He chuckled. “You’re right. A Watchman would have impaled you with his sword for so much as attempting to land a hit on him. They also aren’t notoriously known for fighting fairly.”
She tried again, this time without hesitation.
Aeric was unmovable as he blocked her jab with his forearm before sending her stumbling back a step when hisopen palm landed on her shoulder. Not hard enough to harm her, but certainly not gentle either. He wasn’t going easy on her by any means. If he had, she would have been insulted and she suspected he knew that.
“Go again. This time, shift your hips when you punch, create more weight and impact.”
Again, she tried, only this time he caught her arm and hooked his leg behind hers, sending her to the ground with a gasp. The entire time he looked unperturbed as he looked down at her. Unlike Adan who would have quite possibly started yelling at her for being a useless excuse for a Vedran, Aeric remained calm. His advice and encouragement only grating on her nerves.
Ignoring his offered hand to help her up, she stood before rushing him. He sidestepped her before she felt a gentle pat on the nape of her neck.
“I know it is a challenge, but do try not to let your emotions get the best of you, Temperance. Rushing into battle is hardly what I would call a smart move.”
“How do you expect me to be calm when I’m fighting for my life?” she huffed, growing more and more frustrated.
“Emotions cloud judgment.”
“I can’t simply shut them off. Especially when there is so much on the line.”
He sidestepped her once more when she threw another punch. “When you think of it like that, then you’ll only set yourself up for failure. Push everything aside. Focus only on what’s in front of you. The same way you would if you were tending to a wound.”
“Easy for you to say,” she panted, throwing another punch. Then another. On her third attempt, Aeric caught her by thewrist and suddenly yanked her to him. When she tried to use the momentum against him by attempting to land another hit with her free hand, he caught it too. Restraining her arms, Anelize found herself confined in his hold as her back hit his chest.
“That’s you dead, I’m afraid.” He slid two fingers across the base of her throat, and she gritted her teeth. Then he murmured into her ear, “None of this has been easy, Anya. Nothing at all.”
When he released her, she shoved his hands away and turned to face him with a glare, “You certainly don’t show it. Not with that air of indifference.”
She narrowly avoided him when he suddenly rushed her, blocking one of his attacks with her forearm and putting distance between them.
“Indifference.” Aeric gave her a dark chuckle, his amusement not reflected within his eyes. And she knew she managed to get under his skin. Good. He deserved it for all the times he managed to do the same to her. “You truly think me indifferent, even now after all that you’ve seen in the Forest of the Dead?”
Anelize shrugged. “You haven’t exactly told me much about yourself to receive my unwavering loyalty.”
“I’ll admit to it. Fine, what is it you wish to know then?”
She threw another punch, aiming for his nose. Aeric’s eyes sharpened as he blocked her attack and pushed her away. They circled each other as she contemplated her question, “Why did you become a Watchman? Knowing what they do. Why did you remain one long enough to become a captain?”
“Circumstances.” He grunted when she landed a punch on his side. “Alright, I deserved that.”
“The truth.”
He paused, making her do the same when he made no move to continue sparring. He stared at her for a long while before he sighed, “My mother and sister used to work in the fields on the outskirts of the forest. After the war, she and many others within our village struggled to help the crops flourish. Salvage whatever managed to grow before the cold claimed them, as it did everything else. Without a father of our own to look after us, she did everything in her power to ensure my sister, and I were fed. I was the youngest, and therefore often left alone until they returned. Then one day, it had been unusually warm, and they decided to stay in the fields longer than usual. If I’d known what would have happened, I would have gone with them that day...”
Anelize felt every inch of her body tense as she caught a glimpse at the way Aeric’s eyes seemed to flicker, the light within them dimming.
Still, his voice was steady, unaffected, even as he revealed, “I awoke to smoke. Flames licking up the door, and the thatched roof of our small home turning to ash. The roar had been so loud, that I could hardly hear the screams outside when the massacre started. Not that I could have done anything when the fire began to consume everything in its wake, including me.”
Aeric seemed to hesitate, though he never took his eyes off her as he reached for the hem of his shirt and lifted it, revealing the many scars she’d seen across his flesh the night she’d saved his life. Only they weren’t only scars she realized. They were burns. Painful, mottled patches that appeared almost silver in the flickering light of the lanterns hanging alongthe stables. They started along his ribs and disappeared further up toward his chest.
Anelize placed a hand over her lips as a wave of pain swept over her at the ghastly sight.
“Being a Vedran can only do so much. Being one is not so effective in making one immune to their own element, I’m afraid.” Aeric cleared his throat as he lowered his shirt, “I can’t begin to tell you how I managed to reach the old root cellar beneath our home before I succumbed entirely. I must have crawled my way across the ground and clawed at the wall until the stones came loose. When I awoke, all I felt was this...unending pain as I found myself laying mere feet away from the cellar.”
Anelize thought she might very well be sick. How? How had he been subjected to such a terrible fate and still managed to smile, and act as though nothing bothers him? The mere thought of her father and sister made a knot form in her throat whenever she attempted to speak of them. And yet, here he was, revealing all of this to her.
“You don’t...” she hesitated, and he glanced at her, waiting for her to speak. “You don’t have to tell me. I should not have pried.”
Aeric glanced away, taking in a deep breath before releasing it.
