Forever Green

~ 20 ~ The Last Duel

The moon was little more than a swollen dome tilting just above the horizon when Theiden and Lenesa left the cottage for training practice. Against the fresh blue of the morning sky, the moon shone with a pearl-like radiance, and Theiden found himself briefly admiring it before it was swallowed from view by the sharp tips of the pines as he followed Lenesa deeper into the forest.

Lenesa took them down a little-used path Theiden vaguely remembered from a walk a few weeks prior. A few steps ahead of him, the witch's cloak was a murky green that would have melded in with the flora around her, were it not for the blue sheen that the wisp cast at her shoulder. They walked in silence, with only the interruption of an occasional birdsong off in the distance.

They finally came to a stop in a small clearing, dotted with several large boulders in a sandy shade of brown. Lenesa removed her cloak and hung it over the branch of a moss-covered tree, while Shwei zoomed to the top of the largest rock, morphing into an owl and settling down to watch.

"Here, catch." Something silver flew towards Theiden, and he jumped as his hunting dagger buried itself in the tree beside him with a solid thunk.

"Your reflexes are better," Lenesa commented upon Theiden's glower.

"You could have hit me," he growled.

She shrugged. "But I didn't." She stepped forward and into the dappled sunlight that filtered down from the overhanging boughs. Her old sword was now at her side, held firmly in her grasp as she awaited their duel.

"Is there ever going to be a time when I have an equal chance fighting you?" Theiden asked. "You can just shoot spells at me, so why can't you give me the sword?"

"You must always be prepared to be at a disadvantage, Theiden," Lenesa responded, her left foot brushing over the pine-needled ground as she began to circle him, looking for an opening to attack. "It makes winning with an advantage that much easier, if you are so fortunate as to be in that situation."

Without taking his eyes off the witch, Theiden yanked the dagger out of the tree trunk and began to match her steps in the opposite direction, careful to keep a safe distance between them.

"It wouldn't hurt to switch things around just once though, would it?" Theiden asked, knuckles tightening on the hilt of his weapon. "You wouldn't want to discourage your pupil, after all."

Lenesa had no sooner scoffed at his attempt to reason with her before she lunged, her blade singing through the air as it sliced towards him. Theiden barely managed to put up his dagger in time to deflect the attack, and the force of the impact sent him stumbling backwards, nearly tripping into a wayward bush.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he snapped. "If you haven't forgotten, I agreed to help you!"

"I'm just playing the part," Lenesa replied, unconcerned. Without missing a beat, she tried to stab at him again, but Theiden spun to the side, trying to put some distance between them.

"I don't think," Theiden began, parrying another swipe, "that you have to be—" clang! "—so convincing."

"Of course I do," Lenesa answered, her tone infuriatingly calm in comparison to the whirlwind of her attacks. "If this wasn't difficult, you wouldn't be learning anything."

Steel clashed against steel once more as the witch pressed forward. Too late, Theiden realized she had maneuvered him downhill, and he found his back up against the rough bark of a tree, trapped. When she came at him with a heavy swing of her blade, he brought both his hands to the hilt of his dagger in an effort to block the witch's sword from continuing into his neck.