Rebel Elements (Seals of the Duelists) by Jasmine Giacomo Page A

then did her expression change to one of uncertainty. He gave her a perfunctory bow, which she returned a split-second before he grabbed her by the right arm and jerked her off-balance. She bent her knees and tried to twist into a counter-throw, but Bayan had too much strength and momentum in his tug.
    He whipped her by the wrist in a big circle. She flew head over heels with an undignified squawk, and thudded onto her back on the pebbled ground. The force of her landing made her wheeze. Before she could catch her breath, Bayan, still gripping her wrist above the manacle, rolled her face down and twisted her arm behind her back. The darkness thudded with every pulse of his heart, and he couldn’t help reveling in it. He jammed a knee on the back of her neck and pushed on her twisted arm, further tightening the lock.
    A frantic patting brought him out of the blackness. Kiwani was tapping on his leg. “ Sey, sey , let go!” she cried, her voice muffled by pebbles.
    He let go of her twisted arm and backed away, breathing hard. The other trainees stared at him. A couple of them offered Kiwani a hand up, but she clambered to her feet without help. She waved off her companion Azhni and glared at Bayan.
    “I don’t believe such a forceful show was necessary.” She straightened her blue tunic with an indignant tug.
    “It answered your concerns, didn’t it?” Bayan retorted.
    “Enough, trainees,” said Staasen. “Bayan, please watch your use of force when working with a smaller tegen. And Kiwani, please keep in mind that you are here to train as hard as you can, and then some. This is not finishing school. The trainees who have the hardest time adapting to the level of effort expended in workout classes are the children of nobility. But they all toughen up. You will too.
    “Now, let us continue.” He raised his voice to the entire class once more. “Weaponless combat is for the defense of the common masses. A defensibly trained society is a polite society. However, when you train to be a duelist, you learn the difference between theory and practice. In theory, common defense moves and duelist magic are based on identical elements: the six sacred motions.”
    Bayan gritted his teeth. Despite knowing all the basic defense maneuvers Dakila’s uncle had taught him in school, he had no idea which six motions were sacred, nor which matched with which element. Since Instructor Staasen had not bothered to list them for anyone, he guessed that his fellow trainees already knew them by heart.
    Students and instructors alike backed up to make room as the Staasen waved to Wekshi to join him in the center of the group. Wekshi and Staasen bowed, then she threw a punch at Staasen’s stomach. He parried with a smooth arc and stepped back. She advanced and punched again, this time at his face, and again he parried. After four punches, they paused.
    “All parries, all arcs, correct?” Staasen asked.
    The class nodded.
    “I had to modify those arcs each time, to fit the various attacks my tegen made. This is the defense you know, but take a moment to tell yourselves that you’ll probably never need to use it again.”
    “Why not?” Calder asked.
    “Because in practice, the six sacred motions are used differently in magical defense than they are in common defense. With common defense, the motions are inanimate, applied to individual situations by the waarden to his tegen. With elemental magic, the motions come alive, and the elements fight for you.”
    Wekshi stepped forward, performing a quick maneuver involving different arm positions. She did a stylized spin, followed by a ducking step forward and a double-arm push that didn’t come anywhere close to Staasen.
    “Doesn’t look very dangerous, does it?” Staasen asked.
    Admiring murmurs rippled through the gathered students. “Pretty, though,” one of the girls said.
    “Now watch what these moves do when Wekshi invokes her magic.”
    Bayan watched, wide-eyed, as a misty