Cyll reached out and grabbed Maya’s hand. The world lurched and heaved around her as colors blended together. Then, a moment later, it was done. The dimly lit cave had vanished. Cyll and Maya stood in a large stone arena. The sun shone brightly overhead.

Cyll’s wounds had all vanished. The sword that had been buried in his shoulder now rested easily in one hand, and the axe had completely disappeared from his back.

“What happened?” Maya asked, looking around the arena with wide eyes. She stepped away from Cyll, raising her hands to defend herself. “Where did you take me?”

“Just a trick of the mind,” Cyll said, smiling to placate her. “We’re still stuck in the cave, make you no mistake.”

“Oh,” Maya said, disappointment tinging her tone.

“Don’t sound so sad. You’ve got training to look forward to. Just remember, you can quit any time you want. There’s no shame in accepting defeat if this is beyond your capabilities.”

“Right. What do I do?” Maya asked, baring her teeth at the man.

Cyll planted his sword in the ground beside himself and gave Maya a wicked grin.

“Survive.”

His first swing nearly took Maya’s head off, but she tumbled out of the way just in time. Cyll chased after her with a mad cackle. It was immediately apparent that the man was incredibly fast.

As one of his punches crashed into the dirt beside Maya, blowing a small crater in the ground and sending a plume of sand into the air, she decided Cyll was also reasonably strong.

“How is this supposed to help me?” Maya yelled as she dove away from a kick that nearly split her in two.

“It’ll improve your reflexes!” Cyll said with a laugh. “And don’t worry about running out of time or dying. We’ll leave when you give up and not a second sooner.”

Maya didn’t have time to ask Cyll what he meant by that. His strikes were growing closer and closer as she grew tired, and Cyll showed no signs of letting up.

They fought for hours. It didn’t take long for the fatigue to completely envelop Maya. She crumpled to the ground, completely spent and out of energy. Cyll’s punch froze mid air and he chuckled.

The strange man knelt beside Maya and tapped her on the forehead. Her body shuddered as a violent burst of energy tore through her, spreading across her like a fire. Maya leapt to her feet, her nerves screaming as if they were on fire.

Just as quickly as it had happened, the feeling faded away. Maya blinked. Her exhaustion, along with the pain, was gone. Cyll grinned, showing off his eerily sharp teeth.

“We’re in my mind. This isn’t real life, and you don’t get tired if I don’t want you to. Now we will resume.”

One year later.

Maya ducked out of the way of a punch, allowing it to tear through the air beside her head. She’d long since lost track of how long they’d been fighting, but they hadn’t stopped since they’d arrived in the arena.

Her breath came in ragged gasps. The young woman’s clothes were torn and tattered from Cyll’s strikes and rolling across the rough arena floor.

“Wait!” She gasped out. Cyll froze mid punch, cocking an eyebrow.

“You giving up?” He asked.

“No! I just need a break. I don’t even know how long we’ve been fighting! How can either of us still be moving? We haven’t eaten or drank anything,”

“Let it suffice to say that I have control over time in this area. Now, are you giving up nor not?”

“I’m not. Give me a few minutes to catch my breath. I don’t know how I’ve managed to on this long, but I need a breather.”

Cyll’s fist thundered into Maya’s chest, knocking the air out of her, and lifting the young woman into the air. He followed it up with another strike. She fell to her knees.

“No breaks. You want strength? Earn it,” Cyll commanded.

Cyll kicked her in the stomach and she fell to the ground with a groan.

“Do you think your enemies will stop once you’re tired? That they’ll give you mercy when you ask? Stand and fight! That or give up. Choose!”

Maya craned her head back to make eye contact with the furious man. For a moment, the two locked gazes.

“Choose,” Cyll said again, softer this time.

Maya’s arms twitched. She pressed her palms against the rough ground and pushed herself upwards. With a snarl of defiance, she forced her trembling legs into action as she rose to her feet.

A slow grin crossed Cyll’s face.

“Good. Very good,” Cyll said. He stretched his arm out. Sunlight flashed on metal as a sickle and chain formed within his hand. He handed the weapon to Maya, who took it curiously.

“What’s this?” Maya asked.

“Your weapon. I’ve been studying how you fight. You’re nimble. Would have made a good circus acrobat, I think.”

“Thanks,” Maya said between gasps for air. “I think.”

“Not a problem. I have chosen the sickle and chain for you as I believe it most suited to your fighting style. You do not want people getting near you as you’ll never be as physically strong as most of your opponents. The sickle and chain lets you fight from a distance, disarm your opponents, and maybe you can even do a few acrobat tricks with it.”

Maya took the weapon from Cyll’s hands. It felt awkward in her hands, more like a strange farm tool than a weapon.

“How do I use this?” She asked.

A smirk crept across Cyll’s face. He drew his sword from the ground and pointed it at Maya.

“Ah. I suppose that follows the pattern, doesn’t it?” Maya asked as she readied her weapon.

Ten years later.

The sickle arced through the air. Cyll tumbled under the weapon’s wide sweep and dashed towards his opponent. Maya yanked on the chain and the weapon followed Cyll’s path, forcing the man to dodge again.

Maya had transformed into a tornado of steel. The sickle and chain obeyed her commands like an extension of her arms. The young woman’s clothing had been shredded and wounds had long since turned to scars.

Cyll was doing much better, but a few prominent slashes across his chest marked Maya’s growing skills. As he grew closer to the young woman, she danced backwards to keep the distance between them.

They clashed in another flurry of screeching metal that forced both of them back. Maya’s sickle sliced a thin furrow along Cyll’s chest. Her victorious yell was cut short as Cyll fell to his knees. Maya rushed over and knelt beside the fallen man.

“Cyll? What happened? Are you okay?” She asked.

“I’m afraid that’s all I’m going to be able to do, Maya. I’m not strong enough to keep this going any longer.”

As he spoke, the sunny arena that had been their home for the past few years faded away as the dim blue hues of the cave overtook them once more. The wound in Cyll’s chest reappeared along with the weapons protruding from his body. He groaned.

“It’s unfortunate. I never thought I’d find such a dedicated student,” Cyll coughed. “If you’d given up, I just would have let you take a breather. I didn’t think you’d never actually stop, even with me refreshing your stamina.”

The wound in his chest seemed to be bleeding more than when they had first met. Maya clenched her fists, but they were as smooth as the day she’d entered the arena with Cyll. In fact, all of her scars had vanished.

“All in our heads, remember?” Cyll said when he saw Maya’s confused expression. “You’ve got the experience now. Ten years of constant fighting. That’s more than just about everyone else alive. It’s no replacement for true combat, but it’ll set you on your path.”

“How are we supposed to get out of here then?” Maya asked.

“Not we. Just you,” Cyll corrected. “There’s a sickle and chain in that pile of gold. Take it. You should be able to use it like a grappling claw and climb out of the hole. It’ll take you a few days, but it’s your only shot. The defensive wards shouldn’t stop you.”

Maya drew a deep breath. She reached into her pocket. It was a foreign feeling, as it had been a long time since her clothes had been this whole. The years she had spent training with Cyll seemed to blur together, almost as if they were just a memory. Maya realized that they might be exactly that.

She turned the locket over with her hand, running it along the ridges along the carved metal. In the years she’d spent with Cyll, the man hadn’t spoken to her about anything other than fighting. She’d learned nothing about who he was or what he wanted.

Now that the training had ended, Axel’s face reappeared at the forefront of her mind. Maya’s hand tightened. The fury was as fresh as ever. She glanced over at Cyll, the wound in his chest seeping with dark blood.

It had been so long since someone had done Maya a favor that she’d almost forgotten what they were. An image of her parents flashed through the young woman’s mind. Her brow darkened. She pulled the locket out and held it in front of Cyll’s chest.

“That’s not going to save me,” Cyll said with a raspy cough. “You need that to make something of yourself in the future anyways.”

“I’ll make something of myself with or without the help of stolen Essence. I can find more,” Maya growled. “And you’re coming with me.”

She opened the locket.