Chapter 39: Duel

Tavin’s flame swirled to life much more quickly than it had before, hitting him with a wave of heat. It was just like that time in the woods, only earlier that day. Aleanna’s eyes went wide as Tavin felt the blood being drawn from the wound, seamlessly converted to far more fire than he had shown at their last meeting. It swirled around him in a half dozen burning streams. It felt easy. It felt right.

“You don’t have to do this!” he shouted. “We don’t have to fight!”

The people of Varenwald had gone into a panic, he could hear frightened screams coming from all around him, but thankfully Aleanna sent a stream of fire as wide as his torso toward him. Tavin pushed his own forward to intercept it, but it moved with much more speed than he expected. The two streams crashed together and mixed for a moment before sliding past each other, each sending the other off course. Tavin’s fire went careening toward the back of a fleeing man.