Valkyrie Rising ✓

Chapter Twenty

I don't wait for Caither to go down to breakfast Monday morning. She spent Sunday with her own friends, but still ate dinner with us, making sure to sit beside Kaz and smile at everything he said. After dinner, she joined us in the lounge for several games of cards. It was with relief that I went to sleep and could finally be rid of her.

Kaz and Eveia are already at the table eating scrambled eggs when I arrive.

"You got here early," I say.

"Kaz talked me into working out with him before breakfast." Eveia does not look pleased with her decision.

I slide into the seat across from her. "Maybe I'll join you tomorrow." I've been thinking about how I've felt after every running simulation. It might be worth waking up early to face the day in higher spirits.

"You should." Kaz's eyes light up. "We can wait for you on our floor if you want. 6:30 tomorrow."

I groan dramatically. "I'll probably be going to bed early tonight then."

"How is that different from any other night?" Caither says, taking the seat across from me and immediately jumping into the conversation. "Why are you going to bed early?"

"Because I like sleep." I keep my face neutral. Then Wick joins us, one side of his hair sticking up. "Because I don't want to look like Wick in the morning." I giggle.

"You don't want to look like Wick ever," Kaz says.

"Psh, I don't want to look like her, with that giant bruise all—Ow!"

Apparently, Eveia kicked Wick under the table.

"I have a bruise too, buddy." Eveia juts her jaw at him, pretending like she hadn't been defending me.

"Yes, but yours is adorable, darling," Wick says in a patronizing tone.

She reddens a little at the pet name. "You are so dead."

Wick shovels a spoonful of eggs into his mouth. "Bring it."

It sounds much less intimidating with a mouth full of breakfast food.

After breakfast, Caither and I walk with Wick to U-Gym; he's meeting Kiira on the pool deck, and we have our first training session with Briar.

The same targets we used for knife throwing are set up, and I get excited. I hope we are learning more knife skills.

Instead, Briar holds up a metal star with a hole in the middle of it.

"Chinese Throwing Stars, or Shaken. Named for the ancient country across the ocean. Their warriors, or 'Ninjas' were deadly accurate with these. As will you be."

Briar places a stack in each of our hands. "First, we will take a little time to get used to the motion of throwing these. It should be fluid, your body in near constant motion. The Shaken shouldn't be flung, but rather should glide from your fingertips."

He sets each of us about three feet from our targets, and instructs us to only focus on the correct technique, not force. It takes me a little longer to catch on that it did throwing knives, but once I get the motion down, I think I might like the throwing stars even better.

"These are more useful as distractions rather than lethal weapons. You could get a decent stick with one, but more often they only cause flesh wounds in your opponents." Briar paces behind us, watching our motions.

That's a shame, because these would be my number one choice in battle, if I knew they'd protect me.

"You're too stiff, Caither." Briar comes up beside her, and I pause my practice to watch. He takes her hand, showing her where she should be tensing at the last second, while the rest of her body continues, completing the motion. "Try again."