The Elementalists

21.

Christopher was fast. His punches and kicks a non-stop barrage I could barely defend. It took me a while to get a hang of it. However, not long to realise he was a bit slower than Rhaeya, and faster than Colin. Interesting. I could use this to my advantage. And I did.

The renewed sense of confidence was visible in my moves. I started to counter his moves with a lot more confidence. The confusion visible in his eyes at the change in my style amused me. There was still hesitation in my form about going on full offensive. It was when Christopher buried his foot in my side that instinct, born from Rhaeya's brutal training, took over.

I twisted with his kick and ignored  the pain passing through me as my hands clamped around his calf and tugged. There was a grunt as he was yanked off balance. A sloppy open punch was aimed at my jaw. I stepped away and let go off his foot as his fist whistled through the air where my head had been. I ducked under his arm. Got up close and personal enough that the top of my head was aimed at the bottom of his chin.

A sharp jerk passed through me as pain vibrated through my skull. Both of us cried out in pain and stumbled away from each other. I recovered quickly, and shook my head to right myself. Christopher was open as he straightened. All it took was a hard kick aimed at his unprotected gut to knock him right onto his unprotected butt.

Christopher fell harshly, the breath rushed out of him. A hand rested on his stomach as he groaned in pain and tapped the ground with his other hand. "Stop, stop. My head is still rattled."

I moved away. A considerable distance away before I dropped my guard. My body was still tensed with vestiges of pain as I relaxed my stance.

There was a soft chuckle from Wafi. "Can't believe my sister took you down, Chris." He yelled from his spot in the bleachers.

"Don't call me that." Christopher managed to snap even from his position. "I've just never fought against a style like that."

"Excuses, excuses." I mocked as well. "Doesn't suit a Waterstone."

Christopher growled and sat up. "Let's go again and see if this suits a Firestone."

I ignored the shift in guy as I heard my invisible surname. Laughed lightly, and cocked my head as he started to rise. "I'm just joking. Anyway, are we going to keep fighting, or will you teach me something?"

Christopher let his glare fade as I came to a stop beside him and held out a hand. He hesitated a bit before he grabbed it. I pulled him to  his feet and smiled at him. "No hard feelings?"

He smiled back hesitantly. "No hard feelings. But I'll be the one taking you down next time."

I laughed and I rolled my eyes before I turned to Wafi. "Alright. Some hard feelings then." Christopher chuckled and followed after me.

As we got closer, I saw that Wafi had a thoughtful look on his face. His eyes scanned my figure as he spoke. "You've advanced more since what I saw a few weeks ago. How?"

I sat down beside him and shrugged. "Ever since Elizabeth's threat, I've sort of asked Rhaeya to take me one-on-one. That's been happening for a while and she recently switched me over to the best student in combat in my class. He's good. But I'm getting better."

"Oh. Need help?"

I shrugged and to glanced at Christopher. "Yeah. Maybe he could teach me his fighting style."

Christopher scoffed. "Dream on. Every element has its own guarded fighting style. From what I've seen, Fire just seems to rely on brawling skills above finesse."

"If it gets the job done..." Wafi trailed off meaningfully. "But that's not what we are here to work on."

Christopher nodded. He rolled some kinks out of his shoulders before he turned to me. "Alright, I don't know how to get a Fire elemental to summon Water but here we go..." Encouraging. "Relax first, clear your mind."