[Razkar] Fire and Steel - Part 2

[Edreina]

Part 1 Spring 55, 513AV 14th Bell The Cuttlefish "Well, since now have train weapon so it bit easier..." Razkar's voice was loud as he tried to force the shift of conversation into a new direction. The attempt caused Edreina to smile and shake her head, clearing away the last of the annoyance that introspection had wrought. She watched him with careful eyes as he picked up the wooden practice sword and tossed it to her without much thought. Lucky for Edreina, the handle thudded squarely into her left palm. It warmed her a bit to see Razkar's nod of approval. "Before, when we train. I use ax like sword, to help with thrust and block and parry, yes? But now, I use ax like ax, so you know how to stop ax. But first..." Edreina felt herself blush to learn that he had not been using an ax properly in their prior lessons. Swinging her arms back and forth to loosen up her tight, aching shoulders, Edreina paced slowly; two paces forward, turn, two paces back, turn, repeat. It was methodical as she centered herself. "... we see what you remember from last train. Attack!" With a hoarse shout, Edreina threw herself forwards, slashing diagonally first, then thrusting sharply as he had taught. Both attacks were blocked and the thrust was deflected so sharply that she jerked to the side and had to do a back-handed slash to keep herself from being left exposed. This blow glanced off of Razkar's parry to catch him - ever so barely - upon the shoulder. Next, he swung and Edreina parried with a loose arm, just as he had taught her, and was pleased to feel no vibrations racking through her arm and shoulder. He was swinging real, sharpened metal while she had a puny little stick. The thought worried her slightly, but at the same time, she trusted her friend not to permanently maim her. As you did him? her mind piped guiltily, eyeing the slashes left on his chest by the whip. She silently hoped that they would not scar. The duo quickly fell into a rhythmic, almost musical tempo as they exchanged blows and blocks. Each time he made it through her defenses, he had managed to stop the wicked edge before it tasted her blood, giving her a look that all teachers must have gotten together and decided upon eternities ago. She felt no loss of control, no consuming flame clouding her judgement. The entire exercise was simply two bodies fending off one another, seeking and capitalizing upon weakness in the other.

[Razkar]

The iron dance wove and wove, and Razkar was impressed with his student. She had adapted her style well, learned to adjust the downward parry to an upward one to stop the swing of his ax. Her grip was still loose but he supposed if it was too tight, her less-muscled arm would be a quivering mess of vibrating muscle, and how long would she last then?

"Ax is different than sword, when it hits," he said as they parted again, her sliding away and blocking his latest swipe with improving ease, "Not thrust or stab with ax. Swing and hack. Make more difficult to block. Much harder style..."

The Myrian stopped moving for a moment, and weighed his options. If both weapons were wooden, this would be easier. He could show what he meant... but smashing sharpened steel onto wood would only end one way, and it was not his weapon to split in twain.

He held out his hand and after a beat's hesitation - ah, smart girl - Edreina handed it over. A moment later, Razkar's genuine gladius was back in her grasp, and he smiled slightly, seeing a familiarity return to get grip.

"Once you have held a sword," he said, his voice softening for only this time, flexing his shoulders as he prepared for their next bout, "you know it for long time. Know weight and hold and feet. Never really goes away..."

He turned and came on the attack almost instantly, swinging hard from his right, knowing her (well, his) gladius would jerk up-

-and the impact hammered her back a few step, eyes wide in shock.

"That is power of ax," he said, holding up the curved weapon that seemed to hum and sing in his hand with subdued power, Malediction-gifted hilt spreading strange djed through it, "is force. Is hardness. It break weapon, it cleave armor, is break bone, even if not go through iron. But, is flawed, because once hit-"

He swung again, backhanded, and with her arm trembling a touch more than before, stopping his blow dead, both of them paused with their weapons above them and to the side.

"-blow is stopped all way. Must have good swing to use ax. Cannot stab or thrust, not really. But has curve-"

With a flick of his wrist he slid the ax down the length of the blade until it hit the guard at the top of the hilt she grasped onto, and Edreina saw the blade fit into the hook in the bottom of the ax as he twisted hard-

-catching it, ripping it forward as the ax head moved, taking the handle with it-

-out of her grasp.

The gladius clattered down and he burst forwards, one step, ax coming at her backhanded, horizontally-

-stopping a foot before her face.

"See? Hook can take weapon, if use right. So, when block, move fast. Take advantage of enemy stop his swing and keep moving."

The Myrian nudged his toe under the gladius and kicked it up at her with that same practiced ease that he did a few days before, backing away and cracking his neck muscles.

"Ax can do more. But this ax? Small ax. Use in one hand, another weapon in other hand. So... now we use both hand." His hand balled into a fist to emphasize his point, and he waited until she'd nodded in grim, focused understanding before barking again: "Attack!"

[Edreina]

Razkar held out his hand, obviously seeking to take her wooden blade. Edreina eyed him warily. Was this meant to be further instruction or was he testing her? It was counter intuitive to give a man that could easily have her at his mercy the one thing that she could fend him off with - at least for a few minutes. But, after a moment's thought, she upended the blade and handed it to him handle-first. He quickly replaced it with the familiar weight of his gladius. Edreina smiled brightly, grip being more familiar as her arm adjusted ever so slightly to balance it. Odd how she could be so familiar with a blade after wielding it only once... "Once you have held a sword, you know it for long time. Know weight and hold and feet. Never really goes away..." Edreina smiled and nodded, rolling her shoulders as he flexed his. Barely giving her an instant to react, Razkar swung at her. Almost instinctually, she raised the gladius to block but found herself stumbling back a few paces. Her blue eyes became endless orbs as she absorbed what had just happened. How could she do anything other than play the defensive against a weapon so powerful? "That is power of ax, is force. Is hardness. It break weapon, it cleave armor, is break bone, even if not go through iron. But, is flawed, because once hit-" He swung at her again, a blurred, back-handed affair that she was forced to stop dead because of the fear that any other action would send the blades skipping off one another into one of Edreina's limbs. As their weapons remained locked above, she considered raising her other hand to put more power behind the gladius, maybe to knock Razkar off balance. "-blow is stopped all way. Must have good swing to use ax. Cannot stab or thrust, not really. But has curve-" And before she knew it, he was sliding the ax down the length of her blade. She had no idea what to do in this situation. Should she twist her blade? Pull it away? How? While she stood with conflicted thoughts, he did some twisting motion with the ax so that the gladius was ripped from her grip and sent flying. The moment he was undefended, Razkar rushed at her and she flinched visibly, shutting her eyes tightly. When no impact came, she tentatively opened one eye to see a keen edge painfully close to her visage. "See? Hook can take weapon, if use right. So, when block, move fast. Take advantage of enemy stop his swing and keep moving." Oh... So I should keep moving after I block or parry... Considering how this would affect a fight, Edriena reached up and - to her endless surprise - caught the gladius one handed. Maybe she was suited for more than swimming and exploring caves. Zindr was a wonderful fighter... maybe it was in their blood. "Ax can do more. But this ax? Small ax. Use in one hand, another weapon in other hand. So... now we use both hand." Edreina's eyes darted down to see that his fist was balled and quickly moved to replicate. Already the Myrian was planning on pushing her further. The thought was both terrifying and exciting. Setting her lips in a determined line, Edreina nodded, signaling that she was ready. "Attack!" Edreina did not react to the command with the zeal she had previously. Breathing deeply, she decided to put her mind into the spar from the beginning. Instead of flying at him wildly, she paced to the side, squaring off against her friend, learning how he moved with this new weapon. After a silent, tense chime, she charged forwards and swung upwards, turning her body to the side to make it thinner, a smaller target. When he blocked that attack, she twisted and swung the blade in an arc so that it was again coming at him in a lower, horizontal slash. As expected, the blow was diverted. But, this time Razkar attacked himself, slashing at her midsection. Edreina stopped the blow, barely, and hopped away, out of his range and away form the entangling curve of the ax. Keeping her breathing steady, Edreina spun and aimed a backhanded slash at her friend, letting it be blocked so that she could get in a bit closer and throw a few quick, ineffectual punches at his already-bruised ribcage. He blocked a majority of the blows and deflected the rest. Before he could catch her again, she darted out of his arms, back to the range at which their blades would dance together. When Razkar swung at her again, Edreina was caught by a curiosity. If it did not work, Razkar would not hurt her. It would be better for her to try it now than in the heat of a true battle. As he swung, she touched her blade against his but did not stop it, using its own momentum and a great deal of strength to slide the blade up and over her head, to the other side, twisting as she did so. The instant he was moving away from her, she spun and aimed a thrust at his side, tightening her arms to stop it an instant before it would have landed, worried that the improvisation would have caught Razkar a bit too off guard. When they disengaged again, she smiled brightly. "How was that?" Edreina truly loved to be told what she was doing wrong in hopes that she could amend it and get better as quickly as possible.

[Razkar]

For the second time that day... no, make that the third time, Razkar is genuinely and happily surprised with his student.

The second time was noticing the fierce, disciplined concentration when she came on at his command. None of the wild, angry fury of before, not caring where her blows landed, concerned only with venting her rage. It was not an animal or brawler that faced him now; it was a warrior. Trained and focused.

Behind every blow he blocked, there was a tactic. An intelligence. She used her weapon to distract or close with him, then peppered him with quick punches. Ordinarily they would have barely registered, but on his sore ribs, they were... something else.

"Very good!" He barked happily, grinning wide. "You are keeping anger back. You are thinking, but know to react, too. Not think too much in middle of fight. Think too long, will make mistake. Get killed."

Edreina came at him again over the deck and he got surprise number three. He swung for her and she parried, but... didn't. She forced his own blow - his own arm - upwards, enough for it to go over her head, and then spun under his reach, twisting, lowering her gladius again, tight to her side-

-Razkar sidestepped quickly and swung his ax down just in time to knock her thrust at his kidneys away from him, but his mouth was open in surprise, breathing faster...

"How was that?"

The Myrian took the moment to circle her, but she was already doing the same, unwilling to secede all movement and initiative to him. He got his breathing steady and nodded slowly, pride in his eyes.

"You impress, Mistress Edreina," he said, but without a trace of mocking humor of levity. He meant the title that time. "Quick and create. Ah... creative? Yes. Make harder to predict in battle. Very good. But, remember to use more. Example-"

He slid forwards and swung a figure of eight pattern with his ax, relishing the look of brief confusion as she tried to follow it, gladius hovering, Myrian going to a crouch-

-and then slashing upwards with a brutally fast vertical sweep from the ax, forcing her to step backwards to avoid it, gladius swinging to intercept-

-keeping her attention on the flashing blade-

-not on the foot that traveled with it as if the two were connected by a string, foot kicking out under her kneecap-

-but she saw it, reading his feint, and he exulted, good girl-

-but slammed his left fist into her stomach all the same. She staggered, doubled over in pain briefly, tried to backpedal-

-and Razkar twisted his body to his left, sidestepping to her own left, spinning round and pulling his ax closer to him, bending his arm so his elbow stuck out-

-so it moved with his swing-

-and his elbow caught her a glancing blow on the jaw.

The stagger became a falter and Razkar stepped back, allowing his student to reassert herself. Rubbing her jaw but still keeping that anger under control, she looked up at him, and he gave her a tight smile.

"Use everything. All at once, if must. Do not make fight last long. Make it quick. Come from all direction, all attack, so even best warrior not defend. Not easy. Take long time to learn." He snorted and scratched under his chin briefly with the tip of his ax head. "I still learning. Like you. Now... attack!"

[Edreina]

The Myrian moved his ax in a pattern that had her flinching back in surprise. His actual attack was so expected that she had to jump back and then swing the gladius. Noticing his foot was actually an accident. She only saw the motion of his foot out of the corner of her eye and jumped away to avoid it. But, even that was not enough to save Edreina from injury. The fist that became acquainted with her midsection was unexpected and had her immediately bent in half, staggering backwards to avoid further pain. But, when Razkar's elbow clashed with her jaw, knocking her teeth together and making her bite the inside of her cheek, Edreina stumbled in earnest, having to reach out and catch hold of the railing in order to keep herself afoot. Her mouth was filled with an unfamiliar coppery taste and, spitting a gob out onto the deck, Edriena was surprised to see blood. Well damn... The throbbing pain in her jaw and stomach threatened to redden her vision, but the little Svefra kept her focus, kept breathing. Slowly, both the fire and the throbbing ebbed away. "Use everything. All at once, if must. Do not make fight last long. Make it quick. Come from all direction, all attack, so even best warrior not defend. Not easy. Take long time to learn. I still learning. Like you. Now... attack!" Edreina righted herself, arching her back a bit to stretch it out again. Spitting out another wad of the gooey red junk, she grimaced and wiped her mouth on the back of her arm, muttering, "Disgusting..." in a quiet aside, meant mainly for herself. At Razkar's chuckle, she bared her slightly bloody teeth at him for a second before dissolving into laughter. Scratching the back of her head, she rolled her left shoulder, looking up at the mast. In a flurry of motion, she was flinging herself at Razkar, gladius poised to stab between his ribs. At the last moment, she twisted her body so that her fist was flying toward Razkar, blade keeping his at bay. With a quick motion, her fist was deflected by her sharp knee was not. It found purchase in the front center of Razkar's thigh, attempting to lock up his knees as he had done to her days earlier. Fleeing back a few steps, she nearly smiled. She did not really trust herself to fight with both arms and legs yet, but these slow steps were good. Circling one another, the friends studied one another. Edreina noticed how his bruises slowed each movement just a bit, how there seemed to be less power in his strikes than there had been earlier in the day. Attacking once more - before he did the same - she knocked his blade away, despite how the forced made her arm tremble unpleasantly and got in close, throwing a flurry of punches at his abdomen, his ribs, and even swinging in an arc to attack his kidney. Not many landed but she did manage to get back and away before he could savage her too terribly.

[Razkar]

"Good... Very good..."

Razkar ground out the words through gritted teeth as he stamped his throbbing leg hard onto the deck, sending shockwaves of pain up his body, but that was the point. Override his system. Become numb to the pain, without numbing his limb. It was the best and, in the heat of battle, only way to deal with such an injury. But that was not why he spoke.

"Use enemy strike and tactic against them. Very good idea."

They circled again, exchanging probing assault here and there, but there was none of the sound and fury of before. Both circling combatants had tiny smiles on their lips, eyes on fire not with anger, but sheer competition. This was what he should have been aiming for: bringing out that warrior's passion for contest, not just blood.

She slid towards him and they clashed again, but this time she let loose with her free arm. His elbow and forearm blurred up and down as his right kept her gladius pinned to one side, but-

-the Myrian grunted as four accurate knuckles hammered into a fresh bruise and sent him staggering to the side, but before he could strike back-

-she danced away, keeping her distance.

Once again, a crowd had formed in that strangely organic and unspoken way of crowds everywhere. First just the crewmen on the Cuttlefish, then passerby's, and then word spread that the Svefra and the Myrian were fighting again. Now a rough circle of watchers was observing intently, but once again, Razkar approved.

Her eyes were not on them. No tension, no fear of what she would look like to them. Her eyes were as her mind and body: focused on the task at hand.

The Myrian smiled and nodded, then came on again. She would need to learn stamina, too.

He swung from the side, a large, obvious feint he knew she would see. But she could not ignore it, jerking her gladius to stop it-

-before straightening it, thrusting at his chest as he darted forwards-

-only for him to jerk the ax down onto it, hooking the blade and dragging it away, to her side, opening her front-

-but she learned, she ripped her gladius away from his grip as she backpedaled away from him, twisting, lashing out with her foot-

-only for it to smack into Razkar's hand as he intercepted her kick, gripping around her ankle and pulling her forwards-

-throwing her off-balance but she desperately tried to counter, kicking out weakly with her other foot-

-and striking nothing, for he'd already spun away, letting go-

-leaving her to land heavily on her side on the deck, Myrian over her slashing down-

-but she rolled away from him on her side, gladius held over her head so she would not roll her own body over it, over and over until-

-she came up on one knee, gladius held ready.

"Good."

He charged again. Stamina, he remembered his instructors telling him back in the jungle, can only be learned the hard way.

[Edreina]

His first move was a wide, powerful arc that Edreina felt was a feint but could not bring herself to do anything but block it. But, it was a feint. He had something else in mind. Altering her course, she aimed the blade at his chest, thrusting forward. "Gods damn it!" She shouted as he hooked his blade around hers, wrenching it out to the side, leaving her chest horribly exposed. Not this time... With a grunt, she pulled the blade away and swung out with her foot, moving on instinct as she moved away. Luck of all lucks, Razkar caught her solidly around the ankle. He jerked her forward and, at the angle, Edreina could only lash out with her other foot. He released her at the right moment so that her body lost all sense of balance, colliding with a thud and whoosh of breath with the deck. When she looked up, she saw a dark-skinned Myrian poised over her for the final blow. Yelping despite herself, she rolled out from under his blade and spun, coming up onto one knee and foot, gladius held out at her side. "Good." The word had barely reached her when he charged again, ax held aloft. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, Edreina rose to her feet at the opportune moment, sweeping her gladius up and over once more, emerging beneath Razkar's arm. Disengaging her blade, she spun and managed to plant a solid kick in Razkar's back, causing him to stumble off balance for an instant. Seizing the moment, she charged and slashed downwards, aiming it at his back only to be swiped away. But, as their blades were engaged, she aimed a knee and then a punch before darting away once more. After deflecting his attacks, she darted towards him, slashing downwards only to whip it about an instant before their blade would have met in order to swing it out and back towards his midsection in a horizontal slash. At the same time, she brought her knee up from the opposite direction, aiming it just below his ribcage.

[Razkar]

She was reacting faster, he was happy to see, and her agility wasn't suffering from his increased speed. He'd been holding back on her, but knew that she was ready for him to up the ante.

His Edri rose to the challenge. She moved as fast as he blinked, sliding under his arm even as their blades met, forcing him to spin to face her-

Not fast enough.

-only for a kick to his back sending him sprawling forwards, totally off-kilter, jeers and cheers from the crowd suddenly ringing in his ears. His free hand lashed out to gain some purchase on a railing, but he didn't pause, knowing she would seize the-

"Better!"

-he spun around and barked the word as he knocked away her slash with his ax, but gods, she was already moving! Razkar marveled at her quietly, impressed and proud and amazed in equal measure-

Focus!

-his forearm blocked her knee but the punch slipped right under him, hammering into his chest and getting a gasped grunt from him. He forced her back, pushing his blade against hers and buying him a moment-

-but she was giving him nothing. Good girl.

The Svefra charged and slashed down but it stopped short, a feint, and his ax slashed and switched direction to meet it, parrying it away from him-

-but she was going to follow it up, he knew that, probably with a-

-knee hammering up towards his ribcage, and to her shock, he gave a quick, feral smile-

-then a pained grunt as she impacted, but his free arm snapped down, sliding under the crook behind her knee, holding her knee there, her up on one leg, both their blades off to one side-

"Time for real lesson."

-and his forehead slammed down towards hers.

She went away with a yelp of pain and Razkar battered down any feeling he felt for her. She had to learn, even with a throbbing skull and blackness that just would not clear suddenly in front of her eyes. The crowd around them snarled and gasped in shock, anger, but Edreina was not backing down, even as she backed up.

Her gladius was still up, hand shaky but still leveled at his chest, looking at him from one glaring eye as her other hand covered her face.

"Must learn," he said, giving his own forehead a quick rub. "Something they never teach in story: hit with head, and it hurt you, too." His voice wasn't the goading, sadistic slither it had been before. He kept it level, instructional... coaxing. "Get up, Edri. Get up! You think you not have pain in fight? Get up and give me best!"

The Myrian braced himself, sweat pouring off him now, just as it was with her, shifting his ax to his other hand to her surprise. Time for her to deal with the fact he could use both. He started stalking towards her, ax swinging even as he barked out.

"Attack!"

[Edreina]

A Myrian's forehead was stronger than Edreina's nose. Yelping in pain and dancing away, Edreina cupped her nose. Black stars danced before her eyes, the darkness threatening to bring out the red that she had fought off for so long. She stamped her foot, willing for it to leave, for her eyes to clear and for the pain to ebb back to a bearable level. Despite the fact that her fiery anger - still screaming in her ear that she exact blood - had not gone away, but she felt a bit more in control of it. In a bold move that hushed the angry, jeering crowd behind her, Edreina slowly raised the gladius, leveling it at the Myrian's chest, playful eyes alight with steely intensity, as if this were another game she planned on winning. Pulling her hand away from her nose, she saw that there were little red, sticky drops. Thank the Gods her nose had not begun to bleed in earnest. She wiped her hand on her leg, shaking her head so that when she looked back to Razkar, her grin was feral, red hair falling across her freckled face. "Must learn. Something they never teach in story: hit with head, and it hurt you, too... Get up, Edri. Get up! You think you not have pain in fight? Get up and give me best!" Despite already being on her feet, Edreina straightened, lowering the blade to her side. As blood continued to flow slowly from her nose, it joined the sweat that had beaded on her upper lip. In fact, she had not noticed just how sweaty she was until that moment; how it coated and slickened her lean limbs. Edreina's eyes lost their hard edge when she saw him switch wielding hands. Before that point, she had been relying upon their weapon arms being on the same side for her parries and her own engaging blows. Now what... "Attack!" The command came as hard and as fast as Razkar's attack. Never before had it been so clear just how much he had been, and still was, holding back, being gentle on her. Their blades met with a spark and a thunder. While they were engaged, Edreina lashed out with three quick, sucessful punches and then a blocked knee. Dancing away, she turned her back on him for an instant, hopefully goading him closer, before spinning and slashing at arm's length. The fighting was an utter and glorious flurry. Despite how sore and tired she was, Edreina used everything she knew against Razkar. Everything he had taught her, everything she had seen him do, she now turned against him. Her elbows were used as frequently as her fists, her knees, even the blade itself. She made no distinction between any of the parts of her body, using them only as a weapon. Despite the fact that she ended up with more injuries than her teacher, the meager landings gave some satisfaction. She fought with everything she had, reacting as quickly as she could. When they disengaged, both breathing hard, sweat rolling in beads from their bodies. Hunching over slightly, Edreina grinned at Razkar, wiping her upper lip with the back of her hand once more.

[Razkar]

When their blades smashed together, even Razkar felt the impact bite into his muscles. The trio of blows she landed on his sides made him wince and he barely blocked that final knee, lashing out with his free arm-

-only to hit thin air as she spin away with a whirl of red hair, leaving her back open and he growled, charged-

-had his ax stopped by her slashing gladius, and she didn't press against him, just let her gladius bounce off his blade, twisting her body the other way to launch a backhanded elbow at his jaw-

Razkar jerked away but not fast enough. The swinging arm twanged against his jaw and snapped his head back, but now his exhaustion had given way to what he was waiting for: that place beyond the pain.

He backpedaled and put his guard back up, waiting for her to come on again, relishing those precious moments. Only the worst exertion, the fullest stress on his boy, could bring it out. Pushing himself harder and harder until his body just... let go. Of pain. Of hesitation. His body tingled with life and it was like a marathon had been run.

Razkar felt free, and smiled broad and joyous as she charged.

Edreina was thrown by his switched hands but rallied magnificently. Everything he had taught her, she used. No, not only used, but improved on, which amazed him even more. Steel clashed over and over, but it was her knees, fists and feet that he had to really watched for, and she used them with abandon. Like he'd instructed, every direction had to be watched, and soon his free arm was stinging from the impacts as blow after blow rebounded on them-

-or not, as he found when he moved just a little too slow to parry an elbow that thudded into his chest. But she didn't move away fast enough, coming in close to strike meaning that she was close enough to be struck-

-and his right fist shot out in an explosive short jab to her breastbone, knocking her back as they disengaged for the last time.

Both of them panting. Hunched over and she was edified immensely to see the implacable savage swallowing heavy and clutching his side, where most of her lightning jabs had impacted. The crowd was loving it, too, drinking in the rare sight of a Svefra female - and one barely into her womanhood - holding her ground against a fearsome savage from the dark jungles.

She grinned. Razkar grinned back... then tossed his ax to one side.

Confusion reigned briefly on her face, especially when he began to unfasten his weapon harness. She reversed her grip, ready to drop her own weapon and even the score-

-but he held up his hand, and stayed hers.

"I teach as good as I can." He said, words coming quick and short but gaining strength as his Myrian metabolism evened him back out faster than a human would. With a rustle and a clatter, his harness and the blades sheathed on it came loose, and he tossed it to one side as well. "I test you, and you prove you can hold. Now... you test me."

Edreina watched with her jaw dropping slightly as the Myrian kept grinning, cracking his sore knuckles and cracking every bone in his neck and shoulders, obsidian eyes never once leaving hers.

Sheer, unbridled satisfaction danced in them. A warrior's joy at having found a worthy sparring partner, one that could test him. They had swung steel and danced with their iron, fought on even ground, or thereabouts, but...

"Now we finish." He said, spreading his arms, and then forcing them back... and back... hearing muscles and ligaments strain and snap into place, then doing the same with his legs. "With you steel... against my skin."

Razkar saw the hesitation there, the latent fear not of him, but what damage she could wreak on him with the lethal weapon in her hand. But he just shook his head... and started towards her.

"Not worry, Edri. This is challenge, and without challenge, warrior is nothing-"

He charged towards her and gave her no more time to question. He lashed out with his right and out of instinct her gladius move up to parry-

-only for his arm to retract, upper body twisting on his hips to jab a left upward to her, but her right knocked it away-

-but not the right stamp that slammed into her bruised shin, unbalancing her-

-as he burst forward, knocking her gladius further away from him with a chop to her wrist from his right arm and then bending it to jerk an elbow into her collarbone-

-just as her own head snapped forward and sent his teeth rattling with a headbutt, sending him staggering back-

-falling-

-rear hitting the deck, jangling him, but he let it happen, put his arms back, hands on the deck-

-rolled backwards and came up on his feet...

Spat a glob of blood onto the deck, and grinned even broader at her stunned features.

"Time to finish."

Barehanded and wide-eyed, Razkar charged in for the finale.