: The White Flames

With claws bared, she gazed at him.

With a sword drawn, he stared at her.

Only a second of silence slipped between them before they clashed.

His sword came down upon her, at an inhuman speed. With a small sway, she narrowly avoided the blade.

But it nicked her cheek, causing blood to flow like a red serpent down her face.

With the back of her hand, she whipped it away, leaving a glaring smear of red.

The long sword buried itself into the ground. Slicing through the stone like it was but soft wood.

Taking the momentum of her movements, she lightly turned on the heel of her foot and rapidly picked up pace as she swung a kick at his head.

He dogged, reaching out to grab her foot while his sword swung towards her leg still planted to the ground.

Without missing a second, she used the grip on her leg to pull herself off the ground, swinging herself behind him where she landed a unforgiving jab onto his back placed in a precise location of his spine making his legs feel numb.

He lost his footing for just a second, but that was all she needed.

She didn't wait for him to recover as she swept her hardened scaled tail aimed at his feet.

Jumping up, he avoided her tail, he ruthlessly spun and jabbed his elbow upon her face before using the momentum to swing his sword for her neck while stepping forward to limit her retreat and cut her off.

His movements were trained. They were fierce and they were aimed to kill. She could feel his bloodlust. His anger. His despair as the cold light from his blade reflected in her eyes as its edge sliced in a path aimed for her.

With unnatural flexibility, she bent backwards; her back doing a perfect ninety degrees as she used her tail to balance the spin of her body.

He wasn't holding back. He was lost in the fight. His mind was consumed by the blade and he wasn't going to stop.

With even breaths, Kayda didn't break a sweat as she leapt over him, hindering his eyesight as he accidentally looked into the light of the sun.

With her claws, Kayda used a flurry of lethal movements to chip away at his defense.

The clash of claws and metal pierced the air. She continuously pushed him back. Not pausing for a second as every single motion she took was used to attach.

No action was waisted. No opening was made. She growled like a beast while pushing forward, not pausing to take a breath as she swiped, turned, blocked and bent over backwards to attack him.

She put herself in compromising positions and utilized them so she could attach him.

Her movements, her viciousness, her actions caused Micheal to become flustered.

His brow broke out in a thin layer of sweat. She was moving too fast. She was gaining too much momentum. Every hit, punch and thrust he threw her way, she used it against him.

Frowning, when Kayda pushed him back, he grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands. Maneuvering his hands, he split his sword in two.

A shimmering and bloodthirsty blade laid in both hands.

With new vigor, he rushed forward. Attaching and defending against Kayda.

She noticed that he had become more serious. He was fighting with much more strength. He pushed forward with no hesitation and expertly thrusted forward in precise motions.

His actions became less wide and more concentrated.

Bearing her fangs, she let out a low growl as she rushed forward. Sliding under him to attach him from behind as he swung his sword down in a circle, spinning on his heels to use the momentum of the swing to crash it down against her.

When the blade reached her, she used her tail to push her back and onto her feet.

Her feet slid on the ground as she looked up at the sweating man before her.

He stared at her. His eyes blazing with vigor.

But his mouth turned into a growl.

"I said," his swords raised up as his feet braised against the ground.

"No holding back!" He lunged forward, leaving cracks in the pavement as he swung at her with a fierceness and lethalness of steel.

Her pupils turned to slits.

Both swords came down on each side of her while she was pushed up against a tree.

Reaching up, she grasped each blade in her hands. The metal sliced her skin.

Any normal human being would have had their hands cut off. But Kayda wasn't human.

Emerald green eyes seemed to glow as her pupils turned to animal-like slits.

White flames burst from her palms, consuming the blades.

No heat was emitted from these flames as they licked the air in hunger. They covered the blades entirely, feeling nothing like a flame.

But the blades did not catch on fire. It seemed as if the metal slowly absorbed the flames, letting the flickering fire before him deep into its core.

But he knew better than to think that his blades had withstood her fire.

He had seen her power before. Her element at work. And he knew better than to hold on to those blades.

Like he had been shocked by lightning, he dropped his blades and pushed himself as far away from her as he could.

The blades he threw to the ground slowly seemed to be heating up. The metal turned orange, red, then white. The metal quickly melted into liquid as its hilts turned to ash.

The fire had sunk into the blade and burned it from the inside out.

Unlike a fire that would consume everything it touched within hours, Kayda's flame was ten times more lethal.

It seeped its way through you, then burned you from the inside out within seconds. There was no putting out a fire you could not see or touch.

Once you touched it, there was no such thing as survival.

Micheal looked up at Kayda. His breath labored with oxygen deficiency. His emotions seemed to be washed away as the sweat trickled from his forehead to the ground in droplets.

Kayda only had a light sheen of sweat covering her forehead. Her breath was normal and even.

There was no fear in Michaels eyes as he looked at her even though he had come within an inch of his life when facing her flames.

He only wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Kayda," he said.

Kayda looked up as she lightly dabbed her forehead with her sleeve.

"You owe me a new blade."

Kayda heard his words. A small smile couldn't be stopped from forming at the corner of her lips.

"With what money?" Her voice didn't have much change in emotion, but he knew. She was messing with him.

Micheal chuckled. "Cheapskate."

Kayda grinned. "Weakling."

Micheal laughed while Kayda only smiled lightly.

He didn't push her away.

He didn't desert her when he got what he wanted.