Arc 9-09
“This isn’t where I thought you were going with this.”
I reluctantly stand on the scorched and churned earth Alana has been using as a practice ground. Standing across from me is my lovely savage, Kierra’s narrowed eyes, the fading light bringing out the gold in them, softened by her playful smile. Alana stands beside her, stretching, refreshed after her short break. She drops her arms and unsheathes her blade, examining the edge before leveling it at me, the business end aimed at my heart.
“You haven’t been keeping up with your training,” Alana says, the rebuke tinged with amusement. “You keep saying you’re not a ruler. Time to remember what you are.”
“Maybe this is going where I thought.”
“Cute. But no.”
“Do you not wish to see the results of your training?” Kierra adds. “Not even you can go straight to fighting dragons.”
“I wish I could go to bed.”
“Think of it like this. Your performance determines whether we join you.”
“I wouldn’t go that far…”
I grin as Kierra turns to the reluctant knight. Alana pointedly turns away from judgment, forcing a stern frown to her lips, as if it’ll distract us from her faint blush. “Come on. I thought this was how the two of you flirted.”
I shrug off my shirt with a sigh. “It’s how she flirts. I prefer verbal sparring, if any. Preferably over dinner with romantic lighting.”
“Not where I thought that was going,” Alana scoffs. “We all know you—”
She yelps, ducking as a bolt of fire flies through where her head would have been. “Lou!” she squeals.
“Was there supposed to be a signal?”
Kierra laughs as she launches herself at me. Saints, it’s hard to think there was a time when I could only imagine her as a force of nature, something I could only endure, never catch up to. She’s still incredible, but I can see her hands as they strike, smacking aside her wrists in-between weaving through the blows. There’s an unspoken rule to these things; I try not to limit. Doing so resets any damage and restores my stamina. If I wanted, I could stand directly in the path of her onslaught and win with unparalleled endurance.
But then there’d be nothing to learn, nowhere to improve.
So, the unspoken rule of not transforming. Without the option of simply erasing the damage, taking her blows head on isn’t a good idea. I don’t like to think of it, but Kierra is also growing stronger. It’s not as apparent as the effects on Alana, but she can use her magic on herself. A fraction at a time, one day at a time, propelled by the vague wish to improve. With each day, she’s a little better, in every way.
One day, she’ll outgrow the form designed to keep up with her. It might take years, maybe a timespan measured in decades, but what does that really mean to immortals?
Something I can’t spare thoughts toward as a blade interrupts our rhythm, nicking my cheek but giving me much needed distance. For a fraction of a breath; Kierra is immediately dashing toward me, always the relentless pursuer. Alana is behind her, moving in her shadow as she waits for her next opportunity.
Got to break them up. The last thing I need is Alana’s reach forcing me into awkward positions.
I dash toward them, knowing the smiling elf will meet me, counting on being that much stronger than her. But she doesn’t meet my charge head on or catch the open palm meant to shove her aside. With an unnatural twist, she slips away from it. The earth trembles as she sets her feet before she drives her shoulder into my chest, stealing my breath. In a strange twist of events, I’m the one driven back, forced on my back foot.
My instincts scream as she hooks my arm, knowing no good will come of that. Almost reflexively I conjure a spell, defaulting to the familiar fire affinity. Fire washes over her face, meant more to shock than to harm.
Should have known better. Kierra doesn’t even flinch, smiling through the glorified sparks as she twists my limb, forcing me to turn with it.
Then Alana is there, sword coming down with grim intent.
Is she strong enough to cut through my dense muscles now? Is she going to take my saints blessed head off?
I curse as I fight Kierra’s hold, pushing my own flexibility to the limit as I move my head out of its path.
Except, she isn’t aiming for my neck.
The sword arcs low, cutting my knee. There’s a fierce sting…but nothing more. It’s not deep enough to cripple.
Alana scowls; I grin, forcing my fingers around to touch Kierra’s skin.
She drops me like I burn, knowing what’s coming. The toxin secreted through my fingertips doesn’t touch her, but it doesn’t matter. I’m free.
My leg snaps out; Kierra catches the blow but it’s not a good idea for her to take my blows either. Despite the green glow on her arms, they shake and she stumbles backward. I’m already pivoting, leaping toward Alana. To her credit, she sees me coming. She tries to hold me off, forcing out what has to be the last bit of her mana in a blinding attack that whites out my vision. I can’t take the pain with the same mad stoicism of my wife; I scream. Doesn’t stop me from grabbing hold of her.
I aim for her neck but my fingers twist in the fabric of her shirt. Good enough.
Heaving with all my strength, I lift her, snarling at her surprised yelp as I throw her in the direction of Kierra’s footsteps.
My eyes are rapidly healing, but all I can make out is a vague blur as my two opponents collide. That’s good enough to aim my next spell.
A fireball half the size of a grown man explodes just before reaching them, knocking all of us away from each other and kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Had enough?” I shout between coughing as I climb to my feet.
Laughter answers me, right before a rock hits my left eye, undoing all its progress. Cursing with a hand to my face, I ignore the twinge in my chest brought on by the liberal use of mana and craft a spell while rushing forward. My ears lead me to them, the rapid breathing of my battle maniac in front of the more steady breaths of my knight. Another rock spirals toward me but I lower my head, the compacted earth bouncing off my tougher skin with a sharp crack that sounds far more painful than it is. Keeping my head bowed, I do my best impression of a bull, barreling into the elf that has no choice but to catch the charge to protect her more vulnerable teammate.
We hit the ground in a tangle of limbs. Wrestling with Kierra is always a bad idea, something she proves in how quickly she wraps me up, skill quickly overcoming my strength advantage.
“Another struggle snuggle my love?” she purrs in my ear as she pulls on my limbs.
“Nope. Learned that lesson.”
But she doesn’t know all my new tricks.
A word. A thought, amplified until its unintelligible. The mental affinity doesn’t have many options when it comes to offensive capabilities, but it’s unmatched for disorientating any thinking creature. My wife, seasoned warrior that she is, yowls at the sudden chaos that assaults her mind. It stuns her for a precious second and that’s all I need to reverse our positions.
Not that Alana will let me keep the advantage. As soon as I pin her, a blade is aiming for my neck again, faster than before. Needing my hands to hold down my elf, my mind races for a solution. At the last second, instinct takes over.
My teeth clamp down on the steel, holding it in place. I meet Alana’s wide eyes and wink.
She scowls. “Don’t you dare break my sword.”
“’ve up.”
“Really? You’re in a terrible position. Kierra’s going to break out any second.”
I ignore how difficult it is to hold the squirming elf in place. She’s right, I can’t hold this for long. “’aw.”
“This is not a draw.”
I chomp on the sword and raise a brow. Come on. Is this not enough?
“…fine.” Feeling her pull on the blade, I let go. She eyes the teeth imprints in the metal with disgust before sheathing it. “This was just supposed to be a quick spar anyway.”
After a couple spit takes to get the taste of metal and earth out of my mouth, I give her a disbelieving look. “You should have known it wouldn’t be that simple.”
“Is that why you haven’t let her go?”
“Please. She isn’t going to be satisfied until one of us is unconscious. You, uh, might want to step back.”