From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
“Train with me, then,” the General commands (for it offers no room for refusal), already moving towards the weapons rack in the back corner of the Barracks. “No magical powers, just good ol’fashioned weapons. Her beloved chakram is still missing (though not for long, if she can help it), but the sword is an old and dear friend. She picks one up, tests it with a couple of swings away from Darkeye to get the measure of its balance, and then trades it in for another one that suits her better.
Waiting for the Outlander to choose his weapon, and there are many - axes, pikes, rapiers, daggers, a whip, a scythe, staff, lance, swords of all shapes and sizes, as well as a couple bows and arrows - Wessex moves several paces away to give them a wide enough playing area. Once he’s ready, Wessex gives a tight, short nod and then lunges forward, sending her blade towards the outer edge of his right thigh, trying to slice diagonally up and across his body before back across across to the right side at face level.
Darkeye can not help grinning Wessex remembers something of the Amazons from his world. Fighting for the sisterhood. This is the language where there is no misunderstanding. He agrees to the training with a curt nod and puts away his books and everything useless. He takes his black metal spear in his left hand and his axe in his right. He also makes a few swings and thrusts. It will do him good after a month without training. He is sure he has no chance against Wessex. If she wanted him dead, he would be already.
Darkeye thinks about taking it easy for now and gives the sign that he's ready. He had not expected this attack, but he had made Wessex angry and now he had to pay for it. He rams his spear into the ground with all his might and presses his leg against the spear and ducks down at the same time. He tries to push the upper part of his spear outward, not by force but by the angle of the blade. The axe on the right side is aimed at her hand, which can't pull itself further towards his face.
Unsure if her blade hit his right thigh, the demigod continues on with the second part of her attack, until it’s stopped in midair by Darkeye’s axe. The axe blade doesn’t hit her hand - but metal does meet metal with a resounding clang.She has to admit that taking two weapons was pretty clever, considering what is likely to be a large difference in strength.
Using her sword and how it’s locked in place as a bit of leverage, Wessex pivots and kicks out low with her right heel, aiming for the Accepted’s right knee in an attempt to add more potential damage to that leg.
His face was now out of danger for now. But he had to admit that the blow came with such force that he had no chance to counter it with strength. He tries to put his skill and knowledge into this fight. But the body did not go as it should.
He could not use the axe for the next blow as he wanted. The next blow from her he saw coming but he was too slow, he could only turn his knee slightly to the side so that it would not break. But it would hit. There was not much he could do except push the spear in her direction. That maybe because of the point coming close to Wessex's face, she couldn't put as much force into it.
It wasn’t her initial plan to overwhelm Darkeye; she’d gone into this curious about his skills and wanting to see if everything about this former General were true. But it is true that she’s angry. And she does want to prove her dominance. She wants the Outlander to know that she could kill him if she wanted to (it’s ridiculous, of course he knows that, so many of them know that. Get called a demigod and everything changes), and perhaps even leave him on his knees.
So her kick lands and she ends up close to him, in between the spear and the axe, with the spear tip angling towards her face. Trapped a bit, and unwilling to use her powers (she’d promised, after all), there is little to do but try and take him by surprise. Trying to put her roughly 173 cm height to her advantage, she stops trying to force her sword in and releases the pressure, then tries to karate chop down at his elbow with her free hand in an attempt to make him either drop the aze or lose control of it.
He contne to see the attacks but not react fast enough to them. The body hadn't gone through the training like in Aventuria. He had learned a lot, but in this fight he needed luck. Neither with skill nor strength did he have a chance against the demigoddess.
The kick was painful but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of crying out.
He clenched his teeth. And went by his instinct and pushed the spear further and further towards her. He tried to use the range of his spear, but he needed distance. Should she go further towards the spear and try to scare him off with the edge of her hand, she was wrong. A dislocated shoulder was not as bad as a spear in the skull. He did not want to kill her. But he could not simply stop the attack now. So he leaned back and tried to push the spear forward with his foot and make a circular motion with the axe and the upper body. To make a counterattack with a wide blow.
She’s not sure what’s happening, other than that her attention on the axe seems to not be working, and in her peripheral vision, the spear seemed to be getting closer and closer. Well. That’s not good.
Wessex drops everything she’s trying to do and sashays backwards out of the trap, leaving Darkeye swinging his axe into thin air. She drops into an engard stance, taking in all of the man and his two weapons and trying to see where it might be advantageous to attack next without being too much of a bully. An idea comes to her and she feints towards the axe side before heading towards the spear side, swinging with all her might to cut or break the long handle of the spear in half.
That was pure luck in Darkeye's eyes. That he was able to increase the distance to her. He was able to reduce the damage to his leg. But defeating her would be difficult, to say the least, impossible. Since she has moved away, he sees that he has achieved his goal.
Darkeye sees the blow coming and wants to show her that he is not afraid to counter it. He presses himself with all his might against the iron spear and tries to withstand the blow by distributing his weight. The force is powerful and the metal begins to sing violently. Darkeye is pushed backwards a few meters and slammed hard against the wall. With a dull bang he remains lying then Wessex has clearly won. The spear still swings in the hand of Darkeye he has not let go. He will probably be unconscious.
