The soldier on the ground seemed to have given up; they'd slumped onto the side that seemed to pain them less. The red-headed man stepped over them deliberately, moving towards Liya.

"So I wasn't hearing things," he said, and Liya blinked. He sounded like someone trying to hold an accent to their voice, but it wavered as he spoke to her--it went from the weird Aetherian accent she kept hearing to something more homey, more familiar. He stopped in front of her, frowning, his staff slung over one shoulder. "You're from the Archipelago."

Liya's mouth worked, trying to get out an answer, but she was interrupted by a livid roar from the other end of the field.

"AI!" General Russett bellowed, having turned towards them. Her voice, Liya remembered suddenly, was the same one that had screamed at Helly this morning on the terrace. The general had rather long canines and slit pupils; maybe all spirits did, and Liya just hadn't noticed.

"I said no broken bones!" The general barked. "Drop the staff, you rotting human! You're out!"

The red-headed man's mouth curled and he rolled his eyes. He seemed, Liya decided, more than a little fed up.

The general hadn't seen this, as she was turning back towards the soldiers standing near the Cynn, barking orders in Aetherian. Yoshi followed her anxiously, trying to get her attention; Liya picked up on her own name.

The red-headed soldier hefted his staff up easily, distracting Liya momentarily. She watched, puzzled, as he popped the end of the staff straight off.

There was a short, sharp blade underneath, glinting in the lantern light. Without preamble, the man bounced the staff in his hand a bit to get its balance, and then quite easily hurled the spear off towards the end of the field.

It left his hand with a satisfying whoosh.