Page 25 of Valkyrie Unknown

“That’s it?” It sounded simple. There was a catch. Always. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing that’s important for you to know before the fight is over. Speaking of—holmgang.”

At his shout, dummy-me circled me.

Apparently, we were starting.

Fine with me. Being predictable in a fight and expecting other people to do the same got a person killed. Which was why, when she moved into a karate kick, I expected the feint and ducked under the spinning punch she ended with.

My foot flew for the small of her back, caught her off balance, and knocked her to the ground. She rolled and came up on her feet, as I jumped to kick her in the face.

I wouldn’t fight this way in a friendly match, but she wasn’t holding back, so neither would I.

She’d already twisted away when I landed, and sprang upright using her hands, catching me in the left thigh with her knee.

The shock of pain rocketed through me, and I stumbled with a grunt. As I turned to counter her next attack, I caught a glimpse of Ulf. I expected a smirk, but he looked focused.

I caught dummy-me off guard this time, when I knocked my shoulder into her stomach. She doubled over. While she didn’t make a sound, Ulf did. If I weren’t following up with a sweeping drop-kick, I would’ve looked.

She was ready, jumping to come down hard on my leg. I jerked away from her foot, and she hit the floor, landing on one knee.

Ulf chuckled, though the sound was strained.

Davyn would stop him if he tried to interfere.

How did I know that? For some reason, I trusted Davyn to make sure the rules were followed here.

I’d trained in dozens of fighting styles, and Ulf hadn’t lied when he said this golem had my skills. Anything I did, she mimicked. I even recognized those moments when I might pull too far left or miss an instep, where she did the same. Things I’d tried to correct in my own fighting but never quite worked out.

Could I use that to my advantage? I always swung too wide with an uppercut. Could I make her throw one?

I tossed a punch and dodged, waiting for her to use the same counter I usually would. I lost myself in the fight, but every time I landed a kick, Ulf reacted, and every time she hit me, he seemed almost giddy.

Could he feel a bond with the golem? Was he using this as some sort of?—

The dummy launched into another spinning kick.Fuck, I liked these more than I realized, based on her actions.

Movies and TV got a lot of things wrong about fights. For instance, one like this, even if it only lasted a few minutes, was exhausting. No matter what I tried, dummy-me had a counter. This was more like shadowboxing than it should be, except the shadow fought back. My arms ached from blocks, and my thighs and shins weren’t doing any better.

She swung high, and I dropped low with a tight kick to knock her off balance. She jumped over my leg, backflipped, and landed on her feet.

“What the fuck?” I didn’t know how to do that kind of in-air somersault. It was movie-magic bullshit.

She followed up with an identical kick to mine that knocked me on my back. Dummy-me moved faster than I could fathom, straddling my waist. Before I could kick her off, she buried a knife in my shoulder with one hand and reached for my hip with the other.

The hip where a scabbard was connected to my belt in this reality, while the rest of the sword was hidden in a pocket reality.

She fumbled, unable to grasp the hilt.

Davyn roared and charged, knocking her off me with a backhand. She flew across the room as he shouted again, this time in pain. She slammed into the wall, and the formless dummy slumped to the ground with a thud, at the same time that Ulf grunted in what sounded like pain.

“You only look like me,bitch,” I screamed at the shapeless sack. It didn’t do me any good, but it distracted me from the agony tearing through my shoulder. No one could draw the sword but me, no matter how much else they could do that I couldn’t. “And youfucking cheated.” I spat at Ulf.

Davyn’s arm from the elbow down was a scorched and unrecognizable mess.

Ulf turned on him. “I told you only she or I could stop this.”

Davyn gritted his teeth and grunted, as blackened flesh turned pink, and then pale as it returned to normal. “Heal her,now.” He stared down Ulf.

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