"ACCEPTED, my queen." Decide bowed at the waist, smirking.
Luca cried out in anguish. "Why is she like this?" he moaned.
Karla jumped off the pile of pillows that she'd previously been lounging upon. She sidled up to the huntress, who in turn drew her own silvery weapons, glimmering in the dim daylight filtering into the room.
"Prepare to die, huntress," the queen snarled, unfurling her long scarf from around her neck, exposing an intricate and dark tattoo on her right shoulder.
"I should say the same for you," Decide replied, slashing forwards. Karla leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding the sweeping blades. Decide continued to attack, whirling around in a circle as she approached, her sword and dagger moving faster than the eye could see. But Karla continued to dodge the attacks, the heavy claymore she held in her hand of no hindrance.
"You're pretty agile, for a queen," Decide smirked, slashing downwards with her sword. Karla parried easily, their blades meeting with a resounding clash. "And you're pretty strong for a commoner," she gloated, her face flush with both rage and excitement.
They spun around the room, narrowly avoiding slashing apart Decide's annoyed companions. The huntress jumped to the top of a precariously piled pile of pillows, somersaulting as she rebounded off, her blades slashing diagonally at the queen. Karla brought her dark sword up, and the swipes glanced off harmlessly. Decide rolled to the ground, coming up with a spin and aiming he tip of her sword at the queen's heart. But Karla merely ducked under, her lengthy sword reaching out towards Decide's unprotected legs.
Decide, however, vaulted over the blade, tumbling onto the floor and rolling back onto her feet. As she whirled around, Karla dived forwards with another swift slice, managing, however, to only catch her briefly on her thigh. A thin line of red appeared on Decide's leg, but the huntress barely even noticed it. She was already charging for the queen again.
"Why don't we take this outside?" Karla leaped onto a stone windowsill that rose several feet from the ground. She swung around on the side of the palace, nimbly hopping to a rooftop below.
Decide followed suit, leaving her anguished companions behind as she hopped through the window grinning viciously. It'd been too long since she'd been in a one-on-one duel to the death like this. She missed the thrill of the anticipation of pain and death, the fear that she could possibly be killed. But every duel she'd ever had, she'd won. There was no reason for her to lose this one, to a queen of all people. Even if said queen was almost a foot taller than her. But now, Decide had awakened her dormant magick abilities. She was stronger and faster than ever. Her wounds healed almost instantly, and the pain was greatly lessened. If she could just figure out how to maintain control over another's blood, there was no stopping her.
She landed on the tiled rooftop of the palace, a couple of the fragile golden shards breaking underneath her boots. She balanced herself to find purchase on the slippery surface, but it was difficult, especially with her heeled boots on. She'd have to deal with them once she got out of there. Karla strutted before her on the apex of the slanted roof, her extensive sword drawing a crevasse in the tiles it sliced through. All at once, Karla darted forward, her sword held behind her in preparation to strike. As she drew closer, and struck, Decide flattened herself on the roof, the blade whooshing noisily above her back. She rolled along the slant of the roof as Karla chased after her, swinging to her feet and darting nimbly around as the queen swung slash after slash in her direction. Karla brought her sword up over her head, then straight down, a heavy strike that combined with the momentum it created falling could cut through both bone and metal as easily as through water. Decide quickly crossed her blades above her head, her dagger supporting her sword as the great claymore crashed down, ringing, upon them. It was Karla's brute strength against Decide honed power. However, the queen had the upper hand, gravity being on her side. She pressed down with all her might, the muscles in her thin arms bulging. Decide trembled under the tremendous force, the slick blade of her dagger beginning to slip. If she tried to move it, her other arm would give out and Karla's sword would come down hard. But if she kept it like this, soon enough her dagger would slip from underneath where it supported her own sword. It seemed that Karla had realized this as well, and strengthened her efforts in pressing down on the huntress' guard.
But if there was any one thing Decide truly excelled at, it was swordfighting; she'd done that and nothing but that since she joined the Assassin's Guild all those years ago. She also had many dirty tricks up her sleeves, as an ex-assassin and all. Smiling smugly she released her blades as once, giving her a moment of leverage in which the queen was thrown back. She took this chance to strike out with her foot, catching Karla on the hip and flinging her down the slope of the palace roof. It would probably not be in her best interests to kill the queen of the wastes, but Decide couldn't say the same for the queen. She'd kind of offended her, after all.
Karla skidded down the slant, digging her sword into the tile to keep her from falling off the edge. The drop from the rooftop reached nearly fifty feet, and wouldn't be so forgiving to anyone who fell from it. Swinging herself back up onto the apex, Karla growled and struck again from over her head, forcing Decide to cross guard once again. Fearing being struck again, Karla kept up more of a distance between her and the huntress, while keeping the pressure going on Decide's blades. She pressed down forcefully, and so suddenly that Decide's foot gave out on the tile beneath her, but she managed to stabilize herself in time to stop herself from slipping down the roof. A glint of satisfaction in her hazel eyes, Karla continued to press down aggressively, forcing Decide to skid backwards on her feet. She crushed the delicate tiles beneath her tall boots, and with a quick glance behind her learned that a tower was soon approaching. Thrusting up once again she darted backwards as the claymore crashed into the spot where she'd just been standing. Slashing a feint at the queen's right shoulder, Decide sped back towards the tower, her footsteps light on the sleek tiles of the roof. With Karla following close behind she leapt up against the pale stones of the circular tower, vaulting off and around, pressing the tip of her blade into the small of the queen's unprotected back. Without turning the queen smirked, dropping her right arm to the ground.
"Are you going to kill me now, then, huntress?" she mused.
"Seeing as I'm not in the mood for taking control of a sorry excuse for a kingdom, I should think not." Decide replied.
"I digress. I should not like to kill you after all, Decide. But let's not stop now- it's just getting interesting!" Karla laughed.
"I agree, my queen," Decide smirked, removing her sword from Karla's back. Instantly, the queen whirled, her blade connecting with the huntress' with a great clang. Forsaking her dagger for a double-handed parry, Decide fought back against the momentum-fueled slash, her eyes blazing with a scarlet fire. She sliced her sword downwards, taking the heavy claymore with her. As Karla struggled to raise her blade, Decide attempted to step forwards, but misjudged her landing, instead stepping awkwardly on a pile of broken roof tiles. The tiles cracked underfoot, unbalancing her, and together with Karla pitched off the side of the roof.
Their swords flew, clattering, into the sand far below, as they hung onto the edge of the roof, struggling to keep their grips. Decide heaved herself up onto her elbows, giving her more purchase to get a leg over the lip of the roof. Karla flexed her incredible muscles and lifted herself up, flattening her torso on the tiles before her strength gave out. But the delicate tiles began to crack underneath their arms, finally giving way and sending them tumbling through the air. Below them, rising up quickly, was a thin stretch of stone protruding from the main building- a balcony. As Decide flew past this, she managed to grab on to the stone railing, bringing herself to a halt. Her wrists cracked and her palms burned. Beside her, Karla managed to catch hold of the railing as well, emitting a grunt of effort.
Decide pushed herself up and over the thick railing, falling onto the stone balcony with a muffled "Hrrgh,". Lazily Karla pulled herself on over too, gently nursing the raw red skin on her palms.