They sat in the stands, watching the other fights. The Eternal Flame tore through the two-man team from the Windswept Water clan, using the same tactic for nearly every fight— Parks would hem them in with barriers, Nick would throw fire at them, and Jason would run right after the fire barrage to finish off anyone who didn’t quit by the time he got there.
“Parks and Nick by themselves would be trouble, but add in Jason and it’ll be rough. That’s not even including the others,” Jenn said.
“I have an idea for how to deal with them, but we’ll discuss it when there aren’t other people nearby,” Gregory said.
“A good idea,” Yukiko nodded.
Hayworth and his clan were next, fighting against the Eternal Blossoms clan. It was another lopsided fight with Swift Wind having seven apprentices and the Eternal Blossoms only having four. The Eternal Blossoms had their four magi split evenly between earth and water.
When the fight began, the physical enhancement magi on Hayworth’s team went rushing forward only to drop into a pit. He tried to spring out of it, but a roof formed over the top.
Yunlo made them stop and went forward to investigate the trap. After a moment, he made a motion and the apprentice who had fallen in was beside him. They had a brief discussion before the apprentice stood rigid, bowed curtly, and walked off the field.
Hayworth looked upset but bowed to Yunlo. He eyed the four magi across from him with respect, though it was clear he was going to make them pay. The moment Yunlo let the fight resume, Hayworth stepped sideways and tore a hole in space. Three of his clan members fired crossbows into the hole at almost the same instant it formed. The padded bolts appeared above the other clan and struck before they could react.
Panting, Hayworth dropped to a knee. The three magi who had been hit raised their hands and walked off the field. The remaining fighter shrugged and raised their hand.
Yunlo called the bout and declared Swift Wind the winner.
“Well, that will be something to worry about,” Jenn said. “It looked like it taxed him heavily.”
“No,” Yukiko said. “Look at him walk.”
Gregory and Jenn watched Hayworth as he left the field.
“His stride is even and smooth,” Yukiko said. “He was faking it. It should have taxed him, but he likely had an item to store aether and used it instead.”
The Eternal Flame destroyed their opponents in their second fight, securing their place in tomorrow’s semi-finals. When Swift Wind fought again, Gregory and his wives were surprised that the physical enhancement magi wasn’t with them.
“Hmm… Yunlo must have declared him unrecoverable,” Bishop said. “Rare, but it’s still a valid rule.”
“He’s out for the rest of the tournament?” Jenn asked.
“Yes. Undoubtedly, they would rather have gotten Hayworth, but they had to neutralize the advancing threat.”
“Well, tomorrow will be a little easier, then,” Jenn said.
“And easier for the Eternal Flame if Swift Wind bests you,” Dia said.
“True, but we won’t lose,” Gregory said. “We need to get down to the waiting area.”
“Fight well,” Dia said.
“They’re friendly to the clan, but don’t hold back,” Bishop added.
“We won’t,” Gregory replied.
The fight between Swift Wind and Yamato Shipping was starting, but Gregory and his wives would be fighting after them and had to prepare. As it was, they knew they would be facing the Iron Hand, or what was left of them. The Iron Hand’s fight against Winter Steel had been brutal, but in the end, they won. They were unsure how many of the apprentices had been healed enough to fight.
They placed their bags into cubbies and grabbed their weapons, before heading up to the tunnel to see how the fight was going.
The match started as six-on-four, but now it was down to Hayworth against a single physical enhancement magi. The woman fighting for Yamato wore padded gauntlets, clearly designed to soften the impact of her blows. It was clear that her weapons would have been metal gauntlets if not for the tournament.
Hayworth backed away. The fatigue was clear in his stance, but he wasn’t going to give up. He thrust forward and the spatial tear he’d created took half of his blade. His opponent dove forward, letting his attack go over her as she closed the distance.
“Hayworth might lose,” Jenn said, clearly surprised.
Gregory pulled up aether sight. “No.” He dropped the ability and shook his head. “I’m sure this is an advanced technique.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Hayworth again tore a spatial rip for his blade. The woman went to take another step to roll, but jerked sideways as Hayworth’s blade passed briefly into the air above her. The tip burst out of the ground where her neck would have been if she had continued her roll. As she tried to push herself up, she was suddenly slammed into the ground when Hayworth appeared on her back, his blade jammed against her neck.
“Break!” Yunlo yelled.
Hayworth got off her and his legs wobbled. Yanking his helmet off, he inclined his head to his opponent as she rose to her feet. She took her own helmet off and bowed slightly to him.
“Let’s go back down and wait,” Gregory said. “We already know who we’ll face tomorrow if we win.”
Five minutes later, the Yamato clan came into the room. Two of them were limping, helping the other walk. Their leader, the woman Hayworth had fought until the end, looked thoughtful as she trailed them.
“Good fight. You almost had him,” Gregory said.
Looking up, she shook her head. “We only had a chance because they were down one, not that we’d have done much better against you three.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself, Endo,” Jenn said. “You’re a good fighter and have excellent control of your aether.”
Jenn addressing her helped Gregory remember that she was Taka Endo— she’d just missed out on the final eight in both tournaments.
“I had no idea he could do multiple rifts at once,” Endo sighed. “So close, and yet not close enough.” Exhaling, she shook her head. “I need to get my friends to the healer’s hall. Please excuse us.”
“Of course,” Yukiko said. “We’ll see if we can’t beat them if we get past the Iron Hand, first.”
Endo nodded as she helped guide her clanmates from the room. “We’ll be watching.”
“I wonder if they knocked any of Hayworth’s clan out of tomorrow?” Jenn asked a few seconds after they left. “Would make it a little easier if they did.”
“Yeah, but we’ll manage, either way,” Gregory said.
“There’s a challenge that’s going to start in a moment,” Mindie said from the stairway to the arena floor. “After that, your fight will be called.”
“Understood. We’ll be standing by,” Yukiko told her. “How bad was that last fight?”
“Not as bad as some of the others,” Mindie said, looking back down the tunnel. “Are you only going to send Gregory out again?”
“We don’t know how many of them there will be,” Gregory said.
“Oh, that’s right,” Mindie nodded. “I’ll call for you shortly.”
“What if it’s only Farin?” Jenn asked. “Do we do what we did last time?”
“Farin is honorable,” Yukiko said.
“He might concede,” Gregory said. “We’ll go up together and offer him the chance to surrender. If he doesn’t, one of us can fight him.”
“Agreed,” Jenn said. “I’d like to be the one, though.”
“Let’s wait and see if it’s just him or not, first,” Yukiko said.
~*~*~
They ended up waiting a little longer than they thought they would. It became apparent why when two men carried a stretcher past them. The adept on it was grimacing in pain, clamping his left hand to his bandaged leg.
“Aether’s Guard, it’s time,” Mindie called to them.
The crowd cheered when they came out of the tunnel, and Gregory raised a hand in acknowledgement. Grandmaster Yunlo nodded to them before turning his attention to the other tunnel. Seconds ticked by, and Yunlo was starting to frown when Farin and one other Iron Hand member came limping onto the arena floor.
Side by side, the pair came to stand across from them. Farin spoke the moment he was close enough to do so, “We know we can’t face the three of you. We’ve come to concede the match.”
Gregory bowed formally. “We accept, though it gives us no pleasure to do so. We’d been looking forward to facing you all in earnest.”
“To kick our asses again,” Dave Marthman snorted. “We did, too, honestly, but sadly, it isn’t to be.”
Yunlo snorted. “Conceding before the fight begins?”
“As any commander should when he knows he can’t win and wants to get good terms for his men,” Farin said.
“If you’d rather, one of us could face one of you to preserve the honor of the clans,” Gregory offered.
Dave winced. “It’d have to be Farin and, as much as he’s improved, he can’t beat any of you.”
“No aether, hand-to-hand?” Gregory offered.
Farin looked at the three of them, then bowed his head. “Very well. I’d ask to fight you.”
Gregory took his helmet off and handed it to Jenn, and then passed his naginata to Yukiko. “No enchantments, either.”
“Agreed,” Farin said, giving his helmet and weapon to Dave.
Yunlo raised the glowing disk and announced the modified fight to the stands. Some boos were mixed in with the cheers when he finished. Lowering the disk, he glared at the three not fighting. “Back away to the tunnels.”
Gregory bowed when directed, keeping his focus on Farin. He wasn’t going to use foresight, but he wanted to make sure that the fight was fair, so he triggered his aether sight.
The fight started and Gregory met Farin halfway. The kicks and punches were fast, but after that first clash, it was obvious that Gregory was still far better than Farin. They traded blows two more times before Farin dropped to his knees, holding his left arm.
“It’s strained, not broken,” Gregory said.
“I yield!” Farin announced.
Yunlo called the match, and Gregory helped Farin back to his feet. Bowing together, Gregory patted Farin on the back before stepping back to allow Klim to see to him. Mindie got to Gregory and, after a brief pulse of healing, the few bruises he had vanished.
“Thank you, Mindie. I hope the rest of the fights are that easy for you.”
“That would be nice,” Mindie said. “One more apprentice fight, then the novices.”
“Need to make sure we have good seats for that,” Gregory said. “You’re healing for the fights tomorrow as well, I hope?”
“Yes,” Mindie smiled. “I hope you have a good night.”
“We will, Mindie,” Yukiko smiled at her. “May the last few fights be easy for you.”
Saying their goodbyes to Mindie, the trio dropped their things off in the waiting area and made their way up to the stands, wanting to be ready to cheer for their friends.
