Page 79 of Fires of the Forsaken
“You don’t have that option.” Cheriour bent to retrieve his stick but paused. “If I pick this up, will you remain calm?”
“As long as you don’t start swinging it,” I said. But a little shudder still raced up my spine once Cheriour had a weapon in his hands again.
He didn’t use it to hit me. Thank Christ.
Instead, for fifteen minutes, he demonstrated how to hold a polearm and told me to mimic his stances.
It was—legasp—an actual training session! I waslearningsomething.
Unfortunately, the stick was still awkward as fuck, even when I mastered the basic hold.
I didn’t care what Cheriour said; a knife would’ve been easier.
“Now,” Cheriour shifted his stick in his hands and moved toward me, “I’m going to do an overhand strike—”
My stomach dropped to my toes.
“Stop backing away,” Cheriour said. “I won’thityou—”
“Like hell,” I said. He already had his stick raised.
“I want you to block me.Listen, Addie. Focus. If I bring my weapon down, you’ll need to bring yours up. It’s simple.”
Simple. Yeah. Sure. My blistered palms ached as I gripped my stick.
Cheriour dropped into a lunge. Getting power from those hindquarters to make his blow more painful.
Oh God, Oh God!
He sprang up, his pole swinging down.
“Agh!” I squealed and squeezed my eyes shut as I threw my arms (and the pole) up to protect my face.
Thawp.
The two slabs of wood connected with enough force to send vibrations up and down my arm.
I opened one eye, my mind racing to assess the damage. No broken bones. No pain.
Because I’d blocked him.
“Holy shit!” I squeaked. “I did it!”
Cheriour drew away. “I wouldn’t celebrate yet—”
“Oh, come on! Cut me some slack—”
“—especially since you closed your eyes. Don’t do that again.”
I pursed my lips. “I mean, that’s more of a reflex...”
“Then learn to ignore it. Closing your eyes leaves you vulnerable. Now, I’ll do three strikes: upper hand, right side, underhand.” Cheriour demonstrated the moves, his pole swishing through the air. “In that order.”
“Okay…”Damn.Once had been hard enough. Now he wanted me to do thisthree times?
“Focus,” Cheriour said. “And move your feet. If I step toward you...”
He lunged forward, bringing the pole down.
