He had lost, but he had fought well. Ferruccio was satisfied, though he knew that if Frank could defeat him, then others could defeat him as well. He had to get better. Accepting the rapier, Ferruccio nodded. “Yes, let us drink, then try again. That was a good fight.” After getting water from a drinking pool set in a nearby wall, Ferruccio returned to the ring, where Frank was waiting for him. “Don’t expect that trick to work next time, Frank,” Ferruccio said with a smile on his face. Then, the fight was on.
Leading with an above head slice, Frank initiated combat, trying to catch Ferruccio off guard again. True to his word, Ferruccio didn’t let himself get fooled, and immediately blocked it, sending the sword flying back, and allowing Ferruccio to counterattack. Frank was able to block it again, and the rematch continued much the same as the first sparring match had. The people who had watched the first fight, gathered again, this time money and other valuables were changing hands. Spar Rematch took a different turn when Ferruccio knocked Frank’s sword into a corner post, embedding it in the wood. As Frank struggled to pull the sword free, Ferruccio set the tip of the rapier over Frank’s heart. “This time, fortune has changed. Now you are the one who is dead.”
Ferruccio laughed, and was about to suggest another fight, when he saw Taranis enter the room, a worried looking Laura behind her. They entered another training ring, and prepared to fight. Ferruccio was about to stop it, but the crowd had migrated to this arena, and blocked Ferruccio’s path to the arena. He could still see what was happening, though, and he worried for Laura.
It turned out he didn’t have anything to worry about. She got off a blast of fire, chanting something about how anger was fire and burned reason. The fire shot out from her palm, and was extinguished a couple of inches from Taranis’s chest, where a huge bruise was located. She immediately stormed out of the arena. Before Taranis could follow her, Ferruccio broke through the thinning crowd and joined her. “Now that was an impressive show of skill,” he complimented. “You really showed Taranis what you can do.” Ferruccio glanced at Taranis to see his face, then turned back to Laura. “Unfortunately, you also showed everybody else what you can do. I hope you have a few more hidden tricks up your sleeve.”