Azure Mist's Arc

Chapter 1 of 7

Azure Mist wanted the tournament crown, and she stood barely taller than the sword rack behind her. She had come to prove one thing to the kingdom: a petite girl could beat any seasoned warrior alive. The registration yard held two hundred fighters. Every one of them looked down at her. A huge man pushed through the crowd. Scars crossed his bearded face. His clothes hung in rags, but his arms were thick as fence posts. He stopped in front of Azure and laughed. "They let children sign up now?" he said. "Go home, little one. This sand is for warriors." The crowd laughed with him. Azure felt her face burn. She knew the rule. If a fighter got mocked and gave no answer, the judges struck her name off. She would be gone before the first match. "I have a name," Azure said. "Azure Mist. Say it after I win." The man snorted. "Prove you can hold a blade first." He gestured at the practice ring. "One pass. If you drop your steel, you leave." The crowd went quiet. Everyone waited to see her run. Azure drew her weapons instead. From her back came a matched pair of swords, their silver blades bright, blue gems set in golden hilts. They were long for her small frame. She had trained with them for two years in secret, alone, until her arms stopped shaking. "One pass," she said. The man swung a heavy practice sword at her shoulder. Azure did not block it. She dropped low, slid under the arc, and rolled past his knees. Both her blades tapped his sides as she came up behind him. Light, fast, twice. The crowd gasped. The big man turned, slow and surprised. Two chalk marks now streaked his ribs. If those had been edges, he would be bleeding. "That's two," Azure said. She was not even breathing hard. He stared at her. Then his mouth twisted into something close to a grin. "Fast," he admitted. "Small and fast." He lowered his weapon and gave a short nod. A judge stepped forward and wrote Azure's name in the book. The mockery was over. She had answered the challenge, and the yard knew it. But Azure's win cost her the surprise she needed most. Two hundred fighters had just watched her only trick. They saw how she moved, how she ducked and rolled and struck from below. Azure sheathed her twin swords. Her hands were steady, but her stomach was not. She had earned her place in the tournament. Now every warrior here knew exactly how to beat her.