Then she launched at him again, with far more energy than Iryana thought she’d have left. Instead of punching or kicking, she grabbed his arm when he raised it to defend himself, and swung her lower body up to wrap around Gintar.
The momentum sent them both tumbling to the ground. Vaneshta’s legs clamped around Gintar, with his arm trapped in hers. Vaneshta yanked, and a sharp pop echoed as his elbow twisted in the wrong direction.
Gintar screamed, back arching off the ground.
Vaneshta took advantage of his pain to flip him onto his stomach, his arm still held at a bad angle. She grabbed the back of his neck with one hand and pushed his head into the dirt.
Iryana’s brows shot up in surprise. She had no idea Vaneshta hadthatin her.
“Submit,” Vaneshta ordered.
“You dirty whore,” he ground out, gasping around the pain.
“Submit, and this stops.” Her voice was cold, demanding.
“No.”
So Vaneshta grabbed a handful of hair, lifted his head, and slammed it back down. Both her hands moved to his throat, squeezing from behind, until his thrashing limbs stilled.
“He should have given in,” she said casually.
Iryana stared open-mouthed as Vaneshta climbed off Gintar’s unconscious body, glaring at the crowd, still in her fighting stance.
“Does anyone else want to call mesoft?” Vaneshta shouted out, staring everyone down as blood dripped out of her mouth, the left side of her face bright red. “Anyone want to call my team soft?”
Iryana stiffened, waiting to see if anyone else would challenge her, but the crowd roared their approval instead, and Iryana relaxed.
Two of Gintar’s soldiers rushed toward their captain, lifting him between them and rushing off, likely to take him to a medic.
Then Iryana saw Vaneshta sway slightly.
“Come on,” Iryana gave Pepha a push, and then rushed to Vaneshta’s side.
She grabbed Vaneshta’s fist and held it in the air, leaning her hip against hers to keep her steady.
The crowd kept cheering, respect and fear in their eyes.
“Get me out of here,” Vaneshta whispered.
Iryana looked around, catching Vabihn’s gaze. She widened her eyes, trying to signal him somehow. He didn’t care for Iryana, but she knew he was close with Vaneshta.
“That was awesome,” Vabihn roared as he stepped forward, pulling the attention of the crowd. “I doubt any of you could beat that show.”
As some of the soldiers stepped forward, challenging each other, Iryana took advantage of the distraction to lead Vaneshta away. Between her and Pepha, they supported most of her weight, quickly slipping into the barracks.
“Thank you, Vabihn,” she mumbled under her breath.
They could hear the roar of a new fight out in the yard as they made their way up the stairs. Vaneshta tried to help them, but she kept swaying backwards. Iryana carried as much of her weight as she could; Pepha wasn’t much help.
She still looked panicked, eyes wide and filled with fear.
By the time they made it all the way up the stairs to Iryana and Vaneshta’s room though, Pepha had loosened up.
“Thanks,” Vaneshta grunted as they sat her on the edge of her bed.
Iryana looked her roommate over. She was not in great shape, but there didn’t seem to be any serious damage.
Grabbing one of the wooden bowls off the shelf above their beds, Iryana started pouring water inside.
