19. Riggs

19

Riggs

There was something going on with Breana.

It had to do with the other entity that lived inside her. I saw the worry in her eyes, and it concerned me, too.

She walked with me through the building and out the back entrance to where our fight instructors waited. I was nervous about this class. Would I be hopeless with this sword? Everyone insisted I'd been a warrior, but had that ability vanished along with my memories of it?

Cody and Tyrez stood in the field, but they weren't alone—Talakai stood with them, as well as a red-scaled Dragona.

I moved a little closer to Sid. "Who's she?"

He followed my glance. "That's Aria," he said. "She was a mercenary. Incredible fighter. But no one here can beat Talakai. He was a Guild assassin, so they use him to help with the class."

My fractured brain coughed up the fact that the Guild bought younglings and trained them to kill for hire. Most didn't survive the experience. I hadn't known that about the blue Dragon. It painted him in an entirely new light.

And yet again, I remembered useless details, but nothing about my former life. Tyrez's gaze fastened on me for just an instant as the students assembled in a loose group in front of the instructors. I noticed a pile of wooden practice swords off to one side. Maybe they'd be more my speed. Cara had said the sword had chosen me—but it remained to be seen if I was truly worthy of such a weapon. For all I knew, pulling it out of the scabbard was all I could do.

That, and using its magic to suspend water.

"We have a couple of new students that we will be testing today, but the remainder can select your weapons and pair up for practice." Tyrez's deep voice easily carried over those assembled.

Students formed up in pairs and moved to the pile of wooden swords. Nar slapped his across Leah's butt, and she giggled, before poking the tip of hers into a delicate place. Sid lined up with Adilyn, but the practice weapon looked ridiculously tiny in his massive fist.

While Tyrez, Talakai, and Cody moved through the pairs, correcting stance and technique, the red Dragona approached Breana and me. Her every movement spoke to the steel running beneath the near-perfect proportions and beautiful features. She had a sword slung over her back, but held two wooden ones.

"Hello." Her assessing gaze ran over us. "You two must be Bree and Riggs. I am going to run you guys through a few exercises, just to see where you are at." She handed Bree a wooden sword, and asked, "Have either of you had weapons training?"

Breana rescued me by saying, "Centaurs are trained from a young age. I'm better with a short sword. Never quite mastered the backswing on the axe. And I've had minimal experience doing it with only two legs. I'm still clumsy."

To my relief, Aria didn't extend the question to me, which told me that she was in on my secret. Instead, she squared up with Bree. "Centaurs use their power and weight behind their weapons, and that will be different now. You'll need more finesse. So show me what you've got, and we'll work on it. Go slow, this isn't a race."

The two of them began trading blows. Although she handled her practice weapon well, Breana had problems with footwork, which Aria patiently helped her with. I could well imagine that going from four legs to two would throw one's aim.

Meanwhile, I discovered that two gorgeous women fighting, even with just wooden swords, was arousing as heck. Even though adjusting to being on two legs slowed her down, Breana moved like a trained warrior, graceful and potentially lethal.

Or maybe I just liked watching Breana.

Either way, I ended up wrenching my gaze off her because facing Aria with a raging boner was an extra dynamic I didn't need. Instead, I surveyed the students, judging who moved with fluidity, and who would be better off taking up swimming as a hobby.

Which included Nar, definitely.

Long before I was ready, Aria stepped back from Breana. "Excellent, Bree. Once you've adjusted to the two-leg thing, you'll be graduating to a real weapon. It won't take long, either."

She turned to me and tossed the wooden sword aside. "Let's see what you can do, Riggs."

I looked down at the practice weapon. "Shouldn't we use those?"

"I've heard a lot about that sword." Aria looked at my blade. "So I have to see it in action."

Whoa , she was one up on me. I still hadn't completed the what in the heck is this sword conversation with Cara. I swallowed as the Dragona drew her own—it gleamed in the sunlight. I wanted to protest that I didn't know if I could wield the sword at all, but it would completely blow my cover.

She seemed to sense my dilemma. "You need to know this, too, Riggs. And there's only one way to do it. You won't be fighting a battle with wood." Her amber gaze met mine. "And I can take whatever you thrust at me."

I swallowed. Wood? Thrust? Were we still talking about fighting with swords? I certainly hoped so. Because as beautiful as she was, she was mated—and she wasn't Breana. Not that it was much better if she was talking about fighting—when it came to this sword, there was nothing but questions.

I settled for pulling it free, and Aria's eyes widened as the runes danced along the blade.

"That's some sword," she breathed.

"Yeah." Insecurity flooded through me. Now that it was out, I had no idea what to do with it.

She seemed to sense my problem. But instead of coaching me into a preparatory stance, she came at me like a red-scaled whirlwind, her blade scything through the air.

And, somehow, mine met it. The clash of metal rang across the field as she just kept coming, never giving me a moment to think.

My body knew what to do. I fell into almost a trance, the sword so perfectly balanced it was like an extension of my arm. I was aware of students stopping to watch as we moved through them, a spinning vortex of flashing blades.

At one point, as I twisted away from a strike that came closer to nailing me than I'd like to admit, I realized I was grinning. My entire body was consumed by a fierce kind of joy, as though I'd been born to this.

Maybe I had been. I couldn't remember.

But little by little, my blows were getting closer to nailing her. When Aria pulled back, she was breathing hard, but her entire face was alight.

"You can spar with me anytime, Riggs," she said. "That was the best workout I've had in ages."

"Mind if I cut in?" a deep voice rumbled.

I turned to see Talakai. He grinned at me and drew his sword. It was lighter than mine, and slightly curved, but just as long.

Useless jeers about males and compensation flitted through my brain. There, and gone. I didn't know him well enough to spew any at him, especially when my weapon was larger…

He saluted me, and once again, I stood awkwardly, unsure. But when he came at me, my sword was always between me and him.

Aria had been aggressive with her moves, but Talakai was all about the dance. And as I spun and leaped to match him, I knew he had me. He was infernally fast. But I wasn't going to give up—I was having far too much fun. My life had been filled with so much uncertainty, but I now knew one thing for sure.

I loved the fight.

For just an instant, Talakai swirled to a halt. I swung my sword in a vicious overhead strike, and the blue Dragon raised his own to block—but my weapon was no longer there. I'd shifted the sword in mid-swing from a two-handed strike to one. I grabbed his sword arm with my free hand and sliced the sword horizontally.

It only sparked against his scales, but it would have gutted him if I'd put my weight behind it, and he knew it.

Talakai laughed.

I looked into eyes, sparking blue, and met a kindred spirit. He loved this, too.

"Well done, Ra-Riggs."

It was the barest of stutters, but it made me wonder—how well had Razir known these people? How hard was it for them to pretend that they didn't?

As we pulled back from each other and sheathed our weapons, the clapping started slow, but then built. The students then expanded to hooting and hollering, and Talakai ducked his head, as if uncomfortable with it.

My heart pounded, but I wasn't as upset by it as I should be. Did a part of me like performing for an audience? As I turned, my gaze met Breana. And I found the answer.

It wasn't for the audience. It was for her. I wanted her to see who I was and what I could do.

The ironic thing was that I really had no idea of either.

But one thing was for sure—I knew how to swing a blasted sword.

My dramatic fight class was a hot topic at lunch.

Nar's eyes were alight as he described it blow-by-blow, although it became increasingly embellished with each telling.

"I came nowhere near to unmanning him," I finally protested. "If I hadn't done that sneaky move, he would have had me. He's the better fighter."

"In my books, sneaky counts," Nar stated.

"We know that," Adilyn snarked. "Sneaky is your thing."

"Not all of us can shrink to two inches and zip off on wings," the Sea Krayt complained. "You'd rather run than fight."

"Those who run live to fight another day," Sid said easily. "Fighting is not always the answer." But the glance he gave Nar was filled with warning.

The message was clear—lay off Adilyn. Nar wisely backed off. "Anyway, watching you guys go at it was inspiring. Almost makes me want to learn how to bash with a sword."

"You have other strengths," Leah purred.

"Yeah, anytime the team needs a sex fiend or dust picked up, he's our effing man." Adilyn's tone had bite.

Nar glared at her, but glanced to Sid, and then away.

Leah reached to take his hand, and Breana's gaze dropped to that, before she said, "We all have strengths that we bring to the team. Nar's ability to blend with any surface will be extremely useful."

Adilyn became obsessed with slicing a chunk off her fungus, but Nar shot Breana a grateful look.

I swallowed my last mouthful of meatroll and stood.

As Breana stood with me, she glanced at the clock on the wall. "We've still got a while before the lecture. Are you going for a walk?"

"There's time for a swim," Leah suggested with an arched brow. "Do you guys swim?"

"We can teach them," Nar offered.

"No swimming. I'm going to the library." I wanted to learn everything I could about the sword.

Leah wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. You're no fun at all."

Sid, however, perked right up. "I'll come with you. I know every section of that place. I can help you out." He glanced at Adilyn, who waved a hand at him.

"I'm going up for a second helping," the Faerie said. "See you in class."

For someone who spent a lot of time at only two inches tall, she certainly packed away the food. Sid and Breana followed me out into the hall, and as we descended the stairs, she asked, "So what are we looking for?"

"Cara was going to show me a book that talked about this sword," I said. "She told me it had a long history, and it's time I found out more about it."

"There are runes on the blade," Breana mused. "If we could read them, that might help."

Sid took the lead, and we trailed after him into the library. The Anisau bypassed the tables and took us straight into the rows of shelves.

Moments later, we were loaded down with an assortment of books on ancient weapons. We staggered back to the table and dropped them onto it.

"Okay, let's see the runes," Sid stated as we sat down.

I spotted the problem right away. "They only appear when I first draw it."

"I saw them when you used it to tap into the lodestone, too," Breana said.

"Yep, but I'm not going to do that here," I took off the sword, complete with scabbard, and laid it on the table.

"We need a photo of it when the runes show," Breana stated.

"I think Petre is here somewhere." Sid rose again, and disappeared down one of the aisles.

Who the hell was Petre? I met Breana's equally confused gaze, and shrugged.

"Is there anything Cara told you that might be useful?" she asked.

I thought back. "She said it was forged almost five thousand years ago. Said the creators of it no longer walk the realms—so their species is extinct. And that it has had multiple bearers."

Her brows rose. "Five thousand years?"

I nodded, and we started arranging the books, setting aside those that featured weapons of the right age range.

When Sid reappeared, he opened his huge hand to reveal a small boxlike object.

"A Polaroid camera!" exclaimed Breana. "I've only ever seen one other. Where did you get it?"

"The librarian here has a few of them," the Anisau said. "He uses them to catalogue historical artifacts. The batteries are hard to get through the gates—only one in three manages it, so the cameras are very expensive. Says the film is pricey, too, so keep shots to a minimum."

"Where does he get his supplies?" Breana asked with interest.

"There's a vendor at the Richin market who deals with things from the human realm," Sid said. "I want to check him out. Would love one of these, myself."

I examined the camera. My fragmented memories did not offer up anything useful.

Breana took a closer look, too. "Humans are so clever. They make the most amazing things."

"We can snap a shot of the runes," Sid said. "Ought to help us out."

I watched with interest as he fiddled with the camera. I didn't even see what Breana was up to until she wrapped her hand around the hilt.

"It won't—" I began.

And then she pulled the sword free from the scabbard. The muscles in her arm bulged as she lifted it, but she was strong.

She frowned when I gaped at her. "What?" Then I saw her remember Tyrez. "I shouldn't have been able to do that, right?"

Sid stared at us with a mystified expression. "Why wouldn't she be able to pull the sword out?"

I closed my mouth. "Not everyone can."

Sid's mouth straightened. "Do you have a thing about others drawing your sword?"

"No," I said. "But I thought it did."

His bushy brows drew down even further. "Do you know how crazy that sounds?"

I met his gaze. "Yep, actually." I took the sword from Breana. The runes had flashed along the blade when she'd drawn it, but vanished again. I slid it back into the scabbard before handing it to Sid. "Pull it out."

He handed the camera to Breana and took the scabbard. Moments later, his lips peeled back from his teeth as the sword refused to be drawn, despite his bulging muscles.

The Anisau handed it back to me. I offered it hilt first to Breana, and she gave Sid back the camera, before pulling the weapon free without an issue.

Her eyes were wide. "What does this mean?" she asked breathlessly.

"I have no idea," I admitted. Which was not entirely the truth. There was a connection between Breana and me—I'd felt it. When I was away from her, I wanted to deny it, to keep her away from my chaos.

But when I was with her—she fit with me, like she was a part of me.

And the sword knew it, too.

That was nonsense. It had to be. But what other explanation was there for her being able to wield it?

"That's magic, pure and simple," Sid stated.

Was he right? If he was, why had it selected Breana and myself, but no one else?

"Nothing simple about it." I rubbed my temple.

He seemed to sense my bewilderment. "There's likely an answer in these references."

That would really, really help. "Ready to take a picture?" I asked him.

Breana slid the weapon back home and handed it to me. We waited while Sid fiddled with the camera, finding the right button with his huge fingers.

"Okay, ready," he said.

I pulled the sword free, and the runes glowed. We had to go through the process multiple times, as there were runes on both sides of the blade, and they only appeared briefly.

Finally, we all sat down while the camera pushed the images out for us to see.

"You ever see runes like that before?" I asked the two of them.

Both shook their heads, and Sid said, "I can track down refs that interpret runes."

I glanced at the clock. "We're almost due for class. Will Petre let us take any of these away?"

"Not likely," Sid said. "Many of these are single editions, and ancient. But he will stash them for us. We can return after class." He started gathering the books.

Breana met my gaze. "Caliel says there is someone who might know what those runes mean. The Gryphon who is inside Marcus was a renowned scholar, and has studied ancient languages." She handed Sid her books. "If we hurry, we might be able to catch him before class."

Her words were hopeful, but her expression troubled, and I wondered what the issue was. Was something wrong with the Gryphon living inside her?

Not that anything about him living inside her was right. It bothered me that he was in there. Watching our every move. And maybe, not liking it.

Not liking me and her together.

How could I compete with someone that lived in her head? It was the worst kind of male dick-measuring contest, when one of us didn't even have one.

I pushed the thoughts out of my mind as we hurried out of the library and headed up a floor to the entrance of the Coliseum. Team Centaur hadn't yet arrived for the class about battle strategies. We almost pounced on Marcus as he appeared at the top of the stairs.

Despite our shared experiences at the volcano and the lake resort, his first reaction to Breana remained one of distrust. He actually took a step back before stopping. It appeared that Centaurs, even ex-Centaurs, were nothing if not stubborn.

I handed him the Polaroid shots showing the runes on each side of the blade.

"Caliel thought Iskar might be able to help with translating this," Breana said.

Marcus stared. Then he looked closer, and stared again. His gaze flew to the hilt over my shoulder.

"This from your sword?" His voice was curiously hoarse.

I nodded.

"Cara gave it to you?"

I stiffened, just a little. "She said it selected me, which, I realize, sounds crazy."

"Maybe." He swallowed.

I was increasingly uneasy. "What do the runes say?"

Marcus tapped at one picture. "These ones loosely translate to ‘Take me up.' He shuffled to the second one. "And this is, ‘Cast me away'."

I stared at him. "That makes no sense."

But Marcus seemed not to hear me. He was clearly having a conversation with his inner Gryphon. Then he said, "It is most likely a copy and not the original sword. The original was infused with high magic." He broke off, staring at me. "Your weapon did glow at the volcano. And the runes appear and disappear?" When we nodded, he paused again, his expression troubled. "The original had gold inlays on the hilt, with chimeras engraved upon it."

I opened my mouth to tell him about the sword only letting certain people draw it, but then closed it again. Faced with someone in the know, I was suddenly unsure.

Sid had no such issues. "It only lets him pull it from the scabbard. Well, him and Bree."

Marcus's eyes widened, and they fastened on the hilt. "I think it's time to remove that leather wrap."

We were surrounded by students on their way to class. I glanced around for a private space, but couldn't see one.

Then Breana touched my elbow and led us to the elevator. It had just spat out students, so we piled in. It was a tight squeeze with Sid, too.

Marcus hit the ‘close' button. "Give it to me."

Not without reluctance, I unslung the scabbard and handed it to him. The first thing he tried to do, was draw it.

And the sword refused to budge, even an inch.

Marcus's eyes met mine and then fastened on the hilt. The leather binding was old, but still supple.

"Should we cut it?" Sid asked.

"No. I know how to unwrap a hilt." Marcus's fingers trembled as he braced the scabbard between his knees and expertly unbound it.

I caught the glimmer of gold, and his breath left him when he raised the hilt up for us all to see.

Shining in the overhead lights, as though they breathed fire, were two intricately carved creatures that appeared to be a combination of many things.

Chimeras.

When Marcus seemed to stop breathing, Breana stepped closer. "Is it the original?"

He didn't answer right away. Instead, he rebound the hilt. The leather hid the carvings and made the sword appear old, although nothing could disguise that it was a quality blade.

Breana wasn't easily discouraged. "Marcus, what does Iskar say?"

Marcus triggered the elevator doors to open. As the class bell rang and students raced for their seats, he took a deep breath.

"He says it's Caledfwich." His eyes met mine. "And Fate, my friend, has something very monumental in store for you."