“Don’t get in your head,” she tells me as I take a blunted sword from the rack. “Most of these people have never had a day of training in their lives.”
“Most of them had fiveyearsof training during the war.”
“Just hope you get someone young, then,” she says, and she’s in such a good mood from her triumph, she gives me another rare smile.
I don’t get someone young.
What I do get is a man at least a foot taller than me and twice my weight, with a scarred bald head and arms the size of tree trunks.
“Fuck me,” I whisper as I step into the circle.
He’s a behemoth. One of the Seven Champions of Sai, legendary chosen warriors of the war god made flesh.
How the fuck am I supposed to fightthisguy?
The monster of a man lunges at me the moment the bell is rung, his sword waving wildly in his massive hand.
It’s fucking terrifying, but it’s also a piss-poor tactic. He’s got so much momentum that he can’t change course easily, and it would be obvious to anyone who isn’t blind where he’s heading.
I lunge out of the way at the last moment, thrusting my own sword behind me into his back as he nearly falls to the ground.
“1-0!” yells the closest judge.
Was that…for me? It had to be, right?
Did I just score a point?
The man grunts as he rights himself. I offer him a hand, and he slaps it away.
“Nithyrian cunt,” he spits at me.
“He can’t do that!” yells Adria from the sidelines. “No contact outside of a fight.” Adria has little patience for the rules except for when they benefit her.
Or me, in this case. She’s on my side. Probably just making sure I don’t humiliate her, but I’ll take what I can get.
The slap would have been a point deduction if he had any points to begin with, but he doesn’t, so we go again.
I’m debating what tactic to use to keep him at a distance and parry anything incoming when he charges again.
And…it’s exactly the same as before. Like, exactly. Same angle, same momentum.
And I dodge in exactly the same way.
And itworks.
“2-0!”
“Fuck!” he yells from the ground. He did get in an extra step this time, which nearly led him outside the circle. Which also would have lost him a point, if he’d had a point to lose.
Which he didn’t.
“Sylvie!” yells Felix again. They’ve followed me across the arena to spectate in the stands nearby. “Sylvie!”
Fuck it. I pump my fist in the air in his direction.
He lets out a primordial scream in response, stumbling over a step, and even Larus claps a little after he gets Felix back upright.
I’m winning. I’mwinning, and Adria was right—it really is easy.
