Without further adieu, Devereaux and Grazilda started their dance. Contrary to the last time that they did, this was not the one filled with melody where one led the other in a harmonious rhythm of movement.
The element of surprise should never be underestimated, especially in the arena. Like a predator yearning for an oblivious prey, seizing the opportunity at hand before the target runs away, both of them quickly readied their weapons and attacked without giving the other an opportunity to study what would hit them.
She knew that the only way for her to hit him was to use her speed as both of them were strong. Their height difference was a huge impediment to her, yet she knew that there was always a way to attack. Thus, without a word, she quickly rushed at his direction, pushed her feet to the ground to lift her body up to close the gap between them, her fist aiming for his jaw.
He was ready for her and he never let his guard down. Noticing the sway of her hip, he smiled, but did not let it distract him… Even though it was a very nice hip, indeed. When she leaped, he stepped back and leaned to avoid her, yet her fist still managed to graze his cheekbone. “Warmed up already, lass?” He teased, thinking she was most certainly better than she seemed to think. Since his first intention was to watch her, that is what he did, his expression filled with amusement.
Landing on her feet, she leaped backward.
“Come on, Dev! Show me what you've got!” She gave him a cheeky grin, but deep inside, she prepared for the worst. He might not kill her, but there is always a huge possibility that she be rendered immovable the next day.
“As you wish,” He replied and bowed to her, his expression unreadable. Then, with a quick movement, he unsheathed his sword and moved his hand to aim a blow at her left arm, careful to quickly stop should she fail to react or respond.
She watched him bow and knew that something was up. And before she could blink, Dev's longsword came into view. With only instinct to help her, she leaped backward, her hands grabbed the ends of the handle of her stone axe, raised it vertically to her left, her right hand on top of her left, and used it to block the longsword that threatened to cut her arm. She pushed hard the axe handle against the menacing blade.
He leaned forward to bring his face close to hers, his strong hands pushed the blade sideways against her axe and winked at her teasingly. “Can't handle my sword, lass? And I'm just getting started.” He leaned into the sword, putting more pressure against her.
She had to concentrate hard to ignore his very close face. She could actually feel his warm breath against her cheek.
“That or you just want to get close to me in every possible way,” she bit her lower lip and smiled at him, her hands red from pushing back the sword. If he was a real enemy she would have kicked his groin by now. However, such was not the case. She crossed her left hand over to her right, moved her axe horizontally with the sword, not against it, turned to her right and stepped beside him to swing the blunt end of the axe on his leg.
Round 1: Watching these two feels like watching Don Quixote.
Suddenly he froze, albeit for a split second and was momentarily wide-eyed. That move was too familiar to him. He glanced at her and was about to muster up a witty comment about that technique when she took that slight moment of pause and jumped then whirled in the air, her feet tossing him to the side. He slightly lost his balance and her final kick on his shoulder fully sent him to the ground.
Round 2: Grazilda grazed Devereaux.
Round 3: Grazilda whacked Devereaux.
He quickly got up from the ground, positioned his sword to attack and glanced at her, as if looking at her for the first time. He studied her from head to toe in a quick sweep of an eye. Memories… Memories long buried began to resurface. She took advantage of the seeming hesitation and swung the blunt end of her axe on his arm.
Round 4: Grazilda whacked Devereaux.
She frowned at him then squinted her eyes. “Why aren't you fighting?” She asked curiously. “What's wrong?” She walked with quick strides toward him and readied her axe. He just looked at her and didn't move. Instead, he just looked at her, his eyes filled with pain. "I'm sorry, lass..." He said.
She wondered if she hit him too hard that he lost it.
“Get up and fight, Dev. We're not yet done,” she tried to challenge him. However, his mind was somewhere else. But her words snapped him back to the present. He raised his sword and charged at her. As he was about to swing his sword for a neck blow which, if not blocked, would have taken her head, he hesitated again. She didn't notice this so she punched his jaw then hit his torso with the blunt end of the axe. His sword never made it to her neck.
Round 5: Grazilda nicked Devereaux.
Round 6: Grazilda whacked Devereaux. Severe Injury has been reached! Duel Winner: Grazilda
Devereaux dropped to one knee and stared at Grazilda then. Except he wasn’t really seeing her; he was seeing someone from his past; someone whose life he had unwillingly ended. She stood there a looked at him for a few seconds. She was disappointed. She felt that he didn't give his best and she wondered why. She walked toward him and looked him, her eyes filled with questions.
“Is everything all right, Dev?” She asked, her eyes filled with concern.
*Post wrote jointly between tpb Devereaux and tpb Grazilda