3

That afternoon, Saya had made a decision.

She was still planning on getting into that finale, and there was no way Wynn wasn't getting in. That meant they would have to fight each other at some point. The only way to win from someone who had seen you fight, was to see them fight as well. Saya had to watch Wynn fight in the arena, and that meant going against the rules.

So, when Wynn's fight was about to start, she made her way to the arena. She was pretty sure that most people wouldn't even recognise her, and the only one she had to look out for a little was the king. She kept her head down, did her best to blend in with the crowd on their way in, and managed to make it to the very left side of the bleachers, where she sat down. People sat down under, above and beside her on the benches, and with her simple clothing, she quickly became part of the crowd. Just one of many looking over the field, full of excitement about what was about to happen down there.

Wynn and her opponent soon entered the field, the signal sounded, and the game had started. Saya followed the fight closely.

The guy went straight for the attack. His sword came dangerously close to Wynn as he slashed and hacked at her with large, but quick and powerful movements.

She, however, took a step away to dodge another stroke of the blade. She easily blocked the next two tries with her own sword, while she kept carefully observing his technique and timing.

Saya noticed that the guy's tactics relied mostly on strength. He handled the blade well, but his timing seemed to be slightly off. This was something Wynn must have noticed too, because she all of a sudden she completely turned the fight around.

Now she was in the attack. Wynn was short, very light-footed and surprisingly strong. There was something graceful about the way she moved too. Her movements were smooth, her arms and legs like a well-oiled machine. She held the blade like it was a part of her own body. Her feet didn't stop moving even for a second. Her opponent didn't stand a chance against her quick, surprising moves. She forced him to walk backwards, step by step, into Saya's direction.

The guy tried to throw another attack at her, but his moves had become more violent, and less controlled. It looked like it finally dawned on him that he was not going to win this.

His fatal mistake was making one step in the wrong direction. He came a little too close to Wynn, who in turn used this to parry another one of his mistimed attacks and gave him a powerful fist in the stomach with her free hand. He fell onto the ground and dropped his sword. Wynn now stood over him, threateningly pointing her sword at his throat. They were close enough for me to hear them talk.

"Well, what's it gonna be?" Wynn asked him. She was panting and her forehead shimmered in the sunlight. Even though she had won with ease, the burning sun had made her work for it.

The guy turned his head to the side and spat a mouth full of dust on the ground before he said:

"You're not gonna kill me. Our kingdoms are on good terms, unlike some of the others. I'm sure your father has ordered you to let me live. You wouldn't go against you father, would you?"

"My father," Wynn answered quickly, "has nothing to do with this. Whether I let you go or not is my own decision. And I'm giving you the choice now. Choose wisely."

"Whatever you say," the guy said with a smirk on his face. "I surrender."

The moment he said it, Wynn retracted her sword and turned to the audience. As the crowd started cheering, her eyes moved left to right over all the rows of people. Saya tried her best to blend in with everyone else, but only a few seconds later, their eyes met. They were locked for a few seconds. The expression on Wynn's face was impossible to read, before she looked away again.

Saya hid her face behind her hair as her mind started running. What was that? Was it solely an accident that Wynn had found her sitting in the middle of all these people? Or had she been looking for her? Would she say anything about her breaking the rules?

No, Wynn couldn't say anything. She had been breaking the same rule, after all. Saya felt a bit safer by that thought.

Nothing bad was going to happen.

Nothing would stand in the way of her reaching that finale.

Together with the rest of the people, Saya left the arena.