Leonov only had a few moments to share his plan with them before there was a chance that Kanora could overhear him, so he spoke very quickly. They had no trouble understanding him, though their faces were dubious, almost suspicious, sure that it couldn’t work. But there was something about the confident and assured way that he presented his plan to them that made it very difficult to dismiss the idea out of hand.

“You really think that will work?” Falynn asked, her eyes wide. “I’m not even sure I can do that, even with my new use of living wood.”

“Just give it your best effort,” he said in a reassuring tone. “Even if it doesn’t work, it’s still a step forward. But I think it will work, and I believe that you can pull it off.”

She flushed slightly pink at his words but smiled widely. “Well, thanks for that. It’s a little hard to believe in myself when I think of that woman, but I’ll do my best.”

He smiled back at her, quietly pleased by the subtle transformation she’d undergone today. Then he turned to Roni, taking in the bow she held gripped tightly in her left hand. “What do you think?”

She didn’t reply for a while, taking her time to think it through. Eventually, she nodded her agreement. “It’s a strange plan, but it could work. And my part fits me perfectly.”

“Glad you agree,” Leonov said shortly. In anyone else, the tone might have been dry or sarcastic, but he was focused on running the plan through his mind again, slowly nodding as he went over each part of it. “Yes. I think it’s our best option.”

“We trust you, Leonov,” Falynn said softly, putting a hand on his forearm to reassure him. “You’re more experienced in tactics and leading a battle than we are. If you think it will work, so do we.”

She threw half a glance in Roni’s direction, as if asking for her to back the claim up, but the ranger only shrugged lightly. “There’s no point in telling him something that he should already know.”

A wry grin crossed Leonov’s face at her comeback. “Careful, Roni. You keep being so nice to me, I might start thinking you like me.”

She smirked back. “Dream on, old man.”

He put on a mock-wounded expression. “Old? I’m barely thirty! I could still catch a woman’s eye, thank you!”

That made Roni chuckle, the first non-sarcastic humor she’d shown since they’d met. She seemed to realize it herself, for she fell silent at once, and turned to run toward a nearby tree and scale it. She vanished from their sight in seconds, presumably crouching on one of the tree’s branches, her bow ready for action. Falynn took the hint and moved away herself. She stayed within sight, however, a few feet away from Leonov, her living wood staff clutched tightly in one hand.

“Remember,” he said, “Don’t tire yourself out trying to see her or sense her coming with your eyes. Use what you know to sense her approach.”

She nodded her understanding, jabbed the staff against an exposed root, and closed her eyes. Leonov thought he could feel her consciousness expanding past him, but realized that was probably nothing more than a fanciful notion. However the magic worked, he knew that Falynn had extended her senses for miles in each direction, right to the very edge of the woods. She couldn’t see everything in the area, but large or powerful sources of energy would register in her mind at once.

“She’s coming,” she said, her voice quiet and tense. “There’s only one of her this time. I think she knows we haven’t moved from our original spot.”

“She trusts us to learn the lesson,” Leonov said with a grin she couldn’t see. “We won’t hide this time. She’ll just have to test our mettle face-to-face.”

Falynn nodded but kept her eyes closed tightly. Without looking, she began warping the shape of her staff, replacing her foot on the branch in its place to keep the spell going. With her hands, she broke the staff in half again, coiling each piece around an arm, then thrusting one of them out. The living wood fused flawlessly with the exposed root and vanished. A second later, Falynn smirked with pleasure. “She didn’t like that very much.”

“Did you manage to grab her?” Leonov asked quickly. It was the first part of their plan, a preemptive attack to try and restrain the monk before she reached them.”

“No,” Falynn said, and her smile faded somewhat. “She had no warning but still managed to dodge. I’ve never seen reflexes like hers.”

“Well, training in the Sanctuary and Issho-Ni will do that,” Leonov muttered quietly, adjusting his grip on the shield. “Well, she knows we’re here now. It’s only a matter of time.”

“She’s coming,” Falynn said again, this time more urgently. “The same way she appeared last time. Behind you!”

This time, as Kanora emerged from thin air, the warrior was ready for her. He didn’t make the mistake of charging recklessly into her reach this time, however, but he did approach. He jabbed outward with his sword, and she leaned gracefully to the side before extending one hand, summoning flames. Leonov struck with his left hand, and that rune over his fist dispersed the flames immediately, and their two fists smashed into each other with a nasty crack. Kanora looked faintly surprised, but impressed, and jumped back to avoid his next sword stroke.

Now it was Roni’s turn. Six arrows flashed down from the trees above, and Kanora spun in a circle. A wall of solid air formed around her in a sphere, stopping each of the arrows in its tracks. Five vanished, and one fell to the forest floor without a sound. Their opponent smiled wisely and turned her head to look into the trees. Judging by the sharp intake of breath they heard a fraction of a second later, Roni realized that she’d picked out the real her in an instant.

Her senses for magic were uncanny, Falynn thought, detaching the living wood from the branch underneath her and throwing it in Kanora’s direction. It split apart as it reached out, weaving around Leonov and casting as wide a net as possible. Kanora was able to avoid even that, but the second piece of living wood was already on the move as she rolled under the net, and seized hold of her ankle as she came to a stop. Almost immediately, it began winding its way up her leg. She blasted fire at it, but to no avail.

“You can’t burn living wood that easily,” Falynn said, more than a little taunting with her words. “That won’t be so easy to escape.”

“It would appear that you are right,” Kanora said faintly. But she didn’t look the least bit worried as the living wood continued to wind up her leg, intent on surrounding her completely. As Leonov ran in and bashed at her with the hilt of his sword, she slapped his arm away calmly with one hand, then struck him in the chest with the same palm, knocking him away. “Dear me, this is tricky.”

Then, half a second later, just as the vine wrapped around her hip and trapped both legs, Falynn felt mana expanding out from her form, but in a straight line. Too late, she realized that Master Kanora had projected her mind forward. Before she could muster up a defense, she felt a solid impact against her mind. It hit her with enough force to stun her for a moment or two, and she lost control of the living wood, which slackened just enough that the monk was able to pull free and dart to the side as Leonov came in for another attack.

Roni appeared then, dropping from the trees with her knife draw and landing right for where Kanora was standing. But the other woman made no attempt to avoid, instead, spinning around and sweeping her foot in a high arcing kick that went right through Roni’s head. Or rather, it only did so because it had been a clone. Kanora looked mildly surprised, and perhaps just a bit wary, but Leonov continued to advance, not giving her time to think so freely about the situation.

“That’s curious,” Kanora said, her voice light and thoughtful as she grabbed the wrist of Leonov’s sword arm and brought him around, also grabbing the back of his neck. She slammed him down to the forest floor with one move and stood up, frowning. “She didn’t seem that magically talented when I met the three of you, and it’s not likely that she learned how to make a simulacrum in the time that you had.”

Falynn said nothing, sending both branches of living wood stretching out towards her. Kanora made sure to keep both of them in sight this time, and jumped neatly over them so that they nearly hit Leonov instead. Falynn wrenched them back at once and thickened them, forming a protective wall of the material as Kanora dashed forward. There was the sound of several rapid impacts in quick succession and the unmistakable crack of wood. How strong was she if she could crack living wood like it was nothing? Falynn felt another flash of fear in her mind but held her position with a grim stubbornness, determined not to give up. Not yet, at least.

Roni appeared again, landing on the forest floor and rolling to absorb the shock. When she rose to her feet, the bow was drawn, and she fired two arrows in rapid succession. Kanora blocked both, and her eyes narrows. “That one was real.”

“It was also a distraction,” the ranger said, baring her teeth in a grin.

Kanora looked confused for a moment, then seemed to understand. Leonov had recovered, but instead of clambering to his feet he’d lashed out in a low kick, and swept the monk’s feet out from under her. Even as she fell, it was a graceful movement with total control, so that when Leonov tried to tackle and pin her, she flipped the maneuver around on him, and kicked him away bodily, contriving in that one move to also push her out of the way of another grasping vine that Falynn sent her way.

“Two attacks at once?” Falynn cursed. “How are you so nimble?”

“Years of practice, really,” Kanora said. Then Falynn felt magic expanding from her again. This time it wasn’t her mind, it was something denser. Her soul! Then there was another impact, this time to her stomach, and she doubled over. Then, Roni had her legs swept out from under her, and Kanora grabbed Leonov by the wrist once more, spinning him around and locking the limb into a tight hold that forced him to stop moving. In less than a second, they were all pinned, though Falynn and Roni couldn’t see what held them captive.

“Not bad,” Kanora told them, grinning. “Much better than the first attempt. Still, there’s a lot of room for improvement.”

She released Leonov, and the two women felt the pressure pinning them in place lift as well. The feel of the magical energy retreated back into the monk, who adjusted her robe slightly. There wasn’t a mark on her from all their efforts, and her breathing was quiet even. “Excellent idea, using so many distractions to stop me from making a decisive action.”

They shifted their feet, not sure what to say. The praise was welcome, but they weren’t able to ignore the failure, inevitable as it had been. Sensing this, Kanora put a patient hand on Roni and Leonov’s shoulders. “Don’t be too disheartened. You may not stand a chance against me in open combat, but you made excellent progress with this bout.”

That made them feel a little better, and they hesitantly returned her smile. It was Leonov, to nobody’s surprise, who asked the obvious question. “So, is that it?”

“Not at all,” she said. “You mentioned that you have two days to train before this trial? I’ll stick with you in that time, and teach you the best I can in the limited time. Then we’ll try this again, and see how well you do.”