After tossing Reath a practice tunic, Vernestra grabbed a practice saber off the rack in the corner, and Reath did the same, testing them out until he found one that felt nearly the same as his own lightsaber. When he powered it up, it glowed a sedate blue, and the one Vernestra had chosen glowed a peaceful green. These lightsabers, while carrying a slight charge, did not have the killing ability of real lightsabers. That didn’t mean that getting hit by one didn’t hurt. It just meant that neither Reath nor Vernestra had to worry about accidentally cutting off the other’s hand. The tunic was also made of a material that was sensitive to heat, and a direct hit would show on the snowy material as an angry scorch.

“Ready?” Vernestra asked, and Reath nodded, his heart pounding.

Vernestra was not like Master Cohmac, who was patient and steady in his attacks. She ran forward and delivered a flurry of blows, all of which Reath parried, much to his surprise. Vernestra smiled, seemingly unbothered, and the sense Reath got from her was of a stream charting its rightful course to the sea, all intent and purpose.

“Breathe, Reath! You’re going to end up exhausted if you hold your breath the whole time!” Reath let out his breath in a whoosh, taking another deep breath as Vernestra swung her saber in a wide attack and exhaling it as he blocked the blow.

They went on like that for a long while, Reath forcing himself to remember where to put his feet, to keep his shoulders square, to watch Vernestra’s shoulders to understand what her next move might be. Minutes passed, and Reath found himself wiping the sweat off his brow, hard-pressed to keep up a competent defense against Vernestra’s enthusiastic attacks.

She was even better than he remembered.

Finally, Reath felt himself slowing, and Vernestra slowed her attacks, as well. When she launched herself into a backflip in the air over his head and caught him from behind, the saber sizzling across his back, he groaned and raised his hands in surrender.

“I yield,” he gasped, and Vernestra’s laughter was equally winded.

“Cohmac must be an amazing teacher. Your form is impeccable,” Vernestra said, powering down her saber and flopping onto the padded floor, arms akimbo.

“Maybe,” Reath said, sitting down hard. “But I still lost.”

“Only because you wanted to.” Vernestra rolled over onto her side, propping her head up on her hand. “You could have won any number of times. But you were so focused on defense that you never took up the attack. I get it, the Order wants us to defend life,” she said, her eyes sliding out of focus as her thoughts drifted. “But I think sometimes we can best defend life by going on the offensive.”


Star Wars The High Republic Out of The Shadows Chapter 6