Chapter 383: Introduction
Olive’s sword slammed down on Vale’s. A keen wail tore free from the weapon as if it were screaming in fury — though she only knew by the violent vibrations that tore down her arms.
She skipped a step back to avoid Vale’s counterattack. Her senses buzzed a warning in the back of her head and Olive threw herself into a roll, coming up to see she’d narrowly avoided getting grabbed by Rime.
Her hearing was still completely shot. The only thing that reached her ears now was an angry, shrill whine. Every one of her other senses was working in overtime to keep her alive — but she was dancing on the edge of the knife.
The fight hadn’t been going for all that long, all things considered, but Olive couldn’t spare the attention to determine exactly how long it had been. She didn’t have the liberty to think about anything other than the fight.
Every single scrap of her attention was completely focused on Vale and Rime — on all the moving pieces that went into fulfilling her role. She couldn’t press any advantage too hard without risking leaving Maeve open, but she couldn’t play too hard on the backfoot or one of the two Blackguard would break away and target someone else.
Any thoughts of proving that she was the superior swordsman in skill alone were long since in the dust. They hadn’t even entered her mind during the tournament.
Olive’s foot scuffed against the ground as she kicked up a cloud of dust and rubble, sending it spraying into Vale’s face as she spun to dodge away from Rime. She sprung to the side, driving the pommel of her blade into the armor covering Vale’s groin with all the force she could muster.
Her efforts were rewarded with a loud, ringing clang and a slew of curses. Vale definitely hadn’t been seriously injured, but nobody liked getting their jewels rung like a church bell.
It was dirty fighting. Not something that any honorable swordsman or woman would ever lower themselves to. She drew on every single trick that Reya had ever taught her, spitting and clawing her way through the fight with every scrap of resolve she had.