Lissa held her breath for a moment centered herself, she knew Saida would make the first move. She did not have to wait long as Saida began circling to her left sword held dismissively at her side. Lissa moved forward in a defensive stance, her shield out front and her sword resting atop it. She quickly wrapped her tail along her right leg, both for protection and to prevent her moves from being anticipated.

Lissa saw Saida’s left leg twitch and prepared for the oncoming blow. Within a second, Saida had crossed the four-meter distance and was upon her striking low and to the left. Lissa knew it was a feint, but blocked the blow regardless. She parried the sword back towards Saida knocking her back a few steps. She quickly recovered, “Not bad, you have gotten stronger that really stings.” Lissa ignored the comment and went into motion, unfurling her tail to provide balance and stability. She quickly feinted right, and nearly gasped at the speed with which she moved.

Saida’s eyes widened as she rolled away from the blow before swinging at Lissa’s now exposed legs. Lissa saw the move and blocked it driving the blade into the dirt. She quickly delivered a kick to Saida’s right shoulder that came too quick for her to roll away from the strike. It knocked her onto her left side, but the back was what counted. Lissa quickly pounced on Saida, who was still recovering. Driving her onto her back with the tip of a sword at her throat. “That’s one,” Lissa quickly remarked while offering her hand to help Saida up. She took it gladly, rubbing her shoulder all the while.

“Nice kick,” Lissa heard the words from Saida but looked into her eyes instead and saw what Saida wanted the most. Saida wanted to go all out, she was happy to oblige. They went back to their respective starting positions and readied themselves. Lissa knew that she would have to make the first move this time. Catapulting herself towards Saida, she put her shield in front of her chest, intent on ramming her. However, before the blow could connect, Saida flipped over her head and sent a kick to her back.

The added momentum caused her to become unbalanced and nearly collide with a tree. ‘Should have seen that coming,’ Lissa quickly thought to herself. She quickly dropped low into a crouch as she spun back around to face her opponent. Just in time to avoid a swing that embedded itself into the tree. Saida’s face was contorted due to the effort needed to extricate her sword from the tree. Not willing to miss this opportunity, Lissa swung at Saida’s hips, wanting to force her away from her sword.

Lissa quickly found herself regretting that decision. As she opened herself to attack, Saida’s knee connected with her shield. It drove her into a different tree, the bark splintered under the strength of the hit, and her horns embedded themselves into the trunk. She quickly dropped both her sword and shield to intercept Saida’s plunging fists. The downward force helped Lissa’s horns free themselves, but drove her to sit at the base of the trunk. Not wanting to lose quite yet, she sank deeper into a sitting position readying to kick Saida’s legs or midsection.

Had Lissa been able to see Saida’s face, she would have seen her grinning. Lissa felt the pressure on her arms increase and drew her legs closer to her to prop her up. Gritting her teeth, she began trying to stand and gained ground slowly. Lissa had the advantage in strength with her armor and used it to the fullest. ‘Definitely stronger than Garza, ’ she thought to herself as she rose to push Saida’s arms ever higher. Within a heartbeat, the downward pressure stopped, and Lissa was off the ground. She quickly felt hands grab her ascending ankles and then whip her to the ground.

She hit the ground back first, and like plunging bellows, the air escaped her lungs. Her head hit next, and everything went black. When she opened her eyes again, Saida was kneeling on her stomach, looking unconcerned. “I knew that thick head of yours would protect you,” Saida sat up quickly and offered her hand to Lissa. Taking it begrudgingly, she stood and gave herself a once-over. “I am taking a look at your head after!” Lissa could not tell which of the twin’s had said that statement, probably both of them.

“No weapon tiebreaker,” Lissa said, going back to her side, making sure to step-over the furrows their bout had already made. “Fair enough,” Saida quickly spun on her heels and jogged with seemingly a limp to her side. Lissa saw out of the corner of her eye, Almios quickly grabbing their weapons from the tree.

Lissa waited for a moment and steadied herself after seeing the world spin for a moment. “Just a little bit longer,” Lissa muttered to herself as Saida stalked towards her and fell low to the ground. Lissa stood her ground and started bouncing on her feet, swinging her tail wildly to throw Saida off. Saida launched herself at Lissa’s torso, causing Lissa to duck. Lissa caught the knee that was coming at her and halted Saida’s momentum, causing her to fall onto her stomach.

Lissa quickly fell upon her trying to hit her vulnerable joints. Saida endured a few blows before getting her arms underneath her and launching herself and Lissa off the ground. They were about half a meter from the ground but less than that apart from each other. They hung weightless for a moment before the ground rushed at them. Lissa anticipated the low leg sweep as they landed and hopped backward before rushing at Saida. She swung her tail left to make her right feint more believable.

Saida fell for it and moved right into a punch Lissa had thrown with extra momentum given by the quick move of her tail. The blow connected with Saida’s armor, denting it slightly and sending a painful reverberation and shock up her arm. The pain was also hitting Saida, who gasped out from the force of her armor closing on her ribs. The next few seconds were a string of vicious kicks and punches. Both given and taken between them. Lissa knew it would continue like this and intentionally left an opening, she moved her tail far away from her guard. She kept it there dodging and blocking blows until Saida took the bait.

Saida went to grab it, ‘Gotcha!’ Lissa thought to herself while feeling the vice-like grip wrap around the thinnest portion. Quickly wrapping up her tail, she drew Saida into her, with one arm bound Lissa gripped the other, leaving Saida open. Two quick punches hit Saida’s face, “Give up!” Lissa said through gritted teeth. The bruising and bloody face smiled at her before flashing forward to kiss her on the lips. Lissa was taken aback before pain shot up through her leg, she fell dragging Saida with her. “No,” Saida quickly replied as they fought on the ground.

The smell of blood was nearly overwhelming, and the taste in her mouth was awful. Soon the speed of the blows and tussle slowed until Lissa finally pinned Saida to the ground. A hand touched her shoulder, and then she wheeled around quickly, a fist following suite. A larger hand caught her fist. She looked up to see a very concerned Almios standing before her. “By the gods, Lissa, I think you won just look at her.” Lissa looked and, with eyes unclouded by battle, gasped at what she saw. Saida’s face was bloodied and bruised, her cheeks were cut, her nose broken, one eye swollen, and her lips split open. Thankfully no teeth were missing, but that didn’t help the pain that constricted in her chest.

She pulled her hand away from Almios and stormed off into the trees, “Lissa, wait!” she heard him shouting before a much quieter voice replied, “Let her go.” Once into the tree line, she continued until the din of voices were unintelligible. Lissa vaguely realized she was near the spring, and walked towards it, once she was close enough, she knelt and inspected her face. She winced at what she saw, large cuts and forming bruises on her cheeks. Smaller cuts above and below her eyes, one of which was rapidly swelling shut. Her lip and part of her gum were split open, and she spit out the blood into the water tainting it.

Lissa fell onto her back and looked to the branches above to clear her head. “She should have given up sooner,” Lissa said this to the emptiness around her, she watched a leaf fall from above and serenely float down. She didn’t know how long she laid there and didn’t care about the blood running from her or the pain. “There you are.” Lissa heard Micah call out to her out of her sight. She waited patiently as he trudged towards her. He then sat down on her left, “Not gonna lie, that was one hell of a fight, never thought you both would be so brutal. Though I don’t think you meant to beat her into unconsciousness, right?”

Lissa was silent a few moments, processing what he said and turned her head to look at him before replying. “I honestly don’t know what came over me,” She brought one hand out in front of her face, it was shaking. “I just let myself go and then all of a sudden it was… I… I didn’t want to lose to her, I know no one cares who wins as it is all just fun to them.” Lissa knew Micah did not care about the whole ‘competition’ between her and Saida, and neither did anyone else, including Saida.

She hit the ground hard and sat up, her tail now free of her body weight thrashed unconsciously. “But I can’t just have it be for fun! I want to be in the Imperial Legion one day or even serve as an agent of the Hands. I haven’t even told mom and dad that I am not leaving once my time has ended… ” Lissa trailed off as looked at Micah, expecting him to be upset or angry. He wasn’t, though. In fact, he was smiling. Micah put a comforting hand on hers and squeezed it gently, “I am going to let you in on a secret too.” He leaned in conspiratorially, “I am not leaving either.” She couldn’t help but gasp, “Aunt Izzy is going to kill you, you know that, right?”

Micah laughed before standing, “She isn’t gonna kill her baby boy. Maybe maim me, but that is about it.” He offered his hand, and Lissa took it. She stood smiling at him, she felt much better after talking to him. “Now, don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Though I have to warn you, Mera and Mela are going to chew you out for tonight.” Micah handed her a handkerchief, “Might want to wipe your face before we go back.” She took it and cleaned up a bit, once she took it away from her face she found it drenched in blood. “I am going to be up late tonight, cleaning,” Lissa handed the dirty kerchief back to Micah, who, without batting an eye, put it back in a pouch.

As they walked back to camp, Lissa started to doff her armor. During the walk back, she managed to doff all but her leg armor and breastplate. As the sounds of the camp grew closer, a small knot of apprehension settled in Lissa’s stomach. Which only grew in size as they broke the tree line, the expected silence did not greet her. Garza, Almios, Mera, Mela, and Darvick were chatting and eating with three prominent empty seats. “You know, I always thought you were pretty nuts but damn Lissa. That was brutal.” Lissa hunched over herself for a moment at Almios’ comment.

“However, I do have to say I can’t wait to see you in an actual fight.” His hand lightly hit her back. “They won’t know what hit them!” With Almios’ laughter, the rest reigned their praise onto Lissa, relieving her somewhat. She barely registered a touch on her back before someone whispered into her ear, “Our Tent. After Dinner, or you will be sorry.” She rolled her eyes as she noticed Mera appear on her right, heading to sit next to her sister.

With the worst possibilities clearing from her mind Lissa devoured the stew. Nothing was better than eating fresh food after riding for an entire day, though she suspected it would not be like this every night. Eventually, they all ate their fill and stared into the fire for a while soon enough a flask thumped into Lissa’s lap. It was Garza’s she realized. She looked at him, and he just mimed taking a drink. Lissa shrugged undoing the cork and taking a mouthful, it splashed into her mouth and found all of the wounds within. Pushing past the pain and burn, she let it settle to enjoy its flavor, smoky, smooth, slightly sweet, and earthy. Once her moment was over, she swallowed and found the warmth settle into her stomach.

She took another sip more to enjoy the liquor this time. Lissa received a knowing nod from Garza, who stood to sit next to her. “I am glad you like it,” He whispered. Lissa handed the flask to him as she finished her current mouthful. Garza took a small sip and smacked his lips in satisfaction, “I bought a few sizable bottles a few months back. After getting together with my cousins during our last leave. I can give you one when we get back if you want.” Lissa thought for a moment before responding, “I would love to have a bottle. Thank you, Garza.”

Garza looked past Lissa, “You better go see the twins before they get more upset.” Lissa turned and saw Mera standing by both hers’ and Mela’s tent looking at her oddly. With a sigh, Lissa stood and went to what she felt was her doom. As Lissa trodded towards the now opening tent flap, she saw Mera look around before smiling. “Get your tail in here! We have so many questions about its performance,” the loud whisper was accompanied by Mera, giving her a quick once over as she passed and winced. “We also have our work cut out for us, you both beat the hell out of each other.”

As Lissa entered the tent, she saw an unconscious Saida lying half-naked on one side. “How bad was she?” Lissa asked quietly as Mera and Mela quickly stripped her. “Her main injuries were the broken ribs you gave her along with the fractured cheekbones and jaw,” Mela replied while jabbing Lissa in the ribs over various spots. Each jab that was followed by a wince was noted and written down by Mera.

Lissa took this time of poking and prodding to look about the tent finding it surprisingly sparse. Typically they would have made it at home with incense, a multitude of medicinal plants drying on a wire, various poultices, and potions. All of it wasn’t present, bandages both dirty and clean, clear bottles of alcohol and empty potion bottles were off to one side. Which made Lissa realize there was just enough room for her to lay down next to Saida and allow them to do their work. “Lay down, please,” Mera indicated with her best bedside manner. At the same time, Mela went over to the pile of bandages and alcohol.

“Thankfully, most of your wounds are superficial, so some bandaging and disinfectant are all that is needed for those. Your head, on the other hand,” Mera pulled a bit of Lissa’s hair in view. It was completely drenched in blood, “We are going to have to check and make sure you don’t have any internal bleeding.” Mela came over with bandages, alcohol, and her Focus, “In other words, you are going to potentially be in a lot of pain in a moment. Thankfully, Garza gave you his drink like we asked, should help a bit.”

Lissa’s eyes drifted to the sleeping body of Saida next to her, “Did you have to put her to sleep, or was it from the fight?” Mela’s reassuring hand touched her arm, “She came to a few moments after you left. We gave her something to sleep to help the healing.” Lissa smiled softly, “Good. I am glad I didn’t do too much damage.” As the twins started to treat her wounds, the inevitable question came from Mera, “So… How was the armor?” Lissa thought for a moment, “Honestly, it didn’t feel much different. I knew I was stronger thanks to the steel demonstration, but other than that, nothing felt different. I didn’t appear to be faster, or that much tougher than Saida.”

Lissa mulled over her words, “Actually no, in the beginning, I could tell I was faster than her. After I downed her the first time, it felt more even, did you do anything to her armor?” She saw Mera and Mela both shake their heads, causing Mela to spill some alcohol on a few open wounds on her arm. Through the hiss of pain and Mela’s apologies, Mera responded, “No, we never touched it, so it could be something she did with it. We didn’t think to ask her, considering everything, maybe we will tomorrow.”

The back and forth continued as the wounds were dressed, and finally, Lissa was able to sit up, leaving the twins at the perfect height to look at her head and horns. “Sis, which volumes on the anatomical structure of blooded horns do we have?” Mera asked after rooting around Lissa’s scalp for a moment. “We have a few which author do you want?” Mela responded, walking over to their bookbag. “Tarpegio,” Lissa heard a small sympathetic hiss escape Mera’s lips, “Volume two if we have it. Looks like Saida fractured the base of the left horn.” Lissa eyed Saida now, catching herself before she turned her head, though. A few seconds later, Mela came over with the correct book and both her focus and Mera’s.

“Based simply on the fact she did that, I think you may have a slight concussion. So after we are done, you are going to need to go to bed right away. Do you mind holding the book at this page above your head?” Lissa quickly grasped the passed the book and did as instructed, from her quick glance, it was the complete structure of her horns and how they attached to her skull. “This is going to hurt, so first we are going to numb the area,” Lissa heard one of them say before a quickly fading warmness passed along her scalp. “Do you feel this?” Mera asked while stepping in front of Lissa, her hand touching somewhere on her scalp.

“Nope,” Lissa stifled her laugh at the sight of her bent over halfling friend in front of her. “Good, go on Mela.” Mera stopped hunching and retracted her arm and took the book from Lissa. Lissa quickly put her hands in her lap, “You can close your eyes, Lis.” Mera said, stepping out of sight, and Lissa did so and listening to the quiet humming of the twins as they healed her.

“Hey, Lis… Lis… Lis come on, wake up,” Lissa opened her eyes to find Mela standing in front of her, gently shaking her shoulders. “We’re done, and don’t worry about your armor or Saida’s. We have a second watch, and we will fix and clean both your armor and hers then.” Lissa blinked slowly at the words the haze of sleep still clouding her eyes, but she understood and nodded. Mela quickly helped her to stand, “Your clothes are in your tent, we cleaned those already, and the boys are asleep already, so don’t worry about that.”

“Thanks both of you two, you are the best,” Lissa sleepily slurred out those words and made her way to the tent flap before a hand grabbed hers. “Woah… Woah… Woah, that didn’t mean you could walk out there with just bandages. Put on this robe we found in your stuff first.” Mela quickly put the bathrobe into Lissa’s open hand, she slowly put it on. “Good, now you don’t have a watch tonight so don’t worry about that,” Mela added while watching and eventually helping Lissa put on the robe. Lissa patted Mela on the head and opened the tent to walk out. Once she set foot outside, she shivered for a moment. “Yeah, it’s cold, so be quick.” Lissa barely registered Mera’s voice as she stomped to her tent and crashed through the flap onto her bedroll. Quickly disrobing, Lissa made her way into her bedroll and curled into a ball. However, before sleep fully claimed her, she thought she had seen a floating pair of golden eyes above her, watching her.