All the matches I had seen so far had started slowly. The competitors had faced off while they judged each other’s movements and styles, all while waiting for a moment that might give them an advantage.
Not so with Kegohr and Veltai. With fearsome roars, they charged straight at each other as Flame Shields materialized from their left forearms. They collided in the center of the arena, and flames burst around them as mace and nunchucks crashed into magical shields. The crowd went wild.
What followed was two minutes of the most intense fighting I had ever seen. Kegohr and Veltai’s weapons flew with remorseless fury as they battered at each other’s defenses until I was amazed that either still stood. At one point, she got a high kick through and sent him staggering back. A moment later, they were on each other again as the crash of weapons and the crackle of flames filled the air between them.
Such energy could never last long. Soon, both began to sag, though they never for a moment stopped fighting. Veltai tried to duck around Kegohr’s side, but he was a moment too quick for her and blocked the way with his Flame Shield. As she shifted her footing, he brought his mace around and swept her legs out. She crashed to the ground, and he planted a foot on her chest as his claws hooked her robe. Veltai grit her teeth as she held up her hands in defeat.
Kegohr helped her to stand, and the sweat-drenched combatants hugged. They shared warm smiles while they pounded each other on the back. Then, they marched out of the arena with heads held high as they made way for the next challenge.
Hamon entered the arena and watched the spectators with disdain, a pair of curved swords in his hands. His opponent was Nugi, a muscled warrior in thick leather armor and carrying a spear and shield.
Master Xilarion announced the commencement of the battle.
For a long time, the two stood facing each other, Hamon perfectly still while his opponent shifted from foot to foot.
“I said that you could begin,” Master Xilarion said at last.
Still, no movement.
“Get on with it!” Rutmonlir bellowed. “Or I’ll come down there and knock your heads together myself.”
The spearman advanced and lunged at Hamon. But the Wysaro Clan initiate stepped aside while whirling on the tip of one foot like a dancer. With one arm, he hooked the shaft of his opponent’s spear and trapped the weapon against his body. With the other, he lashed out, his sword lightning fast, and slashed at Nugi’s side. There was a flash of flame, a spray of blood, and the man sank to his knees as he clutched his torn armor.
“I yield!” he shouted.
Hamon turned and walked away as he flicked drops of blood from his sword.
“Some people don’t know how to play nice,” Kegohr said as he returned to the seat beside mine.
“Don’t know how or don’t want to,” I replied. “The end result’s the same, but the intention is very different.”
“Next up,” Master Xilarion announced, “Yo Hin versus Ethan Murphy.”
I unfastened a buckle at my shoulder and released the sheath that held the Sundered Heart Sword. Since the encounter with Jiven Wysaro, I hadn’t wanted to let it out of my sight, for fear that his agents might steal it. But it was one thing to carry such a powerful weapon to breakfast, quite another to use it against my classmates.
“Hold this,” I said to Kegohr.
“Won’t you need it?” he asked.
I patted the sword at my side, a basic weapon I’d taken from the barracks to replace the one Tolin had given me. “I think it’s better that the rest of the class don’t discover I have a dragon spirit sword.”
“Liar,” Nydarth hissed in my head. “You are afraid of unleashing your real power.”
“Both things can be true,” I thought, keeping the words inside, where only she could hear them. “And would you want me to be like Hamon, slicing chunks out of my fellow classmates?”
Nydarth grumbled but didn’t voice her objections. Good. She might have been a powerful dragon spirit, but I owned the Sundered Heart Sword, so I was her master.
I walked down the steps toward the arena, and initiates cheered as I passed them. Was it my imagination or were they cheering louder than they had for the previous few matches? Real or not, the difference raised my spirits.
“Maybe you have learned too much from this guild,” Nydarth spoke up. “All that talk of honor is rubbing off on you.”
“I suppose you’ll be really annoyed when I tell you I’m not going to use my ash Augmenting either.”
“Sweet man, what has you so obstinate this day? Those abilities are part of what makes you so special. They are the edge that can let you take on the greatest opponents.”
“This is a fire guild tournament, a test of whether I can rank up. If I can’t succeed with physical prowess and fire Augmenting, then I don’t deserve to win.”
“Then, let us hope you actually are as spectacular as I believe you to be.”
I took the long route down into the arena, around the front of the stands and down the final steps where the masters watched. By the time I reached my position, Yo Hin stood ready and waiting.
Yo Hin was one of the youngest initiates in the class—short, scrawny, and constantly on edge. He had come in the bottom quarter of every fighting test we had been given and was always one of the last home from a long run.
But what he lacked in strength and agility, he more than made up for in magical prowess. I knew that I was a powerful Augmenter for someone new to the Seven Realms, but he was powerful by almost any standard. The fire blazed so brightly within him that I could feel its heat whenever he used his Vigor. His raw natural talent
