A little water had never hurt him before, and he preferred the splash of its geothermal warmth to the stinging embers of his own flames turned against him. Even so, it was a game as much as training, and he enjoyed the challenge of sparring with someone he hadn't matched against in far too long. The last time he'd seen Amalia fight had been in the Greatwood Guardian games, when his eyes had been shadowed by Blight and his heart bitter with his brief flirtation at kingship.
Today was a far better day, not only due to the weather but to seeing what he had missed in his friend's growth and the warrior she had become. He stood in the wake of flinging his spear, balancing on the balls of his feet in the shallow water and wondering what she would respond with this time--
Only to wince when her dodge was not quite enough to miss the fiery projectile. He might have called a halt, but Amalia didn't ask for quarter and so he sent a brief pulse of rueful apology through the bond before realizing that she was on the move. His spear had dropped to fizzle in the water at the end of its arc, and he realized she was using the water to good effect to make aiming at her lithe form difficult. How she was moving so swiftly through the water was a mystery at first, but he laughed in delight when he realized she was literally walking on water.
Silver wings sprang from his back, tearing through his tunic but it seemed a small price to pay as he grinned and leapt upwards, flapping hard and clumsily to gain height enough above the geysers to lob a few smaller fireballs down at her as she dodged between them and then disappeared into a plume of steam.
And didn't emerge.
"Amalia?" he called, teasing at first as he thought this was another trick in their spar. He slipped and bobbed as he struggled to stay aloft, huffing in exasperation as he found it impossible to hover and instead had to circle like a broad-winged hawk. "Come out, come out..."
Today was a far better day, not only due to the weather but to seeing what he had missed in his friend's growth and the warrior she had become. He stood in the wake of flinging his spear, balancing on the balls of his feet in the shallow water and wondering what she would respond with this time--
Only to wince when her dodge was not quite enough to miss the fiery projectile. He might have called a halt, but Amalia didn't ask for quarter and so he sent a brief pulse of rueful apology through the bond before realizing that she was on the move. His spear had dropped to fizzle in the water at the end of its arc, and he realized she was using the water to good effect to make aiming at her lithe form difficult. How she was moving so swiftly through the water was a mystery at first, but he laughed in delight when he realized she was literally walking on water.
Silver wings sprang from his back, tearing through his tunic but it seemed a small price to pay as he grinned and leapt upwards, flapping hard and clumsily to gain height enough above the geysers to lob a few smaller fireballs down at her as she dodged between them and then disappeared into a plume of steam.
And didn't emerge.
"Amalia?" he called, teasing at first as he thought this was another trick in their spar. He slipped and bobbed as he struggled to stay aloft, huffing in exasperation as he found it impossible to hover and instead had to circle like a broad-winged hawk. "Come out, come out..."
