Regrets of The Fallen (Victis Honor Book 1) (37 page)

Haruka and the man circled each other for a few seconds before both moved forward at the same time. The man threw a punch and she knocked it aside, throwing her own. He blocked it with his other forearm and ducked down, aiming at her stomach. Haruka flexed her stomach and traded that hit for delivering one of her own to the side of the man’s head. He stumbled back and shook his head to clear it and she let him regain his footing before going after him. She darted forward and started high. When his block went up she dropped to a knee and turned her high punch into a low one, slamming her fist into his stomach. As he doubled over she stood and brought her knee up into his chin, and as he went back up she struck his chest with an open palm, sending him back and to the ground.

Cheers went up again as she helped the man up and he declined to continue the fight, laughing and moving to the edge of the circle. Haruka looked around for the next challenger, and suddenly one side of the inner ring parted as Dalgus stepped through. Everyone looked at him as he drew the massive scimitar from his back and stabbed it into the ground, grinning at Haruka. As soon as he began removing his leather armor, the loudest cheers yet filled the air. Haruka looked over at Isabella, who was staring at him in surprise, as were other mercenaries; Dalgus rarely took part in these fights, and never had against Haruka. The knight looked back over at her girlfriend and smiled. “You can beat him, Ruki!”

Haruka nodded, returning the smile, which transformed into a feral grin aimed at Dalgus as she began stretching her arms. The mercenary general discarded his armor, leaving his scarred and muscular chest bare. The six-foot-four man walked into the circle and cracked his knuckles as he took his place opposite Haruka. “How about a real challenge?”

“It’s about time I found one,” the monk said with a glint in her eye. “But do you think you’re it?”

Dalgus chuckled. “I sure hope so, or this is going to make me look
really
bad in front of my men.”

The word went out fast, and more and more mercenaries were coming to watch. Tons of bets were being made on the next fight in both directions as they shouted out predictions. Haruka smirked, cracking her neck before nodding towards Isabella. “You might have to worry about
that
, but
I’m
not about to look bad in front of my
girlfriend
. Sorry, but I’m going to have to put you down… like a dog.”

“See, this is the worst part about letting people know you’re a werewolf; the terrible jokes.”

“I thought the worst part was the bad smell when it rains.”

“You’re asking for a beating, lady.”

“Please, I can beat a dog any day.”

“Well then let’s see you do it, monk.”

“Ladies first.”

“Are you saying I’m not manly?”

Haruka shrugged and grinned. “I’m dating a hotter girl than you ever will. What does that say?”

“It says that some hot girls have some pretty low standards.”

Haruka laughed. “Alright, that’s enough talk!” She brought her hands up, open-palm with thumbs folded in, and beckoned him with one. “Here, boy.”

The werewolf grinned at the joke but took the invitation, closing the distance rapidly. He moved fast, far faster than one would expect given his size, but Haruka was ready for it. He tried to bowl her over with size but she moved forward at the last moment and went to take out his legs. Dalgus threw himself forward and onto his hands, vaulting back to his feet and spinning to throw a punch. Haruka leaned to the side and threw her own punch into his chest, which didn’t seem to affect him much. He caught her arm and lifted her over his head and down on the other
side. Before she hit the ground Haruka put his arm in a leg lock, using the leverage of her impact to force him down on his knees. Haruka released his leg and kicked up, returning to her feet and punching his face three times before he caught her wrist and yanked her up, bringing his other fist down and smashing her into the ground.

On the sidelines Isabella winced. Suria shook her head. “Oooh,
that
didn’t look fun.”

Ophelia appeared between the two, looking over her glasses at the encounter. “He doesn’t often step in. I think he’s excited.”

Suria looked up at her. “You wanna bet on them?”

The dark-haired woman paused before looking at the younger one. “Twenty on Dalgus.”

Suria blinked at her. A grin spread across her face. “It’s your money.”

Bella took a step forward, raising her voice over the cheers and yells of the hundreds of mercenaries. “Haruka, quit playing around! Show him what you can do!”

Dalgus backed off and Haruka took a breath before spinning to her feet. She brought her hands together and channeled her life energy throughout her body, strengthening her muscles in order to better match the larger man. After a few seconds she moved like lightning, her fist connecting with the werewolf’s chin in a fierce uppercut. Dalgus stumbled back a few steps and she darted forward, throwing another punch that he intercepted, knocking it away. Haruka’s momentum was stopped and they both planted their feet, beginning to trade blows. The impact of the hits was loud enough that everyone could hear, and that only made the crowd cheer harder.

Both fighters had dropped all defenses at this point and were now just seeing who could withstand more punishment. Suddenly Dalgus dropped and kicked Haruka’s legs out from under her. He planted his leg and her back landed on his knee, knocking the breath out of her. Haruka wasn’t done, though; she flipped herself backwards and drove her knee into his jaw as she went, sending him stumbling as she flipped from her hands to her feet. She took off towards him and he punched out but she ducked under it, slamming her fist into his stomach. His right hand tried to grab her and she ducked back under his left arm only to come up and hit his face again. Dalgus spun to his right to backhand her but she went under it and swept his legs out from under him, sending him to his back.

Haruka came up and back down with a punch she thought would finish it, but the werewolf caught it in both hands. He gripped her arm and stood, pulling her off the ground and slinging her around in a circle before flinging her away. Haruka spun in the air and landed on her feet, leaving furrows in the dirt as she skidded all the way back to the edge of the ring. As she came to a stop she realized she was right beside Isabella, who set a hand on her arm and leaned up to her ear so that she could be heard over the roar of the crowd. “If you win this,” Bella said in a low voice, “I will make you very,
very
happy.”

Haruka blinked, looking back at her. Bella gave her a sly smile and she turned back to Dalgus, marching forward and rolling her shoulder. “Alright, time to end this!”

Dalgus raised an eyebrow. “What got into you?”

“Motivation,” she answered before breaking into a run. Dalgus bent down and readied himself for her attack as she sped up. The second she reached him he reacted, bringing his hands up rapidly to catch her… except she wasn’t there. A split second later one of Haruka’s knees slammed into the back of his head and the other into his back. His eyes went wide and as he fell forward Haruka wrapped her legs around his neck and spun him to the ground instead, sending up a cloud of dirt with the impact. She rolled away and back to her feet, smiling at him. “Sorry… I had to.”

Everyone went dead silent for a few seconds before a mass chorus of cheers and yells went up. Once again money changed hands as Dalgus pushed himself to his knees, rubbing the back of his head. “Ow… I should’ve known better than to go hand-to-hand against a Black Sun monk.”

“Ruki!” Haruka turned and laughed as Bella collided with her, throwing her arms around her neck and kissing her hard. Haruka set her arms around Isabella’s waist, grinning as the knight pulled back, smiling proudly. “I knew you’d win.”

Dalgus stood up and dusted himself off, cracking his neck a few times. “Wanna go swords next? Or I could transform?”

Haruka looked over at him, smirking. “No, thanks. Unlike you, I know my strengths.”

The mercenary general brushed dirt from his hair. “No kidding.” He looked at Isabella. “You’ve got a pretty strong protector there.”

Isabella smiled. “The best,” she said as she pulled Haruka down into a deeper kiss.

“Aaaaand they’ve forgotten about me,” Dalgus said with a chuckle as he went to the side of the circle, where Ophelia handed him his armor.

“You cost me a fair sum of money,” the woman said as he pulled it on.

“Oh, I’m fine, thanks. My injuries are minor. I really appreciate your concern.”

Ophelia patted his shoulder. “Maybe you’ll win next time. As far as your injuries go, I’ve pulled objects taller than I am out of your chest; I’m not feeling sorry for a few bruises.”

Suria watched Isabella and Haruka – they definitely weren’t paying attention to the rest of the world anymore. She smiled at the couple, deciding she’d congratulate Haruka later. She began looking around and spotted Able leaning against a tent pole some distance away, outside of the crowd as always. She clasped her hands behind her back, skipping over to him. “Did you watch?”

Able nodded. “Even though I knew who was going to win, it was entertaining.”

Suria tilted her head. “You knew?”

“I’ve fought beside Haruka. I don’t bet against her.”

“Hey, so did I! But I heard Dalgus was really, really good.”

“He is,” Able responded. “But he uses a sword. I’m sure he’s far more dangerous when using that giant thing.”

“So he’d beat Haruka if he used that?”

“Didn’t I just say I don’t bet against her?”

Suria laughed. “Okay, I get it. So why didn’t you fight?”

Able shrugged. “I don’t fistfight. There’s no way I could win against either of them. It’s the same reason you didn’t fight.”

Suria blinked at him. “Um, I’m a nineteen-year-old girl who’s spent most of her life in her room studying books. My punches would feel like a butterfly landing on you.”

“No spells to make yourself stronger?”

“There are but I don’t know them. Why would I?”

“That’s right, you blow stuff up.”

Suria grinned. “Right. Now if we decide to have a ‘blow stuff up’ competition, I’ll join that.”

“So will
I.”

Suria raised an eyebrow. “Well… We could do that
now
…”

Able paused, studying her for a moment before s
aying, “You’re on.”

IXH

Two Weeks Later

Haruka chuckled as she sidestepped to avoid Isabella’s punch, backing up against their tent’s wall. “You’re getting slower.”

Bella turned to face her, lifting her hands again. “Probably because we’ve been doing this for hours!”

The monk caught her next punch and spun her around, embracing her from behind and kissing her neck. “We could do something else…”

Isabella smiled, leaning back against her. “Ah… I… really need to keep training… I need to stay in shape.”

Haruka grinned against her skin, placing her hands on her stomach. “There are other ways of getting exercise.”

The knight closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side. “Well… I guess I do… need a break…”

Haruka smiled, having already known it wouldn’t be a tough argument. “Mhmm,” she responded as she moved down her neck.

“Masters Saito, Enyo!”

Both of them groaned as the voice interrupted them from outside of the tent. “What?” Haruka barked out sharply, reluctant to move to the tent flap.

“The General is asking for you. A scout just returned with news of an approaching military force!”

They looked at each other and Haruka answered for them over her shoulder, “Tell him we’re on our way.”

“Ma’am!”

Haruka looked back at Isabella, who smiled at her and laid a hand on her cheek, kissing her softly. “Later.”

“I swear we’re cursed,” the monk said gruffly, drawing a laugh from Isabella as they left the tent.

The camp was dark and quiet, as it was late at night. They moved through the tents towards the one in the center, entering to find Dalgus waiting for them with Ophelia and several of the higher-ranking mercenaries. He waved them in, spinning the map on the table so they could see it. “They’re about here, to the northeast. My scout said that given their pace, they’ll be here in two days.”

“How many?” Haruka asked.

Bella stepped forward. “And are they from Areya?”

Dalgus nodded. “Their banners are definitely Areyan. As for numbers, the scout estimated about a thousand.”

“So we have the number advantage,” Ophelia continued for him, “but given an open fight, we’ll lose a lot of men.”

“So we avoid an open fight,” Isabella said. “Or at least, we don’t just charge in.”

“They don’t know exactly where we are,” Dalgus said with a nod. “There’s a forest here,” he said as he tapped a spot east of them on the map. “There’s a cliff in the center of it that would be perfect if we can get them there.”

“They’re after me. We can use me as bait.”