"She's shorter than I remember." Jade said with false concern, watching Ryder restart the sword kata from the beginning. "Are you sure it's really her? Her psychic scent seems so different, so muddled. Not clean and annoyingly intoxicating the way your mate's was." She put a particular emphasis on the word 'mate', making it practically sound offensive.

"Why are you here Jade?" Graynin asked, his calmness becoming practically disturbing.

She looked back to him, her mischievous smile deepening, "Athos, summoned me."

"Why?" He asked, his control faltering.

Her pink lips parted, to show her pearly white teeth. She was enjoying this moment all too much.

"I'm here to be your mate's tutor in the art of water of course."

Graynin's mask shattered, "What? Why would she need a water tutor? We have it all arraigned."

"Apparently Athos has a different idea for her arraignments." Jade answered musically. "I believe his exact words were that you are emotionally compromised, due to some unforeseen development." She looked to Tairin, "And I think I have discovered the source of your emotional compromise. What a handsome one at that.

Are all Shadow's that attractive?" She asked with exaggerated enthusiasm as she looked Tairin up and down.

"It seems your mate truly does have good taste." Her eyes sparkled with her enjoyment at how their conversation was going, clearly it was how she had hoped.

Graynin scrambled through his thoughts to try and make sense of what was spinning out of control, while at the same time trying to keep himself in check. He knew she was just goading him, and he did not want to give her the satisfaction of seeing him snap.

"Why would you agree to do this Jade?"

A little of the sparkle in her eyes faded. "Because Athos explained everything to me."

Graynin understood by her turn in emotion that Athos had told her about the sickness spreading, and the reappearance of the Dakawolves.

Jade understood better than most what those signs could mean, considering she had been a Colonel in the Councils army. Her ability as a water Nymph surpassed practically all other water Daemons, Nymphs, and most Souladeux. It had been no surprise when she flew through the military ranks.

Her assentation had brought her slamming into Graynin's world. Her fearlessness, and ability to command not only her element but her troops, had demanded Graynin's respect. And had won her a passionate lover for nearly five-hundred years. Their relationship had only ended when Graynin had agreed to split his soul at the urging of the Council. Jade had been devastated by his decision. He had tried to convince her that he would return to her after the initial infatuation with his soulmate had worn off, but Jade had known better.

To make their history even more complicated Graynin had made the mistake of falling back into bed with her a few years after he had lost Aurora. But he had quickly found that he had made a selfish mistake, and Jade expressed her wrath at his decision by throwing her perfectly honed knives at him. Which he believed had been a fair reaction. The pain of the knife wound unable to compare to how she must have felt at his second abandonment.

Jade called to Ryder, "Ryder, my name is Jade Nisha, Athos brought me on to be one of your tutors. Put your equipment away and we'll get started."

The color drained from Ryder's face. She had been comfortable enough with the weapons aspect of her new training, falling into it with the comfort of an athlete. But what Jade presented was ominous and foreign. Ryder slowly put her equipment away and walked back over to Tairin to say goodbye.

Graynin couldn't help but watch as Tairin's arms wrapped around Ryder's lower waist and lingered as they quietly spoke to each other. His temper flared. He looked back to Jade as she began to move away from him, he grabbed her by the wrist, "Do not talk about the past, do not mention me, do not mention anything having to do with the war." He stared at her, making it clear that this was a command, not a request.

Jade gave him a little smirk, "Like I said, Athos has told me everything."

Graynin released her wrist and stared after her as she sauntered away, heading towards a break in the surrounding willow trees.

Turning back to the arena, he was able to watch as Ryder effortlessly popped over the fence. They locked eyes for a heartbeat, he saw past her strong face to the fear and confusion that resonated in her scrambling soul. He knew then that things were going to have to start happening fast, or they were all in danger of the power that lurked seemingly dormant in the one person they believed strong enough to save them all.

Graynin was over the fence in a blink. Heading straight for the barracks, and the armory. The room was filled with hundreds of weapons, of all different styles. He grabbed two swords made of folded steel. He masterfully swung one around, testing its balance and weight, it was a well-made blade, but it did not compare to the Tekana sword that was hidden in his room. He decided the blades would do for the moment though, he just needed to express his pent-up aggression, to escape all of his emotions, and fall into the sweet nothing that was the dance of death.

He walked out into the arena, to find Pierce correcting Tairin's form as he moved through a sword combo. Pierce turned abruptly from Tairin to face the wave of energy approaching him. Graynin didn't say a word, he just threw the sword to Pierce. Pierce caught it in one hand and pushed Tairin out of the way with the other. A crash of wind slammed against the air shield Pierce managed to throw up.

Graynin smirked maliciously as Pierce tried to recover from the sudden onslaught he hadn't expected. Graynin pulled the earth and wind together and tried to pound down the air shield Pierce had surrounded himself with. The tiny grains of sand becoming billions of fast flying needles as they darted through the tornado that encapsulated Pierce.

Graynin gave into instinct as his body willed him to dive forward, moving him closer to his adversary, while at the same time dodging the blue-yellow fireball hurling towards his head. He effortlessly rolled to his feet, bringing his sword up to catch Pierce's sword as it came down, trying to strike where Graynin's neck met his shoulder. The steel crashed as both men fought to throw the other off balance. Pierce spun from the connection trying to slice Graynin's side. Graynin countered and whipped his sword in a circle, leading Pierce's sword away from its mark.

Graynin gave into the rush of the fight, everything about it just feeling right. This was his element. There was enough distance between Pierce and him that he could risk the time and movement it required to summon an element. Graynin's free hand whipped around in a tight, small, circle summoning a globe of dense air. He thrust his arm forward, sending the orb of power hurling towards his desired mark, Pierce's sternum. Graynin moved so fast that Pierce failed to summon an air shield. His only choice was to try and spin out of the way, but the compressed air slammed into his shoulder, a disturbing cracking sound announcing a broken bone.

Graynin watched his opponent reach for the slack shoulder. Thinking the exercise was finished, Graynin began to lower his sword. But as Pierce's hand fell away from the useless shoulder, it moved to call an element. A fireball sparked to life. Graynin threw his arms up, pulling an air shield with them, just before the sizzling fireball reached him. The blue-yellow flames exploded around the air shield, the flames like liquid dripping down the invisible wall.

Graynin prepared his own softball size fireball and held it poised above his flexed fingers. But when the wall of blue-yellow flames dissipated, he saw that Pierce stood weaponless, cradling his shoulder behind his erect sword, the tip of the blade planted in the sand.

Graynin let his air shield drop, and released the energy of the fireball back to nature. Pierce's action being a sign that the fight was over.

Graynin reeled-in his senses, stepping away from the killing edge. He planted his sword in the sand the way Pierce had done and wiped away the sweat running down his cheek with his shoulder. He slowly walked over to Pierce who was gently sending probes of power into his limp arm, testing the severity of the break.

He looked up to Graynin, the fire still burning in his eyes, but at the same time a strange sort of enjoyment. When Graynin stopped moving, Pierce returned his focus to his arm, like a lion deciding the wild warthog running by was no threat.

This was how they fought each other, with very little restraint, and with almost the same animosity that would surface in a real life-or-death situation. Only holding onto the vague memory of who each other are. Not many other long-liveds sparred this way, and even fewer dared to be sparring partners with either Graynin or Pierce. Their reputation for violence proceeded them.

Graynin stood a few feet from Pierce, waiting for his friend to give him permission to look at his shoulder. It was unwise to touch a Souladeux without their permission in a regular situation, and almost suicidal to do so while one was still at the killing edge. Pierce looked up to Graynin again, the raging fire in his eyes merely a smolder now.

"You're a prick. You know that right?" Pierce said through tight lips.

Graynin let a knowing grin claim his face, "yes, I am aware." He stepped forward and gently reached for his friend's shoulder.

Pierce couldn't help but laugh, but the laughter was quickly cut off and replaced by a low hiss. The movement of laughing ripping through his broken shoulder like a bolt of lightning.

"Good thing Athos is around, your humerus and clavicle are broken. He'll be able to fix those much quicker than anyone else in the Realm. You'll be back in the arena in a day or two." Graynin paused as he continued to probe the breaks. "You're lucky your clavicle isn't shattered, most of the impact was absorbed by your arm."

"I feel so lucky." Pierce retorted.

Graynin's senses were drawn to movement on the edge of the arena. Tairin was slowly moving their direction. He had forgotten the Shadow was there. Tairin had been lucky that Pierce had pushed him out of the way, otherwise he probably would have ended up with some broken bones of his own.

"What the hell just happened?" Tairin asked, stopping about ten feet away from Graynin and Pierce. It seemed he was wary of them now. Graynin couldn't blame him.

Pierce pushed Graynin's hands away from his shoulder, with an annoyed wave.

"That is how sparring is done here," but Pierce seemed to reconsider his statement and added, "well it's similar to that, most people aren't that quick with the elements, using them primarily from a distance or in ambush situations, rather than in hand to hand combat."

"That was unreal." Tairin said in awe, "I guess I didn't really understand what you guys meant when you talked about being able to control the elements."

"Yeah it can be quite the show." Pierce said with pride. "But we don't control the elements per se, we will them to do our bidding. The connection between us and the elements varies greatly from person to person. A strong bond is like being fluent in a language, so results can happen almost instantly. Whereas people with weaker bonds speak fragments of the language, so the communication is more difficult, making the elements slower to manifest. The elements have wills of their own as well, so it takes a strong practiced hand to get them to cooperate with focused commands, and even then, the elements might not do exactly as you tell them." Pierce flipped his long black ponytail off his wounded shoulder, even the weight of his hair seemed to irritate the breaks.

Tairin looked torn between asking a question and not. Pierce being the supportive teacher he was, prompted the torn student. "What are you thinking?"

Graynin noticed Pierce was looking a bit paler than normal, he would have to end this little teaching session soon and get Pierce to Athos before he passed out. Graynin knew Pierce would have to be forced to leave since he never was one to admit the true depth of an injury.

Tairin met Pierce's dark eyes, "So, somehow Ryder has this power to communicate with the elements too?"

Graynin felt himself flinch at the question, it had not been what he'd expected. He thought the boy would have some sort of dumb follow up question like 'can you fly'. But this was a question that would change the boy's perspective of Ryder. Graynin almost felt sorry for the Shadow, almost.

"Yes, she does." Was all Pierce seemed he could manage to say, or possibly was willing to say. The topic was so complicated that to try and answer further would almost be futile at that moment.

Tairin looked like someone had slapped him, anger and frustration rising to meet the attack, "Will she ever be able to go home?"

Now Graynin felt like someone had slapped him, he had not thought about that yet. He had to give Tairin some credit, he wasn't as stupid as Graynin had thought, and possibly hoped.

Pierce however seemed more prepared for the question than Graynin had been. "Now that choice is up to her." Pierce said, his eyes flicking to Graynin.

Graynin broke the silence that hung between the three of them, all lost in their own thoughts. "Come Pierce, it's time we got you to Athos, so he can take a look at those breaks."

Pierce, as if wanting to defy the fact that he was severely injured, pulled himself up to his full height, rolling his good shoulder back, making him look intimidating despite the fact that he was clearly crippled on his left side. "If it'll make you feel better, we can go. But don't think that pretending to care about my shoulder makes up for your ambush."

"You knew I was coming; I did nothing to hide my energy. You probably knew what was coming before I even grabbed the swords." Graynin said pointedly.

Pierce attempted to look innocent, "I was focused on teaching Tairin how to land a devastating blow, so he would be prepared for the next time you wanted to spar with him. That way you could get a taste of your own medicine." He couldn't hold back the curl in his lip.

Graynin glanced over to Tairin, the boy met his eyes, showing no signs of fear at being thrown into the conversation. Graynin could see the first signs of dislike shining in the Shadow's eyes. It seemed that Tairin was catching onto the fact that he didn't care for him very much. And if he was as astute as he seemed, he might even be aware of his feelings for Ryder, despite Graynin's painstaking effort to hide them.

Tairin was nearly as tall as Graynin, and actually broader in the shoulders. He had the potential to be a deadly fighter. Pierce was right to try and teach him as much as possible, he would inevitably be around when danger found them.

Tairin and Graynin's silent standoff ended when Pierce stepped between them, "So are we going to find Athos or not?" Clearly wanting to break their connection before anything could escalate.

Graynin responded by simply turning and making his way towards the fence of the arena, Pierce and Tairin fell in behind. All three smoothly hopped over the fence, even Pierce, who was not one to show any weakness.

They walked in silence, all clearly lost in their own thoughts. Graynin allowed his senses to wander outward, towards the grotto where Jade had taken Ryder. He could feel very little, Jade was shielding him out, whether out of spite, or for her and Ryder's unimpeded privacy, he did not know.