He smiled and took the steps back to her. She had anger pouring from her in waves. Elias had played her and now she would play him. Let them play dirty, she would win this.

“Of course, my lady. How could I forget?” He bowed in front of her. “Picking up our swords, are we?”

“No”, she said. “I can take you here, with my bare hands. Bury you in the ground.” She smiled sinisterly. “You might want to stay here permanently.”

She didn’t wait for him to catch up on her instead she went for his ankle, trying to take him down by pure force. She was no weak woman, and he was an easy catch. The brown leather trousers were filled with dirt, and the white linen was not white anymore. She took hold of his arm, wrestling it backwards and ensuring his chin was touching the ground.

“Didn’t saw that one coming”, Elias muttered.

“Too fast for you?” she whispered, using her whole body as a bow to be able to hold him down on the ground. It was not the first time she took down opponents stronger and bigger than her. What she lacked in strength she had in technique and speed.

“Good, but not good enough”, Elias said and he wriggled around. Wrestling with her and probably getting some nice burn marks from his t-shirt.

She was greater than good, and she was pissed off. Sasha didn’t hold back. She had learned to fight dirty as a kid and today she would make Isaak proud of her. Pushing the precis right force with two fingers to his temple and swiping hard towards his legs he was laying still at the ground within seconds.

“One, two, three”, she counted.

“Four”, Elias said and he turned the table. Moving like a snake, smoother than what men usually moved. “One”, he smiled down at her. “No marks, let’s go for fair play. Shall we?”

Sasha pushed hard upwards and rolled over, snatching out of his reach with ease.

“Afraid I would give you a blue eye?”

“No, but yours have not healed yet since the encounter with my mother. Let’s just wrestle. I could keep you occupied until you have let go of the steam.”

Sasha roared. She rushed forward, like a bear, smashing into his stomach with her head and grabbing his legs with her arms. She pushed forward, twisting, kicking away his feet with hers and getting him to completely loose balance. She threw him to the ground. It was a blunt attack, and one she knew he would have been able to defend against.

“Don’t play nice with me kitten”, she said grinding her teeth and hissing at him.

He didn’t answer, he finally gave into the fight and she exhaled. This was a worthy opponent. Well in class with Isaak. She would love to take him down.

They moved around the ground like a dancing couple, back and forth, his strength against her level and technique. The sweat started running down her forehead and her muscles ached. She was weak since the match with the queen. It was time ending this before she actually lost.

She rolled him over and collected his leg and arm and pressed them up towards his back with help of her weight. She was searching for the precis perfect angle that would give her the victory.

“Stop!”

“One”, Sasha counted.

“Stop, I give up. Just let me loose, it fucking hurts.”

“Two”, Sasha continued. “You will endure until five or you will faint.”

“Please Sasha, have mercy.”

“Three, Four, Five”, she counted rapidly and let go of him.

He rolled over and sat up, stretching his muscles and looking intently at her.

“It’s the first time I loses since I was a kid”, he confessed. “Care to show me?”

“Not now. But one day”, she agreed. She would show him the day he had earned her trust. Which would not happen, but he didn’t have to know that.

“I guess I own you a favour. I couldn’t see that one coming. What do you want from me?” he asked.

She gave him her hand, helping him up from the ground.

“Let me ponder for a while”, she said.

“I will not let you keep the orb”, he warned her.

“I play fair”, Sasha smiled at him. “Don’t be afraid kitten.”

“I will not purr.”

She just laughed. Seeing Elias purring would sure be hilarious.

He escorted her back to Sasha´s and Ivy’s bedroom.

“I will go and refresh before the dinner. I would recommend you to do the same”, Elias said and his eyes scanned over her clothes. The black trousers were covered in dirt, the tank top browner than black and with holes that shouldn’t be there. “Borrow something from Ivy. We have to find some clothes more your size.”

“Don’t worry, its not the first time”, Ivy said and took a good look at her sister. “I have the perfect dress for her.”

Ivy dragged Sasha into the room and closed the door in Elias face.

“Tell”, she said.

“I want my magic back, but to do that I have to solve his damn puzzle”, Sasha said.

“And the mud wrestling?”

“The mud wrestling? A nice bonus I suppose. You don’t happen to know anything about returning magic to a dead witch?”

“A dead witch?”

“I got stolen magic forced upon me by the queen. She wants me to learn to use it. Elias says I will not be able to use my own magic again until I get rid of the one she gave me.”

Ivy took her hands in hers and closed her eyes. She hummed some and drew her brows together.

“I don’t know, it feels odd, like magic that has been abandoned for too long. Let me think about it sister.”

“So, no easy fix?”

“Gaining your magic back and levelling up again will not be an easy match sister. I´ve heard of it before, but it takes loads of work.”

“We need to go back to mother then.”

“Yeah, that would have been the wiser move”, Ivy agreed. “But the graveyard is here, isn’t it?”

“You still amaze me”, Sasha shook her head. “What more did you see?”

“Not much. Just this feeling. We need this graveyard.”

“Well, let’s dress for the party then, shall we?” Sasha said and took off the dirty clothes.

“Yes”, Ivy agreed but put one hand on her shoulder. “Just a warning though.”

“A warning?”

“Yes. Keep your mouth far away from Elias. The queen has gotten into her head to marry me off with him.”

“You and Elias?”

Ivy rolled her eyes.

“Don’t tell Isaak, will you?”

Over her dead body.