“F*ck!” I didn’t have time to tell her that I wasn’t here to hurt her before she came at me. The move was so unexpected that I stood in shock and barely moved out of the way in time. I felt the wind from her blade as it sailed by my face, but instead of defending myself, which would’ve entailed hurting her in some way, I went into retreat, gliding back on my heels and out of the way.

She came in fast, and I had no choice this time but to ward her off, but ...