Ch 1.38: Rivaled

It only made sense, of course, that Carline would be doing as well as Elaina, better than Elaina, but she had been so distracted that she hadn’t thought about it. Carline had training, practice, and now a class as well. Prisma may have beaten Elaina, but this would have to give her a challenge at least, right? The crowd was quiet, mood as somber as the newly overcast sky.

“I’ll start and call points,” Ranlit said. “Duelists, into position please.”

The two girls fell into their stances. Elaina couldn’t help but notice the difference. Prisma stood tall, taller than Elaina remembered her being, sword held high, pointed straight at Carline’s eyes. Those eyes were still focused, determined, but Carline’s own stance wasn’t nearly as commanding as Prisma’s. She was shorter to start with anyway, but she seemed more reserved too, held back in her posture. The slight quaver in her sword arm capped it all off, seeming like she was already struggling to hold off Prisma’s blade, even when they were feet apart.

“Start!”

Prisma snaked forward, feet shifting across the sand as her rapier danced in circles. There’s no way to tell where she’ll strike. Carline held her ground though, shaking limbs aside, eyes forward as Prisma crashed into her stance. Carline caught Prisma’s blade on hers, spinning it to the left as she dodged to the right and snuck in her own thrust.

“Point, Forsythe!” The two girls both relaxed, Carline staying put while Prisma walked back to her position. Each took a moment to breathe before standing up again, but this time Carline stood just a little taller. “Start!”

Neither moved. Carline held her ground, feet planted firmly, but Prisma simply stood, like she were posing for a painting instead of engaged in a duel. Carline crept forward, feet shifting across the ground to keep her side-facing stance. And her body shook. Any firmness in her posture evaporated as she approached Prisma, each step introducing new hesitation in her stance.

Carline was only a step away from Prisma when her opponent’s blade struck her side. “Point, Fireguard!” What the stars just happened? Elaina had barely seen it, a single hop forward from Prisma as her opponent had tepidly approached, driving her sword in without so much as an attempt to parry from Carline.

Carline stood there, stunned as Prisma stepped back into position. “Carline, back to position please,” Ranlit said. Carline blinked and nodded, turning around, slinking back to her side of the ring. This was bad. Carline’s stance was even smaller than at the start now, leaning back away from her opponent, scared. “Start!”

Prisma darted out, legs a blur as she closed the distance between her and Carline, sword and arm together one extension from her body, thrusting forward, ready to eat into Carline once more. Elaina had seen this before, been on the receiving end of it even. It was somehow even more terrifying watching it from afar, the graceful aggression Prisma moved with.

Carline batted Prisma’s rapier away, sending it flying out of her hand and then running her sword into Prisma’s leg. “Point, Forsythe!” It had happened just as fast as the attack, Carline striking Prisma’s blade with brute force, leaving the entire crowd silent as she two combatants stood there. Prisma frowned, looking down at the training blade pressing into her, then at her own sword lying on the ground, and then finally directly at Elaina. There was anger in that glare, her frown falling into a scowl. What did I do? But then she realized; she’d gotten only one point off on Prisma, the exact same way Carline just had. Prisma snapped her head away and went to grab her sword before returning to her position.

“Start!”

Both girls lunged this time, Carline more passive than Prisma, but each advancing on the other. Carline tried the same move she had before, the same one that won Elaina’s singular point. Except Elaina knew what would happen next, and Carline didn’t. The blades collided, and Prisma’s collapsed in, her wrist twirling it back. Elaina could see what was actually happening from this angle, what she couldn’t see from inside the ring before when the same maneuver had been used against her. Prisma’s wrist was limp, but her grip strong. As Carline tried to push the rapier away Prisma took the force in stride, letting her sword get pushed, using the momentum to circle through the air and tilt it into Carline’s hand as it carried through with her strike.

“Point, Fireguard!”

Elaina was still upset, and she was rooting for Carline of course, but there was something about Prisma that was so alluring. She was outmatched in raw strength, in speed even, but she played around that, using the force from her opponent to speed up her own attacks, keeping her weapon where it needed to be before her opponent even committed to a strike. Elaina understood why Carline was fighting this way, going for that same strategy twice just as Elaina herself had, but there was no beauty in that, no grace or elegance. Prisma had all of those things naturally, and a sword in hand only elevated them.

Elaina felt a drop of water on the top of her head, then another, and another. Both girls looked to Ranlit as the rain picked up, nodding and then dropping into their stances again. “Alright, we’ll finish up the final point, then class is dismissed. Start!”

Both moved again, Carline still with confidence, Prisma still with finesse. Carline was smart enough not to try the exact same maneuver again, but she still used her strength to her advantage, knocking Prisma’s sword into the air. Prisma kept hold though, feinting an attack before jumping backwards as Carline pushed in. It was a glorious sight, the two beautiful women dancing around each other in the rain, swords clanging against each other, almost as if neither was trying to score a point, just lengthen the round. It was a longer bout than any Elaina had seen by far, each of them staying outside the other’s range except for the brief moments they went to attack themselves.

But Prisma was losing ground, pushed back behind her own starting position now. She had training, skill, talent, but she wasn’t so far ahead of Carline like she was with Elaina. Carline wasn’t an amateur, and while she may have been no match only a few days prior, now with her class, she was actually rivaling Prisma, keeping her on the back foot as she edged her closer and closer to the ring.

The crowd closest to them backed up, giving the duelists room to finish unimpeded. Carline was in a rhythm now, slash, parry, thrust, slash again. Each slash sent Prisma backwards, knowing she didn’t have the strength to block it, a clockwork system that was about to finally push Prisma out, a system that wouldn’t stop. Wait, no!  One step from ringing out, Prisma planted her feet. Carline went in, swinging her final slash right at Prisma’s chest.

Prisma was already moving, not back, but down, splitting her legs, her torso falling, head ducking just underneath Carline’s sword, the blade itself hitting only Prisma’s wet hair, flicking it aside in the rain. As Prisma fell to the ground, Carline fell forward, overcommitted to her attack as Prisma’s still outstretched blade stabbed into her side. Carline stumbled, barely managing to keep herself upright as she dropped her blade while tripping over Prisma’s leg. She was struck, disarmed, and out of bounds before Ranlit called out, “Point!”

The crowd cheered, silence breaking like the thunder broke the clouds above. Elaina could almost hear Prisma chastising her for being too predictable from earlier. She let Carline get comfortable with her pattern, knowing she’d overcommit for the win at the end, knowing she would be able to avoid the hit without stepping out of the ring. Elaina couldn’t even manage to be upset anymore as Prisma stood up, gorgeous legs going back to hiding under her skirt after having crept out during her split. She looked back at Elaina once more, shaking her head with a look of disgust.

That pain again, a stab through Elaina’s heart as Waine ran over to Prisma, carrying her jacket. “Showed that traitor, didn’t you?” he said.

“Come on,” Prisma replied, turning away from Elaina and walking off. Most of the students scattered in the rain, heading back to the shelter of the school, but Elaina stood there, eyes on Prisma. That last look had broken her, sent her mind spiraling. At least the rain would mask her tears.

“Elaina,” Carline called out, running over and covering her chest with her arms, “your shirt!”

“Yeah,” Elaina said, turning back to the equipment rack. It would be soaked now, of course. Would Prisma have seen that?