The Eyebright's Dimension

Chapter Twenty: Weaponry

The first snowy day of the year came a frigid Thursday as the Academy prepared for the second Combat Contest. The Sylphs woke up to see a faint layer of white covering the ground, and gossamer flakes swirling through the air and catching on the bare branches of the trees next to the dwelling. Unfortunately, the snow wasn’t heavy enough for class cancellation, and so they all got up, moaning and groaning, to fly down to the Centre Quad. Although the Council decided that the first steps could now fly down by themselves like the rest of the students, because of the weather, they paired an older student up with each of the younger ones.

Kasity, paired with Lander, stood at the edge of the cliff and tried to banish the embarrassment she felt at recalling the last flight. Lander, fortunately, did not seem to remember it, for he merely said, “All ready, Kas?” and grabbed her hand.

Aidan, who stood with Calixte, shivered in the cold and made a face at Kasity. On her other side, Karynn and Synnove also prepared for the jump.

“Don’t forget basic heat spells,” Calixte called to all of them, and then disappeared over the side of the cliff, dragging Aidan along with her. Kasity caught one glimpse of his shocked face before he went over and laughed.

“Don’t laugh,” Lander warned, though a wide grin was plastered over his face, too.

Then they jumped into the freezing air, and the smile dropped off of Kasity’s face. It was cold. She tried to stop breathing so much because when she did, the air ripping at her face would also rip at her throat and her lungs. She almost hovered off their air current, but Lander grabbed her again, and Kasity felt warmer: Lander had set up heat spells. But they weren’t enough to block out all the cold, and she shivered all the way down to the Centre Quad, and felt relieved when they finally touched down in front of the Dining Hall.

“Th-th-thanks, Lander,” Kasity said through chattering teeth, and he grinned and gave her a thumbs up before catching up to Synnove and Rissy and walking into the Dining Hall.

Kasity followed him, meeting up with Aidan and Karynn, who were also shuddering in the cold. They emerged into the warmth of the Hall, and relaxed as the low drone of hundreds of voices filled their ears, and went to stand in line.

“How’d your flight go?” Karynn asked.

“Quickly,” Aidan answered, and shuddered.

“Lucky!” said Kasity. “Mine took forever. And it was so cold…”

“You don’t understand.” Aidan shook his head in awe. “One moment we were on the cliff, and then the next we were in the sky, and then a second later, I was on the lawn and I couldn’t see Calixte anywhere. I stood on the Quad for like ten minutes and I couldn’t even move.”

Kasity and Karynn laughed as the line inched forward.

“Hey, there’s Shant and Macom,” said Aidan, waving at them.

They too looked frozen. Shant’s lips were a faint shade of blue, and snow still clung to Macom’s hair. As they came closer, Kasity could see Macom sniggering, and that Shant looked crestfallen.

“What’s wrong with you?” Aidan asked, looking Shant over, while Macom continued to snicker.

“He flew with Yetta,” answered Macom through gasps of laughter.

Shant glared at him.

“So what happened?” Karynn poked Shant, but he crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

Unfortunately for Shant, Yetta and Devan came into the Hall and stepped into the line. Shant cringed and tried to hide behind Karynn’s much smaller frame, to no avail. Yetta spotted him, and a grimace of anger appeared on her face.

“This is the last time I take a first step with me on flight,” growled Yetta, pointing at Shant. “Do you know what this one did?”

“What, Yetta?” Devan asked.

“He scratched me,” she announced. “Got scared halfway through and tried to claw his way out of the sky like a cat.”

That was too much for Aidan. He burst out laughing, and Macom followed suit. Shant turned bright red, turned away from them, and refused to talk even when Tal and Claia arrived, both also looking cold and windswept.

“I forgot the class order for today,” Tal said as they finally got their breakfast, an apple and some lumpy gray porridge.

“You have Tactics class,” reminded Kasity, sighing as she walked to their usual table near the other Sylphs. “At least yours is inside. I have Weaponry. It’s freezing, and I bet the Teacher’s going to make us work outside anyway.”

“It’s not that cold,” sniffed Aidan in an eerie imitation of his cousin.

Kasity glared at him. She couldn’t help but dread her first class, and she could tell Aidan dreaded it, too. They said goodbye to the other first steps, who were all heading towards the PAB for their classes, and started the weary trek from the Centre Quad to the Training Quad, where the training fields and the Weaponry classes were located. Fortunately, it no longer snowed, but the piercing wind had not died down. They exited the Centre Quad and trudged on, silent against the howling wind, until they heard voices nearby. Two Wyvern upper steps emerged on the opposite path toward the Centre Quad.

“Sylph wee ones,” said one Wyvern with a large nose and a malicious sneer.

“Don’t you dare stop, Taban,” exclaimed the other Wyvern, a female. A black scarf covered most of her face against the ferocious elements. “It’s much too cold, even for Sylph-baiting.”

“But we should still report it to Morwenn,” the other Wyvern, Taban, pressed. “She said report anything out-of-the-ordinary to do with Sylph—”

“They’re going to class, dimwit. And we’d better go, too. Miss Kimimela’ll strip us alive if we’re late again.”

Taban looked at Kasity and Aidan longingly for a moment, then followed after the other girl. Aidan and Kasity glanced at each other as the Wyverns disappeared, but continued on their path. Aidan finally broke the silence.

“What did that guy mean? Report weird things about the Sylph to Morwenn?”

“Dunno. Some tactic, I guess,” Kasity answered, yelling above the wind.

“Kasity! Aidan!”

They both turned around to see Eunae strolling toward them with a serene smile on her face, her silver cloak billowing in the wind. It didn’t look like the cold touched her at all, for her arms and neck were bare and her black hair unruffled.

“I have some good weather enchantments going,” Eunae told them she approached closer, and motioned for them to come closer to her.

They did so eagerly, breathing in a sigh of relief at the reprieve from the elements, and continued the hike to the class without too much hassle. Eunae walked them to the main Weaponry House, and then continued herself on to the archery range.

“You’re late,” called the Teacher as they stepped into the door, and they could see that although five or six other students were already there, the other half of the class was still missing. The Weaponry House had one foyer, where most class introductions took place, and three different hallways that led to a labyrinth of classrooms. The cool tile lining the floor and the icy blue paint on the walls gave the impression of a room not much warmer than the outside they had just faced.

“Sorry, Teacher,” Kasity and Aidan said as they slipped off their shoes, joining the rest of the class kneeling on the floor. The Teacher was perhaps one of the most mysterious of all the teachers, and the youngest. He had dark hair, serious eyes, and bushy eyebrows. He was the only instructor who did not tell the students his names, and insisted that they call him merely “Teacher.”

“I was saying that you will receive a break today. We will not go outside for our usual exercises.”

Kasity concealed a sigh of relief.

“We will stretch, as usual, then practice footing.”

That didn’t bother Kasity at all.

“We will then go over some new combination attacks with our staffs.”

Perhaps she had been wrong to dread this class.

“I will then pair you up with a more experienced student for free sparring.”

Kasity groaned to herself. She could handle free sparring, but she hated it when she had to do it with someone bigger than she. It was unfair. The students moved to another room and stretched, and started their practices, but Kasity did them all half-heartedly, reserving her strength for what was to come. She could only hope that her partner would be the fat Hippocamp girl she saw practicing the other day. The girl couldn’t even hold a stick, let alone wield it. Although the shrimpy Gremlin boy wouldn’t be bad, either…

Too soon, the Teacher left to find them partners, and Kasity and Aidan twirled their sticks in their hands, waiting. Aidan kept trying to backhand the staff after a forward slash, but his aim was terrible.

“I can’t do this,” he said angrily.

“I can see that,” replied Kasity, amused.

Aidan opened his mouth to retort, but just then, the Teacher returned with twelve others, and to Kasity’s relief, she spotted both the small Gremlin boy and the large Hippocamp girl. At the very end of the line stood Eunae, and she smiled at Kasity and Aidan when they waved to her. The Teacher began pairing up the students, one by one. Aidan went with the Hippocamp, and finally, only Kasity and Eunae were left. The Teacher nodded curtly at both of them, barked a “You may begin!” and disappeared out the door.

“Well, let’s get started,” said Eunae with a soft smile. She twisted her staff expertly in one slim hand, and Kasity watched her nervously.

“You can attack first,” prompted Eunae pleasantly.

Kasity grabbed her staff and swung it at Eunae. She caught it with her free hand, yanked it free from Kasity’s grasp, and twirled it around.

“Because of your size, I would go for an underhand attack the first time,” Eunae advised, tossing the staff back at her.

Kasity tried again, and this time Eunae parried her. Remembering the steps she had just learned, Kasity tried a backhand jab, only to find she had missed her altogether.

“Try using your thumb to guide backhands,” yelled Eunae over the growing din of staffs clashing together.

Kasity did, and to her amazement, found the staff went exactly where she wanted it to go.

“Good!” cried Eunae, beaming.

Kasity tried out a few more steps, and, although none of them hit their targets, she still felt pleased by the fact that her attacks finally started going where she aimed.

“When you’re slashing with both hands, use all your momentum,” called Eunae, lazily blocking Kasity’s latest swing.

A commotion next to them disrupted the sparring, and Eunae and Kasity spotted Aidan and the Hippocamp girl stumbling around the room, Aidan in a fierce headlock. Eunae sprinted over to them and tugged Aidan away.

“Really, Sabine,” said Eunae as Aidan tumbled to the floor, wheezing. “No need to lose your temper.”

Sabine crossed her arms over her chest as Eunae dragged Aidan to his feet with one hand and picked her staff up with the other.

“Here, before the Teacher gets back,” ordered Eunae, tossing the staff back to Sabine.

“I’m not going to spar him,” growled Sabine. For her size, her voice was oddly high-pitched. “If I do, I’ll kill him. He called me—” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “He called me fat.”

“Aidan!” cried Eunae, looking at him. He stared at the floor.

“Well, I’m sure he didn’t mean it,” said Eunae, looking back at Sabine, who was tying her mousy hair up once more. “But just to insure Aidan continues living…you can spar with Kasity while I go with Aidan.”

Kasity did not want to go with Sabine; she was learning quickly with Eunae, and had no wish to leave her. Still, she did not envy Aidan, who was avoiding Eunae’s gaze. Thankfully for Aidan, the Teacher returned before they could even get started, and announced that the weather had worsened and that all further classes were cancelled.

Everyone let out a whoop that immediately stifled at the look on the Teacher’s face. The older students filed out quietly, and Aidan left the room angrily, his cheeks still tinged red, and exited into the frigid cold. Kasity watched him go, but didn’t bother trying to stop him. She understood his weird moods now. She, however, waited for Eunae: she wanted some of that heat spell.