The Near Infinite Names of Autumn Aubrey (Psychological Fantasy Progression)

V3: Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Five: Never Had The Stomach



The big room had been cleared of all of Underwitch Yume's blankets. Her and Precept Shanti had left to take them to the medery in Hymneth, but not before the eternally yawning precept and my teacher had spoken in the hall.

My afterglow had been defeated with several glasses of cold water, thinly sliced meat, bread, and by Anna's hands running through my hair. I kept it long for her. She had said once that she liked it that way, and even though I could not remember when that had been, it had been enough for me to never think about cutting it.

But, dueling was hard and chaotic work.

Apparently, in my last two duels, I had spent a great deal of time brushing Ire's black hair out of my face without even realizing I was doing it.

So while everyone had been talking around me, I had listened quietly as Anna brushed my hair back and tied it behind my head.

Jasna thought Yume's power was one of the strangest she had seen. Ferrin Faux disagreed and said that she had laid her eyes on much stranger sorceresses than Yume. Bellum, Zetta, and Maletta had all talked together a short distance away, my teacher spending much of the time complimenting me. Alexei had said nothing. Tana had joined him in his silence, but her eyes never left Anna and I.

Underwitch Ailin had gone to the center of the room and knelt down as soon as the floor had been cleared.

Unlike Tana, who I had learned how to mostly ignore, Ailin's dark blue eyes had felt like a weight on my shoulders that grew heavier and heavier the longer I made her wait.

I knew as much about her as I had Yume, but I could not afford to be taken off guard again. I had made my peace with losing the first two times because of my teacher and Anna, but I was not used to losing.

If it happened again, I didn't know what it would take to make me feel better.

So, with my tears dried, my belly full, and my hair tied, I had gone back to the center of the room with my aura already building inside me.

As soon as I took my place, my teacher stepped out from between my opponent and I as she shouted what I imagined had to be her favorite word. "Begin!"

She's short. She's fast. She was disappointed with how skinny my arms were. She crawled up Precept Zetta's arm and tried to bend it backwards.

Everything I knew about Ailin ran through my mind in the brief echo of my teacher's voice, and none of it gave me any idea as to what I should do.

I met her eyes, and what felt like an impossibly long moment passed between us.

I could not so much as take a breath.

Then, she winked.

Just like I had against Yume, I threw my arm out towards her before my whip had time to form.

My working took shape the very moment before it cracked against her middle.

I never heard the sound.

Both her hands closed around my whip's end before it could finish its writhing roll.

"Honestly, you know I've watched you all afternoon and you try the same thing against me?" Underwitch Ailin said as she shook her head in obvious disappointment.

She swung her little arms around in a circle, and sent a coil of my bright blue back towards my hand.

I tried to let go, but my own working wrapped around my wrist before I could.

"I knew it when I saw you. Precept Zetta only likes you so much because she thinks you're pretty." Ailin continued. Her own aura, dark and treacherous like night blackened water, ran up the length of my working from her hands faster than I could react to it.

Around the coil she had wrapped my wrist with and over my fingers, pressure pushed into my left palm.

I broke my focus and tried to let my whip turn to dust, but it held firm.

No, she held it firm, and I realized that I was no longer in control of the piece of my soul that I had made manifest.

With one great swing of her arms, her wavy hair feathering up from her head wildly, she lashed back at me with my own working.

I tried to snatch my hand out of her dark blue, but found no escape.

A much more painful flash of azure light struck me across my face and I was knocked back off my feet.

My hands covered my face and I spent a long while curled up on my side. Precept Zetta called something out, but I could not make sense of it.

Someone laughed.

I did not have to see to guess who.

"If you cannot control yourself, Puddles, you can leave." I heard Precept Zetta say.

After a moment, Underwitch Maletta spoke. "Forgive her, Zetta. She was merely thrilled when I explained to her where Ailin's talents lay."

My face hurt too much for me to care about what was being said. I was lucky I wasn't bleeding and it was only through sheer strength of will that I had not broken down into tears.

"Do you want me to do more, or can I go? There is nothing for me here." Underwitch Ailin asked, her voice much closer to me than I thought it should have been.

Precept Zetta sighed as I felt her place her hand on my shoulder. "I would not let her hear you say that, she's got quite the temper. Are you well, Ire?"

"No." I muttered through my hands.

It was the truth.

"Does it hurt?" She asked.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

It did, and I told her so. "If I would've known that was what I have been doing to the others, I don't know if I would've done it."

"Well, good. That means you've learned something about yourself. If you are ready to give up, I won't force you to duel again." She said quietly, likely trying to keep our conversation between the two of us.

"No," I snapped and threw myself up into a sitting position without taking my hands from my face. "I can beat her."

The throbbing streak across my face that my whip had left had dulled enough that I could have uncovered it, but the pain was not what mattered.

It was the embarrassment.

How could I let someone do that to me with my own power?

Zetta pulled me up by the back of my dress and held me until I proved I could stand on my own.

I eventually convinced myself to look back at my opponent, and while Yume had seen one deep breath away from sleep, Ailin looked like she had never been more bored in her life.

"What will it be next? Are you going to throw some of your sparkles at me or will it be the whip again?" She asked with half lidded eyes, a yawn, and a shrug.

My jaw clinched as I lowered myself into my points stance and waited for my teacher's signal.

"Ohhhh, is this that temper you warned me about, Precept Zetta?" Ailin asked as she mirrored my posture and laughed.

The aura that pressed against all of my channels, both sealed and unsealed, felt like more than I had ever felt before. It could have just been the anger, but if I didn't do something with it soon, I thought I might come apart at my seams.

"Begin!" Zetta shouted for the third time that afternoon.

I leapt forward and whipped my empty hand forward with every bit of force I could bring to bear.

Faster than ever before, my whip unfurled from my left palm and cut through the air towards Ailin.

"Really? Again?" She sighed as she rolled her eyes and brought her hands up to catch my strike.

I could have rolled my wrist or snatched my hand back to stop my working short, but I didn't.

I let her catch it.

Then, without hesitation, I let all of the mass of aura I had built within myself flow through my channel and burst through my whip like I had done when Tana had been hiding behind her walls.

Ailin had asked if I would use my fireworks or whip against her for our second match.

She had not considered the possibility of both.

It did not matter where her talents lay, when the end of my bright blue cord exploded in her hands, there was nothing she could do.

I lost her in the flash of azure that followed, but I did not look away. It was far too nice to be able to see what my soul could do without taking the hit myself.

When the spots left my eyes, I saw Ailin laying limp against the far wall. Her eyes were closed and a small spot of blood brought red to the corner of her mouth.

Zetta was crouched beside her, but she did not look worried enough for me to be. She brought her fingers to Ailin's ear and snapped three times before calling out. "Ire, wins!"

Someone cheered at the announcement of my victory. I turned around to see Anna standing up and clapping like I had just done the most amazing thing she had ever seen.

Precept Bellum and Precept Jasna both clapped for me too. It took Anna glaring down at him and pointing at me, but even Alexei gave me a slow nod of approval.

Ferrin Faux was smiling, but she had turned herself to the side so I could not be sure if her happiness was related to what I had just done.

Maletta was whispering something to Tana, but I could not have cared less what the honey haired underwitch thought so their indifference did not hurt my feelings.

I turned back to see Precept Zetta helping Ailin to her feet.

No matter how good being praised felt or how badly I wanted to throw my hands up in celebration, my duel was not over yet.

Ailin was a half moon, she would not fall for my trap a second time.

"Hmph," She huffed as she wiped the small amount of blood from her mouth a spit at the grey stones of the floor. "I wish you would have just knocked me out. Now I'm going to have to kill you."

Precept Zetta shook her head and placed her hand on the tiny underwitch's shoulder. "No. We can't have that."

Ailin glared at me, sighed, and then began to cry.

"I know, but what she did was so mean! Tricking me like that, I could have gotten hurt! I don't even want to fight you anymore. You don't play fair!" She shouted as she ran straight to the door and left the room.

Even through the high of my aura, how upset she was made me feel bad for what I had done. I was no stranger to being tricked myself. I knew firsthand how silly it could make me feel. But, what was worst of all, was how cute and small she was. Even though she had lashed me across my face not very long before, seeing her in tears brought hurt to my heart.

"Forgive her, Underwitch Ire. She has never had much of a stomach for losing. You did very well." Precept Bellum said with a smile as she passed by me.

"Let me see you out." Precept Zetta said as she took several quick steps to catch up to her.

I turned back to Anna.

If there had ever been a time I had earned a kiss, it was then.

"Keep your connection, Underwitch Ire. It is better not to waste our time waiting on you to stop crying." Maletta called over to me.

"I don't-oh." I said as I noticed that my whip was still whole and spread out across the floor.

I didn't understand why she thought I should keep it that way however. Yume had beaten me and left. Underwitch Ailin was likely still crying, but I doubted very much that she would return.

Unless, they meant for me to duel Tana.

Anna was not dumb. She must have had some idea that there was a new moon that I did not care for, but if she saw me fight the honey haired underwitch, there would be no room for doubt.

I would have to tell her everything.

"No word of Vivienne, Jasna?" Precept Zetta asked as she came back through the door with a sharp smile on her face.

Jasna shook her downy black hair in denial, all the feathers that were tied within it dancing like they had been taken by the wind. "If she is not here yet, I doubt she will come at all."

Since I had decided that Alexei was my friend and I was his, I would convince him to make another of the big blue feathers that Jasna had once worn on the top of her head.

She had lost it by protecting me after all, it was only right that I see it replaced.

Zetta sighed. "That's what I get for making my plan based off of underwitches. I guess I'm lucky that two of three even showed up. Oh well. Listen, Ire, we are going to-"

"I will duel the girl." Maletta said, cutting off my teacher as she stood.

No one spoke.

"You gave Vivienne an invitation because of her defensive talents, yes? Almost everyone here knows that there is no moon stronger than me in that area." Lun's strongest moon continued as she started a slow walk towards the center of the room.

"I don't know if I can agree to that, Maletta. It hasn't even been a month since-" Zetta started again.

Just like before, Maletta interrupted her. "I am tired of laying around. The intention was to see what Underwitch Ire was capable of if she used her full strength, yes? I will provide a target for her and if she fails to break my frost, she will withdraw."

Zetta's jaw tightened as she looked over at Precept Jasna.

"I will admit that I am curious." Jasna said quietly, as if she was reluctant for everyone to know how she felt.

Anna's eyes caught mine, and I could tell just by looking at her that she was worried.

"Fine," Precept Zetta said with a crystalline snap of her fingers. "But only if Ire agrees to it."

Everyone looked at me expectantly.

I retightened my grip and nodded in agreement. "As long as I can tell the others that I dueled Lun's strongest moon."

"Strong girl, of course you can." Precept Zetta said as she ruffled my hair and everyone prepared for my third and hopefully final duel of the day.


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.