“Noel, I want you to hit me.”

Azrath’s request was so sudden that Noel’s mouth fell open in shock. “Huh? Hit you? I can’t do that.”

“What, you don’t think I deserve it?”

Noel refrained from rolling her eyes. “No, you don’t deserve it.” She didn’t know if she believed that. “And I’m not going to be the one to hurt you.”

 They were still in her room on the same day she had requested training. Noel stood in front of her desk, where Azrath sat, looking up at her expectantly.

He smiled at her, “Just trust me, Noel. Please.”

Noel bit her lip. “I dunno.”

“Lisen, Noel. Since Darris has the sword pieces, you’ll need all the help you can get.”

She swallowed. Azrath still didn’t know that the pieces were actually in Noel’s pocket. “Well…” But she trailed off. Why couldn’t she tell him?

“I am about to teach you the special ability I’ve developed as a Peacekeeper. You said you’d obey my instruction, so hit me.” At Noel’s hesitation, Azrath’s smile became a smirk, “You don’t think you can hit me, do you? You are nowhere near the level to do that.”

A spark of annoyance flickered into life, but she did her best to stay calm. “Are you serious? I’ve seen you get hit plenty. I even got you with my staff that one time. Or did you forget?”

“Oh, those don’t count,” he said dismissively, flapping a wing. “I wasn’t used to my body yet. And Darris far outclasses my current power.” He looked down at his scaly bird feet. “If I only had my original body, things would have turned out differently. You should have seen me in my prime, Noel! Tall as a tree, strong as a beast, and hair that flowed out behind me if the wind hit it juuuust right!”

“And arms. Don’t forget arms,” said Noel.

Azrath’s fluff seemed to deflate a bit. “Yeah, and arms, too. Big, muscly arms.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Mr. Humble.” Noel thought for a second, then shook her head, “Nope, can’t picture it. You’ll always be a cute little puffball to me, Azrath.”

Well, maybe you’ll see me as I was one day.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She honestly couldn’t imagine Azrath any other way.

Azrath’s wings fluttered as he seemed to come out of deep thought. He looked at her, “So, are you going to hit me or not? This is the only thing I can do to help you in this body.”

Noel hesitated a second longer, “Fine.” She raised her left fist. Azrath was standing on her desk and only came up to her upper leg, so she carefully aimed and threw a light punch downward.

“C’mon, Noel,” said Azrath as he hopped back to dodge her. “That was barely a tap. Try harder.”

Noel raised her eyebrows. If he wanted to get hurt that badly, who was she to deny him? So, she threw another, faster punch. But before she could even extend her arm, Azrath was already out of range. Her knuckles were barely a millimeter away. What the—?

She hadn’t noticed him move. “Dumb luck. I almost got you.”

Azrath was grinning, “There’s no luck involved. It’s all about flow. I also gauged your range with that sissy punch you threw first.”

Her annoyance from earlier flared into a headache. “Sissy?! I’ll show you sissy!” She adjusted herself to take on a crude boxer stance, her left in front. Noel bounced slightly on the balls of her feet, then released a few jabs as she stepped forward.

She expected Azrath would back off. However, he moved forward, straight at her punch. Noel felt her muscles seize as she redirected her momentum leftward. Azrath also changed his direction, using his wings to propel himself backward as she had initially predicted.

Noel tried to follow, but sudden pain shot through her left knee as it collided with the desk. Noel tumbled forward. She dropped her arms to catch herself and narrowly avoided hitting her face on the back wall. 

“Ow!” she said before remembering that Azrath had been under her. She popped up, eyes darting as she looked for her little friend.

“Ahem.”

Noel looked in the direction of the cough to see Azrath hovering in the air next to her right ear. A smug smile plastered his face. “See what I mean? Your flow was easier to read than a large-print book.”

Azrath’s taunting only made Noel’s temper burn hotter. “I’ll show you flow, you little turd!” With that, she leaned forward, pushed herself off the desk, and launched her right fist upward. Her eyes were fixed on the grinning Azrath before he vanished from her sight. Her uppercut only sliced through the air.

“Over here, Noel.”

She whirled around and threw four jabs in rapid succession. But there was nobody there to take them.

“Right behind you.”

Azrath was so close she could feel the disturbed air from his wingbeats tickle her cheek. In response, Noel jerked her head to catch him with her skull. But, again, there was only air.

Azrath appeared in front of her. “Missed again.” He stuck his tongue at her and blew a large raspberry.

Noel gritted her teeth. She couldn’t believe he was goading her! And that it was working!

She threw another succession of punches from both her left and right. Azrath stayed within her vision, but not a single punch hit him. He danced and glided through the air like a leaf in the wind.

“Just let me hit you!” She said through clenched teeth.

“Suit yourself.”

As her right shot forward, Azrath stopped. There was a split second of panic as Noel realized what Azrath had said, but it was too late to change her momentum. In her anger, she had not thought through the consequences of her actions.

Please dodge, Azrath!

But Azrath stayed where he was as Noel felt her knuckles knock into his fur. Then her hand pushed through, Azrath’s wings closing as his body rolled past her fist, riding her outer forearm beyond her vision. Noel staggered as she tried to regain control of her body and temper.

When she had, Noel turned to look where Azrath had vanished. She didn’t see him at first, but then she saw the little guy spinning like a midair top as he began to drop, his wings still closed. Noel stretched her hands out to catch him. Then Azrath’s wings spread and flew past her hands to land back on the desk. Noel’s eyes followed him in awe.

Azrath stumbled as he landed, tumbling forward to roll on his back. “Whew, so dizzy….”

Noel reached out her hand to pick him up, but Azrath flailed his legs at her.

“No, no. I’ve got it. Let me try.”

So, Noel let her hands fall to her sides. “What was that?” she said as she dropped to her knees to stare at Azrath. She barely registered his cuteness as he rocked himself back onto his feet.

When Azrath finally managed to stand, he closed his eyes and gave a slight cough into a wing as he tried to look dignified.

“That, Noel, was flow.”