“Ready?” he asked, keeping his stance loose and fluid.

“I’m going to get you this time,” she said with abundant confidence. “I feel it.”

“Give it your best try,” he told her, beckoning her to come at him with his hand.

Lola darted forward, her movements quick and sure. She wanted to keep him guarded, maybe push him back. Russel, however, avoided her outstretched hands easily. His body moved effortlessly around each of her attempts to grapple with him. At one point, he even whirled around her and gave her a slight nudge in the back that sent her reeling across the grass. She almost fell face first but managed to catch her balance at the last second. When she turned to face him again, her eyes were narrow and angry.

They went on like that for almost two hours, Lola trying to throw Russel to the ground while he, in turn, dodged or evaded her. Her hair had flown free of the tie she used to pull it up into a ponytail and now whirled around her head each time she moved. Sweat beaded up on her forehead and threatened to drip into her eyes. The fact that Russel wasn’t sweating at all, not even a little bit, offended her. He wasn’t even trying. Her earlier confidence started to waver and she wondered how she was ever supposed to beat him when their difference in skill was so drastic. Would it be the same when she finally got the chance to fight Drake again?

After another failed attempt to take down Russel, she backed away and took stock of the situation. She would never beat him if she just kept doing the same thing over and over again. She needed to strategize. Fights were won not just with skill but with how best to utilize those skills. She just needed to apply hers in a new way. A way he wouldn’t expect.

She pressed forward. This would be her final attempt. She made sure to keep eye contact with him and then used up most of her remaining speed and energy to keep him on the defensive. The whole time, he never once engaged her offensively. It was knowledge she had picked up and filed away for later use at the beginning of the match. Now, as she sought a way to win, that knowledge would come in handy. If she kept coming at him directly, he would start to back up. She also happened to spot a slight dip in the grassy lawn. Once she saw it, her strategy became cemented and she spent the next few minutes implementing it. She kept up her attacks, coming at him faster and faster in order to keep him focused on her and not what was behind him. All the while, she kept making him step steadily back…right toward that dip.

Russel was impressed by her tenacity and the effectiveness of her attacks. She didn’t land anything but her skills had clearly grown tremendously. Even more so than he had thought. Then, as he dodged her latest attempt to get hold of him, he felt it. His back right foot landed squarely in a dip he hadn’t known was there. His balance abruptly shifted and he tilted awkwardly to one side.

The next thing he knew, Lola was there, both hands on his chest. With a wicked grin, she pushed him and he toppled backward. His ass hit painfully on the ground and all he could do was stare at her in shock.

“Finally!” Lola said, bending over to catch her breath. “I didn’t think your foot would ever hit that spot.”

Russel got over his surprise and laughed heartily.

“Well done,” he said, clapping. “Very well done. Using the surrounding environment against your attacker is always a clever strategy.”

Lola gave him a bow, pleased with herself.

The enjoyment of her victory was shattered just a few moments later. More applause filled the air but it wasn’t coming from Russel this time. It was coming from somewhere behind her. Russel looked past her, saw who it was, and his face changed immediately into one of cautiousness and anger.

Lola turned around and found Sir Thomas coming toward them.

In full armor.