Silver kept his palms open, beckoning the marshal to make the first move. The two circled each other a moment, their friendly sparring match beginning by sizing each other up.
Silver could not help but feel that Aiden had been waiting to try something like this for a long time. The two men had sparred with swords a few times, but the Guardian had clearly never been fully trying.
There was no need to embarrass the town's marshal, so Silver had given just enough effort to make it look like a fair fight. It was important for the people to be confident in those sworn to protect the town of Rynnlee. Making Aiden look bad would only hurt Silver in the long run by giving the Guardian more work.
This time, there was no blade which would possibly lop off the marshal's head. There was only their bodies. Yet Silver's body had been infused with a vial of glowing light from Hanna, making the match-up still completely uneven. No matter how strong Aiden was, the Guardian was stronger.
'Good thing this is all in fun. I must admit I am interested in what the marshal has to offer.'
Having fought side by side with the marshal multiple times, Silver had seen the damage that Aiden could do in battle. The former soldier was truly devastating.
But seeing the carnage and experiencing it firsthand were very different. This was something that Silver was about to know very personally.
For he was so lost in his thoughts about the complexities of the situation that he was unprepared for what transpired.
Aiden lunged forward. Believing it to be a feint, Silver did not react until it was too late. The punch landed on Silver's jaw, sending a wave of pain through him like he had not experienced in years.
'What in the Fates?!' The Guardian reeled backwards. 'How did he even find my chin with my hood up?! Blasted cloak, what is wrong with you?'
For some reason the Guardian's hood did not protect him like it should have. There was no lightning shock down Aiden's arm nor did it prevent the force of the hit from bruising Silver or cutting his lip.
It seemed that the magical fabric had no problem keeping out of the friendly tussle. "Traitor!" He mumbled to the enchanted object.
"What did you say?" Aiden asked as he furrowed his brow.
"Nothing." Silver spat out blood onto the ground. He ran his tongue along the gash inside his cheek. "Nice hit, Marshal."
Aiden lowered his fists slightly, his concern deepening. "You alright, Guardian? You seem distracted."
Of course the former soldier knew that Silver had just said goodbye to his sister, but he didn't think that was the reason behind the man's behavior just now.
"I'm fine." Silver wiped his face with the back of his hand. "I was just letting you get warmed up."
Aiden chuckled. "I'm warm now."
With a smirk, the Guardian raised his hands once more. "Good."
The next swipe by Aiden missed its mark, catching only air. In a blur, Silver dodged to one side, landing a punch in the marshal's gut as he leaned in.
Grunting, Aiden stepped back and leaned over. "I don't think that was even half your strength, Silver."
"I don't know what you mean," the Guardian pretended to be innocent.
"Don't be like the Guardian," Aiden told the crowd. "In a real fight, your life is at stake. Don't give your opponent a chance to overwhelm you or surprise you. That's two marks against you, Silver…"
"Am I being graded? That school teacher of yours is rubbing off on you," Silver goaded the man.
The comment was met with a kick at Silver's chest. The force would have broken a normal man's bones, but a combination of the Guardian's natural ability and his rapid healing led to far less devastating results.
Silver took a step back and grabbed the man's foot and flipped Aiden onto his back.
"What was that?" Aiden rippled his body to jump, landing on his feet in a low crouch.
"I took advantage of an opportunity and surprised you," Silver shrugged. "Is that not what you were just preaching?"
Aiden smirked. "Glad to see you are learning something too..." The man cut his last word short and sent a rain of punches toward the Guardian.
Everyone expected a sentence to finish. The incompleteness usually caught the opponent off guard. It was a tactic the cloaked man had used many times himself. As such, it did not have the desired effect.
Silver easily blocked each punch, using just the right angle and force to have the hits glance to the side. Sweat formed on the marshal's brow as he really began to concentrate.
Aiden backed up and then threw himself forward in a fast lunge, managing a blow into Silver's gut but also receiving one in return. Without even pausing, Aiden kicked at Silver in a high arc, threatening to hit the side of the mysterious man's head.
Instead, the Guardian ducked and swept a low kick of his own along the ground. The marshal was forced to jump back or risk ending up on the ground a second time. He growled and brushed off his trousers.
The Guardian raised a finger. "Another lesson: frustrate your opponent. It will cause him to make mistakes." Silver came at Aiden even as the words were coming out of his mouth and backflipped over the top of his head.
"Now you are just showing off." Aiden's congenial smile was back in place. "Time to finish this though."
The two exchanged punches, each more devastating than the last as the thuds reverberated through the woods. Silver stuck his opponent on the jaw, snapping Aiden's head to one side.
'Serves you right.'
Rubbing his chin, Aiden grinned fiercely. "I'm finally getting some real punches from you."
"You want real?" Silver's eyes flashed.
Aiden nodded and threw his right fist directly at Silver to repay him for the most recent strike. Shifting to the side, Silver locked his elbow with his opponent's.
The marshal barely had time to process the development when he received two heavy jabs to the back and a knee in his gut. Then the Guardian changed positions and lopped his leg under Aiden's knees.
Aiden felt his feet separate from the earth as he flipped almost completely in a circle. As his body was about to right itself, a final kick pressed against his torso and sent him flying from the ring.
As he landed, he dug a deep ditch in the soft, grassy earth. Miraculously, the marshal was mostly unharmed. Aiden realized that even in beating him, Silver had been merciful.
He couldn't even be mad. Far from it! He was quite pleased with how the match had gone down.
"Well, played, Guardian! It was nice to see you in action."
Aiden stood slowly and dusted himself off amid a murmuring crowd. The marshal didn't mind. He would be gossiping too. Heading back to his opponent, Aiden applauded.
"Silver, you must show me how you..." he stopped.
No one was in the circle.
"What happened?" The marshal looked for the cloaked figure.
"Nobody knows. We saw him hit you and then he just… disappeared," the blacksmith offered.
Everyone stared in shocked silence for a time. Silver was known for his dramatic exits, but they all thought he would at least stay to claim his victory and shake forearms with his opponent.
That's when a voice came from above.
"You seem to have forgotten the most important lesson that you can teach these good people."
Aiden looked up, barely able to spot an anomaly among the branches of the tree overhead. "Oh really? What's that?"
"Sometimes the best course of action is being a 'coward.' If the fight isn't worth it, don't. Create a distraction as soon as you can and then…run." Silver hopped down and offered his arm to Aiden. The two shook.
"Thank you for being brave enough to share that with us," the marshal said sincerely.
Silver scoffed, "Are you kidding? I'm the biggest coward of them all. If Katherine ever figures out what happened to her prize radishes, you can bet I'll be running to Marek to escape her!"