The shimmer throbbed in my chest like a second heartbeat.
I stumbled back, flicking behind a crooked tree just in time to dodge another of Plor's invisible projectiles. Something cracked through the bark where I'd been standing, loud enough to make my ears ring. Wood splinters exploded around me like shrapnel.
I didn't have time to breathe.
The moment my boots hit moss, the ground warped.
Literally warped.
Plor had charged something again, I couldn't tell what, but I was already flicking, dragging the shimmer with me as I teleported to a low branch above.
A shockwave burst upward just beneath me, a slab of marsh rock flipping into the air like it had been punched from underneath.
"You're getting predictable." Plor called from across the clearing.
I caught a glimpse of her floating above the ground, one knee up, balanced midair with casual grace. Charges, She was using her Point on herself to stay aloft like it was nothing.
I didn't answer. My breath came shallow now, my shirt clinging wet to my back. I wiped sweat from my brow, eyes darting.
I can't win this.
But maybe I could last just a little longer.
I flicked across the clearing again, low to the ground this time. Aiming wide.
Plor clapped her hands once, the air shifting.
I felt it.
Something wrong in the air just ahead of me.
I tried to flick again midair, too late.
A concussive burst slammed into my side, like I'd run into a wall made of wind. I tumbled across the mud, my head snapping back.
"Spatial charge," Plor said lazily, hovering above. "I can place my forces anywhere. Doesn't need to be on a thing."
"Neat trick," I muttered, pushing to my feet.
My ribs ached. That burst hadn't just hit my body, it felt like it scraped my insides. The shimmer was slower now, reluctant.
Plor landed softly beside a mossy stump, boots barely stirring the water.
She tapped the side of her chakram with two fingers. Left side, right side. A hum built in the air, the metal seemingly bending. Then she let go.
The chakram floated midair, warping slightly.
I blinked.
It was gone.
It shot forward like it had been fired from a cannon.
I barely teleported out of the way, reappearing behind a rock just as the blade carved through the trees like a buzzsaw.
I peeked out.
"Where's the friendly version of you gone?"
"This is the friendly version." she called, and flicked her wrist.
Her body whipped forward, becoming an afterimage.
She came in like a missile.
I flicked behind her.
She expected it.
Her elbow shot back with another push charge on it. I caught only a fragment of the force across my chest before I flicked away again, gasping. I hit the ground hard, rolling through muck and cracked bark.
Pain sparked through me like fire.
I stayed low, chest heaving.
I saw her reach out and touch the air right in front of her. Another charge.
She's making traps now?
I flicked a few meters sideways. Waiting, letting her make the next move.
She didn't throw anything this time.
Instead, she stepped into the air and pushed herself straight up into the canopy.
I barely caught her silhouette in the trees.
A second later, rocks, sticks, maybe even parts of the broken tree, everything around me started lifting.
I blinked.
She was charging objects at random, and the moment she activated them, they began exploding outward. No pattern. Just chaos.
I flicked.
Flicked again.
I got hit anyway.
A branch clipped my leg mid-teleport. I crashed hard into the mud, groaning. That one left a long gash along my shin.
Above me, she hovered again, flipping her chakram through her fingers like it was a toy.
Ten minutes.
I just had to survive ten minutes.
She reached down and tapped something just outside my peripheral vision.
I looked up, there was a log, half-balanced on the branch of a tree.
She'd charged both ends.
Then she said, real soft, "Let's end it."
I flicked forward, shimmer roaring in my chest.
Straight at her.
Desperate.
I drew my fist back, aiming for her cheek, the shimmer screaming through my arm.
Just one hit come on—
A log on my right fired like a slingshot straight into my side.
Pain cracked through me like a thunderclap. My body folded mid-air. The world spun. I didn't even feel the ground when it hit.
Everything went… dark, quiet.
————
I woke up to the sound of rain pattering softly against the roof.
The air was dim, grey with early morning. My body ached in ways I didn't know it could. My chest, ribs, shoulder, even the skin on my cheek felt raw.
I blinked slowly.
Sheets.
Roof.
Wooden beams above.
I was back in the house.
The blanket over me was scratchy, a little damp. My shirt was gone. My boots were by the wall, caked in dried mud.
I sat up slowly and regretted it immediately.
Pain lanced up my side. I groaned and let myself fall back into the pillow.
"Ah, you're alive."
Plor's voice came from the far end of the room. She was sitting on a stool near the window, legs kicked up, a half-eaten biscuit in one hand and a mug in the other. She looked like she hadn't slept at all. Or maybe she just never needed to.
I squinted at her.
"You threw a tree at me."
"I threw a log. Big difference. The tree was just cheering it on."
I exhaled a weak laugh and pressed a hand to my ribs.
"I lost, didn't I?"
"Oh, absolutely," she said brightly. "Didn't even make it to ten minutes. You passed out at around… eight? Maybe seven. I stopped counting once you faceplanted."
She sipped from the mug, then tilted her head toward me.
"But I'll admit, you did pretty well. You actually made me think once or twice."
I let that settle. Coming from her, that probably was high praise.
"Thanks." I said, voice dry.
We sat in silence for a while. The rain kept tapping on the rooftop, slow and steady.
Finally, I turned my head toward her.
"Your Point." I said. "How does it… work? I mean, really work. Some of the stuff you did, it just doesn't make sense."
Her eyes lit up a bit.
"I was wondering when you'd ask."
She stood and walked over, grabbing another stool and dragging it beside my bed. She sat with a groan, setting her mug on the floor.
"All right. Lecture time."
I groaned.
"You're enjoying this."
"Oh, deeply."
She held out her palm. "I call it charge. Not the most creative name, I know. But it fits. I touch something, and I can place a push or pull on it. Directional. Like throwing invisible hands on stuff."
I nodded slowly.
"So the flying trees and exploding rocks…"
"Push charges." She said. "Slap a push on one end, it flies. If I use two charges, one on either end pushing against eachother, I can cancel one side releasing it faster then a bullet."
I frowned. "And the air? You hit me with air."
"That's the good stuff." She said, smirking. "I can place charges on empty space too. Spatial coordinates. Doesn't last long as long though, about ten seconds max. But if I charge an empty point in the air, and then release it, it creates a blast. Like compressing a punch in the air."
"So that thing I hit mid-teleport—"
"Yup, you ran into nothing. Literally. Or at least, nothing I turned into something."
She leaned back, clearly enjoying herself.
"Air is everywhere. Makes it perfect for surprise traps."
I shook my head.
"And you can put it on yourself?"
She nodded.
"My Points internal. So I can charge my own body, push off the ground without moving my legs, pull myself mid-jump, even glide. Flight's just an overused application, really. I can also dodge in air or create impact bursts to punch harder."
"You were flying half the fight."
"More like redirecting my fall very dramatically." She said. "I'm not that graceful."
I stared at the ceiling a moment.
"…You can do all that. With just push and pull, and all you need is touch?"
"Touch and timing," she corrected. "The charge doesn't activate on its own. I have to push energy into it. That's how I control the force, the direction, even delay it."
I thought back.
That moment with the chakram. She'd charged both sides, then let one go to fire it like a cannon.
"And those blades—"
"Yeah. My chakram is perfect for it. Light, symmetrical, easy to control with dual charges. I can make them hover, snap them back to me, even send them around corners if I use timed charges and pull fields."
"That's how you blocked my last hit."
She gave a grin, wide and pleased.
"You flicked forward, all dramatic. I saw the desperation coming. Planted a log behind me, charged both ends, held it steady, then released the rear. Boom. Timing is everything."
I groaned and covered my eyes.
"That was so dumb."
"It was desperate." She agreed. "Which isn't the same thing. You did well."
There was something quiet in her tone then. Not mocking. Not sarcastic.
I glanced sideways.
She wasn't grinning anymore.
"You've improved a lot." She said. "Three weeks ago, you couldn't stay upright after a teleport. Now you're blinking around like a maniac."
"It still feels straining." I muttered.
"Then you're still using it right."
I paused.
"…That's normal?"
"For everyone? Of course, you're forcing change into the real world. Willpower made into motion. Of course it burns."
I lay there for a long moment, staring at the wooden beams above.
Then I said, quietly.
"I didn't hit you once."
"Nope, wasn't even close." She said.
I sighed.
She spoke, lightly this time.
"But you survived."
"…Sort of."
"That's better then most people I fight."
She stood and stretched, joints cracking. Then she looked down at me, all crooked grin again.
"Rest up, Mud Boy. You've earned it."
I blinked.
"That a nickname now?"
"Absolutely."
She turned and started walking off, then called over her shoulder.
"Congrats, you got a four day break. Then we'll go raid that ruined city, feel free to do whatever until then."
She turned and left, stomping out the room.
Rain kept falling.
Despite the pain, despite the bruises, despite everything.
I smiled.