Donte swung his wooden sword down. I raised my own blade to redirect the blow, but before the two blades met, Donte’s sword suddenly changed direction. It swerved towards my wrist, forcing me to take a step back to avoid the sudden strike.

Donte smiled brightly as he pursued my retreat by stabbing forward. I barely managed to twist my body out of the way in time. The tip of the wooden sword snagged my shirt before harmlessly breezing past me. Taking advantage of Donte’s miss, I moved close to him, stepping on his boot. My sword whizzed towards his neck. He tried to take a step back to avoid it, only to stumble and fall to the ground.

Donte glared at his now empty boot still under my foot. “Can’t you fight fair for once! I almost had you that time!”

I poked my fingers through the new hole in my shirt while grinning. “So close, you almost got me. Too bad almost does not count for anything in this game. At this rate, you are going to be doing my chores for a month.”

Donte snatched his boot back and stuffed his foot back inside it. “Don’t get cocky just because you have four up on me. It is only a matter of time before you get tired again and start making mistakes. By the time the soldiers pack up camp, I will be the one in the lead and you will be the one doing my chores.”

“Prove it,” I replied, waving my sword in a taunt.

Donte jumped up and lunged at me without warning. I tried to take a step back to avoid the strike, but when I did, Donte used his innate talent. His eyes glowed as a gust of wind knocked me off my feet. I tumbled awkwardly into the dirt, tearing another hole in my shirt. I did not have time to stand up before Donte’s blade rested against my neck.

“Now you are only three ahead,” he said with a wicked grin.

I brushed the tangled mess of hair out of my face as I glared up at him. The blue flame in my right eye ignited as I spoke, “So, we are using talents now?”

“Wait! Hold on! I won’t use my talent again, I promise!” He shouted, flinching and closing his eyes.

I huffed as I picked myself up. I brushed the dirt off my clothes the best I could, but I knew I would still look like I had been rolling in the mud no matter how much I tried to brush it off. I shook my head as I sighed. There was nothing I could do about it now. The army did not have enough water to spare for washing clothes. I only had a couple decent outfits left, and I did not want to ruin them just yet. For now, I would just have to put up with looking like a sentient mud stain with legs.

I squared off with Donte, preparing to get my payback a hundred times over when my dad interrupted us. “Sorry to cut your training short, but I need you both for a few moments.”

“Donte is responsible for all my chores for the next three days,” I said quickly.

“That’s not fair!” Donte complained, “We only just started. That tally should not be final yet!”

“Says the cheater who used his innate talent and a surprise attack just to get a single win.”

My dad raised an eyebrow as he looked at both of us. “This is not about your chores. A few of the remaining Avari nobles are complaining to General Arthur about the man you killed. Istvan, I think his name was. The general wants you both there to defend yourselves, and to hear the full account of what happened.”

Donte grimaced. “I really did not mean to…”

“That does not matter to them,” my dad replied, “Istvan was blood to the king, even if distantly. These stuck-up nobodies are trying to garner favor with the king by arresting you. They are just using empty threats, for now, trying to pressure the general with the two thousand or so men they have remaining. I doubt they will try anything while they are still in the mist, but it is enough to get the general’s attention.”

“We are not handing Donte over to them!” I shouted, stamping my foot on the ground.

“No, we are not,” my dad said with a nod, “But we still need to meet with them, and call their bluff. You need to be there to tell your side of the story, and to make sure that none of the Avari act rashly and try anything stupid while the general is preoccupied.”

“You think they will try kidnapping?” I asked.

My dad did not reply. He simply handed Donte his sword. I looked around at the surrounding soldiers suspiciously. Almost all of the ones near our wagon were from the Novus Kingdom, but I did see a few from the other nations that seemed out of place. The different armies tended to stay together. We may all be allies while we were in the mist, but everyone knew that they were still enemy nations.

Donte and I followed my dad through the soldiers. It did not take long before I heard the shouting. A large group of Avari had gathered nearby. One of them, a man with gold trim on his armor, stood in front of General Arthur. His face was red as he shouted curses at the general.

The Avari soldier turned. His eyes locked onto Donte as we approached. “You actually expect me to believe this little brat defeated one of our best knights in single combat? You have got to be kidding me! He barely looks like he reached his teens. There is no way Istvan could ever be defeated by some welp in an honorable duel.”

Despite the Avari knight’s fury, General Arthur was completely calm. He even had a small smile on his lips as he spoke, “Nothing is ever guaranteed in combat. Even the greatest swordsman can be beaten if they are caught off guard. I do not see anything unusual about some random Avari knight getting cocky and dying because of it.”

“Istvan was not some random knight! He was part of the royal family. He trained with the blade from birth. I have seen his talent tear apart a man with a single touch. The only way this child could have killed him is if he snuck up behind Istvan and assassinated him! I demand he be turned over to us immediately so that he can face proper Avari justice.”

General Arthur shook his head, but the smile still remained. “Since the boy is here, let him speak for himself. Plenty of people saw their duel. Once we catch up with the civilians it will be easy to prove what happened. Even the few Avari that stayed behind know this was a fair bout.

Suddenly the center of attention, Donte shuffled uncomfortably. “I did not mean to kill him… I know that does not mean much, but it is the truth. I challenged him for harassing a woman. He was strong… stronger than me, but he was infected by the mist. My innate talent caught him by surprise. I thought he would block… but he must have knocked his head after my attack. He raised his blade and even prepared his talent, but in the end, he did not respond before my blade…”

“So, you admit you killed him!” the Avari knight shouted, “You will be coming with us boy. You will rot in an Avari prison till the day you are executed!”

“I already said you cannot arrest someone for an accidental death during a duel.” General Arthur declared, waving his hand dismissively, “Both our kingdoms agree to that law. Back down before you make a fool of yourself.”

“You heard the boy, Istvan was infested by the mist. That was no duel, just an execution!” The soldier shouted, “Hand over the boy or the two thousand Avari here will not hesitate to attack!”

General Arthur chuckled for a good minute before he finally responded. “You mean the two thousand ‘infected’ Avari? Your men can barely walk, let alone hold a sword. I am not handing over one of my own for any reason, let alone one as ridiculous as this. If you do not like it, you are free to leave the protection of my glyphs. Go wander in the mist for a few days, speed up your infection even more. You will be lucky if half your army survives the trip out.”

The Avari soldier glared at General Arthur as he spoke, “Fine! You do not want to hand the boy over? You claim he defeated Istvan in single combat? Let him prove it. I will send out one of my knights for him to fight. If he wins, we will drop this matter in the name of the Avari royal family. If my knight wins… well, all we need is his head.”

“Absolutely not-“

General Arthurs refusal was interrupted when Donte stepped forward, shouting loudly, “I accept!”

I slapped my own forehead at Donte’s sheer stupidity as I grabbed his arm. “Can’t you tell he is purposely trying to stir up conflict? Why are helping him?”

“Isn’t it better this way? All I have to do is win and all this goes away.”

I barely managed to suppress a groan at Donte’s naivety. “It does not matter if you win. A random commander does not have the authority to speak on behalf of the royal family. He just wanted to save face a little bit by claiming we were scared to fight before running off with his tail between his legs. This is all just an act for when the royal family questions why he did nothing and let you get away.”

“Too late for second thoughts now,” the Avari soldier said with a cruel smile, “A knight does not go back on his word. He has accepted this fight and now he must face it.”

My dad smiled as he shook his head. “Donte, do not hold back. Use your talent to its fullest without worrying about the consequences.”

“Dad, you cannot be serious?” I shouted angrily.

“Relax wren,” my dad said, placing a hand on my shoulder, “If anything goes wrong, we will step in and save Donte. Nothing bad will happen. This is a good experience for him.”

“You just want him to beat up another knight so you can have more bragging rights, don’t you?” I said, placing my hands on my hips. My dad coughed a few times, not looking me in the eye. I could not help but sigh, “Stupid knights and their idiotic honor.”

Donte took a deep breath as he stepped forward silently. He drew his sword and pointed it towards the Avari soldier. The dull metal shone brightly, reflecting the silver of General Arthurs glyph.

“You will not be fighting me boy,” the Avari soldier said with a malicious grin. He then pointed towards one of his soldiers, a massive man that easily towered over the other soldiers. “You will be fighting him.”

Donte kept his sword pointed towards the noble soldier. “Heroes fight on the front lines. Only cowardly politicians hide behind their soldiers, shouting orders. Your commander Orias said that. He was never afraid to fight from the front. Are you really the best the Avari have left now that he is gone? Are you even fit to lead these men while you tremble in fear behind them?”

I chuckled at Donte’s provocation, as did a few of the nearby Novus soldiers. My dad did not even try to suppress a booming laugh that echoed through the soldiers. There were even a few of the Avari that whispered and snickered behind his back.

The Avari knight turned bright red as the various soldiers laughed at him. “Silence! Fine, you want to die faster? I will fight you myself. I do not need help to beat a brat like you.”

Donte smiled as he stood in front of the knight with his blade still pointed forward. The Avari soldier drew his own sword. He swung it through the air in a frivolous manner, showing off his swordsmanship for all the spectators with a foray of flashy movements. He even twirled around once, swinging his blade like it was a baton.

I could not help but roll my eyes at his stupid display. The swordsmanship wasn’t even that good, but the knight sure seemed proud of himself as he grinned at Donte.

“Have we started? Why are you dancing?” Donte asked in confusion. More of the soldiers laughed this time, including many of the Avari.

The knight froze, trembling in anger as he glared at Donte. He let out a furious roar as he charged forward. Gripping his blade tightly with both hands, the knight swung his sword down with all his might. Donte raised his blade, almost casually, to meet the oncoming blow. The tip of his sword was facing down at an angle. When the knight’s blade struck, it slid down the sword, whizzing harmlessly past Donte and embedding itself deep into the dirt.

Donte did not miss this opportunity and did not hesitate as he stepped forward. His boot stomped down on the knight’s foot as his own blade struck down. The knight scrabbled backwards, tripping and falling to the ground in an embarrassing heap. Before the knight could even try and stand up, Donte’s blade rested against his throat.

“Is that really all you can do?” Donte asked, blinking a few times as he looked down at the pathetic knight, “My morning training sessions with are tougher than this and my sparring partner is a little girl.”