Tower of Lore

Chapter Eight: A Spark

Alex clapped his paws and Dusty dragged his attention from the outraged Lindsey back to their trainer. “Now that you both have weapons to practice with, please follow me. I have an array of training dummies set up that you can practice on. Lady Lindsey, you shall be using your bow, and Lord Dusty will do his best to avoid chopping off a limb.”

“You really have no confidence I can do this, huh?” Dusty demanded to both of them. He crossed his arms and glared.

“No,” Lindsey shook her head. Ouch, zero hesitation from her.

“The weapon you have chosen is very difficult to master, Lord Dusty.” At least Alex hadn’t flat-out insulted him as his Linds had, but still. Why did they think so little of him? Alex had said pick out a weapon that called to him, and these blades did just that.

Dusty grit his teeth again. He’d show them, he’d show them both. This was probably just the fox trying to get back at him for stating that Lindsey was his. Well, he wasn’t about to let Alex think he had even the slightest chance with his girl. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine,” he grumbled.

“As you say,” Alex nodded and turned his attention back to Lindsey as he leaned close and instructed her on her weapon. Knots formed in Dusty’s gut. He really hated how close they were. Way too close, why didn’t Lindsey see that the fox was being sneaky? He was a fox for crying out loud! How could she trust him like that?

Dusty snatched his twin weapons out of their bag. One of the jagged edges scratched him, but he didn’t care. Droplets of blood trickled down his arm making tiny blood paths, but he couldn’t care less about it. He focused on the training dummies as he threw his first weapon like a giant vertical ninja star. It spun through the air perfectly centered on its target but fell short to the ground with a loud clang.

Dusty didn’t even flinch. He took the second of his weapons and turned his body so he flung the thing like a frisbee. It too sailed through the air in a perfect arc and missed the target.

“Very good, Lord Dusty, you came far closer that time. I wished you had waited for my arrival before your attempts, I would have let you know that your second style is more likely to achieve results.”

Dusty shrugged. “I half expected stat boxes to show up when I did this.” His eyes were drawn to the drops of blood that trailed down his arm. It hadn’t been a deep cut, but this was really bad.

“Dusty!” Lindsey was at his side in a minute. “You’re bleeding, you dummy, why did you try to prove yourself with those things! This place is dangerous you know.” She glared up at him and it made his heart swell. There she was, the woman he loved.

“Sorry, Linds, I just wanted to see if I could do it.”

She clucked her tongue as she looked closer at his arm. “You don’t appear to have sliced too deep, more like a scratch. I’d say you got lucky.” She sighed. “Still, I wish there was something I could do for you.” She put her hands on his arm. “Don’t they have any heal potions in this game? Maybe the cure spell? I just want you healthy again.”

Dusty chuckled. “Calm down, Linds, it’s not like…” he trailed off as he stared at his arm. His arm glowed a deep green with tiny symbols crawling all over him. “What’s going on?”

“You’re healing!” Lindsey traced his former wound with a single finger-tip. “See? All of it is gone.”

“So it is.” Alex was at their side again. “Lady Lindsey, do you realize what just happened?”

Lindsey shook her head. Her adorable cheeks turning red again. Dusty really didn’t like the fox guy being so close to her all the time. “What happened?” Dusty demanded.

“She possesses something I have not seen in my time in this tower. You must come with me, this very moment, Lady Lindsey.”

“Wait, doesn’t she at least get to try her bow out?” Dusty demanded. “You can’t just run off with her.

Alex turned his way his tail swishing back and forth at an incredible rate. “I have to, you two please listen to me. What Lady Lindsey just did, what she just accomplished, was magic.”

“So?” Dusty demanded as he glared up at Alex. He wasn’t about to let him take his woman with him. “This is a magical world, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Alex snapped. “It is a magical world, but the beings here do not produce magic, humans do not. The only ones that are capable that are left are the royal family.”

“Damn,” Dusty whispered in response.

“Damn indeed,” Alex agreed with a nod. “Now, My Lady, will you please accompany me? I’ll take you to the princess right away.”

“How was that magic? All I did was wish him better. I didn’t say any magic words or anything, you have to be wrong, Alexander.”

“Our magic is special, at least magic belonging to a human. While beastmen and others like myself can use it without words, your kind uses words. You’ll layer the strength of the spell by the different words you speak for the same action.”

“That’s how I healed Dusty?” Lindsey stared at his arm again. “I’ve never been magic before!”

Dusty grinned. “Magical world, Linds, it makes sense we’d get magic too. We’re the brave heroes who came to save this place! Now, tell me how you did it so I can do it too.”

Lindsey shrugged. “I didn’t do anything special. All I really did was just really wish hard about wanting you healed. If it helps I imagined your wound going away?”

Dusty nodded. He picked up his two weapons. “Let me try this out real quick because if I have the magic I should go with you guys too, right, Alex?” the fox gave a nod and Dusty smirked. “Okay, visualize it, check.” He imagined his weapons soaring through the air and planting themselves into the dummies' stomach and cutting off the head of the other. “Fly you damn thing, soar through the air, zoom until you hit your target!” He tossed the first one and then the other weapon as hard as he could.

Alex and Lindsey both stopped to watch as the tools spiraled through the air. The jewels embedded in them flashing in the light before the landed right in front of the dummies. “Is that your final attempt?” Alex questioned.

Dusty grunted. “Yeah, that’s all for me today. I really thought I could make it, but obviously I’m not as special as Lindsey.” He sighed then shook it off. “Well no matter, even if I don’t have magic now, I can always gain it. And even if I don’t get it, at least Linds has it.” He straightened and nodded to the dummies. “I’ll keep working on this while you guys are gone, and Linds, be careful okay?”

“Have no fear, Lord Dusty. I shall take care of her with the utmost caution. Nothing can attack us inside the tower walls as long as the princess does not stray towards the edges again. Her magic is weak there and it stirs up the ire of those outside.”

“That doesn’t sound fun,” Dusty agreed.

“Indeed not, so the fact that Lady Lindsey here has magic power as well? It is fascinating and must be studied in depth. Princess Liana will not harm a hair on her head, I promise. If you wish to be more successful in your own pursuit I would suggest squaring your hips more, and flicking out your wrist when you throw. Try it in that fashion and when I have returned we will study more.”

“Dusty, I’ll be back, don’t worry so much.” Lindsey gave him one of her bright smiles and he couldn’t help smile in return.

Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all. His future wife and the weapon-obsessed fox left the room and Dusty was left with just him and the dummies. “Well guys, it’s just you and me. I don’t know about you, but I have a really strong urge to draw fox whiskers on you all. It just might even help my concentration.”

Dusty grabbed his weapons once more and strode back to his marked spot. In his mind’s eye, he didn’t see the faceless dummy burlap sacks. No, he saw a certain guide of his and the reaction of his Linds. His hand clenched around the handle of his weapon as he squared his shoulders and turned his hips.

This time the weapon wobbled as it soared through the air. Wobbled until it sunk itself deep into the face of one of the dummies. Dusty resisted the urge to leap into the air and settled for pumping his fist. He took his spot again and pointed his remaining weapon at the dummy.

“Your turn, buddy. I told you to stay away from my girl you mangy pest.” He shook his head. “What’s that? You don’t want to? Do you think she’s into you? Oh, that’s cute, but you see she loves me. She’s my fiancee and I’m going to win her back. I’m not going to let a silly fox stand in my way.”

Dusty took a deep breath and focusing he emulated his previous maneuver and tossed his weapon again. The wheel spun through the air without a wobble this time. It sliced through its target lobbing a head off and glided back through the air to land with a soft thud. Much better. Dusty kicked at the bag of hay that was falling out of the head and retrieved his weapons again.

The practice wasn’t over yet. Fire kindled to life deep inside him. He would do anything and everything it took to keep him and Lindsey safe and no one would stand in his way. Not even a certain weapon fanatic fox.