Mock Fight

Rhea, Year 813 of Avia, Day 295

Ilina stood in front of Rhozo’s desk, tying up her hair into a ponytail. She was wearing a white jumpsuit, with wings attached to her back.

“Did you know he was the Vulture?” she asked.

“Would it make a difference if I did?”

“You knew he was your grandson with your Owl’s Touch,” Ilina added. “I have no clue how your power works, but you must’ve known his spirit too.” Rhozo refused to respond.

Ilina stared intently at Master Rhozo. “That must’ve been why you refused to awaken him.” She grinned. “For an old man, your poker face is pretty bad.”

Ilina paced around the room, glancing at the paintings hung up on the wall. “What made you change your mind?”

“Besides your non-stop requests to let him join?”

“Seriously.”

“I gave him a second chance, and he passed my test. Simple as that.”

Ilina narrowed her eyes suspiciously. The old man opened a dusty notebook and put on his reading glasses, paying Ilina no attention.

“Ilina, by the way,” Rhozo started, “why don’t you serve as Icarum’s mentor? Since you wanted him to join so badly and all.”

Ilina sighed. She had her own training to deal with, but she knew that if she refused, it was a fight she wouldn’t win. Reluctantly, she accepted.

“He should be getting his training assignment today. Now shoo.”

-------------------

“Master Kaza,” Icarum growled, “why am I only doing physical exercises? Aren’t I supposed to learn magic?”

Master Kaza turned around with an optimistic smile on his face.

“When were you awakened?”

“Yesterday.”

“Think about it this way. Your spirit is a newly hatched chick who doesn’t even know how to fly yet. How could it cast a spell?”

“But-”

“Icarum!” Ilina ran into the classroom and snatched the training assignment sheet out of his hand. Icarum tried to swipe it back, but Ilina held the paper too high for him to grab it.

The entire class looked up at the commotion.

“Can we uh, take this outside?” Icarum asked, wary of the attention that they were receiving. Once they were in the hallway, Ilina handed the training sheet back to Icarum.

“Since you’re new, Master Rhozo asked me to help you out.”

Icarum couldn’t help but feel excited to train one on one with Ilina. Before Ilina noticed, he tore his smile off his face.

“If you stay on schedule, you should be ready for the games.”

“The games?”

“You haven’t learned about the games yet?”

“I think Khal mentioned it once.”

“Must suck being new here, huh?” Ilina skipped down the hallway and motioned for Icarum to hurry up.

“I guess I can explain it for you, then.” Ilina turned around and started to walk backward.

“Every two years, the rebels host a bunch of games during the summer. Everyone between the ages of fourteen and eighteen participates.”

“Is it some sort of cultural thing?”

“Yeah, kinda. But it’s also a scouting event for the Rebel Army. We need airships for the important missions, but we’ve only got a couple of them, so crew positions are reserved only for the best.”

“The games are a way for captains to choose new members of their crew,” she continued. “It’s a chance for us to show off what we can do.”

“Oh!” Ilina added. “I forgot the most important part. The winner of the Games gets to become a captain themselves. It’s a one-way ticket to the top of the military, with fame, glory, and respect along the way.”

Icarum looked confused. “Are the games supposed to be super easy? There’s only like a hundred of us in that age range here.”

Ilina paused to see the expression on Icarum’s face. She burst out in laughter, clutching her stomach tightly.

“Icarum, y-you know t-that there’s more than one Rhean tribe, right?”

Icarum nodded slowly, unsure about what was so funny. His father had told him that because Rhea was so large, many of the tribes were isolated from each other. It was part of the reason why Rhea wasn’t able to put up much of a fight when Sydurnia colonized them; although their total population was high, they were way too divided.

“It’s the same here. There are tons of different rebel bases, all of them run by different Owls, like Master Rhozo. Each of them is a member of the council, and together, they make decisions for the entire army.”

“So how many people usually participate in the games?”

“The one that happened a few months ago had thousands of people.”

“Holy crap.”

“Yeah, the competition’s tough. Most of the people here have been aiming for first place in the games since they were born.”

Ilina brought Icarum into a large cavern, full of people in their own corners, testing out magic spells. Mini-biomes were located in different parts of the cavern, each with unique terrain. There were sandy dunes and artificial heat on one side, and a deep lake on another. Each mini-biome was separated by a mountain of stalagmites.

Ilina led Icarum to the center of the cavern, a twenty by twenty meter plain of dirt.

“Most of your training is just punches and kicks. Don’t you think that’s boring?”

Icarum shrugged. After realizing how much he needed to train if he wanted to do well at the games, Icarum felt as if he didn’t have the right to complain.

“Well, I do. So let’s try something else.” She extended her hand out towards Icarum and gestured for him to come closer. “Let’s have a mock fight.”

“Huh?” Uncertain about what to do, Icarum stayed still.

Ilina’s carefree expression left her face. She took a deep breath and bolted forwards. Before Icarum could respond, she slid down on the floor in front of him, striking Icarum’s ankle with her shoe. In a single, fluid motion, Ilina swept him off his feet, and Icarum hit the floor with a thud.

Icarum stood up with a fierce look in his eyes. “Again.”

Ilina grinned. She bounced back, light on her feet. She gracefully crouched down with one foot in front of the other. Slowly, she extended one arm upwards and one arm to her left, creating the shape of an L.

Without a warning, she swiftly jumped into the air, landing on a handstand a couple of meters away from Icarum. Pushing against the floor with all her strength, she propelled herself towards Icarum, attempting to catch him off his guard.

But Icarum was ready this time. He dodged to the side, but Ilina’s foot still cut his cheek, causing a few drops of blood to spill out. Icarum wiped his face with his sleeve and raised his hands up to defend himself.

“If your opponent fails an attack, go on the offensive!”

Ilina ran up to Icarum and targeted his right ear with an obvious roundhouse kick. Icarum raised his arm to block it, closing his eyes briefly as he prepared to wince in pain.

“Keep your eyes on me”

Ilina stopped her roundhouse kick a centimeter away from Icarum’s face, creating a draft of wind that brushed against him.

She chuckled. “You’re fast, but weak.”

“I know.”

“We’ll do this before dinner every day.” Ilina pointed at the training sheet, now crumpled up on the ground. “Follow the instructions there, and you’ll improve. Once you can last five minutes in a fight with me, we’ll start training with your wings.”

Before Icarum could respond, Ilina jogged to the exit of the cavern. Icarum swore to himself that he’d never be so helpless in a fight again.