Chapter 10: The First Strike
Morning came colder than the day before.
A pale mist clung to the hills outside the cottage, and the wind rattled softly against the wooden shutters. Thessa woke slowly.
After dressing, she carried her journal downstairs as she had the previous mornings.
Maerwyn was already there, standing near the hearth with a small knife in her hand.
Thessa paused halfway down the stairs.
"You're not grinding herbs today," she said.
"No," Maerwyn replied calmly.
The knife flashed once in the firelight as she turned it in her fingers before setting it down on the table.
"Today," she continued, "we begin something different."
Thessa approached the table slowly. "Different how?"
Maerwyn gestured toward the door. "Outside."
The air beyond the cottage was sharp and cool. Dew clung to the grass, soaking through Thessa's wooden shoes as she stepped into the clearing beside the house.
Maerwyn stood several paces away, arms folded.
Thessa looked around. "Are we gathering herbs?"
"No."
"Practicing magic?"
"No."
Thessa frowned. "Then what are we doing?"
Maerwyn bent and picked up two sticks from beside the cottage. They were roughly the length of a short sword.
She tossed one toward Thessa.
Thessa barely caught it.
"We are learning how to fight," Maerwyn said.
Thessa stared down at the stick in her hands. "Fight?"
"Yes."
"But… I thought witches used magic."
Maerwyn raised an eyebrow. "And what will you do when you are too tired to cast it?"
"What will you do," Maerwyn continued, "when someone attacks you before you have time to think?"
"I… use magic faster?"
Maerwyn shook her head slightly.
"You rely too much on what you imagine magic to be."
She stepped forward and lifted her own stick.
"Magic is powerful," she said, "but it is not always practical."
Thessa shifted her grip awkwardly.
Maerwyn tapped the ground lightly with her weapon.
"Stand properly."
"I am standing."
Thessa frowned but adjusted her stance slightly.
Maerwyn sighed.
"Feet apart," she said, nudging Thessa's foot with her own. "One forward, one back. Bend your knees."
Thessa followed the instructions.
"Like this?"
"Better."
Maerwyn walked slowly around her, studying her posture.
"Your body is your first tool," she said. "If you do not know how to use it, magic will not save you."
Thessa lifted the stick uncertainly. "And this?"
"A weapon is an extension of the body."
Maerwyn raised her own stick.
"Watch carefully."
She moved suddenly.
The stick cut through the air in a smooth arc, stopping inches from Thessa's shoulder.
Thessa jumped back.
"I didn't even see that coming."
Thessa rubbed her shoulder nervously. "You could have warned me."
Maerwyn gestured again. "Ready yourself."
"You're not going to hit me, are you?"
"That depends."
Before Thessa could reply, Maerwyn swung again.
Thessa yelped and threw her stick up just in time.
The wooden weapons clacked together.
Maerwyn stepped back.
Maerwyn stepped forward again.
This time the strike came lower.
Thessa scrambled to block it, stumbling backward in the process.
She barely stayed on her feet.
"You watch the weapon too much."
"What else am I supposed to watch?"
"The person holding it."
Thessa blinked.
Maerwyn tapped the side of her own head.
"Movement begins here," she said. "A shoulder turns. A foot shifts. A breath changes."
She pointed the stick toward Thessa.
"If you learn to notice those things, you will know an attack before it happens."
Thessa lifted her stick again.
The next strike came from the right.
This time Thessa saw the slight twist of Maerwyn's shoulders beforehand.
She blocked it.
The sticks struck together with a sharp crack.
Thessa blinked in surprise.
"I did it."
"Yes."
Maerwyn stepped back again.
"Again."
They practiced for what felt like hours.
Most of the time Thessa failed.
She missed blocks, stumbled over her own feet, and once nearly dropped the stick entirely.
But very slowly she began to see what Maerwyn meant.
The movement of a foot.
The shift of weight.
The tightening of a grip.
Each strike became slightly less surprising.
Finally Maerwyn lowered her stick.
"That will be enough for today."
Thessa bent forward, breathing hard.
"My arms feel like they're going to fall off."
"They will grow stronger."
"I thought learning magic would be… different."
Maerwyn tilted her head slightly.
"In what way?"
"Less hitting."
A faint hint of amusement crossed Maerwyn's face.
"Magic," she said, "does not replace the body."
She turned toward the cottage.
"It strengthens it."
Thessa looked down at the stick still in her hands.
"Same time tomorrow?" she asked.
Maerwyn glanced back over her shoulder.
"Yes."