Free A Storm in the Desert: Dragonlinked Chronicles Voume 3 by Adolfo Garza Jr. Page B

does, in fact, send someone here, it will likely be a manis, right?”
    Polandra stared back at him. She looked suspicious. “Yeah.”
    He nodded. “Alright. Then why don’t we spend the morning in training. Manisi training. You show us how they fight and teach us how to defend against their attacks.” He shrugged. “We may as well do that because the decision on whether or not to do something about the Order is up to the Guildmaster, and she’s not here right now.”
    “That’s actually a good idea,” Renata said. “Hand-to-hand fighting skills can be used in many situations.”
    Polandra twisted her lips. “Okay. That’s fair. And at least I’ll be doing something useful.” She trotted off to her rooms.
    Renata took off her riding jacket, revealing the tight, short-sleeved cotton shirt they all wore underneath. It breathed and was thin, soft, and comfortable. It was also very flexible, which would serve well, Aeron supposed, as they practiced fight techniques.
    Polandra returned carrying a wooden shaft maybe four feet long. Aeron wondered what it was. There were elaborate carvings on each end of the staff.
    “You brought a bo?” Renata looked surprised.
    “Of course. I brought all of my possessions that I could. They issued me the weapon, so it is mine.” She spun the staff in her hands and ended the blurred motion with it resting over her right shoulder, her left hand held off the side, ready. For what, Aeron had no idea.
    “Wow, I could hardly see it as it spun,” Lira whispered, eyes wide.
    A dagger appeared in Renata’s hand. Pitch-black, it looked deadly. It had been a present, if Aeron remembered right. “We’ll start by showing you some defensive moves.” She set the dagger down on top of her jacket.
    Polandra set down her bo, then she and Renata moved to the center of the courtyard. They approached each other, and a surprisingly beautiful dance of moves, counter-moves, feints, and blocks, began. They carried out the motions slowly at first, to show them all what was happening, he guessed, and then their pace picked up. After about a minute of lightning-quick actions, grunts, and the sounds of body parts smacking against each other, they stopped. Both girls stood hunched over, hands on knees, panting.
    “That . . . was amazing!” Sharrah stared at them in wide-eyed awe.
    She wasn’t the only one impressed. Aeron’s mouth hung open as did a few others.
    “I want to know how to do that.” Liara stared at Polandra.
    Still leaning over, Renata tucked the hair on the left side of her face behind her ear and looked at Polandra. “You’re better than me.”
    Polandra stood up and took a breath. “I’ve had more training, is all. You’re fast.”
    “You’re both fast,” Cheddar said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    “I do want to learn these techniques,” Gregor said, “but I need someone to take me to check on Kisa. We can come right back, after.”
    “Me, too,” Liara said. “I need to check on Mia.”
    “I can take you both,” Aeron said. “While we’re gone,” he looked at Renata,” why don’t you two work out a training schedule of what moves to teach us and in what order.”
    The winded girls looked at each other and nodded.
    He smiled. “That demonstration was amazing. Even if this doesn’t make it into official dragonlinked training, I want to learn how to do that, anyway. It could have its uses.”
    + + + + +
    The hour difference between Caer Baronel and Delcimaar was a help when going to Delcimaar, Fillion realized. You could be an hour late by the Caer’s time, and still arrive when you needed to at Delcimaar.
    While Coatl descended to land in the plaza, Fillion ended the portal spell, watching as it winked out above. Master Investigator Gella waited below for them to land.
    Remember, if anyone gets too close, or bothers you at all, come find me. I don’t care what this Gella woman says.
    As you wish.
    Once on the ground, Guildmaster Millinith