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Kaniz, standing on the sidelines, gave Sana’a a half-exasperated smile. She shrugged.
K?stian nodded at the pair. ‘Ready?’
As soon as both fighters bowed in acknowledgement, he stepped back, raising his hands.
It was their sign to leap into the sky
Both combatants took into a hover ten feet above the ground.
K?stian swooped between them, transmuting into rachís-only form and using his powerful plumes to soar into the sky. ‘May the wings of Kag?an carry you to a win.’
The duo faced each other as a controlled explosion of illumination flared.
It came from within the bronze sculpted eagle cantilevered over the arena, the burst of light flashing from its eyes.
The match was on.
Kysin’s koya jabbed, but Sana’a jerked aside and pulled back at the monk, her shotel glinting. The Katánian spun away untouched while swirls of gold íkan danced around his blade as it darted forward.
Sana’a slashed at it, Kysin jerked it back, then thrust again. Serrated brass screamed on the curve of the synth steel shotel as the sab?r slid off the shikari’s chest.
She hissed and grunted as it sliced deep, leaving a long, bright scratch on the ribbed metsai beneath.
She charged, flicking her shotel at the Katánian’s head. Kysin avoided its arced whistling flight, and it snapped back into her grip.
The Monk landed a quick jab on Sana’a’s heart, to no effect. Sana’a cut at him, her curved weapon glancing on his sab?r.
She jabbed like a fast-striking peregrine—so swift that her blade blurred. She bluffed in all directions, prodding at the Kysin’s wings, talons, and broadside.
Kysin was resilient, but his blows eluded his mark as she learned how to evade his left-leaning sab?r-slinging.
She wielded her shotel with an extra bit of reach, striking to the right with one hand.
Moving like a rapid wind, she switched to her left. This had Kysin reeling as she introduced her hidden Shotelai tricks, new, strange angles, from left-to-right cuts that swapped lightning fast to right-to-left.
Sana’a kept circling, jabbing, then darting again, forcing the bigger man to turn and wheel and lose sight of her.
She used his confusion well, using the curve of her weapon to snatch at him in quick bursts.
Back and forth, the pair soared over the arena in spirals, Sana’a slashing while Kysin’s sab?r struck at arm and leg twice at her temple.
Sana’a’s metsai suit took its share of hits as well.
The monk grunted from time to time, and once, the Shotelai woman caught him muttering a curse, but otherwise, he fought in sullen silence.
She sensed he was increasingly enraged by the lack of an easy win.
By now, the crowd had realised this was a well-suited match and that Kysin, the Ferocious Monk, was being bested by a xkénos.
They roared to their feet, and some tried to surge the synth mesh fence onto the arena.
The transmuted Kän?dôrs on duty reached their giant wings across the barriers to keep the hordes back.
In the high-paying booths, nervous glances were exchanged. Bets were analysed, and the loan sharks changed their tunes for who they favoured to win.
Unaware of it all, Sana’a sent her shotel at the monk’s face, so fast the huge hawked man flinched back.
She followed, flitting with such speed she was a blur.
