Harlan sat with his friends at dinner, Ximena invited her friends over as well, which really made Harlan feel like the odd one out as he was surrounded by nothing but girls.
“So, I suppose we never really talked. But Ximena said you are quite the specimen.”
“You need to clarify.”
“A rugged woodsman, I heard you killed a direwolf with just your hands.”
“I cut off blood flow with a choke, then I stomped its neck until it broke.”
The Golden girl had blonde hair that contrasted her dark olive skin and matched her pale yellow eyes.
Harlan couldn’t tell if she felt some affection for him or if she wanted to fight, both?
“How rude of me, I forgot my name. I am Liat, this is my sister Yara.”
She reached across the table for a shake, Harlan almost refused just due to the look in her eyes.
“Would you like to spar? Ximena has never been a fighter, I need to know if you can keep her safe.”
“I consider it rude to have a private conversation in the middle of a public one with friends, but yes, I will spar with you.”
Yara and Ximena were both first years, Liat was a third year, more than a few ears across the cafeteria perked up when Harlan accepted her duel.
Golden had bodies like beastkin, magic like those years beyond them, and statuesque figures that made boys red with lust and girls green with envy.
Harlan on the other hand was known for his savage power and creative use of magic that struck fear into those he fought, yet his figure was scrawny, nobody would say he looked weak or ugly per se, but he was not blessed with appearances like the Golden.
“How about just after dinner, I would like a good workout.”
She leaned across the table, her robe unbuttoned and her shirt seeming to be a size too small for her chest.
She had heard all the rumors about Harlan, yet Ximena spoke praise of the kind boy who would do anything for those he called friends, she felt the need to test him as a fighter and as a 14 year old boy who was close to her naive friend.
He remained unflustered by the display.
“I have free time. I should make sure that the arena doesn’t have any reservations, do you think we need a teacher to watch the fight?”
“Of course not, this is just between friends.”
Ximena and Yara were speaking back and forth in their minds.
“Is your sister going to hurt him?”
“No? I’ve never seen her like this, she likes to fight but… I don’t know what she is thinking now.”
“She isn’t close with Delmet, right?”
“The Brat of the Blacksands? Not a chance, why do you ask?”
“Harlan broke his jaw once, and then he threw him through a wooden door and got him removed from our group during our camping trip. She wouldn’t consider that something against all Golden, right.”
“...Of course not.”
“You hesitated.”
“Did not.”
Harlan couldn’t feel anything from the girl as he stepped into the arena main entrance, clearly she had training and was actively blocking his empathy.
Strangely enough Mary and the librarian were already there.
“Oh, what a coincidence meeting you here.”
“I really don’t know if I believe in coincidence anymore.”
“Well, maybe we could talk about that if you ever came back to see me again.”
“Maybe later.”
“I am always here for you.”
Harlan felt like scoffing, but she held not even an ounce of malice, not a drip of sarcasm in her voice.
She spoke to him out of a genuine desire to help him, he didn’t think he needed it right now, but he knew that he was going to be headed somewhere he wasn’t sure if he was going to come back from when he started working with Sepul.
“Anyway, there aren't any reservations I can see. So, Liat, what rules are we going for? First to hit the ground? First blood? Knockout?”
“Surrender with no ring outs. If you get outside the ring I’ll let you hop back in. No restrictions on magic use.”
Harlan almost thought that she was planning to make an example of him, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt, Ximena would’ve warned him if that was the kind of person she was.
They had quite the crowd gathered that evening, even with the 2nd and 4th years gone on their own survival camp trips Harlan estimated at least 200 people, he didn’t really understand if they thought it would be a good fight, if they thought he would be brutalized, or if they were just there to ogle Liat.
Harlan held no weapon nor did Liat, they both removed their robes leaving just the black pants and shirt.
Harlan took a narrow defensive stance, both hands were nearly touching his chin, his elbows would block punches thrown to the ribs, it was harder to throw his own punches but he wanted to first get an idea of what he would be fighting before he tried any attacks.
She started her rush with jabs tossed at his head to test movement, then kicks to the side to see if he could handle some force, the difference in height however (5’5 to 5’10) let Harlan dodge under a kick when she didn’t expect it and he landed a straight on her side.
For a normal person, it would’ve been fatal, for her, it broke her ribs.
For those who heard the crunch and the sound like two bulls charging they thought it was done right then and there, but Harlan didn’t follow up with anything more so she could heal herself.
“Good reaction.” She wheezed.
“Thanks.”
She didn’t close the distance, they simply walked around one another like wolves before the charge.
Then with subtle hand movements they sent bolts of different elements at one another, fire met water, wind met pebbles, light met dark.
For those who didn’t understand it felt rather mundane, but the older students saw how much energy was actually in those small bits of magic that they both countered perfectly, Harlan was overshooting the cost slightly, but Liat met his attacks with exactly as much as she needed.
After a final fireball met a slice of water they rushed on another, both of them were listening to instinct.
Punches met punches until their knuckles were raw yet neither of them minded the exposed bone, Adina was begging Mary to end it.
Then finally Harlan let a punch through.
He used the spin it gave him to land a kick on her elbow that bent it the wrong way.
A few of the weaker students nearly fainted at the sight of blood and bone, missing that Harlan’s cheek was torn and would start pouring blood in the next few moments.
Yet both of them had smiles on their faces.
They were people designed for killing things, on the deepest level, when the beauty and horror of their races were stipped away, they were just two animals vying for dominance over one another.
They took one step back and then kicked, shin met shin and both broke their legs, though they knew exactly what would happen, they needed to test the other.
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Now on one leg Mary still wouldn’t call the match, they had returned to small bolts of elements, yet Harlan was now mixing in advanced elements, a waterball met the fireball and then he followed up with a blast of steam that used what had been made by the clash to combine into one worth both of their mana instead of just his.
Instead of wind to divert the stone Harlan used telekinesis to catch it so he could put a small rune on it, he felt it heating in his hand as it threatened to burst at any moment while he blocked hardlight daggers.
Finally he threw it, but not before putting small crystal growths on it to act as shrapnel.
She countered with a cone of hardlight that reflected the blast back at him.
He fell back and landed on both feet, they had healed their legs during the entire exchange and went back to the brutal hand to hand.
Thud, crunch, snap.
More than a few students left as they couldn’t bear to watch,
Other staff showed up demanding that Mary end the fight but she refused and they felt like they couldn’t force her, despite her size and her youthful appearance, she was an archmage, though without a public title..
She was the final judge and she said it was still perfectly safe despite how it seemed.
She was half right, neither of them were in danger of dying, but safe was a strong word for it.
Harlan collapsed with broken arms, his ribs barely held together.
Liat had systematically broken him down, without his lungs being able to fully expand and the ability to move his hands he had no way to deal with the damage he had been dealt.
“Guhhh”
His jaw had also been broken, if he wasn’t full of Fomorian adrenaline he would’ve passed out a long time ago.
“Very well. I am glad that you are friends with Ximena, I hope you treat her well.”
Harlan would’ve laughed, but he blacked out moments later.
Adina thought he was dying again but Mary popped limbs back in place and healed him, Harlan was fit as a fiddle, minus losing a few pounds of fat to fuel that healing.
Sepul would have very strong words for her letting him get to that point as soon as he learned of it.
Harlan woke up after a few minutes, he felt faint, but he didn’t hurt, and he was glad she didn’t remove his scars.
“Adina, I am going to take a shower. Would you order a meal or two to my room? Tell them to charge my expense account, if they give you a hard time, show them this.”
He handed her his signet ring.
For him it was nothing, he trusted her with his life, let alone the ring that showed the chains binding him to the kingdom.
Yet for others who saw it, it was significant, the ring was the symbol of authority directly given by the king to the nobility, it was their ID, most people didn’t know the faces of nobles and even then a lookalike could pass for them, but the ring never lied and its secrets had never been cracked.
“Why don’t we go along with her? I would hate to have her lose his ring.” Ximena said.
“I am sorry that I cannot go along, I also need to freshen up. Yara, back up Ximena and the one with long hair.”
Liat didn’t come out of the fight unscathed either, though her issue was more that her clothes were covered in blood and torn in a few places.
“Thank you, Harlan, I will not betray the trust you’ve put in me by allowing me use of your ring.”
“Yeah, I know you won’t.”
He almost wanted to ruffle her hair like he sometimes did with Ava, but he decided against it.
The ring might as well have been a hot coal in her hands as she realized what Harlan had actually given her, he seemed to be the only person unphased by his trust.
“Adina, do you want me to hold it? You aren’t looking too hot.”
Ximena couldn’t not see her distress.
“How could you let her do that?”
She wasn’t often someone who spoke with fire, her life and those who taught her always made sure that she was outwardly a porcelain doll and eventually that was what she became, an object that they kept around but one that should be looked at and not touched.
“I couldn’t really stop her, but it doesn’t matter, Harlan didn’t mind.”
“No, it does matter, because he is hurt, he is always getting himself hurt, even before he got here, I just want him to… I don’t like it.”
“I’ve not known him as long as you, but I think you will be very disappointed if you think he isn’t going to keep getting hurt.”
Before Adina could reply Zella jumped in.
“Ximena is right. I’ve known him the longest of us. He is someone that you need to force to slow down, even then, as soon as you take your eyes off of him he will throw himself back into whatever mess he can. If you think you can temper him, then I say go for it, but don’t lash out at Ximena because of how he is, tell him that you don’t like that part of him, I can tell from the way he looks at you that he might listen.”
They walked in silence, Adina was blushing and lamented her lack of sight, she knew he face because she had touched it, she could see the outlines with her magic, but she couldn’t know how he really looked, she couldn’t know how he actually looked at her when they were alone.
Harlan took a long shower, his clothes were covered in his blood and ripped where they hit one another.
When he stepped out he found the girls sitting in his room chatting.
“How did you get in?”
“Your ring, because I had it the person who delivered the food let me in and then I let them in.”
“I should put a shirt on then.”
“Why ruin the show?”
Liat made him uncomfortable with her forwardness, but at least she was honest, so he couldn't fault her too much.
Adina sat next to him, memorizing every line on his face, every scar on his chest, the others were bothered but Harlan didn’t mind.
“Harlan, you should probably stop her.”
“It helps her calm down, so, no.”
“YOU DON’T GET TO TELL HIM WHAT TO DO.”
“Liat, I guess I should say no hard feelings, right? Adina, don’t blame her, I walked into that fight knowing what she was.”
“I wish half the men in my village had your guts. Most would’ve stopped after the first broken bone, I’d almost like to see what you and Ximena could make.”
Visceral disgust welled up from deep inside him, the chicken leg in his hand turned to dust as void steamed off his skin, yet Adina was unharmed.
“Never make another statement like that again.”
His eyes had been like shifting smoke his entire life, yet in that moment they were like looking into the eye of a storm with Adina being the only one who felt safe inside it.
Yara hid behind her big sister and Ximena stepped back.
“I am very sorry, I speak from my heart, I meant no offense.”
He calmed himself and took a deep breath, normally this is where others expected him to apologize for his outburst.
“I am not breeding stock.”
“Harlan, please don’t fight, I don’t like seeing you hurt.”
“Liat, I apologize, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, you simply weren’t aware of how upsetting such a statement would be for me.”
Zella wasn’t shocked at his reaction to Liat’s words, but she was a little surprised how quickly he backed down after Adina asked him to.
“Sand down the sinkhole, no harm has come from it. Yara, do you intend to be a rock on the sand or do you want to speak with Harlan?”
She had her hair cut off just below the shoulders, its darker blonde matched her bronze skin and contrasted her vibrant yellow eyes.
From the outside she seemed less approachable than her sister, no man would be fool enough to say she wasn’t beautiful, but she lacked the subtle seductive power of her older sister, the way she sat, the way
she didn’t swing her hips when she walked, her face naturally rested on upset.
“Why are you so angry?”
Inside, she was as hopeless as Harlan, she lacked grace no matter how much her mother tried to impart it on her, she lacked her sister’s dazzling smile and her confidence.
She was kicking herself for letting her mouth continue to be faster than her sense.
“I mea-”
Harlan laughed strongly, reminding Zella of Kass.
“No, I know exactly what you mean, because only an idiot with a fast mouth and slow sense would ask something like that.”
Liat narrowed her eyes but waited for Harlan to finish talking.
“Because I did the exact same thing when I realized that Adina was blind, I asked why she didn’t get it fixed. I am sure you are kicking yourself, so I don’t need to.”
She awkwardly shuffled in place before she spoke again.
“I wanted to ask about your sword.”
“Lugh, do you want to talk to her?”
“Should I? I don’t know her.”
“Don’t talk over our link when we are having a talk with everyone.”
“Sorry.”
Lugh sounded nearly the same as Harlan, yet his voice held a childlike innocence, anyone who knew him would say he was spot on for Harlan at age 7 or 8.
“What do you want to know, Miss Yara?”
“Just Yara is fine, I wanted to know why you have a mind, but I suppose you talking solves that. How old are you?”
Lugh shifted his blade into a hand and counted on his fingers.
“I was born on the 8th month, so I am 1 year old. Is that right Brother Harlan?”
“Not quite, just a few more days until you are one. But I am proud that you were close.”
“How did you make him?”
“I cannot say, unless officially sanctioned by the crown, anything made the same as Lugh or Balor would be classed as forbidden magic and destroyed.”
“Well that is a shame, we could do so much with intelligent items. Your soulsmithed ones are very basic, they can’t think, just do, such a shame.”
“I actually agree with the crown on this one, if you made intelligent items and used them everywhere they would basically be slaves, but at least slaves could buy themselves freedom, it would be cruel to do that to people just to let you have a better weapon or armor.”
Yara and Harlan ended up spending the better part of 3 hours having a civil debate over the implications of Harlan’s work and at what point did a soul become a person or just a source of power.
Zella and Ximena left after 30 minutes, they wanted to sleep, Liat only stayed around because she liked Harlan, but there was no rational argument that could be made to allow Yara to be alone with a boy in his room.
She didn’t count Adina since she fell asleep before the others even left.
Liat didn’t know how Harlan found himself surrounded by girls but she wasn’t entirely sure that he didn’t have any ill intentions, his allowing of Adina to be so close and even sleep with her head on his lap made him seem lecherous but she didn’t see desire on his face at any point.
She came to the Academy quite late, at 16 she was clearly showing signs of womanhood, and her time here had not engendered her to trusting men, let alone a boy.
Harlan felt her confusion and disdain for him but he didn’t mind it, that was how almost everyone thought about him because they didn’t know that he could tell, he had been hit by those feelings for months already.