Silver Winds

Chapter 5

“Anything worth having is worth fighting for.” ― Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Astra’s first reaction was to analyze the boy. Kay was about 160 centimeters tall, with a skinny frame. He seemed concerned with the leg Astra had kicked, Astra noted with satisfaction. His arms weren’t quite as muscled as Astra’s, but he definitely had a height advantage. He appeared to be an intelligent, though not as quick as Astra. They were evenly matched, Astra realized with a shudder.

Seeing the look on Astra’s face, Kay sneered, “Ya can’t back out now, ya coward. It’s too late.” Astra’s hands clenched into fists, her anger spiking in her head and making everything sharper. She almost rushed at him headlong, but she averted her eyes to the small child behind him. He couldn’t have been older than four. Of course, Illiquans experienced fights from almost the time they could walk, so Astra assumed she wouldn’t scar the little fellow with just a few punches. She resolved to avoid any broken bones, though.

Astra looked back at Kay, who was cracking his knuckles and back. She gave him a wolfish smile, setting her bag to the side. She would do this without a single weapon.

“Bring it, Kay,” she retorted. “Even if I was a coward, I wouldn’t be scared of someone like you.”

Kay’s face was mottled red and purple, and that made Astra laugh, circling around him. He held his guard, keeping one hand in front of his face and the other fist near his gut. The lower one was the one Astra needed to be wary of. When she had decided they had gone around each other enough, she took a step toward him. She had become keenly aware of the noises around them by this point, hearing them goad the two young ones on.

“Kick ‘is face in!”

“Make sure he can’t walk tomorrow!”

“When ya get ahold of him, Kay, ya better make your Mum proud!”

“Shut up!” Kay hissed, turning toward the one in the crowd who had made the last statement. Astra didn’t move, but instead peered at Kay curiously. He froze, then turned back to her.

“Ya should have run while ya had the chance, kid,” he spat. Astra took another step toward him, and watched Kay’s reaction to her step through slitted eyes. He had stiffened, and his attacking hand had drifted over to his leg. Astra smiled.

“You have to let that one go,” she teased. “It’s not like I would use it again, anyway. It would be stupid.”

“Ya’d be surprised,” he replied, jumping toward Astra. She ducked under his swinging arm, but was too off-balance to do anything, so she staggered back. She planted her feet on the cobble, and swore that she wouldn’t be tipped over again. That was something she hated.

His fist flew like a bird, and Astra had no chance of stopping it. Pain burst through the entire left side of her face, and Astra fell back, threading her fingers over her forming bruise. She rolled as a kick came down, almost stomping on her chest. Pain and anger sharpened her senses. It made her see her opponent’s movements, hear even what was going on beyond the crowd, and smell the sweat rolling off of both their bodies. Kay’s smelled like brine, reminiscent of the sea, whereas Astra’s scent was of the earth. She felt the sunlight warming her back, and rolled back to get onto her feet, swearing as Kay kicked her legs out from under her. He took another swipe at her, and she dodged, throwing herself backwards. She scrambled to her feet in a highly undignified way and brought her hands in front of herself again.

She dodged under his next punch, and brought her fist up in a vicious uppercut. He staggered back, his hands covering the solar plexus. His breaths were wheezing for the next few moments, and Astra took it both as a rest period and as a time to plan. He was much more resourceful than she had anticipated. If she wanted to win, and she always did, she would have to come up with something sneaky. She felt as though the balance was tipped in his favor, and only by stretching her brain, making it come up with something intelligent, could she beat him.