Demonstration

Although she was excited there was a nervousness bubbling in her gut at the idea of Rune and Roy fighting. She had witnessed firsthand Rune crash down from above and kill an enormous boar with his bare hands, the idea that a young man with a sword could stand against him seemed ridiculous to her.

Yet Roy did not look worried, instead he looked excited.

“To think I’d get to test my strength against a Herald,” the tawny haired man said with a bold smile. “I give my thanks to the Spirits for this.”

Beau seemed to sense Midori’s uncertainty and sat beside her.

“Don’t worry. I know Rune’s really strong, but Roy can definitely handle himself.”

As if on cue their demonstration began.

Rune cracked his knuckles and she saw what almost looked like flames engulfing his fists.

Yet on the other side she watched as Roy rolled his shoulders and it looked almost as if he became heavier, the ground beneath him indenting ever so slightly.

With her interest now even more piqued she leaned forward and focused her eyes, watching the flow of the River as they prepared. Right now it was a quiet stream as each slowly circled one another, but the moment Rune rushed forward she saw the torrential shift. It burst up like a geyser enveloping Rune till he nearly shone with an inner light that then exploded outward as he launched a ferocious right hook.

The ground cracked as it connected with the flat of Roy’s blade yet the man was moved back only a few inches, and Midori watched as the River surged behind him buoying his strength to withstand the devastating strike.

It repeated again with Rune kicking out but finding resistance as Roy blocked with his forearm.

Watching the two begin the competition was fascinating, like watching two separate waves crash into one another. Small butterflies of light fluttered off like the spray of surf before vanishing into nothing.

“I think I kind of understand a bit better, it’s like a constant flow of energy. And to harness that energy you have to flow with it.”

In her mind she visualized being trapped in the River, letting it flow around her before sweeping her hand and attempting to draw on the current.

And in that moment a small mote of flame flickered to life, hovering in the palm of her hand. She watched it dance with an excited almost childlike smile. Excited to show Sahaela she was about to get up and leave before her eyes were drawn back to what had developed into a battle far more intense than a mere training exercise.

Rune’s body was now an inferno of red aura and Midori noticed his nails had lengthened into something more like talons though they were black and carved through the hard packed dirt with the ease of a hot knife through butter.

Yet Roy stood stout and nonplussed from the attack.

He had summoned a swath of earth over his arm to serve as a makeshift shield—it already bore the cuts of several talon slashes—and the sword he used remained unmarred even as he parried a vicious strike from Rune before thrusting the blade forward.

And it was then she realized he was aiming for Rune’s chest, he was aiming to truly kill him.

“They’re trying to kill one another!” She shouted, hoping her voice would be enough to stop the fight yet for the two combatants it fell on deaf ears.

“Indeed, Lady Midori,” Gray said with a stern voice while wearing an even sterner stare as he watched the battle. “I think they both have found the strength of the other impressive enough to fight without holding back.”

“And that means killing the other?”

“They won’t truly kill each other, my Lady. If I am honest I think they merely wish to ascertain the extent they can rely on the other.”

Looking closer and she could now see the flicker of a smile on both Roy and Rune’s face, the way each grunt of annoyance was followed by the spark of excitement in their eyes. This was not a fight, this was just two kids roughhousing.

She chuckled then and was able to sit back and enjoy the demonstration more, the flame from her hand having vanished when she got overly excited. As she twisted her hand back and forth she nodded slowly to herself, “don’t fight the current.”

The roughhousing between Roy and Rune continued for nearly twenty minutes until exhaustion claimed Roy who fell to one knee gasping for air and water. Midori noticed that the two of them were nearly drenched in sweat; her mind was drawn to the times she watched tennis and how drained those players looked after a few intense matches.

“I really appreciate that demonstration you guys,” she said with a smile while bringing over canteens for the two of them.

“I hope it helped Lady Midori,” Roy said between heavy gulps of water.

“It actually really did Roy,” closing her eyes she conjured the image from before of her moving within the River, flowing and drawing from it before turning her palm up allowing another mote of flame to gather.

“That’s incredible!” Rune shouted with joy before raising Midori up and spinning before setting her down. “I knew you would do it Midori!”

“Thank you,” she said face slightly flushed. Clearing her throat she conjured the mote again before closing her hand snuffing it out.

“I feel like this is really just the first major step though.”

-----

As it turns out she was right.

Learning not to fight the flow was merely the first step, now she was able to comprehend the idea of weaving it into more complex patterns.

“Have you ever knit before?” Sahaela asked with her usual kindly smile.

“Not really. I used to draw and paint in school though.”

“Used to?”

“Yeah, I wanted to be an animator when I grew up,” seeing Sahaela’s confused face she answered the unasked question. “It’s someone who makes animated films.”

“Like The Little Mermaid?”

“More or less, yeah. But I quit in my final year of high school.” She said drearily.

“But why? Did you stop enjoying it?”

Shaking her head Midori wondered how best to explain the pressures of both the school system and social structure she grew up in. It took a few minutes of fairly detailed explanations about the crushing expectations students were put under in their final two years of high school.

“So you had the will to dream beaten from you, that saddens me. But imagine if you will the pattern to be similar to a painting.”

In Midori’s mind the image of a blank canvas appeared, she stood before it brush in hand.

“Once you have the idea in your mind, do you start there? Or do you begin setting a foundation, a layer to build from. And from there you carve things out slowly, building detail, shadow, depth.”

For a moment she was back in the art room of her high school. Several easels standing about in a semicircle though only one bearing canvas.

Standing at it she slowly begins painting on the initial layer before going in with darker colours so that the lighter ones would shine even brighter, layering lighter and lighter until standing back to reveal the large globule of water she had been drawing.

“Open your eyes Midori,” Sahaela’s soft voice broke through, she didn’t even realize she had her eyes closed.

Opening them up she was momentarily taken aback as the globule of water she had painted floated slowly in the air, caught in the faint draft of the wind like some enormous misshapen bubble.

Chuckling she looked over at her smiling ghost mentor.

“I can’t believe I did that…how did I do that?”

“You built the pattern of it, layer by layer.”

It was then Midori realized how tense her muscles felt, and how out of breath she felt despite her having been seated for however long it was.

“How long was I out of it?”

“Just shy of one hour.”

“One hour!?” Midori said with incredulity. In her mind it had felt shorter even though to make a painting like she had would have taken several days.

“You’ll get better with time and practice. I’m honestly impressed you could manage that, you’ve a knack for magick that is to be certain.” And though there was definitely pride in the older woman’s tone, Midori could not help but hear the faint edge of venom there.

But perhaps she had merely imagined it.

-----

After nearly a week they had finally reached the fork in the road that led to Nythe and though Midori, Rune and Sahaela were happy the other three seemed worried, almost terrified.

“We should move on as quick as we can,” Beau said with fear etched firmly onto his face. He glanced around rapidly, almost like he were half expecting some beast to emerge from the trees.

“Why?” Rune said, which surprised Midori as she expected him to know immediately what terrified the trio.

“This is where we encountered The Beast,” Roy said with gravity, making sure to pure clear emphasis on the final two words. He recalled the events with all the gravitas of a horror movie, how some incredibly fast beast had come at their platoon; this answered Midori’s curiosity over why their forces were so few.

“All I know is that it is some kind of animal, it’s got fur I felt it when it raced by me. And it’s eyes, two glowing orbs that stared right through you, like you’re just some midnight snack to a rabid, unsalable hunger.”

There was a pause before Rune broke the silence.

“Sounds neat. Hope I get to fight it.”

And though Rune would indeed get that chance, he would regret it almost immediately.