Page 319 of Elemental Becoming

“You talk too much, Ardyn,” I say evenly. “And I think you’re starting to sound desperate.”

“Hells yeah!” Lyra whoops from somewhere off to the side. “There’s my girl!”

Ardyn bares her teeth. The perfect control she’d carried into this fight is beginning to fray, and I see it in the way her shoulders tense and her breathing quickens.

Good.

She lunges without hesitation, locking onto me again as she drives me backward with enough force to steal my footing. Her hands clamp around my neck, and the relentless pressure of her weight forces the air from my lungs.

For a moment, breathing becomes difficult.

Ardyn leans close, her breath hot against my ear. Gods, that fucking fish breath.

“See?” she whispers, tightening her grip. “You don’t have what it takes.”

The words are meant to break me. Instead, they tell me she’s stopped fighting with discipline and started fighting with emotion.

All I can think about are the months I spent getting knockeddown and forced back to my feet. The bruises. The failures. The endless hours Thane, Garrick, Rian, and Jarek spent drilling the same lessons into me until my muscles remembered them even when my mind couldn’t. I have what it takes, and I am done letting her tell me otherwise.

I snap my arms up, trapping her grip between my wrists before twisting sharply to one side. The hold doesn’t break completely, but it shifts her weight just enough. I slam my forehead into her nose. Ardyn cries out, stumbling back as her grip loosens, and I wrench myself free, dragging in a desperate breath before she can recover.

She comes at me again immediately, but the calm precision she’d carried into the fight is gone. Frustration has taken its place. She throws a high kick toward my head, putting everything she has behind it. I duck beneath the strike, feeling the rush of air against my hair, and the moment her foot leaves the mat I see exactly what Thane has spent months teaching me to watch for. Her hips turn too far. Her weight commits too early. She’s overextended.

Instead of retreating, I drive into her, wrapping my arms around her planted leg and turning with all the force I can muster. She tries to recover, but she’s already committed. Her balance disappears beneath her, and she crashes onto the mat hard enough to shake the floor.

The impact echoes through the training hall. Ardyn stares up at the ceiling, momentarily stunned, while I stagger back a step, my chest heaving as I fight to control my breathing.

For a heartbeat, no one moves. Then a low whistle breaks the silence.

“Holy gods.”

Murmurs ripple through the crowd as warriors exchange disbelieving glances, the reality of what they’ve witnessed settling over the room.

Then Lyra explodes.

“HELLS YES!” she shouts, throwing both fists into the air. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

She spins toward Rowena, practically bouncing with excitement. “Did you see that? Did you see that?”

Rowena shakes her head, though I catch the faint twitch at the corner of her mouth. Nearby, a group of warriors exchange glances before the murmurs begin to spread through the training hall.

“Damn.”

“Didn’t think Ardyn could lose.”

“Guess the Spiritborn really does belong here.”

Ardyn remains on the mat, breathing hard as she stares at the ceiling. Blood trickles from her nose, but she makes no move to wipe it away. When she finally turns her head, our eyes meet across the mat. Her composure has been stripped away, her frustration laid bare for everyone to see, yet the resentment burning behind her gaze hasn’t dimmed. If anything, it burns hotter than before, settling into something colder and more deliberate that sends an uneasy feeling through me.

Rowena steps quietly to my side and extends her hand. My promise ring rests in her palm, waiting. I take it without a word. The metal is cool against my skin as I slide it back onto my finger, returning it to where it belongs.

I taste blood where I bit the inside of my cheek when she slammed me into the post. Wiping it away with the back of my hand, I turn toward the doors. Rowena falls into step beside me while Lyra hurries to my other side, still celebrating loudly enough for the entire training hall to hear.

ARTIST WARRIOR

FORTY-FIVE

The importance of play, leisure, and discovery should not be underestimated. They nourish the creative mind, strengthening our magics and deepening our connection to it. For warriors especially, such pursuits cultivate adaptability, the ability to see new paths where others see only obstacles.