Recuan's Captain

You rise high above the trainees for what feels like the thousandth time. Taking a deep breath, you ready your earth blade, but just as you're about to dive down again:

"Are you attempting to simulate a hornet attack?" Citrinas' sudden interjection startles you enough that you nearly begin plummeting.

Fortunately, you catch yourself enough that you can keep your altitude around a hundred feet off the ground. You look to her as you flap your wings to stay aloft, seeing her sitting on...a flying pillow? "Uh, yeah. Helping them out as much as I can before tomorrow."

You think you hear her hum. "The captain is approaching town soon. I suggest you ready yourself. He likely won't be willing to work with you."

You groan. Of course he won't. "Sorry, could we continue this on the ground?"

Without a word, she descends, stopping near the back door to Camilla's house. You wait for a moment before rising a bit, then you dive down, earth blade at the ready for the unlucky cadet at bat. You swoop to him in moments, beating into his makeshift shield and knocking it from his grasp. Following through, you fly a few dozen yards away before circling back and polymorphing to your human form.

"Alright cadets," Camilla starts, picking up the shield, "Great practice today. We'll meet up again after supper." They disperse, whispering amongst themselves as they stare at the Arch-imago, and Camilla turns to the subject of their gossip. "Look, I stand by what I said before...but I didn't have to be so harsh about it. I'm sorry I upset you."

"There you go, Cap." You pat her on the back before also turning to Citrinas. "Now, what's this about the Recuan captain not wanting to work with us?"

Without dismounting her cushion, she speaks. "Captain Roger has stated many times that he will eradicate any monster that he meets."

Camilla turns her head to look at you, crossing her arms. "That sounds like a bit more than not wanting to work together."

You sigh. "Tell me about it. Citrinas, do you have any ideas on how to convince him not to kill me?"

The archmage stares off for a few seconds before responding. "A duel would be best. Challenge his honor, and he likely wouldn't refuse."

It's at this point that Eve, who has been standing idly by, speaks up. "Hold on. Dusk, when did you get on speaking terms with the Arch-imago Citrinas? And why hasn't she killed us, yet?!"

You nod, understanding her confusion. "She came by earlier today. She's the reason I knew about the army coming in the first place."

You see her visibly putting the pieces together. "Ooohhh."

"And as to why she's not killing us..." You squint, turning to look at the archmage. "You said it's because you're only here for the Empress, but that seems like a weirdly passive reason, and now I think I understand, nevermind." You nod repeatedly as the revelation occurs to you, partly thanks to the gods' description of her.

Citrinas looks to you - but not at you - for a few moments before speaking again. "The captain and his forces will be here within an hour. I will prepare an area next to my tower for them to rest for the night." The pillow lifts up from where it was floating and flies off.

You sigh, your hands wiping your face. "Great. I'm gonna be fighting for my life two days in a row..."

Camilla pats your back. "I don't think you'll have anything to worry about."

Eve then pops back in. "The only question ends up being: do you try to win or make yourself seem weak enough that you're not a problem?"

The captain turns visibly angry at that, glaring at the goblin before jabbing your chest with her finger. "You lose on purpose and if he doesn't kill you, I will. He might have been training for years, but you've grown leagues in just a few days. In just one day you went from struggling against a swarm of hornets to thriving against them, and you've only gotten stronger since then." She turns and walks into the ring. "Come on. Let's get some exercises in. I know the standard they train with, and on top of that, how to beat it."

You stand about a quarter-mile out of town, inside a circle that Citrinas insisted you draw. Said archmage sits on her floating pillow at the edge in front of you, with Camilla, Eve, and - Dammit, I really need to come up with a name for this slime... - all behind you. It's not long before you hear the clanking of the army approaching in their metal armors.

After another minute or so, the captain's horse rides up ahead of the trailing carts and soldiers. "Arch-imago, what is the meaning of this?" He glares at you as he speaks, hand on his sidearm.

Citrinas, as usual, doesn't move her head to look at the captain when she speaks. "These monsters also wish to fight the Hornet Empress alongside you and the forces from Riverbend. However, the black-winged one questioned your capability to lead such an attack." She lifts a cup of tea up to her lips.

Okay, I should have anticipated it sounding so insulting when said in her monotone voice. "Just a friendly match, to see if you're a good enough fighter."

His face betrays his rage, but the captain forces himself to maintain a more civil tone in his voice. "You should know we don't make deals with monsters, Arch-imago. Now stand aside while I eliminate these nuisances." He readies his spear. "Men! We have a warm-up for tomorrow's ****!" As he speaks, the soldiers at the front of the caravan point their polearms to you and rapidly close what little distance remains between them and your dueling circle.

You fire a light bolt at your choice of one of the soldiers, causing her to stop short and fall on her rear, her chain mail glowing slightly from what remains of the light energy. "Really now, Captain? Unwilling to take me yourself? Are you scared I might actually best you?" You fire an earth bolt this time at one of the male soldiers, since those are the only ones remaining, and strike his legs. He trips and falls with a grunt, but isn't nearly as dazed as the first one, slowly getting up.

As the other two approach, you conjure up your light blade as they lunge simultaneously, launching yourself up a few feet above them. They both hop to the side and pivot, careful to maintain their gaze on you. However, they're also cognizant of the slime and goblin at the edge of the arena, requiring to split their gaze between you and them. As per your request, Eve is staying passive and holding the slime back from rushing to you, so their concern is moot, but you're not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. When one of their eyelines drifts to your allies, you rush him, cutting through his spear with your blade and shoving him out of the ring. As the other runs in, you kick behind you, leaning your torso enough to duck under his spear. Unfortunately, you forget to hold back, and he's launched a dozen feet into the nearest tree.

You look to the captain once more, idly launching another earth bolt at the same soldier you hit with the first one as he begins charging you. "You gonna waste more of your troops on me, or are we going to end this easily?"