Verana watched Shaktay pace the tent the three of them had decided to occupy together, his agitation borne more of his warrior itching for a fight than anything like nerves. She was sitting on the small wooden stool, watching him shift and roll his body to allow it to limber up. Her fight was done for the day, as was Sencha's, who sat cross legged in the corner watching Shaktay move, fighting the urge to give him advice. 

They were both teachers as well as excellent fighters who knew what needed to be done, what was expected out of them. Verana felt her own nerves boiling in the pit of her stomach, as she worried for her friend. They had watched every fight of Kavenay's and in every single one of them they had noticed him cheating or taking shots to injure even when he had won. He had been warned and always offered a fake apology and pleaded innocence, accident or something else. He was a good fighter, he didn't need to resort to these methods but he seemed to anyways. Now that the tournament had advanced and weeded out most of the weaker fighters, he was fighting Shaktay and the human would need all the help he could get.

Shaktay frowned and paused in his pacing as he glanced in her direction. "Do you think him better than me?"

"No. That's what worries me." Verana shook her head as she tried to work through her own concerns in order to speak them. "I can't imagine he will take losing to anyone, let alone a sugar sprite, very well."

"I will use his anger. I will be careful." Shaktay nodded, shifting to kneel in front of her, grinning boyishly up to her in a rare moment of tenderness. "I have had fun here, fighting like this. Humans do have more to offer than I gave them credit for, there are some here I would fight beside. And the good ones have proven themselves trustworthy. It is time to put those who would ruin this change, in their place."

Sencha glanced towards the entrance of the tent as he spoke softly. "It is time. I believe Lord Shelby has beaten his opponent, so the winner of your fight, will fight him tomorrow."

"One opponent at a time, isn't that what you always say?" The grin was still there as Shaktay stood and walked out of the tent, leaving the two of them to follow behind him. 

As they made their way towards the arena, Verana noticed that a couple of Sir Benchan's men walked with them, casually, but she noted their presence and it made her certain that her worries about Kavenay's character were well placed.

When they reached the fence, they saw the human already in the ring, warming up easily with his two swords. Verana let out a breath and nodded to Shaktay when he looked back to her. "Fight swiftly, my friend."

"Fierce as the sun, sprite." Shaktay grinned, having taken to calling her by that name upon hearing the old Lord Felix use it. Vaulting over the fence in a single jump and walking to the centre of the arena, his swords still sheathed, Shaktay moved like death itself.

She leaned against the fence while trying to steady herself, only glancing up as Lord Shelby stood beside her. The man's hair was damp with sweat and he was still wearing his metal armour. Seeing her glance, he grinned easily. "I didn't want to miss this."

"You think it will be an entertaining match?" She had come to learn that this meant there was an uncertainty of the outcome, that humans were entertained by not knowing who would win.

Shelby watched the two fighters salute the King before beginning to circle one another. Shaktay moved easily with his two smaller blades, though her friend was keeping himself slow enough to be seen by the humans watching. "No. Kavenay doesn't stand a chance. If I didn't hate the man so much, I would cheer for him because I'd feel easier facing him tomorrow. He will try to cheat, he has tried every time I beat him, but he doesn't know what to do when someone is faster than him. Speed is his main skill when he's fighting humans."

The clash of blades brought their attention back to the fight, which began as a flurry of attacks volleying between the two fighters. Verana watched the human push himself to meet Shaktay's speed and then attempt to overwhelm the Feysha with his own. Shaktay allowed the human to set the pace until he sent Kavenay flying and received a handful of sand thrown into his face as a result.

 The crowd started booing, some even yelling obscenities at the cheap shot and she heard Sir Benchan let out a curse on the other side of Shelby. But Shaktay remained unfazed, meeting the attack that followed with a defence that turned rapidly into an offensive as his inhuman speed was unleashed. 

Shaktay spared his opponent nothing and proceeded to move like the wind itself, barely visible to Verana's abilities, let alone the humans watching. Kavenay flailed wildly as he attempted to keep up, dripping with blood from the myriad of slashes to  the exposed areas on his body. It was clear that the human was incapable of mounting any form of defence against the onslaught    even before he was brutally disarmed. His swords flew from his hands as Shaktay swept him off his feet and landed hard on the man's chest with a knee to Kavenay's throat, blades points held dangerously close to unguarded skin.

The crowd was stunned by the brutal efficiency of what had happened and Shaktay didn't move until the horn sounded, shifting back and away from the man so quickly that he seemed to  appear several feet away. It wasn't until he sheathed his swords, still watching Kavenay that the crowd burst out cheering.

 Shaktay turned and made his way back towards the fence, passing by two of Kavenay's men who had entered the ring, one of whom was picking up the discarded sword.  Kavenay yelled something at his guard that she couldn't quite make out and and suddenly the world slowed down to a snails pace. 

The men pulled out their weapons before one turned and swung a sword at Shaktay's  unprotected back. Shaktay had heard the change in the air and  spun, one blade coming up to catch the attack. His other hand was up to punch the man hard in the face as the second guard moved in on him. 

Verana was already leaping over the fence beside Sencha and landed in a sprint as they bolted to help defend their friend from further attack from more of Kavenay's Guards. Sencha spun to face the attacks of the fourth Guard, who had been walking towards his Lord only moments before.

As Verana disarmed her opponent, she heard a sickening snap of a joint and a growl from Shaktay cut through the air. She brought her opponent down with a hard hit to the temple with her sword pommel and spun to see Shaktay toss the man he was fighting into the second one, his weight balanced on one foot.

Kavenay was on his feet, yelling at his men to stand down, chastising them as if they had broken his orders, clearly attempting to distance himself from their actions as the Kings Guard rushed into the ring. Benchan's team looked ready to battle, only pausing when they realized the four attackers were already unconscious.

 Verana, Shaktay and Sencha braced themselves for another fight until they saw the Guard go for the downed attackers. Once they realized that the humans were not coming to defend their fellow humans, the three of them relaxed. Verana sheathed her blades and stepped to Shaktay, using her power to brace his leg, to avoid openly bracing him up.  He looked at her for a long moment and inclined his head in thanks. He would lose his leg before he let anyone carry him out of the arena in front of humans. 

Sencha fell in on the other side, looking for a moment between them and nodding, sheathing his own blades and moving with them but also avoiding touching the injured man, allowing Shaktay the appearance of dignity as they made their way out of the arena.

Verana barely noticed the circle of guards that moved with them, shaking with anger as she was. It took being half way there to realize that Shaktay had chosen to make his way back to their empty little tent over the longer trek back to the river. Once out of sight and in the tent, he let out a soft noise of pain and she fully lifted him off his feet, sitting him down on the lone stool and kneeling in front of him with Sencha. As gently as they could, they worked together to cut the leg of his pants, exposing a swelling and purpling knee.

Sencha cursed and looked up to Shaktay, whose expression was closed and dark, before turning to Verana, "he needs a healer."

Verana nodded, shifting her power to brace his leg and cool the angry tissue, trying to fight the swelling and prevent the injury from getting worse.  "I am so sorry, Shaktay... this is all my fault. I told you they could be trusted."

"No." Shaktay said firmly, his expression giving no quarter. "No, none of this is your fault. It is one man's fault, maybe four other's, but I had just started liking these Humans, I refuse to let my mind be changed by the actions of a few. I refuse to let them do what they wanted to do with this. They do not have the power to make me hate innocent people. Possible friends. That is not what I will do with this."

Verana focused on Shaktay's leg, doing what she could to help it recover, sensing his anger that matched her own and in awe of the control it took for him to think that logically. She was not a trained healer, her power didn't work as well on fixing broken bodies as it did working with the elements but she knew enough to slowly begin to work on it.

"Verana. You are the closest thing I've ever had to a sister. They do not win. Promise me that, this is your Path, you will not let this small, petty man beat you." Shaktay's growl pulled her eyes back up to his.

"I want to find him and rip his throat out." She snarled at him, the three of them jumping as a crash of thunder roared overhead.

Sencha let out a slow breath, turning from where he stood in the door as a heavy rain started violently. "Shaktay is right. You said trust the King's law. We will follow it, but we will not seek the human punishment. We will show we can work beside these creatures, we will show them strength and class of character. Those men have walked their necks into nooses and their Lord will not stand up for them, so we must. If people are killed on our behalf, there will only be more hate, more anger. Their lives are your responsibility now."

Verana wanted to lash out at Sencha, wanted to argue with him in his calmness, wanted to avenge her friend more than anything and the storm raging outside vented the inner turmoil in her mind until Shaktay placed a hand on her shoulder, offering her a careful smile. "I can't feel it anymore, your cold helped numb it. Can you ease up a bit? You know I don't like being cold."

Sencha watched her for a long moment, before stepping close to her and ducking his head to kiss the top of hers. They stayed in that soothing  embrace, his hand rubbing gently on the back of her neck, like he had done when she was a child before it had all gone wrong between them. "I know, little one. I feel the same way. But you're worth more than all this, everything is alright. Shaktay is alright. The world needs your strength, not your weakness."

She removed the cooling from around Shaktay's knee, letting it settle back to normal temperature for the time being. Then she focused on her breathing, forcing herself to let go of the anger and releasing the ferocity of the storm. She withdrew her power from the elements gradually, letting it dwindle and float away on the afternoon breeze.