Dar glanced at him with a frown, then looked back to Erell. "We have never met," he said softly. "What have I done to make you wish to kill me?"
Erell stepped back, creating a greater space between them, clearly preparing for a fight. "It's not what you've done," she answered. "It is who you are. Curupira took something very dear to me. I plan to return the favor."
Tao stood and moved slowly, trying to approach her. "Then I'm afraid you may have picked the wrong BeastMaster," he told her, attempting a humorous smile. It came out a bit stretched, as did his light tone. "Curupira threatens Dar at least once a day . . ."
Erell turned her head slightly, fixing him with a look that boded ill for any attempt to touch her. Tao swallowed at the coldness he saw in her eyes.
Dar lifted a hand and made a motion at his friend. "Tao," he said. "It's all right." He looked at Erell as she turned her gaze back to him. "I won't fight you," he told her softly.
Erell smiled slightly, the turn of her lips bitter. "You won't have a choice." She moved her foot, hooking it under her spear to toss the sturdy weapon into the air, where she caught it one handed. Dar would have found the similarity in their styles amusing, if the situation hadn't been so serious. Then Tao moved, and it became even worse.
Tao stepped towards the huntress, arms extended to try and grab her, make her stop and listen. Erell side-stepped and turned the spear sideways, using the added weight of it in her hand to double the force of impact as she slammed her fist upwards into the Eiron's jaw. Tao fell back and hit the ground, stunned. As soon as his friend had started to move, Dar had as well, anticipating trouble and fearing it. Erell sensed his approach behind her and turned with the motion of hitting Tao. Impetus spun her as she ducked and pushed the spear behind her, blunt end first. Dar dodged it, and swept the staff in a tight circle parallel to his body, knocking the spear away.
Caught by surprise, Erell lost her grip on the weapon. As it flew out of her hand, however, she rolled with the motion that her turning had begun. Dar stepped back as she tumbled past him, and glanced quickly at Tao to be certain he was all right. The Eiron was still a bit stunned, and rubbing his jaw, but he was essentially unharmed. Dar turned to find Erell on her feet again, spear in hand. Her eyes were still cold, but deep inside them the BeastMaster thought he could see anger and grim determination.
Dar carefully moved away from the campfire, keeping Tao out of harm's way. "It doesn't have to be like this," he told her.
But Erell shook her head. "Yes. It does."
She pressed her attack, the side of her spear colliding with Dar's staff as the BeastMaster defended himself. She was a huntress, but Alrin had been equally sure to teach her how to fight: even when she was a child, there were stories of the Terrons. Erell had not expected to meet the BeastMaster so soon, she had not expected him to have such kindness in his eyes, but she was committed to this now. And once the fight was begun, in earnest and as harshly fought as this one was becoming, there was only one way to end it: with instinct, and with death.
He was good, even better than she had expected after seeing his practice. But that same glimpse of his practice had given her much needed information on his moves and preferences, as well as weaknesses. Erell had not had such practice in a long time, but anger and pain drove her now. It gave her energy, kept her moving . . . and slowly broke down the carefully built walls that had kept the grief at bay as she hunted for the thing that would grant her revenge on Curupira.
Erell fought, the calm of her motions breaking down into true instinct, driven by rage and grief, pain and fear. The BeastMaster did not truly wish to fight her, hurt her -- she could sense it in him, even as he parried her blows and pressed attacks of his own. She lost her weapon first, knocked out of her hand by a well-placed kick, but the staff soon followed as she ducked under the next blow. Erell came up with her back to Dar, her arm sweeping under his own and then up to push the staff away. Another blow, this one hitting just at the juncture of his wrist, loosened his hold on the weapon and allowed a kick of Erell's own to knock it into the shallow water of the nearby riverbank.
Under other circumstances, they might have been evenly matched -- barely. Under other circumstances, Dar would have won easily. But he was holding back, despite the growing intensity of the combat, and Erell was fighting with more and more rage-lent strength. The BeastMaster kept losing ground, then gaining it again, but what finally betrayed him was not skill or strength, but footing. The ground they had slowly moved onto was closer to the river-bank, making it soft and uneven. A loose, hidden rock slipped under the BeastMaster's foot and his arm swung wide as he tried to correct his balance.
Erell stepped in close and struck with one hand, the heel of her palm landing squarely just under Dar's jaw, throwing him completely off-balance. He fell backwards and she moved in as he landed on his back. Before he could move out of the way, she came down on top of him, her knees on either side of his arms, pinning them to his side as she reached for the knife in her boot. Dar's breath caught as the blade came out, well-honed bone like the knife he himself carried, glinting in the sunlight. Erell raised it for a killing blow, her position above him perfect for a heart-wound. Distantly, Dar heard Tao yell out a plea or a denial of what was to come. Their eyes met.
Erell's eyes were wild, glowing with rage and bloodlust and need. It was like looking into the eyes of an animal driven beyond thought, its mind taken over by the intense instinct to kill. Except he couldn't communicate with this animal. Dar's heart thundered in his chest as he waited for the killing blow, and watched Erell raise the blade high above her head.
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