Unbeknownst to them both, this was not the first duel Ashfall had witnessed.

  Vaeris closed the distance quickly.

  No flourish. No wasted motion.

  Her blade came forward in a clean thrust aimed directly for Rift’s heart.

  Rift slipped sideways out of measure with an easy pivot, his vibroblade rising in a lazy parry that knocked the point just wide of his collar.

  “Direct,” he said pleasantly.

  Vaeris withdrew the blade and came again, faster this time.

  A feint to the shoulder.

  Disengage.

  The point snapped downward toward his ribs.

  Rift twisted his torso and caught the strike on the vibrating edge of his blade. Steel rang as the two weapons met, the hum of the vibroblade grinding against Vaeris’ elegant sword.

  He leaned closer, studying her stance.

  “Oh yes,” he said softly. “You know what you're doing. And folded starsteel? Be still my beating heart. Ha!”

  Vaeris answered with motion.

  A swift advance.

  Her blade flashed in a tight circle that cut toward his face.

  Rift ducked under it, stepping inside her guard.

  His vibroblade swept in a brutal backhand cut meant to open her abdomen.

  Vaeris pivoted on her rear foot and deflected the strike in a tight parry. The blades slid against each other with a harsh metallic shriek.

  She riposted instantly.

  A lightning-fast thrust toward his visor.

  Rift snapped his head aside as the tip kissed the edge of the helmet.

  A faint line appeared in the armor’s plating.

  He laughed again, clearly having the time of his life.

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  “I think I'm in love.”

  They broke measure and Rift flicked his helmet off.

  For a few brief seconds, both fighters circled across the basalt, boots scraping against volcanic glass.

  Ash swirled between them.

  Rift’s head tilted slightly as he watched her footwork.

  “Classical dueling school,” he murmured thoughtfully. “Old one, too. Long reach. Linear bursts of speed. One form flowing into another. Such an elegant dance, my lady.”

  Vaeris lunged.

  Her body shot forward perfectly straight.

  The blade darted for his heart.

  Rift barely caught it, but he didn't seem surprised at all.

  The impact vibrated through both weapons as he trapped her blade in a bind and shoved it aside.

  “Oh. Oh, yes,” he shuddered.

  Vaeris didn’t respond.

  She flowed past him, pivoting smoothly into a reverse cut that forced Rift backward.

  The vibroblade rose to meet the strike.

  Sparks leapt where the edges collided.

  Rift retreated another step, smiling wider.

  Their blades met again in a quick exchange of parry and counter.

  Steel flashed.

  Boots scraped.

  Vaeris’ eyes narrowed.

  She attacked again.

  A feint to the wrist.

  Disengage.

  A sudden cut toward his knee.

  Rift hopped the strike easily and slashed downward.

  Vaeris lifted his blade into a high parry, their weapons locking together for a brief moment.

  Rift leaned closer.

  “You’ve been doing this for centuries, haven’t you?”

  Vaeris twisted the bind and kicked him in the chest and followed with a slash toward his throat in a vicious countercut.

  Rift jerked his head backward just in time.

  The edge carved a shallow groove across the armor at his collar.

  His laughter echoed across the ridge.

  “Marvelous.”

  They separated again.

  Rift rolled his shoulders once, loosening them.

  “You know,” he said cheerfully, “most mages I meet panic once the magic disappears.”

  He sounded like he was just talking about the weather. No concern in voice whatsoever.

  Vaeris advanced without a word.

  “You,” Rift continued, almost admiringly, “are far more interesting.”

  A rapid series of cuts drove Rift backward across the basalt—high, low, thrust, disengage, thrust again.

  The vibroblade blurred as he parried each strike.

  Clang.

  Clang.

  Clang.

  Ash swirled around their boots.

  “But, alas, nothing can last forever,” he sighed.

  Vaeris suddenly accelerated again.

  A straight-line burst.

  The blade shot toward his chest like a striking serpent.

  Rift moved before she finished the lunge.

  A half-step off line.

  A subtle pivot.

  His vibroblade swept upward in a tight arc.

  The humming edge met her wrist.

  There was a sharp metallic hiss.

  For a moment Vaeris didn’t seem to understand what had happened.

  Her hand, still clutching her ancient blade, arched high into the air, trailing a bright stream of blood.

  Both vanished into the molten glow of the lava river.

  Vaeris staggered.

  Rift lowered his blade slowly.

  “Ah,” he said softly.

  “At long last.”

  Blood spilled across the black stone.

  Vaeris sank to one knee, clutching the ruined stump of her arm.

  Rift studied her with open curiosity.

  “You see the problem?” he continued mildly.

  He gestured lightly around them with the vibroblade. “Everything… eventually becomes data.”

  He tilted his head.

  “Still,” he added thoughtfully, “you were extraordinary. I'll always cherish this memory.”

  Vaeris glared up at him through the ash.

  Rift sighed faintly.

  “Pity.”

  He leveled the blade horizontally, its point aimed at her heart.

  Then something moved in the sky above them.