Gregory walked across the arena floor with one hand raised to acknowledge the crowd, which was cheering, clapping, stomping their feet, and even chanting the clan name. No one could see the smile on his face underneath his sparring mask.
Yunlo stood in the middle of the arena, waiting for both teams. He nodded when they stopped a few feet away from him. All of them looked to the other tunnel and, as if they’d been waiting for that moment, Hayworth led his two clan members out of the tunnel.
The cheers were just as loud for them, and Hayworth took the time to wave and smile to the crowd, as he had his helmet under his arm. The two with him waved, as well.
“One more fight for you to reach the finals,” Yunlo told them. “If you lose, you still have another fight to claim third place. You know the rules. Turn to the boxes and bow.”
Hayworth and his clanmates slipped their helmets on before turning to bow. Gregory exhaled— he’d half-hoped Hayworth would concede the match.
After they’d bowed, the three of them huddled and backed away a few paces. Gregory looked at the crossbows the two magi behind Hayworth had and he grimaced. Yunlo’s arm rose, and Gregory triggered foresight and aether sight.
Gregory’s hands slid along the naginata shaft and he tapped his index finger in a small rhythm. He trusted Jenn to see his signal.
“Fight!” Yunlo called.
The moment the word left Yunlo’s mouth, Jenn’s legs blazed and she shot away around the wall. Yukiko ran behind Gregory and ducked into his shadow. Hayworth shook his head and made a motion— the two men behind him fired their crossbows, then reloaded them.
“Jenn, down!” Gregory shouted, hoping his voice reached her over the crowd.
The spatial rift appeared in front of Gregory, taking the padded bolts that had been aimed at him. Another rift appeared before Jenn, and the two bolts came zipping out of it toward her. Jenn had heard Gregory’s warning and dropped to her knees, bending over backward. One bolt passed just above her, and she slapped away the second. Jenn grimaced, as she knew that the arrow would have gone through her hand because she hadn’t infused her body in that location. She pulled her arm to her chest and forced herself to keep it there.
Yukiko used Gregory’s shadow to vanish, popping up behind the two archers. Her blade caught one of them in the neck, but before she could get the second, Hayworth’s blade hit her in the back, as he’d opened another rift at just the right moment. Yukiko and the other apprentice raised their hands and started to walk away.
“Focus on him!” Hayworth told his remaining clanmate before turning to Jenn, who was nearly on top of them.
The other apprentice was still reloading and focused on Gregory, who had started to run forward.
Jenn met Hayworth, and he used his shield to blunt her assault. He grimaced, snapping his sword out only to be deflected each time. Knowing Gregory was closing in, Hayworth gambled by shoving into Jenn, hoping to knock her off balance long enough to get a clean blow. He grunted when he bounced off the slight woman, staggering back a step.
Jenn kicked Hayworth’s shield and he landed hard on his back. Not giving him any time, she went to capitalize on it, taking her awareness off the archer. The other member of Swift Wind finished reloading his crossbow— he knew it would be pointless to try shooting Gregory, so he spun and fired at Jenn. She looked up in time to bat the bolt aside, but it still skipped off her right arm.
Grimacing, Jenn dropped her wakizashi before kicking down at Hayworth. He was just able to get his shield back up to cover the stomp. Half-braced against the ground, he felt his shield crack under her heel. He jabbed out with his sword and it vanished, tapping the back of Jenn’s head. Growling, she backed up and raised her hand.
Hayworth was getting back up to his feet when his clanmate let out a pained yell. He jerked up to find Gregory closing on him. “And we meet again…” Hayworth said.
Gregory didn’t reply— he just kept coming, his naginata set and ready. Hayworth thrust three times in quick succession, each one popping up at different angles. Gregory slid past each attack, barely slowing as he closed the distance between them. Hayworth shook his head and gave up on using his aether, knowing he’d need it for the next fight.
The resulting clash ended with Gregory tripping Hayworth and tapping his helm with the blade of the naginata. Letting go of his magic, Gregory exhaled hard and pushed his helm up.
“Made us work for that win,” Gregory said, extending his free hand.
“We almost had it,” Hayworth replied, taking the offered hand and getting to his feet. “On the plus side of things, we don’t have to face Nick. Good luck with that.”
Gregory laughed as Yunlo announced the winners. “Neither of us took injuries, either, so good luck with your opponent.”
Klim and Mindie were there to check them and, after a moment, they both backed up. Gregory’s wives and Hayworth’s clanmates came back out onto the arena floor, then bowed as they were supposed to.
“Good fight,” Gregory said.
“You, too,” one of the two apprentices said, glancing at Hayworth with concern.
“You did the right thing,” Hayworth said. “You got her arm, so I was able to get her and have a chance against him.”
“I didn’t expect you to hit me without even looking,” Yukiko said. “How did you manage that?”
“We left that spot open intentionally,” Hayworth said, “to bait you into attacking them. We had to remove you to have a chance.”
“If you hadn’t caught my other arm with that first volley, I might’ve been able to do more,” Jenn sighed. “It was a good plan.”
The archers bowed to her.
“If you’re done?” Yunlo asked stiffly.
“Sorry, sir,” Gregory and Hayworth said in echo.
With that, they each led their teams off the field. Mindie trailed them, looking thoughtful as she followed their gaze up to the stands where their clan sat. The elder met her gaze and bowed his head respectfully to her in thanks.
“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Jenn sighed as they entered the tunnel. “We knew they might do that, but we hadn’t counted on them going for me. If I hadn’t gone out as wide, it might have been different.”
“We had no idea Hayworth can target places he can’t see,” Yukiko said. “Now we do, so we’ll factor that in next time.”
“I took too long to move,” Gregory added. “I thought they’d target me. My own damned hubris almost cost us that match.”
“I thought you all did well,” Mindie chimed in. “I’m sure you know better than I do, but none of you acted as badly as you think. Gregory, you didn’t sit still. You moved as soon as you were sure they were after someone else. Yukiko, maybe you don’t realize how close he came to missing you, but he did. Jenn, many would have tried to ignore the minor touch on your arm and say it hadn’t touched you, but you did the honorable thing. Even then, you nearly had him.”
The friends exchanged looks before they turned to face her as a group. Mindie froze in place, wondering if she’d gone too far.
“Thank you, Mindie,” Yukiko said.
“You’re right. We did the best we could,” Gregory added.
“We get hard on ourselves to try to improve, but sometimes, it minimizes what we do,” Jenn said. “Thanks.”
“Oh, uh… you’re welcome,” Mindie said, a little flustered. “Your clan is one of the few who has constructive conversations after a fight. You don’t point fingers and cast blame. I didn’t want you all to think you had done badly, especially when Klim and I had no real injuries to heal. The worst was Hayworth’s shield arm, which only had a minor strain.”
“It would’ve broken his arm if he hadn’t braced his shield on the ground,” Jenn said. “He is smart, lucky, or possibly both. We weren’t trying to maim them, though. That isn’t how we normally fight.”
“That might change for the last fight,” Gregory said. “We’ll not have a lot of choice if it’s against the Eternal Flame.”
Mindie nodded, her chest tightening. “Yes… that will be an unpleasant fight. Are you sure you need to fight? Couldn’t you just concede to them?”
“How do you think Nick would act if we did?” Yukiko asked her. “Do you think he’d stop his antagonism? Would he stop attacking eurtiks?”
“No, but…” Mindie looked down. “You might all get burned badly or… or killed.”
Gregory went up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “We might, but if we stand by and let them do what they want unopposed, it’ll be worse for everyone else. My mother told me that Lionel Lighthand once said, ‘All evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’ I never understood it clearly until I met Nick Shun.”
Mindie took a deep breath and looked up, meeting Gregory’s eyes. “I’ll heal you. As long as you draw breath at the end of the fight, I’ll be there to help.”
“Thank you, Mindie,” Yukiko said, placing her hand on Mindie’s other shoulder. “If you’re with us, I think everything will be easier.
“Yuki’s right,” Jenn said, coming up on Gregory’s side. “None of us worry if you’re there to help us.”
Mindie looked from one to the other, her cheeks heating slightly. “Thank you, but I’m just a healer.”
“A healer who cares is not just a healer,” Gregory said. “The ones in the hall are just healers. They’re just doing their jobs, not trying to make things better.”
Mindie stood there looking between them, unsure of what to do or say.
“We should get back to our clan and rest until we fight again,” Yukiko said after a few awkward seconds. “I hope the fights aren’t too bad the rest of the day.”
They said goodbye to Mindie. She managed to say goodbye back to them, but was still standing there as they walked away.
~*~*~
Gin discussed their fight with them, critiquing their actions and offering suggestions about what they could’ve done differently. They paid attention to him instead of the demonstrations taking place in the arena.
As the next hour chimed, Nick led his clan out onto the sands. The crowd was louder than before as they cheered for the Eternal Flame, and some even called Shun and Argon by name. All nine members of the clan waved and walked as if they were already accepting their championship.
“This fight will likely be short…” Gregory grumbled.
“We’ll see. They have to fight Franco and his two clanmates,” Jenn said. “I was shocked that all three members of the Hardened Fist had signed on with the one clan.”
“If they paid enough for it, I believe it,” Yukiko said. “That would’ve been the only way for it to happen. I was surprised enough that the Green Leaf clan had their alchemist in the tournament.”
“Only one loss, and they’re here,” Jenn said. “Maybe we’ll face them?”
“One can hope,” Gregory said. “I wonder how they plan to deal with the Eternal Flame’s tactics?”
Franco Ichor led his clanmates and the alchemist for the Green Leaf clan out of the tunnel. The crowd cheered, but not as loudly. Franco glared at them as if they were insulting him.
“Oh, that’s got him riled up,” Jenn chuckled. “Good. He’ll want to take it out on them.”
“I wonder how they plan to protect the alchemist?” Yukiko asked, looking at the slight woman.
“Maybe an enchantment?” Gregory suggested. “The Green Leaf clan isn’t poor, and that’s their only apprentice.”
“There is that,” Yukiko agreed. “We’ll find out soon.”
The two groups came to a stop next to Yunlo, who was speaking to them. He had them back up, then bow. The tension in the arena climbed as the apprentices finished bowing.
The alchemist of Green Leaf backed all the way to the wall and knelt while the three members of the Hardened Fist stood together, their weapons out and ready. Gregory wondered what Parks would do, as the kneeling alchemist was well behind the others. He wouldn’t be able to put a back barrier up if he wanted to get all four of them inside a box.
When Yunlo’s arm came down, a barrier started to form and Nick threw fire. The three Hardened Fist members ignited their aether and dashed forward, then out. Jason hesitated, as he could see them already out of the box and running as a unit.
Nick yelled orders to his clan as he turned, trying to catch the opposition in fire. Petak joined him, though Petak’s fire was obviously weaker. Gina gestured and a small pit opened up in front of the apprentices, but they all broke away from it. Parks slammed a barrier in place to try catching them, but all it did was make the last of the three spin to the side to get away.
Gregory glanced at the alchemist, who was covered in a hazy white dome. Wonder what the hell that is? He shook his head and looked back at the fight.
The trio of physical enhancement magi were closing the distance in a zigzag pattern, making it hard for the Eternal Flame to pin them down. Nick was shouting more and seemed to be growing angrier the closer the others got to them.
Earth spikes shot out of the ground and small wind blades swept at the oncoming apprentices, but they just broke apart and came in from different angles. Jason shook his head and began to shout commands. Nick’s mouth snapped shut and he stopped throwing fire as he glared at Jason.
“Ah, a lover’s spat,” Jenn giggled.
“Actually, that’s bad. Jason’s the smarter of the two,” Yukiko said.
With Jason directing them, they focused on one of their opponents. Parks began hemming him in while the others threw everything they could at him. Nick went back to trying to pin down one of the others, and Jason rushed Franco, the last of the three.
The next couple of minutes was chaos, as the split attention cost the Eternal Flame. Jason stopped Franco, and was fighting him while the others tried to get their targets taken care of, which had mixed results. The mass of them finally pinned down their one apprentice, who got just close enough to batter Fureno before he got stabbed with two earth spikes and Yunlo teleported him to Klim.
The magi Nick was trying to handle was able to rush past him, letting him slam into the others from behind. Gina, Petak, Michelle, Zach, and Oscar all went down hard, with Zach and Oscar catching fire balls from Nick. Parks finally smashed the man flat and was about to crush his head with his maul when the apprentice screamed out. Yunlo teleported him into the tunnel, declaring him out.
Nick and Parks turned back to find Jason flying at them. Nick ducked and Parks got slammed flat. Franco, dripping blood and grinning like a madman, rushed Nick. Nick threw another ball of fire and Franco did the near-impossible— he slapped it aside with his odachi, making Nick’s jaw drop.
Franco drew back his weapon as he closed the last few feet and Nick screamed as a ring of fire flew out from around him. The fire caught Franco, who dropped to the ground, rolling and trying to put the flames out. Parks and Jason had been behind Nick, so they had to do the same.
Yunlo stopped the fight and called for the healers. Mindie and Klim rushed out to help the three burning magi. Nick motioned, and the fire on Jason and Parks vanished. Yunlo barked something, making Nick sneer, but the fire disappeared from Franco a moment later.
“Well, that’s good and bad,” Gregory said. “They got injured that time.”
Yunlo was announcing the Eternal Flame the winners, explaining that the alchemist had told him to call the fight if the three Hardened Fist members were taken out.
“Damn… I doubt Franco and the guy who got spiked will be fighting Hayworth, which gives them just one to deal with,” Jenn sighed.
“Maybe Parks and Jason will be out? The two with Franco didn’t hit them lightly when they got to them. Multiple broken bones, I think,” Yukiko said.
“We’ll find out when it’s our turn,” Gregory exhaled. “At least it’ll be a little easier.”
“We hope,” Jenn said.
