Chapter 4
Clary's POV
His blade cut fluidly through the air, making a satisfying whooshing sound. Artfully, it slashed downwards with an unnatural grace for a weapon before connecting with his opponent's blade. Just as gracefully Jace moved as if he were dancing. Maybe this is dancing for Jace. His footwork was perfect as was his stance. It was strong and steady, yet it also stayed flexible, making his body look so natural in its transitions of battle stances. Every ounce of him sung "warrior, ready for battle." It was beautiful. He's beautiful.
I shook my head, stopping that train of thought quickly. I focused on the sparring going on in front of me again. Jace was parrying with a boy named Sebastian. Poor kid didn't stand a chance against him, even though Sebastian wasn't half bad. Whenever his opponent even so much as twitched in anticipation of attack, Jace reacted quickly. He blocked every blow thrown at him effortlessly, even forcefully. I had never seen someone use defensive techniques the way Jace did. A single arm block could quickly turn into a move of decapitation with Jace from what I'd seen. Sebastian was holding his own. He'd succeeded in at least getting to a point of being able to turn on the offensive a few times which was more than the other opponents had managed, and his defense was perfect. Jace was a formidable opponent, especially when attacking.
At that moment, Jace made a move that laid Sebastian out on the floor, his sword skidding away from him. Well, that's that then. Jace reached a hand out to help his fallen opponent up. Once Sebastian was back on his feet, Jace turned towards the watching class. He held himself regally, oozing confidence. "So, Prof, who's next?" He clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
Professor Whitehorn, teacher of the Sword Masters course, had decided we were to spend the first day of class with sparring competitions to see where everyone was in terms of skills…and each other. We were paired up, and when the first round was over the winners formed a group and paired off again. The losers did the same. The two original group were then split again after the second round into winners and losers again, so there were four groups. This continued until there was only 8 people left that were still undefeated. Everyone else had finished their sparring because the best people in the class seemed to take longer to defeat an opponent. The farther they got in the competition, the better their opponents got, so the longer it took to win.
With only 8 people left, only one pair at a time sparred, allowing for the rest of the class to watch. I had been one of the eight and had won my first "final" making it into the winner's circle of 4 only to lose to a girl named Ashlyn. Jace had just beaten Sebastian, making him my final opponent. If I won this next one, I would be ranked 3rd in the class. If not, I'd be 4th which wasn't much worse, but it still wasn't the top 3. Of course, if Jace won against Ashlyn, he'd be the top of the class. There was no doubt he'd win of course. Ashlyn had been drooling over him through the entire class, and I knew she'd be distracted during their fight.
Professor Whitehorn answered Jace's question, "Next you'll be with Ashlyn." He pointed to the girl who must've had something in her eye with the frequency she was blinking. Then again some people called it "fluttering the eyes" in an attempt to "flirt." I rolled my eyes at the thought while the professor continued, "However, you'll be taking a break while Clary and Sebastian complete their final round." I stood up from my spot against the side wall and headed out towards the mats set up in the center of the room.
As he went to sit down, Jace strode past me, his arm barely skimming my own. I felt him lean down as he whispered, almost seductively, in my ear, "Good luck."
I suppressed a shudder that had nothing to do with disgust and continued on. I noticed as I pulled my sword from its sheath that it was starting to feel heavier in my hands which meant I was getting tired. Out on the streets, I mainly fought with seraph blades and daggers both of which tended to be lighter. I faced Sebastian and slid into the starting stance. Looking straight at Sebastian's face, I watched as he flashed a sweet smile and slid into the same stance I was currently in.
Professor Whitehorn stood to my left, Sebastian right, as he asked if we were ready.
"Yupp." Sebastian nodded.
I breathed out slowly to the point where I didn't feel the movement of air on my lips. "Ready." Professor Whitehorn told us to begin, and I lunged.
Jace's POV
The girl's got fire, I'll give her that.
I watched as Clary leaped into action quickly in the first few seconds. Wow. She was tiny which should be a detriment to her, but she knew her strengths and weaknesses in battle. It was obvious she moved quickly to take her opponent off-guard otherwise she could be easily overtaken by someone with more mass and strength. What she lacked in size, she made up for in her strategy and skill. Based upon the way she attacked at the small openings Sebastian left open, I could tell she had been trained well even if her form could use some work. She held herself on the balls of her feet- good, but she also didn't balance herself correctly. It wouldn't matter if she was going head to head like she was now, but in a real battle if something came up behind her, she could easily be pushed forward, causing her to lose her balance and be sent tumbling.
Clary swung blow after blow towards Sebastian who barely managed to fend off her oncoming sword. The blade moved so quickly, I could no longer see the stars that adorned the blade symbolizing her surname, Morgenstern. Clary was being vicious, not taking any prisoners. I smiled slightly because in a way, she looked like a little angry elf.
Clary's blade collided with Sebastian's one last time, sending his blade to the floor. That was the boy's problem. He had talent, but he didn't keep a firm enough grip on the hilt of the sword. I was glad she won. There was no doubt Clary better than him overall. It was too bad that she didn't beat the blond girl that keeps staring at me, though. She should have. The other girl had gotten lucky when Clary had left her right side vulnerable. Dumb mistake, but the blonde had seen it and taken advantage. Now I would have to fight her instead of Clary, and right now I wanted nothing more than to fight her to see exactly what she was made of.
Clary's POV
After beating Sebastian, we had moved off the mat to sit down and watch Jace's fight with Ashlyn. I prepared to analyze Jace's fighting form again in order to better improve my own, of course, but I became distracted when Sebastian began talking to me. I hadn't even noticed that he had sat down next to me.
"You're a strong fighter. You deserved to win. Congrats on placing 3rd in the class." He smiled.
I tried to gage whether he was being sarcastic but decided he was actually being sincere. It was a little unsettling because I wasn't used to getting compliments on my fighting skills. Jon certainly didn't give me any. He only criticized me in order to make me better. "Thanks. You're pretty decent yourself."
He chuckled. "Maybe, I never expected to get to the final four, though. I don't know if I'm just that good or the rest of the class is that bad."
"A little of both, I think." I laughed. "I was raised where emphasis was placed on fighting skills. Most of the skills I've seen here are pretty pathetic. I don't who trained them, but more time needed to be dedicated to training. More Shadowhunters are out on the battlefield than sitting in a room transcribing history. The Clave's priorities need to be re-evaluated."
Sebastian nodded. "I wasn't given a lot of fighting training, but when my parents died, I dedicated time to practicing my defense. Why was there emphasis placed on fighting skills in your training?"
"Because my mother was scared of my brother and I being unprepared. There are still rogue Shadowhunters out there that believe in Valentine's cause. She worried that they would come after us, or that anther Uprising would occur."
"Oh. Intense."
I laughed. "Not really. No one ever attacked us. I've never been afraid of that, and it was fun really. My brother and I love to beat each other up and give the loser crap about it. It's probably why we're so close."
"Is it just you, your brother and your mom, then?"
"No. My mom married when I was younger. She was one of the first to marry a Downworlder."
"Who?"
"Oh, right, Luke or you might know him as Lucien Graymark. He goes by Luke now that he's a werewolf and not a Shadowhunter. They had two kids also. James and Evangeline."
"Oh, are they here at the academy as well?"
"No, James is 10 and has the werewolf gene, so he'll never be able to become a real Shadowhunter technically. We still train him even if he can't be Marked. Little Evie is only 4."
"So you're, what? 7 years older?"
"No, 6, but Jon is 17, so he's 7 years older than them. What about you? Do you have any siblings?"
Sebastian shook his head. "No, just me. I have my aunt, though. She a part of the Paris Institute. I lived with her before coming here. And my cousin, Aline."
"Oh! You're related to Aline?"
"You know her?"
"Yeah, her girlfriend, Helen, is my roommate. She's nice. I like her."
"Most do." He smiled again in a way that made me a little uncomfortable.
I turned back to watching the fight since I wasn't sure how to keep the conversation going, only to find that it was over. Ashlyn and Jace shaking hands while Professor Whitehorn wrote our ranks on the board behind them. Jace was listed as number 1. Shocker. He won.
My eyes drifted back to where Jace and Ashlyn were standing to see Ashlyn talking to Jace with very flirtatious body language going on. As she was obviously trying to get his attention, I noticed he was looking directly at me. Our eyes met, and he turned to Ashlyn, mumbling something to her. She smiled and then waved as he moved away from her. I turned my attention to Sebastian who still sat next to me.
"So, what class do you have next?"
Sebastian looked up from his lap where his sword lay. He was inspecting it for any damage I assumed. He smiled-again. "History of Demon Realms, not that I'm looking forward to it. It sounds unbelievably boring."
"Me too! Walk with me?"
"It'd be my pleasure, Ms, Morgenstern." Sebastian had adorned his voice with a British accent, making me giggle.
Just then a pair of impeccably polished boots stopped in from of where we still sat on the floor. I looked up to find an expressionless Jace. "You missed my fight. It was epic. You both could have learned something by watching me. I'm that good."
"And you're that cocky. I'm sorry if we offended you, but we were talking. Not that it should matter." I snapped. For some reason, this kid just kept getting under my skin, one way or another. One way in particular, but we weren't going there.
Jace shrugged. "You're loss, Clary. You missed the show. I get to look at myself every day." He turned away from us and began to walk away. He stopped a moment later and said over his shoulder, "And I'm not cocky, love. I know my skill level and yours. I was simply stating facts. See you in an hour."
As he strode away, Sebastian who had picked his jaw up off the floor after Jace's rude interruption, turned to me. "What is his problem?"
"I don't know, but let's just get to our next class." We stood up and headed out the door.
"What did he mean, 'See you in an hour?'"
I rolled my eyes. "I have another class with him, Advanced Grey Book studies. Apart from him actually being there, I'm looking forward to it. He has no idea what's he's in for."
"What do you mean?"
I grinned devilishly. "He has no idea just who exactly is teaching that class, but let's just say they know me really well and won't like his attitude."