Her Dawning Empire: The Prophecy

Chapter 57

"Begin." He announced and I sucked in a deep breath for what was to come.

Ayla spared no time before she ran towards me. I readied my weapon, but in mid-run she had disappeared and I let out a small gasp, forgetting her ability.

It was quiet for a moment and then I heard her breathing behind me as she swung her sword. I ducked quickly at this, falling to the floor and got up hurriedly as she swung her weapon again.

It clashed with mine and I could sense that her strength was notably weaker than mine, as was shown by how I was slowly pushing her back, little by little. She seemed to notice this also and looked down to her feet before disappearing yet again.

I let out a heavy sigh at this, looking around hastily. She appeared again right above me as she fell and her shoe drove into my back, causing me to stumble forward. My elbows grazed against the ground as I fell and I looked to her.

She was panting heavily, some fly always coming out of her pony tail and I could tell she was tiring by using her powers, just as I was. That was probably her plan- she knew I was stronger in combat, so she was using her ability to deliver surprise attacks until I weakened. Yet, even she knew, she could only keep it up for so long.

I made the pretence of getting up on wobbly legs as she moved towards me and I delivered the softest blow against her sword, making me stagger back slightly. This happened for some time and I could feel her guard coming down with her attacks.

It was clear to her now that she could win in combat and she jogged towards me. I used the time to open the doors quickly and the liquid came running out like a tsunami, heating my body and burning my eyes. She swung her cutlass yet again and I swung with all the force in me using the doublesword, causing her cutlass to fly out of her hands near the edge of the circle. With her body unarmed, I delivered a kick to her torso sending her falling backwards with a choked sound.

I moved towards her body, my doublesword pointed to her and she gave me one last weak look before disappearing. I knew then where she would reappear. She would want to grab her weapon. Instead of facing that way, I feigned indifference and looked around. It was only when I heard the sound of her reappearing did I turn around quickly and hit her with the mid-handle of the sword before she could grab the cutlass. She let out a small scream at this and I used the time to my advantage, delivering a side kick which caused her to fall over, her body half out of the circle. I let out a breath as I looked to her form.

"Hanna wins." Bomani spoke and I moved forward at his words towards Ayla, helping her off the ground. She pouted as I did.

"No fair, I wanted to win." She whined with a small playful smile and I knew from that, she was okay. I laughed slightly as I hauled her up, looking to Maya who was cheering me on now, seemingly having forgotten her own loss.

"Have a break." Bomani called out to us and I looked around as footsteps neared. I smiled when Abrax came to us.

"Hanna, that was incredible." He praised with a kind smile before looking to Ayla.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concern clouding his eyes and she nodded, putting an arm around me.

"It was a well-deserved win!" She exclaimed and I leaned into her at her words.

"Take this." I turned at the voice, looking to Emut who offered me some water. I muttered a small thanks as I took downed the contents of the bottle. Emut smiled at me as I did.

"I didn't expect that." He said and I smiled at his words, watching as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Your eyes changed." He stated simply, brushing his hair back and I frowned at his words.