Page 32 of Elemental Hall: Nautica
“So, you both got sent straight back here?” Darius says, swinging a blunted wooden trident at my head. I duck the blow, but only because I get the feeling that he’s holding back.
We aren’t training in front of the library, for once. Instead, this session is taking place in a shallow but fast-flowing lagoon, where rocks stick out of the water at intervals, providing stepping stones. A few mangrove trees stick up from the edges of the water, too, and vines have been tied between them. The result is a strange, three-dimensional environment in which we can all fight one another, using a mixture of weapons, our magic, and whatever tricks we can think of with the terrain.
“I think that, once the queen left, it was easier to return us here,” I reply. I thrust at Darius with my own trident, then whip up the water at his legs. He parries the thrust and then leaps over the lashing water.
“Or they want you both in a safe place. If a fleet of ships has indeed breached the veil of storms, that could be bad,” Darius says.
“Ships come through to trade, don’t they?” I shoot back.
“Along predefined routes that both sides hold open. Going through anywhere else… it’s dangerous. And no one would do it without a good reason. There’s a chance there could be an attack.”
I don’t want to believe that. The veil of storms has kept the peace for as long as anyone can remember, beyond a few skirmishes.
“You’re getting better at this,” Darius remarks, as I swing at him. He dodges again. “But you’re too constrained by Luminan moves. You’re playing catch-up with people who’ve had a lifetime to master them. Here, let me show you.”
He pauses our bout long enough to show me a slight alteration to my grip. Doing it means that he’s close to me, close enough to touch, close enough that I feel my heart beating a little faster just at his proximity. “Umbran fighting with weapons uses more of a whipping style. It’s wilder, but it’s effective. Try it.”
I swing at him using the slight change of grip. As he says, it’s harder to keep the weapon on course, but there’s unexpected speed and power there. When he swings at me with that style, it’s much harder to keep the attacks at bay.
“Everyone shift around to the next partner!” Master Glebe calls out.
It’s important that we work with as many different people as possible, but even so, both Darius and I wince. Darius knows by now that no one else really likes him. I… well, I have to admit that I’m enjoying the excuse to be that close to him.
Besides, my next partner isnotan improvement.
“Are you ready for a beating, common?” Ash asks as he steps up onto the stone in front of me.
His expression is filled with confidence, even arrogance. But it’s justified arrogance in this case. On the occasions when we’ve trained hand to hand, Ash has always been better, with the skills that come from a lifetime of training.
He lashes out before I’m ready. I barely parry the attack. He strikes at me with a blast of air, I whip water back at him, and we keep going, keep moving. I drop into the lagoon, knowing that my only hope is in the element where I’m stronger. I can feel his movements through the ripples in the water, and that feeling gives me enough time to deflect some of his attacks. Even so, he gets closer with each one, and he continues to lash out at me with different elements. Ash might not be as strong as me with water, but he already has some skill with earth, air, fire, and spirit, while I know no more than the basics of each. He makes the lagoon bubble with heat, then makes one of the vines comedown at me, trying to entangle me. He isn’t holding back. I have no doubt that he will hurt me if he gets the opportunity.
I think of what Darius just showed me. I shift my grip on the trident slightly, whipping it at Ash in a series of wild attacks. It puts him on the defensive for a moment and I press the advantage, blasting him with the water of the lagoon, knocking him from his stony perch. In the instant when he falls, I strike, and my trident touches his throat. It’s a kill.
For the first time fighting Ash, I’ve won.
He looks furious, but to my surprise, he doesn’t lash out. He offers a formal bow, then steps back. I turn, looking around for Darius, hoping to thank him for what he showed me. I’m surprised to find him watching. It seems that he’s already defeated his opponent.
Ash chooses that moment to attack.
I feel it coming, feel the shift in the water, but I’m too slow. Darius isn’t, though. He charges toward Ash, his trident flashing up to intercept the other young man’s. I turn, and for a second, Ash and Darius stare at one another as if they might turn this into some massive fight.
“Move to your next partner!” Master Glebe calls, and that call breaks the mounting tension. The two step back, glaring but moving on.
Not that things are any easier with our next partners. Darius has Orion. I find myself partnered with Sybil.
“It should be easy enough to beat you when you’re going to be watching them the whole time,” Sybil says in that sweet voice she uses whenever she’s being nasty.
Darius and Orion are fighting now, moving quickly but with control. Darius is faster, but Orion is stronger, the two seeming to cancel out. Neither one is using their magic, as if understanding that doing so would push the bout further than it should go.
Of course, Sybil attacks me in that moment. I parry and hit back. She’s graceful, but she doesn’t have Ash’s skills. I’m able to match her, but that doesn’t stop her from talking the whole time.
“I wonder which of them you’re rooting for,” Sybil says, swinging low, at my legs. I avoid the blow and hit back. She barely parries in time. “Orion or the Umbran.”
“What difference does it make to you?” I demand, lashing out at her again.
“I just wish you would make achoice,” Sybil says. “Go be with the enemy. Maybe that would leave the way clear for me with Orion. He’d do far better with someone of his own social station.”
She really believes that, doesn’t she? She really thinks that I’m the only reason Orion isn’t with her. I laugh, I can’t help it, and Sybil’s eyes narrow. She clearly doesn’t like being laughed at.
