Chapter 13: Proving Grounds

Sairek knocked on the metal doors of the monastery with his staff, keeping Cyial close to himself as he did so. The demon child was holding his book tightly with his left arm while clutching desperately on Sairek’s left hand with his right in a vice grip.

It did not take long for the doors to open and the one who did open the doors for them was an older man who was barely taller than the three children in front of him. A long gray beard hung from his chin down to a point and his bald head almost seemed shiny when light shone on it.

Seeing the old man, Cyial’s expression lit up immediately and he let go of Sairek, rushing up to the older man to give him a tight hug. “Father Abbot!”

“My, my! Why hello there little one, welcome back.” The old gentleman greeted Cyial, embracing him back.

Cyial pulled away from the man after a handful of seconds, though still held his arms around him. “I… I got the ethereal for this week!”

“Well done, Cyial. And I see you are in very precious company this time indeed.” The abbot said, looking up from Cyial as Sairek and Nayleen stepped a little bit closer. “Sairek Ceareste, it is an honor to meet you again.”

“Again?” Sairek blinked. “Oh yeah, I guess I technically had been here before. It was just so long ago and I was so little…”

“Indeed, you have certainly grown much since I last saw you! Now look at you, you are almost as tall as me!” The abbot bellowed in a laugh.

“It would have been about six or seven years, now.” Sairek said. It was a shame that Sairek could not remember the man for the life of him...

“Well come now, don't be shy, come on inside, friends!” He welcomed them in.

The trio followed him into the hallway while they spoke to each other, with Cyial walking by the abbot’s side. “So what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Master Apprentice?” The abbot questioned.

“Well, Nayleen and I were originally coming here so I could visit my mother’s grave and on our way here, we met up with Cyial.” Sairek explained. “Marid also wanted its next shipment for the royal jewel, but I’m here in person, so…”

“Ah, Melina. We still tend to the Ceareste graves. Visiting her won’t be a problem.”

“Well, before I do that, I need to relieve a certain someone of the Lamen guard of their post, first...” Sairek replied in a bit of a grumble.

“Oh dear.” The abbot sighed, stopping in his tracks and turning around before looking down at Cyial. “So that is why your eyes look so swollen.”

“S-Sorry…” Cyial mumbled. “But Nayleen and Sairek don’t care that I’m a demon—an incubus.”

“I’m relieved to hear that." The abbot said.

“I already told whats-his-name that he’s relieved of his post, but the reality of it is that my word means nothing unless I make it official and speak to the Knightmaster of Lamen about this.” Sairek explained. “I needed to go to the head office to keep a promise to someone else anyway, so how fortunate it is that a position in Lamen will have just opened up for them. To make sure that troublemaker doesn’t cause anymore trouble, I should be going right away, though. The sooner the better.”

No less than a few seconds after Sairek had said that, there was a loud bang and thump from the door they had come through, and then it abruptly slammed open as another 'guest' made their way inside the monastery.

“W-What is he doing here inside the monastery…?!” Cyial hissed in panic.

“Oh great, not this asshole again.” Nayleen growled in a curse.

Balgira stepped in and marched his way on the red carpeted floor right towards them. He was walking, but he was coming fast. He did however stop in front of them, only a few paces away.

“Come now, is that how you treat and talk to a guest of the monastery?” Balgira sneered at them.

“You’re no guest. I told you to leave Cyial alone and to take off that armor.” Sairek growled. He gestured with his left hand at the other three to move back behind him. As they did, Sairek moved himself forward and center of the hallway to interpose himself between them and Balgira.

“Get out of my way, boy.” Balgira warned Sairek.

“You will not order me around.” Sairek replied coldly, tilting his head downwards but keeping his glare keenly on Balgira in as intimidating of a look as he could muster given his smaller size and age. “You will not harm Cyial anymore or anyone else for that matter. I’m not going to say it again, Balgira. Leave!”

“Move. NOW!” Balgira growled.

“No.”

Balgira stood still and then with an abrupt movement, raised his fist. Sairek heard Nayleen warning him to look out, but the action had been so abrupt and quick, he didn't have enough time to react and defend himself before the studded leather glove connected right into Sairek’s left cheek in a swift and powerful punch.
Sairek grunted in pain and staggered, but recovered his balance as another punch came towards his ribs this time and he managed to intercept it by blocking it with his staff by gripping it in both hands. Balgira tried to force himself, pushing against the staff and Sairek grunted again in effort, but held steady, despite being smaller and a child, his anger now burned brightly and he clenched his teeth, beginning to pour energy slowly into the staff as he struggled against Balgira, who leaned in a little closer.

“How long do you think you can hold against the strength of a trained knight, boy…?” Balgira nearly whispered through a confident smirk. “A cocky brat like you who thinks they can just order and shove people around…?!”

“Quite hypocritical words… coming… from you…!” Sairek grunted in effort and clenched his teeth into a snarl. “Do you think picking on helpless kids makes you powerful—?!”

“I’m going to waste this—” Nayleen began, reaching for her knives.

“Ungh…! Stand down Nayleen!” Sairek barked back at her without even looking.

“What–?! But—” She began, then glanced at Sairek and wisely moved herself further back behind him. Something that turned out to be a wise decision.

Sairek pulled his staff and himself back abruptly. Balgira moved to shift his weight to follow up, but Sairek twisted around, holding his staff in both of his hands like a club as he twisted himself and spun around, swinging his staff as he did so to connect it against Balgira’s gut, causing the man to let out a breathless “Oomph!” from the impact.

“Wuaie!!”

Sairek growled the words out and pushed the force out of his staff with all of his might. Balgira’s eyes widened in realization, which Sairek saw only briefly before a sudden rush of wind conjured and pushed from around Sairek, causing Balgira to slide back against the wall. Sairek then reached his left hand towards the jewel and it burned fiercely in an intense white light.

“WUAIE!!” Sairek screamed in even more emphasis before as he did it again even harder this time and with the royal jewel as well. The oncoming gust was so powerful, the furniture around the hallway and the carpet either knocked over, became crooked, or became skewed. However, most importantly, the wind was so powerful, it pinned Balgira to the wall. Although the energy and force would only last a few seconds, it was enough for Sairek to grip his staff in both hands, pull it back from his left side, and strike the head of his staff right across from left to the right of Balgira’s face with every ounce of strength his burning anger could muster, returning the blow he received to his own face in kind. At the same time the blow connected, Sairek released the energy so the momentum of his swing would carry over.
Balgira went spiraling from the wall onto the ground. He managed to fall on his hands and knees, but scrambled himself back up to his feet, one hand clutching his gut, and the other clutching his face.

Sairek panted hard, once more moving to interpose himself between Balgira and the other three people behind him. He shifted his stance so his staff was held in front of him with his right hand, and his left hand stood at the ready to either grasp his staff or his jewel again if needed. The two of them glared at each other with icy looks for several seconds.

“Why…?!” Sairek finally managed to ask when his breath caught up to him. “It’s so pointless…! Does Cyial's nature seriously poison your mind to the point that it drives you to behave like this!?”

Balgira chuckled at that, grinning. “That’s right, even you can see this tussle is pointless. That’s why…” He began, trailing off. Balgira brought his left hand up to his face and pulled his glove off of his hand, before he threw the glove directly at Sairek's head.

Sairek reached his left hand up, catching it just before it came into contact with his face. His eyes widened slightly in realization at the glove and then back to Balgira. “Are you crazy…!? You—You cannot be serious…!”

“Is that an omission of defeat I hear?!” Balgira grinned.

Sairek clenched his teeth at that, crumpling the glove in his hand tightly, angrily. “...If this is how you want to play it, fine, but you know I cannot wear your glove, nor can you wear mine—”

“Do you think I give a shit about tradition, boy? Do you accept or not?” Balgira demanded with a sneer.

Sairek growled and ground his teeth together so hard that it ached, but he only noticed the pain on a subconscious level. He tossed the glove back to Balgira with a throw of his own. What a pity the man also managed to catch it. “Where and when?” Sairek demanded, his voice tense, but also hoarse and dry.

“Two hours from now… We’ll meet just straight out of town. It won’t be hard to miss… I’ll be waiting outside for you just a little bit down the road from where you first came into the city…” Balgira smirked, standing upright as if he hadn’t been injured at all. “See you again soon…”

Everyone watched as Balgira calmly turned around, walking back towards the exit, opening the door and slamming it behind him.

Sairek released a long shaky breath, moving his staff and altering his posture so he could lean his weight against it, gripping it with bot hands in front of him. He release long, shaky inhales and exhales. His legs felt like jello as the adrenaline quickly faded and he was left feeling nothing but bitterness and exhaustion. His left hand slowly moved to touch his left cheek that had been punched. It still throbbed in pain, but he wasn’t bleeding and he didn't notice it swelling or anything...

“Okay… what the heck was that about, and more importantly, are you okay?” Nayleen asked him, moving towards Sairek to wrap his arms around him. Not quite in a hug, but an embrace as if to hold him steady.

“I’m… I’m okay…” Sairek breathed. He rested his weight into Nayleen for a moment, gracious for her support.

“So… what was that, then… at the end…?” Nayleen demanded.

“He…" Cyial began, then swallowed dryly. "Balgira... He challenged Sairek to a duel, Nayleen… And Sairek accepted it…”

“You did what?!” Nayleen shouted, pulling back from Sairek to stare at him, which caused Sairek to stumble and brace himself against the wall to catch himself as that support he was thankful for abruptly vanished..

“I didn’t have a choice, Nayleen…” Sairek muttered wearily.

“Of course you had a choice! Say no!” She argued, pressing her lips together.

“Yeah, and then what? Let him have his way with Cyial or anyone else he wants to abuse again later?” Sairek replied calmly.

Nayleen winced at that. Clearly the argument hit home. “B-But… he’s a grown man! And you’re… This is stupid!”

“You saw how it was with Samuel…” Sairek reminded her.

“Yeah, but he didn’t want to actually harm you…”

“I know that!” Sairek snapped abruptly. He allowed himself to take a deep breath and stand more upright, taking a few breaths to calm himself. “Sorry... Look—I know… but I will not allow him to get what he wants...! He challenges my authority in a duel... If I decline, he’ll do whatever he wants and my ruling means nothing. I’m not going to let him just step over Cyial like that. I will hold my ground. I will fight for my friends and I will fight for what I believe in if I must. I did it with Samuel and I’ll do it again here...!”

“Sairek…” Cyial whispered.

“Well, it seems your mind is set on it. At least you are not torn about the decision. That is good.” The abbot said, placing a comforting hand on Cyial’s shoulder as the boy’s head hung low to look down at his feet again. “Well, I believe there is something I can do to help turn the tides of this upcoming duel a little bit in your favor, Prince.”

Sairek blinked at him. “Help me in the duel…? How?”

“You must not forget Master Apprentice, you are in a monastery of Yggdrasil.”

“...Yeah, and?”

“And you wield a Yggdrasil staff. More to the point, that staff was originally made here. I’m glad to see you have been taking good care of it.”

“You guys here made my staff…?” Sairek asked slowly, looking down at it. “But what else can you do?”

“Have you tried linking the staff to you, yet?” The abbot asked.

“I, ah... um... no? I was going to do that, but I kind of forgot to… do that.” Sairek said, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand. “My maid did it to me with the royal jewel because of obvious reasons, but… can I really have two things linked to me like that and be okay?”

“Well, it would be risky, but considering the nature of the staff since it’s a part of Yggdrasil, you would be okay. It’s one of the benefits of having such a staff.”

“Really? Besides it just being better and more durable? I didn’t know that.” Sairek said. “What would the side effects be, then…?”

“Side effects?” The abbot repeated in a quizzical tone.

“Like, if I use the jewel too much, then it starts drawing energy from me, which is… not great.” Sairek clarified.

“Ah, right, right. It would be much the same in a way, every time you draw ethereal and use magic, there would be that bit of physical fatigue. Not as much as the jewel though. A staff is not a catalyst like the jewel. Sure you can hold energy inside of it, but only briefly and all of that is only held together by your willpower. A staff is meant to be a weapon to channel and filter such energy through, not to absorb it and keep it in. Being able to tap inside of your own ethereal would make pouring more energy into your spells easier as you also use a little bit of your own ethereal like a catalyst, but if you cast too much too quickly, you will feel quite the strain physically as well as mentally.” The abbot explained. "The benefits is stronger, quicker and easier spells, but fatigue over time."

“Alright, I can do that. Maybe with this I can have enough 'oomph' to use a couple of other spells that I know of and can cast with the jewel, but just lack the strength myself to push out.” Sairek said, hopeful. "I will be needing them at this rate…”

“Well, it looks like we have a job we both need to do then, Cyial.” The abbot said, giving Cyial’s shoulder another gentle squeeze as the boy raised his head to look up at him. The abbot looked back to Sairek as he spoke. “Well, either way, setting this up will take a little bit of time. Perhaps you should visit the knight’s guild in the meantime.”

“Oh yeah… with any luck, you might just be able to avoid this ridiculous duel entirely.” Nayleen pitched in.

“Hopefully…” Sairek grumbled as he turned to Nayleen. “It’s possible it might not take too long, but it also might as well. Either way, do you mind staying here in case he comes back? With someone like that, I don’t want to take any chances. He might come back again and cause havoc while I’m gone.”

“He won’t know what hit him if he even tries. I’ll punch him back in the face just like he did to you.” Nayleen said, thumping her chest with her lift fist. "Then I'll punch him again for myself."

“Heheh, thanks. I’m counting on you. I’ll be back as soon as I am able.” Sairek said, but before he turned to leave, he looked at Cyial, who was looking at him with soft eyes. Sairek offered him a soft, reassuring smile before he turned around and walked towards the doors.

* * *

Sairek wandered his way across the cobblestone streets. The sun by now was beginning to set, casting a yellow-orange glow on otherwise usually stone-white buildings. Lamen seemed to have a theme of the colors being filled with white and blue-gray from the stonework, and then blue thanks to the sky and ocean. However, the city’s color scheme seemed to change quite dramatically when the sun began to set since all the colors for the most part seemed to change depending on the sky. As the sky went from blue to warmer hues right at sunset, the sky and ocean changed colors as well, and that change in lighting was also reflected in the white stone'd buildings.

Lamen was a port town. Although Marid was also at the very south of the continent and right next to the ocean, the ocean also carried itself over here to the east, as if there had been a “crack” in the continent between Ceareste and Malode, so even though Lamen was further up north, it still had access to the ocean and operated just fine as a port city.

“Let’s see…” Sairek hummed thoughtfully to himself as he walked along the streets as he glanced around. The streets weren’t particularly busy or populated with a heavy volume of pedestrians, but there were the few who apparently recognized him and were staring… Someone like him would probably be seen with at least a pair of escorts, being by himself was probably strange to them.
It had been a while since Sairek had been in Lamen, and a long time since he saw a map of the city. There might have even been a few additions or changes since then for all he knew, but if his memory served him correctly, he believed the guild was somewhere near the western exit of the place, so he headed in that direction.
Along the way though, he saw a sign that fortunately, showed a map of the place and he took a moment to study it.

Like he believed before, the monastery was almost smack in the middle of the city, so getting back to it should be easy. As for the guild he was looking for, it was indeed to the west, but also further south than he thought. He made a mental note of when and where to take turns in the main road and smaller streets thereafter and began his walk towards it once again.

On the final street before reaching his destination, he froze mid-step and glanced quickly around himself before ducking into a small alleyway between two buildings as he peered out from behind one of them. Up ahead, he saw through a small crowd of people going about their business, Balgira, who exited out from the building he was looking for and the man took a moment to look around himself before he began walking forwards towards the alleyway Sairek was hiding in.
Sairek waited for a moment, swearing an oath under his breath. When the man got closer towards his alleyway, Sairek took a minute to shrink himself down behind a flight of stairs from one of the buildings, watching as the man’s form walked by his alleyway, not noticing Sairek inside of it. Then he waited a moment longer before he stood back up and peeked out of the alleyway again looking in the opposite direction to look at Balgira’s back. The man had another red broadsword strapped to his back again. No doubt he had gone to replace the weapon Sairek had shattered. He had hoped he would perhaps have been able to prevent Balgira from getting another weapon if he had managed to hurry enough, but it seems that wasn’t possible now… He sighed.

When Balgira was out of sight and when a few other people were giving him questioning and curious looks as he continued to just peer out of the alleyway, Sairek made the rest of the journey towards the building. As he stepped up to it, he looked up to examine the structure. It was made out of white stone just like almost everything else here, however, it was carved in the shape of a knight’s helmet, which Sairek found mildly amusing. He pushed the doors open and stepped inside and took a quick look around the ‘lobby’ of the building, which had a few wooden benches inside, with a black rug that was in front of the door.
Like the outside, most of the inside was also in white stone, though some painted colors in simple shapes and the addition of furniture and a few potted plants made it a bit more vibrant inside. Sairek looked to his right to see a knight with spiky dark brown hair dressed in the same armored gear as Balgira had, who was lounging on a bench and looked to be wiping or cleaning a spear. Or had been. Right now the man had paused what he was doing and was currently looking at him.

“Excuse me, but could you please tell me where I may find the Knightmaster?” Sairek asked, taking a couple of steps towards to the man.

“Maybe? What business does a little sport such as yourself have with Lavian?” He asked.

“I’m Prince Sairek Ceareste.” He announced, pointing at the jewel adorned on his breast.

“O-Oh. Please, forgive my tardiness...”

“Forgiven." Sairek smiled gently. "So...?” He led on.

The man shifted his weight slightly to point further on ahead. “Usually there’s someone at the counter who would set up an appointment, but uh, I guess if you want to see her immediately… take the hallway there on the right, climb up the stairs to the third floor, then her office will be the door at the very back of the hallway.” He answered.

“Got it. Thanks a bunch.” Sairek nodded and proceeded to follow those directions. When he got to the aforementioned hallway, he began moving himself towards the door the man had said was the Knightmaster’s office. He was about five paces away from the closed door when out of nowhere, the door itself opened and he managed just in time to step himself to the side as a book of all things came flying out from the door and soared past him. He blinked, eyes widened as he turned to see the book slam into the wall on the other side of the hallway with quite the heavy slam. “Sweet Lands…!” He peeped out. “If that thing had hit me…”

“S-Sorry!” A femenine voice from inside the room called from inside the room, causing him to turn around. “I swear, I thought that the door was locked!”

Standing up from behind a desk that was littered with many books and papers, Sairek could see a woman in her mid twenties. She had blue hair which was tied up into a ponytail braid behind her head and was wearing chain cuirass armor. A simple hairband was on her head, rather than a metal helmet which Sairek was sure she would normally wear if she was on active duty instead.

Sairek… cautiously stepped himself inside of the room, giving one quick concerned look back behind himself as he did so before he closed the door for her and locked it before he approached her at the desk. “So… are you the Knightmaster?” He asked.

“Er, yes, yes I am. Lavian Angevon, at your service, Prince.” She answered.

It was weird to him when people already knew of him and not the other way around. He supposed that the guild here though would work carefully and closely with his father and Marid. All of the knights stationed in Marid all came from here, afterall.
Regardless though, Sairek looked Lavian over for a moment, then at the closed door, then back at her, raising a silent, but questioning eyebrow at her. “Well, at the very least, you have a good throwing arm, apparently…” He complimented, albeit dryly.

She flushed slightly in embarrassment. “I’m… sorry about that. I was just letting off some steam.”

“...Pardon?”

“Everyday, I’m stuck here, from morning until late evening, cooped up in here doing paperwork!” She explained. “It’s frustrating! I’m supposed to be a knight! Not some… some desk jockey!”

“Ah, I see… you and I both have similar problems, then…” Sairek muttered. “I apologize in advance then, because I probably don’t bring good news for you in that regard.

“What now…” Lavian groaned, sitting down in her chair at her desk.

“Do you have a knight named ‘Balgira’ stationed here?” Sairek asked.

“I do.”

“Well, now you don’t. I relieved him of his position earlier this evening.” Sairek declared in-a-matter-of-fact tone. Lavian sat up slightly more upright, blinking twice at him, waiting for an explanation, though her expression remained rather neutral at hearing this news. Sairek could recognize it was like the same mask he was always forced to wear at the castle when doing talks like this to other people, but she did it so well, that he couldn't even get a read on her.

“Long story short, he didn’t recognize who I was and I caught him threatening another citizen, a child no less. Balgira was threatening them with a sword and performing unwarranted strip searches on them as well as fabricating evidence to get that child into trouble with the law. He had a personal vendetta, basically.”

Her neutral expression did not remain neutral for long. “He did what!?” Lavian expressed. “When was this!?”

“Not even an hour ago. That was only the beginning. Afterwards, he charged into the monastery in an attempt to attack this child. I got in the way, so he attacked me, directly.” Sairek continued and tapped his left cheek. “It still hurts a little. After I managed to shove him back though, he outright went and challenged me to a duel just south of the city that will take place in a couple of hours to appeal my ruling. Of course, given my position, I cannot decline…” Sairek growled.

While Sairek had continued his explanation of events, Lavian had slowly moved to lean on her desk with her elbows and her hands slowly went to cover her face with both of them. Clearly, one of her knights acting out of control like this must have been quite embarrassing. Let alone acting this way towards the Prince, no less.

Sairek gave her a moment to compose herself and she did, pulling her head out of her hands. She took a few seconds longer to think. “Well… there is nothing I can do about the duel, unfortunately. That’s law. If you don’t want the duel, then don’t show up to it, but… what you said is all circumstantial evidence and just witness testimony. I would need hard evidence of him doing those things before making a case… That would require an investigation and would take some time and wouldn’t guarantee we will find anything incremenating. Of course given your word, I would keep a very careful watchful eye on him, but...”

“Even attacking me in the monastery? In front of multiple people?” Sairek said, taken aback.

“Under normal circumstances, yes, that would be considered of course, but he demanded a duel and you accepted it, so…” Lavian sighed.

“Oh, great. So I really do have to go and win this or he’ll just continue to be allowed to do what he pleases…”

"Well, no. If we caught him red-handed, he would be punished accordingly, but anything else you claim he did, we wouldn't be able to testify against and your order to fire him would be dismissed if you lost the duel. Centuries ago, royalty could throw whoever they wanted in prison just for someone looking at them now, but that's not the world we live in now. You can't just throw whoever you want in prison anymore. I believe your Great, Great, Great grandfather created that rule in order to give more power to the people."

Sairek sighed. “Just stopping him isn't good enough for me. Not anymore. I warned him and he continued." Sairek rubbed his temples. "If I win this duel, you will be able to remove him immediately because of my order though, yes?”

“Assuming that's the terms you both agreed to, then yes.”

“Alright, fine. Good enough for me, then. I’ll just have to make sure to win, then.” Sairek growled.

“Prince… with all due respect, Balgira is a trained—” Lavian began.

“He hurt and abused my friend.” Sairek growled back. “I don’t care how trained or ‘professional’ he is. I am going to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget.” Sairek shifted his stance as he inhaled and exhaled deeply to try and calm himself. “Anyway… since you are losing a knight, I do bring more joyful news.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have a knight named ‘Kline’ listed for working in Marid?” Sairek began.

“Uhh…” Lavian stalled, shifting her stance, she began rustling through papers and books alike, searching over them. Eventually she grabbed a book and began flipping through some pages. “Yes, I have him. It seems he was just relieved of his position from there just today."

"O-Oh. Wow. Father actually did it. I guess he was very unhappy indeed...  Err, r-right... So, can you just... move him from there and have him take Balgira’s position in Lamen here, instead?” Sairek asked. "I don't know what his address is, but he lives in Lamen."

“We should have that information, so I suppose I'll look it up and can do that for you, once Balgira can be confirmed to be removed of course, but why?” Lavian asked.

“Ah… I’m just fulfilling on a promise I made to him a few days ago.” Sairek explained with a lopsided smirk. "Make sure to send my regards, okay?"

* * *

Returning back into the monastery, Sairek opened the doors and followed along the carpet of the floor. He’d been gone about an hour or so. Truth be told, he hadn't expected Lavian to be able to do much about Balgira anyway, at least not immediately, but he figured it would have at least been worth a try. At the very least, even if he failed this duel and no evidence was found, Lavian would be keeping a close watch on him. Unfortunately though, it looked like he’d have to indeed go through with it, and the longer time ticked down, the more scared of that prospect he was starting to become. At the same time though, his anger festered just as well...

“Sairek! You’re back!”

Sairek lifted his gaze from the floor to see Cyial running up to greet him. Seeing the other boy smiling and looking happy for the first time caused Sairek’s fear that was gathering to wash away and he smiled softly himself. “Hiya.”

“Did everything go okay? Do you still have to do the duel?” Cyial asked.

Sairek sighed. “Unfortunately, I do, but I have insurance now just in case, no matter what happens.” He explained. That didn’t seem to be enough for Cyial though as he frowned at this news and Sairek was pained to force that brief moment Cyial had been smiling for once to vanish so quickly.

“Sairek… please… I don’t want you to do this.” Cyial pleaded.

“But I want to.” Sairek said. Well, no, he didn’t ‘want’ to exactly, but he needed to.

Cyial sighed. “If you insist, I guess…” He grumbled. “Well, Father Abbot and I are ready for you if you are.”

“Right, I had almost forgotten about that.” Sairek said with a nod. “Lead the way, then.”

Cyial nodded and did, surprising Sairek a little as he grabbed him by his left hand to pull him along, but he went with it willingly. The smaller boy lead him to the end of the entrance hall, of which there were two doors on each side, but when they stepped through the left one, Sairek saw that they both lead to the same room anyways. The room was spherical in shape, almost like being in a dome, with many small pillars everywhere almost like a hollow coliseum. Sairek saw the abbot was already there, waiting for him. Down on the floor, he saw some patterns and symbols were already drawn on the ground.

“Okay, what do I need to do for this?” Sairek asked, feeling Cyial letting go of his hand.

“Not much. Just sit in the middle and don’t move. Try to keep your mind clear as well.” The abbot explained to him.

“That’s it?” Sairek blinked. Well, he supposed if Laure was able to do it to him while he was sleeping in his bed then the procedure was probably not too difficult… “Alright then…”

Sairek moved and slowly sat himself cross-legged in the middle of the room and in the middle of all the drawings and etches on the floor. He placed his staff evenly on his lap and took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did, allowing his body to fall as relaxed as he could manage, given the circumstances.

He heard the abbot release a grunting sound and at the same time, he felt as if something had just been twisted for a brief moment inside of his entire being, causing him to wince for a second, but the feeling left as quickly as it came. What was replaced with it afterwards was something else mildly uncomfortable and he shifted his weight slightly in reaction as he remained seated. He felt like he was feeling some kind of motion sickness and it took him a moment to realize why he felt like that was because the energy inside of him was being shifted around fairly differently. It was quite unpleasant… nothing he couldn’t handle, but he could now maybe see why Laure had done this to him while he was asleep.

However, it didn’t seem like this was a long process. It felt like it was only five minutes before he felt the feelings inside of him beginning to settle back down and he began to feel normal, though more… acutely aware of where energy in the air was around him. He was sure he’d get used to that naturally over time, but his senses in that regard felt sharper; more clear. He akined it to as if he had bad eyesight and had just put glasses on.

“I’m finished, Prince.” The Abbot informed him. “How do you feel?”

Sairek slowly blinked his eyes open, looking around slowly. At some point, Nayleen had entered the room and had been watching him. He also noticed his bottom was feeling sore as if he had been sitting on the stone floor for a long time. He slowly moved to push himself up. “A little queasy, but I’ll be okay soon, I think. I can already feel it working. Also, my butt hurts. How long was I sitting there for?”

“It’s been a good half an hour or so now.” Cyial answered him.

“Seriously? It felt like it was only a few minutes.” Sairek frowned.

“That’s not surprising. Most people go into a sort of hypnotic like state, drifting in and out of consciousness.” The abbot explained.

Sairek massaged his sore bottom with his left hand. “Ah, I see… next time I do that, I’ll be sure to bring a cushion or something, then...” He replied dryly.

“Sorry.” Cyial apologized.

“Meh.” Sairek shrugged. “I suppose I should get going now then and put someone in their place where they rightfully belong. Thanks.”

“Let’s go then, Cyial.” Nayleen said, wrapping her arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders.

“Eh? M-Me too?” Cyial nearly squeaked.

“Of course. Sairek will need all the emotional support he can get. Don’t worry. If he even tries anything to you, then it will be the biggest mistake of his life. I’ll make sure of it.”

Cyial looked up at her, then at Sairek, then finally at the abbot.

“Cyial, you know you’re old enough to make your own decisions, now.” The old man said.

Cyial sighed at that but nodded. “Okay... then—then I want to help support Sairek anyway I can... let’s go.”

“Great! Because I was going to drag you there anyway if you said no!” Nayleen smirked.

“Trust me, she would. I would already know.” Sairek said evenly, casting a glance at Nayleen. She stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

“Yup, that looks like our guy sitting over there.” Nayleen pointed out as they had left the city and moved back down the road they had come in from in the first place. “Did he repair his sword or something?”

“He went and got another one. I saw him leaving the barracks on my way there and he had another one strapped to his back. He probably had a spare one or something.” Sairek explained, looking ahead as Balgira turned around as they approached. Sairek stopped walking and moved to turn around to face the other two. “Go watch from a safe distance, up on that cliff over there looks good.” He said, with a nudge of his head to his left, to indicate where he meant.

“Go break a leg, boss!” Nayleen cheered him, giving him a reassuring slap on his shoulder.

“Hopefully one of his, and not any of mine.” Sairek grumbled.

“Sairek… I still don’t want you to do this for me…” Cyial said, looking downwards towards his feet.

“I know you don’t Cyial, but I do.” Sairek said. “It’s important I do this for myself, too. Now, get going. I don’t want to give this jack-rat any opportunities.”

Cyial sighed, looked up at him for a moment and nodded sternly. Nayleen reached to take his hand and guide him away. Sairek watched them go, let loose a long, deep sigh, and turned himself back around to face Balgira and resumed walking back towards him. On Balgira’s part, he was surprisingly patient and quiet, waiting for Sairek to approach until Sairek stopped once more about twenty or so paces away from him.

Sairek looked up at the sky. The sun was casting everything in an orange glow, close to setting over the horizon of the valleys and cliffs to the west.

“Finally, you show up. I was beginning to think you were a coward and just all talk.” Balgira sneered at him. What a pleasant greeting.

Sairek slowly turned back away from the setting sun to look at Balgira. “Me, a coward? You know, those are fairly bold words coming from someone who went and attacked someone nearly half their size and age as well as had the audacity to challenge a child like myself to a duel, which, by the way, I still accepted.” Sairek retorted calmly, before smirking in amusement. “Oh, but pardon me, I suppose with your behavior, your mental capacity hasn’t much developed past the infant stage, has it? I suppose I am the one with the advantage here, after all.”

Balgira’s left eye twitched and he opened his mouth. “Did you… Did you just compare me to that of a baby!?”

“Oh dear, and now you’re crying out? Please forgive me if I have just interrupted your suckling...”

“Why—You…!” Balgira seethed. “I’m going to wipe that ridiculous stupid smirk off your face soon enough…!”

“How creative. As if I had never heard that retort before in my entire life. Oh dear. Whatever shall I do?” Sairek shrugged absentmindedly. Balgira clenched his teeth. “Seriously, what are you even doing all of this for? Is all of this honestly worth it even if you manage to win this duel? No matter how this duel ends, it ends badly for you at this point.”

“That thing is a demon!” Balgira shouted angrily. “What can’t you see that!?”

“And you’re apparently a dangerous lunatic. So what. Do you stereotype everyone based on what they are? Surely you realize that us humans are just of capable of causing harm and destruction as well. Race has nothing to do with it. You only need to look into a mirror; attempting to destroy Cyial's livlihood, and now you're destroying your own.”

“It’s not a person! It’s a monster! It literally does not belong in this world–!” Balgira shouted angrily at him as if he was missing something so obvious and simple.

“So, that’s what you believe in… ‘vanquishing evil’, huh?” Sairek asked as shifted his weight, spreading his legs out somewhat in preparation for combat. He moved his staff slowly in front of him with his right hand, but raised his left hand, turning it so his palm was facing upwards towards his opponent. Sairek spoke again, this time through clenched teeth. “Then come Balgira. Come and stop this ‘great and terrible evil’ that’s right in front of you. It is your duty as a knight after all… right?
“However, make no mistake… just like I did with your sword earlier, I am going to smash that fighting spirit of yours under my staff and scatter its fragments into the wind.”

Sairek with his left hand curled his fingers into a beckoning motion at Balgira.

 

 

He won one duel before. He knew he could do it again and this time, he was even more upset than last time...

He wanted nothing more than to reduce this sorry excuse of a human-being to dust.