The resulting clash ended with Gregory tripping Hayworth and tapping his helm with the blade of the naginata. Letting go of his magic, Gregory exhaled hard and pushed his helm up.
“Made us work for that win,” Gregory said, extending his free hand.
“We almost had it,” Hayworth replied, taking the offered hand and getting to his feet. “On the plus side of things, we don’t have to face Nick. Good luck with that.”
Gregory laughed as Yunlo announced the winners. “Neither of us took injuries, either, so good luck with your opponent.”
Klim and Mindie were there to check them and, after a moment, they both backed up. Gregory’s wives and Hayworth’s clanmates came back out onto the arena floor, then bowed as they were supposed to.
“Good fight,” Gregory said.
“You, too,” one of the two apprentices said, glancing at Hayworth with concern.
“You did the right thing,” Hayworth said. “You got her arm, so I was able to get her and have a chance against him.”
“I didn’t expect you to hit me without even looking,” Yukiko said. “How did you manage that?”
“We left that spot open intentionally,” Hayworth said, “to bait you into attacking them. We had to remove you to have a chance.”
“If you hadn’t caught my other arm with that first volley, I might’ve been able to do more,” Jenn sighed. “It was a good plan.”
The archers bowed to her.
“If you’re done?” Yunlo asked stiffly.
“Sorry, sir,” Gregory and Hayworth said in echo.
With that, they each led their teams off the field. Mindie trailed them, looking thoughtful as she followed their gaze up to the stands where their clan sat. The elder met her gaze and bowed his head respectfully to her in thanks.
“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Jenn sighed as they entered the tunnel. “We knew they might do that, but we hadn’t counted on them going for me. If I hadn’t gone out as wide, it might have been different.”
“We had no idea Hayworth can target places he can’t see,” Yukiko said. “Now we do, so we’ll factor that in next time.”
“I took too long to move,” Gregory added. “I thought they’d target me. My own damned hubris almost cost us that match.”
“I thought you all did well,” Mindie chimed in. “I’m sure you know better than I do, but none of you acted as badly as you think. Gregory, you didn’t sit still. You moved as soon as you were sure they were after someone else. Yukiko, maybe you don’t realize how close he came to missing you, but he did. Jenn, many would have tried to ignore the minor touch on your arm and say it hadn’t touched you, but you did the honorable thing. Even then, you nearly had him.”
The friends exchanged looks before they turned to face her as a group. Mindie froze in place, wondering if she’d gone too far.
“Thank you, Mindie,” Yukiko said.
“You’re right. We did the best we could,” Gregory added.
“We get hard on ourselves to try to improve, but sometimes, it minimizes what we do,” Jenn said. “Thanks.”
“Oh, uh... you’re welcome,” Mindie said, a little flustered. “Your clan is one of the few who has constructive conversations after a fight. You don’t point fingers and cast blame. I didn’t want you all to think you had done badly, especially when Klim and I had no real injuries to heal. The worst was Hayworth’s shield arm, which only had a minor strain.”
“It would’ve broken his arm if he hadn’t braced his shield on the ground,” Jenn said. “He is smart, lucky, or possibly both. We weren’t trying to maim them, though. That isn’t how we normally fight.”
“That might change for the last fight,” Gregory said. “We’ll not have a lot of choice if it’s against the Eternal Flame.”
Mindie nodded, her chest tightening. “Yes... that will be an unpleasant fight. Are you sure you need to fight? Couldn’t you just concede to them?”
“How do you think Nick would act if we did?” Yukiko asked her. “Do you think he’d stop his antagonism? Would he stop attacking eurtik?”
“No, but...” Mindie looked down. “You might all get burned badly or… or killed.”
Gregory went up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “We might, but if we stand by and let them do what they want unopposed, it’ll be worse for everyone else. My mother told me that Lionel Lighthand once said, ‘All evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’ I never understood it clearly until I met Nick Shun.”
Mindie took a deep breath and looked up, meeting Gregory’s eyes. “I’ll heal you. As long as you draw breath at the end of the fight, I’ll be there to help.”
“Thank you, Mindie,” Yukiko said, placing her hand on Mindie’s other shoulder. “If you’re with us, I think everything will be easier.
“Yuki’s right,” Jenn said, coming up on Gregory’s side. “None of us worry if you’re there to help us.”
Mindie looked from one to the other, her cheeks heating slightly. “Thank you, but I’m just a healer.”
“A healer who cares is not just a healer,” Gregory said. “The ones in the hall are just healers. They’re just doing their jobs, not trying to make things better.”
Mindie stood there looking between them, unsure of what to do or say.
“We should get back to our clan and rest until we fight again,” Yukiko said after a few awkward seconds. “I hope the fights aren’t too bad the rest of the day.”
They said goodbye to Mindie. She managed to say goodbye back to them, but was still standing there as they walked away.
~*~*~
Gin discussed their fight with them, critiquing their actions and offering suggestions about what they could’ve done differently. They paid attention to him instead of the demonstrations taking place in the
