Essence of the Dragon

27 - Accusation and Anger

Ezeas felt a calm settle within him; he knew these procedures, he had circumvented a fair share of them, many times in the past. He also understood what Casia was trying to do.

"And this complaint concerns an incident at the training arena, earlier today?"

"It does, sir."

Lauril wrote down the information, then leaned back, regarding the woman with calm curiosity.

"Very well, make your case."

She nodded and began recounting how she had offered their 'guest' the first fight, struggling to keep the sneer out of her voice. The challenger had announced himself and offered to let the human use magic, which she had accepted. There was a note of disapproval in her voice and she paused but the commander's face remained impassive. She continued recounting the fight.

"I called a halt to the match when it became clear the human was in no condition to continue, despite her refusal to yield, and Sethaernan immediately attacked my recruit."

"I see," Lauril said, calmly.

"And what is your recollection of the events?"

This time, his pale green gaze met Ezeas' as he waited patiently for an answer.

"Her report is accurate, except I did not 'attack' the recruit, I simply removed him before he could further injure the person I've been tasked with protecting."

"You threw him across the arena!" Casia exclaimed, then seemed to remember herself. "Sir, Sethaernan's intervention was exaggerated and dangerous. It was clear he was unable to restrain himself."

The commander had not moved his eyes from Ezeas.

"Sethaernan, do you have a counter argument?"

"I did what had to be done. The recruit did not stop when the signal sounded and my charge is only a human, a fact that needs to be taken into account."

He shot Casia a scathing look and she pointedly glanced away from him.

"Did she yield?"

"No, sir," Ezeas answered through clenched teeth.

"Had she been instructed on how to yield?"

This time his gaze fell to Casia. She nodded, decisively.

"Yes, sir."

"Then the human is at fault for the match taking longer than necessary. Unless Sethaernan asserts that she was unable to yield?"

The cool manner of the question suggested Ezeas picked his words carefully.

"I believe the human was pushed into a situation where yielding was dangerous, maybe even impossible."

"She faced no more danger than anyone else who enters a fight in the arena! She was even given an unfair advantage by being allowed to use magic."

Casia's voice was defiant, almost triumphant and Ezeas saw his opening.

"But as a human, inexperienced with combat, she stands no chance against a combat-trained nyx."

"She's supposed to fight in the war! She should be able to handle just one of us."

"I see. Well, the captain does have experience with combat against humans, I hear."

"That's correct," she confirmed, proudly.

"And I hear her team is undefeated on the battlefield, even when outnumbered, many times."

"Is there a point, Sethaernan?" the commander asked, exasperated.