Kierna

The Azure Temple was a twin of the Gold Temple, just in blue. Kierna peered up at the towering pagoda, the doors sealed shut. The others crowded around her, Dion at her elbow. Kierna glanced around at the others, anxiety spreading through her stomach. Now that she stood in front of the ironbound doors, she wondered about what Pavel had set them to do. The arrogance of walking into another masters temple and challenging the peak disciples. It weighed on her young shoulders.

Kierna took a deep breath, holding it in her stomach. The butterflies died down and she marched up the steps. The doors loomed in front of her, the temple filling her view as she drew her blunted sword. Ryen had whispered the words of the traditional challenge to her as she left. They circled around in her head, she had repeated them over and over till she could speak them in her sleep.

Using the pommel, she slammed it against the heavy wood. Each blow rang like a gong, echoing across the mountain. The vibrations numbed her hand as she continued to hammer the door. Ten blows, one for each of the challengers. As the last blow rang through the air, she backed away and stood still. Every minute stretched out into an hour, sweat dripped down her back as the sun began to set. The others stood without a word or a twitching muscle.

Finally, as the sun set, the horizon afire, the trekked out. Ten of them, lining up across the front doors. Kierna looked at them, sizing them up as they did the same. None of them looked impressive, but Kierna didn’t think any of her people did either. Aside from Vathe and Hondo, who were unnaturally large for their age. There was a small wiry boy that caught her attention.

He exuded confidence, his eyes squinted against the sun as one hand rested on the hilt of his sheathed sword. There was a slight smile on his face, a quirk of his lips as he stared down at them. Another boy, slightly taller and broader, stood next to him. Stone faced he carried a long sword perched on his shoulder. Kierna wanted to roll her eyes at the posing.

“Ten to offer Challenge, Gold vs. Azure. Pavel vs. Adonai,” Kierna called out as loud as she could. Her voice warbled as she called out Adonai’s name. None of the Azure temple disciples even blinked. The smiling boy stepped forward and called out, his voice still squeaky.

“We ten accept the challenge of Gold. Tomorrow, at first light.” The kid bowed at the waist and backed up to stand in solidarity with the rest of his disciples. Kierna and the others bowed back and filed into the temple. She kept her head high, refusing to bend her neck to the weight of her position. The cool of the Azure hall greeted her, chilling the sweat on her skin. Hundreds stood and watched as she and the others trickled into the common hall.

A single table had been placed in the middle, still steaming food sitting piled high. Kierna sat down at the head of the table and the rest of the squad sat down at one side of the table. The ten defenders sat across from them, the wiry boy sitting across from her. His stone faced companion sat across from Dion, while the rest of them stretched down the table.

“Adonai didn’t expect anyone to come and challenge us so fast, Pavel is aggressive. Oh, I’m Tom,” the boy said. He grabbed a bowl of rice, slathered in meat and vegetables and started to eat. Kierna wondered about that, about Pavel’s reputation. Ryen didn’t like him, in fact she despised him and did little to hide it. Now, it sounded like Adonai also had mentioned something about Pavel. Little comments, they were how she pieced it together. Dion was better at figuring out the little things, very astute and observational. She had been rubbing off on Kierna though over the weeks, murmuring about how others acted, talked, and sat.

“I’m Kierna.” She decided she wouldn’t give them anything to take from her. She didn’t know how she felt about Pavel, but she wouldn’t give his opponents ammunition to use against him. Not when he was in charge of her training.

“I’d say it's nice to meet you, but not really.” The boy smiled gently, his green eyes crinkling as if he was hiding a laugh. There was a joy to him, a sense of joviality that didn’t match his placement as the leader of the defenders.

“What’s it like at this Temple?” Kierna asked as she slowly ate. All down the table, others were starting to talk to each other. Dion and the stone faced boy didn’t say anything, just ate silently. Everybody else was talking with each other, but those two just stared at each other.

“We wake up, train, fight, train, eat, sleep. Pretty simple.”

“How many die? How many are sent home?” Kierna was wondering how many of them had been culled.

“Uhhh, what?” Tom asked, confusion flashing across his face.

“Died. Sent home? Do you not have the end of the week culling?” Kierna was honestly puzzled. How could Adonai find the best if they weren’t competing?

“Nobody has died. No one has been sent home.” Tom’s voice was fueled with incredulity and disbelief.

“Huh, interesting. I think Pavel has a different approach to teaching,” Kierna trailed off as the rest of Azure’s team were starting to look horrified the longer they talked to the Gold Temple disciples.

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“That’s a way of describing it,” Tom deadpanned. The smile and hidden mirth was gone now.

“We will get to see who comes out on top tomorrow then. Adonai’s methods or Pavel’s,” Kierna mused, though she was beginning to suspect they’d win. How could these soft children match them? Pavel was forging them in blood, hammering away their weaknesses with the brutality of a mastercrafter. Adonai’s children though, coddled and soft. The edge was missing off of them.

“I want to fight you.” Tom set down his empty bowl and leaned back.

“No. I will fight her,” the stone faced boy said, his eyes never leaving Dion’s.

“Ok, Grio will fight you,” Tom said without hesitation.

“Do you let him speak for you?”

“I speak for him most of the time. Occasionally he wants to speak for himself. He wants to fight you, he wants to fight you.”Tom shrugged.

“Is he the best fighter in this Temple?” Kierna asked.

“Yeah, he’s the best at it so far. I’m the best cultivator, he’s the best fighter.”

“Hannah is the best cultivator,” Grio said without hesitation.

“You two should work on that,” Kierna said as a smile crept across her face.

“Ehhhh, it’s fine. Grio doesn’t talk much. Occasionally he’s wrong though. Like this. I’m the best cultivator.”

“Third best. Maybe?” Grio kept up the deadpanning as he cut Tom down.

“These two are trying to disarm us,” Dion whispered so softly it strained Kierna’s ability.

“I noticed.”

“Is it working?” Tom asked, leaning over the table. Kierna got caught in Tom’s green eyes, the intensity wafting off of him as his smile came back. There were gold flecks around the center of his eyes, a corona of sunlight.

“No. I’m going to beat you bloody tomorrow,” Kierna matched his smile.

“Confident,” Tom said, leaning back to sit quietly. They finished eating and broke apart. Kierna laid down on a borrowed sleeping mat, staring up at the high ceiling. It took hours for her to sleep.

The morning broke early, and they all rose and moved out to the center of the training yard. The hall was silent, hundreds of people watching them as they marched out. Tom, Grio, and the others were waiting for them outside already. They stood side by side, their swords belted on. Tom’s smile was missing while Grio looked actually excited.

“Dion, you go first,” Kierna said, hardening her heart. She would offer her friend up to the ring first. She didn’t have high hopes, but she wanted their weakest candidate to go forward before Azure started to lose and grow frustrated.

“Smart choice. I’ll be fine.” Dion reassured her, stepping up in front of them before Kierna could say anything.

One of the Azure’s came forward. Short and compact, with a bob cut that framed her hard jaw. Kierna could see the girl’s bunching as she gritted her teeth. The two of them stepped into the dueling ring. Dion bowed to her and drew her blade. The other girl bowed and drew her blade, settling into a guard position.

A man walked up to the ring, short and squat with a beer belly that sloped over his belt. Thick jowls covered in a thick gray stubble wobbled as he marched up to them. He looked over the two of them closely, then nodded.

“Begin,” Adonai spoke with authority. Kierna felt the weight of the man’s power and authority in that one word. Dion attacked instantly, a cyclone of steel as she threw herself at her opponent without hesitation. For a few moments, Kierna thought that Dion had a chance. She was driving the girl back, steel ringing out in a cacophony as Dion tried her best to overwhelm her.

After ten seconds of furious blows, Dion failed to pierce the other girl's defense. She wasn’t fast enough, strong enough, or had the precision to break through the other girl's guard. Then the other girl counterattacked. Dion was pushed back instantly, her swordword failing her boosted body. Her footwork failed, she stumbled over a divot and the other girl's dull blade cracked into Dion’s ribs.

Dion bowed over and collapsed, falling out of the dueling ring. The victor stopped instantly, bowing to Dion even as she turned and walked out of the ring. The fight lasted less than thirty seconds. Even as Dion was struggling out of the ring, Vathe ws stepping forward.

The bigger boy was nearing six feet tall with a shock of black hair. His nose was permanently crooked and he carried an oversized blade. His opponent was a tall girl with buck teeth and a thick black braid that fell to her mid back. The two of them barely finished bowing before they launched themselves at each other. Vathe stormed forward, using his larger size to push the girl back.

Except she didn’t fall back. She caught a powerful downward blow, her knees bending as she absorbed the force of the blow. Then she countered, swiping the blade away and countering with a wicked blow toward his knee. Vathe danced backward, his momentum lost. Kierna had a feeling this might be Hannah. How could someone who was four inches shorter and fifty pounds lighter trade blows like this? Kierna had a feeling this was a true aether prodigy. To empower her body like this, she had to be working on the second stage of her cultivation. Muscle reinforcement.

Vathe was snarling as he tried to overwhelm the girl, hammering at her with his over sized sword. Kierna wished she had seen her fight before she recruited him. He was all strength and speed, lacking even the barest semblance of skill. Now that he was matched to someone who could match his strength, he was losing. He absorbed blow after blow, refusing to fall. The girl slid in and out of Vathe’s attacks, her counters lacking the strength to make Vathe fall.

He lasted two minutes. Then he fell too. Kierna’s palms were sweaty and the repressed smiles on the Azure disciples were grating on her. A bolt of anger rattled through her as Vathe was helped up and escorted out of the ring. Hondo gave him a quick word, lost to Kierna in the general rumbling of the other disciples.

He leapt in the ring and bounced on the balls of his feet. His opponent was the largest of the Azure disciples. They stood in the middle of the ring and proceeded to batter each other into a blood mess. Kierna felt concern as the two of them fought like a pair of rabid animals. Both collapsed, striking each other simultaneously and falling together. Kierna wanted to roll her eyes at the theatrical nature of the duo.

Kierna was starting to worry. Two losses and a tie. This challenge was failing and she had to hope the next slew of fighters would start showing their strength. Kierna nodded to Alden, wanting to stem the losses. Alden walked into the ring, head high and confident as he waited for his opponents.