The fight was scheduled for the next day and the two of them had decided to go out into the field where the Creators had attacked instead of the training grounds as there was likely to be less damage to people and property that way.
No one in Ayathian had seen a battle between two Celestrials before, and both she and Letari knew they were in for a real show.
Daemon had been eager to spread the word and so the turnout had been bigger than she had thought, her friends, the king and his staff, a large number of guards and any who knew her from the war that had stayed in the city. Several Gods had shown up to round out the numbers, and they were happy to provide stands for the spectators.
She and Letari had dressed in cotton and stood watching the large group, Letari grinning while she was frowning.
It was odd how she and Letari behaved like Kai and Jaia, Kai being all bubbles and light while Jaia being the quiet, angry one.
Looking at her twin, Etani had to admit Letari, and Kai were quite similar and it made her smile.
Moving slowly, she kissed her sister's cheek and then moved away several yards to stretch, Letari bouncing on her feet.
A low whistle had Etani lifting her hand with two fingers raised, recognising it as Dirdos admiring her while she stretched. His booming laugh and the chuckles of others only confirmed her thought.
Once she was satisfied, she turned to see the end of the line of spectators arriving at the stands and she looked around at her sister.
"About ready to lose?" she asked and Letari laughed.
"I've waited nine hundred years to beat you up again," Letari called and Etani smiled at the memory of her bigger twin at the time. Etani had been scrawny with her insistence that Letari eat most of her food, and that had left her severely malnourished. But she hadn't cared so long as the love of her life was looked after.
"Not this time, squish," she said, braiding the long length of her hair and tucking it into the back of her shirt. Letari was a cheater like she was, and hair was a popular anchor point.
The two turned to face each other and bowed in unison, their right hand clenched over their hearts.
The fight started the instant they were both upright and Etani darted sideways as Letari came for her swinging.
Changing direction, she spun and Letari was sent flying as Etani's foot hit her side. She twisted and landed hard in a crouch, hands leaving gouges in the ground as she slid to a stop.
She sprang forward and Etani waited, smiling happily as vicious swipe after swipe missed with her body leaning to the side and then the other way, all while she backed away to avoid her sister getting too close.
Ducking the last swipe, she came up shoulder first and Letari yelped, falling backwards onto the ground. Her hips rolled, and it was Etani who was hitting the ground, her side burning from a brutal kick as she rolled and flicked herself back up onto her feet, clutching her aching ribs.
Letari rose as well, grinning excitedly and her eyes took in the defensive posture of her twin.
She came running, Etani stepping into it and slamming her fist into her twin's face.
Letari screamed and Etani froze, panic going through her. She knew full well it was a tactic, but it would always work on her, her instinct to protect driving her.
Letari took full advantage and her foot drove all of the air out of Etani's lungs.
Rolling to avoid the second attempt to kick her ribs, she wheezed and managed to suck in a breath as she rose.
"Bitch…" Etani growled, making Letari laugh.
"All's fair in love and war, sister," she said happily.
Etani frowned at her twin, she lunged forward and grabbed her sister's arm, jerking her around and then up, twisting with the upward momentum and then slamming her bodily down on the ground.
The force of her collision left a deep indentation in the ground and using Letari's arm as a pole, somersaulting over her and landed hard on her lower back, yanking on her arm to drag her up off the ground, bending her backwards.
Letari screamed profanity and swiped backwards with her free hand, grabbing Etani's ankle and jerking it to the side.
Landing hard on her backside, she let go and rolled away from her sister, looking up as the enraged beauty stood.
Grinning, she dropped onto her back, and as Letari reached for her, she slammed her foot into the underside of Letari's chin and she was airborne again, flying up over Etani's head and landing several feet back.
Flipping herself onto her feet, she streaked after Letari who had rolled onto her own and had bolted, but Etani only laughed as she caught hold of her sister from around the middle and dropped backwards, Letari's thin body flying up and over to land shoulders first on the ground, her legs hitting the ground and rebounding back up and over.
Etani swore as her body was pulled upright and then she was being bodily thrown, landing in the grass on her front.
Scrambling up onto her feet, she spun as Letari came for her and Letari flew backwards from the kick to her face, landing a good ten feet away.
Going after her groaning sister, she smiled down at her.
"Yield?" she asked, keeping back enough that she wasn't likely to get kicked.
"Never," Letari growled, jumping back to her feet. "Was only warming up."
She lunged and Etani blocked the barrage of lightning fast attacks, her arms bruised and burning, but there was no strike to her body, and she reached up and grabbed a fistful of hair.
Grinning, she jerked Letari's head down and her knee up once, twice and then a third time, blood splattering her thigh as Letari's nose shattered.
Grabbing onto her thigh, Etani screamed as Letari bit her, tearing out a large chunk of skin and cloth.
"The fuck, Lee?!" Etani snarled, limping backwards to the cheers of Daemon, Dirdos and Vincent.
Letari was grinning, wiping away the blood after she spat out the flesh.
"You're holding back on me," Letari said and Etani narrowed her eyes. "You're playing unfair, making them think I'll win then knocking my head off. Come on little Queeny, show them what you can really do."
"They've already seen what I can really do," she snapped but Letari only shook her head.
"Liar, liar," Letari purred and Etani sighed.
"Fine brat, you want to go full out? Let's go full out."
With that, she stepped forward into it and kicked her sister in the face, sending her flying thirty yards.
The crowd went silent as Etani went after her, catching her before she hit the ground and flinging her backwards through first one, then three trees.
Letari was on her feet and Etani frowned as the first tree was lifted and swung at her.
Jumping up, she somersaulted in the air and landed on her feet a second before the tree swung back and she was thrown ten yards, rolling onto her stomach and launching herself forward.
The tree was coming for her again, and she threw her fist into it, the tree exploding into a shower of chips and hunks of wood.
Grabbing Letari, she smiled at her sister who was grinning hugely and then turned, throwing the woman face first up and then down into the ground.
She was on her sister in a second, her bleeding leg barely slowing her down and she lifted her foot, Letari rolling away as her foot came down and she left a crater.
"Come here, you little bitch!" she cried, Letari cackling as she rolled away and was back on her feet once more.
She saw Daemon leaning towards Dirdos and the dragon nodded slightly, his face hard as he stared at them, but she turned as Letari slammed into her side and she hit the ground.
Rolling, she got her knees under her she pinned her sister and drove her fists down, missing the first two as Letari turned her head away, but the last one struck and she howled.
Reaching up, Letari caught long strands of her hair that had come loose of the braid and yanked violently, her head jerking to the side and she slid off her sister, screaming in pain as her sister yanked at her hair and dragged her along on her hands and knees.
Twisting, she punched her sister in the thigh and Letari screamed, letting go, but she was grinning again and Etani's eyes narrowed.
A sudden burst of flame shot up around them and Etani jerked backwards, looking up and around in confusion before her sister hit her and they went down, Letari getting her arms and legs around her.
Etani screamed, thrashing against her sister, but she was trapped and Letari grinned as she gripped Etani's hair and yanked her head back, their lips touching in a brief brush.
"You cheated!" Etani cried as Letari let her go and stood, her arms up in her victory, the crowd taking an instant before they cheered.
"You didn't say cheating wasn't allowed," Letari said, grinning down at her.