The Mouth of a Demon

Yue had a deep frown on her face. She had been staring out her window all day long, with her right hand gently caressing her neck. If it weren't for that anger that emanated from her, she'd have a regal and sensual look about her.

It had been one week since the duel, yet to her, it still felt as though it had only just happened earlier in the day. Closing her eyes, Yue began to recall what had transpired.

It had started smoothly enough. She swiftly moved to engage Bale, her sword to her right, held at the ready to strike in a rising horizontal slash. Bale, in response, took a slight step back and lifted his blade. Though she knew she could easily counter his defense, she decided not to. And just as she suspected, he didn't bother to block. Wait, what?

That action - or lack thereof an action - caught her by surprise. Mid swing, she slowed down. That was her first mistake. He took advantage by stepping quickly into the flow of the sword, thus being struck by the guard and her hands instead of the blade. Though he did take a hit, it was a blunt strike that had lost a decent amount of momentum.

But Yue wasn't a skilled swordsman for nothing. Though her initial strike failed, she immediate followed up with a quick punch to his face. It would lack a good amount of force because of her close proximity to him, but it didn't matter. She would still land a blow that should disorient him for even a second. One second was more than enough time for a blade to strike and inflict massive damage.

And it succeeded, albeit in a limited fashion. Bale stumbled back and rubbed his jaw from the punch. It wasn't super strong, but it was definitely enough to hurt. And hurt it did.

Yue, seeing this, immediately lifted her sword, ready to strike again. This was when things turned hazy for her. The last thing she remembered was feeling a cold sweat run down her back when she glanced into his eyes. It was as if she was looking into the eyes of a dragon. A dragon ready to devour her very soul.

This fear began to affect her decisions, and she began to make mistakes. Minor mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless.

Bale noticed and began exploiting these mistakes, employing the skills he had learned. She was indeed worthy of being called a skilled swordsman, even with the mistakes. But it was too late, now. What should have been an easy victory for her began to turn into a slow battle of attrition. What made it worse was that Bale, although using a sword, employed spear techniques. He would thrust and jab, followed by quick slices that only spear-bearers used. It made it very difficult to read his movements. Especially when she thought he was going to use a spear move when instead he used the sword like an actual sword.

Slowly, she was pressured back. Her initiative was all but gone, at this point. Even the stalemate was slowly beginning to tip in his favor.

'How can he pressure me so much?! It's not like he's some great swordsman! His skills are mediocre at best!!' Yue's mind spun out of control with the realization that what her uncle had said was true. She wasn't teasing a cute kitten, but was stepping into the mouth of a demon. Though he hadn't matured into that demon, he was still pretty frightening.

This clash eventually devolved into her being beaten. She was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Her chest rose and fell quite noticeably with each breath she took. Her arms had a few cuts here and there from where his sword had successfully found its mark. Though the damage was minimal, the many cuts stacked together made her ache and hurt. She hated to admit it, but even though he wasn't refined, he was talented. And the fact that he was able to stand before her, with his own cuts and bruises rather than deep lacerations was a testament to that.

She had been forced to a knee. And although she had brandished her blade and was ready to stand and strike like a snake, Bale had been just a bit faster.

She had only turned away for a second, but that one second was all Bale needed. Upon looking forward, she found herself looking up at the man, feeling the cold steel of the blade pressed to her neck. A small trickle of blood ran down to the collar of her garment. She gulped, and the slight cut stung a little.

"I admit defeat..." Yue murmured, her fighting spirit fading as her muscles relaxed and her shoulders dropped. Her sword dipped toward the ground for a few seconds before she released her grip and dropped it. The sword clanged lightly against the ground, before laying silently.

Bale nodded, stood straight and sheathed his blade. Or at least, he attempted to until he realized he didn't have the sword's sheathe with him.

"So, Lil Yue, believe me now? He may be rough around the edges, but he definitely has the skill!"

Desai approached his niece with a cheeky smile plastered across his face. He patted the woman on her shoulder, then helped her stand up. She sighed and hung her head.

"Damn you, old man," she growled, pinching the bridge of her nose as she shut her eyes. "Fine! You win!"