Skai Prisa - English version

Chapter 5

Distracted by the thought of how to get it, a blow catches me off guard, sending me face first to the ground. People shout, cheering Roan on. My stick slips from my hands, I grab it as fast as I can and turn around. My horizontal stick and Roan's diagonal stick collide. I'm lying on the ground, while he's on top of me. I try to restrain him, if the contact is broken, I will lose the fight. Roan's eyes tell me he's not using his full strength and I push even harder. I don't want him to go easy on me, I can handle this. If I win, I want to win because I managed to beat him while he was in his natural state, not because he went easy on me. If I lose, it would be a comfort that he's used all his strength.

Roan gets the message and also uses more strength. The weight shift causes me to release pressure on my legs. Sorry, bigabro, but I want to win. I forcefully lift my knee, hitting him in his crotch. He howls in pain, which distracts him, giving me a chance to break free. I send him to the side using my stick against his and stand up. He does too, not quite recovered, but he can still fight, and hard. We plunge into an endless series of blows. I try to dodge them, but his renewed strength is too much.

I use the stick with both hands, to try to match him. He hits my hand with one end, causing me to drop the stick with that one. Distracted, I fail to block his next move, which hits the stick squarely. I don't possess enough strength with my other arm to hold it, so it goes flying. I'm screwed.

He hits my stomach with the stick sending me once again to the ground. We've come pretty close to the edge of the circle. Trying to catch my breath, I turn my head and see it. The bow is just a few meters away. My mother's words come back to me. And remember, Clarke. As long as you have a bow, you'll be safe. If I succeed, victory will be mine.

I turn my head to Roan who is pointing the stick at me. He is about to put it to my chest in victory, when I move my feet, hitting him behind the knees, making him fall. I get up and roll on the ground, in the process grabbing the bow and an arrow. I turn around as I charge, and crouching on the ground, Roan aims at me with his stick, but I aim at him with the arrows. If the weapons were real, by the time he makes his lunge to spear me, I will have launched the arrow. I have won.

His expression is one of disbelief, then a smile spreads across his face. I took a shaky breath but smiled. The crowd erupts in cheers. I stand up and extend my bow to the sky, showing the reason for my victory.

"Cheater!" shouts the bitter witch. Cause yes, she had to ruin my victory. Get over it, damn you. I won fair and square. Roan and I turned to her. "The fight was with spears, not bows. You were supposed to win using a spear, not another weapon." She smirks, crushing my victory.

Anger surges through my body. Oh, how I wish this bow was real and an arrow accidentally sticks in her stomach. I'm about to scream my mind out to her, when ai nomon appears. "What's going on here?" she at least insists on continuing to speak gonasleng, thank you for understanding mother. People scatter, not wanting to mess with their queen.

"Skai Prisa cheated. She has no honor." She answers before Roan or I can.

I find myself again about to tell her everything I think, when this time Roan interrupts me before I do something I'll regret. Although I doubt it. No matter what punishment they send me, as long as I put the bitter witch in her place, it will have been worth it. "Ritha has asked us to fight with these sticks pretending to be spears." he explains calmly to Nomon "They are not Clarke's forte, but they are mine, so she was at a disadvantage. Clarke just did what any good warrior would do, she looked for an advantage. She took the bow and aimed it at me. Against my spear, I was lost."

Nomon seems to understand the problem and crouches down next to me. I am pissed off, and stare with deadly eyes at the bitter witch. I am small, petite and only have a training bow in my hands. I'm not scary, but I feel very powerful. "Clarke, strikon. (Little one)" My mother's voice so calm and sweet pulls me out of my murderous thoughts and I turn to her. "The rules say that you have won the fight." I am about to scream and jump and rub my victory into the bitter witch's face. The smile had started to grow on my face, but it was erased, at the next words. "But if your trainer says to use spears, you must win using that weapon."