Gavin leaned on the wall. “What now?”
“Now you prepare for—”
Tristan darted forward, driving his fist toward Gavin.
He was tired, but he knew this was another aspect of the testing. He dropped and spun his leg, trying to hook Tristan’s, but he wasn’t nearly as quick as he normally was. He tried to slam his leg into Tristan and trip him, but Tristan overpowered him.
Gavin stumbled forward, and he smashed his fist into Tristan’s shoulder. Tristan grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back, and then threw him forward.
Gavin stumbled again and then staggered away.
Tristan shook his head. “Better, but you still have work to do.”
He jumped, spinning in the air, and Gavin recognized the technique. It was one they’d been working on recently. Gavin threw the appropriate block and then twisted, dropping down and punching the area where Tristan would land. He missed, everything half a step too slow.
Tristan flipped his leg around, catching Gavin in the back of the head with his heel. Gavin sprawled forward and didn’t bother getting up. He didn’t think he’d be able to.
Tristan stood over him, glaring down. “Get moving.”
“No.”
“If you don’t get moving, you’re going to take a knife to the back.”
“What makes you think I’m not going to take that anyway?”
“Because you’re going to get moving.”
Gavin pulled himself up, moving slowly. Even as he did, he didn’t know if it mattered. He could barely get himself going. Everything within him ached, a pained sense that left him with agony.
He got to his knees. When Tristan spun and twisted with a kick, Gavin reacted by throwing out his arm. He blocked, but barely so. Tristan smiled at him, a grim expression to it.
Gavin was prepared for the next strike. He deflected it and then went sprawling forward again. He rolled off to the side. It was a struggle to maintain movement. He attempted to get back up, but even as he did, he could feel Tristan barreling toward him again.
Gavin twisted, using everything in his ability to get back to his feet. There was another thing he could try. He somersaulted forward and crashed into Tristan’s legs.
Tristan laughed as he stepped off to the side, and the sound of that laughter set him on edge. Gavin launched, driving forward with both fists, trying to catch Tristan in the belly. Still, the man laughed.
Gavin rolled again, kicking outward. Most of the time, he had to get lucky to catch Tristan off guard. He didn’t know if he’d be lucky this time, but he was determined to throw himself at Tristan, even though his mentor didn’t even seem to be fighting back.
He kicked and missed, and Tristan laughed again. He lunged toward Tristan, twisting and rolling, but his punch met nothing but air. He spun. Slowly his strength was returning. More than that, he could feel his core strength replenishing.
Maybe that was a mistake. Tristan had warned him that drawing upon core strength too often—and too powerfully—might drain his energy in such a way he wouldn’t be able to recover. Gavin didn’t know if it was true or not, but he was determined to defeat Tristan this time, which would involve using as much power as he could. He didn’t care, and even if he did, that wouldn’t have stopped him.
From a distance, he could see Tristan trying to reach the hallway. He was still laughing. At least, he was in Gavin’s mind. Wrapped up as he was in his core strength, Gavin felt that energy roll through him as he held onto that power. He sprinted to catch up and then launched at Tristan, grabbing his shirt and throwing him. Tristan slammed into the wall and went ricocheting back.
Tristan got to his feet and grinned at him. It seemed as if Gavin could never hurt him, as if anything he did was little more than an irritant. Just once, Gavin wanted to do something that would actually hurt the other man.
“Better,” Tristan said. “You learned to draw upon your strength.”
“You told me I should be careful with it.”
“You should be careful with it unless you are suffering. There are times when drawing upon your core strength is critical. Not only for your survival but for the survival of others who might be depending upon you.”
“What happens if I overuse it?”
“Don’t,” Tristan said.
“I don’t know if I have enough control over it to trust not to do that.”
“I think the opposite is true. I think your experience with the others, even as weak as they are, is what makes you stronger.”
Gavin took a step toward Tristan and nearly staggered. The strength within him started to fade again. As he tried to reach for Tristan, he fell, stumbling forward.
Tristan was at his side, and rather than trying to harm Gavin, he instead lifted his student. “Perhaps I was a bit too harsh,” he whispered.
“What was too harsh?”
“The beating after you broke free.”
“I thought you said that hardened me.”
“It does, but you can’t get so hardened that you don’t have a core of compassion within you.”
“Compassion?”
Tristan looked down at him, and Gavin had a hard time keeping his focus. More than that, he had a hard time thinking of his mentor as someone who had any compassion in him. Most of the time with Tristan, there was nothing but the edge. The violence. The desire to train. Gavin knew he would eventually need to be able to do what Tristan asked of him, to have the power he wanted for him. Gavin knew he would eventually need to be able to handle himself the way Tristan expected. He had no idea what Tristan was training him for, only that
