Making her own path

Chapter 3 - Never celebrate too early

As soon as Matthew rang the bell, Hector lunged. He crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat and swung his right fist hard, aiming for her face. Aysha knew him and his fighting style well enough to know that he always tried to finish the fights quickly, most often with brute force. She ducked under his fist and rolled left, she came up and kicked him in his ribs since he left them wide open in his punch. She stood up and Hector turned to face her again.

“Is that the best you can do?” He chuckled. “Are you slacking in your training?”

Aysha let out a low growl and charged at him and by the look on Hector’s face, he had been expecting it. But she knew his taunting tactics all too well, and frankly, they were getting to be a little lame. She went in for a punch and Hector answered with a slap on her wrist to push her arm out of the way, followed by a punch of his own. But Aysha saw it coming and twisted her body, grabbed his arm, and used his momentum to swing him over her body, which resulted in him crashing hard to the ground.

“You were saying?” Aysha asked while looming over him.

Hector got up quickly, and his smirk had been replaced with a scowl. Aysha took a moment to chuckle at his change in demeanor. And decided not to give him a moment to gather his thoughts and charged at him. She threw punches and kicks and managed to land a few on his torso and face, resulting in a cut lip. She aimed for his leg with one of her kicks and managed to land it successfully which made Hector lose his balance a little. Using that moment, she went in for a punch, hoping to knock him out. But to her surprise, he dodged her punch, grabbed her arm, spun her around, and put her in a chokehold.

“I guess you didn’t see that one coming,” Hector whispered in her ear and continues putting pressure on her neck. She could not breathe and was desperately trying to break out of his hold.

She could hear the red team cheer for Hector’s certain victory, but she was way too stubborn to give into Hector like that.

“I like it when you’re silent like this.” Hector continued whispering and chuckled softly. She was starting to see black spots and knew that she did not have long.

“And if you don’t like your future husband, my bed is always ready.” He whispered that last part so quietly it took her a moment to register what he was saying. How could he know about that?

She could hear Matthew yelling at her to tap out, but there was no way that she was going to let this bastard walk away with this win. With all the strength she had left she threw herself back and when he adjusted their position, she used the movement to lunge them both forward. When he lost his grip, she took in a lungful of air, and he went sprawling to the ground in front of her. She got up quickly, trying her best to get her breathing under control but Hector was already up and charged at her. He started throwing punches and Aysha did her best to dodge them, but in return, she was getting pushed back. Her breathing was still not under complete control which resulted in Hector managing to sneak in a few punches, but she ignored the discomfort. She was almost at the edge and was waiting for the right moment that would hopefully come.

“Don’t cry when you come in second,” Hector said and went in for the final punch.

When Hector punched, Aysha made herself fall on her ass and then leaned back and kicked upwards, landing a kick in the back of his thigh. The force, combined with his punch sent him flying forwards, and with nothing but the edge of the platform in front of him, he fell hard to the ground.

The black team started cheering and the red team stared in shock since Hector had been winning just moments before.

Aysha stood up and looked down at Hector who was gathering his senses and getting to his feet.

“Word of the wise,” Aysha said as Hector turned to look up at her. “Don’t celebrate too early, it’ll always cause your downfall.”

“Wise words,” Matthew said as he climbed up on the platform.

“If you’re too cocky in battle it almost always ends in premature death or serious injuries. You will do well to remember that you should never take victory for granted or assume that you are going to win.” Matthew said while looking at Hector. “That is one more point for the black team which makes the result 16-14 in their favor.

Aysha’s team started cheering and Aysha took the moment to finish getting her breathing under control.

“That was risky… Way too risky.” Matthew said so only she could hear.

“I won, didn’t I?” Aysha answered.

“Don’t forget that you are not indestructible.” Matthew sighed. “I’d be in a heap of trouble if you were to get seriously hurt.”

“I’m fine Matthew,” Aysha reassured him.

“You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.

“Just making sure that it still works for you old man.” Aysha chuckled as she exited the platform, and she notices him roll his eyes and shake his head.

“You were amazing,” Kate exclaimed as she joined them again.

“Yeah, that last move was awesome,” Shawn said and seemed to be taking his loss better than before.

“Thanks,” Aysha said as she rubbed her neck.

“Don’t you think you were pushing it a little too far?” Jordan asked with a pissed look on her face.

“Relax Jordy, I’m fine.”  Aysha shrugged and thankfully Jordan did not press her any further.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Matthew said. “Help get the wounded to the doctor and I’ll see you back tomorrow at the same time.”

Everyone started walking back and Aysha started walking towards the palace.

“You think you’re getting off the hook this easy?” Jordan asked and threw her arm around Aysha’s shoulder.

“Will it work if I say that I’m too tired to talk?” Aysha sighed, already knowing the answer to that.

“Nope,” Jordan said joyfully as they walked towards the castle.