Amazon Challenge (3 page)

"Yep. Don't let her intimidate you."

I'd seen Nori use that whip before.

We stepped into the ring. I kept Malora in my peripheral vision but watched Nori carefully. As soon as she transferred her sword to her left hand, I knew what she was going to do. She grabbed the whip, uncoiled it with one motion, then sent the tip towards my right arm.

I was already stepping to my left, partly obscured by Malora, but I swung my staff in a circle in front of me, and the whip got tangled around the staff, I twisted the staff once more around the whip, then hanging on with everything I had, I gave a solid heave.

I pulled it right out of Nori's hands.

I hadn't actually expected it to work, and I'd been a little worried she'd pull my staff out of my hands, but I'd had a solid hold of it, and if she'd gotten into a tug of war game with me, Malora would have been on her in an instant, and the whip would have been stretched between Nori and me, serving as an obstacle to Omie. Malora would easily have taken Nori out.

Malora waited while I untangled the whip from my staff, throwing the whip to the ground somewhere behind me. Then we began advancing again.

"Well done," Nori said to me, and then we were in fighting range.

Malora, as always, was a blur. Both Nori and Omie concentrated on her. Any time Omie turned towards me, Malora's sword flashed out, driving Omie back and bringing her attention back to my warrior.

I watched for what seemed forever but was probably about thirty seconds, doing nothing more than protecting myself from Omie's occasional sword slash, but I began to see the pattern.

I sent two attacks at Omie, but she turned both of them aside. She tried to counter-attack, but I blocked one and Malora blocked the second for me.

But then I saw my real opportunity, and I sent the end of my staff in a thrust, not at Omie, but across the middle of the fight, punching Nori firmly in her left hand, her off-hand.

"Damn it," she muttered, and the two of them took a couple of steps back. She shook her arm out.

A minute later, I got a second chance, and I hit Nori exactly the same way a second time.

"Stop that!" she hissed at me as they fell back again.

Omie sent her sword sna
king in my direction, but I managed to turn it, and she barely retreated from both of Malora's swords, and then I swung my staff and caught her hip in a solid blow. I sent her off balance, and I rapped her sword firmly, hitting it so far out of line that it stretched in front of Nori.

Malora immediately dropped two sword blows across the stretched out arm, and before she could recover, I pulled a blow to Omie's head, tapping her gently.

She went down, and Nori was in full retreat.

Malora let her retreat and whispered to me, "Well done. Now you stay alive, but send your staff at her just enough she can't completely ignore you."

I let Malora take a half step closer to Nori than I was. And then we were pursuing her.

Twice Nori tried to take frantic steps to my side, our right, to try to flank me, but both times I retreated behind Malora, and the second time I went all the way around her, swinging with my staff towards Nori's sword arm. She deflected the blow, but there'd been so much energy in my swing that she'd had to really work for it, and Malora rained three rapid blows. Nori went down.

Malora turned and hugged me. "Well done."

I pulled her lips down for a sweaty kiss.

"All right," Malora said as Nori and Omie climbed to their feet. "Nori and Maya together against me and..." she looked around. "Jasmine."

Nori and I stepped to the side.

"What's she doing?" I asked while catching my breath.

"You contributed more than expected," Nori said. "She wants to see it from the other side."

"Why are we doing this?"

"Bandit training.
"

"I'm better than Jasmine."

"Yes," Nori said. "But Malora is better than I am."

"Pick up your whip," I said.

"I don't want to use it on Jasmine," she said. "Ralla asked us to train her gently."

"I don't want you to use it on Jasmine, either," I said. "I want you to use it on my warrior."

Nori cocked her head. "What will that accomplish?"

"Surprise."

Nori collected her whip and didn't even make a pretense of wrapping it on her belt.

"Can you send it so it looks like you're using it for Jasmine, but actually catch Malora's shoulder?"

"Yes."

"Give me a half second warning when you do it."

"I am the warrior, Maya. I pick our strategy."

I grinned at her. "All right."

I took my position on Nori's left. A moment later, Malora and Jasmine began advancing towards us, Jasmine on Malora's right, my side. Perfect.

"Now," Nori said, and I was in motion before she could stop me. Her whip reached out, seemingly aimed at Jasmine.

"Nori!" Malora said, intercepting the whip before it could catch Jasmine, but I had closed the distance, and before Malora was ready, my staff was swinging for her upraised right arm, smacking it firmly. I didn't wait but immediately retreated to Nori.

Nori had already dropped her whip, and when I looked up, Malora had dropped her primary sword and was fighting left-handed.

"That will never work twice," Nori said. "Now it's an even fight."

"Malora is going to want to put me in my place," I said. "She'll make mistakes."

We began advancing towards Malora and Jasmine. Jasmine was holding a staff, the same as I was. I would have preferred a sword, but whatever.

Malora gave me the stink eye but then kept her eyes primarily on Nori. The two of them engaged, Jasmine holding back. She was far too cautious for this. I sent an attack her way, just to scare her off,
then I ducked low and sent a swing for Malora's legs, really reaching with the staff, hanging on by the end. It wouldn't have crippled her if I had hit her, as there was little power in it, but she jumped over it anyway, leaving herself off balance, and Nori attacked.

Malora was able to deflect Nori's attacks, but she and Jasmine retreated several steps. I sent two more attacks towards Jasmine, then
after an instant behind Nori, I thrust my staff towards Malora's face. She ducked to the side from it and parried Nori's attack, but it drew her just slightly to her left, leaving Jasmine temporarily exposed, and I sent the other end of my staff up, sweeping Jasmine's staff wide and pulling her in front of Malora. Nori's sword reached out, smacking the flat across Jasmine's neck.

"You're down," Malora said, falling back.
She was still shaking her right arm out; I must have hit her pretty hard. I felt a moment of guilt, but it was short lived after all the bruises she'd given me over the previous three years.

One sword against one sword, Malora was still better than Nori, but she was fighting left-handed, and I was a significant threat she couldn't completely ignore.

From that point, I kept crossing back and forth behind Nori, reaching out with my staff, trying to trip Malora or distract her. Malora primarily focused on Nori, but I seemed to be enough of an annoyance she grew tired of it. She waited for me to thrust at her feet and stomped on my staff, pulling me slightly off balance. I felt a quick sword slap against my neck, and I was down.

After that, it was Nori and Malora against each other, Malora fighting with her off hand. Their swords were a blur, but finally the fight ended with a move too fast to see, Malora swinging around behind Nori, the flat of her wooden sword stretched across Nori's neck.

Malora pulled me to my feet and hugged me, then did the same with Jasmine. She sent Jasmine back to her place outside the circle but then turned to me. "If you were that good with a sword, I'd never let you go on patrol."

I stared at her, hurt.

"I couldn't stand it if you became a warrior, Maya," she added.

I blinked at her several times. "Nearly everyone here is better than I am with a staff, and I'm pretty sure I can't beat anyone staff against sword, either."

"True, but you are very good in a supporting role." She turned to Nori. "I want more partner bouts, Maya and Jasmine to stick to staffs for them. Nice strategy with the whip."

"That was her," Nori said, gesturing at me with a thumb. "I didn't know what she had planned."

Malora smiled.

There were more bouts, but thankfully I was able to sit out, but then Clara stood up. "We all challenge Nori and Malora."

Malora stood back up and looked around, then pulled me to my feet. "We're keeping Maya," Malora said.

"No, Malora," I said quietly.

"Don't argue."

I sighed. "Yes, Malora." I looked down. "I'll be right back." I handed her my staff and ran to the storage shed, returning with a second whip. "I've been practicing," I said loudly enough
for everyone to hear. "My control isn't that good, but no one minds a few welts."

I crossed the space to Malora and Nori, who were both watching me carefully.

"Do you know what you're doing with that?" Malora asked, too quietly for anyone else to hear.

"Yes. Subterfuge."

Malora grinned.

"Wagers," Clara said.

I counted the number of opponents and said quietly, "We're going to lose."

"Probably," Nori agreed. "They'll try to split us up."

"Or maybe try to tangle me into the two of you."

Malora cocked her head. "Maybe." I watched her count opponents.

"The only way we win is if I pull an Aura at the beginning," I said. Shortly after we had become Amazons, Aura had sacrificed herself in a fashion that allowed her team to defeat Nori and Malora.

"No," said Nori. "We never fight as if losing is a forgone conclusion. You are not expendable."

"I'll take the center," Malora said. "Maya on my left. Try not to smack me with the whip."

"Nori, call it when you want me to send the whip out. It's nothing more than a distraction. Give me a name. Malora, stay out of my way."

She laughed.

"No Auras, Maya," Malora said. "I mean it. That is a direct order from your queen."

While holding my staff in my left hand, I began waving the whip around, getting used to it, snaking it back and forth from behind me to in front of me. I discovered I could use it an awful lot like when I went fly-fishing. Malora gave me enough room, the whip extending out over my right shoulder but returning in the space between us.

I added a little snap at the end. The third time I did it, I got a small crack. It wasn't anything like when Malora or Nori did it, but a few swings later, I got another crack.

"You're going to do it just like that?" Nori asked quietly.

"Yep."

Clara stood there watching us then said, "Well? Are we going to have any wagers?"

"I'm not betting with all of you," I called out. "Make a recommendation."

"Stop waving that whip around first," Clara said.

"You'll retreat to outside the ring after negotiations," Malora replied. I let the whip come to a rest then coiled it, holding it in my hands. Clara grabbed Omie and Beria, and the three approached.

"Just the three of you?"

"We're the representatives," she replied. "Our suggestion is this. You wager four deer hides and four dinner meal
shifts. We don't care how you pay it, and we'll decide whom they go to if we win. In exchange on our side each companion will wager a dinner shift and each warrior will offer a single deer hide."

"You're offering us odds," Nori said. Clara nodded.

"I don't think we should take it," I replied. "They can suicide rush us."

"I've ordered my companion to no Aura's," Malora explained.

"No suicides, no sacrifices," Clara said. She grinned. "No Aura's."

"I heard that!" Aura said from in back.

"You should be proud that a fighting strategy is named after you," Nori called to her.

I turned to Malora. "Got any deer hides to wager?"

"You know I don't," she replied. "You know better than I do, in fact."

"All of mine are from Nori," I said.

"Not all of them," Nori corrected. "Ralla still leaves one with you every few months."

"Well, most are from you," I replied, and she nodded. "It's up to you then. I'll do the dinner duties and contribute your own hides if you want, but I think we're going to lose."

"Such a defeatist attitude," Nori said. She looked at our opponents. "We'll have to owe you two hides."

"We'll have to owe a few as well," Clara said. "We have agreement?"

Nori turned to Malora. "You're getting out of this cheaply."

Malora sighed.

"I have a counter-offer," I said.

"Oh?" asked Clara. "Go ahead."

"I don't mind the dinner duty, but I don't care to give up the hides. The three of us will let you dye our hair any color you like."