Not the Face

A warm wind blew the white daisies that grew on the side of the building. A small crowd came to see the fight, but many did not bother. Everyone foresaw the outcome. Constanza was one of the better fist fighters in the guild. She specialized in speed and accuracy. While Macha was small and weak looking.

Constanza cracked her knuckles and threw her fur coat to one of her groupies. "Ready?" she said with a lopsided smile.

"No." Macha knew she would get beaten up. She peeked at Tyr and hoped he would stop it, but he looked at her and shook his head slightly. He already explained to her that she could yield after the first punch was thrown. The thought of giving Constanza the satisfaction of hearing her give up disgusted Macha.

There was no way she would allow this bully to ever hear surrender. She rather be beaten up and bedridden for two weeks than utter the words 'I give up'.

Tyr spoke in a neutral voice, "Constanza, not the face. It would be a problem for me."

Macha sighed deeply. Tyr was her only hope of getting out of this situation, but he did not seem willing to help. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘤, Macha thought.

In a shaky voice, she said, "Fine, get it over with." Macha was scared because she had never been hit before. She hoped that when she was beaten up, she would not cry in front of Constanza.

As soon as Macha finished speaking, Constanza rushed in and slammed her large body into her. Macha staggered backward. While off balance, Constanza twirled around and gave her a roundhouse kick. The attack caused Macha to fly into the bed of daisies. Macha had a mouth full of mud and she spat out some flowers.

She was then pulled up by her arm and kneed in the gut. This made her bowl over and vomit what little food she had eaten. Before she could breathe in, Constanza kneed her four more times. Spit and bile dripped from her mouth and she felt weak. Macha dropped to her hands and knees, her body unable to hold itself up any longer.

"Is that all you can take, little baby?" Constanza taunted and spit on Macha's back.

Constanza lifted a long leg high into the air and dropped it down onto Macha's back where she had spit. Macha crashed into the ground with a groan. The soft grass flattened under her weight.

Rolling onto her back Macha took in deep breaths of air. She looked into Constanza's eyes and said through gasps of air, "Are...you...done?"

This only made Constanza's rage grow, and she turned to jump off the side of the building. Her force caused one of the windows to crack, and she came down on Macha's small form, elbow first. She grabbed Macha's stained dress and stood up. She pulled Macha up so they were eye to eye. Constanza's eyes contracted, and the pupils were small beads now. She smiled with pleasure as Macha's face turned purple from lack of air.

"Not yet," Constanza replied, "I want to play with you a little longer." She threw Macha over her shoulder through the cracked window. The window shattered and Macha flew into the lobby.

Constanza jumped through the broken window and kicked Macha. Macha slid across the floor and hit the base of the large statue. Macha's world was spinning and she was unable to focus her eyes on anything anymore. She heard footsteps make their way slowly towards her.

"Hopefully you learn your place today. You are nothing in this guild. Don't talk to me unless you wanna get smacked about again." As if punctuating her point Constanza gave Macha a swift kick. She reached down and dragged Macha. Macha's small form pressed against the bronze leg of Tyr's statue. Constanza said through gritted teeth, "You're nothing but a small parasite that latched onto Tyr's leg." She threw Macha against a nearby pillar. Constanza moved her face closer and the heat of Constanza's breath blew on Macha's cheek. Constanza hissed, "Why don't you just roll over and die?"

Although Macha couldn't see anymore, she knew Constanza was close. With what little strength she had she opened her mouth and bit Constanza on the nose. Constanza jerked her head back and smashed it into Macha's face. As she was about to hit Macha with her fist Constanza felt an iron grip around her wrist. She turned back and saw Tyr had grabbed her arm.

"Enough. I said not the face." He picked Macha up from her waist and carried her away like a sack of potatoes. "Also, you have to pay for the damages to the building," he mentioned as he strode away.

Tyr rounded the corner to go up the stairs and looked around. He made sure no one was around and changed the way he carried Macha. Tyr now held her like one would a toddler and he vaulted up the stairs. He reached the floor just below his and knocked on a door.

Mathis opened the door. His red hair was wet, and he was in a bathrobe. "What's up Tyr?" he said casually and eyed the small form Tyr carried.

"Come to my room," Tyr ordered and ascended the stairs making his way back to his room.

****

Mathis had been in Macha's room for two hours. During this time Tyr paced the floor in the living room. He was furious that he could not interfere with the duel, but rules were rules.

While it was still possible for him to override the rules as the Captain, it would show favoritism. He refused to be like that, so he had mentioned to Macha that she could yield after the fight began. Now he wondered if she did not understand what he meant and his explanation was lost in translation.

Mathis closed the door to Macha's room. He was tired and drained from the various spells he had to cast. His complexion was pale and his cheeks were sunken. "What happened to her?" He asked as he flopped down on the couch. He dug a cigar out of his vest pocket and lit it.

"Constanza challenged her to a duel," Tyr explained and took a seat next to Mathis. He sat at the edge of the seat turned towards his friend.

Mathis took a slow casual puff. "So? Why didn't she just decline?"

"She can't. You know guild members can't decline duels. How is she?" Tyr became impatient because Mathis had not disclosed Macha's status to him.

Mathis scratched his head, "Macha isn't a member of the guild, so why would that rule apply?" he did not understand Tyr's logic.

"Yes she is, but who cares. How is she?" He pressed as he ran his fingers through his dark bangs.

"Well if she is, then she better learn how to fight," Mathis said glancing at Tyr and raising an eyebrow. It was ridiculous to let a small woman like that join the guild. Based on her muscles, she probably did not even have any combat training.

"I said, how is she?" Tyr snapped.

"She's fine! Listen to you. She just needs a few days of rest. She had a lot of internal bleeding, some fractures, and a small concussion. I took care of all of the issues, but figure a few days rest would be good for her mental state. She looked really upset." Mathis took another puff of his cigar and added, "I'm going back to my room. I'm beat." Mathis got up and dragged his feet towards the door.

Tyr did not hear the last part because he was already making his way into Macha's room. Inside he could see her bundled up under the covers. He felt guilty. "Macha?"

Macha's head popped out from under the covers, "Yes?" she whispered.

Tyr made his way across the room towards the bed. He took light footsteps and looked cautiously at her. "Are you all right?"

Macha felt physically fine, but her mood was poor. "Yeah. I don't feel like talking now. Could I just get some rest?" She frowned and looked at a chair in the corner of her room.

Tyr's heart was pained to see her like this. She usually had a smile on her face, but she looked depressed right now. "I want to teach you how to fight. Since you're in the guild I think you should learn."

Macha nodded her head and turned over. She felt betrayed that he had not helped but also understood that he was following the rules. It was a mix of emotions that left her feeling dissatisfied. She also noted that Tyr looked really distraught. He kept looking at her like she was about to break.