Lyra's POV
The sword felt awkward and heavy in my hand, almost slipping off as I raised it gently to the air.
I folded my other hand around the first, tightening my grip on the sword, and I dropped slowly into a stance I had seen Zarek do when he fought Draziel.
I looked up at Draziel, feets away from me in the training ground. He held a long, thick wooden cane in his hand. He watched me carefully, his eyes solemn, his look cold. He didn't look like he wanted to teach me anything. He looked like he wanted to beat the idea out of me.
My fingers quivered around the sword, making it shake in my hands. Why did I even agree to this damn idea? Though I needed to be able to protect myself, it was going to take years of training to kill an ordinary demon, not to mention the guards and Zarek. And years—I shook my head sadly—was something I didn't have. Damn. I wish I could back out of this, but I can't. I stared into his cold eyes again. I couldn't let him win.
"Come at me, human," Draziel ordered, his tone hard and flat, as if he were speaking to a maid.
Human, not Lyra again. My grip on the sword slackened as my heart took that heavy blow from his words. I was back to being human to him.
But what do I expect from this version of him anyway? To this version of him—I was a lowly human, unworthy of him—a nobody.
I tightened my grip on the sword and charged at him, running across the large expanse of stone floor to him.
I swung the sword down for his chest with all my strength. Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to strike for his neck. He dodged the strike easily, and the sword sliced the air. I panted, inhaling fast for my lungs as I raised the sword for him again.
His cane beat down on my hands before I could. The sword dropped from my hands.
"Aaarg!" I cried in pain, pulling my hands to myself. Pain shot fast like a wave from my hands all the way up to my shoulders.
I turned sharply to him beside me, glaring at him.
"Pick up the sword, human, and hold it right." He commanded.
I wasn't wrong. This version of him was a bloody asshole. I shook off the lingering sting of his cane, and I snatched the sword from the floor.
"How is the right way to hold it?" I demanded, making my own voice cold and flat too. It was going to be hard to hate the man I loved for lifetimes, but for this version of him, I wanted to try to with all my heart.
"Lyra," Zarek called from the corridor above the training ground. I turned sharply, looking up at him. A grin stained his lips as he spoke. "Grip the sword below the guard with your dominant hand, while your other hand grips the sword from the bottom," he said, gesticulating with his hands.
I gripped the sword as he instructed, right hand up, other hand low. He nodded in approval when I was done. Instantly, I rushed at Draziel to catch him unaware. Yet, he bent his knees low and ducked the strike, as if he was ducking a kid's punch.
Then again, his cane slapped against the back of my legs, sending jolts of pain rippling through every nerve in that leg. I slumped against the ground, the sword falling from my hands.
I shot a puff of air at my long blonde hair to push it off from covering my eye. I raised my gaze to Draziel, glaring at him with every ounce of hate in me.
He flushed back a bit, swallowed hard at the extent of my glare. "Your stance was poor, human. It corrupts your charges, making you swing your sword awkwardly." Draziel rambled for a moment, desperate to explain himself.
But nothing he said could save him from the hate in my eyes.
"Told you I was the best teacher, Lyra," Zarek laughed from upstairs.
Now I wish I had blatantly refused Draziel and stuck to Zarek instead. The least Zarek would do is kill me, anyway, not torture me, both physically and emotionally.
I snatched the sword from the ground again, like it was the one who offended me and not Draziel. I struggled up to my feet carefully, shaking off the locks of my hair covering my eyes.
"How do I stand?" I directed at Draziel, my voice scathing.
He hugged his cane, ambling slowly in my direction. "Put your lead foot forward, and your other foot also slightly outwards. Your knees should be bent slightly, not locked," he explained without demonstrating.
He was truly a bad teacher. How the hell am I supposed to understand? I thought as I pushed my right foot forward and eased my left foot back. I looked up at him for approval. The hate in my expression relaxed a bit.
He shook his head gently in disapproval. He teleported to me. I shut my eyes, expecting the sting of his cane again. It came, but it wasn't as hard as I expected.
The cold wooden cane pressed against my left thigh, pushing my left leg back a bit. Then against my right thigh, pushing my right leg forward also. Then the back of my knees, bending my knee to a point.
He leaned back, looking at my stance, and he nodded with satisfaction. "Good," he muttered, leaning back from me.
Immediately, I charged for him. I wanted to defeat him to make him pay for earlier. And my only hope to do that was to catch him unaware.
I didn't. He slid fast to a side to avoid the strike, and the sword sailed right past him, fanning the air.
His cane came crashing on my arms again, both of my arms, one after another. The sword fell from my hands, and I winced aloud in pain, feeling the sting shooting up my veins to my shoulder once again.
"What did I do wrong this time again?" I turned fast to him, snarling at him.
He hugged his cane dearly, leaning back, his countenance sharp and rebuking, like that of a dissatisfied teacher. "Your sword should be positioned slightly across from your body. The tip should be pointing towards my upper body when you try to attack me, not the blade. Also, your grip was too firm. It should be relaxed a bit, and your thumb and forefinger—"
I stopped him right there, raising my hand to get him to shut up. "Okay, okay. I get it," I yelled. This was a big mistake—him being my teacher—a big, terrible mistake. "I didn't do this right, I didn't do that right, I know." I said sarcastically. "I am bad at almost everything, I know."
"Yeah. You are bad at swordfighting, human. So you should quit the idea," he said coldly. Hugging his cane to his chest, he turned away from the training ground.
"No, I am not going to quit, Draziel." I yelled to him. My fists trembled with determination beside me. I won't let him win.
He turned to me, his lips stretching in a slow, wicked smile. "I am happy to continue, human," he said. Using his cane, he lifted my sword from the ground, throwing it to my feet.
My eyes dropped down to the sword for a moment, then I raised them to him, glaring straight into his eyes. "I want another teacher, Draziel. I want Zarek."
He smirked. "Too bad Zarek can't teach you. I am your only option, Lyra."
"I am available to teach—" Zarek yelled from upstairs. He quieted the instant Draziel raised his gaze upstairs to him.
Though Draziel's look was quite ordinary, there was something in his eyes that made Zarek lean back onto the balustrade, turning quietly from the training ground.
Draziel brought his eyes back to me, his grin growing wider on his face. "So let's continue, human,"
Then he teleported to me. He tipped the sword into the air with his cane and slapped my hands equally in the air to receive it. I glared at him as I grabbed onto the sword, a mild pain radiating around the back of my hands, trickling down my veins. I clenched my jaw, glaring at him harder.
He just shrugged his shoulders, grinning to himself at my glare. Then he proceeded to drum his cane against my knee, my thighs, legs, and even arms, getting me into position again. His cane left a mild, lingering pain in the areas of me that it touched.
The instant he was done, I charged at him before he could retreat from me, trying to catch him unaware again. I stopped midway, frozen to a spot, my arms and the sword hung in the air. I stared down at myself, my eyes growing wide. I was glowing again. Green effervescent lights pulsed out of me, lifting into the air.
"Lyra," Draziel yelled, his voice tight with alarm. He teleported fast to my front and snatched my wrist, pulling me fast to his broad body. That was as much as I knew before my mind went blank and I saw and felt nothing but a dark, swarming void.