Page 69 of Rising Out of the Darkness (Divine Guardians Duology #1)

Elena

T he clash of metal against metal filled the morning air as I made my way toward the ring. Liam and Killian were already sparring. I gave them a quick wave to alert them of my presence as I headed for the practice swords.

It had been two days since our escapade outside of the walls. Nayla had been doing her best to bury any mention of it, and so far, we had gone unnoticed.

Gravel crunched behind me, and I inwardly cringed. Will had been joining in my sword training since he arrived at the castle.

Every moment of conversation between the two of us had been filled with all his plans for us in the City of Ash, all the luxuries he’d shower me with, and all the protection he would give me. He talked as if it was a haven. All I saw was a gilded cage.

No matter how long he had watched me train, he still treated me like a frail being who needed to be protected instead of the Light Phoenix that I had become. Declan and the others had always encouraged me to find ways to do things for myself, empowered me to discover my own worth.

His shoulder bumped mine as he sat next to me. “What do you think?” He pointed to his sword, the pommel encrusted with tiny emeralds.

I scrunched my nose. “It’s a bit pretentious for practice, don’t you think?”

He simply waved me off, saying something about women not understanding the beauty of a well-made sword.

The lure of luxury had taken hold of him. Each day he was dressed head to toe in fine linen, every outfit covered in gold trim.

“Freckles, did you hear me?” Killian’s chuckles broke me out of my thoughts, and I thanked the gods for the reprieve. “Get your ass in the ring, let’s practice.”

I selected a sword from the bin, then made my way into the ring. Even with all the training with my father, the weight of the sword was still something that I struggled with.

I practiced a few movements while I waited for Liam and Killian to finish their sparring. Each swipe still felt slow and sluggish, and after only a few moves I could already feel an ache blooming in my arm.

“You’re getting better, little lady.” Liam circled around me to meet my gaze.

Shoving the sword down into the dirt, I folded my arms over my chest. “Stop trying to inflate my ego. Even all five gods can see that I’m not getting any better at this.”

With a roll of his eyes, Liam tilted his head towards the training ring. I trotted after him.

Killian dipped his head upon my approach. “You alright?”

“I will be.” My eyes shifted to Will admiring his sword in the sunlight. Killian’s lips pursed and he took a few steps back to allow me some space.

“Alright, I think you’re struggling because of the way that you’re gripping your sword,” Liam pronounced. “Let’s see if we can find you a position that makes it a little easier.”

Stepping behind me, he lifted my arm holding the sword. “Let’s try a few movements together. Killian, can you spar with Lena so we can work on her posture and hold?”

“Of course.”

Killian swiped towards me, while Liam helped guide me to block his attack. Once metal hit metal, I felt the impact vibrate down my arm, wincing at the ache it left in its wake.

“I thought so,” Liam huffed. “You’re holding the sword too low. It’s causing your movements to feel sluggish, and you’re taking the full brunt of the impact when the swords collide.”

He adjusted my grip and then guided me with the correct movement before releasing me and taking a few steps back. “Alright, little lady, show Killian what you got.”

Rolling my head from side to side, I positioned myself in my stance. Here goes nothing.

We circled each other for a few moments. I was still trying to muster up the courage to strike. Before I had the chance, Killian advanced towards me. With an extremely uncoordinated swipe, I was able to block, but it threw my feet off balance.

“Focus, Lena,” Liam grumbled.

Tossing him a sarcastic salute, I realigned my stance. We began circling each other again before Liam bellowed from the side.

“Your enemies aren’t going to dance with you when they fight you, Lena. Get in there!”

Lowering my weapon, I used my other hand to throw an obscene gesture back towards him.

Before I could witness his response, the sound of footsteps thundering towards me pulled me back to the ring.

The hum of Killian’s sword rang through the air just in enough time for me to lift my sword to barely block his attack.

The force of his blade hitting mine sent my ass cascading down into the hard dirt.

A growl rumbled in my throat as I massaged my stinging tailbone.

“They’re also not going to wait to take a strike while their opponent is distracted.” Killian extended out a hand for me to grab.

Slapping it away, I pulled myself up as the two of them snickered. I found my hold, and my glare locked onto Killian’s.

“I think the Light Phoenix has finally come out to play!” Liam shouted.

Killian extended his palm towards me, curling his fingers, coaxing me to charge him. The strength in my arm was no comparison to Killian’s, but perhaps I could use speed to my advantage.

Digging my toes into the soil, I pushed forward.

Killian matched my pace as we raced towards each other, weapons high.

Stopping short, Killian raised his sword and braced for impact.

Pulling all the weight from my upper body, I grabbed my sword with both hands and leapt towards him.

With all my force, I shoved my sword against his.

The sound of the collision rang in my ears as I used my forward motion to turn and sweep around him.

Recovering from my first blow, he whipped around as well, but not in enough time to block my next attack.

I swung my sword towards his shoulder. As he dodged the blade, I swept my long leg underneath one of his own.

He stumbled, arms flailing as he tried to recover.

However, it wasn’t enough to save him. His heavy, muscled body sent him careening into the dirt, face first. Ouch.

A howl of laughter echoed behind me, and I couldn’t help the grin that lifted my cheeks. Killian rolled over onto his back, wiping the dirt from his face. I extended my hand towards him. With a snort, he accepted, and I pulled him back up onto two feet.

“Well done, Lena” He gave me a pat on my back.

Before I could ask if he was ready for round two, another hand whipped me around.

“Lena, that was great. But let me show you some moves that will clean up some of those sloppy swipes.” Will smiled, like he hadn’t just given me a backhanded compliment. Killian’s fist clenched as he took a step forward. I pressed my palm against his chest and shook my head.

“I’ll be okay,” I whispered.

He glared at the boy swinging his fancy sword behind me and then shuffled towards Liam. A little smile twitched against my cheeks as they both crossed their arms over their chests.

Will pulled me into him. With his chest pressed against my back, he placed his sword in my hands.

Calloused fingers slid over my arm as he adjusted my grip, eliciting a shiver to ripple over my skin.

Unlike before, this shiver felt like my body revolting against his touch.

It was as if my dynamis knew how wrong it felt as well.

“Hmm,” a familiar deep voice seethed from behind us. “I see while the cat’s away, the mice will play.”

Shadows rippled over his arms as he glowered at us from the edge of the training ring.

My forehead furrowed, my nose wrinkled in disgust at the way he glared behind me at Will. His hands were balled in fists at his sides, lips curled into a snarl. This was not at all how I’d imagined his return going.

Words stalled on my tongue while I nervously awaited Declan’s.

Will’s arm tightened around my waist in a silent challenge.

Declan traced his every move, lingering over the spot where Will’s fingers pressed into my hip.

When his burning gaze flicked towards mine, my breath hitched as I sucked my lips in between my mouth.

“Welcome back, brother.” Killian’s words were soft, almost tentative as he approached Declan.

In a flash, he shoved Killian out of the way and zephyred so hard into Will, the force shoved us all into the dirt.

“Hells, Declan! We were just training!” Will huffed as he righted himself back onto two legs.

“You sure that was all you were doing, Wilton?” Declan snarled between clenched teeth. Jealousy flared in his darkened eyes as he ran his fingers through his chestnut hair.

Time seemed to slow down. Liam leaped into the training ring, approaching Declan from behind. Shadows now swirled around Dec’s entire body. His face was growing a dark shade of crimson.

“Wh-what is wrong with you?” I stammered, clawing my way back onto my feet.

“What’s wrong with me ?” He laughed sarcastically, taking two steps towards me, shoving Will out of the way.

“Dec,” Liam warned.

Declan fumed, reaching out to grab my arm with so much force it caused me to collide into his chest. My body trembled as he gripped my chin to meet his eyes, eyes that were consumed with rage. “My problem, Wildfire , is you.”

Declan’s ward was solidly in place, but I didn’t need to access his emotions that way. Every bit of fury and anger he was feeling right now was evident to everyone around.

I licked my dry lips and they parted tentatively as I tried to find the right thing to say to calm him down. His gaze shifted to my lips. Before I could speak, he released his grip on me and shoved his body away from mine.

Pacing back and forth, he ran his palm through his hair, a calming movement to help steady his breaths. My heart ached, and I started moving towards him when an arm blocked my path.

“Liam…let me pass,” I begged.

Pained eyes met my own as he lowered his head. When I tried again, he pushed me back. “Sorry, Lena,” he breathed.

Fueled by my newfound rage, I stormed in between all of them, gathering my dynamis and pulling it to the surface.

Extending my arms, I created an orb of wind between them and launched it at them.

It knocked them all off their feet, leaving them gaping up at me from the ground.

With a frustrated growl, I let them all have it.

“When you’re all done making complete asses out of yourselves, come find me. Then maybe we can get back to doing something worthy of my time.”