The Zephyr and the Warlord

She moved like a leaf on the wind, stepping into me. So close yet so far away, to reach and out an touch her, a dream yet unrealized. She was showing me those pretty white jaws I had heard so much about, it set my heart racing. This fragile Queen of a people so oft forgotten and overlooked, yet so skillful in the way she moved. Faster, more graceful, foot work impeccable, a true ballerina as she danced just out of reach once more.   Sly look in her eyes as she locked hers with mine once again, enraptured I was in her gaze. A heart so guarded, yet so eager to let everything in, I understood. Putting on this show for the benefit of all else around us, yet nothing seemed to matter except for us two locked in this cat and mouse game we played. Just as she danced into my arms outstretched once more, did she flash me those curious eyes more deeply than before. Lost I was in the deep violet wells, like the horizon just before the sun had pulled the chariot of the moon behind it.   She effortlessly deflected my ax strike down at her, twirling her long dress out to catch the haft of the weapon in the fabric. She moved far faster than before as her humming increased and so did her speed. I was used to fighting The Bluejay, magic in a fight was an all too accustomed practice of mine. Letting go of the haft, she missed a step as she dodged back, stumbling just long enough for me to redirect some of her magic into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.   It finally let me see what she was doing, potent air pressure around her, knocking the dust away. Pushing and pulling her as she moved, it was no wonder I couldn't keep up with her. Yet, even so, I couldn't help but be impressed by her with each passing day. Matching her graceful fall back, pulling my hand from the earth still crackling with power, I rushed her. Cloaking my hands in stone and clay as she swung up at me with that Saber she used like a Greatsword. The earthen armor deflecting away the strike as I tried to grab her, I was told her nickname as a fighter was Zephyr.   Like her namesake, like trying to grab hold of the mist, she evaded me even while falling to her back. With a kick, she swept my legs out from under me, it was my turn to give her that sly grin in return. As my shoulder touched ground, the earth reached up to wrap itself to grab her ankle. The look of shock in her face as I rolled the fall to land back on my feet made me proud of my own magic for the first time in a long time.   Though, short lived, she tapped the tip of her Saber against the ground making a piercing sound that shattered the stone holding her as she rushed me. I was ready for her, waiting until the right moment. In slow motion I watched the Saber descend her soft hair billowing out behind her. Framing her beautiful face as my hand reached out and parried her strike, flinging her sword into the earth.   Catching her off balance, my hands already wrapping around her to catch her as she fell back. Now both of us disarmed, she leaned back in my embrace, a coy look already alight in her eyes. That sweet smile twitching her lips up, "Let's call it a draw, huh big guy?" Her voice was like music to my ears, the stone still encasing my hands dulled the feeling of the knife she tapped on my inner thigh.   I laughed, giving her a spin as she righted herself, her dress twirling out just as it had done before, though she never let go of my hand. "Shall we dance again? Absolutely enthralling you are!"