Young Writers Society

Jerica turned her attention to the girl. She was sobbing and looking at Jerica with wide, terrified eyes. Her shirt was ripped in three places to the point that it barely covered anything and there was already a bruise forming across her throat. Jerica felt even more rage bubble up in her; righteous indignation. But she forced it down. For the girl’s sake. “Are you okay?”

The girl shrank, whimpering and sobbing harder.

That hurt a bit, even though Jerica knew this moment wasn’t about her. It was about the girl. She needed to be the focus – not Jerica’s hurt ego of being viewed as a monster. Especially since she was about to do something monstrous. As soon as she verified that the girl was okay. “You’re okay. You’re safe now. I promise.”

The girl looked at her fearfully, desperately trying to pull her shirt back together. Jerica shrugged off her own tunic without a second thought and held it out to her. “Here, put this on.”

The girl stared at her with wide eyes, scandalized, and shook her head.

“It’s okay,” Jerica insisted, pressing it into the girl’s hands. “Please. Put it on.”

The girl nodded fearfully and started to put it on.

Jerica glanced at the rest of the tavern. Her buzz was completely and thoroughly ruined now, though she still felt uncoordinated and fuzzy. The crowd blurred together as they all stared at her in silence. Rek had stopped playing.

“Look away—” Jerica started to say, trying to give the girl some privacy to get the shirt on and also some privacy for herself. She had on a skimpy undergarment that covered her chest, but left her muscular abdomen bare, revealing scars she’d rather keep covered.

Before she could finish her command, however, a hand clamped down on her hair and yanked her back savagely. She ripped herself away and whirled around – straight into a massive fist. Jerica staggered backward, nearly falling.

The man spat profanity at her as he advanced swiftly. Well, it seemed swift in her drunken state. It was hard to say how reliable either of their senses were in that moment. Jerica caught her balance before he could get to her, though, and ducked under his fist when he swung at her again. Instead, she plowed her shoulder into his abdomen, driving him backward.

He fell over a barstool, breaking it as he toppled to the ground on top of it.

Jerica caught a glimpse of motion to her left and whirled around. Another man was charging towards her with a bottle raised over his head; greasy, stringy hair in his face. She braced, trying to decide whether to dodge or lean into it to keep him from making a solid connection. Her entire head throbbed from the last blow that’d landed.

“Ah-ah!” Akeno was between them in a flash, dagger drawn and pointed at the man. “One at a time. If you want your ass kicked, form a line and she’ll get to you next. But you’re not ganging up on her.”

Jerica glanced at him, grateful for the interception.

The man hesitated, then muttered a curse and swung at Akeno. He blocked the man’s arm with practiced ease, taking the bottle from him and tossing it away. He clearly had that threat under control. Jerica glanced over at the girl and saw Rek with her, so that was under control, too. She was safe. That left Jerica with one job.

She stalked towards the man as he picked himself up off the ground, grunting and cursing loudly. She didn’t give him a chance to fully recover before she swung on him again, making him stagger backward again. She advanced.

The man caught his balance faster than she expected and dove towards her, clamping his hands down across her throat and crushing her trachea. She coughed. He squeezed hard, slamming her into the wall. Her entire head rang and her eyes watered. Jerica clawed at his hands, but his grasp was true.

She choked.

He smirked, revealing his bloody teeth. He spat at her, spraying blood and spittle and beer onto her face. His breath reeked. She grunted and got her leg between them, then pushed off him as hard as she could, forcing him backward and breaking his grasp. He dropped her. She fell, coughing too hard to gather herself up.

He stumbled backward and it sounded like he broke more things, but she couldn't be sure. She was too focused on picking herself up off the ground and finding her balance, trying to clear her swimming vision. She swayed to the side, turning a glower on the man right as he staggered to his feet as well. Her entire body heaved for breath.

Jerica rushed forward and swung on him as hard as she could, catching him squarely in the jaw. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and dragged her after him. She jerked away and hit him once – twice – three times more and then—

She yelped despite herself when he grabbed her leg and hefted her in the air over his head. She tried to claw at his hand, but his grasp was like an iron clasp, and she didn’t have the time to pry herself loose before he body-slammed her into a sturdy wooden table. It collapsed, the legs falling off from the force of her bodyweight. She coughed loudly; all the air knocked from her lungs.

The man advanced on her, attempting to stomp down where her head had been moments before. She rolled to the side in the nick of time and kicked him in the face, hard. Her boot connected with his nose, making him stumble backward, spewing profanity and blood. He tripped over his own feet and toppled over.

Jerica managed to get herself to her hands and feet and scuttle over to him before he could gather himself up. She was gasping for air but knew she needed to finish him off before he had the chance to recover. She tackled him and pounded him in the face with her fists over and over and over.

He bucked, managing to get her unseated from his abdomen. He rolled on top of her and wrapped her in a headlock. She coughed and struggled in his grasp, clawing at his meaty hand. He had her right where he wanted her. Her vision swam.

Still, a flicker of motion caught her attention. A moment later, past the tears and hair in her eyes, she got a glimpse of Akeno leaning down in front of her face. “Want a hand?”

“No,” she spat, angry, but the word came out a bit strangled. She elbowed the man in the side, making him loosen his grasp ever so slightly, though not drop it entirely. Her pride wouldn’t let her admit she could use help. “I’m fine.”

“Alrighty.” Akeno stood and took a step backward, crossing his arms as he watched with a furrowed brow.

“You dumb b—” the man holding her tried for an insult, but she used his distraction to thrust her entire bodyweight backward, breaking his grasp. She was on him in an instant, the battle raging on.