Andrei sees what's happening and rushes from the other side of the camp, he was sitting at the table. He seems genuinely concerned as he confirms with his eyes what is going on. Glancing at me before focusing all his attention on Lina, trying to push forward he reaches the shieldbearers. He locks eyes with her for a moment, before she fixes her gaze on Jorr, who starts moving around her with a steady and calm step.

The hobgoblins mock and laugh at Lina as she runs at Jorr, swinging with her full force and failing miserably at landing the hit, Jorr simply steps to the side and moves his head a little bit. She tries another swing but fails the same way, earning further mockery from everyone except the huani, who watch silently.

Jorr hasn't even raised his fists.

She tries again, but this time her failure comes with a punishment, she swings and misses, and Jorr catches her arm, twisting it behind his back and twisting her shoulder painfully as she cries out. He then slams his knee on her stomach once; then twice, before letting her go and hitting her on the face with his left fist.

The crowd laughs as she hits the ground hard, moaning in pain as she clutches her stomach.

"This is wrong, unfair. She is a woman, she can't fight back!" Nojus shouts, and the rest of the huani nod in agreement, he looks at me "Chief, stop this"

I offer a single, silent look, and keep focusing on the fight. Nojus frowns, but remains quiet, for now. I instead glance at Andrei, his expression of concern now mixed with frustration, and anger, as he looks at Jorr. I wonder if he will dare to step in.

"Come one, Boss, this is sad" Jorr adds his own words into the mix, he turns his back completely on Lina, crossing his arms over his chest "I feel like hitting a child" One of the huani tries to enter the circle, reaching for Lina.

"Don't!" I shout, the men quickly focusing on me, and the huani stops "Are you finished, Lina?"

"Noo!" She shouts, slamming the dirt with her fist before taking a deep breath and raising to her feet. The huani is upset, but the hobgoblins quickly make him get out of the circle.

Jorr shrugs and turns around, shaking his head slowly as he lays eyes on Lina, before approaching her. She raises her fists again and with a loud yell of frustration swings at him wildly. She is fast as all huani are, but Jorr is much more experienced, and he dodges easily any attempt she makes to land a hit.

Eventually, he grows tired and swings at her again, she tries to defend her face but his hit is so strong it's useless, it still reaches her face and she stumbles backward but doesn't fall. She tries again and after she misses he hits her again, swings again, and gets hit again. I glance at Andrei and Nojus, they grow exponentially mad.

"Just give up you idiot," Jorr mumbles, suddenly taking a step forward and Lina cowers, he instead shoves her hard to the ground "You can't win"

There are a few chuckles, and a raised fist or two, but for the most part, the crowd has grown silent. By now as Lina's sobbing grows louder, the quieter it gets in the camp, a few hobgoblins even look at me from time to time.

"N-No! I can fight!" Lina cries out, her speech impaired by the trembling bloody lips, and her tearful eyes look up at Jorr as she raises to her feed once again, but she is moving side to side, her arms shaking.

Lina quickly swipes the blood off her face, the trail of blood coming out of her nose quickly falling again. Jorr shakes his head and looks at me, I can see he is growing angry as well, uncomfortable for having to fight for much longer, and after a few seconds of silently staring at each other, he seems to finally snap.

"What are you trying to achieve here? This girl is beaten, if you want to beat her to a pulp you can do it yourself" He turns to Lina "And you-"

With a scream, she swings and lands a hit square on his face, Jorr is so surprised he doesn't get time to dodge, both by force behind her hit and the second one that lands on his stomach. This, however, makes him react and he swings in return, hitting her with his left fist and sending her stumbling to the ground near the crowd.

"Please! STOP!" Andrei shouts as he tries to shove his way into the circle, but he is stopped by the hobgoblins "I will fight! I WILL FIGHT!"

Let her go! Send someone else! This isn't fair!

Some in the crowd have begun to speak up and I know I won't get away with keeping this up for much longer. I stand up and they go quiet, Jorr stretches his jaw, a bit of blood falling to his chin, he leans on one of the shields but doesn't leave the circle, I make my way to Lina, who is on the ground but still conscious.

"Do you give up?" I ask, kneeling next to her, she looks up at me, tears falling uncontrollably, trying her best to not gasp and hold the tears in "Do you surrender?"

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"I-I-I Can't win" She mutters "I'm not-I can't, I can't fight"

"You can't win," I say, and let my words linger for a few seconds "But can fight, so long as you have an arm and a leg you can fight. Keep trying, pushing forward, if you want to protect something, you don't run away, and if you do...you turn and go right back. Fight, Lina. Until you fail and go down knowing you gave it your all, or beat the odds and come out victorious"

I move the hair out of her face, looking into her eyes as she processes what I have said. And slowly, she grows determined, and I let go of her, stepping away as I see her stand up again, now everyone is silent, either confused or entranced by what they see. She is still crying and shaking. But she raises her fists, and bites her lip hard, piercing it, drawing blood as this forces her to stop trembling, and her breathing normalizes somewhat.

"The fight stops when one of you can't go on," I say as I return to the stool, and Jorr looks at me disapprovingly but nods.

"What a way to treat your woman" He mutters under his breath as he walks up to the center of the circle, close to Lina. But this time, he raises his fists "I'm ending this quick"

"What did he say?" Andrei whispers, glancing between me and Lina.

"Alright girl, I'm sorry but-"

Lina screams, it is a scream of anger, pain, fear, of defiance. She runs to him and swings fast and hard, more than before. Jorr defends himself and kicks her on the leg, she curses and winces in pain but keeps swinging. Every few hits Jorr swings back, hitting her on the face or the torso, but Lina doesn't stop.

Even I am mildly surprised when I see Jorr losing terrain, stepping backward as Lina continues her unrelenting assault. She screams with each hit, and the men have begun to hit their shields, they must see the same I see. The willpower of a warrior.

Jorr swings again and again, and more and more blood falls to the ground and paints his knuckles red, but Lina doesn't stop, she keeps trying to land a hit, again and again, receiving hit after hit until thanks to her constant pushing and wild swings, Jorr trips.

Lina jumps and tackles him to the ground, she keeps screaming as she slams her fist constantly on Jorr's arms, he protects his face as best as possible to tank any hit he can't move away from. Until he finally lands a hit on her jaw, this stops Lina's assault as she seems about to drop to the ground and Jorr doesn't stop there.

He grabs her and throws her to the side, quickly raising to his feet and as she shakes her head and tries to do the same, he kicks her. A powerful kick in the stomach lifts her a few centimeters from the ground. The battering of the shields stops. Jorr breathes heavily as he watches Lina, I can see his lips move, don't stand up, I think he whispers.

But if I was right, then he must have been disappointed. Lina throws up, the hobgoblins nearby taking a step back. She spits and wipes her mouth with her trembling hand.

And begins to stand up.

Jorr has had enough, with an angry step he walks up to her, and puts his arm on her neck, pressing hard and grabbing her right arm, twisting it behind her back. Lina tries to break free, gasping for air as she hits him on his ribs with the elbow of her left arm, steadily getting slower, movements getting more sluggish until she stops and Jorr, instead of letting her fall, kneels on the ground, releasing his choke on her but still holding on to her. He looks up at me.

"Take her to her tent," I say, and the crowd erupts in cheers and the slamming of shields, they even begin chanting her name as Jorr lifts her in his arms.

Lina's eyes slowly open again, she looks around and once the surrounding hobgoblins see this they approach, offering words of respect. I open the entrance to my tent and I address my men.

"This is enough for today, everyone relaxes for today, no training, no work," I say as my men cheer and begin to disperse, then turn to enter my tent when I see Andrei approach.

"Lina is not a fighter, she is a kind woman that deserves to be treated kindly, and be kept safe from harm, not thrust face-first into it!"

Uh, Andrei finally spoke up. He may be trembling with fear, but I do respect his desire to see after Lina's well-being. However, I don't say anything. He looks around for a bit before losing what little bravado he had.

"Just, please, Lord. I will teach you everything I can, and if you need more men to fight I will fight for her, please" He waits for some kind of answer that is not coming and then turns around, looking and walking directly at Lina's tent.

"Hey," I say, and he halts, I grab a nearby bucket and empty its water on the ground, then hand it to him "Wash it well and bring fresh water from the stream, she will need it" He looks at me uncertainly for a moment, before nodding and walking away.

I walk inside my tent and reach for my now better-organized medicine, the water in that bucket was fresh, but I will take care of treating her wounds and I would rather not have the human snuggling close to me in the already small tent. I grab everything I need and head out to Lina's tent, among the rest of the huani.

Once I enter I point outside at the hobgoblin getting ready to treat her, he picks up the medicine I gave him and leaves. Jorr is not her either. Her tent is practically empty, like most tents, except she has leaves on top of her bedroll. And she lays there, her head slowly turning to the side to see me.

I approach her and sit next to her, placing everything neatly on my side. I could have allowed the hobgoblin to treat her, but in truth, I enjoy treating the wounds of others, I suppose it feels nice to cure injuries instead of making them all the time.

"I won?" She whispers, her face swelling.

"No, you lost" I reply, having put everything where it needs to be I reach for her head and move away all hair from her face, I will begin with the most obvious bruises.

"But, they cheered"

"You don't need to win to be victorious. You did well" I tell her, looking into her eyes for a moment, and for the first time since I've met her, the pupils in her eyes widen.

We don't say anything else, she sobs and is far too exhausted to even try and I'm busy thinking about everything I gathered from this day. Now the war band feels more united, and tension has been unwinded, as well as having earned the respect of many of my men. Now I understand more about Jorr in case he becomes a problem.

And Lina could prove to be more than a tool to keep Andrei subservient.

As I treat her wounds I know the time has come, my men will rest for two or three more days, getting everything then. Then, we will all leave, taking as much food as we need, and head to the human lands. They will fight better now that there is less tension. I finish as soon as Andrei enters the tent and I pick up my things, he kneels next to her and I leave. I could use some sleep.