Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
Leda
I turned on my heel.
Marching back toward Venna, the daemon female was no longer mounted on her horse. She stood next to it with both hands on her hips, glaring at Bokkan and me.
As I drew closer, she sneered at me. “Too afraid, human?”
“No. What are the rules to this challenge?”
“No weapons except claws and teeth.”
“Any strikes or areas I’m supposed to avoid? I’m guessing that biting is allowed.”
Her sneer deepened. The first time I saw her, I thought she was beautiful. Now, she looked as ugly and frightening as the demons portrayed in religious illustrations.
“If I don’t kill you with the first strike, you are allowed to fight however you like. But only with your empty hands and feet.”
“In that case, I accept your challenge,” I shot back.
A triumphant light gleamed in her eyes, and her hand shot out, catching me across the cheekbone in a fucking bitch slap.
It was obviously meant to be an insult because she didn’t follow up with another strike or come any closer.
I stared at her and rolled my jaw. She was fast enough, but I hadn’t expected that first strike, so I wasn’t able to evade.
I decided then and there that it would be my only mistake when facing her.
“Venna Bloodstone, you will violate the challenge if you do not wait for witnesses!”
I didn’t turn to look at Bokkan as he roared the words. His footsteps were heavy and fast as he approached on the run.
“All challenges must take place in a ring and with at least five witnesses,” he snarled, coming to a stop next to me. “You know this.”
The daemoness shrugged and smirked at me. “That’s fine. More eyes to witness her humiliation and death.”
I scowled at her. If I had to, I would kill her, but I liked the idea of kicking her ass and her having to walk away having lost to a “mere” human.
Bokkan’s hand landed on my arm, but I shook it off. “I’m doing this, Bokkan,” I stated. “No more arguing or discussing.”
Venna had already started walking toward the training ring where several of Bokkan’s soldiers were hanging around, working on their sword techniques with wooden swords.
“I am in need of witnesses for a challenge!” Venna cried as she approached the ring.
They all stopped and turned toward us. I frowned because Talus was one of them. I hated him. Not only because he wanted to be “first” after I was purchased, but because I didn’t like the way he looked at me or the way he pushed Bokkan to let him “have me.”
I felt a small measure of relief when Guldan appeared on the other side of the ring.
“Who are the challengers?” Bokkan’s second-in-command asked.
“I’m going to kill the human,” Venna bragged.
The ridge across Guldan’s forehead, just above his eyes, rose, giving him a surprised look. He shot a glance at Bokkan. “You’re allowing it?” he asked.
“Leda accepted, not me,” Bokkan growled out.
The commander looked at me, and I met his questioning gaze with a steady stare.
“Do you know what you’re getting into, female?” he asked.
“I have a pretty good idea,” I retorted.
“Venna, stop this madness,” Bokkan began. “Even if you win, I will leave the city rather than mate with you.”
The daemoness blanched at his words, her skin paling briefly. Then, her jaw firmed, and she glared at Bokkan. “Afraid I’ll kill your new toy right in front of you?”
Bokkan didn’t answer, but his body language said it all. He was afraid. I understood. I was scared as well. When I fought Talus, I knew the male was holding back. It wouldn’t be much fun to fuck me if I were bleeding and unconscious.
Venna actively wanted to harm me. She wasn’t going to take it easy on me. She planned to kill me if she could. I’d had martial arts training for years. I sparred with men twice my size. I grappled with men and women stronger and more skilled than I was.
But I’d never been in a life-or-death confrontation like the one I faced with Venna.
My vision tunneled, and my hearing grew staticky. I really didn’t want to do this, but I had one more question before I went through with it.
“What happens if I don’t accept her petition to claim you is granted?” I asked, looking up into Bokkan’s eyes.
He stared down at me without speaking. Guldan didn’t answer either.
But Venna… oh, she had plenty to say.
“I still get to kill you, weakling.”
That’s what I thought.
“How many witnesses do we need again?” I asked.
Her smirk grew into a wide smile, showing off her sharp white fangs. “Five.”
I glanced around. Guldan and Bokkan were standing closest to us, but Talus and several other soldiers were still standing in the ring, watching us.
“Are you willing to be witnesses?” I called out to the soldiers.
They all agreed. The group moved out of the ring and all leaned against the surrounding fencing.
I didn’t look at Bokkan, but at Guldan. “Outline the rules of a challenge for me,” I demanded.
Venna scoffed. “I told you, human, it’s a fight to submission or death—”
“You did,” I interrupted her. “But I’m not sure I trust that you’ve told me everything.”
Her eyes took on a red hue as she glared at me. “You insult my honor by accusing me of lying?”
“If I repeat what you told me to Guldan, will he agree that those are all the rules?” I shot back.
Her mouth snapped shut, but her glower darkened.
“Guldan,” I prompted.
The commander kept his gaze on me, ignoring the huge, tense daemon general at my side.
“It is a fight to the death or submission. Submission meaning your opponent gives up or becomes unconscious. Most challenges end with one of the fighters unconscious. No weapons but those your body naturally has. No help from others.”
“Are any strikes or areas of the body off limits?” I asked. “Any damage that will cause forfeiture of the challenge?”
Guldan shook his head. “No. Fighters are not only allowed, but encouraged, to use all their skill to win a challenge. Brutal or damaging strikes will cause their opponent to submit faster.”
“If an opponent wishes to give up, what are the terms?”
“Well, you lose your mate,” he stated.
“No, I mean, how does an opponent submit?”
“They cry out mercy or raise a clenched fist.”
I nodded. “Very well. If that’s all, I think I understand.”
“That is all,” Guldan said.
Venna looked pleased with herself when I nodded. “Then, let’s get this done.”
Bokkan released a low growl as Guldan, Venna, and I moved toward the ring. I climbed over the two-rail fence surrounding the ring. Venna used one hand to vault over.
As we walked to the center of the ring, I eyed the way she moved. She was in command of her body, and her arms and legs were long and thick with sculpted muscles. It was clear she was strong and in amazing shape.
My cheek still stung where she backhanded me, proof of how strong she was. I would have to avoid as many strikes as I could.
I rolled my shoulders, loosening them up as we came to a stop in the center of the ring.
“Ready, human?” she asked.
My answer was to bitch slap her the way she’d done me. Before she could retaliate, I backed out of her reach, dropping into a fighting stance.
“You dare?” she hissed, the question little more than a snarl.
“Why not? You did the same to me,” I answered with a smirk.
My heart pounded as she lowered her chin and clenched her fists.
“Little bitch.”
She stomped toward me, lifting her arm to punch me. The move wasn’t as quick as the slap earlier, but she put a shit ton of power behind it. I bobbed under her swing, throwing two quick punches to her abdomen. The daemoness grunted but didn’t react to my strikes with more than a small step back.
Shit, her stomach was solid muscle. I was going to need to strike much harder to gain any sort of advantage.
Her leg lifted to kick me, and I did exactly what I would have done if I was sparring a man larger than me.
I stepped into her, but instead of just using my body to crowd her as I would have done in a martial arts class, I threw a low kick to the shin of her standing leg.
The movement was more of a stomp than a kick, my heel striking the unprotected bone at the front of her leg.
For good measure, I followed up with an elbow to her gut, ducking beneath her guard and putting as much of my body weight behind it as I could.
This time, her grunt was louder and definitely pained. She stumbled back, almost falling on her ass. Venna looked at me in a mixture of disbelief and rage. After that sucker punch… well, slap, she hadn’t expected for me to fight back like this.
I didn’t stop. I kept moving, sliding around to her side, and trying to get behind her.
Daemon physiology seemed to be similar to human.
A hard hook to her kidney followed by another low kick to her knee had her stumbling again.
This time, she managed to put space between us before I could strike other vulnerable areas.
As I resumed my fighting stance, I focused on my breathing because my heart was beating wildly in my chest. I had to get my body under control, or I was in trouble. The only chance I had at winning was if I managed to overwhelm her with strikes in weak points on her body and then knocked her out.
I didn’t want to kill her, and I wasn’t even sure I could do it with my bare hands.
She was a daemon. The pads of muscle on her body were much thicker than any human man’s and she was easily the size of one of the largest men I’d ever fought.
She had fangs, claws, and horns. All of them could be used as weapons if she wished.
All I had was my fists, feet, and knowledge.
With a wild yell, she charged me. I knew she was going to try to tackle me after the first few steps. She was bigger and stronger. Pinning me to the ground would give her the advantage.
As she lowered her head to ram me with the horns that curved back from her forehead, I put both hands on them and shoved down as I moved to the side, trying to get my lower body out of the way. She still managed to get her arms around my legs and take me down with her.