With the malicious grin still on her face, she dashed towards me, using the floating platforms of earth she had just created to make her way towards me, as her sword was now alight with mana-flame. Jumping between platform after platform, we swung at each other and parried attacks left and right as we bounced along the platforms. Dashing towards her in a desperate attempt at an attack, I was met with a vicious, wet blow to my spine, slamming me to the ground beneath us.
Without much motion from her, she replaced the holes she'd made in the ground with their original components of earth and rock, and stood victoriously above me, pointing her sword at me. "Do you yield?" she asked, her breathing was slow and steady as if she'd been asleep the entire time.
Grunting with the pain I felt in my back, I got to my feet, standing as straight as I could in the newly-formed puddle beneath me. She eyed me curiously, but that curiosity quickly turned back into a chagrined smile. "Nah, I've got one more thing I wanna try," I said, pushing as much mana into my muscles, tendons and bones as I could physically manage.
"And what's that?" she asked, merely raising an eyebrow in response.
"A speed blitz," I grinned.
With a flash of mana, I dashed behind her, leaving a puff of mist behind me, preparing to strike at her from behind with the flat of my sword.
I've got you now! I thought, hoping it would distract her just enough to make her hesitate. Know your place, her voice beamed into my head alongside an intense glare that met my eyes just as my sword was coming down. Just as it did so, the figure, who I thought was my mom, shimmered and twirled as my blade passed through it.
What the fuck…? I thought, widening my eyes and trying to piece together what happened as a cold, dull piece of steel pressed against my neck.
"Hahaha, you thought!" she chuckled from behind me. "Not a bad move, but unrefined, for sure. Now, sit," she said, pulling her sword away from my neck, replacing it with the palm of her hand as she swept my feet out from under me and forcing an abrupt meeting of my ass cheeks with the dirt below. "Ow! The fuck was that for?" I asked, rubbing my backside. "That was for getting cocky. Didn't your brother ever warn you not to do that?" she asked, glancing over at him briefly.
"Oh, I've warned him alright," Bernar said, raising his hands placatingly, as if doing so would wash his hands of any guilt. My mother shrugged, and sat down with her legs crossed in front of me. "That was a decent fight. It seems your grandfather taught you well, after all. I just wish you'd been able to come earlier," she said, a tone of regret subtly floating in her voice. I watched as her expression flicked through a few emotions, but settled on a grin.
"What was that move you did earlier with the dummy?" she asked. "My best friend, Edryd, calls it the Whip of Doom," I said, giving credit where it was due. "Whip of Doom?" she asked sardonically, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose there are worse names for something like that, but it is what it is. It was a well executed move," she shrugged.
"How did you do that trick with the ground? All those platforms floating in the air? I've seen Bernar use mild earth-mana manipulation before, but never like that," I said, recalling him pulling the stone doors inside the cave apart like a curtain. "Oh, that? It's a common strategy my team and I developed to throw less-intelligent creatures off kilter," she said matter-of-factly.
"Team? What team?" I asked. "I'm sure you know from Taegin that I originally came here looking for the lost artifacts of the gods, correct?" she asked. I nodded. "Well, we found all of the ones in Caegwen, though there are still two that are missing," she said frustratedly.
My eyes widened as I processed what she said. "You found them? Do they still work?" I asked, though I had so many more questions lined up. "Eh, they do, but we've come to find out that unless you have a full, well-coordinated team capable of wielding the artifacts, they're not as useful as they were once thought to be," she said dejectedly.
"Unfortunately, the team that I had when we found them got split up due to increased invasions from the Underworld. We've been extraordinarily busy since just before the attack on Coltend Castle, monitoring and striking at the portals as soon as they opened across the country," she said, averting her gaze.
I could only nod in understanding. Things really hadn't been the same since then, and I supposed that whatever she was dealing with was far out of my league.
"In any case, that was a good first match, but since we have a lot of training to do, it's probably best if you met some of the people you'll be working with, first," she gestured behind me. Standing next to Ysevel and my brother were three more elves, only one of which wore similar training attire to that of my mother.
The tallest of them, standing at least a head taller than I was, had dark green hair and an unstrung bow in his hand, with his quiver tied to his waist like a sword's sheath. The second had blood-red hair, hazel eyes, and a toned body that suited a spear-caster nicely. The third, however, was one I didn't expect, as his lanky frame and matted, black hair seemed to greatly contrast against the features of the other two, especially the twin daggers at his sides. "Thoma, meet Haldir, Vyra, and Derion," my mother said, pointing to the three in the exact same order I'd noted them in.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to your instruction," I said with a bow. "Oh? A sword caster? Aaaand of course he looks just like you, Commander. I wonder if he's got your attitude, as well," Vyra said, noting my features as soon as I lifted my head from the bow.
"It will be an honor to work with you, and I look forward to teaching you all that I can," Haldir said, putting a hand on his chest in a formal bow which I returned promptly.
"Commander, he really does look just like you. Would you mind if I ran a few experiments on him? I'd heard from Lady Ysevel that he'd had a seal on his core, after all," Derion said, his raspy voice and malicious half-grin sending chills down my spine.
"Yes, he does. Happy to hear it, and absolutely the fuck not," my mother said, adressing all three of her companion's quips and greetings quickly. "Thoma, you will be training with these three members of my team, alongside Ysevel whom you've already met," she paused, repeatedly raising her eyebrows suggestively.
I did my best to ignore both my mother's wry suggestivity, and Ysevel's tomato-red face.
I'm getting the feeling this is probably going to be a long day, I thought, not bothering to hide the grin on my face as I shook my head and chuckled.