Riven (The Arinthian Line Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

witnessed, Augum Stone did what he thought best—he struck the arm. Augum Stone—please tell us in detail what you observed upon approach.”
    Augum felt the eyes of the group on him. “Um, what I observed …” He thought back to what he noticed when approaching the dummy and shrugged. “I think I looked at its feet, then maybe its head?”
    Thomas gave a brief nod. “Let us situation together anew.”
    “Hope this is going somewhere,” Leera muttered as Augum returned to the group, sheathing Burden’s Edge.
    Thomas looked to the dummy and raised his arm. It instantly sprang to life, picked up its hacked-off arm, and re-attached it. It then swayed in eager anticipation.
    “It moves like that dented scrap heap from the castle,” Sydo said, cocking his head.
    Leera grimaced. “You mean Fentwick.”
    Sydo’s nose rose a little. “Quite correct, my lady.”
    “Gods,” Leera mumbled, turning away from the prince.
    Thomas placed his gaze upon Bridget. “Bridget Burns—please attack our wooden friend.”
    Bridget withdrew Blackbite and charged at the dummy. It easily dodged out of the way.
    “Bridget Burns—please describe what you focused on upon approach.”
    “Oh, that’s easy—its torso,” Bridget replied, sheathing Blackbite and returning to the group.
    “We shall now example Centarro. In this circumstance, I will cast the spell on one of you so that you may see the effect for yourselves. Later, each of you will have a turn.”
    Augum rubbed his hands together. What will it be like to try an ancient spell?
    “The word for Centarro is, like the spell, quite old and may be difficult to pronounce at first.” Thomas raised his arm at the prince and rings of flame once again leapt to life, curling around his bronze skin. “Centeratoraye xao xen.”
    Sydo immediately took one long look around, as if seeing everything for the first time. “Beautiful,” he whispered, staring up at the clouds.
    “How does it feel?” Bridget asked.
    Sydo looked at her, eyes wide. He did not respond, instead looking at his hands and tracing the lines of his palm with a finger. He then dropped to his knees and began inspecting the grass.
    “Sydo Ridian—if I may direct you to attack our wooden friend.”
    Sydo glanced up at the swaying dummy. Augum wondered what in the world was going through his brain. He was behaving like some sort of wild animal. Maybe the spell wasn’t working as it should—
    Suddenly the prince sprinted forward and to the right, close to the ground. As the dummy turned along with the prince, Sydo tacked left. Just as the two were at arm’s length, Sydo rolled underneath the dummy’s flailing arms and tore off the bark from one of the legs. As the dummy twisted around, Sydo, still on the ground, whipped about and kicked the bare leg. Weakened from the lack of bark, the leg broke and the dummy fell.
    “Sydo Ridian, please describe your focus upon approach.”
    The prince gracefully stood up, the dummy motionless at his feet. “First I examined my hands and realized their potential,” he said in an awed voice, “I then witnessed the slipperiness of the grass and its particular texture.”
    Even the way he spoke sounded different.
    “As I approached, I watched the movement of my adversary, who tended to keep his arms at a certain height. Remembering the texture and feel of the bark of the tree, I calculated the weakest point to be its leg. I came up with the idea of stripping the bark off the leg, which needed to be done with speed and direction—and then breaking it with a kick, which relied on the particular texture of the grass and my momentum. I also needed my adversary to be off balance to minimize its reach. I therefore changed my approach near the end. From then on it was a matter of following through with the motions.”
    Augum and Leera stood gaping while Bridget smiled and gave a proud nod.
    “Nuance, awareness, assertiveness, forethought, creativity. Let us situation together again