Tribal

7

Even without the rumors surrounding the knight, he was still imposing. He was at least a head taller than her and kept eye contact. His cold eyes trained on her, he moved like a predator: slow and calculated. His presence made her sweat; she was ready. But every bone in her body, every muscle fiber, every instinct was shrieking at her to avoid him at all costs. This feeling wasn't like the party; he was different; he was dangerous now. She had to greet him, but her voice froze in her throat, as if she uttered a sound she would die. Clover was nearby, Reed standing next to her for support. Acacia could see Clover's hands shake; she felt it too: the power, the danger. Reed was less accustomed to sensing predators, as he wasn't a hunter like Clover, but he still instinctually tightened his grip around Clover's waist.

"I was told I would be facing three lords," the knight spoke first. His voice was cold, like a freezing winter breeze against her ears. "I only see one." The knight was not displeased with this development, more surprised than anything. But he had been preparing all week for this fight; his predatory instincts were at their highest setting. Each word sounded more like an attack than conversation. He looked over at Clover and Reed; he saw how they felt; he was able to pick up on their fear. Afraid insects had a certain smell to them; his old teacher, the Hunter, had described the smell as making him hungry. The knight felt pity rather than hunger. He wished to begin the fight, but no one said a word; no one moved. He almost thought that they had stopped breathing for a moment.

Finally, Acacia stood. "My fellow lords are not able to attend our duel; one is currently attending to political matters at the white palace, and the other is currently carrying children and is forbidden to fight. I am your opponent. The only you shall face." Acacia spoke with confidence, doing her best to hide her petrifying fear.

"Very well, where shall our duel take place, my lord?" The knight took a small bow, lifting his head to face Acacia on her throne.

"Follow me, knight." Acacia stood and jumped down off her throne. She began to walk towards the dueling arena; many used this place to settle disputes inside the tribe. But it would do for her purposes.

"You may refer to me as Ghost, your lordship." Ghost hated people calling him 'knight' or 'captain'; he wanted people to treat him as they would treat any other insect. He did not deserve special treatment just because of his political position or his strength.

"Very well, Ghost, we shall be dueling here." Acacia had set herself up at the end of the circular arena while Ghost set himself up on the other end, opposite of her. Taking her sharpened glaive while he slowly took out his great nail from his back, the damn thing was nearly as tall as he was, and he was holding it with one hand as if it weighed nothing. She was amazed at his strength, and it only made her instinctual fear of him increase.

"Ready?" Ghost had his nail at the ready.

"Ready." Acacia kicked up her glaive and pointed it towards Ghost.

"Then let us begin." Without another word, Ghost took off. His speed was much greater than that of Reed's, but she had expected that much; her training with Ash had paid off. She noticed his legs tense and began prepping her body to move as soon as she saw him begin. She narrowly dodged his attack and immediately launched a counter; she was not prepared for his reaction time, and when she thrust her spear, he had already appeared behind her with his blade above his head. Ducking to the side, swinging her glaive upwards as she did, trying to land a hit on Ghost, she barely managed to avoid his blade crashing into the ground where she once stood. That blow likely would have made her lose the fight; she had severely underestimated this fight. She would have to avoid getting hit at all costs if she wanted to win.

Ducking and dodging all over the stage to avoid his attacks was beginning to annoy the knight; she was fast but not as fast as him. Every time he began to move, she had already been ten steps ahead of him. She couldn't outpace him or overpower him, so she was trying to wear him out. Little by little, if she could get him to exhaust all of his energy before she ran out of energy herself, she could beat him, but it would take time, and time wasn't currently on her side at the moment. The knight had soon noticed her strategy and had begun making small adjustments to his fighting style: fake outs, false movements, delaying his strikes, so on and so forth. He was adapting to her plan, and she was losing steam. If this kept up for too much longer, she would lose. She had to think quickly.

Then it came to her. If he had realized her plan, she would have to make herself unreadable. So, in a desperate attempt, instead of dodging completely out of the way of his blade, she would take a risk. She had been dashing and leaping off of the ground around him and had been using her glaive to kick up the surrounding dust and dirt, effectively creating a smokescreen. He could not see her, but she could not easily see him either, so she stopped, and she waited. Ghost was silent as he was strong and fast; she would not be able to hear his footsteps, and she could only smell the dust in the air. She had lost a majority of the senses she possessed. She did not have many options left, and she closed her eyes. Her mother had taught her this when she was very young; it had helped her to fly when she still had wings.

She waited, and for a split second, she felt the presence of the knight behind her. She opened her eyes and turned around at just the correct moment. The knight had found her first, and he had his blade in the air, readying another deathly strike. But Acacia was ready. The moment that his sword began crashing down, she took a small step to the side, and when the blade passed her face, she took her glaive and jabbed straight towards the knight's face. He saw the blade approaching his head and barely had time to tilt his head slightly, but the force behind the strike was massive, and the knight, unexpectedly hit, lost grip of his blade and went flying backwards. His sword was still embedded in the ground, and he was on the edge of the arena. He looked towards Acacia, and something happened that she did not expect.

He stood, a scratch under his eye, bleeding a viscous black liquid. She was taken aback for a moment: black blood. He was no ordinary insect. She knew now, but she barely had time to process the insane feat that she had just accomplished. she had landed a blow against him. If she could do that, she might stand a chance of winning! But she celebrated far too early. As Ghost stood, he snapped his fingers, and his fists were set ablaze in a flash of white light, moving even faster than before. He launched a burning fist into her stomach and sent her flying into the air above him. She had let go of her glaive and began falling back down towards him. He opened his mouth, and a white flash exited, a small white orb, no bigger than a marble, slowly floated up, and when it had extended a few feet in front of Ghost's face, it erupted into a large explosion. She could hear what sounded like wailing; that sound would live with her for the rest of her life.

She barely missed the explosion radius and hit the ground roughly on the other side of the stage. She felt drained; she could barely stand and was badly injured. But despite her desire to pass out there, she stood back up and placed her claws out in front of her. She was not adept at hand-to-hand combat, especially with a mage no less, but this was the only option she had. Wordlessly, Ghost closed his eyes and held two fingers to the scratch on his face, and when he pulled his hand away, the wound was gone. He felt more invigorated than ever and launched a fist into the ground, sending a powerful shockwave towards her. She noticed her glaive a short distance from where she was standing; she made one last ditch effort to grab it, and she leaped over the wave of magic. With a scream, she landed on Ghost's shoulders and took a swipe at his face.

Ghost reached out to try and grab her and threw her down onto the ground. Acacia kicked at his leg, and he ended up on top of her, their eyes locked, and he held a hand up to her face, preparing a final spell. Suddenly, Acacia passed out. Ghost slowly stood, carrying her in his arms. "Where is her room?" Ghost began to question Clover, who had been watching the whole fight in awe. Perhaps when she was fit to fight, she could face the knight in combat. Reed, on the other hand, immediately became defensive and stood between Ghost and his wife. "Where is her room?" He asked again; Clover responded after just staring for a few moments.

"It is over there." Clover pointed towards Acacia's hut, and Ghost took her inside, Clover and Reed quickly following behind. When they walked in, they watched as Ghost used his magic to heal all of Acacia's injuries from the battle. When she no longer had any physical injuries, Ghost stood, placing his hand on the spot Acacia had stabbed him, and healed it.

"It was an amazing duel. I haven't enjoyed a fight that much in a long time. Make sure to congratulate her plenty and reward her for fighting harder than many other opponents of Hallownest. She is one of the most powerful warriors I have ever had the pleasure of facing, and I think she deserves a good long break." Ghost took a low bow and left towards the exit of the village.

"Wow, what a fight. It was glorious!" Clover was ecstatic about the display.

"Hmph." Reed had a sour tone in his voice.

"Awwwww, dear, you know my heart is yours and yours alone!" Clover understood why Reed was being grumpy. "Come, let us go back home, and I'll make it up to you." Clover picked up Reed and walked off to their hut while Acacia slept.