The grassy hilltop overlooked distant mountains, their peaks shrouded in morning mist. Two staffs lay crossed against a weathered boulder, their polished wood gleaming in the early sunlight. Sky Child perched on a rocky outcrop, his small beak working at a cluster of tiny berries he’d found among the rocks, pausing occasionally to tilt his head and watch the two figures circling each other in the clearing below.

  Through the sparrow’s keen eyes, the display of combat unfolded with perfect clarity.

  Skyheart ducked low under Skysong’s sweeping palm strike, his body moving like a breeze around obstacles as he transitioned into a backwards roll. His feet barely touched the ground before he sprang up, attempting to catch her extended arm. But Skysong had already pivoted, her silver hair whipping through the air as she redirected his momentum with a gentle push that sent him stumbling forward.

  It had been slightly over two weeks since Elder Feather had introduced them, and Skyheart’s progress showed in every movement. Where once he would have fallen, now he caught himself with a hand on the ground, using the contact to launch into a one-handed cartwheel that brought him back to his feet.

  “Better,” Skysong said with an encouraging smile. She shifted her stance, one foot sliding back as she raised her open palms. “You’re fighting against your own flow. Your body knows what to do, you just need to let it...” She closed her eyes and breathed in slowly and calmly, then, with equal calmness, opened them, her pale silver-blue eyes sparkling with an enthusiastic light despite her calm breathing, like a joyful breeze as she looked at him. “Let it breathe!”

  Skyheart grinned, wiping sweat from his brow. “Last week you told me to burst out faster and react with fury, now you’re saying breathe - which is it?”

  “Just like the wind,” Skysong said, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm, moving forward with flowing grace. “Sometimes it’s gentle and calm, sometimes it gets all wild and gusty. That’s what makes it so amazing!”

  With a playful smile, she attacked once more.

  Her palm strike came faster than before. Skyheart leaned back, feeling the air displacement as her hand passed inches from his nose. He grabbed for her wrist, but she was already flowing into her next attack - a knee aimed at his ribs. He twisted aside, using his acrobatic training to convert the dodge into a spinning kick.

  Skysong caught his ankle with both hands, but instead of resisting, Skyheart used her grip as a pivot point. He pushed off with his other foot, spinning horizontally through the air. The unexpected maneuver forced her to release him or be pulled off balance.

  She chose to let go, stepping back with an approving nod as he landed in a crouch.

  “You always show such creative and interesting moves,” she said with a joyful pitch in her sweet voice. “But you can’t just rely on being athletic forever. Trust me, I’ve seen people who were way stronger who still couldn’t keep up.”

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  To prove her point, she closed the distance before he could fully rise. Her shoulder checked his chest while her foot hooked behind his ankle. Skyheart hit the ground hard, rolling backward to create space. But Skysong followed, her movements flowing like a stream finding its path downhill. Every escape route he tried, she was already there, gently but firmly redirecting him until he found himself backed against the boulder where their staffs rested.

  Sky Child finished the last of his berries and preened one wing briefly before calling from above. “Chirp chirp!” he sounded distinctly amused.

  “Nobody asked you,” Skyheart muttered, then dove to the side as Skysong’s palm strike would have tagged his shoulder.

  They separated, both breathing steadily as they assessed each other. Without warning, both extended their hands toward the boulder. Wind swirled around their fingers, invisible forces grasping the waiting staffs. The weapons lifted into the air, spinning as they flew to their masters’ hands, pausing abruptly less than an inch away from the palm.

  The moment their hands wrapped around the staff handles, the combat truly began once more.

  Skysong’s staff moved like an extension of herself - flowing, graceful, always shifting. Her strikes came from unexpected angles, the weapon seeming to bend around Skyheart’s blocks through pure technique. She fought like a master dancer, each movement flowing naturally into the next.

  Skyheart’s style was entirely different. Where she flowed, he darted. His staff work incorporated flips, aerial spins, and constant motion. He fought like a playful wind that couldn’t decide which direction to blow, unpredictable and chaotic. He’d plant his staff and vault over her sweep, or slide under her high strike while spinning his weapon overhead.

  Their staffs met in a rapid exchange - crack, crack, crack - the sound echoing across the hilltop. Skysong’s superior skill showed in how she never seemed rushed despite Skyheart’s frenetic pace. When he attempted a flashy spinning strike, she simply stepped inside his reach, her staff’s end jabbing solidly into his ribs before he could complete the rotation.

  “And you’re down,” she said with a teasing smile.

  He grimaced and rubbed his ribs briefly, but immediately dropped and swept his staff low. She hopped over it, but he used the momentum to bring the other end up in a rising arc. This time she had to actually block, their staffs meeting with a solid crack.

  “Good! You’re learning to chain your attacks better.” She pressed forward with a series of precise thrusts that had him backing up rapidly. “But you still telegraph the acrobatic moves.”

  As if to prove her point, when he started to plant his staff for another vault, she was already moving. Her foot kicked his staff just as he began to put weight on it, sending him tumbling. He managed to turn it into a roll, coming up with his weapon ready, but she was already there, her staff’s tip resting lightly against his throat.

  “Dead again!” she said with a teasing grin.

  Skyheart sighed, lowering his weapon. After nearly an hour of being thoroughly outmatched, he was starting to feel the accumulated bruises from their morning session.

  “Nice job, Skyheart! You’re definitely getting better,” Skysong said, stepping back and resting her staff against the ground with a bright smile. “That sweep combo almost got me! Ready to try some Quill techniques now? I’m curious to see if you’ve learned from those mistakes over the last three days.”

  The pattern had been established early in their training - once every three days, they sparred, with Skyheart being beaten handily in the beginning. The two days between were left for self-study, for him to analyze his mistakes and practice. The third day brought sparring again, along with Skysong’s guidance, teaching him new techniques involving combat and quill.

  “That kick was easily deflected by you,” Skyheart countered, though he was smiling. “Anyway, let’s go.”