With Vischuno’s back to Jularra, she crept closer, taking further advantage of his focus on Wona. She brought her sword up in a roof guard over her shoulder and increased her pace.
She jogged silently, elbows raising as she prepared to slice at the back of his legs and force his submission. Her body flexed in preparation for the attack. Her elbows rose further; Vischuno’s back still faced her. In a final lurch, she swung the blade down, ducking slightly with the plan of running on towards Wona.
At the last second, Vischuno spun around, and with his third arm brought his enormous shield around in a perfectly-timed defense. Jularra’s eyes widened in shock, but her attack was too far along to be withdrawn. Her sword cut deep into the shield’s wood, but her momentum freed the blade as she ran by. She spun and jogged backwards, evaluating the status of both her combatants.
Vischuno and Wona walked towards Jularra. Each fighter traded glances with the others.
Then, without a word or gesture, Wona and Jularra took off towards Vischuno. Being fairly fresh, and only recently freed of the magic restraint, both women knew he was their biggest threat. No discussion was required. It was simply sound combat logic.
Vischuno squatted slightly, preparing. He brought his shield to the front, perhaps a foot off the ground, with one sword over his shoulder and the other out by his waist. Jularra and Wona, initially far apart, came closer together as they approached before suddenly splitting off again—one to each side of Vischuno.
He was ready.
Wona’s attack came first. He blocked her blade and shoved her away, rendering an immediate counter-attack impossible. As Jularra prepared for her own attack, Vischuno withdrew behind his shield and sliced at her. She slid to a stop and skipped backwards, barely avoiding the hit as she deflected the tip of his blade away. She was then in perfect position for a counter-attack.
Jularra jumped towards Vischuno and landed a solid hit on his pauldron, but the strike had no effect; the blow just bounced off the substantial plate armor. On Vischuno’s other side, Wona had returned to the fight, dodging Vischuno’s slow but devastating attacks. He held his shield tightly to the front while engaging Wona with one sword and Jularra with the other.
As the fight became more competitive, the crowd grew even more raucous. The fight was a perfectly executed piece of martial entertainment. Vischuno’s power and intimidation made the crowd swoon. Wona’s speed was intoxicating, inspiring men and women all around with lust and admiration. Jularra’s advanced swordsmanship, interspersed with pops and pokes of magical distraction, humbled the yard and reaffirmed her ceremonial, yet rightful position as Commander of the Spire.
The fighters kicked dust up from the ground as they maneuvered. Distract. Attack. Deflect. Wait. Status quo. Wait for an opening. Wait for the one blunder someone could take advantage of. But there was no sign of anyone faltering. This was combat excellence in action.
The status quo portion of a fight, if it reached that point, was only an advantage for those skilled enough to seize it. When an opponent's moves reached a certain level of predictability, Jularra knew, it freed the mind up to consider other things. The mind could then process strategy, experience, and history, to shift away from the status quo and towards an opportunity. To break the repetitiveness of a fight, one must anticipate properly, develop the ideal action to take, and create the ideal time to take it. Jularra was renowned for being an expert at such strategy.
The fight catered to Vischuno for the moment. Inside the confined sparring area, he could inflict the most damage at any given time. And while Wona and Jularra made worthy attacks, they spent most of their energy having to dodge and defend against his overwhelming swings while he stood still, alternating between attacks and blocks with his shield.
Jularra disengaged. She jogged backwards in a curve, making it obvious she was trying to circle back around behind Wona. Vischuno and Wona traded a few more attacks before Wona backed away as well.
Status quo, broken.
Wona’s chest and shoulders rose as she took a massive breath to clear her mind and focus. But Vischuno wasn’t interested in slowing the fight down. He began to march back towards Wona—and that was exactly what Jularra wanted.
Jularra sheathed her sword and closed her eyes. With Vischuno and Wona focusing on each other, she should have enough time to invoke the enchantment. She uttered the words of her spell in the ancient language of Acorilan. When she finished speaking, she opened her eyes and looked at the magical sphere she'd created. Straining against an incredible resistance, Jularra rotated her hands, moving the sphere of energy she was working to manipulate. Turning the sphere caused the sky to slide along and the sun to set. She rotated her hands even more; darkness took the sky as the moon rose. The rapid shift from day to night was only visible to Jularra, however.
But as Jularra looked up at her own personal night, she called upon the impressions of the billions of brotherly and sisterly stars to assist her in her fight. She closed her eyes once more, and even though they were closed, she could see the sparring area bathed in moonlight. She brought the ball of energy closer to her chest and compressed it slightly. Her eyes remained closed.
Just as Vischuno was preparing to unleash his two massive blades upon Wona, streams of energy shot out from Jularra’s sphere to various points within the sparring area. As each one reached its destination, it would pop and recede and then spawn a cloned image of either Jularra, Wona, or Vischuno. It didn’t take long for Wona and Vischuno to lose track of their legitimate foe. As soon as each one spawned, it would engage
