The clearing was alive with tension, but it wasn't fear or malice—it was anticipation. Rayon leaned against the tree, arms crossed, watching as Erethon and Calythar danced across the forest floor. The air shimmered around them, subtle but potent, carrying the weight of powers beyond mortal comprehension.
Calythar moved like royalty in battle, tall and imposing, red hair glinting in the last rays of sunlight. His presence radiated a calm authority, but every step and sway was precise, lethal. Beside him, a shadow of energy manifested—Solvithar, the primordial he governed. Solvithar wasn't life or death or decay. It was entropy, the inevitable shift and collapse of all things into chaos and renewal. Where it moved, even a forest could feel a subtle pull toward disorder, the air thickening with potential destruction, yet balanced with an uncanny elegance.
Erethon hovered, smirking, dark energy wrapping around his form like smoke in the wind. The Insanity that governed him pulsed faintly, whispering of chaos, dread, and the unimaginable. He moved with lethal grace, a predator who had stalked galaxies, laughed at wars, and devoured stars in the old days before the world and its seals restrained him.
"Ready?" Erethon's voice, calm and teasing, carried easily over the clearing.
Calythar smiled faintly. "Always."
Rayon leaned back, glancing at the two, the corners of his lips twitching upward in that faint smirk he wore. Watching them, he could feel it—the thrill of old companions meeting after centuries apart, their friendship forged in the crucible of the universe itself, yet now simmering in this playful, violent dance.
Erethon lunged first, a streak of darkness cutting through the air. Calythar's movements were fluid, a counterstrike that could split a mountain. Each strike collided, energies colliding in bursts of light and shadow. Rayon could feel the shockwaves ripple through the clearing, yet the trees themselves didn't break. The raw restraint in their spar was more than etiquette—it was trust, respect, and the shared thrill of their history.
"You remember the Spiral Rift on Deylos?" Calythar asked mid-motion, spinning to dodge a strike from Erethon. "We nearly tore the whole system apart."
Erethon chuckled, a low, almost guttural sound. "I remember. You wanted to stabilize the core. I wanted to see how far I could push the inhabitants before it collapsed. You always did take the boring approach."
Calythar's strike grazed Erethon's shoulder, sending a flicker of light across his form. "Boring keeps you alive, old friend. You would've died chasing chaos if I didn't pull you back."
"And yet," Erethon said, voice low, dark amusement curling his tone, "I loved every second of it."
Rayon's eyes flicked down to them, almost unconsciously. Insanity… entropy… chaos and order… he thought. These weren't just powers. These were personalities, histories, the universe itself distilled into two beings who had danced through galaxies, laughed at death, and survived when nothing else could.
The spar intensified. Calythar's strikes now carried the subtle gravity of Solvithar's authority—every hit threatened to destabilize the ground, but Erethon moved as if dancing on the wind. Rayon noted the finesse—Erethon's Insanity didn't just damage, it warped reality subtly, predicting and bending even the tiniest movements.
Calythar, laughing softly, delivered a flurry of strikes meant to push Erethon back, but each blow was precise, calculated, and artistic. It wasn't mindless—it was chaos honed into form, the play of two beings who had shaped the universe with nothing but their presence and will.
"You've gotten sharper," Erethon said, blocking a strike and spinning back, voice laced with dark amusement. "You weren't always this… composed."
"I've been practicing," Calythar replied, fluid as water, each step a calculated manifestation of power. "You've been… absent too long. I wondered what you'd become."
Rayon smirked faintly. "Insane, clearly."
Erethon's head snapped toward him, dark energy flaring. "You—watch your tongue, little monarch."
Rayon chuckled. "I'll watch it when you two stop making so much noise."
They laughed together, the sound strange in the forest, echoing off the trees. And yet, even in their laughter, each strike carried weight. Rayon could feel the Insanity thrumming inside Erethon's body, almost like a second heartbeat. The entropy of Calythar was no less palpable. Watching them spar was like observing the pulse of the universe itself—destruction, creation, chaos, and control all balanced in motion.
Erethon's strike cut through the air like liquid night. Calythar's counter was a swirl of energy that distorted light around it. Rayon tilted his head, studying the interplay. He noticed the resonance of their attacks—the way their primordial powers weren't just destructive, they were expressive, extensions of their personalities. Insanity spoke through Erethon's every motion: daring, unpredictable, elegant, deadly. Solvithar spoke through Calythar: order twisted into chaos, graceful yet unrelenting.
A few trees trembled from a miscalculated step, and the ground beneath them cracked slightly under sheer force. Rayon leaned back, enjoying the spectacle. They've fought like this for eons, he thought. And yet… they still enjoy it. Truly a bond forged in fire and stars.
Calythar moved into a spinning kick that should have torn Erethon's torso apart. Erethon caught it, laughed, and twisted mid-air, sending Calythar flying backward—but not enough to hurt him. Rayon could feel the hum of power like a living thing—thousands of years of history, raw authority, and primordial presence, but restrained by trust and old friendship.
"Do you remember how we used to roam the Andralian voids?" Erethon asked mid-strike, voice full of mirth. "No restraints, no boundaries… just the two of us, laughing while the universe burned around us?"
Calythar smirked, adjusting his stance. "I remember. And I remember thinking you were reckless, stupid, and yet… somehow charming in the chaos."
Rayon couldn't help the faint chuckle that escaped him. Watching two primordial beings spar, laughing, teasing, and exchanging blows at speeds that bent perception, he felt alive in a way few could ever comprehend. The thrill wasn't just in their power—it was in the artistry, the history, and the sheer madness of beings who had seen everything, survived everything, and yet found joy in sparring like old friends.
"Insanity," Erethon muttered under his breath, his aura pulsing slightly, a dark grin curling on his lips. "Do you understand it now? It's not just chaos. It's freedom. It's the essence of being untethered, unbound, and still choosing the path you want."
Calythar's smile softened slightly, a rare moment of seriousness. "And yet, it's dangerous. That freedom is seductive, but even we are restrained by our bonds, our history… our choices."
Rayon watched, a faint smirk still tugging at his lips. "You two sound like philosophers now. I thought you'd be too busy destroying stars."
Erethon threw a strike that fractured the air around it, barely missing Calythar. "Some of us do both."
Calythar landed, steady, grinning. "The universe survives… barely."
Rayon shook his head, amused, darkly entertained, and thoroughly impressed. Even as he lounged under the tree, he could feel the power, the history, the essence of the two beings before him. And for the first time in a while, the thought struck him: Old friends like this… now this is rare.
The spar continued, blows exchanged, a perfect dance of Insanity and Entropy, two primordial forces teasing, testing, and reveling in each other's presence. Rayon simply observed, half-irritated, half-amused, and wholly entertained.