Page 31 of The Outcast
Pushing him backward hard, Aubri sneered. “If you think you’re so damn tough then let’s see it. I’m happy to let Sparrow kick your ass to show you some bloody respect.”
“Ha!” With a grimace showing how laughable he found her comment, Allan scoffed. “As if either of you two could take me in a fight.”
Aubri turned to Sparrow. “Go ahead. He’s all yours.”
I stared in disbelief when Sparrow stepped forward, her jaw set in stone and her expression cold.
“Wait a minute, there’s no need for a physical fight. Explorer work is all about teamwork,” I said to deescalate the tense situation.
They all ignored me.
Allan looked to the candidates, who moved back to make space for Sparrow and Allan to fight. “You heard her,” Allan called out to them. “They want to kick my ass, so that means they’re the aggressors. I’m defending myself here.”
The men nodded.
Aubri pulled back to stand beside me looking like the daughter of a thunder god.
“If anything happens to Sparrow, I’m blaming you,” I whispered to her. “This is crazy. He’s a professional soldier.”
“From the engineering team,” Aubri muttered low. “Now we’ll see how well he fights.”
The moment the fight broke out, the others were cheering. “Come on, Sparrow,” Bianca shouted while some of the men poked at Allan’s pride: “If you lose to a woman, we’ll never let you forget it.”
I’d seen Sparrow teach a fight session to teenagers last year but watching her take on a man taller and stronger than her was nerve-wracking.
“Don’t forget that she trains with her brothers and father daily. She’s the daughter of a two-time champion and Archer takes his fight training very seriously.” Just as Aubri finished muttering her reassurance to me, Allan punched Sparrow in the stomach. The impact made her double over.
“Ah, come on, was that necessary? She’s a woman,” Shiva condemned Allan.
Turning his head in Shiva’s direction, Allan opened his mouth to shout something back at Shiva but all that came out was a pained “oomph” from the impact of Sparrow’s boot to his chest. Stumbling back, he regained his balance and then the fighting was back on.
The group moved with the fighters as they kicked and punched. I was in awe of how Sparrow kept going despite Allan’s getting in some solid hits on her. He split her lip so it bled, and she swiped at his feet and twisted his arm. My blood was pumping as if I was in the fight myself and I kept cheering Sparrow on like I had back home in the fight club when I first saw Aubri take down a male fighter.
Allan broke free of Sparrow’s hold and then the fighting turned into grappling as they rolled around on the muddy ground. Leaves, mud, and twigs were in their hair, and their groans and grunts became louder. Allan tried to immobilize Sparrow from behind with an arm around her waist. It looked like doggy style to me and I was about to step in when Beowulf shouted, “What the fuck, Allan? That’s not fighting. Now you’re just practicing your moves for France.”
“Don’t interfere.” Aubri held out a hand and shook her head at me.
It was a good thing that I didn’t break them apart because Sparrow drew back her elbow and planted it in his face.
With a howl of pain, Allan pushed her full force to the ground and held his hands to his nose. Sparrow turned in a fast movement and with her muddy face twisted in rage, she kicked him again – this time so hard that he lowered his head, probably seeing stars.
She was on her feet in a swift movement while he was bitching on the ground.
“I think that’s enough,” Aubri said and stepped forward and bent down to put her face on a level with his. “Did you get the message, or would you like to suffer some more?”
Sparrow was panting and blew hair from her face when Bianca and Lilly surrounded her with words of admiration.
Allan on the other hand argued with Aubri. “I was holding back because she’s a woman. I could have taken her without a problem if this had been a normal fight.”
Aubri squatted down in front of him. “Trust me when I tell you that Sparrow was holding back too. In fact, she was teaching you a lesson in the gentlest of ways. Just be happy that you weren’t fighting me because I’m not as forgiving as Sparrow, and I guarantee that I wouldn’t have been as nice as her.”
He spat on the ground and took the hand of Bjorn, who pulled him up.
Aubri got up too and faced everyone. “If any of you have an image of women as weak or fragile, I recommend you wake up. We’ve been trained by the best fighters in the world and we grew up sparring daily with people like Indiana, Mason and Thor Aurelius, not to mention my older brother, Commander Solomon. Misogyny will not be accepted. The days when women in the Northlands lived isolated and sheltered lives are thankfully over. Lilly, Bianca, and any other female candidate that arrives at this academy are your equals.” Aubri paused. “Sparrow and I are your instructors, and you’ll treat us with the respect we deserve. If any of you have a problem with that go pack your bags and leave right now.”
No one left.
“Sparrow and Allan, go clean up. The rest of you take a break. We’ll resume the training at four with a cultural session in the new classroom.”
