Zarius parried the blow but was caught off guard as Corina used her wings to jab forward at him. He was able to blade his stance so that the two metal appendages went to either side – and he instantly realized his mistake as he had to drop prone – the metal wings extending razor-sharp feathers that stabbed inward to where he had been.

  She had always kept those furled in, he thought as he rolled to his side to get back to his feet.

  “Incoming, left side.”

  Zarius parried the wing that came striking toward him in a sweeping arc. He pushed back, and Corina spun with the momentum as she brought her short sword around in a horizontal slash that Zarius barely blocked with the flat of his sword.

  Corina backed away for a second, flexing her shoulders, rolling them, as the feathers fluttered back into the mass of the metal wings. “You’re weak,” she growled.

  Zarius felt incensed at the statement. We are a fucking god, they thought – minus the curse, that was all Zarius. He reached down and grabbed a handful of stones, letting the smaller ones filter through his fingers.

  “Rocks?” she asked with a smirk. “Really? Rocks?”

  “Rock is strong against Flying,” Zarius said as he cocked his arm back.

  “Moves,” Bradley shouted from the sideline, still sitting on the ground nursing his bruised shins. “Not just regular rocks!”

  Zarius chucked the handful anyways, and Corina brought her wings in front of her, overlapping, to stop the fusillade – but that was only a ruse. Zarius jumped forward, his legs propelling him the distance without audio detection thanks to him being airborne – and he slammed his body into the wings – sending Corina tumbling backwards off balance.

  He fell on top of her and dropped his sword as he moved his hands to pin her shoulders; arms and wings negated as he drew his legs up and pinned her legs together with his thighs. In one swift move, he had gotten her to the ground, and he moved his mouth right around her neck, next to the artery, gripping it very tenderly. He could feel the pulsating blood underneath, and part of him wanted to rip out and devour her life essence.

  But, he just stayed put. Huffing, breathing in deep breaths before he pulled back and whispered, “I won.”

  She growled and bucked her hips up before sliding back and bringing her wing around to smack Zarius. He didn’t see the hit coming, and it smacked him in the temple, sending him reeling into the rock. He barely got onto his side and scooted back before her short sword slammed down into where he had been lying.

  Corina looked rabid. Wild. Completely untamed and animalistic. “You fight dirty!” she screamed out as she chopped down again.

  Zarius scrambled out of the blow and to his feet. He saw the Claw of Yveltal on the ground behind her. I need to get to that, he thought. Holding his fists up, he began to shuffle to his right – but Corina did not let up, slamming her shield into his forearm which caused him to yelp in pain, then following that up with a wing-slap that broke his guard and his wrist. He felt it snap, and crunch, and cursed, “Fuck!” as the limb went limp.

  Now, they were mad. They waited for the next strike to come in, and used their forearm, with the armored clothing along the bone, to block the sword strike. Using the moment of surprise, they moved in and delivered a rapid jab to Corina’s face. She blocked with her shield – but the momentary loss of sight was what they needed. Dashing to her right, they grabbed the Claw of Yveltal, and it surged with a bright, crimson energy.

  Nowhere in shadow nearby, they thought. I need to make one to heal up, or end this. They felt the pain through their shattered wrist, fractured forearm, bruised knuckles, and bruised shoulder.

  Thankfully, someone intervened. Bradley got in between the two trainers, “Stop! You’ve both done enough!”

  Zarius kept still, shaking from the pain as he leaned over and retched, splattering his breakfast onto the rocks as nausea hit him.

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  Corina was still fuming and stomped over to Bradley. But the young man took up that defensive stance, “Stay back! Snap out of it!”

  “Inconvenient,” Yveltal stated. “Not having shadows to use for Mending Darkness is not ideal.”

  Corina squared off against Bradley, and Zarius staggered to his feet and headed to the river. He heard Bradley shout behind him, and the clash of metal on wood. But, he ignored that and plunged himself into the water. The cooling rush was brisk and sent a shiver down his spine – but there was enough depth that the light from the sun overhead did not reach all the way down to where his foot ended up. The warmth of shadows spread up his body and began to mend his broken parts.

  Looking back, Zarius saw that Bradley was doing a good job keeping Corina at bay. Her fighting style of short sword and shield was not suited for someone using a polearm in a defensive manner. Why isn’t she using any Moves? He thought.

  “She is in control. Just very upset,” Yveltal replied. “Best to just let her work it out.”

  Zarius stay put as he watched the combat. Bradley kept Corina at bay with rapid jabs, and turned to constantly face her. She did not have the reach to get into his guard, and instead was left using her wings to try and bash the spear aside – but Bradley was a deft hand with the polearm and choked up on the haft to prevent the wings from smashing it.

  When Zarius was fully healed, he got out of the water and walked forward, “Enough!” he shouted. “It’s done!”

  Bradley lowered his guard, and Corina seemed to remember herself as she, too, dropped her guard, sucking in deep breaths. Bradley took a knee, and Corina used the momentary lapse to rush past him, toward Zarius, with a glint in her eyes and her wings folded back along her spine.

  Great, Zarius thought. Double Team. He activated the Move twice, and felt the familiar buzzing sensation along his skin. I could have used this without her noticing, he thought.

  “Possibly. What is the plan here?”

  I’ll just drown her a bit. Zarius grinned as Corina reached the edge of the river, and he used a Bite on the grass right where her foot impacted. The shadowy mouth devoured the chunk of dirt, and Corina went tumbling down the small embankment, her wings flaring out as she stabilized her fall. But Zarius jumped up and pulled her into the water, grappling her into the chest-deep fluid as she writhed in his grip.

  He could feel her fingers clawing at his armor, the wings flailing and battering his shoulders – but the shadows kept him healthy, and he had gulped down a good breath of air before going under. Corina didn’t have that benefit, and she thrashed in his arms before calming. That was his signal, and he breached the surface to find a concerned Bradley on the bank.

  Zarius rolled Corina onto her back and performed some simple chest compressions with a palm, and then tipped her head back and breathed into her soft lips. She coughed, sputtered, and rolled over as he backed off.

  “The fuck!” she screamed in between hacking coughs, expelling more water.

  “You were a bit out of control,” Zarius replied as he held her steady – firm hand on her shoulder as he reverse-gripped and sheathed his sword.

  Bradley nodded, and added, “You were a bit crazed.”

  Corina glared at Bradley, then turned to Zarius. “What was that?” he asked her.

  “I wanted to win,” she muttered. “You humiliated me last time. And this time, again.”

  Bradley shook his head, “Drop the ego,” he said with bubbly confidence, all sense of shyness seeming to have vanished. “You got humbled. Eat the humble pie, and be happy it was just training.”

  Zarius shot him a withering glance, and the young man scrabbled back from the bank. He then grabbed Corina’s chin, roughly pulled her in for a brief kiss, and then helped her stand up. “How are the Pokémon doing?” he asked, trying to change the subject of the conversation.

  But Corina put a hand on his chest and gripped the front of his clothing. “You…you’re not just a Trainer from the mountains.” She pointed at Bradley, “You somehow knew how to improve his spear combat.” She pointed far toward the town, “In that training field, you suddenly became a lot better. So what are you hiding?”

  Yveltal? Any ideas what I should tell her? Zarius thought.

  “It is up to you whether you reveal our true nature. Having acolytes to serve our whims is useful, but if they covet our power, they may seek to slay this vessel and steal my divine egg, implanting it into themselves. Ascending to godhood themselves.” His voice was stern, and filled with concern – but there was a lingering undertone of warning.

  Zarius thought up a lie and told it, “The sword thing from before was from me remembering muscle memory. As for Bradley and the spear thing?” He gestured to Evelyn, off in the distance, still clashing with the Corviknight as the Lapras shot water beams at the two. “She’s really skilled at weapon combat.”

  Corina grunted and let his shirt go, “I don’t believe that, but I can’t disprove it. Fine. Keep your secrets. But I won’t be training with you without Moves in the future.” She sheathed the short sword into the back of the buckler, and shouted out, “Graven! We’re heading home!”

  The huge bird ceased its combat with Evelyn and flew over to the trio. Corina grabbed onto its leg, and the bird lifted up and flew toward town.

  Bradley looked at Zarius and let out the briefest chuckle, “You’re something else, you know that?”

  Zarius looked back at him, “You have no idea.” He clapped the younger man on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s do some practice. You and your Pokémon against me and mine.”

  “Okay! Sounds good!”

  -----

  [Combat Concluded]

  [Experience Awarded: 100]

  [Total Experience: 2,325]

  -----