Page 29 of Spears and Shadows (Defenders of the Light)
“Then why don’t you fill me in while we walk? I still have a lot to learn about the Eteria.”
Thad glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “What do you want to know?”
Nora wasn’t sure where to start, but she settled for asking, “Why does nobody but Adam leave the Sanctuary very often?”
Thad looked pensive for a moment before he spoke.
“It was hard watching the world around us go by as if nothing had happened after the Defeat. The Eteria as we knew it had come crumbling down. Our leadership was dead or disheartened, and with the Shadow vanquished, we had no real purpose. It was easier to stay in the Sanctuary and grieve all we had lost. After that…” Thad shrugged. “It exhausts you to your very soul to watch everybody you ever met grow old and die.”
Nora walked in silence for a moment, considering how horrible the defeat must have been to send the entire Eteria into hiding.
“Then why does Adam stay out in the rest of the world?” Nora eventually asked. Adam was a mystery she couldn’t resist trying to solve.
“Adam is in a…unique situation. He always has been curious about where the world is going. It’s been good for the rest of us, too, to have him bringing pieces of the world back with him. Keeps us young, as it were.”
“What kinds of things does he bring back with him?”
“Have you ever tried chili cheese fries? Life altering.”
Nora laughed. They had reached Millenium Park and Thad led her towards the spectacle that was The Bean. He pulled her under the curved edge of the perfectly polished, kidney bean shaped structure. They stood beneath its wide arch, facing towards one of the mirrored sides.
Nora shook her head in disbelief as she commented. “I still can’t believe this is the entrance to the Sanctuary, just out in plain sight like this.”
“You should see the Paris entrance. It’s straight through one of the walls in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.”
Nora’s mouth fell open. “But how do you keep people from just falling through the wall into the Sanctuary? Or are you constantly besieged by extremely confused tourists? And don’t people notice you popping in and out of walls?”
“You’d be surprised what people miss when they aren’t looking for it. Besides, that’s the thing about these portals that’s so brilliant—you can only get through them if you know where you’re trying to go.” He took her hand and drew her a step closer to the mirrored surface. “You could do this on your own, I’m just here for insurance this first time. After this, you should be able to come and go as you please.”
Nora raised a brow and glanced down at him. “Are you sure you want that? You know you will never see the end of me if I can get in here and explore all I want.”
Thad’s smile was crooked as he responded. “Oh, I’m sure. we could use a little variety around here after two thousand years. You’re just the change we need.”
* * *
Nora hitthe dirt with an ungraceful thud for what had to be the twelfth time in the last hour and rubbed her backside as she clambered back to her feet. She didn’t bother to dust off her clothes, surrendering to the fact that the red tunic Thad had supplied for her was now hopelessly crusted with dirt from the ground of the training ring.
“Take your stance again, and this time, keep your weight on your back foot.” Ezra’s voice reminded her to focus on what she was doing, not on how silly she must look. She moved into the position he had taught her, and he crossed his arms as he appraised her, looking like a human mountain as he scowled. Nora couldn’t say whether he was scowling because of her form, though, because she hadn’t seen another expression from him the entire time she had been here, and she had begun to think that was just the way his face looked.
Nora brought her attention back to her own feet and focused on keeping her body angled to the right, with her weight on her right foot and the ball of her left just resting on the packed dirt. She lifted her hands with her left arm forward and fingers slightly open, ready to grab or strike as the occasion arose.
Ezra sighed and uncrossed his arms, making the black band tattooed around his left bicep ripple. “You must round your back more and lean forward. If you stand up straight like a board, you will not be behind the defense of your hands.”
Nora attempted to get into the position he described and felt supremely silly. It was hard to believe that just two hours ago, she had been excited to learn the Greek hand-to-hand fighting style of pankration, hoping to discover more about the techniques than anybody else ever had from examining the depictions of famous fights on pottery. Now, though, she was mainly regretting never going to Pilates with Odelle, thinking maybe more exercise would have given her a better sense of coordination. As it was, Nora was a shaking ball of bruises and sweat. History lessons had rarely been so hands-on.
“Enough,” Ezra grumbled, running his fingers through his sandy hair, and she gratefully stood up out of the fighting stance. “You are too tired to make any more progress today. You are only going to practice bad habits. Especially harmful for beginners.”
Nora hobbled over to the edge of the fountain where there was a towel for her to wipe the sweat away from her eyes.
“I haven’t been a beginner at anything in years,” Nora grumbled as she mopped at her face.
Ezra snorted. “I’m not surprised. You lack the patience that comes with learning new things.”
“You can’t always get good at things by taking it slow.”
“And you can’t always improve at things simply by wishing it were so,” Ezra continued with a glare. “Now stretch or you’ll hurt yourself. I don’t want to hear about you being sore when we train again tomorrow.”
Nora groaned but flopped down onto the ground and reached for her toes. Ezra was so big as he loomed above her that he blocked out the sun. She couldn’t help but ask, “So how do you end up getting stuck with training the newbies?”
