I Challenge You

Tyr stood next to Macha with the stone dangling from the chain. He used magic for as long as he could remember. Its use came naturally to him and he deliberated on how to explain its practice to Macha. He remembered that it helps to say the words of power if the spell is harder, so he figured he would teach her how to do that.

"All right. Hold this," he handed the chain to her. The touch of her palm felt warm when he put the chain in her hand. "Now focus your energy into the stone and say kanetsu."

Macha tried to do what Tyr instructed but the stone did not heat up. She looked at him with a worried look. Her teeth bit down on her lips with anxiety.

Tyr stared at her and considered how small and helpless she looked. He frowned and thought if he hadn't taken her in, she probably would have been dead by now. He pursed his lips together and said, "You just need to practice. Go sit down and practice until you can do it."

****

The rest of the day dragged on. Macha diligently said the word of power many times. Every time, she tried to focus what she imagined as her chi into the chain. Progress seemed non-existent to her, and she felt discouraged. Her temper rose with each failure. Macha wanted to use magic, but she worried it would be impossible for her.

Frustrated she said, "Kanetsu," through gritted teeth. The rune on the rock glowed faintly with a yellow light.

Macha jumped out of her chair and ran to Tyr. "Look!"

Tyr glanced at the rock. The glow was fading but was still there. He leaned back in his chair to gaze up at the ceiling and smiled. Overjoyed that she finally showed progress he yelled, "Yes! You did it!" He grabbed her cheeks and patted her head.

Tyr knew Macha had practiced for hours. He had to listen to her recite the same word over and over. Her failure was wearing on his nerves. This was a simple spell that children mastered after one or two tries, so he had begun to fear that Macha could not use magic. If she was magicless, then she would have a difficult time doing anything in civilization. Even the smallest things, like making tea, required a small amount of magic use.

Luna came running in and slammed the door open. "What's wrong?" Her eyes were wide, and she had a hand on the spine of a book that hung at her hips. A brown splotch stained Luna's dress because she spilled her tea when she heard yelling coming from Tyr's office.

"I can do magic!" Macha cried with tears brimming her eyes. "I can do magic!"

****

Macha spent the next few weeks learning to use the various household tools. She learned to heat the water in the shower, turn on the lights, start a fire, and use the oven in the apartment. She felt high on her new power and wanted to perfect it to the point where she didn't need to say the words anymore.

Each day she could tell that she was showing progress. Macha wondered if magic existed where she was from or if it had to do with the world itself. She thought back to her old life and grew homesick. Macha missed her friends and family but knew they were now a world away. She pushed the memory of them out of her mind and focused on improving in this world.

While practicing heating the stove she remembered her conversation with Tyr about the mess hall food. It was still early in the evening and Tyr stretched out on the couch reading various documents. His black shirt was untucked and buttoned down. "Tyr," Macha called, "have you thought about updating the food in the mess hall?"

Tyr looked up and put the paper down on his lap. "I've thought about it, but I really don't know what you're talking about. The food we eat is pretty good."

Macha's eyebrows furrowed and she tilted her head to one side, "We don't eat the same food that they serve in the mess hall."

Tyr looked confused. "What?" He remembered always telling his sister to send him food from the kitchen. He was used to eating food on missions and didn't mind the mess hall menu. "Come, we haven't had dinner yet," his long legs swung off the sofa.

****

Tyr and Macha made their way down to the noisy mess hall. Many people greeted him and when Tyr and Macha got in line, the other guild members offered to let him go to the front. Tyr declined their offers and let the members keep their place.

When they picked up their silver trays, Macha pointed to the watery pasta behind the counter. "See! That is definitely not what we eat." She shook a finger at the food and jumped up and down.

Tyr noted that the pasta did not appear as appetizing as what he ate, but it was possible they plated it with care just for him. He understood that the workers would want to impress him since he is the guild leader. He held a hand up and said, "Wait and see how it tastes."

Macha rolled her eyes.

When Tyr was being served, the line cook offered to make a fresh batch for him if he was willing to wait, but Tyr narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm a busy man. Do I look like I want to wait?" The cook shook his head and reluctantly served the food.

Macha and Tyr sat down at a small round table, but as they started to eat, a group of women came up to them.

One reason Tyr had his meals sent up to his room was that people always wanted to talk with him. He preferred quiet meals where he could relax and not worry about social pressures and being polite.

"Captain Tyr, you look so handsome today. Why don't you let us keep you company," one woman said in a sultry voice. This woman opted to use his first name to sound more familiar with him. "Yes, can we sit next to you?" asked another. "Please let us! Captain Valois" another cried.

Macha looked up at them and realized they were the same ones who bullied her. The one called Constanza even had the nerve to push her bosom against Tyr's back. Macha eyes narrowed at Constanza and snapped, "Constanza, we're here on business." Constanza was Macha's least favorite person and her lewd actions annoyed Macha.

Constanza recognized Macha and smirked, "Oh, the dog learned to speak. Captain Tyr, why don't you have the baby go home. It is probably her bedtime."

Tyr took a deep breath and touched a finger to his temple, but before he could say anything Macha retorted with disgust, "He came down here to taste the food, not you."

"I feel sorry for the Captain. He has to babysit this kid all the time," said Constanza to one of her groupies. She put a hand on one of Tyr's shoulders. Upon doing this Tyr brushed her hand off of him.

"Con..," Tyr began but Macha cut him off.

"Constanza you're so ugly on the inside. Why do you say things like that? What did I do to you?" challenged Macha.

Macha's words made Constanza angry. No one talked to her like that and she was used to most people trying to please her because she held a decent position in the guild. Her face contorted into a snarl and she pointed to Macha, "I Constanza, from the guild Obsidian Dragons, challenge you to a duel!" She then added, "I'm gonna beat the shit out of you and your little mouth."

A hush fell over the cafeteria and Macha looked at Tyr confused. Tyr took a deep breath. He knew she did not learn the word 'duel' yet and said, "A duel is where you fight. In this case, it's over Constanza's pride. Constanza feels like your words hurt her pride and she wants to fight to settle the issue."

"I don't want to," Macha said crossing her arms.

"You have to because you're in the guild," Tyr said flatly. "It's a rule and a way of resolving small disputes." He covered his face with his hand. Tyr regretted coming down to the mess hall. He couldn't do anything to help Macha in this situation.