The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 69

Part 12

“Well actually, I’m still pretty full right now, so I’d probably save you to eat later.” he chuckled. “But if you’d prefer to dance apart, that’s fine with me. To be honest, I don’t know any close dances anyway.”

“All right then.” Helemia smiled, and followed him to the nearest open space on the dancing ground.

Soon Reggie and Valentia were also asked to dance, and joined the throng who were bouncing and twirling to the music. Even Karzog was asked to dance, but he begged off so he could continue to supervise the fights.

The three danced until they were tired of it, then rejoined Karzog to continue chatting with the Sylvan and watching the challenges. Most of the conversation was the Sylvan asking the four of them questions about themselves, their lives, their community, and the world beyond Hiliani.

After another half an hour, Helemia nudged Valentia. “That last match was so good, watching it made me want to fight! And we didn’t spar today. Care to go for a round?”

“Sure!” Valentia laughed. “But a lot of those in the queue have been waiting to fight for over an hour. It wouldn’t be fair to just butt into the line.”

“Unless they agreed to it.” Helemia grinned, and turned to the dragon.

“Hey Karz, when this bout is done, hold off a minute before starting the next one so I can ask those waiting for the circle if they’d mind letting me and Val fight next.”

“Sure.” Karzog nodded. “What limits will you use?”

“Sword pairs?” Valentia asked her sister.

“Sword pairs.” Helemia nodded with eager satisfaction.

The novelty of seeing two of their captors fight was indeed enough to convince most of those in line to allow the girls to fight next, and the few who dissented were shouted down by the rest. Word spread quickly, and by the time the fight started, most of those at the gathering were watching.

The two young warlocks took their places in the circle armed with two swords each, as Helemia had used against the Sylvan earlier. Their skills were exactly equal, since they both had The Skills of Visinniria, which made the contest one of physical ability, tactics, and strategy. What really made it interesting was the fact that Visinniria’s offensive skill with a pair of swords had been slightly better than her defensive skill, which meant that if either of the two half-elves managed to gain the initiative, they had a real chance to press the advantage. It also meant that it paid to be aggressive, which produced a spectacular fight. The four light swords whirled and darted around so quickly that it was impossible for most of those watching to follow all of the moves, but enough could be discerned that all of the spectators were soon on their feet and screaming encouragement to their favorite, and the entire gathering was gripped with a palpable excitement as they watched.

The crowd was about equally split as to who they were rooting for. Some of those who liked to see the underdog win cheered for Helemia since she was smaller, others cheered Valentia because she was younger. Those who wanted to see the strong crush the weak were equally divided for the same reasons. Some liked Helemia because her black hair made her look more like a Sylvan, some picked Valentia because the black streaks in her white hair gave her such a striking and exotic appearance.

And they certainly weren’t disappointed with the intensity of the fight. It lasted for almost nine minutes of constant furious action. Both of the tiny fighters sustained multiple wounds, some of which were quite serious, but they both Healed themselves as they carried on fighting. They didn’t take time to clean themselves as they went along though, and both were soon covered in blood, sweat, and sand.

The fight ended with two simultaneous strikes, as Helemia stabbed Valentia through the abdomen, while Valentia thrust her sword through Helemia’s throat and out the back of her neck.

At that moment Valentia, Reggie, and Karzog cried out and Healed Helemia in a flash as Valentia withdrew her sword, then Reggie and Karzog Healed Valentia.