CHAPTER 1:

First Duel

“Watch me, and you might learn something,” Sienna told her roommate. She winked at Stephanie’s shocked face and crossed the library to engage her prey.

She had been watching him for a while. Sienna always made sure she knew the weaknesses of the people she challenged. It had not taken long to find this particular victim’s weak spots. Jaon was a public figure at the University ever since he had been admitted to the Student Council.

Right now he was talking to one of the other members of the council. It was a girl with a pretty face and ash blond hair. Sienna had heard rumors about a relationship between Jaon and the blond girl, but they did not look very happy with each other as she approached them. They appeared to be arguing, even.

Well, they looked interesting enough as a couple, Sienna mused. The girl was very Nordic looking: blond hair, pale skin. Even her clothing was northern; she wore light colors and clothing with a practical fit.

Compared to the girl’s light colors (Sienna made a mental note to find out her name – she was sure she knew at some level of her subconscious memory, but she couldn’t recall right now) Jaon looked like her shadow. A dashing shadow, she had to admit.

He was typically Amereli: his skin and eyes were dark, and he had the typical Amereli white hair cascading over his shoulders. Sienna’s brother had told her once that this was caused by some pigment defect, but Sienna had decided a long time ago that Amereli hair was too pretty by far to be some sort of defect. Jaon looked beautiful and exotic anyhow. He had expressive dark eyes, delicate features, and a dashing smile that could melt any heart.

He always looked impeccable and very classy in his dark uniform. His clothes were always clean and his hair always well-groomed. Sienna suspected that he might just be anal about his appearance, but she had been told he was this meticulous about everything he did: he was driven by ambition to do everything he did perfectly. Ambition.

And that made him a perfect target for her challenge. Aside from that, his class scores and his Pattern skills were just as impeccable as his appearance. It made Sienna’s desire to trash him in the arena only burn brighter. Until now, she had never lost a challenge… and Jaon, known and respected throughout all of the University and Steravia, would be a brilliant conquest.

“Hello,” she cut rudely into the argument he was having with the blond girl. “Jaon, do you have a moment?”

“No,” Jaon snarled impatiently.

The other girl made a face. “Yes,” she said decidedly, smiling charmingly at Sienna and ignoring Jaon’s dirty look. “Our conversation is over. Jaon’s all yours.” She shifted her grey eyed gaze at the dark boy facing her. “I see you later,” she told him intently. Her voice was laced with acid and warnings and probably a myriad other things Sienna couldn’t name.

Jaon glared back at her, but did not say anything.

She grinned, whirled around and paced away, her white cotton coat swirling around her ankles.

That left Sienna and Jaon alone in this part of the library. The dusty afternoon light made the silver-threaded embroidery on Jaon’s uniform shimmer. It made him look regal somehow, Sienna thought.

“What do you want?”

Regal up until the stick in his ass.

She met his piercing black eyes and proposed calmly: “I challenge you to a duel in the arena.”

The corners of his mouth curled up in a mocking smile. “Out of the question.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I don’t fight girls."

Sienna had to laugh. She had been waiting for this moment – setting him up from the first words she had spoken. She cocked her head and retorted sweetly: “Well, I usually don’t fight wimpy cowards, but I’m sure we can both make an exception.”

Jaon’s eyes widened. It lasted only a fraction of a second before he had his emotions under control again. Only the tightness of his voice betrayed how offended he felt. “Since I do not see any other people around here that you could possibly call a coward, I assume that you are talking to me. You are gravely mistaken.”

Sienna snorted ungracefully. “You just said you will not duel a girl.”

“That’s right,” he nodded.

“You’re just scared that I wipe the floor with you.”

He laughed loudly and melodically, his hands crossed over his chest. “Well…. No.”

“Being beaten by a girl,” Sienna insisted, taunting him deliberately. “What a shame for the strongest magic user in the University.”

He stopped laughing abruptly. “How do you – never mind. Who do you think *you* are then, little girl, that you are challenging me?”

Sienna smirked back at him with all the confidence she could muster. “A better magic user than you, actually.”

“That’s preposterous,” he reacted after a moment of silence. “If you would excuse me now, there are things I must do.” He already tried to move past her, but she blocked his way.

“I mean it,” Sienna hissed. She felt her eyes narrow in determination – she would not let this catch slip through her fingers. She had to fight him – she had to prove it to herself. She was the best and all she had to do now was to show the rest of the world. “If you do not duel me, I will expose you for the wimpy Amereli coward that you are.”

“Tch,” he only said, observing her from head to toe. He was assessing her, she realized. She held in her breath and looked challenging. She would challenge him, she vowed. Here and now. She would drag him to the arena by his hair if she had to! “So you want to duel me,” he mused. You and what army?”

“Me, myself and I.”

He laughed again. “Okay, you have guts. I have to give you that… especially for someone as weak as you are. What’s your element? Fire?”

“Weak?!” she exploded. “I’m stronger than sixty percent of the whole University, thank you very much!”

“You don’t even hold a candle to my sun, girl, that is why I refused you.”

Sienna shook her head. “You’re just scared, that’s it.”

“No I am not.”

“Yes you are.”

He sighed in exasperation. “Whatever girl, I’ll see you in the arena at noon. But don’t go crying to the council because I wiped the floor with you. I won’t hold back.”

Sienna nodded. “That’s alright, neither will I. See you there.”  She turned her back to him and strolled back to where she left her roommate. Behind her, she could hear Jaon gather his books and stuff them into his bag. He left the library without saying goodbye or confirming their appointment, but she knew she had him.

When she heard the door behind him fall shut, she allowed herself to stick her hands in the air in victory: “YES! I did it!” She grinned at her roommate. “Steph, did you see? I got him into fighting me.”

Stephanie just looked at her with shocked big brown eyes and whimpered: “You are going to duel Jaon of the student council? But he is the strongest magic user at the University!”

Sienna nodded contently. “That’s right. And I am going to beat him.”

“You’re nuts.” Stephanie gathered up her books and tucked them under her arm. “Well, we’d better get some lunch then. I assume it’s better to be pounded upon with a full stomach than with an empty one.”

“Oh, shut up,” Sienna growled. “You’re no fun.”

“In contrary,” Stephanie answered with mirth in her voice. “I am going to be the one with all the fun – because I will see you finally get some whoopass. You deserve it, Sienna.”

Sienna opened the door of the library and held it open for her roommate. “Pff, some friend you are. You should be rooting for me, you know.”

“Thanks,” Stephanie grinned, walking through the opened door. “and oh, I’ll be rooting for you alright… but I’ll laugh too. Whether you mind or not: it’s going to be a damn interesting duel anyhow. He’ll be a worthy opponent to lose from.”

“You keep forgetting that I will not lose,” Sienna chided as they walked arm in arm through the hallways of the university, their friendly banter echoing of the high domed ceilings. “I’ve never lost before, and I will not lose today.”

“That’s because you haven’t fought Jaon yet.”

“Pah! Jaon Schmaon. He acts like he’s a tough guy, but I think he’s really the wimp I accused him to be.”

“Right….” Stephanie mused skeptically. She smiled and waved at some other students passing them by.

It was quiet in the University today, as it always was on the sixth day of the week. The students and teachers had their weekly day off and this spring was a beautiful one. Usually the weather on the island of Steravia was worse than lousy, but this year they were having a lot of sunshine. It gave the island a lot friendlier atmosphere. Sienna loved every sunray she could catch. Fire-elemental as she was, she loved heat and warmth and light. When she was little, one of her brothers had once compared her to a little flower that needed sunlight to live. Sienna sometimes thought that she was just as dependable on light as plants. It was the only thing she hated about living on the University: the weather. Because Steravia was basically just one of a few rocks in a northern part of the ocean, the islands were graced with a lot of rain and wind in every season. Not only did the island have a sea climate, it was also very cold and wet throughout the whole year. Living in Mentis had been a lot better climate-wise, Sienna had decided a long time ago.

The sun was shining today. Sienna took it as a good omen for her duel – the sun was blessing her fire element with all the warmth it could give, so she had the advantage today.

Jaon was a lightning elemental. In theory, they could be rather equally matched. Their elements were both rather closely related with light, heat and energy. At least their elements weren’t opposed – those kinds of duels could last for ages and usually drained the duelists of all their energy before they were even close to announcing the winner.

“Why Jaon?” Stephanie asked curiously when they were having their sandwiches for lunch in the cantina. She leaned against the window, bright sunlight framing her petite figure

“Why not?” Sienna retorted, squinting against the light. “He’s strong, he’s good, and if I beat him, they’ll respect me forever.”

Stephanie swallowed her food. “Hm,” she only said. A short silence fell between them as the younger girl lost herself in thoughts for a moment. “What makes you think you’re ready to beat him?”

“I won’t get any stronger, I guess…. And I think my skill and use of the Fire element is advanced enough to face him.” Sienna took a bite of her own lunch. Thoughtfully, she continued: “I guess it’s just ambition.”

“Ambition is a tricky thing,” said Stephanie, raking her hand absently through her dark curls to get them out of her face. “It can backfire.”

Sienna laughed lightly and shrugged. “We will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Well, as long as you don’t mind me laughing when he will indeed kick your ass all the way to Jarden and back.”

“He won’t,” she insisted with a grin.

Stephanie met her grin. “If you say so.”

**

The Duel Arena was centered in the middle of the castle-shaped university. It would have been an open courtyard, aside from the glass ceiling that shielded it from the elements. It also allowed the sun to burn down on her opponents on a spring day like this – the light had Sienna squinting. She was sitting on a ledge that separated the public from the arena. She was holding her knives in her hands, fiddling with the sunstones that were supposed to channel her magic into her weapon.

The University had never quite advocated the use of violence among its students, but it was a fact that most students were driven by ambition to show what they were worth. After a few duels on the beach not long after the University had been founded, a four hundred odd years ago, the Steravia Council had decided to build an arena where magic students could test their abilities in a controlled environment. At least it had a first aid post with Life Bearers close by – in contrary to the beach down below the cliffs.

Sienna stripped the leather cord that she usually wore around her wrist off and used it to tie her thick red hair out of her face. The battle had not even started yet, and she was already sweating.

“Are you nervous?” Stephanie inquired. She was sitting next to Sienna with a flask of water in her hands.

“Of course,” admitted Sienna honestly. “Can I have a sip of your water?”

Wordless, Stephanie handed her the flask. When Sienna finished drinking, Stephanie said: “It’s awfully hot to fight like this.”

Sienna shrugged. “No pain, no gain, right? I won’t let a stupid glass ceiling and a burning sun stop me from gaining my victory.”

Stephanie grinned. “Naturally. That just wouldn’t be you, right?”

“Exactly.”

 “Jaon wields a katana, doesn’t he?” Stephanie asked after a healthy gulp from her flask.

Sienna nodded. “He’ll have a longer reach than I have.”

“Well, at least that’ll make for an interesting battle, then. Is he fast? I’ve never seen him fight before.”

Sienna nodded again. “Yes. Yes, he is.”

“No offense, but it really does not sound too good.”

Sienna shot the younger girl next to her a sharp look. “Are you trying to talk me out of it?”

Stephanie did not look at her, but instead made an issue of smoothing her dark brown skirt around her knees. Her loose hair blocked her face from Sienna’s view. “Would I ever?” she answered, a small smile playing around her lips.

Sienna smiled. “Yes.”

“Oh well.” Stephanie scanned the empty arena once more, spotting two others entering the yard. “Hey, aren’t those Jaon and that girl he was talking with this morning?”

Sienna looked up and recognized both people. Jaon had put on his white tight-fitting sparring costume. He had braided his hair out of his face, and the katana was bound on his back. His strides were long and sure, his shoulders were straight. He looked magnificent, exotic, and very, very dangerous.

The blond girl next to him, who had been frowning and talking quickly at him up until that point, waved at them and walked into their direction. Jaon crossed his arms and remained behind, his gaze locking on Sienna’s from the other end of the arena.

“Good day,” the blond girl said, her pretty face breaking into a friendly smile. “I am Vivien; Jaon’s aide in this duel. Jaon wants me to tell you that he is ready whenever you are.” It wasn’t until now that Sienna spotted the light blue lock in her blond hair: the girl was probably a water elemental.

“Stephanie,” Stephanie introduced herself, shaking hands with the blond girl. “Sienna’s about ready too.” She turned to her roommate. “Aren’t you?”

For one moment, faced with the ultimate question and trying not to squirm under Jaon’s steady gaze, Sienna wanted to bolt out of the arena and never challenge anyone again. Her stomach balled into itself and adrenaline made her hands tremble. But then she heard her voice, steady and cool, announce: “I am ready.”

“Well then,” Vivien said perkily, hopping on the ledge to sit down next to Stephanie, “take your positions. Sienna of Mentis, Jaon of Baja, you will battle each other for the honor victory. I wish you both the best of luck.”

Sienna walked to the center of the arena with what felt like load in her feet. The sand felt warm to her bare feet. Most of the other students dueled with shoes on, but Sienna had figured that her feet were her balance and her grip in battle, and she fought better without them.

As she watched Jaon unsheathe his katana, she noticed that he fought barefoot, too.

“I have come to answer your challenge, Sienna of Mentis,” Jaon said calmly, the formal words spilling over his lips as if he never did anything different. He must have learned her name somewhere in the meantime.

Sienna tried not to look at the glittering blade. “Then so it will be. Jaon of Baja, I will fight you for the victory of honor.” Her blue eyes did not stray from his dark ones. The tension made the air around them sizzle.

“For MY victory, you mean,” he said with a sly smile.

“You are mistaken.”

“No,” he corrected, “you are. But you will find out soon enough.”

Sienna narrowed her eyes. He annoyed the hell out of her with his cocky behaviour. Prize student of the University or not, he did not need to act that arrogantly! “Let’s do this then,” she hissed.

Vivien’s voice carried over the arena. “Ready? Set….”

They both took a fighting stance.

“FIGHT!”

In a flash, both their weapons were glowing with energy. The heat of her knives felt scorching in Sienna’s hands, but she focused on the heat inside of herself, and blocked the pain out. She did not have enough time anyway – before she could even act, Jaon’s crackling katana descended down on her like the lightning it was equipped with.

She did not even bother to block his thrust, but rolled out of the way to attack his unprotected legs and feet. He whirled out of her reach and tried to get her as she got up, but this time she was fast enough to try and make a jape at his side. He managed to block her. Sparks and bolts were flying everywhere when the blades connected.

“You’re not as bad as I feared you’d be,” Jaon grinned. He almost looked maniacal, with the ka’tara glowing intensely violet on his dark skin. Usually, the pigment flecks were hardly visible because he was so dark, but as he was drawing on the lightning energy of his element, they glowed eerily purple.

Sienna felt the heat of his blade and her own fire, the adrenaline in her blood, and she could not help grinning back. “Good enough to beat you,” she retorted, whirling out of the way again.

She had to end this quickly - remain on her feet – he had the longer range so he was dangerous. It meant that she had to remain as quick as she was right now, and watch for weak spots. The duel would last until one of the duelists drew blood, but with the lightning quickening Jaon’s reflexes, Sienna figured that this would take a while. He was, indeed, as quick as she was.

All it came down to now was strategy and stamina. Technically, he could draw upon more magic than she could, but in a duel like theirs, this did not matter much.

Parry, block, thrust, spin – their duel was becoming the dance of elements that their teachers doted so much upon. Due to Sixday the arena was deserted, but Sienna already knew that if there would be people watching, the duel would be one of the most talked about for years.

The knives were burning in her palms and the heat was searing through her body. She felt full of passion, heat and energy – alive with fire like her blades were. The scent of fire and ozone filled the air around them.

Their dance continued: hot, fast, passionate and more than once brushing with death. As the seconds turned into minutes, both duelists became more and more agitated by the skill the other was displaying. The idea that this was a honorable duel vanished Sienna’s mind – all she wanted now was to win, all she felt right now was her body and her mind burning with pure hot ambition.

Jaon’s use of the katana had almost seemed lazy at first, but they were becoming much fiercer and faster now. He was driven by frustration and anger, slashing, thrusting, blocking and looking for openings. “You’re fast for a Fire Bearer,” he growled in between whirls and slashes.

“You’re slow for a Lightning one,” Sienna grinned, before ducking out of his reach once more. She felt delirious with adrenaline and battle fever. The sunlight and the light of their blades were blinding, but she did not care. Her whole body seemed to be singing with pure, intense joy. Sweet God above, I live for this!

Once more she found an opening and used it to kick his legs from underneath him, but he kept his footing and instead managed to get his foot hooked around her own leg, pulling her down while she was still off-balance from her actions.

She felt it so clearly – the shock, the moment of pure weightlessness where she struggled to remain upright, the moment she lost that battle, and the air being slammed out of her lungs. The next moment she was lying on her back, Jaon towering over her with a triumphant smile. “Seems like I got you,” he smirked. “So where on your body shall I draw that first blood?” He raised his katana slowly and dramatically.

He would only scratch her, she knew that. It was the rule of the duel, but she would not have it. She had challenged him, and she had planned to beat him. She had to win. She had promised herself that she would win. She had to!

Before his katana was even close to her unprotected arms, she drew upon the heat within her. She felt her ka’tara flash with yellow light. For one moment, it felt as if the fire was scorching her arteries in her arms, before she managed to produce the fire from her blade and struck him with her element. She was fast enough. He had just realized what she was doing, but his disbelief had kept him from reacting earlier.

Jaon screamed as he protected his face, dropping his katana. The skin on his arms flushed bright red – burn marks and blisters blooming within the second. He roared in pain and took a few steps back. It was the easiest thing in the world for Sienna to scramble up and take a jape with her knives at his leg. Blood welled up and trickled bright red over the dark skin.

“I win,” she announced happily.

Jaon lowered his arms, his face contorted with pain and disbelief. “No you don’t, you traitorous bitch,” he spat. “How dare you to break the rules of the duel!”

“It’s not against the rules to extend your magic beyond your blade,” she pointed out.

“It IS when you do it like that – there has to be a distance, and there has to be more magic in the air already. And you know that, as well as I do!” He checked out the blistered skin on his arms, shuddering with anger.

“You were careless,” Sienna shot back, dusting the sand from her clothes. Her body still felt like it was on fire, especially her hands and arms. Her clothes had burn holes from lightning and fire alike. She expected that there were blisters under her clothes, as well. Tomorrow, she would be sore and achy all over.

From the corner of her eye she saw Stephanie and the blond girl (Vivien was her name, Vivien!) approach them quickly. Stephanie dashed through the sand and gave Sienna a quick hug. “Jaon’s bleeding. Does this mean if you’ve won?”

Vivien came to stand next to her friend. “I’m not sure if you’re allowed to use magic if you’re at such a close distance,” she said hesitating.

“Of course you aren’t,” said Jaon. “Sienna did not win. That fucking bitch cheated me.”

Sienna laughed. “But you still wear my scar. Feel free to try and challenge me any time, Jaon. I beat you once, and I can beat you a second time, too.”

He turned her a stiff back, and walked off to the first aid post. His arms were badly wounded – the smell of burnt flesh was still lingering in the air. The blond girl nodded at them and then walked after him, leaving Sienna and Stephanie alone in the sunny arena.

“Are you alright?” Stephanie informed, her sweet face worried.

Sienna shrugged. “I’m sore and tired, but I’m okay. And I won, so I feel rather fantastic right now.”

“But you won by cheating!”

“That does not matter. Jaon feels it as if he lost, and that is all that matters for me. My scar will grace his legs, and people will see it and know that it was me that cut him. I think I succeeded in achieving my goal today.” She leaned on her roommate’s shoulder gratefully.

“Well, congrats,” Stephanie smiled. “Want to go and have a bath now? You look like you need it.”

Sienna smiled back. “That would be lovely.”