The Strange Tale Of Ayla Jae

Chapter Seventeen - The Freaks I Know; The Moments I Don't

"This move is called 'Winged Spike'. You take one arm and block. Then, you slam down the knee from behind, pinning them down on the floor. You use the leverage of your foot to flip them over, and well, you get the idea. Got it?"

"I highly doubt that's an actual move." Chloe says sarcastically.

"Of course it is." Elin replies.

"Really? Karate? Judo? Fist brawling?" I say.

Elin finishes the move on Daren, leaving a solid thud echoing through the space.

"No. None of that. Treager spent his whole life running and fighting. This whole thing is from him. A lifetime of conflict. He never had someone teach him anything, so he figured the only thing worth teaching me is what he made up, what he knew. You have to admit, it is effective."

Elin slips into another spar with Daren, showcasing what looks like a variation of the 'Winged Spike', only with an added punch or two in between the finish and start. Daren thuds on the floor and groans as she helps him up again.

"Agh. Why am I the one sparring with you?" He spites.

"Because you never had me around when I was able to teach you this, so let's go, Stone Cold Chilla." She smirks hard. "You need this. Hands up."

As they go at it again with only a slight marginal improvement in Daren's defense, I keep trying to think of what to say to Chloe, who's standing to my left watching the master/apprentice debacle unfold in front us.

"Who's Treager?" Chloe asks suddenly.

"Treager," Elin says without skipping a beat, "I've known for long time. Lost touch when I got older. Very good friend, even better fighter."

"Well, then why did you run from the guy before you showed up at The Glitch Room? Couldn't you just have beat him down?"

"As much as I think I could have, taking down this slender dipbutt of a brother is less of a challenge. I'm no 200 pound six foot behemoth. If I can avoid the conflict, I will. Survive and ride. Treager taught me that."

"Wait. Wait, Tregear Lawson?" Daren says, huffing between words. "As in, the guy who you kissed when we were all seven?"

"Whoa, Elin. Quite the adventurer." Chloe says, chuckling.

"Hey, hey. He was a cutie." Elin continues as she tries another kind of attack on Daren. "He tracked me down a few years back, when he needed help. Turns out, I needed help too. So, we reconnected over...fists!" Elin says pinning Daren down in KO fashion. Daren and Elin sort of glare at each other for a second before she helps him up.

"Looks like it was worth it." He replies before sharing a smile with her.

"Someone could probably classify what kind of style of fighting this would be, but it works. I'm bruised and in serious need of a nap." Daren says, throwing himself down alongside the wall drinking some water we got at the store.

"Anybody else wanna take a crack at it?" Elin says, readjusting her ponytail.

"No, no. I think I'll need the beginner's lesson first." Chloe answers, laughing.

"Oh, come on, wizard. Didn't you take lessons when you were little?" I say, egging her on a little.

"Maybe later." She says sheepishly. "I appreciate it, but I think I'm ready for a nap myself or something."

"Sure? It was your idea to be able to defend ourselves, right? I only have this space for another hour before that crappy yoga knock off crew shows up."