THE NORTHERN KING

She jumped from the high shade, this drew their attention as they immediately looked up, but she had grabbed one of the branches to slow down her fall.

She let go as she landed on one of them, the other tried to slash at her with his sword, but she had already rolled over parring his blade with hers, breaking his blade in half.

She clicked her tongue as she kicked him, the action sent him flying, but that was enough time for the other one to recover and run towards her, she could tell that he hadn't fully recovered as his steps were unstable and slow.

She left one of her swords In the dirt and ran toward him, he was shocked at her sudden charge as he stopped and slashed, but she stopped at a few inches before his blade could reach her, she dropped and pulled his leg.

It was a move that Ivo had taught her to pull down enemies in a surprise attack, it was necessary to take them off their feet as soon as possible.

Before he could realize what was happening, Melissa's foot had already connected with his jaw, dislocating it.

She turned to see the other one trying to pull out her blade, she shook her head and walked towards him.

"I'm still waiting" she called out with a smirk, but her opponent simply groaned and pulled even harder.

"I will tell you this for free, this sword can only be lifted by three people in this city, and obviously, you are not one of them" she said.

Frustration grew on the man's face as he pulled out a short blade and lunged at her, but she moved to the side and grabbed his hand throwing him over her shoulder slamming his back on the ground.

He coughed from the pain, but Melissa's foot was already on his chest landing as the sound of bone breaking along with the cries of pain filled the forest.

Ivo watched as surviving fighters trooped out of the whispering forest, some had cuts that were so deep it showed their bone, while others had a swollen face or a broken arm.

He knew the crowd didn't care, they were thrilled that the game was going well, there was blood and that was far important, but he had more pressing issues.

It has been almost fifteen minutes since the bell was rung and Melisa wasn't out yet, in the next fifteen the round will officially end, and all fighters will have to return for a resting period.

Ida tapped his shoulder as he turned to her and smiled before turning to flirt with the new girl who had taken the place of the previous one that had been scared off her wits by Ida.

Ida knew Ivo was worried, he was unreadable, but she knew that much, he had no interest in women, drinks, or pleasures, but he pretended to be interested in them, but she had her own goals as she watched him giggle with the maiden behind him.

The cheering of the crowd soon died down as a red haired girl with a gleaning smile walked out of the forest with two flags, she waved them at Ivo—whom she fought for before turning to the examiner to be checked.

Ivo laughed as he watched her wave the flag, his quick eyes caught on the sigil of a three-headed snake and a boat on a lake.

"House magfort and riverstone" Ida informed Ivo, but something already told her that Ivo already knew as he was staring at the lord of these houses with a smile.

Was he taunting them? She thought as she turned to meet eyes with Jakob who looked away immediately.

Talk about boy troubles, she thought, as she had a problem of her own.

Soon, Ivo tapped her hand, drawing her attention as he pointed to Melisa, who was already walking out of the forest towards the exit gate.

She got up and bowed to the king, then the first prince and his mother, before she went behind to push Ivo's chair away.

Ida could hear the loud prayer as the god's hand cried in prayer for the lost warriors and the injured ones were being tended to.

But someone or rather two people were missing, her siblings…

There were tents pinched at the exit gates, it looked like the falling season as a swarm of colours filled the open field.

Ida would have loved it if not for the fact that it was noise, with the cries of the injured filling her eyes and the smell of blood on her nose.

She knew Ivo wasn't used to this, he had never fought before neither had he seen blood, she stretched to see his face but as usual, he was rather composed and calm as she pushed him through the rushing crowd trying to tend to the wounded.

"Only half was able to make it through the first round and half of this lot will have to drop off due to injuries, the list is growing slower, and we still have two rounds to go." Ivo said, "We are here to win, death is inevitable" Ida replied.

"No, it is there is a way to save everybody" he replied.

Ida laughed, she knew Ivo was wiser now, but his naivety remained.

He said nothing more as they rolled towards the black tent, it was outstretched to the end of the field, no servants moved in and out of the tent. It was an abandoned tent if not for the fact that Melissa had stepped out of the tent and was running towards them.

She was still holding the flags from her previous round as she waved it at them, she stopped and dropped to her knees before Ivo with such so much force that Ida thought her knees would break.

"Seems you had fun" Ivo called out as he lifted his hand, Ida assumed he was going to pet her, but his hand came down with a loud knock on her head.

"You dumbass, who asked you to engage anybody?" Ivo asked as he looked at her waiting for a reply.