Quoted By:
<span class="mu-i">”What separates manhunters from other beasts,”</span> the Yaegir ranger Saeker had written in his book <span class="mu-i">The Fiercest Prey</span>, “Is their disregard for the structure of nature. Beasts have honor as much as men do- a cat will not dispose of their brethren with the cold efficiency they do their prey, to avoid dangerous conflict. Man should have no such restraint if he wants to thrive on a battlefield.”
Of course, you weren’t in this to kill anybody, but there was one thing you could do to win this right away. If Yuliana wanted to fight you with one hand, then you would take that away from her. The knife hand had been splayed out trying to find balance- normally a hand was a difficult target, but there was no such thing right now. You moved your left hand to her right, and like a saw, cut both on your way towards and when you drew back, a cry of pain accompanying the spilling of blood.
Yet the knife did not drop- you saw blood running down Yuliana’s hand, dripping off her fingers, it had been no shallow cut. She must have had only the weakest grip on it.
“That’s it,” you said, “Quit messin’ around and fight, or get on your knees.” You doubted Yuliana could fight more, though. At least not as well as she could have, given that you didn’t observe any ambidexterity from her before.
Yuliana had only a bit of fear in her eyes when she faced you, biting her tongue as she stumbled back to a proper stance. “You didn’t even cut me like I thought you would,” she spat as a cut lip from you smashing her face had prompted a little trickle of blood. “I thought I wouldn’t underestimate you again.”
“I ain’t gonna say it again.” Talking let her get her bearings again. Another moment and you’d give her another cut.
“Won’t you stay your hand to allow praise?” Yuliana said, and you hesitated for only a bit longer. “The thought of what you had that I did not, that tormented me, Nowicki. I realized what I was missing today, though.” She raised her blooded hand, “I have strength, I have might, but I was pristine. I’d never known true pain in my life, I couldn’t even imagine it. Then look at you. Simply a glance tells what you have over me, yet I was blind to it. So I thank you. Because now,” Her other hand raised, in a half grasp, “I can be a foe worthy of my blood.”
Enough talk. She could monologue further when she was on the dirt. You advanced- and considered quickly what you had seen on her while she had been yapping. The blood had stopped flowing from her hand, and her grip had somehow tightened- in a grip that was too rock-firm for cut muscles. There had been a few cool summer breezes, but something else was impossible to ignore- because now it was <span class="mu-i">freezing</span>, and somehow, it felt like another hand was on the blade of your knife.
