A Boy and His Dragonwolf

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

Mahara chuckled a little and nodded to both Tyler and Claire. She waited until Tyler had given his armor a test run and Claire had been completely measured before she would step forwards. She whistled over for Nemune and Nym bounced over wearing armor that was slightly too big for him. Mahara giggled and shook her head. "He still needs to grow some before he'll fit in that." she noted idly before looking at the rest of them.

"Tyler, Claire, feel free to head back to your room if you would like." she said, looking at Nemune. "And if you get lost, she'll be with you so ask her how you get there. Judy and I will get you some translated works and her guide on the Aer language. It should be helpful." she walked over to the front door and opened it, looking at the darkened sky. "I wouldn't stay out too much longer, it's likely to rain tonight. Tomorrow we begin your training early as well, so don't stay up too late." she finished before heading out.

 

[Quiet One]

Tyler chuckled at Nym in his armor, noting how the plating over his muzzle fell over his eyes. He reached through to scratch one of his ears, smiling at him. "You're still a bit of a goof." He looked up at the pair of women and nodded. "I think we can find our way, but I appreciate it. We know these two aren't going to want to be separated again anytime soon."

As if to confirm this, Nemune murred and rubbed against Nym's side, quite liking the look of her mate in armor. She opened her mouth and closed it around the helm, pulling it back to show his eyes, her tail wagging behind her.

With the assurance that Claire's armor would be crafted based on her measurements, they went back to their room. They got lost only once, where Nemune simply walked in front of Tyler to stop him and nudged him in the right direction. Once they got to the room in the temple Claire helped Tyler out of the armor, where there was apparently a large wardrobe there to set the pieces in.

"You know, I thought that was for my everyday clothes," Tyler commented as Claire helped him get the breastplate off.

"That's probably what the other one's for," she commented. "I bet once you become a full Taelesol you'll be expected to wear your armor a lot, so there won't be a need to have much else in clothes."

He stopped as he slid off his boots. "You said their word for it."

She shrugged. "Well, I figured we might as well. You know Tyler, this place seems pretty nice. The people are friendly, the food and air is clean."

"Claire, you haven't seen them," he replied sternly. "I was here less than ten minutes and I was almost killed by werewolves with wings. They downplay the problem, but they're fucking scary. And they're armed. I'm telling you, there's more to those things than they're telling us."

"You think Mahara and Judy are keeping something from us?" she asked, getting on the bed and gesturing for him to follow.

He laid down next to her and looked over as Nemune nuzzled Nym before curling around and laying down. "That's not it. I just...feel like there's more. Maybe something even they don't know about."

"Just because we're in a magical world doesn't mean you have to get all Game of Thrones with backstabbing and political intrigue," she countered to cheer him up. "It could be much simpler than that. Like another sentient species wanting their place in the world - okay yeah; it's probably complicated no matter what."

"Guess we'd better learn what we can," Tyler nodded, putting an arm around Claire as Nemune flapped a wing for Nym.

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

Nym had sat nearby for a while as his humans talked before he shook his body and walked over to Nemune, rubbing against her (he had left his armor back at the smithy) and curled around her happily. They all would stay like that for about half an hour before a knock came to the door, Mahara standing there with a few books. "These will get you started. And, sadly, Nemune must come with me tonight. Once we move you two to the squad barracks then they can sleep together every night." she said, looking at her Pandrylyr and gesturing for her to come.

Of the books, one was a translator from English into the Aer language, another was a primer of Aer history and society, the third a primer on magic. "And try not to study for too long, training begins early as I said." she smiled over at the two before leaving with Nemune.

 

[Quiet One]

Nemune whined at Mahara and stood, giving Nym a parting lick on the cheek before heading out with her. Tyler chuckled at Nym. "Look at you. Over the moon aren't you, little buddy?"

Claire chuckled at him too, but then opened the translation and the other books and gestured for Tyler by the desk. "Come on. We've got a lot of reading to do, and not a lot of time."

For the next three hours Claire poured over the books, providing the translation as she and Tyler read. The history was...difficult to follow, but the information on society - which seemed to be a book on etiquette - was swallowed up pretty quickly by them. It did suggest they'd embarrassed themselves earlier a few times, though not that much. The magic was difficult to understand, and Tyler wished they could practice rather than just read. He ended up going to bed before Claire, who combed through the book a little longer before joining him.

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

The next morning began with Ayrie knocking on the door and waiting until Nym walked to the door and opened it before handing the dragonwolf a platter of food for him, Tyler and Claire. He placed it on the table and barked to wake them up, as Ayrie had been told to relay a message to him. When he would get up, she said that Nemune would be by to lead them to the training arena - and for Tyler to come with his armor on.

Nym would snuggle with Nemune, who came early, as Tyler and Claire would eat their meal, the male quite happy being with his mate. He would groom her and act like a good male until it was time to leave, at which point he walked along with his mate as they led them towards the training grounds. The clash of metal on metal began to ring in the air, the closer that they would get.

And eventually they came to a large ring that was built slightly into the mountain, but also at the edge of it. Situated around the circle would be Dartmoor and two others. One was colored brown with silver swirls, the other golden-furred with white stripes the shape of lightning. Nym yipped and bounded over to them, who stood up and began to sniff the new arrival.

Meanwhile, Tyler and Claire would see Judy, Mahara, and two male Aer all wielding weapons and fighting - no, sparring. One of the males was wielding a Glaive that seemed to be fashioned after a Chinese dragon, with even the blade seeming a little like fire. His armor was gold with white similar to one of the nearby dragonwolves. The second male had the brown and silver armor, and had a giant 2-handed sword that was built a bit like simply a slab of metal. His armor was modeled after the other dragonwolf.

The first male lept into the air and swung around in the air, bringing his glaive down at Judy's side. With a quick movement she stepped away and deflected the blow with her single sword. She then dove towards him, but had to jump back - along with the first male - as the second male slammed his sword down onto the ground. The floor didn't even crack, and Mahara's dual swords came within inches of his helmed nose, but he didn't even flinch, just tilted his head back a bit.

The fight went like this for a good while, until it got intense. The older-seeming male slammed his sword against the mountain, a chunk of stone falling down. he then smashed that stone with his sword and swung his sword around, making the stones flow in a ring above his head. He grinned and tossed that ring of stone at the other three. The first male thrust his hand out and shot a heavy bolt of lightning at the stone, shattering it all. He had to move quickly to dodge a jump-slam in time, and blinked as the second male's feet were suddenly covered in ice and stopping him from moving. The first male turned just in time to get a slam of water in his face, knocking him back. A flurry later and all four Aer had their weapons pointed at another's throat.

A moment passed and then they all laughed, Mahara grinning as she took off her helm and looked over at Tyler and Claire. She strode over and nodded. "Good to see you. Welcome to the training room, and your first day of training. Meet Meena." she gestured to the older male. "And Temin. They're the other two in my team - and now yours."

 

[Quiet One]

Claire held tightly to Tyler's hand while they watched the four sparring. He couldn't blame her: these people were intense! Swords and glaives coming within inches of their faces, lightning strikes, falling rocks, columns of water - and he was expected to do this?! When they finished, all four poised to kill one another, they separated laughing. He looked to Nym, but saw he was busy socializing with the other dragon-wolves, who seemed to take to him well. That was at least a little more comforting; if the other guys' dragon-wolves were nice, their owners were sure to be, too.

"Team?" he asked. He shrugged. "Sounds much better than doing things solo, so please. What, um...what weapon am I going to be practicing with?"

"We'll be practicing with weighted stand-ins," Judy said, sheathing her sword and pulling out a wooden sword. A heavy wooden sword, as Tyler discovered when it was handed to him. "Same weight as the real thing, but thankfully dulled so any blows you suffer won't be deadly." She swapped out the wood blade and gave him a staff instead, with a triangular wooden tip. "You'll start with the glaive. It's size makes it one of the most difficult to master. After some basic move drilling we'll move on to the sword, then archery lessons. Meena."

The gold-clad Taelesol approached, twirled his glaive, then handed it off to Judy as he took the practice weapon. He said something to her in Aer, and Tyler only caught the simple words like "it," "the," and "he." He'd only just started learning last night, after all.

"Yeah I know," Judy chuckled. "We'll go slow." She looked back at him. "Tyler, you'll see marked handholds on the glaive. Put your hands on the two furthest apart." Tyler looked at the staff and put his hands on the ones she mentioned. There were three others further in, but he was told to ignore them. "Good. Meena's going to thrust at you. When I shout 'up' raise the glaive and tilt either left or right to block. When I say 'down' bring your glaive down, blocking the same. When I say 'switch' you'll rotate the placement of your hands. Keep your hands on the markings I directed you to. Got it?"

Tyler nodded. Judy smirked. "Good. Up!"

He jumped back and raised his glaive, blocking Meena's thrust. "Down!" He lowered his glaive, but not quick enough to avoid a poke in the leg. Thankfully he was armored, so it didn't hurt, but he was made aware of the miss. For thirty minutes it continued like this: "Up! Switch!" "Switch!" "Down!" "Switch! Down!" Over and over, with Tyler taking plenty of hits from Meena's glaive between successful blocks. It felt more like luck than skill when he successfully dodged, but Judy could see his reflexes were improving as he moved faster with each command. A shame he wasn't that great at keeping his footing.

"Alright!" Judy called to stop them. Meena said something to her with a smile as she came up to them. Tyler was beginning to think he didn't speak anything other than Aer. "Agreed. He's doing well. Let's see how he does with beginner attacks. Ready Tyler?"

He panted. "Can I have some water first?"

Judy smirked and threw a small patch of water at his face, making him sputter, at least making him feel a little cooler. "Thanks."

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

Temin nodded at the question about basic Glaive attacks and glanced over at Meena. He smiled and nodded, looking at the dragonwolf that matched his armor and speaking something in Aer. "Arkenhan, eiror ti." he said. The pandrylyr, Arkenhan, nodded and looked up at the stones in the mountain, and then let out an echoing bark. Two large boulders fell down, and then hovered to land in front of Tyler and Temin. Meena grinned and rose his sword, slamming it down on both. They crumbled down and what was left were what seemed to be two warrior-mannequins. He turned and bowed his head to Tyler. "Use to attack. Good practice."

Mahara chuckled at the older male and then looked at Tyler to explain. "This is one kind of our practice dummies. It helps to be able to fight against strong and quick opponents. But these ones aren't going to fight back. Instead they're going to attempt to block your attacks." she then looked over at Temin. "He's going to show you the first few basic moves. From there, you're to improvise and string together until you get a single solid blow against the body. Until you do, we keep at this."

Temin smirked and nodded, speaking in Aer, though too much for Tyler to follow. Mahara nodded. "Just the basics, Temin. Don't go showing off yet." with a small grumble and then a chuckle, he looked over to make sure that Tyler was listening. One he was sure that it was happening, he rose his glaive up and then brought it swinging down quickly. The golem-like dummy rose up it's own glaive and blocked. Then they reset. He waited for Tyler to do so, and then stepped back. Second to be shown was the lunging stab, which was slowed down for Tyler's benefit. Thus was it deflected off to the side. Third was the basic cut to the sides, and then finally Temin showed the proper procedure for an upwards slash using the long-hafted glaive.

They would drill the movements for at least half an hour, until Tyler had sped up and even had more power behind his attacks. He might not be able to tell, but the trained warriors working with him could. At that point Temin chuckled and stepped away, as did his golem. This left just Tyler and his target in the center of the ring.

"Now remember, you're going to attack, And you're going to keep attacking until you land one solid blow. Try to feint, to swing one attack into the next, whatever you feel comfortable doing. But don't stop until we say so." Mahara instructed as Nym and everyone else stood on the sidelines, watching.

 

[Quiet One]

Tyler looked at the stone man with his stone spear, then back at everyone watching him. Claire gave him a quick thumbs up and he turned back to the golem. "Okay..."

He thrust his spear at the statue, but it blocked him and sent his glaive into the ground. He then swung up and down, but it raised its glaive to block again. Tyler stepped back and looked at his opponent, trying to think what he could do to get past its defenses. He thrust it forward, but pulled back before it would strike the statue. It blocked anyway, making him think he could trick this thing after all. Hm. So that's what they mean by feint, he thought to himself. He jabbed again at its side, feinted, and then made to strike its face. But it blocked all the same. He looked over, but Judy just moved her hand, gesturing for him to continue.

So he continued to spar with the stone man. He began blending one attack into another, turning a swing into a stab, forcing the golem to step back, turn, and duck along with blocking. Finally he stabbed at it, it deflected his blow, and he spun around and jabbed it in the face with the butt of his glaive. He smiled and turned to the others, but Judy shook her head with a smirk.

"Doesn't count. Have to hit with the pointy end."

"Aren't you being a little mean?" Claire asked her quietly.

"He's getting better," she retorted. "Need to push him more."

And he did push harder. Again and again he was able to strike with the butt of his practice glaive, to the point that it was starting to get worn down by brushing against the hard stone. But there was something else: a stone glaive wasn't as strong as a normal one. Forcing it to swing back and forth over and over, to block attacks repeatedly and strike the ground, began to wear it down. Cracks started forming in the staff. Finally Tyler was able to swing and break the glaive, continuing the motion until he cut into its neck, which broke off the head of his practice glaive.

He looked at the others watching from the sidelines, panting. "I want a break. Just a short one. But fuck this is tiring."

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

The Aer all seemed impressed even at the first hit with the butt of the Glaive staff, but that wasn't a lethal blow. Helpful in combat, yes, but not lethal. They applauded Tyler when he finally made the blow, the soldier breaking into small pieces as its job was done. Though at Tyler's question for a break, Temin and Neema looked at each other and grimaced as Mahara walked over to him and stared into his eyes. "A break? Do you think the Pasandrylyr will give you a break in combat? When they're trying to kill you, to kill the people?" she asked, staring at him before smiling a little. "As long as you understand they won't, that's fine. Nemune, go get some food and drinks." she told her dragonwolf, Nym standing up and walking along with the female. Meanwhile, Mahara would lead Tyler into the shade of the mountain and then to a seating area, everyone else beckoning to join them.

"You're doing well your first day, Tyler." she said as Arkenhan and Temin's pandrylyr joined them. Temin said something in Aer and Neema nodded. "Very good. Skilled." he agreed with them both, smiling gently. He removed his helmet, giving them their first look at what he actually looked like. His skin was darker than the rest of them, and his eyes were a gentle blue, short hair cut close to his head and colored black with some silvering in it. Temin followed suit, his eyes orange with golden hair flowing down to the top of his neck in the back. They both smiled at the newcomers, though didn't say much as it seemed they had trouble with the human language. "Tyler, Claire, why don't you tell us a bit about yourselves?" Mahara asked with a smile. "We'll tell you about us afterwards, it's only fair."

After a while of them speaking, Nym and Nemune would come back. Nym had a platter of drinks and some small snacks harnessed to his back in what looked to be a specialized carrier made for the pandrylyr. Nemune, on the other hand, would have a young Aer clinging to her back and giggling. Though as soon as she saw Judy she got off and ran up to the human, hugging at her leg. "Mama!" she giggled out. "I found you!"

 

[Quiet One]

Tyler shrank back as Mahara encroached in on him. He knew this was a serious matter, but this was only practice. He didn't expect to be so harshly received. He'd even raised his broken glaive partially on reflex. Only to lower it when Mahara snickered at him and gave permission to rest. As Nemune nudged Nym to go off with her to their little restaurant - adding a gentle nuzzle against his cheek - Tyler sighed.

"Damn. Don't scare me like that," he said to her. "I was afraid you were going to kick my ass for suggesting a little break."

He leaned back against the bench he'd been led to, Claire leaning over the back as he caught his breath. He probably wouldn't be so winded if it weren't for the damn armor. The whole thing must have weighed forty or fifty pounds. Not bad as armor went, but that was still more weight than he was used to lugging around. He looked at the two male Aer as they finally revealed themselves. Still intimidating, but a lot friendlier than he'd first thought, and their dragon-wolves seemed quite calm, too. He guessed just because they were warriors didn't mean that they couldn't have fun.

"Tell you about us?" he looked up at Claire. "Well...I'm kind of between jobs now. So...this actually couldn't have come at a better time." He chuckled before trailing off awkwardly. "But I guess that's not what you guys care about. Probably want to hear how I found Nym, huh?"

He proceeded to tell his story, with plenty of additions from Claire. He felt the need to express that he wasn't a big fan of parading Nym around as a puppy, since that was more what was expected than anything else. They got a bit of a laugh out of Nym's puppy antics, like the story of their first trip to the pet shop and his attack of an obnoxious car. Well, they got the laugh once Mahara translated. While they understood for the most part, there were naturally some words - like car - that Temin and Meena needed explained.

As he was wrapping up Nym and Nemune came back. He didn't have time to notice how odd the harness was that was synched over his buddy as the giggling child caught the brunt of his attention. At first he was going to ask if she was Mahara's but then was stunned when she ran up to hug Judy.

"So...she's yours?" Tyler asked stupidly.

Judy smirked, running her hands through the girl's hair. "Like I said before, I've found reasons to stay."

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

The Aer girl, named Melody, smiled and giggled, batting a little at Judy's hands playfully as she felt her hair being ruffled. She put her hands on Judy's legs and slowly climbed up onto her mama's legs, sitting on her lap softly. "Mama, mama! Nemune was waking with a male one and I saw them! Why's Nemune with a male one?" she asked Mahara, the older Aer female chuckling a little at the girls questioning.

"That's because she found herself a mate. Her papa to Nemune's mama." she said softly as the dragonwolves came over to her side. Mahara nodded and took the platter off of Nym, placing it onto a table in the center of the benches. There were a number of various snack bites, as well as glasses of a light green drink that seemed to be between lemonade and limeade. At Mahara's answer, Melody looked back at Judy.

"Mama, why's Dartmoor not have a mama mate?" she asked curiously before her eyes widened as if she just realized something. She looked over at Tyler and Claire, cocked her head, and then squealed. "Mama, mama! Those people look like you! Who are they? Did they come from where you came from?" she asked, excitedly bouncing on her mother's lap.

 

[Quiet One]

Tyler reached over for a bite, eating quietly as the kid jabbered on. She was cute, and clearly just a little kid. He chuckled a little at her acknowledgements and pet Nym while he listened. Nemune lay down next to her mate, her wings flapping and tail wagging as she watched the child. Until she had pups of her own, her instincts drove her to be loving towards the Aer young. Not that she wasn't kind already.

"Yes, Melody. They came from where I did," Judy said softly to her little girl, holding her in her lap. "This is Tyler and Claire. They're training to be new knights."

"Hi," Tyler said awkwardly, blushing a little at the way the kid was now staring at them.

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

Nym stood by Nemune and shivered at the gentle pets from Tyler, the male dragonwolf admiring his mate and the way that she seemed to be acting to the young Aer. He wagged his tail, thinking just how beautiful she would be with his pups. Though they probably wouldn't try to breed for at least a few months more, given that Nym still had to grow into his armor.

Melody giggled a little and situated herself on her mother's lap, looking over Tyler and Claire while smiling. "Hi Tyler and Claire! I'm Melody!" she said with a smile, before looking around. "I don't know that one. Is he one of yours? I like his colors." she said excitedly, bouncing on her mother's lap.

 

[Quiet One]

Nemune murred until she finally laid down fully, resting her head on her paws. Tyler chuckled and scratched Nym some more, looking down at him while Melody commented on his dragon-wolf, snickering at how excited she was bouncing on her mother's lap. "His name's Nym. I found him in my world and raised him from a puppy. He was a bit of a troublemaker - " he looked down at his pup. "Yeah, you were."

Claire, however, leaned over to Judy. "I...I'm sorry. I never thought of you as a family woman."

She shrugged and held Melody in place as she straightened her hair. "Before I came here, I wasn't. I met Melody's father while receiving my training and...he gave me her. Speaking of which, does your daddy know you snuck off with those pandrylyrs, young lady?" She asked her little girl.

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

Nym glanced up at Tyler as he spoke and made a playful face before scooting a bit closer to his mate and wrapping a wing around her. Melody, meanwhile, pouted but stayed still as she felt her mother running her hand through her air and straightening it. "I think so, mama." she said with a giggle. Soon enough, an Aer male came running up, making Nym perk up. His face went into one of relief and he sighed, walking over and patting Melody on the head.

"Hey, what are you doing silly? You didn't tell me you were going anywhere." he said with a smile, pecking her on the head. "Though I figured he was coming over to you, love." the male - Yemis - said before leaning down and giving Judy a gentle kiss on the lips.

 

[Quiet One]

Nemune craned her neck up and licked his cheek, settling into his embrace. She looked up at Yemis' arrival, but didn't pay him much mind. She'd gotten the food from him, so she didn't really care.

Judy smiled into the kiss, pursing her lips to smooch back, their daughter making a face at them kissing. "She couldn't resist the pandrylyrs, Yemis. You know how she gets whenever she sees one of the pups." She nodded to Tyler and Claire. "Guys, this is Yemis, my husband. He probably made some of our delicious meal the other day, as well as our snacks now."

"So you're a cook?" Tyler asked. He smirked. "I thought it was the way to a man's heart was through the stomach."

The Aer didn't seem to understand the expression, which made the bad joke even worse. Judy, however, simply set Melody down and put an arm around her man's waist, smiling at him. "We both moved up in the world. He was just a waiter and chef's apprentice when I came here, and I just a trainee. We both became very skilled over time, and it's sort of Melody's choice if she wants to pick up a blade or a pan to carry on our work." She gave him another kiss. "I would fight to my last breath for them."

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

While Nym cuddled his Nemune, the Aer and humans continued their exchange. Yemis had chuckled and kissed his daughter on the head, and then his wife once more as she stood up, gently taking their daughter's hand when Judy put her down and enjoyed his wife's embrace. At Tyler's words he had smirked and shook his head. "I am a chef, human." he winked. "It's nice to meet you, Tyler and Claire. I do hope you don't take my wife's hardness personally. She's very committed in protecting us." he smiled and rubbed his nose on Judy's. "For all we know, Melody may very well take up the sword and cook for her squadmates'' he chuckled, giving one final kiss before stepping away.

"But please, don't let me keep you from your training for too long. I'm sure I'll see you again - considering how much this troublemaker sneaks out to her mother." he smiled, and started to walk off with melody. "Come, dear.." he said softly as they moved away...

 

[Quiet One]

With Melody's hand in his, her husband led the little girl away from the group. Tyler and Claire smiled to each other, then at Judy. She stared back. "What?"

"Should've known there was a big softie in there somewhere," Tyler teased. "It's sweet though. Honestly, I was starting to get worried you were just about fighting. Good to see you...motherly."

Judy walked over to where the training equipment was and drew a wooden sword, tossing it to him. "Well, if it's fighting you want, it's fighting you'll get. You've had enough of a break and it's time to move on to your next bit of training." She flipped another wooden sword in her hand, all the while backing Tyler into the training area he was in before. "Like before we'll start by teaching you some simple blocks, then attacks. Unlike before though, no stone dummies. You'll be training with me and Mahara."

"Why?"

"Because we're more skilled than piles of rock," she quipped without missing a beat. "Look at your sword. There's a line marked halfway down the handle. It's meant to represent a two-handed sword. Most Aer blades have that feature, even though they're meant to mostly be wielded singlehanded. It's good for swinging with a lot of force or switching hands. Right now, place your hand at the hilt. Very good. Now listen to Mahara. She'll provide blocking instruction." She looked over at the other woman, everyone now back in serious mode.

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

"One of the most important things to realize is that an attack can come from anywhere, even above when fighting the pasandrylyr. As such you must hone your skills, senses and instincts to be able to anticpate attacks that may come and block or counter them. Sometimes against two opponents or more at once."

"For now, we'll start slow. but the better you get, the quicker we'll attack and sooner. And sometimes together. your job right now it to block, dodge, and if you feel lucky, counter. Now let's get to it!" Mahara explained before throwing a relatively slow slash at his side. Whether he blocked it or not, it would be Judy's attack next.

 

[Quiet One]

Tyler jumped back, instinctively swinging his sword down and to the right, swiping it aside. He stepped back from Judy's following jab, which she quickly transformed into a spin and second jab. The second blow was at least easier to parry. Mahara came up again, and he swung out, forcing her to pull back to keep from getting hit herself, which did successfully protect him. Judy came up and slashed, hitting him across the chest. He stumbled, but raised his sword to block her next swing. Judy then surprised him by dropping to her knees, rolling on the floor, and smacking him hard enough to knock him over.

"Ow!" he cried as he got back up.

"Judy!" Mahara scolded.

"Sorry," she shrugged. "Got a little carried away. He's not too bad for a beginner, though. Let's keep going."