Elena stood on the beach, fingering the neck guard recently bestowed up on her in a ceremony by Prince Liran. As Field Marshal, it was then her duty in turn to give out badges of rank to each of the many soldiers she felt were capable of some level of command. It had been a somber moment.
The sun had set long ago. She removed her boots and handed them to one of her aides. The sand was damp between her toes. On this sort of surface, footwear was a liability.
The area was lit by torches planted into the soft ground every few steps, creating a ring of fire forming a makeshift circle. The water flowed up on shore and back into its dark body. The cliffs above and the long expanse of beach were filled with the men and women of Castillon, both the soldiers and the civilians, Hilliri and Trillas, awaiting the promised spectacle. Word had travelled fast that it would be a demonstration worth seeing. Elena tried not to think about how many would be watching her and what would happen if she faltered. She couldn't afford to, not if she wanted to lead effectively.
Breathe, she reminded herself, breathe as Ergin showed you.
The fluttering in her stomach settled as she drew in deep breaths of the cool night air. She tossed her head to keep the wisps that had come loose from her top knot away from her face. The breeze was light, thankfully, for the colder weather was approaching soon. Another reason why she was anxious to march. Winter campaigns were terrible, and they would be marching north, into a colder climate.
Liran hadn't arrived yet, which left her too much time to think. He had excused himself after the assignment of the ranks, leaving her to make a number of announcements. Tomorrow they expected the force to arrive from Kalad, bringing their army to a more respectable size. After that, they would finally be on the move.
Elena smiled. Field Marshal had a nice sound to it. Liran had saved a wide smile for her after he had handed her the baton of office and placed a gorget around her neck. It was bronze plated with gold, and enscribed with the coat of arms of the House of Calimero. A nice touch. She had heard that her father had worn such an emblem when he signed the final treaty that brought the Empire into being.
She noticed that he had also prepared a silver sash for himself, signifying his role as chief among the Marulan.
Liran finally appeared in the distance by the Fortress portcullis, walking toward the circle. He looked taller and leaner than ever, alone on the distant section of beach. He took his time as he walked, growing from a thin vertical line rising out of the sand to a solid figure, bobbing slightly as he stepped. Finally he arrived at the circle's outer edge. An aide took his jacket, leaving him wearing only a thin shirt, and he removed his boots.
He stepped into the circle and waited.
The arbiter of the forms was positioned with his back facing the sea. In a circle, there was no front or back, but here, with the audience on the back side of the beach and all above on the cliffs, he was alone on his side.
When she felt sufficiently calm and focused, Elena too stepped into the ring and faced her opponent. She bowed first to the arbiter, then to Liran, acknowledging his senior level. She remained facing him.
The arbiter raised his hands in the air until the crowd settled and their talk subsided. He lowered them and straightened himself to his full stature.
"Elena Valeria, you are acknowledged as Denar-amir, Master of the Third Level and former student of Grand Master Benar of Kalad. Do you accept the challenge of Liran Calimero, Katar-amir, Master of the Fifth Level and former student of Grand Master Yoran?"
Elena nodded.
"The goal of this challenge is to test your worthiness for graduation to the next level of mastery. You must demonstrate every mark of mastery of the forms including the use of maru both in offence and defence. Are you prepared and ready for this challenge?"
"I am."
The crowd raised a loud murmur at this admission. After this, Elena would not be recognized as any ordinary Trillas. Explanations would be expected. She was prepared for this too. It was clear to her now that the truth would eventually need to be revealed, but she hadn't said anything yet.
"Name your weapon!" The arbiter made a sweeping gesture to the racks of weapons that had been brought out to this makeshift circle.
Elena lifted her chin.
"I will use none but my own hands."
The rumble of the crowd rose to a din. Liran looked surprised. Good, Elena thought. That choice will put him off guard a little. For a combatant of her stature, a weapon, especially a longer one, would have been considered the best choice when facing someone much taller with longer arms. She would be more likely to keep him out of reach that way, but Elena had calculated that she had to be bold, and the only way she might have any advantage was to use the techniques that she and Liran had practised the least, and the ones that were seemingly the least advantageous.
She took her time to assess at her opponent. Breathing side to side, she could feel her focus changing, being right there in the moment and also seeing dispassionately as an observer, as if from a distance.
She noticed his torso shift slightly. He was going to bring an arm up to reach for her. She crouched down as he committed his weight to the move. He would be off balance in a moment. She placed a leg in front of his to trip him, grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward even more while she pushed his other shoulder to force him to twist. She stepped away from his side and spun around to watch him fall.
He knew how to right himself from such a move, and adapted quickly, allowing his momentum to continue to the ground and curling up to take the shock by rolling. He sprang up into a crouch, watching her like a cat on the prowl.
"One for the challenger, zatara 71 to 59," called the arbiter, meaning Elena had made her first point. There was some polite clapping from the crowd. She had more to go. She must continue to focus on the moment. No time to waste, Elena was on the offensive. The moment Liran appeared to rise from his crouch, Elena leapt toward him. She struck out with a fist as she ducked to tap him on the knee, making sure to only touch him and not to cause injury. At the same time, she reached up to hit the underside of his arm with her other hand on the soft part, a move that if done with full force would make the opponent buckle inward. She continued forward and down to the ground, rolling away to the side, springing back to stand facing him. Liran looked surprised. He should have made a counter move but he had completely missed the strike.
"Second point to the challenger. Zatar 36 executed with precision." More enthusiastic clapping ensued.
She remained standing perfectly still as she kept eye contact with Liran just as he focused on her. She noticed a twitch in his fingers as he made a fist and struck out towards her stomach. He would pull the punch so as not to hurt her, just as she had done, but the move would gain him a point. As he moved, the world seemed to slow. She counted her breaths and her heartbeats as he reached forward with his fist. With barely a thought, a maru shield sprang into being between them and deflected the blow. It looked like the air in front of her rippled as if there was a great heat coming from her body. The blow glanced to the side and slid off the shield.
She brought an arm up and tapped him on the side of the neck.
"Third point for the challenger, zatara 93 from 28. An extra point for grace of execution makes four." The crowd rumbled with pleasure. She was giving them what they wanted: a disadvantaged challenger gaining the upper hand.
Liran gave a slight nod. He wanted her to succeed in spite of making the effort to win, but now, Elena realized, it was time to really go on the offensive and show them what she was made of.
She now had her back turned toward Liran. She remained there, standing very still so that she could sense his movement. The crowd cried out in surprise, then hushed to see what would happen. Liran had to strike, it would be foolish to leave such an opportunity. At first he was also facing his back to her, but she sensed him turn about and approach. She breathed in once to steady herself, closed her eyes for concentration, then threw up a wall of fire behind herself, between them, forcing Liran to hesitate, but it didn't last long. He created a shield of maru that followed the front contour of his body and arms. He then kicked out at the back of her knee and reached forward to grab her shoulder and spun her around, right through the fire. It was oddly cold, being made of something other than ordinary stuff.
A round of applause greeted this move. Elena nodded her approval of his defense. The arbiter called out once more: "Two points for the defendant for creativity by using zatara 106 to block 142."
Elena sensed the spectators drawing in with interest as the circle seemed to tighten. The arbiter called for everyone to take a step back. Elena kept her eyes on Liran who did the same in return. Without altering his gaze, a fireball grew above one hand. With remarkable speed he lobbed it at her. She quickly formed a full size shield, covering herself from above her head down to her feet. More polite clapping ensued, but Elena didn't want to pause now. It was time to finish things, and as quickly as possible, before she had time to tire.
She drew up a hand and in it appeared another fireball which she threw at Liran with all her strength. While that one was aloft, another appeared in her other hand and she flung it forth with her full strength. As expected, Liran threw up a shield with little effort to rebuff these attempts.
As the shield deflected the second fireball, though, Elena added something and unexpected. She drew herself up to her full height and spread her hands wide beside her. She tossed back her head and let out a small sun's worth of light.
People lifted their hands up to their faces and gasped. This wasn't on the list of usual moves. In fact, she doubted anyone else could do such a thing with so much intensity of light. Liran stepped back several paces while covering his eyes with his arm, but Elena could see through the light. She tripped him and he fell to the ground. Reaching forward, she tucked his arm behind his back so he couldn't move. A full rumble of chatter ensued.
The arbiter lifted a hand in the air for silence. "Point and match to the challenger. Three extra points given for special abilities demonstrated with creative application. May I say bravo to the Field Marsh for the demonstration and congratulations on passing up to level four Master. You are now Lamen-Amir." The crowd was now fully engaged and gave a huge roar of approval which lasted for a long while.
Elena released Liran's arm. He rose and shook her hand. He hadn't worn gloves for this fight, and the contact left her with a strange sensation of admiration, and of awe. In her surprise, she forgot to let go of him and ended up staring silently up into his deep blue eyes.
"You did very well. What was that last thing you did? I still have spots in front of my eyes."
Elena shrugged. "I just did what Ergin taught me. I let the maru shine out of me. I think I could even do it again if I needed to." She smiled, pleased that she had managed to keep the special blend of concentration working in her favour.
"They're all going to want to know how you managed it. None of the Trillas in the fortress circle have any idea how to use maru."
"I'm thinking I might tell them the whole truth. I'm not sure."
Before Liran could answer, a crowd of people gathered around her and began asking her dozens of questions. Elena let them lead her away, but gave one long glance back at Liran, forgotten in the centre of the circle. He had his arms folded against his chest and was smiling, like a proud teacher.
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Rebecca