Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

*Andrew’s POV*

I sat perfectly still as Blasko went over the stupid red hanky. I watched Eliza and Pete shake, both of them smiling, though Pete looked a little… resigned? Perhaps he thought this would be too easy? When Blasko said ‘start,’ my stomach clenched and I leaned forward despite myself, drooling on my rag.

The air felt different. Both Eliza and Pete were moving slowly, circling, staves at a low guard. It went on like that for so long, I felt my nerves begin to fray. Pete finally struck, aiming at Eliza’s forward leg.

Eliza had been in the perfect position to block. I watched as Eliza pointedly waited for his blow to land, leaving Pete briefly open. Instead of blocking, Eliza took the opportunity to thrust with more power than I thought any Fae could generate, knocking the wind out of him. My mouth would have fallen open if I hadn’t already had a rag in it. Eliza had almost knocked Pete over, he had almost dropped his staff! And how was she still standing on the leg Pete had struck?

Eliza tried a risky venture while Pete was still winded. She struck out with her staff at Pete’s head, presumably trying to knock him out quickly. Eliza lost her gamble, and Big-Pete-the-lethal-part-ogre-warrior started to show himself. I started to worry when Pete didn’t bother to block her staff with his own. He didn’t have time to get a proper grip. Pete just let her staff hit his palm, which must have been agonizing, and grabbed hold of it. Oh fuck.

I glanced at Blasko, who just kept watching, doing nothing. Fuck, fuck!

Eliza frowned like a disapproving headmistress, then surprised everyone (especially Pete), when she dropped her staff entirely and came at Pete like lightning. She was on Pete, grabbing the collar of his vest, pulling herself up his body, so her head was level with his. Pete looked totally bewildered, unsure what to do. I wondered if he thought Eliza meant to kiss him, poor guy- not quite. Eliza head-butted him with a hollow crack, before pushing off his wide chest with her feet.

Eliza’s forehead was bleeding, and even from where I sat, I could see her eyes going crazy. But even with that, Pete didn’t go down. Instead, Big Pete was pissed. I looked at Blasko, but that damned asshole just kept watching.

It was then that poor Pete made a mistake. Understandably, he’d just had quite a blow to the head. Pete threw down his staff and charged, howling, at Eliza, carrying her almost out of the circle. He had her pinned by a leg, but she had his left arm under control. It seemed like they struggled and wrestled for eternity, trading a few blows that sounded sickening to me. Pete got his right arm free at a perfect angle, and thoughtlessly swung, landing a blow… to Eliza’s stomach.

Apparently, the whole, ‘pain as fuel’ thing was no joke. Eliza bellowed like some kind of dying she-bear, then easily broke Pete’s hold, flipping him on his stomach. I noticed she had sprouted some tiny tusks in her lower jaw, and almost the entirety of her eyes was black and shaking, as she knelt on Pete’s back, looking expectantly at Blasko.

Fuck, was it always like this when hybrids spar? Not exactly regulation… Blasko’s eyes were popping out of his head. I was so proud of Eliza, though. Showed what the fuck I knew.

Pete’s deep bass was actually the first to break the shocked silence. “Shit, Blask. The flag, please?”

Notes

hmmm.... so- I wonder what will happen now....? what do you think?