The Beast Within

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

This left him open for the briefest of moments, Adrik saw this and brought down the leg that had been going in for a kick, changing his motion mid air and bringing down his leg in a powerful chopping motion, his eyes glowing.

Ceraun caught his leg, spreading out his own legs to better regain his balance after the force from the attack threatened to flatten him to the ground.

Both of his arms strained with the pressure that stopping Adrik's motion caused and it was not a very good plan, he knew this as he shared the briefest of glances with Adrik, the dark haired Mage flashing him the littlest, smug smile.

He would have been better off evading this attack because it meant that, while his entire body was occupied with stopping just one of Adrik's legs, he had the rest of his entire body to use in an attack.

But Adrik didn't get that far, without thinking, Ceraun let his magic loose.

As usual, there was no warning to the burning sting that abruptly engulfed Adrik because Ceraun's eyes did not have the usual glow to them, remaining a flat black even as he channelled his magic through the very leg that he still clutched above a shoulder, Adrik readying to finish off the battle.

Adrik's responding yell caught Haneul's attention, he had just gotten up from where Ceraun’s unrealistically hard push had thrown him to, his body aching from its impact with the hard ground.

As soon as Adrik's yell reached him, he realized what was going on and without a second thought, sent a wave of air at Ceraun, blowing the other Mage away.

Adrik was cursing Ceraun out as soon as he could. "Bloody bastard Feyrer!!!" He roared as soon as he fell to the ground, his short hair in a fritz. "I swear by each and every one of the four Pillars that I will skin you alive and make boots out of you…"

Ceraun just remained on the ground where Haneul's magic had pushed him to, staring up into the burning sky.

He might have gotten a little carried away…

×*×*×*×

No one said a word about Ceraun nearly knocking Adrik unconscious, the dark haired Mage had just sat by the riverside, speaking to no one and watching his reflection silently.

Ceraun had gone back to training viciously, although Haneul would not have advised that, not after such an intense spar.

He was definitely bruised and more than a little sore but Haneul was not about to get in between Ceraun’s fists and the scarred boulder he was punching.

Soon it was time to leave and Haneul worried if they would even be bothered to keep up with their tradition of racing back to town.

It had been immensely awkward but he did not notice it too much, instead he was too busy worrying about the others.

He was not sure he could call them friends yet, it was too soon for that, not when just a few weeks ago they were practically enemies.

It would be nice to have friends though, nice to have a semblance of the life that was so brutally ripped away.

So he was indeed surprised when Ceraun turned away from Adrik, his expression a mix of guilt and reluctant worry.

"Will you call it then?" He asked, talking to Adrik over Haneul's head, they had unconsciously gravitated to either side of him.

Adrik equally looked away, the faintest of furrows on his usually smooth brow. "I always do, Feyrer, don't be a dunce." He muttered in response.

Haneul was at a loss for words, immensely unsure as to if they were still holding grudges or they had decided to resolve things between them.

He chose wisely to make no comment on it, instead waiting for the race to begin, he did not want to get kicked out of their seeming friend group after he had just barely managed to get in.

When the race began, he ran freely, being a Wind Magic User meant that running was one of the few ways he got to release the free and energetic spirit dwelling in the depths of his soul.

But even as he sought solace in running, there was no way he could miss the very obvious rivalry between Ceraun and Adrik.

Although he was already ahead, he looked back to see them running neck to neck, jumping from rock to boulder and skipping over trenches in the hard ground.

Haneul shrugged, he could see this as a step further in their reconciliation, although in his opinion, Ceraun simply apologising for breaking the rules of the mock battle would have been far easier and perhaps, better…

He let them be though, slowing down a bit so he could alway look over his shoulders to keep an eye on them, Adrik might have come off and mature but he could be as thick headed and stubborn as Ceraun at times.

They kept up with their farce of a fight till they ran up the slope, just like with the mock battle earlier that day, there was no clear winner.

Haneul had already had enough of the both of them, waving them goodnight as soon as they made their appearance at the top of the slope.

"Good bye and good night to you two." He muttered quickly, immediately running off.

"See now, you have gone off and frightened poor Haneul with your mulish nature." Adrik blurted out.

Ceraun drop to a crouch, sitting slowly and hanging his legs off the end. "Is this why you never suggested a mock battle?" He asked in a low voice, staring at the sky ahead, the sun low in the sky.

Adrik gave him a look full of incredulity' scoffing. "As if, not everything is about you, Feyrer."

Ceraun's eyes went wide at this. "What? Then why not?"

Adrik shrugged, kicking a pebble down. "Perhaps I underestimated you."

Ceraun outright gaped at this. "So you are not mad that I used lightning on you?"

"No…" Adrik answered shortly, he truly hadn't been, he had barely even thought about it.

Clearly, Ceraun had become quite skilled with controlling his lightning output plus it had become a one on one fight, it was technically lawful.

"Really…" Ceraun started to go wide eyed.

"Good night, Feyrer." Adrik cut him off dryly, turning around to walk away.

"Fine, see you tomorrow. "