Author's note:
Yup, long time, no see. My editor tells me it's been almost 3 months since my last posting. I really don't have any excuse other than that there were a thousand things to get done which slowed down writing. But, here's chapter 5, good and pretty long, I hope. Go ahead and enjoy!
Huge thanks to Gabriel for editing this chapter. Another huge thanks goes out to my readers who have hung around this long. Go on people, enjoy the chapter.
-----------------------------
The next morning.
-----------------------------
Rayn slowly walked down the corridor that was supposed to take her to the training area. She was a little nervous and she was trying her best to hide that fact from showing. And yet, she couldn't speed up her pace to reach the training area faster. So, she walked down the corridor slowly.
While showering this morning, she had tried to think why she was so damn nervous about the impending meeting with Kiel. She didn't really think that it was due to fear. No matter how big and muscled and grumpy he was, she really didn't feel afraid of him. And while she finished the shower, she still couldn't think of a reason for her nervousness. And yet, there she was feeling jittery and worried a little about today's training. At the end, she had just chalked it up to the task of facing something unknown. Training with Rohan was easy, because she knew him, training with Kiel was, well, another story altogether. She had no idea, not any more, about what he would want out of the training. What would happen if she didn't do as well as he might want? Even as she contemplated that line of thinking, she realized she was again worrying despite deciding earlier that she wouldn't. She shook her head, this time quickening her steps. The longer she delayed it, the more it would worry her.
Turning around the next bend, a ringing sound greeted her ears. As she proceeded towards it, the sounds continued, as if a sword fight was going on. Growing curious, she sped up to a brisk walk, coming to a full stop in front of the door on her right. The door was made of reinforced glass, making the inside of the room clearly visible. As she stepped inside, she saw that a fight was going on in the middle of the room. Taking her eyes off the fight, she took a moment to glance around.
The room was minimally decorated. Along the right side wall, several weapons were displayed on racks and panels. Some bottles of water were also there. As her eyes traveled around, she saw a few more couples practicing towards the further end, but many more stood along the walls, their eyes completely focused on the pair in the middle of the room. Following their gaze, she also watched them, first with curiosity, then - as she saw one of them quickly proceeding towards victory - with appreciation. Trying to remember if she had seen these two before, she shifted a little to her right to get a better picture of the winning warrior. Then her mouth hung open.
One of the two sparring was Kiel, and he was the one winning. Thinking a little, she realized she had never thought he would be someone to spar with his subordinates. She had thought of him like the boss ordering people around, someone who had others do the work, not someone to be on the field with his people. 'Now why did I think of him like that?' she mused to herself, her eyes glued to his body. She might have been able to find the answer to it, only she was a little distracted by the grace with which he fought. She marveled at the fluid movements of his body, how he twisted and turned, blocking each blow and attacking, always aggressive, and yet, his face and eyes as calm as ever. She knew she was staring, but she couldn't help it.
Almost to soon, or at least, too soon for her satisfaction, the fight was over as the other man conceded and lowered his sword. Bowing, the man slowly walked away, apparently distracted, probably a little discouraged. As he went a few paces, Kiel called from behind,
"Rogers..." at his call the man jerked out of his distraction and turned towards him, slightly surprised,
"Yes sir?"
A small smile crossed Kiel's lips, "You fought well. Only there will always be someone a little ahead of you. Try to adapt more quickly to your opponent's style of fighting, and...keep changing yours, so your opponent doesn't get the chance to get a hold of you." cocking his head a little, he added,"You are a good warrior, Rogers. You just need to accept your flaws, so you can work on them."
As Rayn watched the other man's face to decipher if this was normal behavior from Kiel, she saw Rogers' eyes brighten up at Kiel's words of appreciation, conveying clearly how rare they must be. She saw Rogers nod to him.
"I will keep that in mind, sir." With another little bow, he walked away, now a little joy noticeably there in his steps. Looking back at the arena, she saw another man approach Kiel, and bow nervously.
As Rayn watched, she saw Kiel stride casually towards the arms panels and deposit the sword there. Then walking back to the middle of the arena, he took a very casual stance, barely aggressive, and giving off a laid back and relaxed posture. As if this is not at all a fight he is in, but simply talking to a child. Rayn noticed the other man relax somewhat seeing Kiel's laid back attitude, and he adopted a somewhat similarly loose pose and they started circling each other. Her eyes swung back to Kiel's face, already having anticipated Kiel's next move. Her throat itched to warn the other man.
Before she could give in to her impulse, Kiel broke the circle and one of his hands moved forward swiftly to connect the heel of the palm with the underside of his opponent's chin. Rayn's eyes widened in shock as she registered how quickly and fluidly his body moved. Her appreciation only increased as Kiel followed up the move with a swift sweep of his opposite leg under the other man's feet, effectively getting him off his feet. Without giving him time, Kiel brought down the other foot towards the man's throat, only stopping a few inches above to step back, giving the man time to get back on his feet. As the man did so, he was visibly shaken and shocked. Rayn regarded him for a little while, then thought back to the start of the session.
Shaking her head, she leaned back against the wall. She probably couldn't blame the man, but he should have realized that Kiel had only loosened his posture to get the man to tone down his guard and get him off balance. He changed his style to not give his opponent a chance to adapt to it, and also, to keep the other man from developing a fixed style. She watched them face off again, this time the man tightly winded up. Her eyes narrowed, 'Too high strung and nervous. He won't think or plan his moves clearly.' Assessing mentally, she shook her head again, then looked back at Kiel.
"Loosen up, Johnson. Getting high strung won't win you a fight with a demon." Kiel coolly instructed.
"Loosening up doesn't help either, sir." Johnson shook his head resolutely, his eyes fixed onto Kiel.
"Loosening up helps, losing focus because your opponent seems to be slow doesn't. You didn't even try to anticipate my move. A demon, low ranking demons, count on that. Their power is in their deceptively slow movement, which they compensate for by their strength and weight."
She rolled her eyes, he was again successful in distracting Johnson.
"Demons ranking a little higher, however," Kiel continued his lazy toned instructions, "do not count on the in-built lack of focus in their opponent. Instead, they work actively to distract their opponent, and attack." With that, he moved forward towards Johnson, startling him and leaving him with little time to get his defenses up. This time he lifted Johnson bodily and threw him down. Again he stepped back to allow the other man to stand up. As soon as he stood up, without losing a beat, Johnson moved forward with a swift one-two at Kiel's face and abdomen, followed by a round leg sweep, all of which Kiel avoided with smooth, serpentine agility. As Johnson followed up with a kick to his knee, Kiel blocked the kick with his foot and followed up with a kick to Johnson's head. Johnson avoided it by leaning back slightly, keeping his head out of reach.
"Good, you are learning." Kiel commented, simultaneously moving forward to Johnson's left side, grabbing him around his chest with his left hand and using the leverage given by his own left foot to drag him down on the floor, then pinning Johnson's body by placing his knee on his chest squarely, his hands pinning down those of Johnson.
