Chapter 42

Laryn

"Bring your guard up and protect your left side, human," I shout as she drops her shoulder again. If I hadn't pulled back, she'd have a gaping wound.

"I'm trying, you blue demon," she says while gasping for air. "And you're human too."

I give her my finest smirk. "Don't let this outstanding human body fool you. I'm all dragon, sweetheart." I twist my wrist and her sword flies over the side of the tower.

We've trained each day for a week and spend hours building her endurance. Then, an hour with swords and a final hour in flight, though the flying is for the sheer fun of it. When I arrive at her room to begin our training sessions, she's all business and never complains about the muscle-aching work I have her do. She runs, lifts heavy bags of grain, and runs some more. Her eyes light up when it's time for sword practice. I've made her start over and reverse her bad habits. She's frustrated yet follows my instruction to the letter. I've worked with Ashrac many times. He complains