Mirae Walkers

Chapter XVII

It was nice to not be afraid of hurting Caste anymore.

The sudden raid in Jefu that they had heard about was settled in less than an hour. Caste still seemed a bit worried about it, but Keoni's training seemed to keep his mind off of it.

"Noahkup." Caste ordered, and Keoni shot into her ready stance.

"Zovin." On his cue, Keoni readied herself as he ran forward, immediately swinging to hit her.

Keoni deflected his shot, aiming for one of her own. Caste ducked, charging up a burst of light magic in his hand. Keoni readied herself for whatever he was planning to do with it.

The burst formed into a dagger, from where Caste stood up, holding the dagger, ready to strike.

He didn't hesitate, shooting straight for her neck. To distract him, she used her quarterstaff to hit him in the gut.

She wasn't fast enough, as Caste caught her quarterstaff, and stopped the dagger an inch from her neck.

"Kopud." Caste said, sheathing his dagger and stepping back, letting go of her staff.

Keoni relaxed, dissolving her weapon.

"Remember: the quarterstaff is used for stunning. It should not be going slow enough for me to grab it out of your hands. If someone does do that, you need to deform it immediately and regenerate a new one."

"Yes, Caste." She responded. It was easier to just listen to his advice, as she had quickly learned that he could fight with basically any weapon he could think of, and better than anyone whom Keoni had met before.

"Noahkup. Zovin." This time, Caste didn't make anything. That meant...

Just go with your gut, and you'll be fine. A lot of this is gut, anyway.

An orb came flying toward her, and Keoni knocked it away from her face.

The impact took a bit of her strength away, but she kept deflecting whatever Caste fired at her, backing away to give herself more space.

After five or six, she released her staff, catching one and launching it back at Caste.

He dodged it, then said "Kopud." He stopped the fight, then thrust his hand out towards where the sphere had gone flying out to the horizon. It took Keoni a split second to realize it was coming back.

"Don't want that to hit anybody." He laughed. Once it was almost back, he looked over at Ryley. "Catch."

Ryley yipped as it came hurtling to him, so caught up in his book he didn't realize Caste wouldn't hit him. Caste stopped the light a foot away from Ryley's face, leaving the red deer looking like it was the end of his days.

Keoni laughed as Caste pulled it back to himself, making it vanish in his hand. Ryley scowled at them.

"I thought that was going to kill me." He said genuinely. "My heart rate... oh Trin." Ryley panted.

"Didn't Qaye give you a Rune that made you invulnerable to those anyway?" Keoni asked.

Ryley rubbed his forehead. "You forget things like that when your life's on the line, Keoni."

At the mention, Keoni rubbed the Rune Qaye had given her. It still hadn't done anything that Keoni noticed. The Rune Kaedin was ever-strengthening though, helping out with almost everything. Though Kaedin wasn't a Defender, they knew some valuable things to keep in mind while fighting. From the Kaedin Keoni had met by the Runes of Trin, it seemed much, much different, but she didn't mind.