Splintered Fate (27 page)

"Good morning, Lana Casteel."
Zorin greeted her warmly as his wife too approached. “Kaiden.” He
acknowledged with a nod.

Aria walked at Zorin’s side and at
his other was a great cat, his Aorra. The feline’s muscular body
slinked along side of him. When Zorin was close enough he stopped
but his Aorra did not.

“
His name is Dorian.” Zorin
informed, as his Aorra proceeded to circle around Lana, Kaiden, and
Ardin, like a cat stalking its prey. Once Dorian completed a full
circle he rejoined Zorin at his side.

Dorian was as white as snow. The
tips of his ears were accented in black and black spots speckled
the top of his head and back. His paws seemed tremendous with long
lethal claws. Despite his massive size, the Aorra appeared
incredibly light on his feet.

“
Hello, Dorian.” Lana said, still
watching the Great Cat.

"Can you hold a sword?" Zorin
asked, bringing her attention back.

"Yes, my father had me learn as a
child." Lana eyed him, finding it odd he had no sword
himself.

"Very good, smart man to teach a
young lady how to defend herself. Council members in particular
shouldn’t rely only on their Aorras as a form of
defense.”

Lana noted that he called her council member
not princess like so many other Alogrinian’s did.

Zorin turned to Kaiden “You can go over to the
sidelines for now my boy. We will have our time after she
finishes.” He said warmly.

Kaiden gave Zorin a single nod and
turned, pausing his eyes on Lana, she forced herself to meet his
gaze. “Good luck. Just think of how we practice. And what ever you
do, do not underestimate him.” He whispered and turned, walking off
to the side. Ardin nuzzled her hand once more and left, joining
Kaiden at the sidelines, leaving Lana alone in the ring with
Zorin.

Lana turned, facing the growing
crowd around the arena. Donn’s familiar face staring from the
sidelines caught her attention. He waved to her with a bright smile
behind his white beard, giving her enthusiastic thumbs up. Donn
stood alone, he hadn’t brought his grandkids to this. Nervously
Lana turned back to Zorin.

"This is what I do when I'm not advising the
council. I teach the art of swordsmanship and defense to every
citizen here." Zorin told Lana, he seemed to pick up on her
uncertainty.

“
Are you a part of what people
call the golden army?” Lana asked. If Zorin taught everyone in
Alogrin and the golden army still existed, then maybe he was a part
of it.

Zorin let out a grumbling laugh. “Oh no, they
don’t exist anymore. But I would never be good enough to be a part
of the golden army.”

"He's amazing, don’t let his old
age fool you." Aria teased Zorin and warned Lana at the same time.
With a smile as she reached for her husbands face. Zorin grasped
his wife’s hand and brought it to his lips, gingerly kissing it
before releasing her.

Zorin continued, "I'll just be testing you to
see your skill."

Lana nodded.

Y
ou will do great.
Ardin encouraged her from the
sidelines.

Yea, you just told me how amazing
this guy is.

I have seen you fight too, you
have improved a great deal in only the last few days, you are a
remarkable swordsman. Don't worry.

Aria and Dorian turned to head to the
sidelines of the Arena. They made it just a few steps before Aria
paused and turned back to face Zorin. She brought her hand up to
her lips and blew her husband a single kiss. But this was more than
just a kiss, for from the palm of her hand floated a ball of light
that dispersed in a small glow around Zorin.

Lana was taken
aback. The light reminded her of what she and Kaiden were able to
do with Ardin.
So she can give him
strength without an Aorra’s assistance?
Lana thought as she looked over to Ardin, who was staring at
Zorin.

It would seem
so.
Ardin replied in wonder.
Very interesting.

Zorin brought the energy into his palm and a
sword shimmered to life in his hand. The detail of the sword was
unlike any Lana had ever seen forged by a Madonian. It had a sharp
cross-guard that pointed towards the tip of the sword, engraved
with small detail Lana could not make out. The detail on the
cross-guard came down into a slight swirl pattern on the sword’s
blade about a quarter of the blades length.

Lana stared at Zorin and his sword
in awe, the beauty of it glistening in the sun. He swung the sword
around as if testing its weight and feel. The corners of his lips
pulled up in a satisfied smile, it was perfect. The look in his
eyes portrayed his love for swordplay and it made Lana
nervous.

She remembered something her
father told her during her sparring practice as a child. He told
her that there was nothing more dangerous in an opponent than a man
who truly loved his sword and was one with it. But she was never
able to master the art of loving the sword and the dance
accompanying it. A cold chill ran down Lana’s spine at the memory,
she did not know what her father truly meant till now, seeing Zorin
embody her father’s words.

The sound
of
Zorin's sword cutting the air brought
her attention back to the reality before her. Lana eyed the people
watching, her eyes met with Kaiden’s sending a jolt through
her.

Don't pay them
any attention.
Pretend you are practicing
with Kaiden.
Ardin’s words entered her
thoughts.

Lana wished that she were only practicing with
Kaiden.

Slowly she pulled the sword from
her belt and took a defensive stance. Zorin raised an eyebrow but
said nothing. After a moment he took a step towards her. He saw
that she was not going to be the first to make a move, so he swung
his sword at her. Lana reacted, her steel clanked against his
creation, stopping his assault. Zorin stepped away while she
stepped to the side and then towards him, swinging.

Zorin ducked away with ease. He
was quicker than she had imagined. She became bolder with her
attacks but Zorin, without much effort, blocked each or ducked
away. Their game with swords was becoming. She was not getting
anywhere with him and by the looks of it she wasn't even giving him
much of a challenge.

Suddenly, in the midst of Zorin
swinging down at Lana his sword vanished into dust in his right
hand, only to reappear in his left. He switched blade hands in one
effortless motion. Lana watched with shocked eyes, amazed at his
talent. Moving swiftly like that, switching hands so easily and
without limitation was not something she had thought to be
possible.

The trick happened too quickly,
she didn’t have enough time to fully grasp what was happening
before it were too late. It threw her off, allowing Zorin to get
her to tumble over with a loud thump onto her back. The impact
forced the wind out of her. After a moment on the ground Lana was
able to regain her breath and get back on her feet. Her eyes darted
at the crowed, feeling embarrassed.

Keep your eyes
on Zorin.
She heard in her
head.

Lana heeded Ardin’s advice turning
her attention to a gleaming blade coming down on her. She managed
to block his attack. Zorin again switched sword hands, as his blade
vanished from one hand only to reappear nearly instantaneously in
the other. He came at Lana in a similar way as before. This time
she succeeded to block him and dive out of the way while keeping
her balance. In the process she got a closer view of his sword, it
had the same detailed markings as the first one he had
made.

With quick breaths, Lana straightened,
watching him cautiously, finding his talents remarkable.

"Good, you are a quick learner," Zorin
observed.

The sound of his voice foolishly
caused Lana to let her guard down, just slightly. It was enough for
him to manage getting her sword out of her hand in a single easy
maneuver, sending it flying several feet away.

To her surprise Zorin continued
his assault after she had lost her sword. He swung again and again
as Lana dodged every movement, moving even further from her weapon.
The last swing cut her arm, it would have cut a lot more had she
not dodged to the side.

Was Zorin trying to kill her?
Panic flooded through her, suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable.
Rage followed right after the initial panic.

Lana had ducked and backed herself
up against a tree. Zorin raised his sword and swung it down at her
without hesitation.

He really is
trying to kill me
! Lana internally
screamed. She had had enough of this.

Fight
Back!
Ardin spoke to
her.

Raising her hand in defense from
the blade’s assault, Lana sent her anger infused with strength into
her palm. A silver sword erupted in her hand stopping Zorin’s
attack with a loud ring. The force of the hit was strong enough for
Lana to feel a sharp pressure in her wrist, vibrating through her.
Pushing herself upright she found her footing, never taking her
eyes off of her foe. Zorin stepped away for a moment, his gaze set
on the blade in her hand, while Lana's head spun from the energy
pull of creating the sword.

If she hadn’t formed the blade in
her hand, then he might have actually gravely injured her. She
questioned why he was doing this and whether he was actually trying
to hurt her for there was no way for him to know she was able to
wield her power into a sword, to block him. Yet he kept
attacking.

Lana could feel the anger and rage
pulsing through her veins. She was not going to allow Zorin to lead
their dance any longer. With her head now spinning from the pull of
creating the sword, she needed to end this immediately.

With a grunt of strength, she
attacked. Zorin blocked her move as she had expected him to. She
attacked again, he blocked in a similar manor, and she attacked a
third time but this time as he moved to block she could feel energy
pooling in her free hand. Pressing her blade against his, she
rendered it useless for what was to come.

A second silver sword formed in
her once free hand and stopped at his throat.

A gasp came from the audience
around the arena and a slight one escaped from her. Lana stood with
two blades, shocked that she had created the second blade so
quickly. Just a month ago it would take her minutes before she
could create and hold two blades at once. However, she remained
composed, so that no one but she and Ardin would know just how
unexpectedly the second sword had appeared.

Everything seemed to freeze in
time. In that one breath of a moment Zorin stared back at her with
no fear in his eyes but pure surprise. The entire arena seemed to
have been holding its breath, not daring to move. Then Zorin let
his sword fall away into dust, a silent claiming of
defeat.

No sounds came from the arena as everyone
waited.

The swords in Lana’s hands turned
to shimmering dust as she released her hold on them. She gave Zorin
a hard look, but he portrayed nothing after his release. She
thought she could see a glint of pleasure sparkling in his
eye.

Hushed voices filled the arena.
Taking a step back from Zorin, Lana’s gaze fell upon the eyes
surrounding her. They were all watching her, judging her.
Swallowing back nausea, she turned and swiftly walked out of the
arena without looking back.

Lana was furious. She liked Zorin
and he was attempting to kill her! Not only that but where was her
Aorra or even Kaiden for that matter? Had they not seen Zorin swing
his sword down at her when she had no weapon? The man even drew
blood. She felt as if they all had played some cruel trick on
her.

Walking through the small wooded
area near the north end of the castle, the side where her room was
located, she made her way to a small pond that she had seen sparkle
in the morning sun from her window. To her surprise there was a
steam just above the water. Lana lowered her hand and felt warmth.
It was a hot spring.

There was a gentle nudge in her
mind as Ardin gently probe, trying to find her, to talk to her. She
pushed him away, needing time to calm herself, to be alone for a
while. After a short moment Ardin retreated, leaving her to
herself.

Unlacing her boots, she took them
off, sticking her feet in the warm spring before laying down on her
back in the soft grass. A calming scent of fresh grass filled her
lungs as her breathing steadied. For the first time in days Lana
managed to not think of anything at all. A calm peace fell over her
as she lay in the grass without a single thought. It was
glorious.

Lana wasn’t sure how long she had
been there before she heard the footsteps approaching. She
continued to lay with her eyes shut until the steps stopped right
next to her and she forced her eyes open only to see Zorin standing
above her. Shutting her eyes with a sigh, Lana hoped that he was an
odd figment of her imagination.

“
May I please have a word with
you?” Zorin asked, indicating that he was indeed real and
shattering any hopes that he was an illusion.