Free The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) by Kirsten Jones Page B

hold and take the other to the floor to
finish the round.  Before too long Leo called time on their bout and they
took their positions against the wall with sighs of relief.
    ‘Grendel and …
Xerxes.’
    Mistral exhaled
with relief that she didn’t have to face the might of Grendel then wondered
darkly how coincidental it was that Xerxes had been the outspoken one during
Registration and now he was facing Grendel.
    The bout
didn’t last long with Grendel effectively flinging Xerxes to the floor every
time he came within his reach.  Xerxes limped back to his position against
the wall with obvious chagrin at the end of the bout.  Mistral guessed
he’d reached the same conclusion as her – that he’d just been made an example
of by their Training Captain. 
    Golden was
matched against Phantasm who was far too gentlemanly to fight with her and
submitted easily. 
    ‘Not good
enough!’  Leo bellowed.  ‘You allowed her to do that!  Face one
another again and put some intention into it!’
    Phantasm
smiled politely at Golden; the half-nymph gave him a smug smile and they faced
each other in the centre of the floor once more.  The moment Leo called
for them to begin Phantasm swiftly stepped forward and wrapped one hand around
Golden’s waist and the other around her shoulders, tilting her backwards and
lifting her in one motion.  He held her in the air for a moment then
dropped her onto the padded floor.  She shrieked angrily and sprang to her
feet, her face no longer beautiful, but furious.
    ‘Enough!’ 
Leo shouted just as Golden curved her fingers into talons and prepared to fly
at Phantasm’s face.
    Golden tossed
her hair and stalked back over to take her place beside a glowering
Columbine.  Phantasm resumed his seat next to his brother, breathing
heavily.   
    Mistral leaned
forward slightly and murmured out of the side of her mouth, ‘Nice move!’
    ‘She blew a
kiss in my ear!’  Phantasm hissed.  ‘It was disgusting!’
    Phantom
snorted and quickly turned it into a cough, ducking his head down to avoid
Leo’s icy glare. 
    ‘Mistral and
... Columbine!’
    Mistral leapt
to her feet and strode to the centre of the floor, meeting Columbine’s
hate-filled look unflinchingly. 
    ‘Begin!’
    Mistral tensed,
reading Columbine’s intention more easily than if she’d spoken aloud. 
With a snarl Columbine threw herself at Mistral, trying to wind her with the
force of the impact.  Mistral quickly stepped to the side and grabbed her
arm.  She yanked it up sharply, slamming her other hand into the side of
her head at the same time to flip Columbine through the air as easily as though
she were a toy.  Columbine crashed down onto the floor with a grunt of
pain and lay there, winded. 
    ‘Enough,’
called Leo almost lazily when Columbine staggered to her feet.
    Without
casting Columbine a second glance, Mistral turned and walked back to take her
seat next to Phantom. 
    ‘Nice
work!’  Saul leaned across Brutus to congratulate her.
    Mistral nodded
but kept her head down to avoid the piercing gaze she could feel boring into
her from Leo Sphinx.
    ‘Just w here were you raised?’  Phantom demanded in an awed whisper.  ‘I’ve never
seen anyone do that!’
    Mistral shook
her head slightly and was saved from having to reply by Leo calling out again.
    ‘Brutus and
... Konrad.’
    The last two
bouts passed without too much event.  Brutus’ bout with Konrad, the
half-drow, was short.  Brutus was taller and stronger than his opponent
and won the bout easily.  The final match was between Saul and Bali. 
Both were of similar builds and were well-matched but Bali displayed more
experience and gradually took the upper-hand.     
    ‘That will
do,’ said Leo curtly, dismissing Saul and Bali who sank gratefully back against
the far wall, both out of breath.  ‘Before we continue with Registration
there is one final test which you will be pleased to know will require little
or no effort on