did not remember her: he attacked her as he would his fiercest opponent.
Caitlin managed to duck out of the way, at the last second, as the wooden sword grazed her head.
She was stunned by it, and by Blake. But not hurt. At least not yet.
He turned and faced her again. Something in her could not get her to summon her skil as if she were facing a normal opponent. She knew she should lunge, should attack. But she just couldn’t bring herself to. Instead, she found herself remembering that time, in the Colosseum, when he gave up his life for her. Her heart broke with the thought of it. With the thought of how much she owed him.
He attacked her head-on, and she blocked his blows, blow for blow. But she did not attack back.
She could not get herself to.
Final y, after several swings, their swords locked, and he came in close to her, grunting and sweating, as he tried to push her down with al he had. Just inches away, she could see the anger in his face. And she could tel that he did not remember her at al .
“Blake,” she grunted, shoulder to shoulder. “It’s me. Caitlin.
Can’t you remember?”
He looked at her and final y, after seconds of struggling, spat, “You’re new here. I don’t know you, obviously.”
With that, he shoved her with al his strength, and he sent her back, rol ing in the dirt.
Caitlin rol ed and rol ed, and lay there in the dirt.
That’s when it hit home. Final y. He real y didn’t know her.
He real y was a stranger to her. She final y came to accept it, to accept the new circumstances.
She gained her feet with a new resolve. As he charged, ready to finish her off, she calmed herself and faced him as she would any other warrior. Final y, for the first time, she felt herself take control of her emotions. She realized that she didn’t need to let her emotions control her. She realized that she could control them. That she could be bigger than her emotions.
And that realization changed her life.
As Blake swung at her, while she was stil on the ground, she simply rol ed back, lifted her feet up, caught him by the stomach, and sent him flying, over her head.
The crowd oohed.
She jumped up to the ground, as he landed on his back, several feet away.
Blake jumped to his feet and spun and faced her, indignation on his face. He reached back, planted his feet, and with one sharp move, hurled his sword right at her.
It was a good move, a move that few warriors would make, a quick, unexpected move of converting a sword into a spear. And it had happened so fast, so quickly, that any other warrior would have fal en prey to it.
Caitlin saw it, but even with her enhanced senses, it had happened so quick, that she had no time to dodge or parry it. It was going to hit her.
So instead, she ground her feet to the earth, and realized it was time to use her new mental power. She summoned every bit of energy she had, and wil ed herself to use the new skil that Aiden had showed her.
In her mind, she felt the sword as it came close, felt its particles, its energy. She became one with it. And once she did, she wil ed it to change direction.
At the last second, it did. Caitlin’s mind changed the direction of the sword, sent it flying up in the air, far above her head, and into the dirt.
The crowd gasped, as did Blake. It was incredible. Caitlin had managed to move the object without even touching it.
Clearly, she had powers above and beyond any of the others here.
Everyone was stunned.
Caitlin charged Blake now, with her bamboo sword, and went to finish him off. He lifted his Shield as she struck furiously, left and right, slashing and jabbing. She tired him down, beat him back, blow after blow. He final y col apsed to one knee, holding up the Shield. And Caitlin was but a blow away from winning the match.
But suddenly, she was distracted. She saw someone standing in the distance, amidst the crowd.
And despite al of her composure, al of her training, her jaw dropped wide open in shock, as she dropped her sword in mid swing.
Everyone in the crowd turned to see what she was staring at.
A boy stepped out of the crowd and