Allie's War Season One (92 page)

Trailing, I stopped, taking in his appearance. One whole side of his broad, tanned face was covered in fresh bruises, as were his knuckles. Doing the math with the appearance of Revik’s hands, I exhaled in exasperation.

“What happened? What did you say to him?”

“Nothing he didn’t have coming.” Maygar made a dismissive gesture, folding his arms. Then he gave me a quick once-over, a half-smile.

“Come on, Bridge. Spar with me.”

I snorted a laugh. “You ran all the way over here to see if I’d let you take swings at my head?” I started to walk around him, heading for my cabin on the other side of the garden.

“If you want to annoy Revik,” I said. “...there are easier ways.”

Maygar stepped in my path. “I doubt that,” he said, smiling. His eyes were serious. “Come on, Bridge. I want to spar, and you’re faster than these bozos.” He gestured at a cluster of seers sitting on the benches near the sparring circle. “You’re right that he won’t like it...that’s why I thought we could do it now. You’re alone, right?” He glanced back at the main compound, his voice casual. “Where is he?”

My eyes flickered back to his, sharp.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe you should go look for him.”

Again, I started to walk around him, but he stepped into my path.

“Hey, hey, Bridge.” Maygar caught my arm, lightly. “Don’t be so touchy. You know me. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

But I stopped dead. I looked between his dark brown eyes, suspicious.

“Yeah,” I said. “I do know you. Why are you being so nice to me? What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” He released my arm, holding up his hands in a peace gesture. “I want to spar is all. I figure I’m not going to see much of you for the next few weeks, so...”

“Really?” I said, staring at him. “And why is that?”

That time, Maygar really did look surprised. Recovering, he gave another half-laugh, clicking to himself, but his voice sounded close to angry.

“...That
dugra-te di aros
really doesn’t tell you anything, does he?” he said. “Where is he, Bridge? Saying goodbye to all the unwillings he won’t be able to afford anymore, now that he has a wife to keep? Is that why he was saving his cock this morning?”

I felt my cheeks bloom bright red. Son of a bitch had heard us...of course he had. If anyone would be listening in, it would be Maygar.

“You know, hitting you is sounding better and better,” I said.

“Good!” he said, grinning. Slinging his arm around my shoulders, he led me towards the sparring circle. “I have money on me winning in three rounds. Point system. Twenty solid minimum...five spread to win. We’ll have Yerin count, he’s honest.”

“Whatever,” I muttered, elbowing him off me.

Yanking the sheepskin coat off my arms and tossing it on one of the stone benches, I saw another group of seers walking over from the common room inside the main compound. Male, of course...which was the case all over free Seertown. Female seers were five or six times more likely to be stolen at a young age. It meant that the majority of free, unowned females lived in the mountains and in underground communities.

It also meant the compound contained about an 90/10 split, men to women, which caused problems among the males...especially since over a third of those females were either married or liked other females, like Chandre. I’d seen stats that showed murder of owners of girlfriends or wives as the single most frequent cause of non-military seer murder of humans.

“What do they want?” I grumbled, motioning towards the onlookers.

“Alyson.” Maygar laughed. “They want to see the Bridge get her ass kicked!” He jumped up and down on the balls of his toes, smacking his hands together. “Come on. I feel a shut out coming on...easy twenty...”

I watched Jon and Cass come out of the compound too. They must have either asked or followed when they saw the place emptying out.

Jon was shaking his head at me already.

When I glanced at Cass, she held up her hands in a question.

I knew what she meant. I shrugged in response, letting her know I had no idea where he was. Then it struck me...Maygar might not be the only one annoyed at Revik. Hesitating on that thought for a split second, I shrugged it off. This would be a quick spar, no big deal...and it would probably do me good right about then. Revik didn’t even need to know about it, if I didn’t let myself get too bloodied up.

I swung my arms a few times, then stepped into the circle, waiting for Maygar.

He entered the other end of the ring, smiling.

I found Yerin among the faces. His expression appeared close to Jon’s, meaning pinched and faintly worried, which was unusual for him. Yerin was definitely the unflappable type, so I found myself giving him a second look.

You’re judging this thing, right?
I asked him.
Don’t let him cheat, Yerin.

“I won’t cheat.” Maygar grinned, falling into stance, his hands up in rough claws.

Half-smiling back, I shook my head and fell into stance on my side of the circle. Maygar acted like a big child half the time, but I couldn’t hate him the way Revik did.

In an odd kind of way, we were friends.

I held up a hand, open palmed. When the crowd quieted a little, I said the scripted words.

“Come, then.”

Still smiling, Maygar circled, once. He leapt in, a test as much as anything, and a total departure from his usual style, which I knew pretty well from training with him in the past. I stepped easily out of the way, shifting sideways and throwing a hook at his ribs.

I managed to surprise him. Sucking in a breath, he twisted around, threw a counter. I dodged that, too, aiming a kick at his sternum.

I connected, hard, pushing him back.

“You’re a little wound up, Bridge.” Maygar smiled, bouncing backwards on his toes. “Something bothering you, that you have all this aggression?”

“You’re a pig, Maygar. Come a little closer, why don’t you...”

“Why aren’t you grappling with your man right now?”

“Maybe I wasn’t in the mood...”

Nervous laughter erupted in the crowd of seers.

I caught Jon looking quizzically at Cass with my peripheral vision, and that’s when Maygar’s fist connected solidly with my jaw, just before he kicked my thigh with the flat of his foot. I staggered back, ducking just in time to avoid another throw at my temple with his other hand.

“That’s two,” he said, smiling.

“You’re forgetting I got you first,” I said, smiling back. “Twice.”

“No spread...two and two,” Yerin verified.

Maygar stepped sideways when I went in the next time. I threw a few hard jabs, then a fast cross. One of the jabs connected, but not with enough force to drive him back. I was faster than him, but his arms were about twice the size of mine so it counted when he got me—an advantage he pressed. I needed to hit him twice as often, and I couldn’t be sloppy, or he’d stun me and make me into a piñata until I recovered.

He blocked a high and low kick, one after the other, then got more serious, throwing combinations of about ten, twelve, punches and kicks. He only got me a few times, but I found myself sinking into this mode, where my head fell silent, and I felt my limbs moving on their own. It felt good. I was fighting well, and I liked this mindless space, where my body just reacted. I circled back after a few more clinches, then darted in and got him with a feint to the knee followed by an immediate kick to the head, which connected.

Maygar staggered, and I slid around his returning kick, and got him again in the sternum. I was winning, which felt good, too. I couldn’t get cocky though...it would get tougher once we entered in sight skills.

If we made it to grappling, I’d be in for a serious fight.

Mulei was close to a lot of the human, Shaolin-based fighting arts...but only in the initial levels of fighting. Sparring in mulei had very definite rules. Straight hits and kicks in the first segment. No grappling or sweeps until it had been called by the judge, usually in the last third of the fight, because that was when fights generally got dirty. And no sight skills until eight hits had been reached by at least one opponent.

“That’s seven,” I told Maygar. “Five for you.”

“Hmmm. That’s not too bad, Bridge...but you’re still going to lose.”

I smiled, shaking my head. “You think so? Why is that?”

His eyes grew still, his voice soft. “Because I want it more, Allie.”

He never used my real name. Him saying it now sent an odd shiver down my spine. I was still staring at him when he leapt up, catching me off guard with a solid, full-force hit to my eye. He put his weight behind it, and it sent me backwards in a heap. I rolled, fought to get back up, but he got me three more times in quick succession...

...And then we were into sight skills.

Without waiting, he slammed me with his aleimi.

He knocked me halfway out of my body before I turned, hitting him with a spinner in the lower half of his chest.

He’d have the advantage here, since he could split his consciousness without choking like I did. But I was getting better at accessing structures in my light. We couldn’t just go all out and whale on each other anyway...there were rules here, too. No hits to the structures above the head, no breaking anything.

That left mostly shoves, misdirection and tapping to drain light.

Maygar went straight for a tap. Before I could shield, I felt him aim for the separation pain. Seeing it as an opening in my light, he fought to resonate with it.

Realizing too late that I was wide open from my morning with Revik, I jerked back in alarm. Unfortunately, panic opens your shields, so in my haste to get away from his probe...

I let him in.

He laughed in triumph.

We traded a few blows while I fought to keep him out of the Barrier and away from the tap. Then he circled back, putting some distance between us. Still grinning, he slid into the line he’d created between us.

...and pulled roughly with the part of him that resonated. When I opened involuntarily, he forced his way into me as far as he could go...

Pain blinded me.

My knees buckled...I fell before I realized what had happened.

Gasping for breath, I slammed out instinctively when he came towards me, cracking him with my aleimi. It broke his focus on the tap and the pain ebbed, briefly...but I didn’t have much time. Jumping up, I ran at him before he could re-establish the link. While he was still halfway out of his body, I punched him in the stomach, then front kicked him before he could recover, hitting him in the upper chest. He backed off, landing more of himself in his body.

He laughed aloud though, triumphant.

Was it good for you, Bridge?

What he’d done was within the rules, but it pissed me off, and he felt it.

What’s wrong?
he sent.
That part a little tender, Bridge?

I guess if it’s the only way you can hold your own...
I retorted.

I told you, Bridge...I’m going to win.

Maybe I wasn’t only talking about in the ring...

The humor on Maygar’s face evaporated. I heard snickers in the watching seers, before his pulse of anger quieted it.

“Call it, Yerin,” he said. His eyes never left mine.

“Physical hits only for points.” Yerin reminded us. “Legal play. Thirteen even.”

“You ready to give up, Bridge?” he said.

But I was remembering something Chandre told me about taps, about how every connection goes two ways. Without answering him, I split my aleimi...just long enough to find the thread. The fact that he hit at such an obvious target actually made it easier.

In seconds, I pinpointed the tap.

Without waiting, I jumped out of my body.

Using several structures in my aleimi at once, I slid into his light...

...and yanked ruthlessly, draining him in one hard hit.

When my eyes clicked back into focus, he was down on one knee, panting. Pain rippled off him, and he stared up at me, eyes glazed.