Dragoncrest Cliffs Northern star

Artaax smirked as he caught his prey with ease. She struggled a bit, but was eventually smart enough to realize she was going no where. Once he felt her defeat thoroughly saturate her small frame, he let her go and stepped around to face her again for another lesson.

"Watch your opponent's movements. Their muscles give away their intentions," he reprimanded in an almost gentle (for him) tone, "See the way they lean, the direction their head tilts in. Anticipate, and be flexible in your own moves. You are too small to smash through your enemies in spite of their subtle movements. You need to bend and flow, like a duck through water."

That was how he had started, when he was small and skinny and pathetic. He had studied ducks and tried to emulate the silent, swift, fluid way they moved. It made him a force even now when he was large and fit like a lion. She ought to study ducks as well. He ought to tell her to. Meh.