mischief at
me
.

I
didn’t know whether to be offended or elated.

“No, she’s not. But she’s not as good as I wanted her to be either,” Jupiter scoffed.

That time
I
knew exactly how to be offended.

“This practice is good for you if and when you face a Fallen. They are like you, they are flesh and blood and will need to be killed the same way you would destroy a man. Hand to hand combat will be very similar to Seth, only they will not be nearly as nice or forgiving. They will expect a skilled fighter and when you are presented to them as the opposite, they will murder you,” Jupiter explained and his words hung in the cold, still air like a death sentence.

“They will not get close to her while I am around,” Seth g
rowled from across the circle
we
had been working in. His most basic instinct was to protect
me
and
I
breathed a bit deeper knowing that Jupiter’s warning came with a clause. The Fallen would murder
me
if
they could get to
me
.

Jupiter made a gruff grunting noise and changed the subject, “Shadows however, are not flesh and blood; not even when they manipulate our eyes. They are and will always remain part of the
Darkness. Fighting them is less of a thrusting, side-stepping affair and more of a constant swinging of your sword. If you make contact with them, the only way to successfully destroy them is to slice them in half at the place where their life’s blood beats. I would call it a heart, but to attribute them with a feeling organ is to give them far too much credit.”

I
waited quietly for Jupiter to continue, but after he remained silent with his eyes locked on
me
I
decided he was waiting for
me to demonstrate what I
hadn’t realized were instructions. “So, like this?”
I
asked while swinging
my
arms back and forth i
n front of me
.
I
quit when
I
realized
my
motion seemed more like Zorro marking a tree
with his initials
than an
A
ngel putting evil to death.