The Last Flame - Crystal Bow

Chapter 19

Cliffton yawned and stretched as he woke up, ready to continue journeying. He hopped to his feet and turned towards where Moone had been sleeping, but she was awake already, as usual. It seemed that no matter how early Cliffton woke up, she was awake first.

Cliffton pushed open the door to their small temporary home and looked around. The elf village had fallen into a routine and Cliffton saw Stevie heading towards them with a pack of her own.
"Good morning." She offered Cliffton a small smile and Cliffton nodded. "'Morning. Are you ready to go?"

"I was born ready." Stevie grinned and unsheathed a glittering black sword. "Sinni gave me this, Its called Justice."

"Wow." Cliffton's eyes widened in amazement. He hadn't thought of naming a weapon. He'd have to ask Moone if she had any named weapons, but as far as Cliffton knew all she had was the blue bracelet around her wrist, which he saw could become a scepter, although he wasn't sure how that could help.

Cliffton, Stevie, and Moone set out not long after. When they'd been alone, Moone and Cliffton had stayed silent, but the boy couldn't help but ask Stevie a few questions.

"How old are you?" He asked, climbing over a log. Stevie glanced over at him. "Two hundred twenty-one."

"Hah." Moone glanced at Cliffton, who put his hands on his hips and gave her a furious glare. "Not. Fair."

Stevie let out a quiet chuckle and Cliffton walked a bit closer to her. "How long have you been in that village?"

"My whole life." Stevie smiled, an expression of nostalgia spreading across her features. "I was born and raised there, its really nice. But enough about me, I want to hear about you. Where do you come from?"

Cliffton's voice quieted a little. "White Bridge. It was, uh...burned down. As far as I know, I'm the only survivor."

He saw Moone frown out of the corner of his eye and surprise spread through him, he wasn't aware that the fae was capable of empathy. Stevie gave a sympathetic frown. "Ah, I'm sorry. And here I was, talking about how awesome my village was."

"It's fine." Cliffton tried to lighten the mood. "King Saphaer took me in after that. He's like a dad to me."

"That's very nice of him." Stevie nodded. "From what I've heard, he's a much better ruler than his father was. Let's just say that King Aeyarus wasn't exactly the most favorable."

"Saphaer is the best, even if Aeyarus wasn't mean." Cliffton decided. Stevie chuckled and shook her head.

"Less talking, more walking, I'm planning to get to the Western Isles some time in this century?" Moone called over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah." Cliffton put his hands on his hips. "Grumpy fae."

Moone glared at him over her shoulder, though her eyes held hint of a smile. Cliffton stuck his tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes. Stevie was holding back laughter.

"Look," Cliffton blinked as he saw a shadow pass over the sun. Moone frowned as she followed its gaze and Stevie's hand shot to her sword. There was a roar overhead before the shadow passed. Cliffton glanced over at Stevie and Moone, who both looked nervous.

"We should wait until its darker to continue." Moone said, looking around. "Cliffton, can you fetch food?"

"I have food, we should stay out of sight." Stevie advised. Moone nodded and the three found a shady spot in the forest. Moone set up a campfire with the help of Stevie to light it and Cliffton sat beside it, eating his bread and thinking.

"Do you think I could kill a dragon?" Cliffton asked, turning towards them. Moone raised an eyebrow. "Without being fried? Hmm, no."

"I'm sure that if you tried hard enough, you could definitely do some damage." Stevie said empathetically. Cliffton hopped to his feet. "Stevie, can you teach me how to swordfight?"

"Sure!" Stevie got up in one swift motion and grabbed her sword. "Do you have one?"

"Uh..." Cliffton pulled out the only sword he had, it was a silvery-blue colored. Moone eyes it cautiously.

"That'll work." Stevie nodded and led him into the forest before turning. "Before we start, I'm going to cast a temporary dulling spell, so we don't cut each other." She said, and then began muttering under her breath. She then blinked. "Do you know how to parry?"

"...No..." Cliffton winced.

"You're about to learn." Stevie dropped into a half-crouch. "Copy my position, this is a fighting stance."

Cliffton nodded and tried to copy her. As soon as he did, Stevie lunged forwards, sword brandished and in hand. Cliffton moved his sword up as she brought hers down, meeting his. His arms quivered as he tried to hold her off and suddenly, her sword moved towards his ribcage. Cliffton just barely managed to block and the blow nearly sent his sword hurtling away. He tried to make his own attack, swinging forwards and hitting her sword.

"Aim for me, not the weapon." Stevie's words were followed by an array of attacks and Cliffton had trouble fending them off. Eventually, his sword was practically thrown out of his hand with the force of one blow and his leg was swept out from beneath him. Cliffton yelped as the back of his skull hit the ground and stared up as Stevie pointed her sword at his throat. She moved back towards where she'd been. "Try again."

"Give me a second." Cliffton tried to regain his breath and Stevie sat back. Cliffton got to his feet and an idea came to him. He dropped into a fighting position before running at Stevie, swinging his sword. She blocked with an almost bored expression and Cliffton gritted his teeth as he was pushed back.

One thing that Cliffton learned very quickly was that fighting hurt. He had lost count of how many times he'd been pushed down and his head hurt. He was a lot better at blocking Stevie's rushing attacks, but he couldn't go offense and his muscles hurt. He landed on his back, winded, and lay there for a while.

"You're doing it all wrong."

Cliffton sat up and turned to see Moone standing by them. Stevie rose her eyebrows. "I doubt you'd be able to do better."

"Give him the sword." Moone motioned to Justice. Stevie frowned. "He has one."

"It's silver." Moone reminded her, and Stevie sighed before gently tossing the sword. It landed beside Cliffton, who grabbed it and struggled to his feet.

"Where's your sword?" Stevie leaned against a tree. Moone's bracelet vibrated for a moment before becoming a gleaming white sword with a blue handle. She spun it in her grip for a moment before she, too, dropped into a fighting position. "Parry when you can, always use an opportunity to strike, never let your guard down, and attack me when I'm least expecting."

Cliffton barely got any time to process this before Moone ran at him, but something about fighting her was different. Her steps were light and quick, and her eyes shone in challenge. Cliffton had just enough time to hear Stevie use her spell before his sword met Moone's. Moone twisted away as soon as their swords clashed, almost as if she was dancing. Cliffton moved backwards as she sent him blow after blow, then spun away to prepare for her next attack. The two fell into a routine and Cliffton noticed the pattern in her fighting. As Moone spun away, Cliffton lunged forwards, the tip of Justice bumping into Moone's shoulder. She grinned and twisted, swinging her sword towards the side of Cliffton's head, but he turned with speed he didn't know he'd possessed and lifted his sword, blocking the blow. Seeing another opening, he elbowed Moone in the chest, and she winced, her sword lowering for a moment. Cliffton took the opportunity to push her sword away before ramming into her, stumbling as she was thrown backwards. She quite gracefully turned her fall into a roll and hopped back to her feet, and Cliffton's eyes widened as her sword zoomed back into her hand. "Again."

Cliffton didn't win any more after that, but it still filled him with perseverance. He and Moone's swords clashed until sundown, a deadly dance that consumed all of Cliffton's attention. When they had finished, Cliffton's limbs felt numb. Stevie put her hands on her hips. "We're about to start walking again."

"He won't be able to see in the darkness anyways." Moone flicked a wrist boredly. "We'll just travel in the morning."

Stevie rolled her eyes, though she had a proud smile. Cliffton returned her sword, panting, and walked back over to the campfire, which had died down. Cliffton lay down on the ground, and, despite it being uncomfortable, he was asleep almost instantly.