The Blinding Knife

Chapter 75

Trainer Fisk was running the scrubs through takedown drills when Karris White Oak came in. Teia immediately took notice. For one thing, she wasn’t very good at the throws they were practicing-it was one area where her lack of body weight made things much more difficult for her. She could still throw a boy who weighed twice as much as she did, but she had to get the leverage perfect. Getting things perfect seemed beyond her right now.

Second, Karris was her hero. Everyone respected Karris. She was known to be one of the best fighters in the entire Blackguard. Fast and tough, mentally and physically and magically. Smart, confident, and beautiful on top of it all. She was everything Teia hoped to be, even if some of those last things were out of reach.

Third, learning that Kip was a full-spectrum polychrome had kind of frightened her. And it had scared Kip, too. Attending Blackguard training? That was normal. She could handle that.

“Watch Captain White Oak, it’s an honor to have you come,” Trainer Fisk said.

“I wish I could visit more often. I hear this is a very talented class.”

She had? They were? Everyone perked up at that, even Kip.

“I wonder,” Trainer Fisk said. “Would you be willing to show us a quick takedown? Some of the girls have been very quietly grumbling that these drills are too hard because they don’t have the body weight.”

“Really?” Karris said. “ Very quietly, I might imagine. Or at least I hope.” She arched an eyebrow at one of the girls, who withered. “I’d be happy to. Who’s the best fighter in the class?”

“Cruxer,” someone said. The rest of them mumbled agreement.

“Cruxer, defend yourself,” Karris said.

She walked toward him and he got in a ready stance, one foot forward, hands lightly balled and held up. She snapped an attack, a knifehand, right at his eyes. His hands shot up to block, palms out.

Then his hands and hers entwined, and Cruxer dropped to his knees as fast as he could, yelping. He had barely touched them to the dirt before she was moving in, sweeping him off his knees to the ground, rolled over, facedown, one of his hands still clasped in hers, her knee on his neck.

Unhurriedly, she drew a pistol from her belt and put it to the back of his head.

It was over that fast. Against Cruxer. Teia looked over at Kip. He had the same wide-eyed look she did.

Then Karris tucked her pistol away and got up. The class started breathing again. Karris made it seem so effortless. She hadn’t even gotten dirt on her knees.

“It’s one of those tricks that works well against those who’ve never seen it,” Karris said. “It’s instinctive. You go for the eyes, and your target will open his hands to fend off the strike. A quick fingerlock, and you can drop him. From there, you’ve got all the leverage you need. Less weight and less strength just means you need to be smarter.”

“Nicely done, Watch Captain. I haven’t seen that one in years. I’m afraid it would have worked even on me,” Trainer Fisk said.

“Mm, maybe,” Karris said. She smiled. “Although I’m not too eager to reenact our last fight.”

He shrugged. “Extenuating circumstances,” he said. “You were tired. Not many people trade five fight tokens.”

“Can I take one of your students for the afternoon?” Karris asked. “I’ve got some private training to brush up on.”

“But of course.”

Karris looked around the room. Then, finally, she pointed at Teia. “You, you’ll do.”

For some reason, Teia was sure that she hadn’t been picked randomly. But that night, Karris just trained. She said nothing except to give instructions about how to hold the kick bags or which exercises she wanted Teia to do with her.

“Excuse me, Watch Captain,” Teia said finally. “But why are you training with me? I can’t hold a candle to a lot of the fighters you work with every day.”

Karris said, “Sometimes it’s good to fight people who don’t know what they’re doing. It reminds you how most of your opponents in real life flail. It’s less predictable.”

Oh. Well then.

Neither of them said anything else.