Tavaar - 3rd Edition

I haven't anything to say about worlds today, so I will continue writing about Tavaar. When I last left off, Tavaar had just experienced her first kiss of passion. It was with Shello. (This is significant.) It had been unexpected - for both of them.

Tavaar was sixteen. She had just won the Mock Sword Championship at the family's yearly celebration to kick off the new year. As was customary, spectators would come and kiss the new champion. When Shello took his turn their kiss became much more and Khaiu had to break them apart. But now Tavaar understood she had power beyond her physical strength and prowess.

While waiting for Shello and Khaiu to begin their fight for the seventeen-to-twenty-year-olds championship, Tavaar "hangs out" with her three closest friends: Sashwa and Ahzbah, who were a year older, and Chahma, who was a year younger.

This passage is actually not about Tavaar. It is about what Tavaar witnessed when Shello and Khaiu fought for their championship. Again, this is draft work, written in a hurry in order to make the most of inspiration. I am trying to demonstrate certain character traits in both Shello and Khaiu. Note the frequent use of passive tense. My sloppiness in my draft writing makes editing very difficult.

The girls all hurried to find good places to sit and watch. Sashwa, Ahzbah and Chahma called to Shello, letting him know Tavaar was there. Tavaar said nothing, but her eyes never left him. When he looked at her, she smiled.

Shello was distracted, but not for long. Khaiu began angrily deriding him for losing focus. The signal was given to begin, but Khaiu only continued to lecture and instruct his younger brother. At first Tavaar believed Khaiu was attempting to gain an advantage, but she quickly realized it was the opposite. Shello was already distracted – by her. Khaiu’s derisions were meant to help Shello put her out of his immediate thought. It worked. She saw it happen. The moment came when Shello’s eyes suddenly focused on his brother. Then Khaiu struck.

Tavaar had seen the brothers fight before, also for a championship. It had been three years prior, when Shello was fourteen and Khaiu was sixteen. She had just won the trophy for eleven-to-thirteen-year-olds. She had not given either brother much thought then. Certainly not like now. There was a dramatic fluidity to their motions, with each action blending effortlessly into the next. She watched with chills on her arms as the two brothers engaged in a dance of war.

Most battles lasted for only a few turns. When highly skilled warriors faced off, battles could take ten or more short turns to resolve. Three years ago it had taken Shello more than a dozen short turns to win. This year, they went well past twelve. But what was truly amazing was how 12Khaiu continued to bark out instructions – and everything he said was absolutely correct. Every time Shello’s defenses began to falter Khaiu would warn Shello he was getting sloppy. Yet it wasn’t as if Khaiu wasn’t trying to win. His assaults were incredible, and the spectators cried out each time Shello parried the attack and retook the offensive.

As the fight neared thirty short turns it suddenly ended. One moment the swords were shipping back and forth, and the next Shello had his sword resting on Khaiu’s shoulder. Had Tavaar not been watching with complete focus she would have missed the "killing" blow. But she saw it. Shello had managed to slip past Khaiu’s defense, touch him ever so gently on his ear, and then drop the blade to his shoulder. Tavaar could not help the grim chuckle. Shello had never been so gentle with her. This ‘striking’ of Khaiu had been more like a kiss.

The little green 12 references a footnote which reads: Here we see the first evidence of Khaiu’s real skill and personality. Khaiu’s intent is on forcing Shello to improve, not win himself. Could he have won? That will never be known.

Tavaar invites the brothers to Gahrem Village for the next full moon bonfire. They accept the invitation. When they arrive, Khaiu disappoints Tavaar by telling her the reason he came was actually to offer her the chance to join Shello and Klarissa as a weapons student. Khaiu is not authorized to be training, so the training will have to be done "secretly". The training would be one-on-one and not as a group.

Khaiu allowed the regular instructors to teach coordinated attack. What he taught were subtle maneuvers which required not only tremendous physical skill and stamina, but the capacity for keen observation and quick thinking. The result was Tavaar leaped forward in her sword skills. She eagerly awaited the next Amaris, when she fervently believed she would take Shello’s sword crown.

In the meantime, Tavaar had other interests. She, Sashwa, Ahzbah and Chahma were having fun with the many young males who were fast becoming aware of their beauty. Courtship was not allowed at this young age, but that did not prevent the girls from playing. And they did play. They were young, and they were desirable, and they knew it. Shello was part of Tavaar’s fun. They did not meet as often as Tavaar would have liked, but it was often enough to keep both in a state of wanting more.

Tavaar would not get a chance to fight Shello the following year. That was the year she fought Khaiu.

Tavaar was not able to defeat Shello the following year. In fact, she never faced him. The final two pairs pitted Klarissa against Shello and Tavaar against Khaiu. As he had done with Shello the year before, Khaiu barked out warnings and instructions to her as he launched frightening attacks. These wore on her, and after nearly twenty short turns she felt the side of his blade strike her cheek. Instead of complimenting her on her effort, which everyone else was doing, Khaiu instead pointed out her mistakes and explained why she had lost. Ahzbah and Chahma snapped at Khaiu for this, but Tavaar found Khaiu’s unguarded honesty refreshing. There was nothing political about Khaiu.

At eighteen and nineteen Tavaar would again rematch Shello, losing both times. She did well, but she could sense Shello was widening the gap of skill between them. He began flamesword training at nineteen. Not even Khaiu had done that, although Tavaar suspected he could have had he only desired to.

This text states that Khaiu did not begin flamesword training until age twenty. I just checked the Archive Database. Not true. Khaiu also began flamesword training at age nineteen.

Thus far, the only real disappointments in Tavaar's life have been her defeats to Shello in the Mock Sword Championships. From this point on her disappointments will increase in frequency and severity.