Heron sighed. The four of them, Heron, Gust, Lucifer and Ferek sat, in that order, on the only shaded side of the yard. Quinn sipped tea at one of the tables, enjoying life and just being there. The story Ferek told lay at the forefront of Heron and Gust’s minds. Ferek and Lucifer’s ‘Seraph’ was the same person as Heron’s sister, Asch. Somehow, she had ended up in Amostarri and without any recollection of who she was. Her tattoos, the ones that had been etched across her entire body, were inert. She only retained her affinity to the earth. Her hair, the runes, and her attitude of superiority, Heron had decided, were the key factors to convince him that they were the same. 

Heron hung his head “Well, that’s awkward” Ferek and Seraph, or Asch...whichever it was, were a couple.

Lucifer tapped Gust’s shoulder. “She’s really nice once you get to know her.” 

Gust raised an eyebrow. “Maybe we should just let these two...talk it out from here.”

“Sure!” A sparkle shined in his eyes. “Why don’t you show me what you were doing before? You looked good back there.”

“But you didn’t…” realization dawned on Gust that he meant when he was without a shirt and sweating. The blush was instant. “How...how about I just show you some small exercises. You get worn out pretty fast.” This way, he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable and he wouldn’t drench his shirt.

Lucifer’s pout almost made Gust regret those words. “Okayyy, but promise maybe eventually.

Gust sighed and grabbed Lucifer’s arm. “Here. I’m going to adjust you to start.” He pulled him into a position and began showing how to slowly stretch, and then train. Lucifer followed the exercises as best he could. To Gust, it was clumsy, unbalanced, and embarrassing.

“You know, for the beefy guy Ferek is, as his companion you could ya know, keep up.”

“Pfff, you just do this to fight.” Lucifer sat down. “I don’t need it.”

Gust’s lip curled. “It’s exercise too.”

“Exercise to hurt someone.”

“Well, it’s just…” what we do. Gust stopped himself. All Eruli are trained into a para-military force. But now he’s not an Eruli. “Look, it’s just exercise. We don’t ever fight for real or hurt each other here. It’s just what we know for training.”

“I don’t understand.”

Gust face-palmed. “What don’t you understand.”

“Why are you training to fight if you do not plan on hurting someone. It’s not like you need to defend yourself here. Everything I see, and everywhere I go, people are afraid of you.”

Gust didn’t consider history much, but he failed to recall a time when Eruli were attacked by anyone. No one other than themselves “I don’t know. We just do.” Gust was frustrated and his head hurt, so he changed the subject. “Who do you think would win, Ferek or Heron?”

Lucifer replied instantly. “Ferek. Not even Heron’s sister was a match for him and that was before he met the queen,”

“Who?”

“The queen.”

“I thought you all just sort of...on your own.

“You think wrong a lot.” Lucifer stepped away and then called out to Ferek. They exchanged words briefly in their own language, and then Lucifer stood up. “He’ll spar Heron.” 

-

They’d cleared the Yard of debri, turning into a makeshift arena. Quinn, Lucifer and I stood far to the sides. Lucifer’s arms were crossed, and his lips pursed. He didn’t say much while we’d moved equipment. Heron and Ferek faced each other. Heron changed into his Guide uniform and his cloak: an inheritance from his mother. Ferek wore the same dyed, homespun clothes.

“Just don’t kill each other.” Quinn announced. “Don’t seriously hurt each other either. The Yard can probably take whatever you can throw at it, but you can’t.” She paused for a moment. “Neither can we, so don’t try that else I’ll have to stop you.” Gust tried to stifle a chuckle, but Quinn caught it anyway. “You know, Mr. Gust, a runificer is only as good as her life span and preparation. This yard is my domain.”

Even if perfectly drawn and using perfect syntax, runes still take years to draw enough ambient energy to be effective. The best runificers had catalog reserves of runes for a multitude of situations. Quinn was old. Her catalog should be massive.

She waved his curiosity away. “You two can begin.”

Heron bowed. Ferek raised an eyebrow and drew his sword. It appeared to be a simple, half-handed falchion. Etched into the broad side were blood red tendrils and flower petals. Gust shivered. He swore that those petals were glowing and moving, slithering across the blade. 

Heron shrugged. His tattoos were in the palms of his hands. He moved his hands together as if to clap, brought them over his head and brought them down. Gust knew Heron’s attack well. It was a heavily compressed, highly pressured bubble of air. Once thrown, it retained its shape and pressure. It could snap thick tree trunks. It was powerful and nearly invisible. Gust knew to look for the slight disturbance like a moving aura in his vision. 

In response, Ferek gripped with two hands and swung just as Heron’s attack would reach him. His sword transformed. In an instant, it transformed into a massively wide, heavy, fang shaped abomination with the texture of thick scales. Then those scales opened as if belonging to a maw of a beast.Ferek spun with the weight of the sword as the maw swallowed the aura of Heron’s attack.

 Ferek’s spin kept going until he swung his sword after a full turn. The maw opened again, but quicker and the disturbance in the air was larger and faster. 

Heron dodged it, blasting himself to the side with a burst of wind, but the returned attack kept going. It slammed into the side of the Yard. The walls shimmered and undulated. The whole area seemed engulfed in an instant wind storm before it dissipated. 

“Well then.” Heron said, standing upright. 

Quinn burst out laughing. “And I thought this would be boring. I don’t think the Yard’s been hit like that for decades!” Her nonchalance distrubed Gust, yet Lucifer didn’t appear impressed either. Ferek’s sword returned to normal. His stoic expression gave Gust even more chills. 

Heron switched his tactic. He charged into a melee range just beyond Ferek’s sword range and assumed his fighting stance, bouncing off his toes. Though most (Lucifer the exception) Eruli failed to control their affinity without runes, Heron was practiced enough with his feet. His goal would be to trip Ferek off-balance, outspeed him using bursts of wind for balance and pin him with another stream of wind. 

Yet, Heron’s invisible strikes were like a light breeze to a mighty mountain. In terms of size, Ferek easily had a full head and shoulders above Heron in height, and Ferek’s broad shoulders. Indeed, Ferek couldn’t keep up with Heron. The air around Heron twisted and pushed to support every one of his strikes and movements. Even a shot directly to Ferek’s face seemed a glancing blow to him. Ferek’s sword finally caught Heron in his movement. Heron’s cloak activated. A bubble of pressurized air prevented Ferek’s sword from cutting deeper. Heron took his chance, making his own localized bubble around his fist and struck at Ferek. Ferek was pushed back and knocked to his side, but only just for a moment. In the meantime, Ferek readied to swing his sword once more, but this time it transformed as he swung. It took the terrible fang shape and scale texture once more. Its reach was doubled mid-strike. It could crush Heron. 

It stopped in mid-air. Soon following, a sound like the bowels of the earth themselves erupting shook the Yard. Gust’s ears felt like they would rupture as the cracking and ripping burst throughout the yard. Under it all, Gust heard Lucifer’s voice clearly and softly as he said “That’s enough.”