Cartlidge: Rise of the Imperfect Flame by Devon Loos

detection. The warrior wore a mischievous smile, and casually walked
over to where I sat, and extended his hand.
    “What?”
    “You’re too easy of a target.” His Gaia was surprisingly
refined. “It wouldn’t be fun to finish you now.”
    Pausing, suspicious of his intent, I raised myself up
slowly. He gave a nod, then turned toward the forest.
    “Let’s try that again, shall we?” He disappeared again. I
drew my sword, calmed myself and searched the sounds of the room for Walker.
Twitches from leaves and branches came from all sides, then the maddening silence returned. I focused on the most recent of the noises and
waited, careful not to turn toward the noise and give away that I had
identified where he was. The shadowy figure leapt from his hiding place and
swung his right claw in my direction. I twisted my body violently and parried
the attack. His left claw came in response. I only had the one blade to defend
myself with. Driving the sword downwards, I deflected his second attack. His
right arm returned, striking me in the left cheek with his palm. I spun away,
but caught myself before I lost my balance. Focusing on Walker, I swung in
attack. Walker steadied himself, waited for me to swing, then caught the blade between his own. He paused for a moment, a grin spread across
his face, then he twisted his arms, slicing my sword
in two. He reversed his arms back and sliced across my chest. I tumbled back
several steps in shock. My suit appeared completely intact, but I felt several
burns across my chest. In a real battle, the wound may have been substantial.
My body did not lock up, so the wound was not considered a fatal one. Still,
the pain was difficult to ignore. I looked up at my crazed opponent. He stood
above me, arms raised, prepared to send a finishing blow. I had no weapon.
Completely defenseless, I flinched as Walker began to swing forward then
suddenly paused mid-strike, as if restraining himself. He took quick looks
towards the crowd, clearly waiting for something. I was unarmed, yet they did
not call off the match. I looked at my hands. Were they counting my powers as a
weapon?
    Walker came to the same conclusion soon after, and continued
his assault. I somehow dodged his attack, and focused my thoughts. How do I summon
the strange power? Another swing, another sidestep . I
had been tense, defenseless and filled with adrenaline every instance before. Swing. Duck, then backstep . I tensed my arm to see if the energy would spark. I could feel the energy
around me, yet nothing happened. Swing. Dodge. I was
forgetting something. Something that would ignite the energy
for me. But, what? Another
swing. I heard the shimmering sound of metal and energy slice through
the air. A spark. I needed a catalyst. I raised my arm
to block Walker’s next swing, hoping that I would not be dismembered. The sound
of metal hitting metal rang out violently throughout the arena. Walker
staggered backwards. I looked at my arm, now glowing with its purple aura, and
grinned at the turn of events. Remembering my first fight, and how reaching for
my legs caused the energy to jump to my arms. I brushed my arm against my leg.
Instantly, the aura enveloped both my legs and my other arm. Fixing my fighting
stance, I was now ready. Walker struck back, furiously. I blocked and countered
with a similar ferocity and speed. We continued this cycle for several minutes,
blocking most of each other’s blows yet still managing to sneak in an
occasional strike. The crowd was ecstatic, cheering and crying out at our stalemate.
My body wanted to give out. My legs had all but locked in place, yet I
continued fighting. As I felt his right claw fly past my cheek, I swung upwards
with my left and grabbed onto his arm. He reacted with a swing from his left. I
swung as well, hoping to strike first. My body twisted into the punch. His
strike missed, barely grazing my back, while my own swing made full contact
with his ribs. The impact knocked him off