1.5 - Destiny Unchosen (3 page)

Her circuit brought her around to Eleriss and the stern-faced Jakatra.

“We will show you to your temporary home and the practice arena,” Eleriss said.

Practice arena, not practice court. They had training in mind, too, just not the training she wanted to do. They had healed her so she could learn to poke holes into monsters. And she had agreed to that. She couldn’t go back on her word, even if they would let her.

“Bring the sword,” Jakatra said.

Temi smiled bleakly. She would go with them, but she would bide her time and hope... for a loophole.

“This will be your home while you train.” Eleriss pointed at a door in the side of a big tree beside a meadow. Temi would have to duck to enter it, and unless that tree had a basement or a lot of levels, she couldn’t imagine having room to do anything more than sleep inside. Even then, she wasn’t sure she would be able to stretch her legs straight in the bed. If these people
had
beds. “There is food and water inside that should be acceptable to a human palate and digestive system,” he added.

“Should?” Temi murmured.

“Our systems are similar. I sampled numerous cuisines in your world without suffering digestive stress.”

“The flat disk covered with strange meat-like products was an exception,” Jakatra muttered.

“Yes, pizza.” Eleriss smiled brightly. “Pizza was digestively stressful.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Temi pushed open the door to her tree house—what had Delia been saying about tree houses? It was as small inside as it had looked. The bed issue wouldn’t be a problem, because something akin to a hammock appeared to be where one slept. The cushions on the floor in the back must be what passed for chairs, and the narrow counter with a jug of water, plate, bowl, and spoon must represent the kitchen. “Is this a normal... house for your people?”

“It is small and sparse,” Eleriss said. “A place one would stay for training or for meditation. There is a pleasant stream down that path if you wish to do the latter, and Jakatra will meet you in the meadow every morning for training.”

Jakatra had already started lecturing her about the hard work he would require as they walked through the forest to reach the meadow. Since the healer had left, they hadn’t encountered another soul, though she had glimpsed animals grazing in a clearing, animals that reminded her of the black antelope she had seen in Africa.

“You will stay here when he’s not training you,” Eleriss said. “There are devices to keep dangerous animals away for a mile in each direction, but you must not go beyond their border.”

“Because I’ll be eaten, or because someone might see me and I’m not supposed to be here?”

Eleriss nodded. “Yes to both. In time, you should be able to protect yourself from the wildlife, but we have predatory species that are more aggressive than what your world possesses. That is the main reason you will be trained here. They will be good practice for the
jibtab
.”

“The day grows long,” Jakatra said. “We should begin.”

Eleriss stepped back, extending his hand toward the meadow. “You are in charge here.”

“You say I am in charge, but that I only have one week. You say I am in charge and that we will find a warrior with combat experience, but you choose a woman who has never held a weapon. You say I am in charge, but I am given no say in any of these decisions.” Jakatra stalked to the meadow, his back rigid, his long ponytail twitching with his movements, like that of an agitated animal.

It was the most Temi had heard Jakatra say. By this point, she wasn’t surprised by his agitation, but for the first time, she wondered if he might actually become an ally to her in this. If, after they trained for a while, he deemed her unfit, perhaps she would be sent back without the sword. Maybe she could even pretend to be more unfit than she was. The elves could then find someone else to protect the world, someone more experienced and appropriate. Delia would be disappointed—she and Simon actually seemed to
want
to battle monsters. But they wouldn’t be able to if they didn’t have the sword. Guns and bows had proved ineffective at harming the last one. Temi might even be saving their lives if her failure here forced the elves to find someone else to wield the weapon. Delia and Simon wouldn’t be so foolish as to continue hunting creatures if they had no means of destroying them.

She’d no more than had the thought when she heard Simon’s voice in her head, saying, “You’re kidding, right?”

Funny, Temi hadn’t known him that long, but she was sure those would be his exact words. Delia was more rational, but would she give up the hunt? Even if she did, she and Simon would still be out there in the sparsely populated mountains, searching for new archaeological sites and hunting for long-forgotten antiques they could sell in their business. If a monster found them, they would have no protection against it.

“She doesn’t even listen, Eleriss,” Jakatra growled.

Temi jumped. She had been staring off into the woods, unaware of her surroundings.

“I did mention to her that one could meditate here,” Eleriss said.

Jakatra made a disgusted noise—or maybe it was a sign of that digestive stress they had been talking about. He was standing in the meadow, holding a sword. He hadn’t had it before, and Temi hadn’t noticed where it had come from.

“The sword, female.” Jakatra pointed at her tennis bag. “Bring it. Let’s see if it hasn’t decided to reject you as its owner after all.” He looked wistful.

Despite her thoughts of using him as an ally, of deliberately failing whatever tests he had planned, his dismissal annoyed Temi. It made her want to prove him wrong about her capabilities.

Eleriss said something in a sharper tone than usual for him.

Maybe it was something about being more polite or not addressing her as “female,” because Jakatra sighed and said, “Artemis, yes, fine. Artemis, bring the sword.”

Normally, Temi would tell someone to use the short version of her name, since her grandmother and the reporters were the only ones who called her Artemis, but she didn’t want to invite familiarity with Jakatra. She couldn’t believe she had considered him attractive when she’d first seen them. That had been before he had spoken.

She unzipped her bag, pushed aside clothes and towels, and pulled the sword out of its scabbard. She should have taken the scabbard out first, because the serrated teeth on the back of the sharp, curving side of the blade snagged on something. Red panties. Temi stuffed them back in the bag, hoping the elves hadn’t seen. Whatever race—or species—they were, they were still male, and some things didn’t need to be shared with random males. Neither said a word, though. They were watching the sword, not the rest of her belongings.

As soon as her hand wrapped around the hilt, the blade lit up the afternoon shadows with its silver glow. That didn’t surprise her, as it happened every time she picked it up. She hadn’t figured out how to turn it off yet, short of putting it down.

Eleriss nodded to himself. Jakatra made a noise much like a sigh.

Chin up, Temi strode to the meadow. She was feigning confidence she didn’t have, especially given that Jakatra’s blade was as sharp and wicked as hers, even if it didn’t glow. Shouldn’t they start with wooden sticks or something? How far away did that healer live, in case she was in need of his services again?

“Any instructions?” Jakatra asked Eleriss. “Even though I’m in charge—” his lip twitched, “—I can’t imagine you’ll leave us here without further input.”

“You are the master in this arena. Teach as you would teach anyone. Though the emphasis should be on animals more so than people. She’ll need to defend herself against claws and teeth rather than swords. In addition to learning attack techniques, she will need to know how to determine where vital areas might be on a
jibtab
.”

Jakatra looked at Temi. “Input,” he mouthed, surprising her because, for a moment, it was as if they were on the same side and Eleriss was the outsider. No, she decided, Jakatra was just being sarcastic all around.

“Do as you will,” Eleriss said, then frowned down at his pocket. He pulled something out, cupping it in his palm. So Temi wouldn’t see it? He turned his back and walked away, speaking into the device.

“Artemis, do as I do.” Jakatra bent his knees and tilted his torso away from her, leaving his sword arm toward her. “Ready stance.”

Temi emulated him.

“We’ll begin with basic footwork and the eight parries in the style I’m going to teach you.”

Jakatra demonstrated footwork and defensive blocks with the sword for the next fifteen minutes, and Temi copied his moves. None of them were hard or complicated, and the ease with which her knee was supporting her made her want to bounce about and ask for more challenges, but she suspected the difficulty level would increase once he started whacking at her with his sword. Eleriss returned before they reached that stage. Even if their expressions weren’t quite human, Temi thought she read grimness on his face. At the least, his usual cheer was absent.

“Problem?” Jakatra asked.

“A message from my father,” Eleriss said.

“Oh? Has he learned of your project?” Jakatra tilted his sword toward Temi.

“I don’t know, but I must speak with him. Continue with her, please. I will come check on your progress tomorrow.”

Temi watched him leave with a touch of trepidation. She wasn’t sure how far she trusted either of the elves, but Eleriss was definitely the more pleasant of the two. Spending time alone with Jakatra in the middle of a forest as it was getting dark wouldn’t have been her first choice on how to spend the evening.

As the training continued, however, he remained professional. Aloof, but professional.

After teaching her how to use her thoughts to turn off the sword’s glow—apparently it would cut through his regular sword if she didn’t do so—he drilled her over and over on the eight parries and what he called advances, lunges, and retreats. With most of the footwork, there was something similar in tennis, and she had no trouble covering the ground quickly, though he corrected her technique often. The parries weren’t similar to racket work, so she had to concentrate on them, especially when it came to figuring out which block to use against which attack. At the speed he was going—obviously a training pace rather than his normal capability—she could get the sword across in time to bat away his attack, one way or another, but with far too much flustered flailing. He would explain what the correct parry should have been, then repeat the exact same attack at least fifty times. Temi accepted the repetition without comment; every sport had it.

By the time full darkness fell, sweat drenched her body, and her limbs had the strength of noodles. Her knee ached, and she wasn’t sure if it was a sign that her recovery hadn’t been as complete as she’d hoped or if the muscles that she had been favoring for so long were simply exhausted from this exercise. Temi hadn’t seen anything that looked like a shower in her tree house; she hoped she had simply missed it on her first perusal and that it was tucked into a corner. Along with a sauna and a masseuse.

Jakatra backed away and lowered his sword. “Enough. You will rest now.”

Good. It was probably close to dawn by now back in Arizona. Her attempt to nod at Jakatra turned into a yawn.

Floating lights had gone on at some point, hovering in the air around the meadow. Temi decided not to find it creepy that she hadn’t noticed them during the day and that they weren’t supported by posts or wires, at least not as far as she could tell.

“I will return in the morning. Dawn.” Without waiting for an answer, he strode across the meadow and into the woods, disappearing into the undergrowth.

Temi could only stare after him, having no idea how she had fared for a first timer. Was she pathetic compared to his lithe people? A disappointment? Or had she done enough right to make him feel he wasn’t wasting his time? From his corrections, one would never know. The closest he’d come to praise was to say, “Yes,” about once an hour when she managed to get the right block to work at the same time as the right footwork. Something more... encouraging might have been nice. Despite her earlier thoughts about throwing the game—pretending to be worse than she was—she hadn’t been able to go through with it. She hadn’t wanted the damned elf to think any less of her than he already did. It shouldn’t matter, but for some reason it did.

She wished Delia had been allowed to come. Her commentary would have been more entertaining at least, and she probably would have enjoyed learning about swordsmanship too. Temi hadn’t hated it—the sport element and the challenge of improving appealed to her—but she had a hard time forgetting that the end goal was to learn not just how to defend herself but to kill things with the blade.

The floating lights dimmed, and she took that as a sign that she needed to get some food and some sleep. A screech sounded in the distance, the cry of something large. Something predatory. Another reason to go inside and lock the door. If it had a lock.

Temi woke from a heavy sleep, lurching into a sitting position and almost falling out of the hammock as she clutched her chest. Her heart hammered at her ribs, and her disorientated brain couldn’t remember where she was or why. A chilling cry pierced the walls of her room, something between a screech and a roar. The noise filled her with terror, and she stared at the darkness around her, primitive instincts telling her to hide, but where?

A silvery glow arose on the other side of the tiny room. After a moment of confusion, she remembered what it was, remembered everything. By the time a second cry reverberated through the night, she had climbed out of the hammock and clasped her hand around the sword hilt.

“One mile,” she breathed, “wasn’t that what he said? That dangerous animals wouldn’t come closer than a mile?”

Whatever was making those cries—from the different pitches, she thought more than one creature might be involved—they sounded closer than a mile. She would like to think Eleriss and Jakatra wouldn’t bring her all the way here, bribe a doctor, and spend time training her, only to let her be devoured by the local equivalent of ravenous wolves. And yet...