Dueling Practice

Having missed an entire morning of lessons, you scramble to dress yourself and head out so the day is not a complete waste. You stumble into dueling practice just as the day's exercises have commenced. Parisa is paired with her shaggy haired partner from the previous practice; Lucas is teaching basic elemental defenses to a group of rookies in the corner and you spot Schwartz standing alertly beside the practice court. The crushing sound of a student being buried into the stone floor of the court gets no response from the professor. You look to see Harmony in full practice gear standing triumphantly over a bruised Pegasus girl who has yet to stand back up. Schwartz congratulates Harmony on her performance and welcomes her onto the team.

"Ah" the professor motions for you to join him. "I'm sorry to inform you your partner Miss Hawke has taken an early leave for the winter break to address some family matters." He gives you a big smile and grips your shoulder tightly. " Not to worry though I've just found a more than suitable partner for you in Miss Ashcroft." You hesitate to meet Harmony's cold dead stare. She refuses to break contact as she orders you to join her on the court.

You put your pads on and nervously walk onto the practice court. Harmony barely says a word to you as you complete the mock ritual and commence your duel. She immediately charges toward you, a flaming blade gripped tightly in her hand. You're barely able to cast a defensive matrix of living smoke to block her attack. She swings her saber wildly at your defense, weakening its durability and compromising your footing. You stumble backward as the smoke dissipates leaving you **** to her strikes. You feel a sharp pain slice across your forearm as you're **** to block her with your own body. She quickly follows up with a thrust into your abdomen. She twists the blade inside your intestines as she whispers into your ear. " I want you to think about this moment if you are ever stupid enough to try and penetrate me again DOG." Your dueling sphere bursts and Harmony is declared the winner. She walks away as you fall to the ground clutching your stomach, still hurting from where the blade pierced you. The pain is crippling but of course had it not been a duel with protective spheres, it would have been fatal.

Parisa sits beside you and sweetly caresses your arm. She feeds you a palm full of meditative leaves, revitalizing berries and protein rich nuts. The two of you sit and talk as practice winds down. " So what are you doing for winter break?"

"I'm not sure." You respond. The break is approaching fast and you haven't given it much thought yet. Once you return from break, the dueling season will begin and the mid term trials will commence putting every student's magical ability to the test. You could return home and spend time with your mother and sister or you could stay at the academy and prepare for the coming challenges.

" Well I was curious because I've invited Keira and Liam to come stay at my parent's home. " She explains. " My parents are away visiting family and they're left my sister Persephone and I in charge of running the bakery during the break. Keira and Liam are also helping out and I thought it'd be fun if we were all together over break."

You calmly take a deep breath as the prospect of staying with Parisa over break makes you want to leap with joy in spite of your stomach wound. However you also feel an obligation to see your family and staying at the academy to prepare for the trials is also important to keep in consideration