Gregory pushed the mask from his face and wiped the sweat from his brow when Gin called a break.
“You’re still one of the most dangerous men with that weapon I’ve ever faced,” Gin said. “If you used aether as well, I’d never have a chance against you.”
“You make me work for it, Sensei,” Gregory replied. “Thank you.”
“Another year and I won’t be a challenge at all,” Gin shook his head. “Inda, Bishop, are you two ready?”
“I’ve been waiting,” Bishop said, coming off the porch.
Inda came back with Jenn and Yukiko, having been removed from Gregory and Gin. “I am ready, Master.”
Gregory and his wives faced the other three. “What are the rules?” Gregory asked.
“Indara will be the adjudicator,” Gin said. “Since we are just starting group fighting, we will limit it to no aether. You three need to learn how to work together. A blow that would remove an arm or leg needs to be acted on accordingly. Strikes to the head will be death blows. Once one side is eliminated, we will pause to discuss the bout before going again. Questions?”
None of them had any questions, so Gin lowered his mask back into place. Everyone else donned their sparring helms, as well. Indara moved to stand between the groups, looking at both before backing away.
“Bow to the audience,” Indara told them.
Gregory blinked and looked toward the porch. Dia and the staff were seated there, watching them. He bowed out of reflex to them.
“Bow to me,” Indara said.
Gregory did so before turning back to face Gin.
“Bow to your opponents.”
Indara stepped farther back as they all bowed.
“Begin!”
Bishop rushed them, Inda circled to the right, and Gin dashed a little wide toward the left. Gregory stepped forward, intent on taking Bishop. Seeing Gregory intending to take Bishop, Yukiko stepped to the side, knowing she’d be targeted by Gin. Jenn stayed closer to Gregory, keeping her eyes on Inda.
“I won’t be able to hold him long,” Yukiko said.
“Without aether, we’re outmatched,” Jenn said. “Only Gregory will be equal to any one of them.”
Bishop wore a smirk as she deflected Gregory’s first attack. “She’s not wrong,” Bishop added as she deflected his second and third attacks. “Gin and Inda will defeat your friends, then they will flank you.”
Gregory frowned, but stayed focused on Bishop. He caught glimpses of Yukiko and Gin clashing a few yards to the side, but trusted Yukiko to hold him until he could take Bishop out.
The sound of training weapons impacting over and over filled the yard. The audience watched with rapt attention, eyes darting between what had become three single fights. When the shift came, they were all surprised.
Jenn was barely holding Inda back, and Yukiko was being pushed back by Gin. Jenn was shocked when Inda’s weapon went flying past her. Taking the loss of weapon as her moment, Jenn rushed forward as a grunt of pain came from behind her.
“Yukiko, eliminated!” Indara called out.
Jenn’s eyes widened, but she knew the best thing she could do would be to finish Inda quickly. Inda had jumped well back and was backing away even farther.
Gin pivoted, aborting his thrust at Yukiko’s chest when Indara called her out. With his opponent gone, he rushed Gregory’s back, who was just glancing back when he heard Yukiko was eliminated.
Frowning, Gregory lashed out to keep Bishop back as he half spun and began to backpedal away from his two attackers. His naginata wove a defensive wall as both Bishop and Gin pushed him back.
Jenn growled as Inda kept just ahead of her. Without her aether to fuel her speed, she couldn’t catch the other woman. She knew that she was being led away from the other two and made the decision to turn, rushing back to Gregory.
Gregory was focused on the two wooden katanas that darted and slashed at him over and over again. They were coming from nearly opposite sides of him— he had his hands full keeping both of them from striking him. When Gin darted back, Gregory was sure another surprise was coming for him, but he was wrong.
Gin darted back to make sure he was clear of Gregory’s range before he charged Jenn. Jenn slowed her own charge, setting to meet the armsmaster. Just before Gin reached her, two arms wrapped around her legs. Jenn looked away from Gin and she saw that Inda was entangling her. Jerking her eyes up, she was just in time to find Gin nearly on top of her. She managed to deflect two strikes before the armsmaster hit one arm, then the other, following it up with a tap to Jenn’s head.
“Dammit!” Jenn hissed.
“Jenn, eliminated!” Indara announced.
Bishop smiled as Gregory frowned. “Now, three on one.”
Gregory attacked hard, wanting to end Bishop before the other two could reach him. Bishop was focused on only defending herself, knowing that her allies would be there soon, but with her not attacking him, it allowed Gregory the chance to back off.
Inda collected her wakizashi before joining Gin and Bishop in facing Gregory.
“You threw your weapon?” Gregory asked, watching her.
“It worked,” Inda smiled. “A hit to Yukiko’s back— it would have severed her spine if my weapon had been steel. I might have been caught and finished if Jenn had been able to use aether, but without it, I will always be faster.”
Taking a deep breath, Gregory nodded. “You were willing to risk that, though, because this is a team format.”
Inda nodded. “Yes. Even if it had been life and death, I would have done the same. I had faith that I could stay away long enough for them to give you trouble. If they gave you enough trouble, she would go back to help you, allowing me to hinder her again.”
Gregory was about to say more when Bishop snorted. “We’ll talk after. Right now, we end the fight.” With that said, she charged him.
Gin was behind her and a few steps to the left while Inda went to the right, effectively hemming Gregory in.
The fight didn’t last much longer, as it had taken Gregory everything he had to keep Gin and Bishop at bay. With Inda added in, he couldn’t keep their blades away long enough. His left arm was nicked, then his right leg in quick succession. When he dropped to one knee, all three came in and hit him. Gregory managed to land a blow to Gin’s leading leg, but he knew it wasn’t enough to stop him from losing.
“Gregory, eliminated!” Indara announced. “Match over.”
“That was brutal,” Gregory said.
“Yes, but there were lessons there,” Gin said.
“You controlled the battlefield,” Yukiko said. “All we did was respond to what you did. We didn’t act on our own.”
“Yes. Any of you could have acted and forced us to change our tactics.”
“We were badly outclassed,” Jenn added. “While Yukiko or I might be able to hold Inda off, either of us doing so with you or Bishop is exponentially harder. Gregory can match either of you, but together, he’s stopped. There will be times that we’re far outclassed like this, so this was a good reminder of that.”
“You will hardly be without aether in combat unless something has gone dreadfully wrong,” Bishop pointed out. “What could you have done to prolong or even cost us a fighter?”
“Both of us should have gone for Inda,” Yukiko said. “Jenn and I working together might have been able to take her before Gregory lost to you both.”
“We could have fought dirty,” Jenn added. “Some sand to the eyes might have been enough to help turn things.”
“In war, there is no fighting dirty. There is only living,” Gin told them. “In a sparring match, it would be viewed badly. During a tournament, it would be allowed, but that might cause some anger in your foes.”
“Jenn and I could have switched,” Gregory said. “I could have taken Inda, which would have let me turn to help against Bishop. It might have cost Jenn to do it, but I’m sure I could have taken Inda out first. Even with Inda’s natural speed, I have reach on her.”
“All good answers,” Gin nodded. “Now, we will fight one more time before we stop for magic training.”
~*~*~
Sitting between Yukiko and Jenn, Gregory exhaled slowly. “Today was difficult…”
“Yes,” Yukiko agreed. “Between the children and training, it’s been taxing.”
“Bishop is harder than Chen,” Jenn said. “She’s intent on pushing me, for which I’m grateful.”
“What was it that Inda had you trying today, Yuki?” Gregory asked. “I only caught snippets of it.”
“She has me working on refining my shaped shadows,” Yukiko replied. “It’s a step toward the next magic she wants me to learn, but my shaping has been rough, which isn’t enough.”
“Bishop just drilled me on using my aether to take attacks,” Jenn said.
“Yeah, I watched most of that,” Gregory agreed. “Umm… before we go to bed, if you’re both willing to help me, I want to try something.”
“Of course, dear one,” Yukiko purred.
“Anything,” Jenn smirked.
“Not like that,” Gregory snorted. “I want to test something involving my gloves and boots.”
“Ah, disappointing,” Yukiko giggled.
“Agreed,” Jenn nodded.
“You both know we’ll be getting to that when we go to bed,” Gregory snorted. “I want to test my gloves and boots to verify that they’re doing what I think they are.”
“Oh, yes, that’s a good idea,” Yukiko said. “How did you want to do it?”
“I want Jenn to hit my forearm with her full strength,” Gregory said.
Jenn nodded slowly. “Aether-fueled?”
“First without; then with aether, but not flaming; then flaming,” Gregory said.
“Okay,” Jenn said, shifting to face him.
Gregory brought his arms up, crossing them over his chest. “Do it.”
The first blow didn’t hurt at all, and he nodded. Jenn inhaled before she lashed out again, her fist nearly blurred as it slammed into his arms. When he smiled and nodded, she wreathed her arm in flame and hit him a third time. When her fist connected, the aether at the point of impact winked out.
“That is amazing,” Jenn said, staring at his arms.
“Now, Yuki, bind my arms and legs, please,” Gregory said, turning to face her.
Yukiko nodded slowly and, a second later, the combined shadows of all three of them latched onto Gregory’s limbs from his elbow to his hands and his calves to his feet.
Gregory moved slightly, and the shadows fell away from him as if they weren’t holding him at all.
Yukiko shook her head. “That’s wrong, though. I’ve tripped you before, even with the boots on.”
“I didn’t think of this, then,” Gregory said. “Bind my legs again?”
When Yukiko did so, Gregory tried to move his leg. It didn’t budge for a second, but then it was free again.
“I have to think of resisting the aether. Every time I’ve used them before, I’d been focused on not being injured by the attacks. I think intent matters.”
“That would explain things,” Yukiko said. “They obviously only work where they cover. I can vividly recall your arm being badly injured by a force shield.”
“Yeah, the gloves stop short of my elbows. That cut my bicep.”
“We need to keep that as secret as we can,” Jenn said softly. “Even the council would want them if they knew about them.”
“Agreed,” Yukiko nodded.
