Rise from the ashes (an elemental tale)

Connection

The wind whipped my hair around like it was feathers being scattered about in the wind and I quickly put up walls of compressed air to block the assault of the wind from both me and Valencia.

I bridged the distance between us in a matter of seconds and took a seat on the undisturbed grass besides her boot-clad feet.

"The leather looks pretty tough on those boots, where'd you get them?", I asked casually.

"None of your business", she snapped.

"And here I thought we were just starting to get along swell", I stated, amused.

"I have no idea what you're talking about", she said casually, too casually.

"I see, you're playing hard to get," I sighed through my nostrils and said, "lucky for you, I love the chase."

"This is infuriating, I'm leaving", she stated.

She took all of two steps before I had the walls that surrounded us a hair breadth away from her pretty pointed nose. She turned around wide eyed and furious. What an interesting combination of facial features. She made it look so effortlessly done as well, as she did with everything else.

I snuck one glance at the havoc wreaked on the poor trees surrounding us and admired the precision and grace of each and every dagger embedded in the trees. Each one was precisely centered in the bark of the tree, no matter how far away the targets were, the placement of it was exactly the same as the others, not an inch too wide or narrow.

In the few seconds that I spent observing her masterpiece Valencia had raised her fist and was planning on punching her way out of the wall of compressed air surrounding us.

"I wouldn't do that if you value your soft, delicate hands", I stated matter-of-factly.

Even as I said that I reminded myself that those soft, delicate hands caused the carnage that surrounded them. Perhaps I should change that description to strong, callused hands instead.

At this point Valencia was seething with anger and I briefly wondered if the connection I thought I made with her was just my imagination playing tricks on me.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked, it wasn't a question though and Valencia knew that.

And yet, "Leave me alone", was what she said.

I sighed yet again. The mental fatigue was threatening to come creeping in, but I couldn't let it overtake me, not yet.

Before Valencia had an opportunity to react I was up off the ground in an instant and sliding her feet out from under her in the next. To Valencia's credit she got back up in a few heartbeats and started circling me almost immediately, daggers out and at the ready.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance but my body remained still, my gaze upon the dagger that pierced through the cartilage of my ear. The hilt of the dagger shone brightly in the moonlight, a beacon calling out to me. A reminder of why I could still feel blood trickling down the shell of my ear. The tip of my ear burned in response, as if it was angry at the liquid pouring out of it.

Then Valencia struck.

She flung one of her daggers at me, aiming for the joint behind my knee, and palmed the other in her hand while running towards me. She's probably hoping the dagger embeds itself in my flesh and momentarily distracts me enough for her to get into a position that allows her to have the upper hand.

She's hoping wrong.

With well-trained grace and fluidity I easily dodged the flying dagger, causing it to bounce off the grass where I'd once been and lay as useless as it was when it was sent my way. Valencia masked any form of shock she may have displayed in a cool mask of annoyance and continued her advance.