"You can choose to either train with a partner or a group, or work alone with those dummies over there," Joseph told the crowd of Blackfire and Briarlight teenagers, pointing towards a row of dummies. "Get along, and do not injure or kill each other. Is that clear?" The teenagers murmured consent, and he turned into a peregrine falcon, and sped away, presumably to deliver this news to all of the other groups.
Of course, everyone chose to work with partners or groups. They combined, eager to meet one another. Emmett quickly made a few new friends, and they headed to a sand lot to practice sparring in pairs. Of course, it just so happened that they had an odd number of people in their group, so they took turns sitting out. Once it was Emmett's turn, he sat down, looking around to see what everyone else was doing. The dummies were completely abandoned, except one lone figure. Amy. She was amazing with her sword, stabbing and hacking at the dummy. He stood up and walked over.
"Hey."
She turned to him, panting slightly and sweaty. "Hey."
"So, um, thanks for-you know." He awkwardly fumbled with the hilt of his sword. "Giving me my abilities."
"You're welcome." She turned her attention back to the dummies and started hacking away again.
"You're good."
She stopped once again and looked at him cautiously, and hint of suspicion in her eyes. "Thank you."
"Do you not know how to take compliments?" He said incredulously. "Honestly, you're superb, Amy."
She leaned against her sword, which she'd stuck in the ground, and looked at him. "How did you learn my name? I never learned yours."
"Well-" He swallowed. It was ridiculous. Talking to her made him nervous. "I heard your brother using it. In battle. So did those other kids in our group."
"Oh." She turned away for a moment, a flash of pain glaring in her eyes.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought him up."
"No, it's okay." She sighed and turned back to him.
"I'm Emmett, by the way," He said, sticking his hand out. "Emmett Walker."
"It's nice to meet you, Emmett." She took his hand and shook it. A burst of adrenaline and butterflies in his stomach erupted with her touch. Her hand was pleasantly warm and soft.
"Why don't you practice with everyone else?" Emmett indicated the rest of the training soldiers. "My group has an odd number of people. You can join us."
Amelia surveyed the sparring figures, then looked back at him, her eyes containing just the barest hint of sadness. "I'm more of a loner, actually. I don't really talk to anyone."
"Practice with me." Emmett lifted his sword. "I'm only one person. It's better if you did, anyways." He watched her chew her lip, sensing that she was debating whether or not to join him. "I bet you can't beat me. I'm the best soldier for our age in Briarlight." He'd struck a nerve. This girl took challenges seriously.
"Alright. Fine." She followed him to an unused sandpit. "Give me your best, Briarlight boy."
"Oh, I will." He smirked at her and charged. He raised his sword and brought it down towards her. She raised her own sword and blocked his blow. By now a small group of Briarlight kids had gathered, dotted with a few Blackfire spectators. The Briarlight kids were smirking.
"There's no way Emmett's going to be beat," Pete said. "He's the best we have."
"You don't know Amy," Isaac countered. Pete snorted and chose not to comment.
Emmett lunged at Amy, and she dodged his blow with ease. She pivoted and easily knocked the sword out of his hand and pointing hers at his throat. He watched in disbelief as the sword tumbled away from him, the tip of her sword five inches from his flesh.
"No way," Pete said in awe.
"Is that really all you got?" She lowered her sword and picked his up, handing it back to him by the hilt.
"How-"
"I've had good training."
Emmett shook his head in disbelief. Isaac was grinning at him from the four other spectators.
"Whatever," Pete scoffed. The group walked back to their own sandlot.
"My dad taught me when I was little," Amelia told him. "Before-you know. He died."
"Yeah. My dad-he, um, told me what happened this morning. I'm sorry."
"Yeah. Well." She sat down, and he joined her.
"So, what do you want to work on next?"
"I don't know. You pick."
He looked around to see what everyone else was doing. She startled him by talking in his mind.
Hand-to-hand combat? She suggested. He jumped.
"Oh-sure." Emmett shook his head. "Don't scare me like that."
"Sorry." She stood up, casting her weapons aside and using a ribbon to put her hair into a ponytail. "Ready?"
"Yeah, let's go." He felt almost ready to puke because of the sudden nervousness exploding in his gut. Being so close to her-ugh.
"Alright. Go." He hesitated, then rushed at her. She quickly dodged it and kicked his shins, making him fall onto his back, knocking the breath out of his lungs. He forced himself to draw in a deep breath, and swung out his legs as her shin, making her fall with a shriek. Before she had a chance to recover, he pinned her down. Unfortunately, he had underestimated her strength, and she threw him off, and they started rolling around, fighting for dominance. Emmett wound up on top, pinning her down for good, both of them panting. His face was inches from her face.
"Sorry." He could smell her breath, which smelled like peppermint. To his surprise, she smiled, making him realize that it was the first time he'd ever seen her smile. He thought it make her look even more beautiful.
Even more beautiful? Does that mean I thought she was beautiful before? What's going on? He straightened, confused, still pinning her.
"What?" She asked.
"I-I don't know." He shook his head to clear it, and let her up. The conch horn sounded for lunch, and they both gathered their things heading towards the picnic tables for their meal. Amelia went ahead of him, and Emmett watched her let down her golden hair, watched it tumble down her shoulders in a glossy curtain, shaking the sand out of it. He realized that the emotion he was feeling was love. But where had it come from, so suddenly? Shaking it off, he found Isaac and his other friends and went to lunch.
Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on G𝘰𝘰gle to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
Report
