Moonshadow (Book 1 of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Contest

They had started off strong, but they had been unable to catch Agrata, and she had mistakenly left Fykes to face Lugaria alone. He held his ground well and nearly had Lugaria out of the fight at the start, but Agrata had a few tricks up his sleeve. He healed his friend just in time to let him knock Fykes from consciousness, and despite Katerin's attempts, every time she got him on his feet, bolts and that damn sword of Lugaria's knocked him out again.

She had no more time to try to get him up and fighting, again. She would lose for sure if she did.

So now here she stood, glowering at a smug Lugaria. Gods was she thankful that she had upgraded her armor. Her tactics so far had been to let Lugaria approach, drawing him further away from Agrata, then flee with magic before he could actually land a blow, but it had not worked this time. They were a match for her cunning, after all. She swung her staff towards him, but he easily dodged. Despite how easy it looked, she knew he was working hard at it. He was serious, instead of mocking, and that meant it was taking quite a lot of effort on his part. She ignored her swelling pride, and freed a dagger from its sheath at her side, swinging her staff again with one hand. He parried it and left a cut across her thigh. She stepped inside the range of his sword and slid her dagger through a gap in his armor, aiming for a lung.

*

He cursed and pushed her away with a knee to the stomach that left her coughing

*

She avoided his next swing, but not the crossbow quarrel that came after it. It struck her wrist, and she lost her grip on her staff. Which she was forced to leave behind as Lugaria's sword thrust forward. It was her turn to curse, and she changed her grip on her dagger.

Lugaria's dark eyes held more than a little humor in them, now. He had wanted to see how well she could truly fight for a long time. And in truth, she was very good. A far cry better than he ever expected her to be, though he would never tell her that. He swung again and she rolled away diving behind him.

*

"I'm sorry," she said, grinning like a loon. "You're not gonna win." She drove the dagger through another gap in his armor. Wincing as a bolt jammed into her hip. It was a risk, she supposed, of exposing her back to an archer as skilled as Agrata.

*

Lugaria wanted to laugh despite his anger. Her damn magic was the only chance she had to beat him, and she used it well, even though he knew how to counter her techniques. She thought ahead of her every move and could counter him, as well.

He was proud of her, too, and that pissed him off just as much. Her combat up close was far improved, it seemed she had listened to every bit of help he had tried to give her. He cursed at her, as the warding spell took effect and his vision faded into darkness.

*

Katerin's heart was pounding. Not because this was terrifying—but because she had done it. She'd beaten him! And sure the fight was not yet over, as Agrata could easily best her if she was not careful, but she had beaten Lugaria and she hoped it stung his pride, a little. Lugaria's arrogance really was mightier than his skill, by only the smallest fractions, it seemed.

*

Agrata watched with surprise as Lugaria fell, laughing to himself. He would hear a rant later, he was sure. He cleared his head, remembering to focus. Lugaria had not held any excitement over the tournament, forced into it by Graiden as they were, but Agrata saw no problem with making a good show of this fight. Regardless of the winner, it was not a waste of time.

*

She locked eyes with him and they both smiled. Agrata was the best archer she had ever seen. He was rumored to never miss his target. And that was not much of an overstatement. The many wounds and bolts in her armor proved it.