The Shadows In The Dark

Chapter Seven

Dropping into a low crouch, Victor thought for the seventh time about how bad it was to goad-on Freya. He had been smacked, kicked, punched, thrown, and just abused for the past half hour. He had started sparring with Freya almost as soon as she handed him one of the stupid metal rods. When Vex had asked about what he would be doing, he was surprised to notice another Sangheili walk into the room. The stranger had introduced himself as Yad'Valen, and announced that he was a Sword of Sanghelios. He had then pulled out two energy swords, and both Vex and Victor were surprised to notice that one of them was Vex's old blade.

Vex had cautiously taken his weapon, and stated how it was odd that newly recruited prisoners would be given a weapon already. Yad had simply (smiled?) at him, and boldly declared that even if Vex tried, he would be unable to harm the Sword. Vex had then activated his blade, and the two aliens quickly joined in combat. They had been fighting each other non-stop, and they seemed to be pretty evenly matched, though Yad did seem to be on the defensive much more than Vex.

Victor, on the other hand, had been non-stop getting his butt handed to him by the monster in front of him. The woman was a whirlwind of fast kicks and strikes from her staff. His entire body was sore from getting hit by it, and not once had he managed to hit her back. He was a crack-shot with a gun, but he sucked at close range combat. Vex had tried multiple times to teach him, and while he had learned a bit, he was no match against the trained assailant before him. 

Falling back, Victor tried to enter a defensive stance, grounding his legs and wielding his staff in a tight grip. Freya swung her staff low, seeming to aim at his knees. Mid-swing, Freya completely stopped her attack, and instead swung on her heel in the opposite direction. Her action caused Victor to freeze up in confusion, before realizing too late that while she turned, she had reached out her free hand to grab his staff. She yanked on his weapon, causing him to jolt forward as his grip on the staff pulled him with it. She then brought her knee up into his groin as he fell, bringing so much force up with it that Victor bounced off of her leg and into the air. His vision went white and his eyes crossed as he was hit. Mid-air, Freya then brought up her other leg in a snap-kick, catching him in the stomach and sending him flying back. When he landed, all he could do was roll around in pain, wheezing out undecipherable words.

Freya stood above him, both staffs again in her hands. She stared down at him for a few seconds, eyes traveling up and down his body, before turning to the two other sparring partners in the room. It looked like while the humans were fighting, Vex had managed to push Yad into a completely defensive stance. Vex was hammering away at his opponent, and the pure force in his swings was causing his adversary to take step after step backwards. Yad was eventually pushed against the far wall, and had his sword wrested from his hands after a swooping maneuver performed by Vex, one that Freya had never seen before. 

Vex stepped back from Yad, before extending the others energy sword back to him. For a few moments they just stared at each other, before exchanging something in Sangheili that Freya didn't catch from her position. Yad grabbed the sword from Vex, before both turned to look at Freya.  

Leaving Victor to continue to roll around on the floor, Freya made her way over to the two large aliens. Stopping several feet away from them, she glanced in between the two towering beings. Stepping closer to Vex, she extended one of the staffs to him. Staring into her eyes, Vex reached out and grabbed the long weapon. As soon as his hand touched the metal, both combat specialists dropped back, raising their weapons in front of them.

While they launched themselves at each other, Yad'Valen made his way over to the small human boy rolling around on the floor. As he got closer, he recognized several obscenities flying from the young mans mouth. He started to laugh, bending down next to the human. He watched the boy for a few more moments, before speaking to him in a booming voice. "Child, nothing is gained by rolling around in defeat. Standing up and walking it off is the best choice."