Adif stood at the ready, putting on her game face.

Inside, it was a whole different story. Her heart was pounding and her stomach had tied itself in knots. 

She had never dueled with such high stakes before, and now she was facing the sprite that had defeated Shayrow.

Adif had never defeated Shayrow before, so she knew her odds of beating Piklof were slim.

But she was determined to put up a fight.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Piklof drawled, his mouth drawing up into a smirk.

I’m about to smack that smirk right off his stupid face.

The signal was given, and Piklof rushed forward, just as he had during his duel with Shayrow. He went low, missing Adif’s face by a hair.

Adif skirted around him, being careful to keep facing him. Turning her back for even a second was a mistake she couldn’t afford to make.

Piklof didn’t know it, but Adif had a decent reading of his technique from watching the duel between him and Shayrow. She knew he liked to swing at angles and cut in hard, and he moved heavily when he was on the ground.

So Adif took care of his wings with her first attack, feinting to one side and then catching her sword under his arm as he turned the way Adif wanted him to go. If Adif had been holding a real sword, both wings on his right side would have been sliced clean off.

“Grounded!” Luss crowed.

Piklof scowled and back-handed Adif. She ducked just in time, stunned for a moment as she felt the sword pass through her foliage. 

So what if the blades are blunted? He could have really hurt me if he’d hit my head!

That was when Adif realized that Piklof wasn’t fighting like they were dueling with blunted swords.

He was swinging his blade as if he and Adif were fighting for their lives.

Adif’s focus sharpened. 

This is real now. I’m fighting for something real, not just practice. 

She parried a blow and then angled her blade, flicking it down to destabilize Piklof’s hold on his weapon.

And then she clipped her sword on his wrist.

Piklof reflexively dropped his sword into his other hand, not missing a beat as Adif came at him again. Like any good swordbearer, he was proficient with both of his hands in the event that either arm was incapacitated. 

So Adif took advantage of her height and attacked low. Piklof couldn’t get a good angle to deflect her blade, barely managing to ward her off each time she swung. Since it had worked last time, Adif tried feinting again, but Piklof read her and nearly disarmed her with a heavy blow.

And then Adif darted past him, risking her neck as she turned her back for a second to kick the back of his knee.

It worked. Piklof buckled and fell over, giving Adif the opening she had been searching for. She went for the finishing blow, but Piklof wasn’t about to give in. He kicked Adif’s sword out of her hands, giving him time to scramble to his feet.

They faced each other, having recovered at the exact same moment.

Adif regripped her blade. Piklof did the same.

Then Adif had an idea.

She held still, frozen at the ready.

Piklof waited for her to make a move, but Adif didn’t so much as blink. The sprite’s expression twitched with impatience.

“Oh, what—have you given up?” he jeered.

Which was exactly what Adif had been hoping for.

In one swift movement, Adif hit her blade against both of his legs, following up with a jab to his stomach. She only suffered a swipe to her left ear, which in a real fight would have been nothing compared to Piklof’s wounds.

Adif didn’t dare pin him down without disarming him. She hit his other arm, dislodging his hand from his sword’s handle. She kicked the sword as hard as she could, sending it skidding far out of reach. 

Piklof hit the ground with a thud, but Adif hadn’t pinned him with much force and he was back on his feet in an instant.

She didn’t expect Piklof to come at her with his bare hands.

“Get off of her!” Shayrow snapped, yanking Piklof back with the help of Luss. 

“We’re in the middle of a duel!” Piklof spat.

“Which ended a few seconds ago,” Luss retorted. “Y’know, when you were disarmed and pinned?”

“I could have taken her sword and--!”

“Perhaps in a real fight you could have,” Shayrow coolly said, “but in a duel, the fight ends there.”

Piklof glowered.

“Apologize,” Luss demanded. “If you won’t admit defeat, at least apologize.”

Piklof threw off Shayrow and Luss, looking daggers at both of them. He snatched his sword from Kestek, who had picked it up to give back to him, then he stalked off.

“I forgive you,” Adif called after him.

“Adif, that was incredible,” Shayrow said, beaming. “You fought brilliantly. And you won!”

“Yeah, not even you could do that, huh?” Luss grinned at Shayrow. 

“Well,” the goblin with the task envelope said, “I suppose this is rightfully yours.” He handed Adif the envelope. “I would suggest setting out for Asbvaj as soon as possible. The Asbvajian prince turns eighteen in thirty-four days.”

“That’s cutting it a bit close,” Luss remarked as the goblin strode off. “Just from here to the Asbvaj border is going to take at least twenty-five days on foot.”

“We’d better get going, then,” Shayrow said.

Jelro explained the situation to the resident animals, who all surprisingly wanted to come with the group on the trip.

“Why can’t we fly?” Kestek asked, frowning.

“You wanna carry us?” Luss smirked.

“No. We’ll just hitch a ride on those fancy mount things, or get a flying carpet!”

“Oh, sure, sure—if you feel like paying for it,” Luss said, rolling his eyes.

“Well, how much jag would it be?” Kestek demanded.

“A flying carpet that can get us all the way to Asbvaj would probably be a gold bit just to rent one, and buying one isn’t worth it. Those ‘fancy mounts’ can’t get us all the way to Asbvaj for a reasonable price, and we’d have to worry about feeding them and giving them time to rest.” Luss opened his arms, awaiting an objection.

“W-well!” Kestek glowered, her cheeks darkening with the same mallow-purple color of her eyes—which was the color of her magic.

Adif never understood why some beings blushed the color of their magic when the color of their blood was just the normal color of blood. Most beings had red blood, but elves had green blood.

“How about Jelro asks a wild animal to give us a lift, then?” Kestek tried.

“I guess I could,” Jelro thoughtfully said, “but not a lot of creatures live in the forest that can fly and are big enough for a rider. Smaller fliers stick to forests while the larger fliers prefer open spaces.”

“Then why do dragons live in caves?” Luss cracked.

“We’ll figure something out,” Jelro reassured Kestek. “For now, let’s focus on gathering everything we need for a thirty-day-long trip.”

“I’ll stock up on food,” Kestek volunteered. “Jelro, you’d better come with me so I can pack for your animal friends, too.”

“All right.” Jelro grinned. “How about you three get things like clothes and anything else deemed worthy of bringing along?”

“Sure.” Shayrow nodded. “We’ll meet you back here.”

The group split. Adif and Shayrow followed Luss as the merchant navigated through the market.

“The thing about Asbvaj,” Luss said, “is that it’s hot in the day and freezing at night, and the sandstorms are blinding. I say we get a good set of clothes for each, and facial protection. We’d better get footwear that’s suitable for various terrain, as well.”

They collected what they needed and tucked the goods in one of Luss’s many storbles. Adif picked out the clothes for Jelro, since she knew exactly what he would like.

Shayrow and Luss made her pick out Kestek’s clothes as well, insisting that she would make the best choice. 

“Shame these don’t come in darker colors,” Shayrow murmured while they were selecting the breathable clothes intended for hot weather. 

“Darker colors absorb the heat,” Luss said. “They only come in light colors for a reason.”

Shayrow didn’t seem too thrilled about it, but he settled for light browns and blues.

Adif couldn’t even picture the dhampyr wearing anything other than black clothing. He had never worn anything else in all the time that she had known him.

Adif paid for everything, since she knew she was the best off in terms of jag, thanks to the wealth of her family.

The most expensive thing they purchased were three tall bottles made of special material that filtered out water from the air, meaning the bottles filled themselves at a speed depending on how much water vapor there was.

“They’ll come in handy,” Luss insisted. “We can also submerge them in any kind of water to fill them up quickly. It filters out salt and the like.”

The talk of water made Adif realize that it had been at least an hour since she had drunk any liquids, and she was starting to feel woozy. 

“Adi?” Shayrow put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re off colour. Have you been drinking enough water?”

She weakly shook her head.

“You need to take better care of yourself,” Shayrow lightly scolded. He pulled a flask of water from his satchel and gave it to Adif.

She drank the whole thing in just a few swallows, feeling much better immediately after.

“Thanks,” she said, handing the empty flask back to Shayrow.

“Not a problem.” He smiled and tucked the flask into his satchel.

The group met back with Jelro and Kestek, who arrived at the spot almost at the exact same time. Jelro was snacking on a bag of lotus crackers, and Kestek now had a blue ribbon loosely tying back her hair.

Adif grinned when she saw that Refi had a ribbon tied in a bow on her neck, and so did Oireug, Cove, Eiss, Breek, and Liaj.

“Hey, where’s my ribbon?” Luss complained, a snigger escaping him.

Kestek chucked a wadded-up strip of ribbon at Luss. 

“Awww, you shouldn’t have!” Luss smoothed out the ribbon. He expertly tucked it under his collar and tied it in a perfect bow.

“Where did you get all the ribbon?” Shayrow wondered.

“A seamstress was putting bows in little girls’ hair for free, so, um, she had some extra ribbon, and...” Kestek flushed, apparently embarrassed. “It suits them, don’t you think?” she hastily said, looking at the resident animals.

“They’re all dressed up for an adventure!” Adif said, grinning. 

“We’d better get going,” Jelro said. “We haven’t got time to waste.”

And with that, the group headed onward and out of the town gates. 

Then they started off on the road that would eventually leave Woei behind.

~ ~ ~