As if by divine grace, the winter months had thus far been kind to the southern lands of Omnirius. With the reconstruction of Viemen mostly complete, many of the towns folk were able to keep themselves warm amidst the whipping winds and frigid nights. A new influx of initiates to the Starspawn guild had provided many capable and skilled laborers to help in the winter efforts. Now that Telhari and the others had started to explore the Dags, those forests were becoming a viable hunting ground for larger game and other fauna. With their store rooms well stocked and the new member admittance finalized, the Starspawn could proceed with other endeavors.

  “Are you ready, Ellis?”

  Ellis brought his sword up to a readied position and matched Telhari’s stance.

  “Yes,”he answered.

  Telhari nodded in turn.

  Beside them, Sir Perry, Albert and Hugo sat patiently. Albert and Hugo were already covered in sweat, despite the cold temperature, and their panting breaths grew white against the air. Ellis, Albert and Hugo had drawn straws to see who would face off against Telhari first. Ellis had managed to avoid the short straw until the end. Now, it was his turn.

  “Sir Perry?” Telhari asked with an outstretched hand. “If you would not mind.”

  Perry stood up, grabbed a sword from the weapons rack and handed it to Telhari.

  “We will start with the sword,” Perry announced.

  Ellis shook out his nerves one arm at a time. Then, he tensed his legs and assumed his stance. In response, Perry raised his hand and held it aloft as he eyed to two of them.

  “Ready? Begin!”

  Ellis charged forward, brandishing his sword. Not a clumsy frontal assault, but a confident and eager one. Telhari followed his movement and waited, giving him no obvious openings. Ellis stepped in and drew up his sword to strike from above— then feinted to the right.

  “Good,” Telhari said as he met Ellis’ sword with his own. “Well executed.”

  Ellis pushed Telhari away and retreated a few paces. Then, he came at him again. Several decisive thrusts of his blade moved toward Telhari’s vital spots, one after the other. Though Telhari countered each one, Ellis did not ease up or lose his composure. A strike from the right was sidestepped by Telhari. But as Telhari moved to the side, Ellis caught him and swept the blade toward his face.

  Telhari felt the steel brush passed his nose as he stepped back to avoid the strike. Rather than continue his momentum with a clumsy swing, Ellis collapsed his arm and drew it back toward him. Then, he thrust forward at Telhari’s chest.

  Clang!

  Ellis’ forearm rattled with pain as Telhari’s blade impacted his own. The force was so strong and so sudden that Ellis couldn’t hold on to his sword and it clattered to the ground.

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  “Time!”

  Perry gave a few claps of his hands and smiled at Ellis.

  “Very good work!”

  Ellis wiped his forearm across his face and felt his tunic grow wet with sweat.

  “Your uncle is right,” Telhari said. Then, he walked over to Perry and handed him the sword. In exchange, Perry gave Telhari a spear: a long wooden pole-arm with a metal edge fashioned to the end.

  “Ready?” Perry asked the two of them.

  Telhari and Ellis both nodded.

  “Begin!”

  Telhari made his move first this time. He dashed forward with a frightening speed and thrust the spear forward. Given no time to retaliate, Ellis was forced to dodge. Telhari then turned the spear in his hands and whipped it around in a circle to reposition it. Then, he struck again.

  Ellis was forced on the defensive, and it took all his effort just to dodge each powerful thrust. It would make no sense to try and parry the spear, as he was at a disadvantage in terms of range. Even if he could parry Telhari’s strike, he could not guarantee he would be able to close the distance fast enough. It would be wasted energy otherwise.

  This was Telhari’s test.

  Ellis was to conserve his energy and wait for an opening. Or, he had to create one.

  Another thrust rushed passed Ellis’ face and nearly cut into his cheek. Telhari drew back the spear, preparing to strike again; but Ellis never gave him the chance. Rather then retreating fully after the previous attack, Ellis instead lunged at Telhari, cutting off the head of the spear with a decisive slash. Ellis smiled to himself at his accomplishment; but it was short lived. Quickly, his instincts pulled his attention back to the fight— the blunt end of the pole-arm was heading towards him with blinding speed.

  Ellis brought up his forearm to deflect the strike, but the impact made him wince and double backwards. Telhari spun the pole around himself, making it harder and harder for Ellis to tell where the next attack was going to come from. Then, he saw it. Telhari bent his elbow, gripped the shaft of the pole, and thrust it forward again. This time, Ellis could not react fast enough. The blunt end impacted his shoulder with a crushing force. The attack pushed Ellis backwards, nearly knocking him off balance. As he struggled to regain his footing, the pole swung towards his head. He ducked, narrowly avoiding it, and rolled onto the ground to gain distance. Ellis then sprang up from the ground and charged at Telhari again. He swung several times at him, but Telhari managed to parry him each time by smacking the broad side of Ells’ sword off its path with the pole. Ellis felt himself grow more and more frustrated that he was losing to a broken weapon.

  “Relax, Ellis,” Telhari warned him as he continued to block each successive strike. “You become sloppy when you’re angry.”

  Ellis bitterly drew back his sword and held his next attack. He took a split second to recompose himself— to steady his mind.

  Telhari’s boot impacted the ground as he brought the pole up in preparation.

  He’s going for my head, Ellis thought.

  He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did.

  And then, for a moment, time seemed to slow. Just one moment. But in that short time, he could see Telhari move himself forward and sweep the pole through the air towards his face.

  Ellis stepped back suddenly, just enough to avoid the strike so that it was merely an inch from his face. Perry saw how close the strike came and moved instinctively toward him, thinking he had taken a hit. But as the pole continued along its path in the air, Ellis turned his sword in his hands and sliced upwards— cutting the pole in half.

  Telhari drew back immediately and repositioned himself, all while keeping his eye on the half of his pole that flipped through the air. He reached his hand up and caught the other half as it fell towards him.

  Perry stammered a moment, surprised by such a fluid and efficient strike from his nephew. Then, he remembered.

  “Time!”