The Vampiress Debutante

The Duel ~ 12

    The sun sets, marking the fourth day of Combat Week. So much has happened already you'd think a month has already passed. First, it was William, now Adonis, then the drama with Madisón and Charlotte, including Alora and Hazel. Days have begun to mix together, with the Chase lasting from sunrise to midnight, and then the light practice yesterday before the night with Adonis. Charlotte's court case lasted all night until barely any sun was left. Most of us only had about an hour to rest, not that we need it.

    I let Alora, Maeve, and Aianna have the day off today, I needed complete focus on the competition, especially now that our trio had one less member. Charlotte would no longer be able to compete for the prince's heart for obvious reasons, so that leaves Madisón and I. We got rid of Hazel only for the universe to take Charlotte from us too.

    Putting on the standard, plain combat clothes, I tie my hair and warp to the training grounds. Marié and Flora were huddled in one corner, Madisón in another. There was obvious tension between all of us, we had two less competitors and were already halfway done with the first week. I head towards Madisón, the moon illuminating her dark hair, she seemed to be thinking about something.

    "You alright?"

    Madisón looks down at me, her face lighting up.

    "I'm doing better than I was, Charlotte and I spoke about what happened, she's doing good too."

    "Speaking of what happened-"

    "Hello everyone, and welcome to the fourth day of Combat Week," William announces, appearing on a wooden stage in the middle of the training field, "I understand many of you must be confused as we haven't completed much due to complications, but I promise you that's going to change starting today."

    He gestures to the training camp with the dummies that I'd visit at night, a pair of sapphire eyes flashes through my mind, I thought I'd forgotten he'd seen me there.

    "As you can see ladies, we have training mats and weapon racks ready for use, today you will be paired off in two's to practice dueling. Quite simple actually, the first one to hit their partner in any way that can kill them three times, wins. Now, come forward for your partners."

    Madisón grabs my hand and pulls me towards the stage, I haven't forgotten to ask her about what happened, but it can wait.

    William starts reading out names, Madisón is paired off with some random girl who's not at all dressed to fight, an obvious order by the king in order for the fight to be more favorable for Madisón.

    "Ebony and Marié, 3rd mat from the forest."

    I look over at Marié, who's smirking. The Eversills, Marié's family, were also military based. Instead of producing soldiers as my family does, they produce the weapons the army uses. Which means she's most likely better at using anything on the weapons rack, better than most people at least.

    I head over to the third mat, and begin to choose a weapon. I debate between a spear and a heavy shield. Marié already has her weapon of choice, a thick, double-sided axe. We vampires have extra strength, but we aren't all powerful, yet all we need to worry about is skill. Marié was already giving away her stance and ability by showing off for the Prince-

    The Prince?!?

    This is normal practice, why is the prince here? I look over at William and the Prince- Damian, who are surrounded by multiple high-ranking nobles and noblewoman. It's obvious now this is not a practice duel, it's a competition.

    I disregard the larger weapons I had been looking at and instead opt for a small, sharpened dagger.

    My reasoning for this move is that Marié will be using a large, heavy weapon. She'll most likely be swinging at my head and abdomen. This leaves her wide open for short and long-range attacks. Also, Marié has trained with all the heavy-duty weapons on the rack, which means she knows how an opponent moves based on build, and what their open spots will be. Although she has obviously practiced with a dagger, it is the most unpredictable weapon to use because of its size. Finally, if I defeat Marié with a dagger, because of its common use and size, she'll be humiliated, furthermore, even if she wins it'll be considered easy because of the size difference between our weapon of choice. I won't count this as a win-win sorely because of the fact Marié would be better as an ally than an enemy.

    Testing out the dagger, I can see it has good balance, at least I can respect the fact Marié's family is the best in their field. I debate overtaking two but then it would be a guaranteed win with no suspense.

    I head towards the mat where Marié stands, now palming the large weapon.

    "Interesting weapon of choice DuFont, just because you're using a dagger doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you."

    Another fault in Marié's thinking is that she's never versed someone with the same fighting style as her. Those enlisted to her family are all big and sluggish, even for vampires, so she's used to being the one that dodges. That being said she most likely knows how to use their style based on memorizing their movements. A tough opponent indeed.

    "I'd be disappointed if you did, Marié."

    William signals for the match to begin and Marié immediately lunges at me. Her axe is held in her right arm as she feints left, I lunge straight at her, and she misses me completely. She stumbles for a moment then straightens. She lunges at me once more, this time a downward bash that would crush my skull in half, she focuses a lot of power on her arms, which I take advantage of by sliding between her widely spaced legs. Marié was much faster then I expected, and recovers quickly only to swing the axe down my shoulder. That's one point for her.

    We both brush off, and this time I take the offensive, darting to her right only to feign left and grab the axe with my left hand. I pull her towards me and fall, the momentum of my pull causing her to fly above my head. I use this opportunity to roll back and lock my legs around her head where she lays spread. Pinning her arms down with my body, I throw her axe I was holding to the other side of the mat. She slaps my legs and surrenders the point as I'd collapsed her lungs.

    We once again get up and brush ourselves off. I hear William announce Madisón as the winner of her duel, and I feel myself relax. That is until Madisón's dueling partner shoots an arrow at my head as Marié prepares to hit my gut. Unfortunately for them, I heard the arrow whizzing the second it was released. Time slows down as I duck, leaving Marié in the path of the arrow, she panics, hastily lunging towards the right. I use my legs to trip her, then, as I get up I use my right arm to twist her face down and angle my dagger at her throat.

    "Looks like you win this one, DuFont," she says, lifting her head up.

    Looking at where the arrow hit, I release Marié.

    "I suppose you can't expect your opponent to be fair in battle," I say, slowly smiling. I reach out my hand, and surprisingly, Marié takes it.

    "It would be nice to spar with you some other time DuFont," she says, walking the other direction.

    "I'd like that, Marié."

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A chapter? It can't be!