Astral Lands

✧ CHAPTER NINE ✧

I missed moments like this, when I could completely lose myself to the fight. Regardless of if it was real or not, It didn't matter to me. I always fought like my life depended on it.

Etorus rarely got to go on missions that would involve fighting of any kind. Myokh was a time of relative peace, the kind where killing the wrong person could start something. But as long as no one died everyone was happy.

Astor and I were matched in skill, and I loved how much that fact pissed him off.

Astor's style was one of aggression, he never offered an official start to a sparring session. He always tried to use the element of surprise to throw off his opponent.

Solaris, He is too predictable.

Immediately taking the defensive, Astor throws his left blade to the side, hoping to force me to move into a vulnerable position. I stand my ground, using the metal cord of the meteor hammer to catch the sword.

Swinging the short end of the hammer, I loop the cord around the sword, catching it with my weapon.

But Astor knew I would do this. He draws his right blade in between the two of us, effectively making me jump back.

I take a deep breath as my hammer starts to darken, shadows dance across the ball as it takes in the light.

"Hey, that's not fair." Astor calls. We've begun to circle each other. His broad shoulders barely moved with the evenness of his breath.

"What can I say, I've never been in a fight that's fair." In an instant I swing the cord around my bent elbow to create tension. Turning, I release it onto where Astor will be as he moves to my right.

I twist, letting the meteor hammer act as an extension of my body and follow Astor's body as he skirts around me.

I can feel the ball touch his back, because of my talent being infused into the metal I can use it as another sense to my body, giving me a heightened awareness of my surroundings.

But the best thing about my talent is that I can make objects become shadows, slipping into nothing more than a lack of light, Only to "turn on" the solidity of the object when I want.

Usually this means I could kill someone by just letting an object pass through them half-way, only for them to find that there is a metal ball appearing in their spleen.

I let the object fully pass through Astor, but the moment the shadow comes out the other side of his body I have two swords pressed against my neck.

Astor smiles just a little, "Looks like a draw."

"No, it looks like you would have been two halves of a whole." I point with my chin to the fact that my meteor ball is now in front of him, not behind like it was moments ago.

The smile falls off of his face. "Shit."

"Yep," I hop around him, enjoying the small win. "And now you're D-E-A-D." I spelled out the word to get under his skin even more.

"Whatever, I would have won if you hadn't used magic." Astor went to put his blades back into their home at his hip. He didn't make eye contact.

I walk around to his front. "Hey, what would you have wanted me to do? Not the only reason why I'm even in Etorus in the first place?"

"You know that's not the only reason." He goes to pull off his over shirt, revealing a tight vest that looked as though it was a second layer of skin.

I made a point not to acknowledge it at all.

"Only? Astor please, don't be delusional. We both know that Queen Corsia would not have even given me a second glance if I was normal." I pause.

"Face it, having a talent the farther you get from Solaris is rare. The only place more rare in the Vayle to have a talent is Shararia."