Ten minutes. Twenty. Forty. An hour.
The sun moved across the sky, a warm golden glow shining off the bright ship. Nerissa and Kresida didn’t stop. Sweat coated the deck, adding a level of slickness the two easily adjusted their fighting styles to.
“The nerve to come back,” Kresida breathed at her, the first words spoken. “To return after you scampered away,” she continued. “Pathetic.Coward.”
She spat the last word as Nerissa landed the first blow, an uppercut that hurled Kresida backward, slamming into the side of the ship. Kresida snarled as she bounced off and launched herself at Nerissa, knocking her off balance and wrapping her limbs around her. Nerissa slipped her hold, sending an elbow careening into her nose.
Kresida’s yelp was quickly replaced with a roar as she swung her leg out as Nerissa got to her feet. Nerissa hit the deck with a thud. Kresida leaped, a wounded wolf, utterly out of control. As she reached her, Nerissa twisted on the ground, slipping beneath her and wrapping her forearm around her neck.
I waited for the move I knew would come to slip the choke hold. But as Kresida’s hands moved to where I expected, Nerissa’s legs wrapped around the War Slayer’s trunk, pinning her strong arms to her side. Kresida’s face darkened with pressure as Nerissa moved her lips to her ear.
“Call me coward one more time.”
I shuddered, remembering what it felt like to be on the receiving end of one of Nerissa’s threats, with the icy bite of her dagger against my neck last year…
Kresida bared her teeth as she strained to slip Nerissa’s grasp, her hands seizing and her legs flaying in an attempt to wrap around Nerissa.
Kresida’s boots thumped against the deck as a cool calm settled over Nerissa, and she waited for the inevitable tapout. Shaking fingers tapped twice against her calf, and Nerissa released the War Slayer, who sagged to the ground.
