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Chapter Two

 

“A true Claraxis Priest needs to luxuries to live – they would be content with just being able to serve their god..”

 

-         The Book of Claraxis.

 

Rebecca massaged the back of her neck to get rid of the pain that had suddenly made itself known. Her training was getting harder and harder, but she was not about to give up, not when she was so close to becoming a warrior like her late father. He had died in battle two years after she was born, and she was determined to become a warrior like him – only she was going to be the best and not get herself killed fighting a dragon. Right now, though, she had to get this gods-damned pain out of her neck! She made sure that nobody was around, and then she put her hand on the back of her neck and closed her eyes. She focused the magical energies that flowed through her body and turned them towards healing her neck. She felt the energy flow through her body towards the pained area, and let out a sigh of relief when the pain subsided, and was replaced by a rather pleasant feeling of warmth that always came after she used her magic for healing and not to harm others – although the Mediator that had received a bolt of lightning two days ago certainly deserved it. She had noticed that the people looked into the sky afterwards, wondering if anymore-cloudless lightning would come down.

 

But she hadn’t found the time to tell her mother about what she had seen; she had been in meetings with those priests for the past two days. Then again, her schooling and training were keeping Rebecca busy as well, and she knew that she was going to have a new swordplay teacher today. She smiled slightly and wondered if he was going to look like that young Nobleman she had rescued the other day. He had been about her age, and quite handsome. No, the chances that somebody so young would be able to teach her were slim. Still, she could dream, right? Her daydreams were interrupted by a knock on the door, and she jumped in surprise.

 

“Hold on!” she said. She straightened out her brown tunic and breeches – the clothing she trained in – and composed herself. “Come in.”

 

A servant entered the room and bowed. “Your new swordplay instructor is here, Princess,” she said. “Shall I show her in?”

 

“Her?” Rebecca thought. “Oh well, I guess I can still dream…Show her in.”

 

The servant bowed again and opened the door. A woman in her 30’s with long red hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a black tunic, matching breeches, black boots, gloves, and a black hooded-cape walked into the room. She looked at Rebecca and smiled.

 

“Greetings Princess,” she said. “I am Alexandria Athena Gaiason, your instructor for the rest of your training in swordplay.”

 

She had a thick accent, and Rebecca guessed that she was from the Southern lands, the lands controlled by the Elves. That, and she was quite attractive, too, anybody could see that: male or female. Rebecca smiled back; she had the feeling that she was going to get along with this woman quite well.

 

“Greetings to you as well,” Rebecca replied. “We can start my lesson when you are ready.”

 

Alexandria nodded and put down the large travelling bag that she had been carrying and opened it. Rebecca looked at what was inside: training weapons, which included wooden swords, staffs and even a few wooden battleaxes – there were even a few training shields in the pack. Alexandria took two of the training swords out and handed one to Rebecca.

 

“We will train with these until you are ready to use a real weapon,” she said. “And for future reference, you may call me Alex. I hate formal titles.”

 

Rebecca took the sword, nodded, and smiled. “So do I,” she said. “You may call me either Rebecca or Becky.”

 

Alex smiled. “I think I’ll call you Rebecca when we are with your mother, and Becky when we are alone. How is that?”

 

Rebecca nodded. “Good,” she said. “Now, shall we start our training?”

 

She raised her sword in one hand, and kept it level with her shoulder, with the blade pointing out towards Alex. The older woman chuckled and held her weapon with both hands, the blade poised for battle. “Nice stance,” she said, before suddenly slashing in an ‘X’ pattern.

 

Rebecca stepped back and moved her blade in a circular pattern, deflecting the attack. Before either of them knew what was happening, Rebecca had already feigned an upward slash, forcing her teacher to guard her throat, and leaving her midriff open to attack. Rebecca moved in quickly and held the sword tip on Alex’s stomach. The redhead looked shocked. “I thought that this was your first lesson,” she said. “How did you do that?”

 

Rebecca shook her head, as if she were coming out of a trance. “I-I don’t know,” she said. “It was as if something inside of me awakened, and took control of my body.”

 

 Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I see,” she said. “You don’t need a teacher, but…I can tell that the extra training will do you well. We will start training with real blades tomorrow; I don’t see any reason to teach you the basics of swordplay, not after what I’ve seen today.”

 

Rebecca nodded and handed the wooden sword back to Alex. “All right,” she said. “Tomorrow, then.”