Page 30 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

Kolfinna pushed herself to her feet and rolled her aching shoulder. Her gray uniform was already drenched in sweat and she had discarded her navy-blue cloak a long time ago, where it was draped over the three-foot-tall black fence. The biting wind didn’t even faze her. In fact, she wished it were a bit colder.

“You drag your feet too much,” Inkeri said while Kolfinna yanked her wooden sword out from a mound of sand. “Try to move your feet with your attacks. This way when you jab, and that way”—she moved to a different position—“when you strike.”

“Got it.” Kolfinna breathed out and rubbed the grains of sand off her clammy palms.

“You’re improving,” Inkeri said.

“Am I? I feel like I’m just making a fool of myself.” It had been the same feeling when she was in the Royal Guards. Almost everyone had mocked and belittled her. She could still hear Farthin, Gisela, and Edwin sneering at her.

Too slow, they all said in unison.

Look at her flailing to the ground.

She tried to silence the voices and raised her sword again. She concentrated on Inkeri’s slight frame, the way her sword was positioned, and the angling of her feet. She tried to read her movements as she shot toward her. Slash, strike, slash. They fell into a rhythm of exchanging blows. Their swords cracked against each other. Inkeri’s moved more gracefully, Kolfinna’s desperately.

Look at how her legs tremble. That was Farthin’s voice.

Kolfinna jabbed her sword forward.

Gisela laughed.Look at the face she makes when she concentrates!

Inkeri side-stepped, dodging the jab, and slammed her sword to Kolfinna’s side, sending her skittering to her left. If her legs weren’t quivering and leaden, she might’ve been able to right herself, but she stumbled instead. Inkeri raised her sword to strike again, but Kolfinna was already tripping falling backward.

How pathetic, little fairy!

Kolfinna remained on the ground, her sword still in her hand, and she stared at the white clouds floating around the bright sky. She just lay there. A part of her recognized that she wasn’t good at swordplay but that it was okay—because she would learn and become better—but the other part of her, the part that was drowning in negativity, told her that it was pointless. She would never be good at it.

“You okay?” Inkeri was in front of her, her hand outstretched and her dark eyebrows knitted together in worry.

There was no mockery. No jeering. No laughter.

Just concern.

Kolfinna breathed out deeply. She wasn’t in the Royal Guards anymore.

“Thanks,” she said, letting Inkeri haul her to her feet. She quickly dusted her hands on her shaking thighs, but more grains of sand were now stuck to her sweaty palms from the fall. “How are you able to move so quickly? I’m jealous.”

The other woman laughed. “Practice. Lots and lots of practice. Eventually, your body moves on its own.”

“I get like that when I use my magic,” Kolfinna said. “But not with …” She twisted her sword in her hand and frowned. “This.”

“It takes a lot of time. You’re doing a lot better than most people—trust me.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.”

“I think you’re ready for tomorrow, even if you don’t feel like you are.”

Kolfinna paused. “What’s tomorrow?”

“Oh?” Inkeri tilted her head to the side, the light catching off the tiny, crystal earrings adorning her ears. “Nobody told you? We’ll be going on a hunt tomorrow with you, to test out your abilities and get you used to the regular military life here. We’ll be going as a team with Herja and the others.”

Something akin to excitement bubbled up in her chest. A mission. A magic beast hunt. Finally,somethingshe could do that wasn’t simply training. Something that could get her mind off the gold rune on her wrist, the threat of further torture hanging over her head, and something to stare at that wasn’t just monotonous gray walls.

“You’ll have to be really careful, though.” Inkeri took that moment to slide her wooden sword into the belt around her waist. She undid the ribbon holding her inky hair and raked a hand to loosen the straight strands. “You still have a lot to learn about different magic beasts, what magical properties they have, their weaknesses, that sort of thing. Knowing about the beasts helps immensely instead of being thrust in the thick of battle, unsure how to kill it.”

Kolfinna knew exactly what she meant. Facing the Nuckelavee, the skinless half-horse half-humanoid monster, over a month ago had shown her just how important it was to know about the enemy. Herself and the team—Magni, Truda, Blár, Nollar, and Yrsa—hadn’t known that the Nuckelavee was able to render them magicless. If they had been more prepared, maybe Magni and Blár wouldn’t have gotten so injured.

“Do you know anything else about the mission?” Kolfinna asked. “Like who’s going? What the objective is?”

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