Drasna stared down at a chessboard for a long moment, then back to her opponent, Anti. She was pale half-elf with a long black braided ponytail. Her battle dress was purple with a sun and moon pattern. She wasn’t the strongest in the monastery by any means, but easily one of the smartest. They had set up their game on the side of one of the training grounds, the one near the mini waterfall. Drasna ran her fingers through her hair aggressively, trying to figure out her next move. When she finally made it, her opponent let out a smug giggle and moved her bishop without hesitation.

  “Checkmate!”

  Drasna flopped onto her back and groaned, “Aw man, you always do that, how was I supposed to see that coming? That piece was on the other side of the board!”

  Anti grinned, “You’re not really the brightest when it comes to strategy games, but hey I watched you solve that wooden box puzzle once. That’s something to be proud of, right?”

  Drasna sat back up and got onto her feet with a fierce look, “Yeah, well now were gonna do something I’m good at, get in position!”

  Anti and Drasna, moved over to the soft dirt battlefield, and stood ready. Drasna with her fists raised, and Anti balanced on one foot with the other raised to a 90 degree angle.

  Drasna declared, “Three!”

  Anti replied, “Two!”

  Then both girls, “One!”

  Drasna began by weaving side to side, trying to keep Anti guessing, she got in close and landed an early hit on the half-elf's shoulder. Anti returned the favor with a spin kick to push the blond away, but her foot was grappled. Drasna pulled Anti in close, to deliver a side punch, but Anti threw her head forward, whipping Drasna in the face with her hair. Anti took the opportunity to break free and get her distance. The two proceeded to circle around the ring sizing the other up.

  Drasna grew a big grin, “I’m so glad you’re back for another summer, Anti, I always love sparring with you, even if I have to go easy.”

  Anti scoffed in amusement, “The training has made my lungs much stronger, so I don’t really need to. That being said, I’d miss everyone if I didn’t come back.”

  Drasna threw another punch, “It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

  Anti blocked the punch with her knee, “Anyway enough about me, I hear someone has a girlfriend?”

  Drasna started to sweat, “I guess you could call it that, Miss Isobella down the mountain."

  Anti ducked down and swept Drasna’s legs out from under her, “The creepy girl?”

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  Drasna jumped off her hands to get back on her feet, “She’s not creepy! Just sheltered and a bit lonely. I feel a little bad for her, but I also think she’s really cool.”

  Anti attempted another spin kick, “I guess that’s what matters at the end of the day, how long have you been seeing each other?”

  Drasna was thrown off balance by the kick, but committed to another strike, “A month, maybe a bit more? She passed out when I first kissed her.”

  Anti stumbled back after taking the punch, “That’s totally adorable! You should ask to spend the night at her manor. She might melt if you did that.”

  Drasna scowled and spewed angry flames, “Don’t tease!”

  Anti backed away quickly, “Ow ow ow, hot hot hot! If you feel so strongly about it, maybe she does too? Why not go see her more often?”

  Drasna put her hands down and crossed her arms to think, “I guess that would be fine,but I’d actually like to bring her up here. She’s oddly fixated on giving me things for spending time with her. I tell her she doesn’t have to, but she doesn’t seem to get it. Is it a noble thing?”

  Anti adopted a similar stance, “As a noble myself, I kinda get it, most things in life become transactional, honestly that’s how the world works. You might be the one who’s the odd ball, Drasna.”

  “Really? I mean I guess I don’t wanna change her, just show her my side of the world, that’s not bad right?”

  “Probably not, just remember to challenge her, but never try to force her to do something.”

  “Maybe you’re right, anyway good match!”

  “Thanks! Except for the singed eyebrows!”

  Drasna rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, “Sorry, you know I didn’t mean to.”

  “They’re only charred, I think they’ll look cool, so I’ll forgive you” Anti teased.

  Drasna laughed, “Aren’t you a dear.”

  The two sat back down and listened to the waterfall, the sound was soothing and made it easy to think or fall asleep if they weren’t careful. Drasna thought about Isobella and everything that had happened thus far. She truly did like the girl, whether it was romantic or platonic, she wanted her to be a part of her life. She began to ponder Anti’s suggestion, surely Isobella wouldn’t mind her staying overnight, she ran a chateau after all. Perhaps given enough time Isobella would join her up at the top of the mountain for a day. The thought made her happy, sharing each other's lives would be perfect. She allowed herself to daydream about it, even leaving both the chateau and the Monastery to find a new special place to share.

  Anti broke Drasna from her thoughts, “You’re grinning like an idiot, what are you thinking about?”

  “I think I’ll up the Anti, when I visit Isobella today, the worst she can say is no right?”

  Anti felt her nose crinkle, “That was a horrible joke and you should feel bad for making it!”

  Drasna stood up with a cocky smirk, “Perish the thought, I’ll be back later, or possibly tomorrow, only time will tell.”