A Fight and a Revelation

They gathered around the campfire for dinner, one of the few times Silver actively joined the group. The four of them talked while she sat off to the side, holding her food, carefully placing it under her mask so nobody could see her face.

“You are getting much better at hunting the lopper, Alex,” Kraelin said as he ate his meat.

“Well, magically induced reflexes helped out too,” Alex said.

“Quit being humble, dude. Accept a compliment,” Jake scolded him.

“Both of you are actually becoming experienced outdoorsmen,” Elysia said.

Jake and Alex fist bumped, not even looking at each other.

“Outdoorsmen bros,” Alex said.

“Outdoorsmen bros for life,” Jake agreed.

“Though I am sick of lopper,” Alex said, sighing and leaning back. “It’s either lopper, trihorn or the mystery meat at these pubs.”

“What I wouldn’t give for some buffalo wings,” Jake said, his mouth watering.

“Or nachos!” Alex said. “The ones we used to make with the ground beef and cheese in a can and the little jalapeños your parents always had!”

“Dude, remember when I dared you to eat, like, ten of those cans in one go?” Jake said, laughs escaping from his throat.

“I’m still deeply apologetic about what happened to your parent’s hot tub,” Alex said, and they both burst into fits of laughter.

“Sometimes I forget you two had pasts in a world so different from ours,” Elysia said, a big grin on her face, chin resting in her hands.

“Silver? What do you think of the lopper?” Kraelin said. Silver barely moved.

“It’s fine,” she simply said.

“Hey! She speaks!” Alex said.

“Some of us know when to shut up,” Silver told Alex.

“I feel personally attacked,” Alex said.

“Mostly because it was a personal attack, dude,” Jake said.

“So Silver, how far until you need to leave?” Elysia asked.

“Tomorrow we should reach the crossroad,” Silver said. “I’ll go north towards Vyock Castle. My employer is currently stationed there. You all can continue east and I’ll finally be out of your hair.”

“Oh,” Elysia said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “Well, if you have to, you have to.”

“I do have to,” Silver said, sounding firm.

“Well, if you’re leaving, I’d like to get at least one round of training with you in,” Kraelin said standing up and stretching.

“I’m not going to fight you,” Silver said.

“I’ll pay. Five hundred for one round,” Kraelin said.

“Kraelin!” Elysia gasped. “I know we still have a lot of money left over from Gravine, but…”

“Five hundred,” Kraelin said, standing firm.

Silver stood, walking over to Kraelin. “What do you hope to learn from me?” Silver asked.

Kraelin’s eyes bored into her glowing red mechanical eyes behind her mirrored mask. “Everything I can,” he said.

Silver nodded and walked over to an empty part of the field they were parked in. Kraelin followed, walking with confidence.

“What is he thinking?” Elysia said, shaking her head.

“Why do you look like you know what’s going on?” Jake asked, looking at Alex.

“Bro, I’ve got no clue. But I do have this feeling. The boy knows what he’s doing,” Alex said.

Kraelin and Silver faced off against each other. “Elysia, some light please?” Kraelin asked. She raised her hands and four glowing green orbs appeared, hovering around them, creating an impromptu ring for their sparring session.

“I saw some of your moves during the Cucuboros fight,” Kraelin said. “I want to test myself against you. Come at me.”

“For five hundred? With pleasure,” Silver said. She ran at Kraelin, and the fight was on.

He matched her fairly well, taking her blows, throwing return shots. Her style was brutal, using her metal arm as a bludgeoning tool, but Kraelin knew how to take her shots without much damage. Kraelin didn’t seem to be fighting back, though. It was like he was studying each move, looking for something.

“What is he trying to learn here? How much it sucks to be hit with a metal arm?” Jake asked. He looked to Elysia, but she was watching the fight with a curious eye. Jake and Alex had seen such a look on her recently. It was when she was in Van Harkov’s mansion. A look of long forgotten memories coming back.

Kraelin started moving forward. His feet seemed to know where to go, how Silver’s would respond. He wasn’t going for attacks. He punched and kicked, but in ways which seemed to show he knew she would block his blows.

“This…this isn’t a fight…” Alex said quietly, analyzing each move.

Punches flew. Silver pressed forward. Kraelin ducked. He kicked her in the stomach. She backed up, and Kraelin pressed his advantage. Precise punches. Silver blocked them, but she was still backing up.

“I know this…” Elysia said. “I know this fight…” In her mind, she wasn’t seeing the dark field lit up by her magic orbs anymore.

“Elysia?” Jake asked.

She saw Kraelin as an eleven year old boy. He wasn’t in a field. He was on top of the roof of the Hall of Learning in Lugara.

“Elysia? What is it?” Alex asked.

It wasn’t Kraelin’s idea. He wasn’t the risk taker. He never was. But he also wasn’t a coward. He wouldn’t back down from a friendly fight.

“Too close to the edge…” Elysia said, leaning closer.

“What edge?” Jake asked.

One final blow. Kraelin ducked a punch he knew was coming. His fist lashed out like it had five years earlier. Silver flew backwards. Elysia couldn’t help but scream out the same thing she had long ago.

“Kraelin! Grab Saphira!”

His hand grabbed Silver’s. She didn’t hit the ground. She wouldn’t. He hadn’t let her fall from the roof. He wouldn’t let her fall.

“I’ve got her. Don’t I…Saphira?”

The field was eerily quiet. Not even the wind moved a blade of grass. Kraelin pulled Silver up straight. She stood, not moving for the longest time. Then, slowly, her hands went up to her mask and pulled it off. A metallic click disconnected it from the right side of her face, where flesh had been replaced by cold metal. The right eye of the mask was actually embedded into her skull, with metal plating wrapping around the side of her head. But there was still much of her face which was human. Much of her face which was familiar. A face which made Elysia gasp, tears starting to fall from her eyes, and even made Kraelin’s stoic demeanor break.

“Yeah. Its me,” Saphira said.