Zenora

I helped Dennis to stand up and he smiled. He was up to something, I could tell by the way he was looking at me.

“Let’s see what you are capable off, for real. You want to test your limits? I’ll give you something to do that, just wait here for a moment.”

He walked away, towards one of the other training fields, where the warriors were training. He commanded ten of the strongest and biggest warriors he could find, to follow him. These warriors were all piece by piece big, chunky men and they all looked at me with a fierce look in their eyes. Brock was still larger than these men, but their broad shoulders and big muscles weren’t something to underestimate though. One of them smirked when he looked up and down my body, he certainly wasn’t impressed by my short length, compared to his. I guess the men hadn’t seen what I just did to Dennis. Dennis was just as big as these men and I got him on the ground, let’s see if I can surprise these bad-asses as well.

“Get in a circle around the Princess, when I call your name, attack. Understood?” Dennis said firmly and they all agreed, but looked at me a bit hesitant, when Dennis called me Princess. I guess that still not everyone knows that I’m the Kings daughter, I hope that it soon would be resolved, if my dad accepts Brock’s question.

I didn’t want them to hold back though, so I had to come up with something. I looked at the wooden training sword that was right next to me. It was still stuck into the ground, with only the hilt above the surface. I pushed my foot against it and I could feel it was really steady in there.

“I know, you might be a bit scared to hurt me, as I am indeed the Princess. So, why don’t we play a little game? You keep attacking me, and the game is over if one of you manages to pull the sword out of the ground. No use of weapons, just the basic fighting skills. Agreed?”

“So, all we have to do is pull this thing…” One of the warriors started to talk and reached for the sword, but I knocked him backwards, with a single blow of my clenched right-hand fist onto his chest. The other men gasped at me or chuckled at how the man stumbled back. They said things to him like; “You don’t think that Dennis asked for us, just to toy with some lousy ass person, right?” or “Smartass, underestimating the Kings daughter!” and I laughed at what they said.

“Can we get started now?” Dennis said clearly and he called out their names, one by one. And one by one they all got pushed back or knocked off of their feet. Sure they hit me sometimes as well, but I got bored a bit and Dennis noticed that. So, this time he started to call their names two at the time, it was a bit more fun, but still not a real challenge. The men became a bit more competitive and finally dared to not only try and get to the sword, but also hitting or kicking me more fiercely. I got hit sometimes but not hard enough for me to be hurt. Laughs and cheering were beginning to become louder as no man reached the sword yet.

More warriors came to join in and realized what the hustle was all about, and Dennis nodded with his head for them to try their luck also.

Now about thirty of those strong, broad built warriors stood around me, and Dennis didn’t have to call any names anymore. They kept attacking me, two or three and even four at the same time as well. Some of them even paired up with tactics, one would try and hold on to me and the other would try and get the sword. But no matter what they tried; I could still hold them off.

My breathing became wilder and more rushed, finally I could feel some bit of exhaustion.

One of the warriors did get a hold onto the sword once, and the crowd got wild, but he couldn’t pull it out of the ground. The sword was really stuck in there, and when I had watched him try for a few moments, I jumped onto his back and pulled him to the ground.

The men got a bit aggravated, that a little girl like me, could take them on. So, they nodded their heads together, and before I knew it, a lot of the men came rushing in towards me. I could knock back the fastest few, who reached me the first. But then one after another got a hold on to me and I saw two other men jumping at the sword while I was being held down by at least six warriors. I was on my knees, with them on my back and holding onto my legs and arms.

I remembered, that I was cornered once before, when I was pushed towards the tree-portal by whisps. I wanted to get these men off of me just as much as those whisps. Besides, I’m just as competitive as the men.

I tried to stand up by pushing up my back, but the six of them were too heavy at first.

Guiding my energy towards my knees and back, I kept pushing upwards. But because of the weight and power of the warriors, I only got half way up.

Brock’s point of view:

I was just done talking with Emily’s father, as we both went outside to see how she was doing at her training. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. About ten of my men were charging onto Emily, and Dennis just stood there, doing nothing! I ran over there as fast as I could, but Dennis pushed me back with a big smile.

“Wait for it Brock, she has been fighting them off for about half an hour already. She can’t get enough of it and it seems that her energy isn’t getting depleted at all.” Dennis said with a calm voice and I just looked at her, they weren’t harming her, just holding her back. I let go of Dennis, and wanted to see if she could break free.

“She even has this new-found agility where it’s almost impossible to watch her movements. She is as quick as lightning if she wants to be.” Dennis explained.

I could see her struggle and my men were cheering to the other men, that were on top of her. They would only be cheering if Emily was able to hold them off, until now that is. I know she is strong, but could she push off six men at the same time?

She ducked a bit down, and I could hear her scream. The ground started to rumble, and I could feel slight tremors under my feet. The men that were standing closer to her, cheering and yelling, suddenly stopped and grabbed each other’s shoulders to keep their balance. I could see that their feet were shaking. The men on top of Emily grabbed on tighter, and dust started to whirl up from the ground while the rumbling became louder. Then with a loud bang and a deep roar from Emily, the dust that whirled up before, exploded outwards and for a few seconds nothing could be seen.

When the dust finally settled, I could see all of the men, laying wide scattered on the ground. Luckily only air pushed them away, otherwise they would have been injured more badly. As far as I could see, they were startled and bruised, but nothing serious otherwise.

Emily was standing in the middle of the scattered men, up straight, staring at them in disbelief. She was breathing heavily now, clearly this power did cost her energy. When she realized what had happened and that she was the cause of it, she walked up to the men and checked if they were alright. She helped pulling them up from the ground and the other men chuckled and clapped in their hands. She got pats on the back, and even got lifted up by two of them, up on their shoulders.

I walked towards the cheering men, the King and Dennis followed behind me. The ground at where Emily her energy exploded, was cracked in a ten-foot radius, and the middle of the circle was a bit lowered in the ground.

My eyes gleamed with pride, and my men loved her as well. She is going to be one hell of a Queen!

“My precious daughter was made for you Brock. She is just as strong as you are, if not stronger. Don’t make me regret my decision.” The King whispered to me, and I just nodded, looking at my wonderful, beautiful, strong wife to be.

I walked towards her, when the men lowered her down, still cheering at her. My foot bumped into something and I looked down. There was a training sword sticking into the ground. Why was it there?

“Emily invented this game, where she defended the sword. The men had to try and pull it out of there. That’s why they were on top of her, not one of your men could do it.” Dennis said and I laughed out loud at that.

It was actually a good idea this game of hers. Its competitive and fun, and at the same time there was some tactic involved, being a defender as well as an attacker. I might use this game of hers, in training the younger warriors.

As I tried to pull the sword out, it didn’t budge, and some of my men were complaining that there must be some magic involved to hold it there. Emily came walking up towards me and smiled.

“You don’t think, that I would let you take that sword out, when I wouldn’t let any of your warriors do it, right?” She said to me with a smirk.

She walked up to the sword and with a smooth swift motion, she pulled it out, put it on her shoulder and walked away. Without a care in the world.

“I’m hungry, you coming?” She said, while turning her head, and all of my men’s jaws dropped to the floor as they looked at her in awe. Just like me.