Sweat was running down the side of my face as I fought with Amanda. She was tall, muscular and tanned with long dark hair pulled into a ponytail. She had more strength behind her offence than I did but she wasn't as good on defence.
We were into the fifth minute of the round and so far we were fairly even. Or so I thought. She suddenly hit the side of my legs and now had the better advantage in the fight. I usually relied on my legs to dodge, spin and attack. Time was running out. My limbs were getting weaker. I had to think of a way to attack.
Think. Think. Come on, come on. Amanda did a low kick. I jumped. What is her weakness? I ducked another jab. Wait. Her height.
Her height was a great advantage for her. But now it was my advantage too. With only half a minute left, it was now or never. I did a double dodge and swung my stick near the back of her knee. She began falling forwards.
Oh crap. She's gonna fall on me.
I dived out the way just as she toppled over and collided into the crowd of our classmates. The whistle blew. Game over. We stood up and shook hands and walked off the mat. By now, I was gasping for air and ready to collapse completely. I signalled to Clara to grab me a drink. She nodded and disappeared out of the room.
"That was an intense one Khloe. Well done," congratulated Raven, patting me on the back.
"Nice move. Bit risky, but it seems to have worked out for you. This time round, anyway. Be careful the next time you use it," Reese said as she came over. "Try to dodge completely out of the way before swiping at the back of the knee. But overall, good job Khloe."
I nodded, mentally noting her words. Reese was one of our instructors and trained us on a daily basis. She was quite small (and very much like a delicate china doll) she definitely was not to be taken lightly. Trust me there, if not, ask Connor. He learnt a very important lesson the day he decided to annoy her - ah, good memories.
Wait. Does that sound sadistic?
Finch, another one of our instructors who on the other hand, was like the big friendly giant. He was significantly taller than Reese, with shoulder-length, dark blonde hair and looked like he would have been teaching us how to fight. But instead, he covered defensive techniques.
Alex and Esme were more of trainee instructors and weren't as experienced as Finch and Reese but they were definitely very good at teaching as a duo. They were fraternal triplets until the death of their brother, Mason, changed it to twins.
I was there that day. He was leading the group I was in at the time. We were running through the alleyways in the city when we were ambushed by demons and someone was caught. Naturally, Mason ran back to save him. But only one person came back. And it wasn't Mason. Hopeful for his return, we hid in a nearby building waiting for ten minutes, to see if he would arrive. No one came.
Because of that day, because of his death, the twins dedicated themselves to training others, so no one would have to sacrifice themselves again.
