The Arwain Chronicles Book I

Chapter Ten

The Arwain Chronicles: Ashes...

She ducked low missing the blow that was meant to break her nose and sent two quick jabs at her in return. Twenty two easily parried the first and evaded the other as she ducked low in a sweep kick. Twenty one jumped missing the low kick. Twenty two however, moved quicker than she'd expected, and jumped equally high while turning. The heel of Twenty two's boots connected with her jaw in a hard roundhouse kick sending Twenty one sprawling to the ground.

Her rage spiked as she picked herself up from the ground and turned back to Twenty two. She sent an unrelenting barrage of blows at Twenty two. All of which to her rising fury, were either blocked, parried or evaded. Her breath left her in a pained grunt as Twenty two's side stepped one of her blows and dug her elbow hard into Twenty one's ribs. Before she knew it, she found herself in a tightening choke-hold by Twenty two.

In a normal training match, tapping out would have been enough to end the attack. But this wasn't a normal training session. There was no tapping out, she'd have to figure out a way to get herself free or she would choke till she was passed out. Raising her right hand high, she brought it down hard and fast meaning to drive her elbow into Twenty two's side. Twenty two however shifted her weight making the move useless.

Twenty one did it again, this time with her left. And once again, Twenty two shifted her weight... just as Twenty one had expected. Before Twenty two had fully settled into the new stance, Twenty one dropped down on one knee. Using her own weight, she pulled her destabilized opponent over her shoulder and slammed her hard onto her back on the floor. Twenty one dropped her other knee bringing it to a halt less than a centimeter away from crushing Twenty two's throat.

A smile slowly crossed Twenty two's expression as she looked up from the floor. The smile bore no mirth, just satisfaction. "Good, you're getting better," she said.

"Still not good enough. Let's do it again," Twenty one returned rising to her feet, pulling Twenty two up with her.

"We've done this about twenty times already," Twenty two said stepping away from her. "You need to rest," she said.

"Out of twenty times, that is the first time I've beat you so far," Twenty one returned in a hard tone of voice. "I'll rest when the figure evens out," she said raising her fists ready for another round.

"Then you'll never rest," Twenty two returned dryly before turning away from her and moving for the bench beside the training area. Twenty one ran forward a cry of rage issuing forth from her as she jumped high in a kick. Twenty two easily side stepped the kick that would have met her squarely in her lower back. She dipped low in another sweep kick that caught Twenty one just her feet touched the ground once again. A second after she'd landed hard on her back on the floor, Twenty two's hard punch landed squarely on her solar plexus, knocking out all the air from her lungs.

"You'll never catch up, not because you can't but cause you're letting you emotions guide your fighting," Twenty two said curtly. "You've been wearing your heart on your sleeve since you were brought back. Where is the cold heartless Twenty one that I know? The one that fought with such cold ruthlessness that most vampires would envy? Twenty two questioned her as Twenty one struggled to regain her breath.

"In case you missed it," Twenty one chocked out. "That Twenty one had her mind completely fried. Then you had the bright idea to get a boy who's got more emotions than ten pregnant women put together, to put my mind back together," she shot back.

Twenty two silently regarded her for a while before speaking. "Is that why you've been questioning my decision to let that boy die?" She asked.