Chi Versus Sei (4) 

He had won.

Willow, the maiden, the perpetual underdog, the one forever destined to fall short, had actually prevailed. The thrill of victory danced across his nerve endings, a counterpoint to the agonizing symphony of his shattered chi. He had faced the Sage, an opponent whose strength dwarfed his own, and he had, by all accounts, triumphed.

The memories, fragmented and vivid, flooded back. The Sage, a whirlwind of power, had been relentless. His movements, a blur of lightning-fast strikes, had hammered against Willow's defenses, each blow a thunderous assault. The Sage's chi, an incandescent inferno, had scorched his senses, threatening to consume him whole.