The Chains she Chose chapter 1 first section revamp

I took into consideration what many told me about the initial fight scene in the chain's she chose and tried to rework it a bit. Hopefully some of you won't mind reading it and giving me your thoughts on the new work up.

As Miller waited he took in a deep breath. Currently he and two of his pals found themselves in a large triangular room. Etchings lined the walls, floor and even the sealing above their heads. Other then the glyphs that surrounded them the room was almost entirely empty. This wasn't comforting as they knew that their punishment was going to involve them serving as melee fighters and considering who they were up against that wasn't a comforting thought at all.

Criss couldn't help but notice the way Miller had his attention focused on the door. “You know waiting like that isn't going to make this any less pleasant.”

“I know but. I don't want caught off guard. Damn it. We should have just stayed at our post.”

In response Criss gave a slight shrug. “We all three felt like having a drink in town and besides what was the odds of us getting caught? We just got unlucky.”

“You've never had to be a punching bag before have you?”

“Nope this is my first time here. It can't be that bad though it isn't like she's ever killed anyone.”

“That's because of those.” As he spoke Miller pointed directly down to the glyphs in the ground. “Those are healing glyphs that keep the body from dieing. It just means she can go even harder on us!”

“You've got to be kidding.” In response to Miller's comment Criss bent down and placed his hand on the floor. “As if all of these could be for healing.”

A sigh escaped Miller as he took out his dagger. “Watch this.” Holding the blade up so that Criss could see what he was doing Miller pressed his thumb against the blade. He then slowly drew it across opening up the flesh of his thumb. Almost the moment blood began to poor from the opening though the nearest glyphs were made to flash briefly and a green light took hold of Miller's thumb.

Surprised didn't describe Criss at the moment as he watched the light take hold of Miller's thumb. For a moment it lingered then it began to seep into the injury. The flesh seemed to be pulled back together as the light entered into the wound and as the light faded the injury was sealed shut. “What the hell!?”

“So you thought they were kidding when they told you about this room?”

“Yeah! I mean who would believe that?!”

“You're new here.”

“First of all I want to tell the three of you thank you. Thanks for volunteering to help me further my lessons by agreeing to spar with me. However, that doesn't excuse the leaving of your post. I know you had one of the more secure gates to watch but that doesn't give you an excuse.” A slight giggle escaped Casandra as she walked towards the three men in the center of the room.

Greg had kept quiet up until that point just letting Miller explain the situation to Criss. Upon Casandra's entry though he wasted no time preparing his javelin. Miller having been there as well wasted no time following suit though none of them let their weapons lose yet. They hadn't been given permission to attack just yet.

Instead of closing the gap between the men Casandra stopped several meters away. Standing before the three fully armored and armed guards she was quite a site. Standing a bit over one and two fifths meters tall and only fourteen years old the entire seen was unreal. While the three men were clearly nervous Casandra was relaxed and confident. While they wore armor her clothing consisted of a tight silk outfit that clearly wouldn't stop a pea shooter let alone a sword or arrow.

Each guard carried three weapons. A sword, a javelin and a dagger as a last resort weapon. Casandra clearly didn't have any weapons other then her own fist. While the guards sported several scars for the most part signs of battles fought before Casandra didn't have a single blemish on her. Her skin was extremely light while her lips were a soft pink. Her light brown hair was done up in two pony tails to limit its length though even with the tight braid it still reached down to her waste. “Okay you can take up whatever position you want. Then when you're ready attack me.”

In response Miller began to sprint to Casandra's side while Greg followed the same pattern. As Miller took up his position he looked towards Criss. “Don't hold back man unless you like pain we're going to have to attack all at once.”

“Oh so you're the brains of the bunch.” As she spoke Casandra looked strait at Miller. “You're the one I need to crush first then.”

As the words reached his ears Miller felt his skin grew cold. He'd been forced to do this before. Why he risked doing it again just to have a few drinks with the others was beyond him. Being forced to spar with the Princess was one of the briefest punishments one could have but it was also exceptionally painful. After a moment he gave his head a quick shake. “Damn it Criss get your javelin ready.”

An amused giggle escaped Casandra as she turned away from Miller and towards Criss. “Going easy on me just makes me go harder on you. Don't you want to help me improve after all? I can't do that if you don't put up a fight.”

Was this really the Princess? Criss was made to wonder. She sure looked like Casandra and she sure sounded like her as well but she didn't act like her at all. “Isn't this Oshgun's job?”

“Oshgun is my mentor but he can't be instructing me constantly. Besides I need practice and you're all quite well suited to that task. Perhaps you'll even learn something from this.”

Before Criss could continue Miller spoke up. “Criss you lead the charge.”

“What? Why me?!”

“Because we can't have you hesitating you idiot.”

A sigh escaped Criss as he nodded his head. In truth he felt quite nervous about this. If they hurt Casandra too badly he felt certain they'd bee in deep trouble. Perhaps even lose their lives for it. However, Greg and Miller seemed more concerned with their own well being and didn't seem to have any intention of holding back. How dangerous could the princess be though? He knew that Oshgun had been teaching her some fighting techniques but he didn't know how advanced she was. “Go.”

Nearly the instant the words hit her ears Casandra pushed off the ground and turned to face Miller all in the same motion. He had already released his weapon apparently with all the strength he could manage as Casandra noted it moving towards her. Fortunately that meant its path was set and he'd over estimated her height. As Casandra moved towards the javelin she brought herself low to the ground letting the javelin move over her. For the moment she didn't worry about the two behind as she closed the gap between herself and Miller.

Casandra's top speed was easily that of a galloping war horse. However, her acceleration was much greater. Miller only had time to release his weapon before she'd closed the gap between the two of them. He felt her tiny fist slam into his chest plate. A horrific clang resounded throughout the area as Miller felt his feet leaving the stone floor and the metal was made to push into his stomach as it deformed due to the force of her fist.

As Casandra's fist struck Miller's chest piece the floor flashed briefly. By driving her fist upward Casandra was made to direct the force generated against her into her feet. Instead of damaging the floor tough and with it the healing glyphs a second set were made to activate. The brief flash of light was the shielding glyphs disrupting the force and spreading it out over the entire room so that nothing was damaged.

Upon striking Miller Casandra quickly spun around already extending her hand outwards. Greg's javelin had by now closed the distance between her and its tip for the most part. Instead of trying to avoid the javelin though she quickly took hold of the hilt and tightened her grip as much as she could. She heard the wood of the hilt shatter as she gripped it though only she heard it. The others were still busy coping with the ringing of Miller's chest piece.

While Miller hadn't had time to draw his weapon Greg did. Seeing Casandra standing there with his javelin in hand only brought him a moments pause. Drawing his sword he quickly rushed the girl. Standing nearly two meters tall and weighing in at over two hundred pounds even without his armor Greg clearly dwarfed the young girl. However, Casandra made no attempt to evade as the massive man swung his sword high above his head and towards Casandra.

Taking hold of the javelin with both hands Casandra held it up between herself and Greg. She felt his sword connect solidly with the wooden shaft and then struck out with her right leg. She felt her all but naked leg meet with Greg's armored one and she felt his legs move out from under him. A sharp cry escaping Greg as he fail and lost hold of his sword.

As he landed upon the ground Greg felt certain that his leg had been broken. As the noted the entire room lighting up he grew all the more sure it had been especially from the way the energy accumulated around him and Miller. Unfortunately while the Glyphs worked to mind his leg it did nothing to ease the pain and for a few moments he was immobilized fortunately for him Casandra had other things on her mind.

Criss didn't know what had happened. Despite being the one to call out the attack he had let his weapon loose last. It hadn't even come close to touching Casandra though as she had moved out of its path whenever she'd rushed Miller. Now he found himself for a loss as to what he should do as in less then three seconds she'd just downed his two allies and taken the sword from one of them. A sword that she now held in her right hand.

“If you're not going to attack me I'm going to attack you.”

Criss immediately knew who Casandra was speaking to and it was more then enough to get a response from him. He immediately released his hold on his shield and drew out his sword. Grasping the weapon in both hands he charged towards Casandra. If she was going to allow him to have the initiative he was going to take advantage of it. As he came near her he thrust out with the sword only to have Casandra step to the side. Before she could strike him though he adjusted his movement and brought the pommel towards her face.

Feeling the metal hilt slam into her nose had caught Casandra off guard. Given how alarmed Criss seemed to be she didn't expected him to move so skillfully. He had though. The force of the impact was actually enough to send her stumbling backwards. He didn't let up there though. As Casandra regained her footing she noted Criss had already repositioned himself and the sword was moving quickly towards her side. There wasn't time to evade so that she was made to hold out her hand between herself and the blade.

Everything had happened too fast for Criss to be certain of what was going on. He had attacked Casandra and then his training had taken over. As he felt his blade come to a sudden stop he felt a shard of panic shoot through him. Images of his sword being sunken into Casandra's side flashed through his mind yet as his gaze turned to the weapon he was even more horrified. She had caught the blade with her hand and he didn't see a drop of blood.”

“Wow you're good with a sword!” Instead of waiting for a response Casandra quickly drew her head back and swung it forward slamming her forehead solidly into Criss's chest piece. The metal was made to ring as Criss found himself knocked off his feet and onto the ground. Fortunately for him Casandra hadn't managed to get as much power into the head but as she'd gotten into the punch she'd delivered to Miller so it was less effective. He'd still lost his weapon though.

Now holding two of the weapons Casandra glanced around at the soldiers. “Well I could start cutting you three up now I suppose. But I came here to practice my technique and the three of you need these more then me.” As she finished the sentence Casandra let both the swords fall to the ground. She then turned and began to move away from the weapons. “I'm going to give you three a few minutes to compose yourself after that we're going to try this again and I expect the three of you to do better or I'm going to do something much worse.”

Both Miller and Greg had been paying attention to Casandra and Criss and both were surprised. Criss's skill with a sword was far greater then what either of them had expected it to be. As the two picked themselves and their weapons up they made their way over to him. “Damn why didn't you tell us you were that good?”

All Criss could do was groan at first as he rolled over onto his side. Nothing was broken but he'd still taken a nasty fall. His head hitting the floor had hurt more then the head but to the chest though. “She caught my sword.”

In response Greg gave a nod. “Yeah I saw.”

“How can we compete with that? How did she do that?”

“I don't know the details man but she isn't that strong. At least she isn't constantly. It's like her skin is armor but it can only take so much abuse. You've got to wear it down. Like a mage's barrier has been wrapped around her skin.”

“She hits hard to.”

“Yeah.” For a moment Miller gave his head a quick shake. “Okay I've done this before and I've spoken with some of the other guys. I wish I had learned more but. We have to hit her at the same time. As long as she's able to single us out we'll never be able to take her down but if we can hit her at the same time we've got a chance of really hurting her.”

“How are we going to do that?”

While Casandra had been quiet up until this point she chose to speak up now. “Quit trying to whisper I can hear you.”

In response to this Criss glanced over at Casandra. “So you're just going to let us plan against you?”

In response Casandra gave a shrug. “I'm just imaging this as a scenario in which someone knows a great deal about the unchained.”

After a moment Criss nodded and looked to the others. “Okay, then we're going to have to attack together. I'll charge her while you two try to take her from either side. She probably won't take long to down me since she knows what we're doing but.”

“Don't talk like I'm not in the room either! It's annoying.”

“Um sorry about that Princess Casandra. We'll we're going to rush you and while you deal with one of us the other two are going to try to impale you. Doesn't telling you this hurt the idea of us planning against you?”

“Mm true. Well you can make another plan but be sure to keep it low enough that I can't hear what you're saying. I just can't stand it when people talk about me like I'm not here though it's so annoying.” As she was speaking Casandra clinched her fist pumping her arms full of energy. The sleeves on her shirt tightened noticeably as her energy pumped up her arms and her biceps could clearly be seen pushing the material outward.

Now Miller chose to speak up. “Okay let's go. You don't want to keep her waiting too long.”

“Ready?”

“Yes Prin.” A sharp gasp escaped Greg as he looked down towards his stomach. Casandra stood only a few centimeters away from him a wide grin on her face as she looked up at him. She'd just sunk her fist deeply into his stomach though not as deep as it would have been without the chest piece. To make the situation worse though she'd taken hold of his armor and used it to keep the blow from knocking him backwards.

“I bet that'd cause some internal bleeding!” Instead of waiting for the others to respond Casandra removed her fist from Greg's stomach and quickly reached now taking hold of his ankles with either of her hands. It was actually difficult for Casandra to get a good grip upon Greg's legs due to both his size and his armor. She actually ended up being forced dent the metal to get a secure hold before yanking his legs out from under him.

Neither Criss or Miller heard Casandra's laughter as she pulled Greg's legs out from under him. Instead of releasing him though she quickly swung him to the side slamming him into Miller and sending the man toppling. She didn't stop there though she continued to spin around slamming him into Criss and finally releasing him sending both men sprawling to the ground.

Of the three men Greg had gotten the worse of the experience. His legs, chest, head and arms were engulfed by the healing energy provided by the glyphs yet he remained still. As he lay there he didn't even notice as Casandra approached him and bent down. He didn't notice the snap of the leather straps as she worked her fingers into his armor and broke them free all he noticed was the relief he felt whenever his chest piece was lifted away.

As she held the piece of metal up Casandra smiled down at Greg. “There you go. The glyphs couldn't heal you with as badly dented as this was.” With that Casandra gave the piece of metal a quick toss sending it flying across the room to slam against the opposing wall and clatter to the ground. “You'll have to make due without it for now.”

For a moment Greg was made to convulse and a bit of blood was spit up onto his lips. As he coughed he rolled over onto his side still in pain. “Great now your fist will just go through me.”

“Nah you've got some nice muscle packed into their. It was me holding onto the armor that made you take it so bad anyway now I won't have anything as solid to grasp.”

Both Criss and Miller waited for Casandra to walk away from Greg before they approached him. “Standing too close to one another didn't work either.”

Before Greg could respond Criss spoke up. “No we gave her too much time to respond. When Greg stopped moving we stopped moving we have to work more quickly.”

“Damn it why did she get me first? You were the one leading the charge.”

Instead of just letting the men speak amongst themselves Casandra chose this moment to speak up. “Because I figured you'd make the best cudgel.”

Instead of speaking to Casandra Miller looked to his friends. “Same plan?”

In response Greg drew himself to a seated position. “Yeah same plan but be quick. I don't want used as a club again.”

Casandra still wore the smile she'd began with as the men once again stood up. She watched as they got into a combative stance and then rushed her. As they came towards her she didn't meet their charge this time though. Instead she pushed off the ground so that she began to sprint backwards while continueing to face them. The action caught the three of guard as they immediately came to a stop and just looked at her. “What?”

“Grah!” As Miller yelled he charged ahead once again both of his friends joining him. He was quite surprised though whenever Casandra once again leaped backwards putting herself beyond their reaches. If he'd had his javelin with him Miller would have thrown it at that moment but his weapon was still on the floor from their first attempt.

“Oh come on now you'll have to move faster then that if you want to hit me.” As she moved backwards Casandra was made to chuckle. They were so busy trying to catch up to her that they'd foregone every semblance of defense. It would have been easy for her to go on the offensive though she would have most likely been hit this time. One thing about going entirely offensive and being so close together was it was hard not to land a blow. She needed to give them time to spread out more so they couldn't move to support one another as quickly.

While Greg continued to charge ahead Criss kept close to him. He wasn't certain if the others were paying attention but he wasn't going to let them be spread out. The size of the room became a frustration though as they were made to chase Casandra to the far wall. As they neared it he tried to keep his excitement from showing as he realized she wouldn't have anywhere else to go. Of course he was also nervous as he realized that was when she'd strike back.

“Bye.” As she spoke Casandra raised her hand and gave a half wave before bending at the knees and leaping backwards. She felt her feet strike the wall behind her moments later and quickly pushed off of it. It was clear she'd caught the three of guard as she easily leaped over their heads. Before she had even touched the ground she lashed out with her lag slamming it into Miller's right arm. As she felt the give of his arm she knew that she'd broken the limb.

Criss had been caught entirely off guard. While he knew that Casandra was strong and fast he didn't expected her to be quite so agile in the air. By the time he'd turned around to face her Miller had already been taken out of the fight for the moment. He knew better then to stay still though as he thrust his sword towards Casandra. Even before the blade could be fully extended he knew that he had missed her or thought he had.

Greg was more apt for slashing and hacking them thrusting feeling more comfortable with an ax then a sword. Despite not having his preferred weapon though his basic tactics had taken over and he'd spun around. It proved a fortunate move as the blade of his sword connected solidly with Casandra's neck. Once again though the blade was stopped cold by her skin however this time there was a second blade to back it up. He was actually surprised to see Casandra visibly grimace and quickly jump backwards covering her right side as she did so.

The momentary lapse in focus caused by Greg's blade meeting Casandra's neck had been all Criss had needed. He'd managed to thrust the tip of his weapon firmly into Casandra's right side. He was quite surprised however whenever she fell backwards revealing that she'd left a bit of her blood covering the very tip of his blade. He'd actually managed to break her skin.

As Casandra moved backwards she quickly glanced down to her side. The tip of Criss's sword had only made it a few centimeters into her skin. That wasn't comforting though. While she could have easily shrugged off the attack from one weapon it was a different story for two of them. It wasn't the fact that two attacks meant twice the power or even three times the power. Rather it was due to the way the attacks caused her to spread out her energy.

The healing energies of the glyphs were quick working and by now Miller's arm had been minded well enough for him to move it. Despite having been the first put down this time he couldn't help but feel a slight sliver of excitement as they got their first taste of victory. He also had no intention of letting their advantage slip away. He was going to act while Casandra was still off balance from being injured slight as it was.

Casandra had been caught off guard by Greg's movements despite her superior speed and strength. Criss had really complicated things though as he was proving to be far more skilled then Casandra realized. As she regained her composure she kept her eyes on Criss and Greg to the point that she didn't even notice Miller until she felt his sword slam solidly into her shoulder. “Thanks for snapping me out of that!”

Miller had been ecstatic about getting a solid blow in on Casandra after the pain she'd already visited upon him. As he struck her shoulder though his fingers were made to sting. In his haste he had forgotten the only times they'd managed to injure her so far was whenever two had hit her at once. Now he was good and well away from the others. He couldn't help but flinch even before Casandra's hand struck.

Casandra's feet could be heard grinding against the floor as she struck Miller. The force of the impact was enough to send him flying backwards however it also had an affect on her smaller mass. For a moment she felt a slight ping of guilt that she'd hit Miller quite so hard. That slight ping was replaced by pain though as she felt two more impacts strike her body once again one of them piercing her skin. This time the attacks didn't let up though as she felt the weapons slam into her flesh again and again. Once again she'd let herself become too focused on a single target.

Oshgun gave his head a slight shake as he watched Casandra fighting. He knew this was a possibility. He'd spent too much time sparring with her one on one and she'd become accustomed to it. She tended to focus on one target far too often and hadn't developed any real skills for dealing with several targets. So far her strength would have seen her through safely but that wouldn't work all the time. Hopefully she'd learn something from her current situation.

As Criss hacked and stabbed away at Casandra he tried to keep in constant motion. He could see where his blade had an affect by the bits of red that were appearing on her clothing. Despite managing to break her skin though it was taking a tole on him. Her flesh stopped his sword far more quickly then what regular flesh would have and with each sudden stop his fingers had to cope with the sudden change in direction.

This time Casandra didn't try to back away instead she reached out even as Greg and Criss cut away at her. Catching hold of Greg's sword arm she quickly jerked him towards Criss meaning to get them both away from her. Before she could release his arm though she felt a third sword slam solidly into her back. How Miller had regained his footing so quickly was beyond her but he had and he had just made very good use of it.

Miller could hardly believe what had happened as he sunk his sword into Casandra. Instead of just getting the very tip or edge of his blade into her the blade had cut deeply into her skin coating it's entire length. He didn't get much time to enjoy his victory though as he felt a sudden pulse and for a moment thought Casandra had taken hold of his sword. Instead he noted a brief spurt of blood come from her wound and seconds later heard a horrific scream.

Casandra felt her fist meet with the plate of Criss's armor. She felt her fist press inward against the metal and heard the shriek of both alloy and wearer. Instead of just relying on the strength of her arm she had twisted this time putting the strength of not just the a single limb into the strike but most of her upper body. The end result was as if a bull had charged Criss while concentrating all the force into an area the size of a young girl's fist.

As Criss was sent backwards Casandra reached out taking holding of Greg's shirt collar and waste band before he could back away. Upon taking hold of him she didn't strike him rather she let out a scream of frustration and lifted him upwards. At the same time she spun around to face Miller bringing Greg down towards him. The connection was never made though as Casandra felt her arms suddenly be forced to halt and she glanced behind herself.

Oshgun had taken hold of Greg with one hand and Casandra's arms with another. “That's enough Casandra this does not call for such brutality.”

At first Casandra said nothing only glared at the large male then in a instant her eyes were made to widen and she released her hold upon Greg. “I'm. I didn't mean. I didn't mean to go that far it was entirely uncalled for.”

A sigh escaped Oshgun as he extended his hand out towards Casandra and took hold of a medallion she wore around her neck upon setting Greg down. “Just what did you tell yourself?”

“I just used the regular suggestions.”

“You didn't modify it at all?”

“No. I mean yes. I told myself pain would only motivate me.”

A sigh escaped Oshgun as he shook his head. “Casandra you must be careful with such things. You didn't control how the pain would motivate you so that you only became angry. These men don't deserve such a severe beating.”

“I know. I'm didn't mean to.” Before continuing Casandra glanced back at the three. “I'll try to make it up to you later. You.” Casandra didn't get to finish as Oshgun spoke up.

“Young man, Criss I believe was your name. I would appreciate it if you'd help continue with Casandra's training though in a more organized manner.”

Despite the pain that he had endured Criss found himself unable to reject the offer right away. He wanted to see what was being offered. “What do you have in mind?”

“Casandra here is still having trouble defending against multiple attacks at once. I would like you to continue attacking her however this time she is only allowed to defend against your attacks.”

Now Casandra couldn't help but speak up though only one word came to her lips. “What?!”

“This will serve to help with your defense and perhaps teach you to be more careful of the suggestions you use.”

“I said I would make it up to them.”

“Yes and that is good but I believe this will be good for you as well.”

“How? It'll help with my defense but that's it and I need to learn to.”

“You won't be purely defensive. While you may only defend against this young man's attacks you may attack me all you want.”