Meeting up with the family at the arena, Gregory wasn’t surprised when one of the ushers directed them to the reserved boxes. The private boxes only held six people each, so they split the group into two different boxes. Gin and Dia went with Jenn and her parents, and Lin stayed with Hao and his family.
Refreshments were served while they waited. The final eight fights for the novices were held as the last four fights of the day, and the rest of the day was mostly the apprentice’s tournament. There were also some demonstrations of various magics by the initiates and adepts stationed at the academy.
The fight between the Swift Wind and Eternal Flame apprentices was eye-opening for Gregory. The Swift Wind clan was clearly more focused on coordinated actions, as three of their members defended against the Eternal Flame’s fire while two cast attack magic back.
The whole day seemed to drift away as they watched the fights, demonstrations, and waited for the finals to begin. Gregory paid attention to the apprentices who exhibited magics he hadn’t seen before, but resisted trying to see the aether strings— he had a suspicion that he’d need all of his aether later.
When it came time for Yukiko to get ready for her fight, everyone wished her luck, and Gregory gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Be careful,” he told her.
“I will be.”
With Yukiko gone, Gregory felt his anxiety growing.
“Are you looking forward to the wedding, Gregory?” Yoo-jin asked as the last apprentice fight of the day started.
Pulled from his anxiety, he had to switch mental gears, and ended up saying more than he intended to, “Yes. It’s been the one thing that’s kept both of us from doing what Hao asked us not to do. If it’d been any further away, I’m not sure we could’ve held out.”
Yoo-jin laughed. “I was surprised when she told me how firm you’d been on that point. We’re thankful that you’ve been honorable enough to hold to that.”
“I didn’t mean to say that much…” Gregory coughed.
“It’s fine. We’ve arranged for the wedding, as well as the bride’s gift. Everything should be in place by the last day of the tournament.”
“We hope that the gift is something you want,” Hao said. “We were unsure of how you would view it after we spoke with Yu.”
“I’m sure I’ll love whatever it is,” Gregory said. “I’ve been hoping her gift will be here soon. I ordered it months ago.”
“Oh? What did you order her?” Yoo-jin asked.
“A book,” Gregory said.
“A book?” Hao asked curiously. “What book?”
“‘Advanced Strategies for Empire’s Gambit.’ She got a look at our instructor’s copy and wanted one.”
“A practical gift?” Hao chuckled. “She loves practical things over trinkets. I think you’ll be surprised by how much she loves it.”
“Did the scrivener here in the city not have a copy?” Yoo-jin asked, puzzled over why he had to order it.
“I don’t know,” Gregory admitted. “I promised a scrivener back in Tolkin that, if I had need of more books, I’d remember him. I sent him the vela and book I wanted delivered to me.”
“It hasn’t made it yet?” Yoo-jin asked.
“No, which makes me worry that it might not be here in time. I might have to visit the scrivener in town to get a copy, after all.”
“Yes, time is growing short,” Hao nodded.
“If it’s not here by tomorrow, I’ll ask one of the staff at the clan hall to run the errand for me.”
“The fight’s almost over,” Yoo-jin said.
That pulled their attention back to the end of the apprentice match. The fighting between the Iron Hand and the Hardened Fist was winding down. The last two apprentices were clashing in the middle of the arena, and the others had been seen by healers and taken off the field.
“Two physical enhancement apprentices,” Hao said as the two men fought. “Almost out of aether, too, it looks like.”
“Yeah,” Gregory agreed as the blue flames on their weapons flickered and started to go out.
The apprentice from the Iron Hand managed to execute a disarm before driving his blade through his opponent’s gut. Leaving the weapon in, he grabbed the Hardened Fist member and eased him to the ground.
The adjudicator called the match, and the healers were already sprinting forward. Gregory was glad to see that Mindie and Klim were there, along with the older healers that had been on hand for the first part of the day.
“She’ll be out next,” Gregory said as he watched the victorious apprentice deftly remove his blade when he was bade to do so.
When the injured man was taken away and the victor had bowed to the boxes, the adjudicator left the field, too. An instant later, Grandmaster Yunlo was standing in the middle of the arena floor, wearing his midnight blue kimono. A stir went through the arena when Yunlo was recognized.
Yunlo let the crowd chatter for a bit before raising a metal disk in front of him. “Magi, ladies, and gentlemen, we’ve come to the final eight for the novices. Our first match is a repeat from the final four during the last tournament.”
As he lowered the disk, both Yukiko and Nick left their tunnels, walking toward the middle of the arena. Gregory’s eyes widened when he saw Nick— he was wearing armor that covered his vitals. Nick smirked at Yukiko and started talking the moment they could hear each other. Yukiko ignored him and kept walking forward, but she was clearly unhappy about the armor. Nick kept talking, even when they came to a stop in front of Yunlo.
Yunlo let him go for a moment before making a chopping motion with his hand. Nick cut off whatever he was saying. Yunlo said something, and Yukiko and Nick bowed to the council box formally. Yunlo had them bow to him next, then to each other. Yukiko bowed formally, as she was supposed to, though Nick gave the bare minimum he could get away with. Yunlo frowned, but didn’t rebuke Nick.
Gregory felt his spine tingle. His anxiety was back and growing as Yunlo raised his hand, not moving back at all. The instant that hand came down, Yunlo was no longer where he had been, now twenty feet back from that spot.
Nick’s hand shot forward at the same instant, a ball of fire zipping toward Yukiko, who vanished as a shadow swallowed her. Nick’s left hand was already pointed to Yunlo, and another ball of fire left it a half-second later. Yunlo vanished from where he was, reappearing on the other side of the arena. Nick didn’t stop there— a wave of fire erupted out from behind him as he spun to face that way.
Gregory’s eyes were darting around the arena, looking for Yukiko without using his ability to see aether. Nick stopped casting fire everywhere and turned around to look for Yukiko. He jerked back the other way, thinking she was coming up behind him, but she wasn’t there.
Gregory saw the shadows at the furthest point from Nick become a touch thicker than the others. Lips pursing, Gregory worried about that, and his worry was founded when Nick saw the same thing and threw another fireball at that spot. The flame dispelled the darkness briefly before it splashed against the wall. The people in the stands right next to the fire all winced and jerked away.
Nick spun back the other way, his sword swishing through the air as he again thought Yukiko might be there. Stopping in place, Nick was clearly upset that he hadn’t been able to find her yet.
That was the moment Yukiko had been waiting for. The shadows around Nick had been shifting slowly, not drawing attention to their movements. All at once, the shadows grabbed Nick’s legs tightly, stopping him from turning.
Yukiko appeared behind Nick, her wakizashi in her hand. Nick laughed as a bright light flashed into existence, banishing the shadows holding his legs and allowing him to spin on a nearly-blinded Yukiko. Yukiko staggered back, her blade coming up vertically on reflex. That saved Yukiko from the first strike, but the armor was still glowing, stopping her from getting away easily.
Eyes watering, Yukiko did her best to defend herself from Nick’s onslaught. Nick was laughing the entire time. He wasn’t going for an attack that would stop the fight, instead going for painful hits.
Gregory’s hands clenched as he watched Nick toy with Yukiko. Inadvertently, his ability to see aether triggered and he could see the aether powering the armor dimming.
Nick lashed out with his foot, catching Yukiko in the gut and throwing her backward. Rolling as she sucked in breath, Yukiko was getting back to her feet when a fireball hit her. The flames washed over her, leaving her untouched.
Nick was shouting at her, but the words didn’t reach the boxes. Another ball of fire hit Yukiko as the light on the armor dimmed, and the flames again failed to touch her. Nick seemed to lose his mind— he rushed forward only to bounce off nothing, staggering back as blood gushed from his nose.
Yukiko staggered fully to her feet just as the armor stopped glowing, letting shadows exist again. Nick wiped the blood away, his face a mask of rage, not noticing the shadows growing around his feet.
Nick spat some blood at Yukiko and took a step toward her, or rather, tried to. His foot didn’t move. Eyes widening, he looked down to see the shadows encasing his legs. Head jerking back up, Yukiko was no longer in front of him, instead appearing out of the shadows behind him.
Fire erupted all around Nick and Yukiko let out a brief scream. Nick tried to jerk around to see if she was down, but he didn’t manage it before she brought her leg up firmly between his.
Gregory’s heart had stopped when Yukiko screamed, but he exhaled heavily when he realized it was just a scream of surprise and not pain. He winced when Yukiko’s foot connected with the fleshy bits between Nick’s legs.
Nick collapsed, his hands grabbing his damaged pride. Yukiko planted a knee into his side as her short wooden blade hit him under the chin repeatedly. Yunlo was behind Yukiko at that moment, taking hold of her shoulder.
Yukiko jerked her wooden blade around, about to strike, but stopped when she realized who it was. The healers were already sprinting forward before Yunlo declared Yukiko the winner. Yukiko stepped back to give the healers room as she bowed to Nick, Yunlo, and finally, the boxes. She wobbled a little, but walked off under her own power.
“That was closer than I had hoped to see again…” Hao exhaled deeply. “My heart was racing the entire time.”
“Yes,” Yoo-jin agreed.
~*~*~
Gregory was waiting for Yukiko when she came up out of the waiting room. “You did good, Yuki.”
Yukiko gave him a tired smile. “Thank you, dear one. I used a lot of my aether. Moving shadows at a distance takes more.”
“Go slow. I’ll be waiting for my match. Your parents are waiting for you.”
Yukiko looked at the empty halls before stepping up to him and kissing his cheek. “Be careful, dear one.”
“I will.”
