casual - chloe charming x princess red

VII

[epilogue]

Sweat trickled down her body like a waterfall. 

Chloe took a deep breath, the air tinged her lungs while her nose scrunched at its unpleasant body odor scent. She positioned herself, squatted down with her sword in her right hand, her left hand behind her back. 

There were only three seconds left in the finale of the Sword and Shield tournament, and she was tied with Sherwood's very own, Rowan Hood.

Taking another slow and prolonged breath, Chloe's eyes wandered over to the vision of flaming red hair sitting in the front row, next to her family. Chloe had insisted her girlfriend wear the color blue as an homage to her family colors. But after seeing Red in, well, something other than red, they both agreed that she could wear whatever as long as she sat with Chloe's family, who welcomed their daughter's girlfriend with open arms. 

Chloe had to force her eyes back onto her opponent. Red would become too distracting if she stared at her for too long, and she would lose the most important event in her life.

The hours, the days, the years Chloe spent training, pushing herself to be the very best was all leading up to this very moment. 

Three seconds left, and all she had to do now was wait for the moments to prove it.

"Masks down."

Chloe glances over at Red once last time before pulling the mask over her face.

"Rassembler."

She mutters a quick prayer that this would be quick. 

"Salute."

Rowan bows, Chloe mimics his action. There's a silent tension felt throughout the amphitheater, creating an unnerving feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

Chloe kept her weight on her toes for swifter motions; Rowan was an unpredictable opponent, that's what made him reigning champ for the past two tournaments. He was quick, decisive, and seemingly knew every move of hers within the first two rounds. 

"En guarde!"

Circling around the sweat ridden mat like vultures in the sky, they were waiting for the other to make the first move. Neither of them dared to attack in case it would result in a rapid loss -- the cost of such a historic title would be deafening  and heavy -- but it would need to be soon. Overtime was not an option for the either of them.

Boldness and courage surged through her veins as she lunged first, sword aimed for his chest. An easy, predictable, and rather novice move on her part, but Rowan was quick to block and counter. In fact, he was starting to take lead, his attacks sending Chloe stumbling backwards and nearly out of bounds. 

This was the fight of her life, a battle she deeply craved. 

The sound of metal making contact between each other pierced the deafening silence of the crowd, who watched in anticipation and anxiousness at the ongoing fight below them. They've both managed to land hits onto each other's armor, but they weren't seen as valid points. 

Chloe's momentum began picking up, the adrenaline pumping in her blood and fueling her body. She swung her blade at her opponent's shoulders. Rowan ducked from her attack and countered with a huge lunge at Chloe's chest. She dodged it, and hit her opponent's sword. Their blades were in a constant battle for dominance over the other.

Chloe took a step forward and put all of her weight on her sword handle. The force between the two swords was now a battle of brute strength with Rowan soon beginning to win Chloe's own battle that she picked -- until she suddenly released her blade from his. Rowan stumbled, his mind preoccupied on catching his balance when Chloe aimed to disarm him.