Page 60 of Guardian's Dilemma

We looked at each other blankly, trying to think of a way to connect. I came up with nothing.

“I’ve never really done much of anything, except train to fight.”

“Same.”

I grinned, hope rising inside me. “You want to fight?”

“Here?”

“We can go outside. There’s a garden.”

I’d made sure the garden was well-concealed and protected, so that Seren would have enough room to roam around, if he’d ended up having to stay there.

I hadn’t thought I would ever be so happy to hear my mate say, “Alright. Let’s fight.”

Chapter 22: Kingsley

It felt strange, to face a dragon and not be afraid for my life. Equally as strange not to be strategizing how to kill it. Glimmer and I faced each other and I asked, “How do you want to do this?”

“Let’s start with some basic sparring first. To test each other.”

“You’re stronger than I am,” I reminded him.

“Oh yeah. Do you use magic to fight then?”

He was asking as though he’d never fought me, and it was almost sweet. He seemed to come alive at the prospect of fighting me. I hadn’t realised that half of my unrest before had been the wrongness of Glimmer trying to… I don’t know… coddle me? It hadn’t been right at all.

This, though? Standing before him, waiting to struggle and compete, to test him and push his limits? That felt natural.

We started slow and I threw a few punches, testing his reaction. He was fast. Gradually, I began to move faster, try harder, and put more force into my attacks. They never connected with Glimmer and my body began to sing with adrenaline as I moved.

When I did actually land a punch on Glimmer’s cheek, the impact jarred me and sent pain up my arm. Worse, Glimmer spun round and fell, sprawling onto the ground.

“Shit! Are you alright?”

He sat up, rubbing his cheek.

“Yes, I’m ok. That was good.”

“Yeah?”

I tried to quell the pride in my voice but I’m not sure I was successful. Glimmer gave me a vicious grin and leapt to his feet, attacking me with a flurry of blows. I managed to block them but the last one nearly got me. I only avoided being thrown across the lawn by the force of it because I sprang a shield up in front of me.

“You’re using magic now,” said Glimmer. He was prowling round me and the feline grace reminded me of what a powerful predator he was.

“It was instinct.”

“Good. Now I know.”

“Know what?”

“How hard you can fight before you have to draw on magic. Do you want to try the next round with some spells?”

“Sure. What will you do?”

“I’ll use my protections. This will be interesting because normally I lurk at the edges and nobody can see me. I can surprise them with my attack.”

I grinned nearly as hard as he had. “Doesn’t work with me.”

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