Grimr turned away from the Council of Alphas. Eric wasn’t at all surprised to see that the first glance he gave was in his direction, rather than toward those that had been in his Nexus up until a few seconds ago. The Earth Nexus was watching Grimr with greatly confused looks on their faces. Eric spared them no more than a quick glance before subtly jerking his head off to the side, inviting Grimr to a quick chat away from prying ears. He gave the tiniest dip of his head to indicate his agreement.

Any attempt he might have made to gather their conspirators and move discreetly away from other ears was made moot a second or two later. Kevin Williams had regained his feet, and his voice drowned out the mutterings that had spread after hearing about Grimr’s sudden and unexpected promotion.

“For our last matter of this meeting,” he said, “Alpha Will and I are invoking Article Six of the Charter.”

That only made the mutterings more evident, and even Will swung around at once, rooted to the spot with shock. He wasn’t sure he’d heard Kevin clearly. Article Six of the Nexus Charter said that any dispute was to be settled by a duel between two Nexians. It also explicitly prohibited Alphas from taking part in such duels.

“As we are both Alphas,” Kevin said, clearly reading the biggest concern of the room, “We of course will not be fighting ourselves. Nicholas! As my newest Captain, you will represent me.”

Eric glanced at Nick quickly, seeing the set, unsurprised face. This was clearly arranged beforehand. He gave a swift bow, and replied, “You honor me with your choice, Alpha. I will do my best.”

Kevin turned back to Will, smiling. “There you are, my best non-lieutenant. The stakes are high. Who will represent you?”

Eric, like nearly everyone else in the room, swiveled his gaze to look at Kenta. As Charlisa was his lieutenant, that made James or Kenta the strongest members of the Nexus, but Kenta was a prodigious martial artist. Against Nick, he seemed the most logical choice. Even James was looking his way, a grin spreading across his face.

“I’ll choose Eric,” Will’s reply came as another shock, this one nearly knocking him back. “I think he’ll be more than up to the task.”

Eric couldn’t restrain himself. “What? He’s Rank A! I’ve only been doing this a few months, he’ll destroy me!”

“That remains to be seen,” Will replied smoothly.

“Your Alpha has selected you as his representative for this dispute,” Kenta’s voice rang out, carrying the usual crack of unquestioning authority.”

“Of- of course,” he stammered, a little unnerved by the icy look in Kenta’s eyes. It was creepily similar to the commanding gaze that Ehran Tokugawa used to level at him. The other Nexians began to move outside the building, where there was a large open space made just for these kinds of moments. To his surprise, Eric found himself looking, not at Grimr, but at Jerik.

“You’ve fought with him before,” he said, keeping his voice low so it could barely be heard over the excited muttering of the others. “How good is he?”

A small smirk formed on Jerik’s face. “Oh, I think you were right with your first guess. He’s going to destroy you.”

In spite of himself, Eric felt a little offended. “I’m a good fighter too, you know. You’ve seen me fight before too.”

“That’s true,” Jerik said, his smirk widening into a grin. “But you don’t have access to your swords, or that monstrous wolf to help you.”

Right, Eric thought, Jerik didn’t know that he was nearly as skilled without a weapon as he was with one. Or maybe he had heard about it, said that small doubtful voice that always appeared when you were nervous, and he still thinks you don’t stand a chance. Will had said that the only thing stopping Nick from getting an S-rank was because he wasn’t an Alpha. Maybe he really was just that strong.

His panicked state lasted for two or three seconds before his reason and years of battle training under Master Ehran asserted themselves, calming his mind. This was nowhere near his first fight, and he had methods of narrowing gaps in strength. Sure, he didn’t have his swords or Hunter to fight alongside him. What he did have, though, was the benefit of years of intense and grueling training in half a dozen different martial arts, two of which excelled in unarmed combat.

Oh, and the Nexus powers, he thought belatedly. Lightning had many benefits. He was incredibly fast and had good offensive power. Maybe it wasn’t as uneven a match as he’d thought. He stood up straight and took a deep breath, forcing his thoughts away from the upcoming fight. He’d just have to rely on his instincts and fight the hardest he could. Maybe if he kept up a relentless barrage, he could-.

“Good,” Will Andrew’s voice appeared beside him without warning, shocking him back to the moment, “You know how to prepare yourself.”

“Of course,” Eric agreed. “For what good it will do me.”

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At that, Will let out a low chuckle. “I know he’s stronger than you, Eric. But this is a valuable experience for you. If I’d chosen Kenta, you wouldn’t get a first-hand look at what fighting against another Nexian really meant. It’s an important lesson, one that I don’t think you should miss out on.”

Eric wasn’t sure what he meant by that. He’d sparred against everyone in the Thunder Nexus, even Will himself, several times. And he’d taken part in mock fights with some of the people from other Nexuses during the joint training camp. Will read the reaction on his face and grinned, shaking his head. “You should know by now with all your fighting experience. It never helps to assume too much. You’ll see what I mean soon enough.”

By the time Eric had made his way out of the large front doors, the attending Nexians were already in place, forming two large groups on either side of the arena outside. Nick stood on the side closest to the door, beside Kiera, his lieutenant. Charlisa was waiting for Eric on the far side, her eyes flicking between him and the new Air Nexus Captain, watching both critically.

He couldn’t help but study Nick’s casual, confident stance as he passed, noting the strong forearm muscles and aura of cool air that turned in contrast to the natural direction of the breeze. But he didn’t have much longer to ponder his opponent as he came within easy speaking distance of his lieutenant.

“I’m just here for a moment to give you some advice,” Charlisa said, her voice so quiet that he barely caught it. “Don’t forget that you have the speed advantage. Not reaction speed, of course, but you’re faster on your feet. You also have nearly as much striking power as he does.”

Eric suppressed the urge to snort doubtfully, but only barely. Charlisa still seemed to notice it, and shook her head. It was identical to the way that Will had shaken his head earlier. “You need to cast away those doubts, Eric. I’ve been a Nexian since I was fifteen years old, and I’ve known two Nexus’ worth of fighters. I know what I’m talking about.”

“Sorry, Charlisa,” he said, taking a deep breath. She wasn’t fond of being addressed by her title. “I know you’re right, of course. I’m just a little nervous.”

She smiled and put an encouraging hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be. You’ll do fine.”

He returned her smile, but it was weakened as his mind slipped back into that blank slate that he’d relied on so many times. All the extraneous, heavy thoughts drifted away, leaving nothing but himself and his opponent. Lean. Agile. Alert. Those cloud-grey eyes studied every aspect of his stance, obviously extracting the same kind of information for his own benefit. This was a warrior with just as much experience and technical knowledge as any he’d ever fought. He’d be a challenge to beat.

He was so attentive to his opponent that he didn’t even notice Jose Garcia and Emmet Fenn stepping forward to act as referees. He noticed only the command to begin the fight. Eric had just enough time to shroud his body in lightning before Nick acted, thrusting both hands out and firing off a massive blast of solid air that threatened to knock him far out of the arena. But Eric, expecting it, had already jumped to the side, receiving nothing more extreme than a light gust that ruffled his hair. Then he was rushing forward.

Damn, he was fast. By the time Eric had dashed into striking range, Nick had already conjured his staff, the one thing he’d hoped to avoid. Nick stepped calmly back and to the side, deflecting each of Eric’s half dozen strikes. The staff felt solid as steel as it collided with his hands, wrists, and arms. He darted around to the side and tried to hammer in a quick elbow to the ribs, but Nick literally stepped into the air to avoid that strike, rising quickly out of reach.

He crouched to leap after his quarry, but there were already blasts of air slamming down upon him. The first two struck true, forcing him back a few inches, dangerously close to the edge of the arena. He recovered quickly, diving to the side, and coming up onto one knee with his arms extended, firing off a quick lightning blast. How in the hell could Nick change direction so quickly, even in mid-air? He swung down in a sharp circular motion, avoiding the lightning with ease before touching down.

The wind staff slammed into Eric’s ankle with enough force to break the bones of a normal man. He was toppled, crashing down onto the ground with painful force. As he fell, his training in tumbling allowed him to ride the motion easily, transitioning effortlessly into a low sweeping kick that knocked out his opponent’s feet as well. As predicted, Nick remained airborne rather than. Still, he was spinning and disoriented for half a second. More than enough time for Eric to strike.

Two powerful punches, one to the stomach, and one that Nick blocked with a hand. He used that grip to right himself, pulling himself forward and ramming a knee into Eric’s ribs. He grunted in pain, but he wasn’t done yet. He slammed his own head into Nick’s sending the younger man reeling with the hit. Then he re-doubled the electricity in his arms and hands and went back on the attack.

That last stunning strike had done him well, Eric noted faintly. Nick still managed to block or deflect each strike, but without his staff, he still got shocked with every impact. He seemed to be slowing down now, and before long, his feet were back on the ground. Eric kept attacking relentlessly, driving Nick into the corner, trying to force him out, but Nick proved impossible to pin down and ducked out at the last second.

After two or three attempts, with Nick retreating effortlessly out of the corner each time, Eric was getting used to his movements. He still stood no chance of pinning the man down, but he was faster, as Charlisa had pointed out, and his strikes had a great deal more force. He switched up his style now, just as Nick became accustomed to it, adopting a low crouch and tackling his opponent to the ground. Now he had him where he wanted, and could deliver a quick powerful blow to knock him out.

Two solid impacts struck Eric in the back, right between his shoulder blades. He gave a grunt of surprise at the attack, and his grip on Nick loosened just enough for the man to slither free. Then his legs were whirling like a tornado, aiming kick after kick that Eric struggled to block. But it wasn’t just kicks either, he thought. Wind was building up as Nick moved, increasing the outward pressure. He fought grimly against it, trying to strike back, until…

With a blast, and a roar like that of any dragon he’d ever seen, Eric was sent flying into the air. By the time he could think to formulate some kind of plan to return safely to the ground, he noticed that he’d land well outside the arena. There was nothing he could do with his current skills and powers to undo that fact. So he did what he could to make sure he landed feet-first, dropping into a roll as soon as he made contact. He kept his feet without falling prone, but as he finally slid to a stop ten yards from the border of the arena, he knew he’d lost.

It was a strange feeling, he thought, as the cheers of the Air Nexus broke the silence of the late evening, to lose while still having more than enough energy and endurance to continue fighting. He’d spent so many years working with the goal of knocking out his opponent or disabling him in some similar way that he’d completely untrained himself from the tournament fighter that he’d been on Earth. Nick had noticed that, of course, and capitalized on it to seize victory.

James and Edward were at his side quick as a flash, quite literally. They looked commiserating but clapped him on the back with wide grins. James in particular seemed amused. “Damn good effort, Eric. I thought you nearly had him with that pin. Shame he broke free. Another second, and that fight would have been yours.”

“I’ve never seen anyone pin him,” Edward added, shaking his head, impressed. “Even for half a second. That’s the closest anyone’s ever gotten.”

“Not that it did me any good,” Eric replied, rolling his shoulders. He could feel the pain of those two strikes to his back properly now. There’d be a heavy bruise there in the morning. “I forgot he could control wind in any direction he chose.”

“Don’t take it too personally,” Will said, appearing at Edward’s side with a consoling smile. “You fought well.”

“And lost,” Eric pointed out dully. “Let’s not forget that.”

“You lost against a Captain,” James replied, equally as stubborn. “But you got close. I don’t think he’ll look forward to facing you at the Nexus Games.”

In spite of the bitter frustration of the moment, Nick felt himself grinning. “No, I don’t think he will. There won’t be any borders there.”

“Just the spirit,” Will said, patting him on the shoulder. “We might have lost this one, but we’ll give them a real showing at the games. But I mean it, Eric. Well done.”