A worried look crosses his face for the briefest of moments before he fixes it with confidence. Clearly giving himself a mental pep talk. Our fight continues for the next few minutes with each of us cancelling out the other’s strengths; Treys' brute strength and size to my agility and small frame. I hear Rylan and Ben’s encouragement from the sidelines which spurs me on. I deliver a quick, one, two punch and follow it up with a knee to his stomach. I drop to the floor and sweep my leg out. Trey stumbles and begins to fall only he throws his body weight in my direction and falls into me, we tumble down together, arms and legs flying everywhere.
He pins me for a slight moment before easing up on top of me. A grin on his face as he knows the likelihood of me getting out of this is basically next to none, all he needs is one good punch and I’m out. He looks down at me, his fist rising behind him. I wait for the last possible moment and use my size against him, just like Rylan had taught me. I throw myself up and across, just in time to see his fist flying past my ear and hitting hard into the ground. He lets out a low moan, but I don’t let that faze me.
I buck up under him, attempting to scoot lower to release him off my legs and hips. My action throws him off balance and I throw my legs up and lock them around his chest and arms from behind. Knowing I only have the slightest moment to make this happen, I move as quickly as possible. I squeeze my thighs as hard as I can and throw my legs down, using the momentum to get up on top of him.
He scrambles under me and I take the opportunity to throw a few punches, but unfortunately, against a guy like Trey, I would need my whole body to make a punch count and without my legs, he quickly recovers, freeing his arms and grabbing my body. Within the space of only a few seconds, he throws me off of him. I land beside him on the floor and he moves like a snake, suddenly on top of me. Not wasting a single moment, he delivers the blow to end the fight of all fights.
He quickly rises off me, getting to his feet with the encouragement of the crowd. My head aches as I open my eyes with stars spinning in my vision. I hear the faint ‘booing’ from deep within the crowd and am pleased to know some people still have my back. I try to sit up, but decide a few more moments might be needed.
Trey glances down at me with worry on his face. “You good?” he asks, crouching down above me.
I wipe my hands down my face and give him a smile. “I nearly had you there,” I laugh.
His face suddenly splits into a brilliant grin. “Come on,” he says, reaching a hand down to me. “I’ll help you out of here,” I grab his hand and allow him to haul me to my feet. The crowd chants my name as I get up. “Looks like your still their favorite,” Trey laughs from beside me.
“Well, of course I am. Look at me, I’m gorgeous,” I deadpan. He laughs and shakes his head in exasperation as he leads me out of the ring.
Rylan meets me at the side and holds the ropes open for me to climb out of then reaches up and places his hands on my waist and lifts me off the side of the elevated stage. “You did amazing,” he says as he lowers my body to the ground.
“I lost,” I scoff. Disappointment coursing through me at the realization of the meaning behind those words.
“You didn’t lose, that’s not how I saw it,” he says with pride in his eyes and a whole lot more.
“Uh, were you watching just now?”
He rolls his eyes at my comments and fixes me with a look that tells me to shut up and listen. “You just fought like your life depended on it. You gave it absolutely everything you had.” A smile creeps over my face at his words. “Stop worrying about your ranking and look around,” he says motioning to the crowd. “You have just earned the respect of everyone here, especially The Guard officials, from now on, nobody will doubt what you can do.”
Heat rushes into my cheeks at his praise, his words meaning absolutely everything to me. I stare up into his beautiful dark, gold speckled eyes and tell him with my eyes exactly how much I love him, he returns my look and I know he’s trying to tell me the same thing.
“Bianca,” I hear Millie calling as she struggles to get through the crowd to me, cutting off my moment with Rylan.
“Come on, let’s get you checked out for any injuries, then the mobs can have you,” he teases with a sparkle in his eyes. He leads me over to a chair opposite Trey and gets started on documenting my injuries, which surprisingly aren’t too bad, save from the cuts and bruises covering me from head to toe, and I know for a fact that I’ll have a nasty rope burn across the back of my ribs.
Rylan’s eyes blaze as I strip off my shirt and use it to cover my chest, though I don’t worry too much as I still have my sports crop on underneath. I turn my back on Rylan, knowing he’s going to want to put cream on my burns. He sucks in a breath at the sight of the burns and I pray, he’s being dramatic.
“Damn, sorry, Bianca,” I hear Trey murmur beside me as he also gets an eyeful of rope burns. Yep, it must be bad if it warrants an apology from Trey.
“Don’t stress,” I laugh. “It’s Jacinta you’ve got to worry about. She’s going to hate on you for a while,” I say as Rylan begins to rub the cold antiseptic cream into my wounds. I wince as the cream beings to sting. Rylan continues to massage it into my skin, which is either because he enjoys inflicting pain or because he likes the feel of my skin under his fingers, let’s hope it’s the latter.
Millie finally comes barrelling through the crowd with Mom and Jacinta in tow. Mom throws her arms around me, squeezing me tight. Pain surges through my body at her touch, but I do what I can not to let the groan pass my lips as I know she needs this. “God, I was so worried about you, Bianca. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been to watch you these last few days? Now, I know you want to follow in your daddy’s footsteps and you really do have a gift and amazing skills. But come on, sweetie, you’re going to give your poor mother a heart attack one of these days,” she scolds. I discreetly roll my eyes as I allow her to continue on her rant.
“Mom, come on,” Millie says, finally stepping in. “A hug that tight would hurt the strongest of people and after what Bianca has just been through, you’re probably going to kill her,” Mom gasps and quickly lets go as my friends laugh around me. I give Mom an encouraging smile, letting her know I’m okay and being shrugging my shirt back on.
I quickly look around for Jacinta to find her smothering Trey with kisses then begins yelling at him for hurting her best friend. I smirk at her comments and laugh at Trey who lets her know that I was more than okay. In fact, I had inflicted quite a bit of damage on him myself and she should be yelling at me instead.
I look back to Mom to find her now ranting at Rylan. He wears a guilty expression and I wonder how important it is for me to intervene. Deciding after everything I’ve been through so far, Rylan could take one for the team. I relax back in my chair, grab a drink and close my eyes. I begin to mentally prepare for my final weaponry examination tomorrow. Now that today is over, I have to make sure I kick ass tomorrow if I still want to have a shot at taking out the top rank. I hope I’ll be facing Ben as I know winning a fight against Rylan is next to impossible, but trying to win a fight against Rylan while he’s wielding a weapon is basically a death sentence.
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I stand among my classmates, all squished in a small holding area watching as Ben annihilates Tom, holding not only his own weapon but Tom’s weapon as well. The crowd around cheers at Tom’s downfall after watching him exaggerate his abilities over the last few days, they seem pretty happy to have watched Ben take him down a few notches. I glance up into the crowd and am still in shock at the size of it. There must be at least double the number of spectators than yesterday’s turnout. Though, I can almost guarantee it’s because the famous Rylan Neill will be put on display.
After his amazing results and ranking from when he was a student, he’s become the most feared and lethal weapon that The Guard possess. Thoughts of Rylan forces my eyes in his direction. He sits in a small area, similar to the one I’m currently being held in,
he talks to one of the Guard officials, finding out who his next opponent will be. Both fear and excitement race through me that it could be me who’s about to face him, but on the other hand could possibly be another chance I get to watch him in action.
A curious expression crosses Rylan’s face as an official in my section calls my name. My stomach drops and my eyes flick towards Rylan one last time, who now has his own trained heavily on me, telling me what I’ve already figured out. A grin rips across my face as soon enough there’s one on his.
I hastily get up from my chair and make my way over to the bald official who was present at my Target Examination. “Bianca, how nice to see you again,” he says in a tone that suggests he really doesn’t care. “Your opponent will be Rylan. You now have five minutes to choose your weapon. I advise that you chose well.”
I give Baldy a slight nod confirming I understand his instructions. I make my way over to the table which holds an impressive spread of weapons. I stick with the decision I had made weeks ago and pick up the medium sized training dagger knowing this is the weapon I feel strongest and most confident using.
Dread fills my stomach as I glance over at Rylan and find his eyes still trained on me. He sends me a curious smile which could also double as a grimace and I know that’s because these fights usually end up with someone getting hurt and in this particular case, it will be me and I know the thought of possibly hurting me would be tearing him apart.
He never holds back in our training, though will always stop when it’s obvious that he’s about to deliver the winning blow, even then he will always ensure that I’m ok and never hurt. I know with my lack of strength, I can’t really inflict that much pain on someone as strong as him, so I always give him everything I’ve got, and I also know he would kick my ass if I didn’t.
Baldy escorts me to the side of the ring and holds up the ropes for me to climb in. I cringe at the sight of the ropes as I’m reminded of the terrible sleep I had on my stomach last night, trying to avoid laying on my burns. The crowd roars as my name is announced alongside my opponent. Apparently, they know they’re in for a treat.
I walk into the ring with my dagger firmly in my hand and meet Rylan in the center. The sound of the crowd completely forgotten as I look up into his eyes. “Breathe, Bianca. This isn’t going to work if you’re freaking out on me,” he says. I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves. “It's just like training. Pretend all these people aren’t here and it’s just you and me.”
My nerves disappear as my cocky attitude takes over. “Well, if it was just you and me, I’d probably be jumping you by now,” I say with a wicked smirk.
He raises his brows, his eyes becoming hooded as he considers my words. “Now, now, Bianca. Are you trying to throw me off my game? I think that might be cheating,” he says.
“Hmm… I don’t remember seeing any rules against trying to seduce your opponent,” I say with a wink.
He lets out a low groan and I know there’s an endless pool of comebacks that he’s forcing himself not to say so I don’t get distracted. The Guard official steps up between us. “Okay, Bianca. Game time now. You ready?” he asks as the official raises his arm.
“I’m ready,” I nod.
“In three. Two. One,” he says, then drops his arm.
.
Chapter 5
We circle each other, waiting for the other to attack. He watches, waiting for me to make my move, knowing I prefer to take the offense first. I wait him out, wanting to switch up my technique to get any sort of drop on him, which will most likely be impossible. Curiosity sparks in his eyes which is quickly replaced with understanding. Damn. Within the first ten seconds, he’s already worked out my game plan. I see the decision being made in his eyes and I prepare myself for his attack.
Rylan comes at me, springing into action and taking the offense. He feints right then left while moving himself forward. I adjust my position without missing a beat, keeping just out of his reach. Somehow I’ve ended up blocked in by the ropes and his body, the crowd roars hoping for an easy finish.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I taunt as I study his impressive body for his next move.
A wide grin comes over his face as he stalks towards me, switching his dagger from his left hand to the right. “Baby, you know I could go all day,” he says, our banter being drowned out by the crowd. I desperately want to think about how amazing it felt to hear him call me ‘baby’, but I mentally tuck that memory away for later.
“Really now?” I grin. “Prove it.”
Rylan doesn’t any more encouragement than that and brings his training dagger up in a wide arch, preparing to deliver a blow. I make my move. I dive under his raised arm, into a forward roll, popping up behind him. He quickly turns on me with surprise written all over his handsome face. He arches a questioning eyebrow at me as I leap forward. I grin as he steps back out of reach, placing him right in the position I had been in not two seconds ago. His eyes flame. “Well… I know I didn’t teach you that,” he states, moving his dark eyes to meet mine.
“Oh, I know,” I smirk, punching out my fist with my dagger, which he easily blocks. “You see, I came well prepared. I kind of hoped for Ben because I’m pretty sure I could take him. It would be hard, but I think I could,” I say, blocking another of his advances which somehow gets us back into the center of the ring. He nods in agreement to my statement. “But you, the famous Rylan Neill. Being against you would be like a game of cat and mouse especially since you’ve taught me everything I know. So, I’ve taught myself a few new things over the last couple weeks,” I say with the evilest smirk I could possibly come up with.
“Interesting,” he muses, stalking me once again. “I’m very impressed, though, you know I can handle anything you’ve got.”
I raise my eyebrows in question with a dirty comeback sitting on the tip of my tongue. His eyes blaze and I know his mind has just gone to the same place as mine. “We’ll see,” I smirk, then launch myself at him, taking the offence. He blocks my fists and kicks easily as he attempts to get a few hits in himself, which I might add are a lot harder than the hits he gives during practice, though I know for sure, he has a lot more power to give. The sound of the metal from our training daggers clashes together as we battle it out, my speed and conniving tricks against his size and strength.
“Is it wrong that I’m actually enjoying this?” I ask as I duck under his arm and narrowly avoiding being taken out by the training dagger.
“Not at all,” he grins as if this is some sort of twisted foreplay.
We continue fighting tooth and nail with Rylan’s advances still coming strong. I feel my body beginning to wear down as he pushes forward, clearly not having the same problems as me. “Don’t give up yet, fight for it,” he encourages, opponent or not, he still pushes me to be the best I can be. Hell, I know he would be proud if I could take him down, though not sure how his ego will take it if I brought him to his knees in front of such a huge audience.
He steps forward again, pushing me into the ropes at the edge of the ring, another step forces us into more intense hand to hand combat. I block his blows and manage to get a few of my own in. The crowd roars around us once again, and by this point, I can honestly say the crowd has been completely forgotten. It’s only me and Rylan, in the zone.
I bring my knee up and nail him in the stomach and quickly lean back into the ropes to create a little distance between us, as my burns scream in protest, I kick my leg up once again, using the momentum from the ropes to connect hard with his chest which sends him two steps backward. I dart out and around him and immediately throw myself up onto the side of his body as he recovers from my blow.
I do what little I can to get up on his back. I swing my leg higher and hook it over his arm which holds the dagger, bringing it down hard to pin it at his side. “Fuck!” he calls in surprise as I tighten my limbs around him, making it as difficult as possible for him to get me off.
I raise my hand, rea
dy to bring my dagger down over his heart, and do what I can to immobilise the rest of his body. He uses his free hand to reach across his body to grab my raised hand. I lean my body over and catch his wrist with my own free hand, holding on for dear life as he attempts to yank it away, giving me my one chance to take my swing.
I bring my training dagger down hard and fast over his heart then let out a shocked gasp as my dagger actually connects with his chest. “Holy shit,” he whispers in shock as the Guard official steps in to call the fight. By this stage, the crowd is going nuts as Rylan stands motionless with me still clinging onto his back. Our breaths come in deep and fast as I uncurl my legs and let my body slide down his until I reach the ground.
He turns to face me, his dark eyes looking into mine with pride. “You really have been learning some new tricks,” he smirks. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or pissed that you beat me in front of all these people.”
The overwhelming need to kiss him comes crashing into me and I watch as the same emotion takes place in him. Words escape me and all that’s left is to beam up at him. “Come on,” he says. “Let’s get you checked out.” He leads me out of the ring, holding the ropes up for me as I climb out. I jump down to the ground on shaky, exhausted legs with Rylan following right behind me.
He sits me down in the same chair I was in yesterday and allows some unnamed Guard official to check me over. “Are you okay?” he asks. “I hit you pretty hard a few times,” he adds, indicating towards my ribs where we both know is bound to have a nasty bruise come tomorrow.
“Please,” I laugh. “I should be asking you the same thing. I think your ego took a nasty hit.”
He smirks then raises his eyebrow in annoyance, demanding an answer. “I’m fine,” I sigh.
I look up into the crowd to find Mom and Millie watching me intently and I wish they were allowed to be here, but due to the weapons that have been placed out in the open, there are a lot more security measures put in place for today.
Decimate: The Guard Trilogy Page 5