Dragon's Breath

Chapter seven

Since I have nothing better to fill my time, I begin to explore the castle in hopes of finding anything that might be of interest. I could just ask someone to show me around, but really who do I have to ask?

Walking through the halls, I take in the beauty of this place. While it may be much too extravagant for my taste, there is no denying how gorgeous it is here.

The walls are all painted an pearly off-white color. They are covered in different kinds of artwork ranging from portraits all the way to landscape. The portraits look to be of past kings and queens, each radiating power, and elegance. There are even some abstract paintings swirling with different shapes and colors, attracting the attention of any onlooker. The marble floors are covered with thick red rugs, rimmed with gold. Above me hang golden chandeliers dripping with crystals. In some areas there are large stone statues of people and animals lining the castle walls. It's bizarre just how lifelike they are. If not for the bronze color, one could have mistaken them as real.

I continue down the long hallways, taking in the large archways. The castle is so deadly silent that I can hear my footsteps clapping down the halls. Why is it so quiet? I shift my eyes thoughtfully about the hallway.

Turning the corner, I walk straight for a while, still admiring the artwork. I stop a few times, staring at some landscape paintings. They seemed like pictures of faraway lands. I can't help but imagine what it would be like to fly away from here and visit the endless oceans or the vast grass plains depicted in the paintings. Anywhere is better than here.

I turn away from the paintings. Partway down the hall I run into Geoffrey.

“Hello, Nora,” he greets.

“Hey,” I respond.

“My father is insisting we get to know each other better. So I was thinking that sometime I could take you horseback riding to appease him,” Geoffrey says in a bored manner, clearly uninterested in the idea.

“I have no interest in getting to know you even if we are to be married. So thank you for your offer, but I’m going to decline,” I huff out.

Geoffrey steps closer to me, grasping my chin in his large hand and pulling my face close to his. “As my future wife, it is your duty to spend time with me,” he says with a smug smile.

I bat his hand away and shove him lightly. “Keep your hands off me human,” I seethe, “I have absolutely no desire to spend any time with you.”

Without another word, I walk away continuing down the hall. I take a few huffs of air, trying to shake away my irritation. Reaching the end of the hallway, I spot large wooden double doors. Curiosity getting the better of me, I shove the doors open, stepping into the room I smile at what I see. I've finally found what I've been looking for.

Inside the room is about twenty or thirty young men. They're shirtless, loose-fitting pants hanging from their hips. Their hands grip wooden training swords, and they face one another in pairs. Sweat drips down their bodies as they swing the swords around. The room is filled with the sound of heaving breath and clanking swords. Observing them for a moment, I find that they are indeed good at what they're doing, but they could be better.

I walk further into the room and pick up one of the training swords, still going unnoticed by the men. Tracing my fingers across the smooth dark wood I lift the sword with one hand. These training swords are much too light. If these boys are to wield a real sword, they need to make them much heavier.

My body tenses at the feeling of someone lightly tapping my shoulder. I spin to face the person, my long hair whipping around me.

I look up into the brown eyes of a young man. Smirking at me, he says, "This isn't a place for women."

I give a dry laugh, "Are you serious, boy? I could kick every one of your sorry asses before you ever saw it coming."

Hearing me, many of the men have stopped what they're doing to listen in. Arching a brow the boy, gives a loud hardy laugh.

"You hear this boys? The little lady thinks she could kick all of our asses,” he announces.

They begin to laugh, causing my anger to spike. Are these worms mocking me? Laughing to myself, I grip the sword in my right hand taking a step back. I lift my arms into a fighting stance, my muscles tensing as I lunge forward. I manage to hit the boy square in the chest with the sword, knocking him on his back. He falls to the ground with a loud, thud. While he's lying on the ground, I step forward, looking down at him, and point the sword to his throat.

All the previous laughter is gone as they see the boy now lying flat on his back. His eyes are wide, shock written all over his face.

"If this was a real fight you would be dead. Never underestimate an opponent, regardless of gender," I say. Stepping back, I allow him space to get up. The room is so silent it's deafening. I can feel all eyes on me, burning my skin with their stares.

The boy stands up, his face is flushed with embarrassment, a strawberry color filling his cheeks. He averts his eyes from me, his lips twitching into a small frown.

"Y-You just caught me off guard, don't look so smug. Dragon or not, there's no way you could floor me again,” He says, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his chin up.

Looking him up and down with a lazy smile, I reply, "Alright, then. If you're so confident in yourself, would you care to spar with me?"

His face lights up with excitement as he says, "When you get hurt, don't forget that you were the one who asked for this."

I drop all emotion from my face, looking as serious as I can. Getting up close to him, I whisper in his ear, "Don't forget you were the one who agreed."

I see a sudden pang of fear shoot through his eyes.

I strip off my shirt, exposing my undergarments. Stepping back, I raise my dominant arm, resuming a fighting position. "Shall we begin?"

Without farther words, the boy lets out a light yell, lunging at me. I lift my sword, blocking his attack without any effort at all. I push my sword against his, forcing him back until I get him off balance. Quickly, I take this opportunity to shift to his side and hit his back.

"You must learn to be quicker, I've seen hatchlings with more speed,” I comment.

He falls to the ground, groaning, his body thumping as it hits the cold stone floor. I violently smack my sword on the ground next to him.

"Get up. You cannot seriously give up after only taking a few hits. If you want to win get up,” my words come out cold and harsh, but the boy quickly gets up.

This time, when he comes to attack me, his movements are less rushed and more relaxed. The whole atmosphere of the room changes and people begin to cheer, though I'm not paying any mind to them. Soon, I drown out all surrounding sound except the vigorous pounding of our swords. I must admit, it's taking everything to not use my full ability against this kid.

We jump away and begin to slowly circle around one another. Moments later, he lurches at me with increased speed. I duck, his sword barely missing me, and without a moment to spare I kick my leg out knocking him on his butt. Promptly, I bring myself back up before he has the chance to. Pointing the tip my sword at his forehead, I make a move as if to strike him only to lightly tap him on the head.

"I win,” I declare proudly with a self-satisfied smirk.

The boy releases a breath and I watch as his body relaxes. Roughly tossing my sword to the ground, I hold my hand out to him, "What's your name kid?" I ask.

“Jayden,” he replies. Wrapping his calloused hand around mine, I help him up.

"It was a pleasure sparring with you, Jayden."

He laughs awkwardly, putting a hand behind his head, ruffling his brown locks. “I could say the same, although it's a bit embarrassing to have your ass kicked like that. You are likely the most skilled woman I've ever met,” he compliments shyly.

"There are not many people that can match my skills with a sword,” I tell him.

Suddenly I feel someone come up behind me and clap me on the shoulder. Still on high alert from the sparring match, I grab the person by the arm and throw them over my shoulder. He lands in front of me, groaning. I quickly let him go, mumbling an apology. He stands up casually, though, looking at me with a goofy grin as if I didn't just throw him to the ground.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?” the boy asks, his blue eyes shining with excitement.

"All dragons, men and women, learn to fight as children in my horde. I've been training in the art of combat for as long as I can remember," I say nonchalantly.

Picking my sword up off the ground, I scan the room.

"Who wants to spar with me next?"

My words cause a rise out of the young men, all of them wanting to prove they were just as strong or stronger than me.

I spend the next few hours sparring with each of the trainee knights, gauging their skills. It was obvious that they were still rookies; many of them allowed their emotions to control how they struck, others would rush their attacks or run out of stamina far too quickly. All in all, they had much that they needed to learn. But they weren't terrible, I’d venture to say some even had potential.

After I finish sparring with all the men, I stretch out my arms and legs. That was a pretty decent workout, though I wish it would have been more challenging.

Putting my sword away, I bid the men farewell and leave. My body's sticky with sweat. As I walk down the hall, I put my hands behind my head, looking up at the ceiling.

I make my way through the halls my mind is swallowed by thoughts. Is this how everyday is going to be? While I’m off in a daze I hit into someone. As I regain footing, I'm met with striking green eyes.

"Well hello, Evalene," I greet with a wicked smile.