Overconfidence was a dangerous thing, and Keaton could tell she’d given herself over to it. His lips twitched as she launched from the ground, pushing off with one hoof to come flying at him, halberd extended. There was a shout on her lips and fury in her eyes, but both were going to be in vain. He used that overconfidence to his advantage, dropping low at just the right moment. A swing that would have opened up his chest had he not moved was instead thrashed through the air, the breeze of it catching Keaton and stirring his messy hair.
She’d come close to beheading him, though not on purpose. Now Keaton was dropped down to one knee, the dirt soft and springy underneath him as he surged upward once momentum carried her past. Smacking his hand down against the far end of the spear, he brought it up to swipe across her back. Considering how little she was wearing, it was easy to draw blood. A cut opened up, blood beading immediately and dripping down her back.
“Now we’re even,” he told her, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Of course, it was dangerous to be overconfident. Especially dangerous when your opponent didn’t appear to even feel the pain of the blow you’d dealt. It only seemed to fuel whatever it was driving her. That near-insane battle lust he saw in her eyes, punctuated by her expelling air from her nostrils in another feral snort. It didn’t seem too far-fetched to imagine himself being gored in that moment. He’d always been warned in the orphanage that wild boars roamed the forests, just looking for an excuse to disembowel bad little boys and girls.
Cassia wasn’t a wild boar, but she certainly had all the ferocity of one.
“That will be the last strike you get,” she assured him.
Before he’d even managed to find his balance again, she was running at him to close the meager distance. A run that wasn’t necessary but was unsurprising. What was actually surprising was the fact that she threw down her halberd before she did it. It caught Keaton so off guard that he wasn’t able to properly fling himself out of the way. He’d just started to push off from the ground when her body collided with his, the spear slammed into his chest again. This time his breath stayed gone for a bit, his back colliding hard with the ground, Cassia atop him.
She wrested the spear away with ease, tossing it to the side. In a flash he saw her nails coming toward his face and his eyes widened. He just managed to dodge it, turning his face to the side. His hands shot up to grab her wrists, trying to keep the wild creature at bay. To Keaton’s surprise, he managed to strength to do it. Barely. She was so close to his throat, a fire in her eyes that was honestly a little terrifying.
And more arousing than it should have been, but maybe that was just the fact that she was straddling him right now. She wore so little in the way of clothing, too, that he could feel the heat of her pussy through the cloth. His cock twitched, stiffening despite his best efforts. Blood flowed southward and he could only pray that she was too caught up in the battle to notice.
She wasn’t.
Her forest green eyes flashed with a different kind of lust, a wicked smile curving her lips. She rolled her hips against him, grinding against his cock, and Keaton let out a choked gasp.
“Wh-what are you—”
“Using all the tools at my disposal,” she murmured. “If you are going to be so careless as to want to fuck me in the midst of battle, dungeon lord, then I will take advantage.”
Her hips undulated, the muscles in her abdomen almost mesmerizing as she moved against him in a way that had him seeing stars. He knew she would make him pay for it the instant he let his guard down, and yet he couldn’t keep hold of her. It was too much effort to keep himself from thrusting up toward her in a shameless, desperate display of need.
She did take advantage, just as she promised. Her hands shot out and closed around his neck, applying pressure. That was enough to quell his arousal for the moment, and Keaton reached up, clawing at the woman’s hands. He felt her fingernails gouge into his neck, the sharp sting warning him she’d drawn blood. But his gauntlet was sharp, and she didn’t come away from it unscathed. That move had cost her, blood smearing across her wrist as she let go of his neck.
“Second bloo—”
It might have been dishonorable, but Keaton wasn’t some holy knight. He was what he needed to be to survive. In this case, he was someone who took advantage of his opponents pause to hook his legs around her, thrust his arms up to her shoulders, and flip their position so he was the one pinning her to the ground. She let out a gasp, her pupils dilating until the black nearly replaced all the green.
As he’d expected, she fought him like a hell cat. This wasn’t an honorable duel so much as two people doing whatever it took within the bounds of their agreement. He never would have done this on his own — it felt wrong holding her down like this — but she didn’t seem too concerned with chivalry at the moment. Especially when her hooves hooked around him, digging into his ass as she lifted herself off the ground to put her lower body flush with his again. Keaton groaned, but this time didn’t lose himself in the sensation. Not even when her hands gripped his shoulders and she used her powerful legs to encourage him to move in a rhythmic fashion that could only leave him thinking of one thing.
All he needed to do was scratch her and this was over, but when he tried to get his hands anywhere near her body, she grabbed his arms and held them back, wrestling with him to the point that Keaton felt himself growing exhausted just from the effort to keep up. They were locked in a grapple, upper and lower bodies as close as they could be, his weight fully against her as he had no means to hold himself up.
If he wanted to beat her, Keaton knew he’d have to dig deep and find some hidden strength. All he needed was to push her away just long enough to scratch her—or hell, even to bite her. One good bite to her shoulder would do the trick, and she probably wouldn’t see it coming. He just needed to hold for as long as possible, then overpower her at the last moment and—
Cassia thrust her head upward and a sudden, splitting pain erupted behind his eyes. The coppery tang of blood filled his sinuses, and Keaton truly did see stars this time. Or at least pulses of light that resembled star bursts. Along with the telltale spidery patterns created by his retinas every time he blinked. Something warm and wet trickled downward from his forehead, barely missing his eye.
“Third blood,” she whispered, before flinging him off of her with ease.
Keaton just lay there on the ground, a groan passing his lips as a wave of nausea hit him. The world was spinning, and he was only dimly aware of the fact that Adriana had rushed over to him.
“You gave a good showing, dungeon lord,” came a distant voice that seemed to ring in his ears.
“Are you all right, my lord?” Adriana asked urgently, her hand braced against his back as she helped him into a sitting position.
“I’m…” He turned his head to the side and spat blood.
“He needs healing!” Adriana shouted, her head whipping around to direct her sudden fury at Cassia.
“And healing he will get,” she said, motioning to one of the other Emvola.
A woman came rushing toward him, pulling an overstuffed pack from her shoulder. The fragrant scent of herbs hit Keaton’s nostrils, then practically slammed into them when she wafted something foul-smelling right beneath his nose. The pounding in his head was gone instantly, though, and he blinked away the strange visual effects.
“Thanks, I—”