Jackson rushes forward, his sword in front of him, but at least he’s not telegraphing what he’s about to do anymore.
I spin away and tap my blade against his back. He whirls around, slashing his blade in a wide arc, and I duck, rolling across the ground, and sweep my leg out, taking him out at the ankles. The huge man executes a perfect backflip, landing firmly on his feet, and charges me again, but I’m already moving toward him.
Our blades clash close to my face because his brute strength is an advantage he has over me. I call my whip, and it crackles with light energy as I flick it out of his line of sight, and it wraps around his ankle.
“What the fuck?” Jackson jumps back. “You fight dirty.”
“I use every advantage at my disposal and I didn’t even zap you with that much power, Jackson.” I roll my eyes. “We’re going into a war. We need to prepare like it.”
“You didn’t use that much power?” he asks, his hands shaking and eye twitching. “You’re way too supercharged.”
“Don’t I know it. Take a break so you can stop twitching.” I grimace.
“Don’t be such a baby, Zeke,” Raven shouts.
“You’re damn indestructible. When did this even happen?” Zeke grunts. “You’re just standing there.”
“If you wear yourself out trying to take me down, then you won’t have time to fight with people, idiot.” Raven crosses her arms. “I could just beat you into submission like Beth did with Jackson.”
“His hair is standing on end.” Zeke rushes forward with a fist raised to strike.
“I wouldn’t do that, brother,” Jackson warns. “That armor will break your damn hand.”
“The healers will fix it,” Raven says but ducks the wild swing. “Too slow.”
“All right, Raven. I think they learned their lesson.” I swipe the hair out of my eyes.
“What did you have in mind now?” She jogs up to me.
“Let’s check on the others’ progress. Do we have a list of where everything will be and what defenses they’ll be manning?”
“I think Adrian has a list. He probably knows more than anyone how to set everyone up.” Raven shakes her body and her clunky armor disappears as we walk.
The clang of weapons grows louder as we near the open field where the rest of the academy trains. The main training grounds are littered with small groups of students around mats, with students sparring inside. I grin as I notice that no fightsare breaking out between the students whose parents chose the other side and us.
“They’re getting along better,” I say.
“I think they may just be withholding judgment until the shit hits the fan.” Raven steps over a fallen branch. “Damn dryads.”
“Has everyone been checked for Apollo’s marking?” I ask.
“Thad and Draven checked and everyone still in the academy has the mark. We have no traitors in our midst.” Raven pats my shoulder.
I spot Jayden with a group, correcting a girl’s stance with carefully precise movements, but she’s blushing anyway. Jogging over, I stand next to him.
“How’s everything going over here?” I ask.
Jayden huffs. “Her stance is sloppy and no matter how many times I correct it, she overcorrects and makes it worse.”
“Really?” I ask, glaring at the girl. “You want to fight me with a sloppy stance? I’m pretty sure Jackson just learned a valuable lesson about what happens when you waste our time.”
“Um… no.” She glances at Jayden with pleading eyes, but his focus and smirk are on me.
“That’s what I thought. Take a break from sparring and run the perimeter.” I wave her away with a dismissive hand.
“What? I don’t want to run. I want to help fight.” The girl glances around her but everyone has stepped away from her.
“You’re one of Apollo’s daughters, right?” I ask and she nods. “Then you already have enough skill to be a passable fighter with a decent stance. Waste our time again and you will train in that terrible stance with me until your hair is standing on end. Now, go run.”
