The Triumph

From her position, Lirena could only watch as the Wraith landed a blow on Yvonne. The Earthtouched woman flew through the air and landed on the ground in a crumpled heap, unmoving.

I told her I’d protect her. I promised her!

She knew that she must have screamed and was charging, because she only came to her senses when Vanessa’s voice whispered in hear ear using the Windtouched’s gift.

“Stop, Red. You’re no good to us if you just rush the damn thing. Use your head!”

Lirena stopped and gripped her sword tightly. Her gaze remained fixed on Yvonne’s still form.

“All combatants, repeat Darlain’s strategy! Any projectiles you can muster to tear that thing apart!” Vanessa said, the new communication clearly spread to more than just Lirena.

Sources of water, likely from a canteen or nearby river, floated in the air briefly before transforming into ice and flying swiftly to embed themselves in the Wraith’s reformed body. The Watertouched working on this returned the ice to its watery state and performed the tactic again from a new angle, puncturing holes in the creature. The Wraith grew wise to the trick, however, and started shattering the ice, delaying the improvised weapons’ reformation.

Others teamed up to repeat Yvonne’s strategy of exploding debris at the creature. It worked as before, but the Wraith was quick to retreat into the ground and return with a renewed form once it took enough damage.

The hit Yvonne took had been nothing if not educational, because each reformation was accompanied with a sneak attack from below, which the Zoners now stood well clear of, despite lacking the blacksmith’s particular elemental vision.

With the Wraith fending off renewed waves of attacks on its reformed body, Lirena dashed over to Yvonne’s body and checked her vitals as taught in the Vanguard’s training on battlefield medicine. She placed two fingers on Yvonne’s neck - she didn’t dare move the arms given their battered state - as she watched her companion’s chest rise and fall, albeit raggedly.

“Still breathing… and a steady pulse,” Lirena noted. “Just knocked out then.” She did wonder how things would go with Yvonne’s clearly broken arms, which lay bruised and bent at disturbing angles. Those arms were necessary for a blacksmith’s work.

If she’s alive, she can mend, Lirena persuaded herself. For that to happen though, the Wraith had to be put down.

She rejoined the others and engaged with the creature once more, letting her blade dance upon its massive body. She was not making nearly the headway that the Touched were, but she took satisfaction in each bit of earth she managed to shave away from its body. Even a small amount would build up and force the Wraith to consider rebuilding the body, which it did with frequency as the Vanguard learned how to combat the thing.

On the horizon, a horn sounded, and more Zoners charged to the battlefield, the Commissioners among them.

In moments, the battle grew into a mass of chaos that Lirena was having trouble taking part in. With the conventional weapons they had prepared, they had made little headway, but the Touched were free to employ different tactics. Richard, the Windtouched whose gift let him grab hold of the air, clenched his hand into a fist as he slid under the Wraith. As he regained his footing, he moved, and one earthen leg of the Wraith seemed to detach completely, sending it tumbling to the ground. The prone Wraith was once again set upon by icicles and a stream of water to erode away the body until it fell apart.

They never fought like this when I trained with them, Lirena thought, amazed at the brawl before her. Training with the Vanguard had been a pretty standard affair, with drills and practice matches, but never did anyone use any of their gifts in a bout.

Probably best not to mention this in any reports, then.

The Wraith arose with another new body close to where it had abandoned its previous form. Each time, it was getting bulkier, with more rocks and debris protruding from its body that might catch its mob of foes in a more deadly attack than it had used on Yvonne.

Is it adapting? I thought these things weren’t supposed to be thinkers.

The new form was immediately splashed with some manner of liquid, which Lirena guessed to be oil from the way it quickly ignited when a spark struck it soon after. She heard Gaz’s boisterous laughter to inform her of the source.

The Wraith lumbered about as the fire spread, its body becoming brittle under the heat until it collapsed under its own weight and began the process once more.

With the battle growing far too flashy to safely engage with just a sword, Lirena moved back to guard the area where Yvonne lay, still motionless. Despite the constant slew of attacks, the Wraith had not moved far from where it had knocked out the blacksmith.

The battle raged on, but Lirena pulled her attention from it when she heard groaning behind her. She snapped around and found Yvonne stirring.

“Yvonne!” Lirena cried as she rushed toward her companion.

Lirena knelt down placed her sword on the ground as she examined Yvonne’s condition. Some of the bruises were seemingly diminished, and her arms were no longer visibly broken, though Yvonne still winced in pain as she moved them.

“How…?” Lirena asked. There is no way she could recover so quickly.

“It’s weaker,” Yvonne croaked, ignoring the question. Her eyes had a slight glow to them, a sign that she was using the Sight again. “And its body is… different.”

“Everyone’s been beating the crap out of it. It’s had to reform a few times by now,” Lirena explained. “How are you feeling?”

“Not great, but better than I thought I’d be,” Yvonne said weakly.

The Earthtouched woman’s eyes widened as the ground began to shake.

“Behind,” Yvonne said in a hushed but urgent tone.

Lirena whipped her head around, the Wraith was charging right at the two of them, stomping along the way in a new body with chunks of raw, jagged metal poked out of it. For all of its new features, it was certainly much slower than it had been.

Is it reacting to Yvonne waking up? Why is it suddenly ignoring the others? Lirena thought as she grabbed her sword and moved to defend herself.

“You cannot have her!” Lirena screamed, pointing the weapon toward the creature.

But what was one sword when it was recovering from explosions and more?

“Stab it,” Yvonne said with confidence.

There was no choice. Lirena could think of no defense in her positon that would stop the Wraith, but it was better than surrendering to its blows.

As it came within striking distance, Lirena thrust her sword forward, sinking it into the Wraith’s body - and at the same instant, a hand rested on the flat of her blade.

“Sing,” Yvonne said. Lirena was about to question the word, but noticed that the Earthtouched’s gaze was focused on her sword.

The Wraith lifted a gnarled fist, ready to strike down on them.

It stopped.

“Sing!” Yvonne repeated, her tone more begging now than commanding.

Lirena felt her sword jostled in her hand, but maintained a grip on it. The Wraith, however, was beginning to shake as well - first with slight tremors, then with greater violence, its limbs flailing in the air with seemingly no coordination.

The torso of the creature exploded, metal shrapnel flying into the ground behind it, but each piece embedding safely away from the two of them. The remaining body began to crumble, locked into place as pieces fell away.

As the body fell apart, an ethereal light revealed itself, though it was barely glowing, pulsating only lightly. Similar to the body around it, the light was vaguely human-shaped, but had no discernible features.

Most importantly, it was no longer moving.

A rush of wind blew past them, and Lirena saw Vanessa’s arm extended; A message had been sent toward the perimeter.

Yvonne’s arm fell back to the ground and her body soon after, but Lirena cradled her in her arms to support her.

“I thought I lost you,” Lirena whispered.

Yvonne chuckled, which led to her coughing. “I wouldn’t leave you behind,” she said. “Sorry for the scare.”

Lirena looked over Yvonne’s face. She saw a bit of dirt on the blacksmith’s face - debris from the defeated Wraith, no doubt. As her thumb brushed across Yvonne’s cheek to wipe it away, their gaze met and remained transfixed.

In the corner of her eye, she saw the blacksmith’s lips tremble. There was cheering from afar, but the only sound she could focus on was her own heartbeat, the thumping deafening to her despite the silence immediately around them.

Lirena leaned down, knowing what she wanted, but uncertain if it was desired in return.Yvonne leaning up to meet her answered the question well enough. Lirena pulled Yvonne close as their lips remained locked against one another.

How many moments passed, Lirena couldn’t say. It both felt like an eternity and over too soon when their lips parted.

“I guess this means you really do like me,” Yvonne mused.

“What did you think all of the dates were for?!” Lirena cried as she choked back tears of joy.

In the distance, the Zone was beginning to collapse. The grass returned to a less vibrant hue as a wave of changing colors advanced toward them. As it rolled past them, they both watched as the diminished Wraith floated in silence, and its light dissipated with the Zone.

“I’d feel bad for it if it hadn’t tried to flatten us,” Yvonne said. “But at least I got this out of it.” She reached up, wincing through the pain to rest one hand on Lirena’s cheek. “So I guess I can call you my girlfriend now?”

Lirena laughed. “I dread to think how long it would have taken you to catch on if this hadn’t happened.”

“Guess I’m just that hard-headed,” Yvonne said. “May need to make sure I wasn’t dreaming just now. Just in case.”

“I will make sure you never doubt it,” Lirena said as the two met again for a second kiss.

Gaz and Vanessa joined them a short while later. Whether it was out of courtesy or wrapping up loose ends, Lirena couldn’t say, but she appreciated the moment with Yvonne all the same. The wounded blacksmith was laying in the grass, her head resting in Lirena’s lap when they arrived.

“Not sure what you did there at the end, but nice work,” Gaz said.

“It was all her,” Lirena said, stroking Yvonne’s hair. “But I saw her wounds, they were much more severe than this. I don’t know what happened.”

“You didn’t tell her Touched recover quickly within a Zone they’re aligned to?” Gaz asked Yvonne. His tone was disapproving, but there was a relieved smile on his face.

“It uh… hadn’t come up, no. Haven’t lived in one for years, sort of slipped my mind,” Yvonne admitted. “Looks like it wasn’t fast enough before they took down the Zone, though.” She had her arms crossed over her body and was being very careful not to move them.

“So… you had extra protection this whole time?” Lirena asked.

“Sort of. Still hurt like hell and knocked me out, just sort of speeds up what any body can do, I guess,” Yvonne said.

“I would remind you that your arms were very clearly broken!” Lirena cried in disbelief.

“Ok, maybe a little more than what the body can do. But it’s only in Earth Zones, in my case,” Yvonne said. “Come to think of it, never really got sick as a kid, either.”

“And you both knew as well, I assume?” Lirena asked Vanessa and Gaz.

The two looked away in guilt.

“Listen,” Vanessa said. “It’s not that people don’t trust you. Honest. You’ve proven yourself to us, Red. But if the kingdom knew about the recovery time, about how we use our Gifts in a fight… there’d be trouble. I hope you understand.”

“I do,” Lirena admitted. “It just… hurts knowing it’s something you have to keep hidden, I suppose. And I wish there was more that I could do to help with that.”

Gaz piped in. “Tell you one thing you can do for us. Not mention the finer details of the fight. Tell them we whacked the thing to death with sticks for all I care.”

“I agree,” Vanessa said. “The higher ups probably have some idea that we aren’t fighting the way the Untouched soldiers do, but they don’t have proof, because they don’t want to step into the Zones themselves. We’d like it to stay that way. They have enough over us as it is.”

Lirena nodded. “You have my solemn vow, not a word to anyone else.”

Vanessa waved her off. “No need for the chivalry. Like I said, we trust you, I just wanted to stress the importance of it. Now let’s get a stretcher for your lover.”

Lirena and Yvonne looked at each other, there faces reddened as they could only giggle, the former implication now made fact.

“Goddess save us, they’re going to be insufferable on the way back,” Vanessa said as she walked away with Gaz.

“Oh, let them have this,” Gaz laughed.