Noelle and I rushed to the house and quickly tried to clean me up and get me into some new clothes so I would be at my best for the finals with Chad. He still had to get through Talyon, but the way my night had gone, there was no way I’d get lucky enough for Chad to lose.

We hurried back to the arena to find Chad’s match had ended as quickly as we assumed, and everyone was awaiting my return for the main event. I still felt sticky and there was gunk in my hair, but we managed to get rid of most of it. I was going to need a full bath and soak and was probably going to smell like honey for days, but it could have much been worse.

“Are you ready?? It’s time to drown yourselves in the sweet and deadly beauty—!”

I could hear the announcer drumming up the fight, stalling for some time as we reached the edges of the crowd.

Wait a second, that wasn’t the Baron. I winced a bit as I realized I recognized that voice.

Noelle paced in front of me to help with shoving our way through. Once people realized that I had returned, the crowd parted, making our push to the arena easier. Outstretched arms reached to brush against me or were pleading for my affection

It was a lot to take in as I walked by.

Mere hours ago, I had just been a somewhat popular girl in this small village. But now? It felt like I had become a folk hero.

A legend.

I didn’t reach out to any of the outstretched limbs, for fear of encouraging them and drawing them closer or bringing even more attention to myself, if that were possible. I cleared the crowd and the dirt arena opened before me.

Chad was waiting for me over in his starting position, arms crossed and foot casually tapping. He didn’t look upset, but I’m sure he wasn’t used to waiting on people either.

Then I saw the voice of the announcer that had been weaving through the crowd on my approach.

Back on his feet and conscious once more, his head wrapped excessively in bandages, was Dorian. He also had a gift for capturing a crowd’s attention and had kept them going while everyone waited for my return. My reentry had caused the crowd noise to shoot back up. Dorian recognized the energy spike and whirled to announce my entrance

“There she is! The Darling of Destruction herself! What unspeakable terror does she have in store for our unlucky Prince in this, the final match of the evening?!”

Noelle had been right. Despite the mean spirited punishment I had dished out, he had taken it all in stride. His charming smile still spread across his face, what part of it wasn’t mummified anyway. I was curious what deal Dorian had made with the Baron so he could announce this fight.

I collected my sword from Ash, who was holding it out for me like my own personal squire. Without thinking about it, I accepted my blade from him, then leaned down and kissed him on his cheek, in full view of not just the crowd, but specifically Dorian and Chad.

Ash’s eyes grew as large as dinner plates and the blood rushed to his face so quickly, I was surprised he didn’t get a nosebleed. He immediately yanked his shirt up and covered his face as he quickly spun and dashed away back to his seat.

I watched him scramble away and secretly wished I could have done the same. I had just kissed my first boy! It was only a peck on the cheek, and all I had wanted was to make the two idiots across the way jealous, but still! Butterflies started spinning up the most aggressive roller coaster in my stomach and I wanted to hide behind something.

Maybe that hadn’t been such a good idea.

Chad looked beside himself with disbelief and confusion, as if Ash had stolen something precious from him. Dorian was rolling his eyes with a smirk on his face. He figured out what I was doing and was amused, but hopefully also annoyed. It was fine if he wasn’t. Chad was the one I needed off his game right now.

You boys want to play dirty? Fine.

Nothing about this tournament had been straightforward. Chad hadn’t been joking when he insisted the end goal was more training. Noelle had pushed me to the brink physically while Dorian made me rethink everything about what opponents might bring to a fight. It all added up to what Chad was hiding under his immaculate red sleeves.

“Alright, it looks like we’re ready!” Dorian outstretched his hands to both of us. “You know both of our finalists, as they need no introduction— but I’m going to do it anyway!” Dorian had a mischievous grin on his face, and I was immediately worried for what was next.

“Over here, we have our Princeling, heir to the Crown! You know him, you love him… because you’re supposed to! Give a round of applause for Prince Chad!”

Chad grit his teeth in a forced smile as he waved. Dorian had purposely butchered the proper royal introduction Chad thought he was due. I looked over at Dorian, who locked eyes with Chad and mouthed back “farmer”, with the most satisfied grin on his bandaged face. The crowd still ate it all up and Chad was cheered on with appropriate gusto.

However, the crowd noise went up a couple ticks as they anticipated my upcoming introduction. Like Chad had been forced to do, Dorian also waved down the volume of the crowd before moving on to me.

“Are you ready for this? I don’t believe you heard me, I said are you really ready??”

He had a hand up to a wrapped ear, pretending the already deafening crowd wasn’t being loud enough. He pointed at the rest of his hastily bandaged head and exclaimed, “I thought I was ready!”

I was beginning to think the exaggerated wound dressing was meant to drum up sympathy.

He swung his arm back at me in a wide flourish. “She’s bad, she’s mad!”

Because you made me!

“She’s! Your! Amazooooooon!”

The crowd noise was again deafening, as it had been for each of my matches. The crowd chanted my title as before, but I also noticed more deep, royal purple flags and banners waving in the crowd, matching the one Ash had been using. My popularity with the people over the prince himself was astonishing.

Chad, like Dorian before him, also seemed unaffected. He merely had a small smile on his face.

“Such a shame to rise so fast,” he chided, while nonchalantly inspecting his fingernails, “only for you to fall just as quickly.”

My eyes narrowed in frustration. Despite my wins, he was still playing the arrogant card.

“I earned the right to stand here, on the same field as you. I belong here.” I retorted.

He shrugged, “That remains to be seen.”

And Chad’s game became clear as he revealed a sword for each hand.

“The rules didn’t say anything about more than one weapon!” I cried out.

“My tournament, my rules.” he merely stated.

It was my turn to grit my teeth. Again, I was forced to remind myself that Chad had intended this as a training exercise. The entertainment was secondary, just to soothe his boredom.

“Let the final match begin!” Dorian cried.

A single firework shot into the air and crackled in the night sky above, and Chad immediately moved to engage me.

I quickly took up a defensive posture in response. This match was going to be at another level. Chad with one sword was bad enough, but two?? I had yet to ever practice against multiple weapons. Goddess, I hadn’t even had a session where I fought Chad and Dorian simultaneously! Chad immediately started poking and swinging at me from various angles with both blades. His attacks weren’t varied enough that I couldn’t keep track of them, however.

An overhead swing at my head from his right, a jab at my thigh from his left, followed by a crossing slice at my front from his right again. Each move was varied, but the shifts in his shoulders were giving them away. There was something different about his strategy though: for the first time tonight, attacks were being aimed at any body part.

Where Noelle and Dorian had made attempts to score, Chad was aiming at anything. I wasn’t sure what his end goal was, but it forced an awareness of attacks from all angles. Something else different from the other matches was setting in as well.

I was tired.

My previous fights had taken a lot out of me, and I hadn’t gotten much downtime in between. They had by far been the longest and most involved of the entire bracket, with Chad’s match against Talyon reportedly lasting a few moments longer than the other matches. Noelle and Ash had healed my injuries from my slugfest with her, but that didn’t refresh my stamina. And I’d had to rush into town for a change of clothes only to rush back immediately after finishing Dorian’s match.

Add it all up, and I was getting winded already.

Chad finally got through my defenses, smacking my thigh, but I took the opportunity to shove his other blade that was currently clashed with mine. I took a page from Dorian and chained the shove with a shoulder tackle into Chad’s torso, then finished the combo with a slash up his chest.

I scored!

Dorian and the crowd all screamed, “And the Amazon gets the first hit on the prince all evening, and her first lead of the night!”

I stumbled away from him, my thigh tender from his successful shot. It was the leg I led with too. I risked testing it with some weight. It was sore, but not unbearable. As long as this didn’t drag out, I didn’t expect for it to slow me down.

Guess I’m glass half full tonight!

Chad dusted himself off from the ground and looked a bit amused.

“Glad to see you’re taking notes. I’ll have to keep in mind that you like to play dirty, darling.” Well aware of the double entendre, he allowed a smirk to cross his face.

What a Chad!

He slowly crept toward me, getting just within reach before beginning to circle me. I moved slowly with him, keeping my ass protected from any free swats he might take.

Wouldn’t score him any points, but when had he needed a reason in the past?

My mind continued to flash to all our previous sessions, specifically the bruises and welts he had given me during our sessions. He knew he intimidated me. Noelle and Dorian I had mistakenly looked past earlier, but for what I thought were good reasons. I had frequently started besting them in our sparring and I had arrogantly thought they had nothing left to show me.

I had never beaten Chad, not when he was armed, and now he had upped the ante.

He favored striking my sword hand. Maybe I could use that to my advantage? With a counter strategy in mind, I came at him with a wide swing, deliberately leaving my arm defenseless to see if he would attack it as I hoped. He instead blocked normally and immediately followed through with a lunge to my chest, ramming me hard with the wooden tip of his sword.

I grabbed at my extremely sore breast and winced.

So much for that.

The crowd gasped in shock and Dorian fed off it, attempting to make sense of my wild maneuver.

“I’m not sure what our demoness was thinking there? Maybe her grand strategy has yet to play out!”

Chad wasn’t having it, so confused by my tactic that he refused to drop his guard, swords up and ready. It didn’t stop him from running his mouth, however.

“What… in Obarith’s name was that?” he balked at me in disbelief. “I thought you were ready for this next step. Maybe I was wrong.”

I was just as disappointed in myself as he was. I’d just haphazardly blown away my lead on a reckless stunt. The score was tied, and I still hadn’t determined a strategy to win this.

“You can do this!” shouted familiar voices and I discovered I had maneuvered my way in front of Ash and Noelle.

I let their encouragement strengthen my resolve and gripped my sword again with both hands.

“Good thing being wrong is your stupid face!” I barked back.

….What was that? What did I just say?! Stupid!

Engaging in verbal banter with Dorian earlier had me foolishly thinking I could sweep in and do it with Chad. If I was going to do something awkward and dumb, I should have just turned around and kissed Ash again!

Chad raised an eyebrow at me, my latest actions supporting the idea I was now spiraling into madness. At least he couldn’t claim I had been hit in the head…

He eventually shrugged and said nothing while going on the offensive again. I started weaving dodges into my defenses, attempting to not block every attack, which previously allowed him to control my sword locations.

He struck and I blocked, combined with another swing, which I deftly side stepped. An attack came at my ankle, and I stepped over it and into his body to force him into a retreat. He held fast as I swung hard, throwing my weight into the attack. His other sword met mine across his chest and we met strength against strength, our swords now jostling with each other for position.

I pushed into him again hard to shove him off balance, then grabbed his right arm and swung the butt of my sword down on his wrist hard. He yelped and dropped the sword but was already in the process of bringing his other blade back around. I was completely defenseless as he smacked me in my previously injured ribcage. I had already planned my next move after smashing his hand and, as his sword connected with my side, I had rotated my wrist and desperately slashed at his chest.

“The Prince and the Amazon both connect! Unbelievable! The score remains tied at two a piece! The next scoring strike will determine who walks away with it all! Will the Prince get to keep his lunch money, or will our Amazon turn out to be a very expensive date?”

Dorian and the crowd were on the edge of their seats. Dorian wasn’t even providing blow by blow commentary anymore and had just become another wide-eyed spectator.

We backed away from each other again. I held my side while Chad was shaking his right hand.

His dominant hand.

Not only had I successfully disarmed him, but my strategy had worked. He was going to be forced to fight lefthanded.

Dorian and Chad had been taken aback when they learned I was a lefty. After the teasing claims of me being a “witch” died down, we realized I needed to learn like in a mirror. Training and sparring with me were difficult for them, as they were familiar with facing the same body postures and stances their entire lives. It was very hard for them to move and teach me simultaneously. In short, it had been a nightmare.

And now, he was on my turf.

I kicked away his spare blade and smiled at him.

“Warlock.”

He smiled back at me, still shaking away the pain.

“Witch.”

It was the first moment of relaxation between us that I could remember. Well, at least without alcohol. It was eerily pleasant.

For a moment, he had acknowledged he and I were equals in something. I was briefly reminded of the handful of moments where he was actually kinda cute and not the obnoxious and overconfident jerk he so often portrayed. I wondered what he was like when no one was watching…

But now wasn’t the time to fantasize about Chad being normal. Now, it was time to win.

He twirled his left arm around in the air a couple of times, testing and resetting himself, then lifted his chin up at me in an aggressive taunt. I wouldn’t fall for it. I finally had an edge in this fight, and I wasn’t going to blow it by rushing in. It didn’t help that I was even more tired than before, and my leg had started throbbing from the hit earlier, enough that I could no longer ignore it. Any bursts of movement or attacks would have to be calculated. I couldn’t risk burning myself out, not when I was so close.

I strode towards him in a slow manner to resume our dance. Tired of being on the defensive the whole match, I struck first, thrusting at the lion’s crest at his left breast. He swept my blow away and extended with a lunge of his own, also aimed at my left. I spun away and allowed the sword to cut through empty air. Chad reacted quickly and swung the outstretched blade back towards my head, however I had anticipated this counter and draped my own sword behind my head.

His blade connected with mine, and I responded with an overhead swing, pushing his blade away and brining my weapon down, slashing at his front. He was somehow able to reposition to block and we stood there in another stalemate, another test of strength to determine the advantage.

I couldn’t keep putting more weight on my injured leg for much longer and exhaustion was setting in everywhere else as well. Like the end of my match with Dorian, it was all or nothing, and I gambled.

My mind flashed back to training where he had chastised me for being easy to read.

“Not every attack from an opponent is going to leave an immediate opening for a counter move.” he had said. “You’ve become too predictable”.

Time to do something predictable then.

I moved as if to shove him again, like I had before. He felt it coming, instantly disengaging, and jumping backwards.

But my shove had been a feint.

Instead of completing the action, I let him pull away. He had adjusted his sword arm in preparation to strike at where I would have been had I completed the follow through. His face when he realized I wasn’t there said it all. Instead, I had shifted to his wide-open right side, and skewered him with the tip of my sword.

I had won!

Everything after that moment happened in a rush.

Chad grunted and held his side as he dropped to his knees from the blow. The crowd started screaming and throwing anything in the air they could get their hands on, mostly drinks, flags, and banners. Dorian was yelling at the top of his lungs, “The Amazon wins!” repeatedly. I had doubled over and was leaning on my sword for support. Adrenaline was cooling off and even more exhaustion was setting in as I breathed heavily.

Fireworks started exploding in the sky, adding to all the noise surrounding me. I took a moment to look up at the twin half-moons, the various colors of the fireworks reflecting temporary hues of red, blue, and gold on them. I smiled, imagining they were the approving eyes of the Goddess, watching me take this first step.

I reached down and offered Chad my hand. He weakly smiled as he took it and rose.

“That was a good match, Amelia. Better than I’ve had in ages.” He let out a large sigh. “I hadn’t expected to lose, but if it means you’re ready to move on to the Goddess’ next task, then I suppose it’s a loss I can accept.” He shook my hand briskly and then nodded behind me.

“I hope you’re prepared for all of the adoration that comes with winning!”

We started walking towards the core of the jubilant crowd where Noelle, Ash, Dorian, and the others were dancing and laughing excitedly. He thought a moment before adding, “At least I owe you money now instead of that dastard, Dorian.”

I stopped and pulled at his sleeve, and he turned back to me. “Yeah, about that…”