Page 84 of Suffer No Fools
Tovey respected fire. He backed away when Hugo swung the blade to test it out.
"Your form is much better with the fire blade than with a wooden one," Stan said. "Now you need a shield of ice."
Hugo grinned. Coryn had never trained him in ice. She'd wanted him to think he was unbalanced, like the other six weavers she kept on hand. Would she be surprised to learn he had both elements, or had she known all along? Hugo wanted to see the shock on her face when he battled her with four instead of one.
Tovey grinned. "It's about time you brought a proper weapon to this fight."
"Don't do anything rash," Stan called. "Do I need to find Yvette?"
"I won't break him," Tovey promised.
Hugo couldn't see Tovey's attacks. Whips of pure air latched onto his blade, tugging on it and almost yanking it fromhis grasp. He shook his head and poured more power into the weave. Tovey's air weave went up in flames from the extra burst, and he pulled them back to his core, cursing.
"Fuck, that's brilliant," Tovey said. "Again."
This time, when Tovey attacked, Hugo countered with a shield of ice. It was far too cold to touch. He was going to reach for his belt, to wrap it around his hand, but the thought itself transformed the leather belt. It re-materialized around his arm like a bracer, the same way Stan had moved bread from one plate to another.
He didn't have time to admire it before Tovey lashed out again, this time with his own fiery burst that engulfed the shield. It started to melt, dripping water onto Hugo's leather.
Hugo didn't think about the implications. He merely transformed the outer edges of his shield into a ring of fire, absorbing Tovey's power and flinging it away from the center. The melting stopped, and Tovey whistled as Hugo shoved his air back at him with a blast of his own.
Tovey bent over, grabbing his side, sucking in breaths as though Hugo had stolen the very air from his lungs.
"We shouldn't train against each other," Stan said. "It may be important to fight as a team, but one-on-one, we'll only end up hurting ourselves."
"Point taken." Hugo gave a slight bow to Tovey.
"Aye," Tovey said. He gave him a bow fit for an emperor. "I want to learn to fight together. I'm already using fire and air like it was meant to be."
"You used ice and air this morning," Stan said.
"I had to think about it," Tovey said. "This ... I didn't know what I was doing, and Hugo blocked me, so he wasn't helping." Tovey stared down at his hands in horror, as though they were covered in flames, or worse, blood.
Hugo dropped his magic and skipped through the sand to his side, looping his arms around Tovey's neck and pulling his head to his shoulder for a hug. "It's part of the bond. I can't block my instincts, or yours."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"You didn't." Hugo stepped back and studied Tovey's sweat-streaked face. "Did I hurt you?"
"No." Tovey kissed the tip of his nose. "But you could have. Is that what you want me to say?"
"No more practice swords," he said.
"Agreed." Tovey glanced up at Stan, who squatted at the edge of the sand pit. "Beatrice can talk you through using your elements from now on."
"And we can spar with the others," Hugo said. "Jasmine, Trin, Renald, and the twins."
"Bea didn't want Hugo training with the children," Stan reminded them.
"I have better control of my power now. I won't hurt them."
"They might hurt you," Tovey said.
Hugo hadn't thought of that possibility, but it could be useful. "We'll invite Yvette to our sparring sessions. She can train Vadim if something goes wrong."
Tovey grabbed him by the hips and pulled him in for another hug. "You think of everything. All right. We'll talk to Beatrice this afternoon."
Hugo reached for a gust of air and shoved Stan off balance. He fell into the pit on his hands and knees with a startled laugh.
