The rough sound of sand against leather permeated the air, as Rhen slid over the floor, whirling around her opponent in their duel.

The taller woman kept a firm stance, and turned more or less on the spot as Rhen moved, in order to keep facing her.

Wood smacked against wood again and again as their duel went on, but the more interesting thing was perhaps that none of them had landed a blow yet; the tall warrioress was good with her parries, even placing the palm of her hand against the flat of her wooden blade at times, in attempts at stopping Rhen's attack in a way that would send shocks through her arms simply due to the solidity of such a parry.

It did not work, however, as the young noble was used to a different fighting style than the classing hacking and slamming - she made cuts instead, swinging in a way so that her blade would slide over the target instead of slamming into it.

This took the otherwise good parrying tactic away from her taller opponent, and enabled Rhen to keep her attacks going instead of risking getting staggered.

"You're good," said the taller opponent with a grin as she swung at Rhen, who leaned back just enough to avoid getting hit - with a slightly cocky smile on her lips, and the thrill of the fight in her brown eyes.

"...for a scrawny little girl. What are you, fourteen?"

Provoking was a good tactic in a fight; it served as a distraction, and in some cases it could infuriate the opponent, or even make them more cocky in some scenarios.

For Rhen... this was a problem.

She was a bit of a hothead, and did not take mockery lightly.

So she narrowed her eyes a bit, and swung at her opponent.

The blow was parried, and Rhen said: "I'm an adult, thank you very much!"

The taller woman scoffed and shot her a grin. An infuriatingly provoking look in her eyes.

"All big kids say that, right? 's not like it makes you a grown up just 'cause you grew a pair of tits and got yourself an attitude!"

Rhen huffed as she circled her opponent, weighing her options for attack.

"What do you know? I am eighteen years old..."

This woman was starting to annoy her. Maybe she should just go on the offense, and try to rain down a barrage of blows? If her footwork and advance was done right, she should be able to land at least one hit! Right?

"Wait, you're eighteen? You're kiddin' me, right? You look like a lil' kid!" spewed the foul, tall witch. Yes, that was her name now. The witch.

"What!? Shut up!" yelled Rhen, and then she began her attack; a forward step into a solid sidestance while she whipped her wooden sword in a cross slash at the 'witch', who dodged one and parried the other.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Footwork, footwork! thought Rhen, remembering her training sessions.

She was dead set on teaching this woman a lesson now, and she would do it by being aggressive!

So she continued the assault with forward steps and swift swings of her blade.

The 'witch' began to move now, stepping backwards as she parried and dodged Rhen's swings.

It was working! She had her on the run!

Rhen grinned and took another step, raising her blade to perform a quick swing at her opponent's shoulder - and then, the 'witch' stepped forward immediately, moving faster than Rhen had thought she would.

Wood met wood as the 'witch' smacked her blade against Rhen's while the smaller sword was still held in a chambering position, ready to strike.

This unbalanced Rhen for just a second - and then she felt the 'witch's' fist connect with her abdomen.

The blow had been delivered as the 'witch' moved forward to strike at Rhen's blade - a distraction - and it had enough power behind it to go right through the leather armor, and send a wave of pain through the young woman's midsection.

Rhen felt the fist slam into her, the explosion of pain, and the weakening of her knees.

"Urgh!!" was all she could get out, and she folded immediately, wrapping an arm around her stomach as she went down on her knees in the sand.

She still held onto the sword, but right now, it was held against the floor as she used that hand to stay upright in her attempt at regaining her breath and making the pain go away.

How was that 'witch' so strong?

"Gotcha," said the 'witch' and turned to face her opponent.

Rhen took a few quick breaths and then looked up at her opponent.

Shit... she had fallen for such a cheap trick, and it dawned on her now.

"You... made me go on... the offense..." she said, still struggling after the gut punch.

"Mhm... 'twas pretty easy too. You're not bad, Rhen, but you're easy to provoke. Y'let your guard down, exposed a weak spot, and I took advantage of that."

The woman grinned down at her and rested the tip of her two-handed sword against the floor.

"Might wanna work on your abs by th' way... softie..."

Rhen huffed at that, shaking her head.

Yes, it hurt. Yes, it had her on her knees... but...

"Yeah... I like myself the way that I am." she said - and then she moved, fast; she moved her hand from her abdomen, placed it flat on the floor for stability, as she swung her body around and delivered a sweeping kick to the back of the 'witch's' knee.

Surprise flashed over the taller woman's face as she lost her balance from the sweep.

Rhen shot up from the floor, aware that she only had a split second, and rammed her shoulder into her opponent.

This, in combination with the loss of balance, sent the 'witch' on her ass in the sand, and Rhen raised her sword to poke the tip against the woman's chest.

Her free hand found her stomach again, and she slumped over a little bit, having pushed through the now fading pain to deliver the surprise attack.

She smiled down at her opponent.

"That really hurt, you know? But you're not the only one who can take advantage of things. You thought I was down, and I was... but you didn't finish the fight."

The 'witch' looked up at her, meeting her gaze. A grin spread on her face then, and she let out a chuckle.

"Not bad...! Didn't see that comin'. I yield!"

Rhen let out a breath and lowered her weapon.

"And your name?" she asked as the taller woman got back up.

The 'witch' smiled at her, clasped a hand on her shoulder, and said:

"From now on, I'm your partner in huntin' and training. We're goin' to have a lot of fun with this, I think - and just so you know, I didn't mean what I said. You're not a kid."

She winked at Rhen, and then answered the question: "I'm Evandra Redheart."