Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

More Revelations

Theo's back slammed on the floor and the wind was knocked out of her. She rolled to her side and began to push herself up. It was hard to catch her breath and once she did, it went right out again. She got a hard kick to the chest and she slammed her palm on the ground in frustration.

"Give me a second, Xy!" Theo coughed out and pushed herself to sit up.

"You won't have a second in the ring," Xyra stomped over to her and knelt next to Theo, a large hand coming up to wrap around her neck and shove her back onto the floor.

Theo's hands wrapped around Xyra's fingers, prying them off of her neck. She managed to get her leg up to Xyra's chest and push as hard as she could. Xyra's fingers peeled away from her neck as she was pushed backward. Theo scrambled to her feet, backing away from Xyra.

"My opponent isn't going to be some combat freak," Theo caught her breath and lifted her fists up again, "give me a sword and I might take less of a fucking beating every round."

Xyra ignored her comment and walked over to square up with the Captain. One punch flew in her direction but Theo quickly batted it out of the way with a defensive swipe of her arm. Xyra tried again and missed because Theo ducked. The third one, however, struck Theo straight in the jaw. Theo could feel the blood in her mouth; she was weak, tired, and fucked up. Her ribs ached and so did her fists, even the wraps around her knuckles didn't prevent the pain. Xyra left their fight, letting Theo recover from a ringing ear. Xyra walked to a chest, opened it, and pulled out two sheathed falchions. She tossed one to Theo who snatched it out of the air and unsheathed it.

"Not my favorite one but I'll make due," Theo shrugged, spitting blood on the floor, and before Xyra was ready, Theo brought her sword down. It was blocked and parried. The clashing of metal reverberated around the room as they continued to fight and Theo was handling Xyra way better with a sword than with fists.

Theo was maybe three moves away from victory. She could see it in her head, she knew Xyra's fighting style well and could picture the scene playing out in front of her. While Xyra's hand-to-hand style was highly diverse and adaptable, her sword fighting was less so. To Theo, it was highly predictable and she could taste the win, her ego prematurely inflating. Theo was pushing Xyra back, playing offense. Her first strike in her endgame was coming down when a shrill scream came from her doorway. Theo froze her action, turning back to look at what the hell had happened.

Tuni was standing in the doorway with wide eyes, "Real swords?!"

Theo dropped her falchion and held her hands up as if that would absolve her of the crimes committed against Tuni. Xyra followed suit and took advantage of her position furthest from the door to keep creeping backward to face less of the healer's wrath.

"I could hear the clanging from half across the deck," Tuni's voice was still stern and she barged in, picking up each of the swords and their sheaths before throwing them back in the chest, "I try to ignore the foolishness you all get up to but there is a point when I have to step in."

Tuni looked disappointed as she huffed and sighed, picking up the mess that was Theo's quarters. Tuni walked to Xyra first, probably knowing by then that Xyra would have the least amount of injuries. She was looked up and down and then dismissed, but Xyra stayed in the room as Tuni moved on to Theo. Tuni stood in front of her, not touching, just looking. Tuni let out a louder sigh than she had before and pressed her fingers against each temple. After a deep breath she glanced up at Theo with a look that could only be described as desperation and frustration.

"Tomorrow, we arrive at Corinspe," Tuni reminded, "and we don't know what is coming, or when you will be expected to rise to Fletching's challenge. The plan you and I discussed during your party, Captain, was that you would take it easy until we arrived so your body could be rested."