Low Kick

"I will chose who will my son marry, base on the quality of their skills and character of the woman. Power would have been my first option, but neither of you has any," said Theo before turning his back on Kiesha.

Kiesha was left with a smiling face. She had been loyal to Theo for a very long time. She was confident she was the better choice.

From Cassy's chamber, Amanda and Christopher's sister were choosing clothes for her to wear in tomorrow's fight.

"Is there anything that does not have sleeves?" Amanda complained, seeing all tunics in various colors and thicknesses.

Cassy shrugged and gave her a tight, long-sleeved tunic. "This is the least bothersome. It will hug your body."

"Thanks," said Amanda.

"Kiesha was drinking. Whatever it was you said to her, must have worked," said Cassy.

Amanda smirked, recalling how she asked Kiesha to go easy on her weeks before. Since then, she never saw Kiesha prepare for the fight. She never practiced. Even if Kiesha regularly fought at the borders, the fact that she underestimated Amanda, there was a better chance to defeat a presumptuous opponent.

"Are you really ready for tomorrow?" Cassy asked. She reflected concern on her face.

Amanda nodded and said, "I got this. Thank you for the clothes."

Christopher and Amanda rested together that night. When Amanda woke up the next day, she spent a few hours meditating by herself inside her room. The fight with Kiesha would happen before noon. A celebration would then follow.

She internalized everything Christopher and Cassy told her about Kiesha. Her opponent was a headstrong fighter. When having a practice fight with other soldiers, she was often very impatient would give her all during her first attacks.

Amanda may no longer have the strength of the red crystal, but she had a plan.

When the fight was finally to start, Christopher came for her and walked with her to the courtyard. Many of the soldiers, servants, and advisers were present, ready to choose sides.

Aeros had no stadium, but the courtyard was vast enough to be the venue for their fight. Moreover, it was a simple event only for Theo to make the decision, whether to accept Amanda.

Seats were made available for Theo, his family, and the general's family on a large wooden platform. The advisers had seats prepared on the ground, next to the ruler's family. The soldiers stood on the sides, finding their own sitting area. Others observed from the windows of the keep or from the battlements.

Before the fight began, Christopher wished Amanda luck. In everyone's eyes, he hugged her tight and pecked on her lips. He said, "You may have proven to be capable, but I can't help but worry. Kiesha also has tricks of her own."

"I will win because I am doing this to be with you," said Amanda.

Christopher nearly did not want to let go of Amanda, but when Theo called for him, he pulled away.

"It's time to start, Christopher! I don't have all day!" Theo said, gesturing his son to join him.

Kiesha, who was standing opposite to Amanda and Christopher, frowned. She wasn't having a good day considering she felt the need to have more sleep. While she rested early last night, she woke up with a headache.

Still, she dismissed her condition, thinking Amanda would not last five minutes with her.

"Let's begin!" Ordered Theo, raising his hands to both the Amanda and Kiesha.

The two ladies both were in a tight tunic and pants for the challenge. Following Theo's command, they walked sideways, circling for seconds.

"Amanda, I need my afternoon sleep, so I'm sorry to tell you, I won't make it easy on you. I'll end this fight in less than ten minutes," declared Keisha while holding up her fists.

Instead of fists, Amanda had her hands up freely. She wasn't planning on throwing on punches, just yet.

"Urrgghhh!" Kiesha finally charged, throwing a forceful punch towards's Amanda's face.

To her surprise, Amanda evaded, even redirecting the attack with her hand and bringing Kiesha's fist past her. She managed to grab on to Kisha's other arm.

When Kiesha countered the block with another punch, Amanda tried to re-direct it again, but this time, Kiesha stepped back. Instead, she charged at Amanda with left and right punches before swiveling her body and throwing a kick.

The kick landed on Amanda's left arm, and it made her grunt. "Urrggghh!"

Amanda recognized it was a powerful kick, as expected from a very strong and muscled woman. Kiesha was practically two six inches taller than her and obviously weighed more.

When she pushed Kiesha off, Kiesha took seconds to recover in her stance, and in that interval, Amanda thrust a low kick, hitting Kiesha's left leg.

"Huh! Is that all you have?" Scorned Kiesha. She quickly advanced towards's Amanda, this time hugging her torso and landing her to the ground.

Kiesha sat on top of Amanda and began a series of punches while Amanda was left with no choice but to block it with her arms, given their position.

From the platform, Christopher stood up, feeling his heart racing. It was evident that Kiesha had hit Amanda's face. He was about to walk down until he saw Amanda raised her legs and thrust her knees it to Kiesha's back.

She did this repeatedly until Keisha was pushed forward, closer to Amanda. She hugged Kiesha tightly and turned her over.

To give herself more time to get up, she threw back her head before hitting Kiesha on the forehead.

Kiesha groaned in pain, but so did Amanda. Fortunately, it was enough for her to get up.

'Curse this woman. She was drunk last night, yet she is still strong!' Amanda complained in silence as she stepped back and get into her stance.

For a second, Kiesha massaged her head. She felt like her headache magnified. Still, she shook her head, quickly putting up her fists.

Flustered, she attacked head-on, angrily throwing punches at Amanda's torso and face.

Amanda blocked some attacks with her arms, sometimes turning her body to redirect the punches to the other parts of her frame. She did not want the bruise concentrated on one part of her torso.

While Kiesha was relentlessly throwing punches, Amanda also kept thrusting her leg to Keisha's left leg. This she did repeatedly and purposely.

Amanda expected this. Kiesha had great upper body strength. All she could do, for now, was to concentrate on giving low kicks.

When Kiesha stepped back to prepare a kick on her left leg, Amanda promptly advanced, giving the strongest blow to Kiesha's left leg. She hit her mark even before Kiesha could kickback.

"Aaaaaahhhh! Urrggg!" It was the first that Kiesha roared in pain. "You!"

It was because Kiesha felt the pain and worried about her leg that she let out all her anger at Amanda. She relentlessly attempted to thrust kicks and punches, regardless if she would hit Amanda or not.

Simultaneously, Amanda did the same as the last, blocking her attacks while persistently giving Kiesha a low kick. She would try to throw a punch or two, but mostly focused on her target; Kiesha's left leg.

At some point, Kiesha pushed Amanda with both hands, and out of nowhere, she announced, "You know why I would win?! Because I have a yearning that has been planted for years!" She attempted another punch before adding, "Something you would never understand!"