“Begin!”
Evalyn attacked as soon as they started the time.
The twirling hammer whipped across the field, closing the gap between her and Patty in an instant. Patty swept her sword up and caught the hammer by the chain. Momentum carried the weighted end several times around the blade, then Evalyn pulled back and yanked Patty’s sword from her hands.
Patty let go so as not to lose her balance and the sword flew off to the side. Immediately the hammer returned to Evalyn’s hands and she spun it again. It arced around her neck and then shot back at Patty, hitting her square in the chest.
Patty fell back and rolled to her feet.
“Fuck,” she coughed, and rubbed her chest.
I’ve only ever seen her use that thing once. I knew it was possible she’d use it here, but I didn’t expect it to hurt this much!
The hammer came flying at her again and Patty launched herself out of the flight path.
She thought she did anyway.
The hammer arced and slammed into her side. Another non-lethal strike, but it knocked out her wind again and the immense blunt pain left her head spinning.
Alice winced from the crowd as the sounds of the impact reached her ears.
It was…difficult for her to watch.
So her eyes drifted to the others around her. They all watched the fight in front of them intensely.
Orbahn frowned with his whole face.
Lineah rang a bell. One minute.
Patty darted across the field, dodging the barrage of the hammer Evalyn sent flying towards her. She ducked and rolled, and her hand closed around the hilt of her sword.
When she sprang to her feet, the crowd cheered.
“They have a lot of faith in you,” Evalyn said as she pulled the hammer back into her control.
“I suppose it’s impressive you’re still standing.”
Patty willed her legs to stop shaking and charged in to close the gap.
Evalyn moved around the field with effortless grace. Her whirling movements added power and momentum to her expert strikes and gave her complete control of the field. Where Patty moved like a soldier, strong and powerful, Evalyn evaded her strikes like a dancer having fun with her dance partner.
But the strikes that connected with Patty’s flesh were calculated and merciless.
The hammer flew at Patty again, and in an attempt the keep it from returning to Evalyn, Patty stepped inside the hammer’s path and gripped the chain with her gloved hand. She planted her feet and pulled.
Evalyn stumbled and rolled forward. The chain between them went slack, but the hammer moved against its momentum and slammed into the side of Patty’s face anyway. She heard her own bones crack. Pain exploded behind her eyes.
Patty stumbled as Evalyn rolled to her feet. The chain grew taught in an instant and Evalyn pulled Patty close in return.
The distance closed between them.
The adrenaline and the ringing in her head from the hammer’s hit dampened Patty’s decision making. Sword forgotten, she swung her fist at Evalyn but an invisible force grabbed her and her punch veered into the air over Evalyn’s shoulder.
Evalyn returned the favor with a knee to Patty’s gut.
The young girl bent in half from the kick, and her vision turned blurry except for two silver eyes staring down at her.
Patty staggered backwards, but remained on her feet. She also kept her grip on Evalyn’s meteor hammer. Evalyn pulled the chain again, to bring Patty within reach once more.
No… Patty thought through the haze clouding her mind.
I’m so close… Just a little more!
As the distance between them closed, fae language rattled to life from Patty’s mouth. The fires in the braziers jumped with sudden life and balls of flame escaped and flew between the combatants.
Evalyn released her grip on her meteor hammer and jumped away. Her eyes stared at Patty with shock. Patty stumbled and laughed.
“S’prise…” she croaked.
The tables immediately turned as she shot fireballs at Evalyn.
The secretary dodged with ease as Patty could barely focus.
Annoyed and struggling to remain conscious, Patty brought all the fire on the training grounds to her and condensed it into one large fireball. She launched it with all her strength, but the force of her weak magic powering the fireball met the resistance of Evalyn’s will.
The ball of fire stopped between them, and Patty pushed against an invisible wall with all of her might. The ball of fire nudged towards Evalyn slightly, then suddenly Patty felt her control over the fire ripped from her hands.
The fireball veered away in a large arc.
The spectators in the crowd ducked from the heat as it arced over their heads, and launched above the arena. It flashed brightly, then died, casting the training yard in darkness.
Patty dropped to her knees as the world went black.
Lineah rang the bell.
Three minutes passed.
__________
When Patty opened her eyes, the wood slats of Evalyn’s bedroom ceiling stared back at her.
Well that, and Daryl’s worried face.
“Fuck…” Patty croaked as hot tears blurred her vision once more.
She sobbed and covered her face with an arm covered in heavy bruising. She felt a bandage on the side of her head as she covered her eyes. Tears soaked the gauze and slid down her face. She muffled a frustrated scream with her arm.
“Looks like you’re alright if you can swear,” Evalyn said as she stepped up next to Daryl. She took Patty’s arm and examined her bandages.
“How do you feel?”
“Everything hurts,” Patty said. “Can I sit up?”
“Slowly.”
Daryl supported her as she sat up. He handed her a cup of water and pain relieving powder.
“I think I broke the bone here…” Evalyn said and gestured to the side of Patty’s face with the bandage. “I’m really sorry about that.”
“You did say you weren’t going to hold back…” Patty said. She sipped the water, letting it wet her parched lips.
“Guess I got lucky with just one.”
She looked around Evalyn’s room.
It was bare except for flowers in the window, books on the desk, and the small crowd of friends who had been waiting for her to wake up.
It’s like she doesn’t live here… but she almost never leaves.
She looked up at Evalyn.
“I guess a loss is a loss,” she said. “Thank you for letting me attempt the trial. And…I’m sorry I acted like such a brat this week to get my way.”
Evalyn sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Patty, I’m the one who’s sorry,” she said.
“I was careless with my words. I know how frustrating it is, being held back because everyone underestimates you. You were told no over and over for years, and now it was finally feeling like you were being left behind…”
Patty lowered her gaze to her hands. She could smell burn ointment under the bandages.
“My job is to support Adventurers. Not parent them. I shouldn’t have been holding you back and calling it protection… I just didn’t want you to get yourself hurt before you were ready. I was being selfish.”
Evalyn placed her hand over Patty’s and they looked into each other’s faces.
Purple eyes stared back at Patty’s brown ones, but a shiver ran down her spine as a blurry memory of silver eyes surfaced in her mind. She recalled a blood chilling aura alongside those silver eyes.
Had she imagined it?
“If you want to be an Adventurer, I won’t stop you anymore-“ Evalyn was saying when Patty focused on the conversation again.
“But, if I’m being honest, after what I saw tonight I would like to suggest a different kind of job… one that makes use of all your talents, and not just your sword arm.”