D. MacHale - The Rivers of Zadaa

Itried. Overand over. Ihadbeentrying. Loorwould swing at me, I’d block it, but whenItried to counter with an attack, she’d quickly back off, or counter that move with a strike of her own and smack me. Hard.

“That’s not fair,”Ishouted.”It’s like you know whatI’m going to do.”

“Ido,”Looranswered.

“Let’s keep going,”Isaid, bearing down.

“Thethird move is the most important,” she explained.”Thatis the strike that will count.”

“I’m trying!”Ishouted in frustration.

“Faster!”she commanded.

Itried. Itried. Itried. Ifailed every time. Itwas making me crazy. Wewent at it for hours. Myhands were getting raw from squeezing the bamboo pole. Iwas so thirstyIwas nauseous. Still, Loorwouldn’t stop, andIwasn’t about to give up. Oncewhen she was walking back to get into position, Ijumped at her to try and grab one of the spikes. IfiguredI’d catch her unaware. I didn’t. It was like she had eyes in the back of her head. Without turning around, she jammed her pole at me, catching me in the gut, making me double over in pain.

“Never make the first move,” she said. “Yeah, yeah, so you say,” I answered, grabbing my sore stomach.

The fight went on. Loor showed no sign of tiring. I showed no sign of making her tired. At one point the two of us stood facing each other, not moving, which was fine by me. I didn’t want to get hit again. It was then that I realized something odd. I actually felt pretty good. Physically, I mean. In spite of all the sparring, I still had my breath. Saangi’s challenges had helped build my endurance, and the training had taught me to use my energy carefully. Now if I could only get a feel for the fight!

Whack! I got hit from behind. A quick spin showed me that Alder had joined the fun. No sooner did I look at him, than Loor sprang and cracked me across the head.

“Never take your eye off your opponent,” she chastised.

“But he was my opponent!” I protested.

“We are both your opponents,” Alder said.

The two circled me. “How can I keep my eye on both of you?” I asked.

“Feel us,” Alder said.

Great. More Jedi talk. But the truth was, I started to think there was something to it. Loor was on one side, Alder on the other. I looked straight ahead, barely seeing them in my peripheral vision. But I could sense them. I knew where they were.

Alder attacked. I dropped down and rolled away, popping back up and expecting Loor to come from the other side. That’s exactly what happened. Loor came in with her stick held high, ready to chop down at me. I was ready. She wasn’t fast enough. When she struck, I threw up my weapon and blocked the shot. Yes! But my victory didn’t last. A second later Alder cracked me across the head, and I saw stars.

“What was that?” I yelled, jumping up angrily. “I thought it was all about the third move?”

“It was,” Loor said. “I made it.”

“Exactly!” I countered. “Alder, then me, then you, and I blocked it!”

“Of course you did,” Loor said. “Because I made you wait.”

She was right. I sensed it at the time, but didn’t react. She had come in way too slowly. She was setting me up. She made the third move all right. The important move. The move that set Alder up for the kill. I suddenly felt drained and frustrated. There was too much to learn, and we were taking too long to do it. We needed to be out hunting for Saint Dane, not trying to teach the unteachable. I dropped my shoulders, threw my weapon down, and turned to walk away.

“That’s it,” I said. “I’m done.”

“Pendragon,” Loor called.

I didn’t stop.

“Pendragon!” she called again.

For the first time since this ordeal began, she sounded angry. I heard it in her voice. I sensed her tension. I felt her coming after me. I kept walking.

“I will not allow you to give up!” she shouted at me.

She had nearly caught up to me. I could sense that she was reaching out to stop me. That’s when I made my move. I dropped down, swept my leg, and caught her on the backs of both knees. Loor went down hard. I sprang forward, put my knee to her chin, and leaned down to her.

“Never make the first move,” I said.

I reached back and grabbed the red spikes from both her elbows, pulling each one off deliberately, enjoying myself.

Alder laughed. It was as big and boisterous a laugh as I had ever heard from him. He came over and picked me up off Loor like a doll, giving me a hug. Loor got up and stood where she had fallen. I’ve seen Loor in many fights. Not just in the last few weeks, but against real enemies, when it counted. I had never, ever seen anyone get the better of her. As far as I knew, I was the first. She didn’t say anything. She only stood there, staring at me.

“Hey,” I said with a shrug. “You’re the one who said I had to be clever.”

Loor stared me down for a long moment, and then she smiled. In that one instant I felt all the tension melt away. My guess was that she didn’t consider this a defeat, but a victory. She had actually managed to teach me something.

“We are done, Pendragon,” she said. “There is nothing more we can teach you here.”

“Sure there is,” I said. “But we can’t waste any more time.”

“Do not underestimate what you have learned,” Loor said. “You have done far better than I expected.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“You are ready, my friend,” Alder said.

I glanced between the two of them and added, “You realize I hate you both.”

Neither were sure of how to react to that. I smiled and added, “But I’ll get over it.”

“Saangi!” Loor shouted out. Saangi instantly came running out from one of the buildings to join us. Loor said, “Saangi, please bring the remaining food and water to the sleep area. Pendragon must eat.”

Saangi gave me one of her usual sour looks. I expected her to say something like: “Tell him to get it himself.” But instead she said, “It would be an honor.” She smiled at me and ran off. Whoa. I didn’t expect that.

Alder said, “I will help Saangi.” He took off, but not before saying, “I am proud of you, Pendragon.”

Loor and I were alone. It was kind of awkward. After having been “enemies” for these few weeks, it was hard to suddenly change my thinking.

“I’m not convinced this did any good,” I said. “But thank you for trying.”

“You always surprise me, Pendragon,” Loor said. “I know how difficult this was for you. You have the courage and the will, but fighting is not in your nature. You did well.”

“Well, thanks, but, I’m no warrior.”

“That is true,” Loor said. “If you meet Saint Dane again, he will not be using toy weapons.”

Oh, well. So much for building my confidence. Loor turned it around by stepping up to me, holding my shoulders, and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

“I am proud that you are my lead Traveler,” she said.

For once, I didn’t know what to say. Really. I was a total mess.

“There is only one task left,” she said. “What’s that?” I asked, fearing she had one last diabolical surprise in store.

“We must celebrate,” was her answer.

An hour later we were all in the barracks, enjoying a spread of food and water that was greater than anything I had seen in weeks. By Second Earth standards it wasn’t exactly Thanksgiving, but having the choice between several fruits and dried meats and loaves of bread was a luxury I wasn’t used to. I learned that Saangi had been making daily stealth trips back and forth between Mooraj and Xhaxhu to replenish our supplies.

(Inever did find out where she was hiding the stuff.) I figuredIhad to be careful about eating too much because my stomach had probably shrunk to the size of a walnut. I didn’t want to load up and then heave in front of everybody. That would have ruined the party for sure, and wasted a bunch of good food.