Spacer Clans Adventure 2: Naero's Gambit (25 page)

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M
onths into her third year, Naero laughed with Lenna and Iika. Lenna’s kits grew rapidly, climbing and playing happily all over Naero.

Squealing with joy when she tickled or kissed them.

Lenna put her hands to her face.

“Each day is a gift of great gladness. Each day I love my little ones and watch them laugh and grow
beneath the sun, moon, and stars–I think of you, of your gift of life to us. Thank you Naero, my dear sister.”

Naero hugged her briefly.

“I was glad to help. I did my best to help another who was in great need. As I hope that someone would do for me, if I was in such dire need.”

“Ahh…the great gift,” Iika said. “The greatest of all the great truths. To care for another as you would have them care for you. To give of yourself, all that you can, as you would have others give to you. You have grown as wise and mighty, as you are beautiful, halaena. And that only adds to your glory. The Tua have never known another like you. You do us great honor.”

“It is an honor to know the Tua and to be accepted into their homes. I only do what I think is right. Just as you all do. There’s no need to make much about it. It is the way that things should truly be.”

But
Lenna would not let it go.

“I and my people accept you as one among us, sister. You will always have a place among us. And wherever you go among the stars, you shall always take a part of us with you. No matter what happens. We shall never forget you.”

Naero looked at the sky. A bright, brilliant peaceful day.

She laughed. “Don
’t worry so much. Nothing’s going to happen.”

Lenna
looked into the same sky and sadly shook her head. “No, sister. Even you as one of the great among the halaena know better than this. Things always happen that we have no power over. That is why we must cherish each moment. For we know not what shall come.

“Yet I say
this to you. That even if all the world should fall into the sun this moment, I would hold my kits close and be glad–thankful for the time I have been given with them. And for knowing you, and all the faces I love to see each day. I will never stop thanking you.”

Naero had no words to reply with.

*

Naero
’s sessions with Hashiko continued.

Master Vane
trained closely with her more and more, for longer and longer periods of time as her endurance and her mastery of the energy fields increased.

At times he took her onto the Astral Plane where they could do less planetary damage with their contests. Unleashing great destructive techniques.

He relentlessly punished and challenged her in every way.

And despite Naero
remaining at a severe disadvantage against him–a Mystic Master with centuries of experience–she strove to do the same.

That was the secret with Vane.

She could never bore him. But he couldn’t resist a challenge. His one major weakness, as Naero saw it.

On top of being a major ass
-bag.

More months ticked by. And she continually found peace, and healing, and good will and solace among the simple, gentle Tua.

Until she thought them to be among the greatest cultures she had ever learned about, in all her years of education and searching.

Nearly three long
, punishing years on Janosha passed.

Each day a
continuing struggle in nearly every way.

Yet finally the day came at last.

Today.

This day
was the day.

Naero felt certain about it.

Despite the fact that she kept telling herself that every day.

Every day for the last several months
of her third year on Janosha.

Each day she got
a little closer.

But with less than two
months before her three year ordeal was over, she grew more certain and hopeful with each dawn and dusk that passed.

She shook her head
and limbered up.

It still boggled her mind somewhat that
in the end, only three months had passed in the outside universe, beyond Janosha.

The time dilat
ion concept still freaked her out somewhat. But no matter now

This was the new day that was given. A
bright beautiful autumn day, cool and crisp on the savannahs of Janosha.

And the Tua greeted the dawn as they always did
each day, with their song of welcoming.

Naero stood with her feet planted firmly on the earth itself, drinking in the energy and strength all around her.
Girding herself for the challenge to come.

And
she sang with them.

Sha nii hah, ahluu-nii-ha
-ah! Mah nah-hii, jah ah-loh, ah-dii!

One hour exactly after dawn, Mystic Adept Naero Amashin Maeris approached the Mystic sparring circle and raised
one fist high in defiance–to challenge Prime Adept Mitsubishi Hashiko for the right to enter the circle and do combat.

Hashiko turned to face her, gray togs form fitting just like Naero
’s, covering almost their entire bodies, even their hands and feet.

Only her fierce black eyes glared through the slit in her tight
, Nytex hood and mask, pulled up for formal, ritual combat.

As soon as Naero closed her black Nytex hood over her face and head in the same formal fashion, Hashiko nodded.

Eyes focused. Unblinking.

Naero charged in. Focusing all of her speed and strength.

She adjusted her density, her champion parents’ secret fighting ability from their Clans.

Naero and Hashiko stood toe to toe, punching and kicking in a flurry of combinations and honed te
chniques for nearly an hour. Blows thundering, cracking, and rocketing as they clashed and split through the air.

Until the entire area rocked and thrummed with the weight and impact of their
close-in battle. They grunted and shouted as they fought and endured.

The Tua themselves lined the outer ring of
galu trees, watching in wonder. They sang their song of struggle and trouble.

Thanduu zoh ganuu, Peng shiikah vah kongo, Tur-rah-gah ziiko, Tur-rah-gah mah-duu
…

Then Master Vane flashed in on one of the old benches.

The Tua gasped.

The Great One
had never come to witness one of the halaena battles yet, no matter what had transpired.

The shock of the impacts
continued to shatter the air and rumbled the very ground with tremors.

Yet both contestants held fast and did not budge or retreat. Regenerating injuries as best they could as they
fought on.

Finally they both withdrew slightly and took up their stances, circling one another.

They charged in once more, lines of force and rings and spheres of psyonic, Chaos, and Cosmic energy erupting and expanding around them as they fought their way through each other’s traps and defenses.

At last Naero staggered Hashiko with a solid punch that snapped
the Prime adept’s head violently to one side, spraying blood.

Haisha! Did that feel good!

Naero had never experienced anything so intensely satisfying.

Landing a good solid blow on the ruthless adept who had tormented and punished her day-in and day-out for nearly three years.

But Hashiko could take a punch, and countered with a sweeping back-wheel kick.

It
smashed into the side of Naero’s head and sent her staggering back to the edge of the sparring circle of dark black sand.

One step more spell
ed defeat.

The Tua shot to their feet as one, necks craning.

They cried out in their song of danger, shrieking to a near fevered pitch.

Ahti! Ahti! Ahti! Zah, Zah, Zah! Pahn duu, Pahn duu, Pahn duu!

Hashiko broke the rules again and hit Naero with a massive sonic blast. Attempting to drive Naero out of the circle.

Naero dug her feet
in and and strode forward into the withering teeth of the heavy attack, countering with a mindblast that gutted Hashiko’s assault.

And
then rocked her with Naero’s own sonic counter-attack.

Hashiko deflected the blast around her with a thick, glass-like Chaos shield all over her body that only lasted an instant.
Shattering into a spray of dust and shards, absorbing the intense damage.

Then she went on the offensive to overpower Naero and
crush her.

Fists and feet blazing with the rampant flames of pure Chaos energ
y.

In dismay, Naero stepped back slightly, struggling to
come up with a way to counter such an all-out assault.

Too late.

Hashiko roared at her like a freight hauler on fire, set to explode.

At the last
instant.

Naero used every ounce of speed merely to flip herself to one side.

Out of the way.

Hashiko hurtled right by her, unable to stop herself.

Right out of the sparring ring.

For the first time in
nearly three years.

Naero won a match.

Hashiko shrieked in frustration and rage.

She struck the earth with her fiery fists until the ground split and the energies snuffed out at the impact.

“You tricked me!” Hashiko railed.

Naero grinned
, chuckling.

“I
’m guessing you don’t know me very well.”

“T
hat doesn’t count! You didn’t defeat me in proper combat.”

“O
h, it counts all right…adept. You can’t keep changing the rules any longer to suit yourself. Not after today. So suck it up.”

Hashiko screamed and charged at her again.

Naero flip-kicked her twice, wheeling impossibly fast in mid-air.

T
hen a sweeping spin kick to one side.

To throw her off balance.

Naero maxed out her density and double spin-kicked her back to the opposite side.

Hashi reeling and
partially dazed.

A double front flip kick.

Prime Adept Mitsubishi Hashiko soared out of the sparring field as if shot out of a cannon.

She smashed into the
galu trees in an explosion of splintering wood and Chaos energy.

The Tua scattered, and then went wild, singing their song of praise
. Rejoicing at Naero’s long overdue triumph.

Naero fell to her knees, raised her hands to the bright sky and sang with them in
exultation.

Yah-duu Ah Shah Lah! Shah hah lah shah-dae! Yah Jhah Vah Shah-Lae
! Ae duu vah. Ae duu vah shah lah!

High Master Vane clapped his hands together and split the very air with a peel of deafening thunder.

The shock wave alone nearly tore up the trees and knocked the Tua flat on their backs in every direction.

Naero had to use all of her remaining strength to keep standing.

Vane went on to clap slowly.

“S
o, Maeris. After three years of constant failure, you’ve manage to win a single match.”
He yawned.
“Indeed…Bravo!”

Naero ignored him. He would not lessen her victory. Not this day.

Hashiko flashed in behind Vane and stood defiant, her arms crossed in front of herself, hood pulled back.

But she still had
galu wood splinters and stray leaves in her mussed up hair. She wiped the smeared blood from her bruised and battered face.

Vane turned to Naero again.

“Very well, Maeris. You have your little victory. What will you do with it? Tell us? The sparring field is yours…for the moment.”

Naero kept her face impassive and bowed her head ever so slightly to High Master Vane.

Then she held out her hand.

“A
dept Hashiko is a worthy opponent. She still has much to teach me and many others after me. I welcome her back into
our
sparring circle, if not as friends, then at least as comrades.”

Hashiko
’s mouth fell open slightly. She looked slightly confused and at a loss.

Now Vane rolled his eyes.

“If you haven’t figured it out, Maeris is being dramatic again, Hashi. You’d better shake her hand or we could be here all the ding dong day. Try and be gracious for once.”