"It's my turn." A boy named Prat walked through the border of a large circle of ash containing Ara.
"Do so at your own peril." Ara gestured with her open hand for him to come towards her, they both were armed with a two meter tall staff made out of straight branches. One end was heavier, with a black edge that left a mark which meant victory.
Prat swung around with wild ambition, but he was nowhere near Ara. She didn't know if he was trying to be intimidating or just stupid. She waited, knowing he'd tire himself out eventually.
Ara had spent the whole day in the ring so she wasn't at her peak, but she didn't need to be at her best to defeat such a novice. Most of her duels ended quickly, so she was happy to wait and recover.
"You might be able to handle the rest of the group, but as you can see, I know what I'm doing." Prat grinned.
"Let me know when you're ready to start."
Prat stopped swinging and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Don't blame me if you get hurt."
This time Prat came running at her, and Ara was ready. He had the staff in front of him like a spear, and Ara started to spin with hers, gaining momentum. By the time the two staffs clashed, the heavy side of Ara's struck from below, shattering Prat's staff into pieces.
Prat was thrown to the side along as he tried to hold onto the remnants of his staff, and pieces of wood flew towards his face as he shielded his eyes. Ara quickly thrust downwards into his chest, leaving a black mark on his shirt which would leech into his skin. The staff she held lost its black weighted edge, and she threw it to the side.
"Well done yet again, Ara." Lonn walked out of the mountain cave he had claimed with his arm around a girl named Kari. She had always followed him around as kids, but it seemed as though their relationship had grown in the past few days.
Lonn stood several meters above everyone else who had been forced to sleep out in the open amongst the remnants of the burnt forest. The sun was about to set so the remaining members of their group were preparing for another nightly raid of the forest.
"Even if we're stronger in number, I can only imagine that Morah could take a few of us by herself." Ara planted her staff into the ground. "Someone has to be able to go head to head with her if we want to win."
"Do you doubt me?" Lonn took his arm off of Kari's shoulder and jumped down towards them at a height that would be dangerous for most people.
"No, Lonn. We just don't know how powerful Dorin-"
"That weakling?" Lonn laughed, and the rest of their group joined him. "In my mind, Morah is the only factor. He wouldn't have waited for us to burn down nearly the entire forest if his ego was any good."
Ara began to walk out of the ring.
"Wait," Kari slid down the face of the mountain. "I want to see what you've got."
"Are you sure?" Ara gave her a smile, and she saw a spark in the back of Kari's eyes.
"Give us a staff." Lonn hesitated as Kari spoke, but after an annoyed glance he threw each of them one anyway.
Ara stood silently as Kari got accustomed to the weight of the staff. Ara knew that she needed to wait for her to begin or Lonn would get involved. It seemed like she was struggling at first, but once the sun completely set and the black end of their staffs lit aflame, she began to swing it around as if weightless.
Ara was surprised that the Kari could even lift the staff, as she had never seen the girl do much of anything physical that didn't involve Lonn. Ara glanced at the mark of a black flame on Kari's arm and readied herself for a tough battle.
Kari had apparently learned from Prat's defeat, and closed the distance between the two of them slowly. She tossed her staff from hand to hand, giggling as embers dropped to the ground.
"Begin." Lonn grunted.
Starting with an uppercut, Kari moved in close. Ara was able to dodge backwards but she felt the heat as it passed her face. She then struck downwards, and Ara dove to the side, forced to abandon her weapon.
"Is that all?" Kari gave a wicked smile as she continued to swing her staff.
Ara frowned as she was continually forced to dodge. Luckily Kari had little skill in one on one battle, but her ease of handling the staff made it impossible for her win a clean fight.
Looking frustrated, Kari continued her onslaught with progressively wilder swings. Eventually Ara saw an opening and managed to kick her in the stomach. Kari fell to her back, but protected herself with continuous swings like a wheel of fire above her. Ara tumbled into the ash, feeling it cling to her body before grabbing her own staff and rising to her feet.
'All I need is one touch.' Ara steeled herself, gripping the staff tight so it had no chance of leaving her hands again.
Kari ran at her once she recovered, but she was too close for Ara to wind up like she did versus Prat. As Kari lowered the staff to her side, Ara was sure that she was going for her legs and started running to face her.
Kari ruthlessly swept her legs, but Ara jumped above and thrust her staff below her, using it to perform a flip in the air.
Ara heard a scream, and turned back to see Kari rolling on the ground as the foot where she was struck was set aflame.
"Even with your boyfriend's help, you're still no match for someone with actual skill." The rest of the group stopped what they were doing, watching on in silence as Ara berated Kari .
Even with her foot burning, Kari began to stand up. The fire rose up her leg, but she didn't seem to care. "You think you're so special. I'll show you that compared to Lonn, you are nothing."
With each step Kari took, Ara took one backward, until she found herself against the face of the mountain. Kari's entire leg up to her hip was nothing but flame, but she was still able to use it like a normal limb. Ara felt fear for the first time in years as she felt her skin burning.
"I wonder how it'll feel when we walk on your ashes."
"Enough." Lonn pushed Kari away and onto the ground, and the flames suddenly blew out, revealing a clean leg with a mark on her foot from where Ara struck her. "Save it for our enemies."