Chapter 34: The many wonders of Ravensong castle

 "And this is the sword practice arena," Anastasios showed off another arena to Darius. It didn't look any different from the many others, that the vampire prince had already shown off. It had a rack with weapons.

 In this case, all kinds of swords. There were two-handed ones, long swords, bastard swords, rapiers, fencing ones, short swords. Even something that looked too thin to be a sword. 

"What is this?" Darius pointed at the thin and slick sword. It was very long, longer than normal swords, and its grip was minimalistic. The guard was small, and the grip itself was long. 

"That is a katana, from the human world," Anastasios told him, and took it off the rack. "In Westermire they don't have such exotic swords. It was pressed so many times, that now it can cut through anything. Watch."

The vampire prince went to a wooden board, and cut it in half with one stroke of the blade. 

"Show off," Prisila muttered, as Darius stared with stars in his eyes at the sword. 

"Can you teach me how to use this?" Darius asked. Surely, with such a sword, he would be unstoppable?

 "The katana requires a lot of training. Stick to the swords that are more common in Fairstar," Anastasios said. Darius's tail sagged. "I mean, you don't really want to learn how to jump around with this. It is torture. Besides, if it breaks, you won't be able to fix it easily." 

"I can put a preservation rune on it," Darius suggested, but the prince was not moved. 

"I tell you what. If you master any of the other swords, I will make sure you are invited here more often to learn how to use a katana. It is just that a katana is sharper and more dangerous than normal swords. I don't want you to get hurt," Anastasios said, and Darius's tail began to wag. The prince took that as a good sign. "Do you want to hold it?"

Darius moved closer, and reached out. Anastasios handed over the katana handle first, and made a couple of steps back. 

"It is so light," Darius said, as he stared at the blade. "It makes whoosh, and then bam. No more dragon!"

The demon boy swung the katana, and it flew out of his grip. It fell on the ground, blade first, and then clattered to the floor. 

"I said you can hold it, not play with it," Anastasios chastised, and Darius smiled bashfully. 

"Sorry about that," the demon boy murmured, and then looked at Prisila. 

"Prisi, what sword do you like to use?" He asked, and she took a rapier off the rack. 

"Light, precise, and easy to perform acrobatics with. You boys can take your confidence boosters, but the rapier is Queen," Prisila said, and she did a backflip with the blade clutched in her hands. Landing on her feet, she struck a pose, and looked at the disgruntled face of her brother, and the awestruck face of her destiny brother. 

"How did you do that?" Darius gasped. He had never seen anything even half as cool. Maybe Anastasios performance with the katana had been impressive, but Prisila took the cake. 

"Parlor tricks after ballet practice," Anastasios said snidely when Prisila opened her mouth to give an answer. 

"A lot of time spent with a rope around my middle, and up in the air. Walking another, thicker, rope," Prisila said, and pocked out her tongue at her brother. "Nastia is just jealous because he is clumsy in the air, and ends up falling a lot." 

"You don't get hurt, do you?" Darius was by Anastasios's side instantly. The demon boy had both of the vampire's hands in his, and their faces were centimeters away. Anastasios blushed at the closeness, and he remembered, with an even deeper mortification, that not too long-ago Darius had kissed him as a part of a bet. 

"I had a rope around my waist," Anastasios reminded the demon, and then shrugged. "I might not be able to do backflips, but I can still cut up a dummy faster than Prisi." 

"Oh, yeah? I challenge you to a dummy killing spree. Dari can keep count," Prisila said, not ready to let her brother belittle her achievements or prowess. 

"You are on, sis," Anastasios said with a smirk, picking up the katana again. The two walked towards the dummies, and looked at Darius. 

"Ok, here are the rules," Darius said, after figuring what the two expected of him. "You will each behead your dummies the fastest way you can. In the flashiest way you can. I will judge your performance." 

"Beheading? The katana is better at beheading than the rapier. You are playing favorites, Dari," Prisila complained, but her brother sent her a challenging look. 

"Are you giving up, little sis? Remember, he will also judge how flashy we are. You, with your pirouettes and backflips, have the advantage there," Anastasios told her, and she nodded. 

"I guess you are right," she agreed, and then smirked at him. "Loser cleans the other's room for a week." 

"You are on," the prince said, and they took the starting positions. Darius whistled, and the two were off.  

Darius was dazzled by the high jump that Prisila was capable of. She balanced herself on one of the dummy's shoulders, and cut off its head with two hacks. Then, she jumped off.

Darius and Anastasios's eyes met, just as the vampire prince ran pass the dummy, and then waved his katana, as if to clean it from imaginary blood.

 The head fell, and Darius blinked. When had Anastasios even looped the head off? Then, the torso was split in two, and finally, the legs collapsed, and the wooden dummy's pieces with them.  

"Did you just... use magic?" Darius asked, awe dripping from his voice. 

"No, I am just that fast," Anastasios smirked at his sister, whose shoulders slumped. 

"So, he won, right?" Prisila asked, and Darius nodded. 

"I wouldn't want to ever face you, either. But against Nastia I won't last even a second," Darius murmured. Ashamed that, apart from shooting with a bow, he didn't know how to use weapons. 

"Don't feel down, now," the vampire prince said with a big grin. "You will be just as good as me. But not better. For I am the best." 

Darius rolled his eyes, but he was soon chuckling along.