Sam

"Begin!" Willow shouted across the campgrounds.

Without a second thought, the woman leaned forward and burst into a sprint towards the man. The man spread his legs, lowered his center of gravity, and raised his sword into a guarding position.

Across from him, however, the woman's eyes lit up and her white teeth revealed themselves through an overarching smile.

She slid across the stone and swiftly lunged her rapier forward, aiming directly for the man's heart. He flicked his sword, parrying her piercing blow down to the side.

But then, the woman's fist occupied the man's vision. Her clenched knuckles rammed into his nose, shattering it almost instantly. Then, she lowered her hand and grabbed the man's uniform.

With his collar in hand, the woman bent her legs and pressed her shoulder beneath the man's rib cage. With everything in place, she exploded upward; lifting the man off the ground until his torso sat on the woman's shoulders.

She held him above her, displaying her natural strength, and then slammed him into the ground. His body bounced off the stone and his neck whiplashed from the impact. He wasn't getting back up.

Willow, adorned with her hammer, pointed at the woman.

"State your name!" She ordered.

"Sam, ma'am!" She shouted in response, her arm arched in salute.

"I declare Sam the victor!" Willow announced to an unresponsive, quiet crowd of soldiers.

Due to the lull of a response, Willow didn't hesitate and dropped her hammer in the direction of another male soldier.

"Step forward!" She commanded, "You are our next fighter!"

The man approached. He stretched both of his arms out and summoned dual hand axes. Twirling them in his hands, he stared at Sam's back as she returned to the other end of the battlegrounds.

Once more, Willow raised her hammer into the air and began to countdown.

"Begin!" She roared.

Sam and the man simultaneously ran at each other. Within a matter of seconds, they collided in the center.

Life before, Sam approached with a swift piercing attack, but the man caught her blade between his axes and threw them to the side.

Following, the man struck down with one of his axes, forcing Sam to backpedal to avoid the blow. With Sam now on the defensive, the man exploded into a flurry of strikes.

He swung with one ax, then with the other. He connected his attacks swiftly and fluently, preventing Sam from counterattacking and forcing her to remain on the defensive.

Sam continued to backpedal. She carefully watched the man's strikes, waiting for the perfect opportunity to parry. The issue stemmed from their choice of weapons.

Sam's rapier was simply too brittle to receive multiple blows from the man's heavy, overbearing ax. She needed to disrupt his flow and capitalize all in the same counterattack, she didn't have the luxury of trial and error.

Her eye finally caught one, a downward swing at a slight slanted angle. She pointed her rapier up and the ax's blade slid down the shaft of Sam's sword.

Like a water slide, Sam slowly tilted her blade until it ran horizontally and the man's ax flew to the side. With his arm now outstretched and his chest exposed, Sam elbow bashed the man's chest.

He stumbled back and Sam didn't hesitate. She dropped to the ground, pushing her leg out and spinning. Her foot caught one of the man's legs and he was swept off his feet.

Now laying on the ground, when the man opened his eyes Sam's rapier was an inch from his face.

"Sam is the victor!" Willow shouted once again.

Sam retracted her blade and stepped away from the man. With scorn littered across his face, the man returned to his place in line.

Willow didn't waste any time and called forth the next challenger, a man who summoned a large, round shield. He casually stepped forward, looking neither excited nor gloomy about the circumstance.

"You plan on using a shield?" Willow asked.

"Yes, is that allowed?" He returned the question.

"If that's what you've chosen." Willow shrugged and then raised her hammer into the air, "Begin!"

The man didn't move and instead held his ground. He bent his knees and waited for Sam to come to him.

Which is exactly what she did. Sam raced towards the man and blew past him. She slid across the stone and turned her body towards him as she passed.

Now next to him rather than in front of him, the man's side was completely exposed. Sam's blade exploded forth, but the man reacted in time.

He swung his shield around and clipped the tip of her rapier, knocking it back and halting Sam's attack. Sam stepped away and slowly began to walk around the man.

"Is this all you're going to do?" Sam asked.

"I thought it was a pretty good idea," he replied in earnest.

Sam snickered and lunged forward, but ended up attacking the shield once more. She continued to attack while running around him, trying her hardest to find an opening or some way to get through the shield.

But the man held his ground. He was able to maneuver his shield with ease as it glided through the air and perfectly blocked each and every one of Sam's attacks.

This show continued for some time until both of them breathed heavy breaths and sweat ran down their brows. As both of them neared their limits, they knew they had to do something fast to end this.

Sam jumped back, creating some distance between them. She wiped away her sweat with her sleeve and took one final deep breath. The next second, her aura changed and she looked at her opponent with overbearing determination.

She lunged forward and struck the shield, so far nothing has changed. Then, as the tip of her rapier hit the shield, she let go. Her rapier dropped, meanwhile, Sam continued to advance.

She grabbed hold of the edge of the shield and swung herself behind it. With nothing standing between herself and the man, she slammed her head down into his. Their foreheads collided with a bang and they both stumbled back.

Sam's legs wobbled and her balance diminished, but so did the man's. He dropped his shield as he fell backward, his instincts screaming at him to catch his fall.

Through blurred vision and dizziness, Sam rushed forward and collapsed on top of the man. Now straddling him, she raised her fist into the air and immediately let it plummet down towards him.

Before she struck him, however, Willow's golden gauntlet latched onto Sam's wrist and stopped her just before the impact.

"I declare Sam the victor!" Willow announced as she let go of Sam's wrist.

Sam stood up and stepped back, allowing for the man to get up as well. The man returned to the line while Sam remained upfront.

"Would anyone else like to challenge Sam?" Emile shouted over the troops.

The people in line all looked around, mutually searching for Sam's next opponent to no avail.

"Well then, with that I—"

"I'd like to try!" Another voice cut off Emile. This man, however, was not part of the original thirteen who stepped forward, "If I may!" He clarified.

Emile looked at the rows of soldiers unsure of who spoke. Noticing his confusion, the man raised his arm and stepped out of line.

Emile stared at the man and then gestured for him to approach.

"Why didn't you step forward earlier?" Emile asked.

"I didn't want to be sized up by my competition, and she must be pretty tired at this point."

"So you're taking advantage of her unfavorable situation?" Emile translated.

"That's right," the man grinned.

"Very well—" Emile agreed, "don't lose."