To drop down the chain (Raziel and Devxx)

Erin let out a mighty chuckle as he looked down on the younger man. The soldier was jolly by nature and would rather spend his time telling jokes and dancing then fighting pointless battles. "Well then, I think I'll take my win and sit back down." Erin said as he bowed to Alexander and walked over to where Sabine and Nicholas were. Sabine gave him a look but the man just shrugged his shoulders and sat back down. He had already seen what Alex had done to Sean and would have liked to escape having his face pushed in the dirt.

"I guess it's my turn now." Nicholas said as he started walking towards Alexander only be to stopped by Sabine. The girl held her arm out in front of him and the look on her face told him that she would be the one up against him next. The older man looked down at her curiously but he merely nodded and stepped back to let her go ahead. He had learned a long time ago it was better not to argue with her and just let her do what she wanted.

"I think it's time we had a little rematch, don't you?" Sabine asked as she stepped closer to Alexander. He had already taken down one of her best and she was curious to test him out for herself. Their first fight hadn't been fair considering she had caught him off guard when she had knocked him unconscious. Now it was time to see just what the prince could teach her when they were on the battlefield again.

Erin was every bit the respectable fighter that he seemed, even bowing to Alex after his concession. Alex was more than happy to bow back, a small smile on his face. “Better to know when one is defeated, in wit or brawn. Take your win. Feel free to rub it in the young lad’s face later, that you were able to defeat such a weak man without a scratch.”

Erin had put him in a slightly jovial mood, the first in a long, long time that he had felt this way. The smirking smile was still on his face even as Nicholas started forward… only to be wiped off as Sabine grabbed his arm, stopping him from going forward. The reason why was obvious. She wanted to fight him herself. The smirk wiped to a stone face, a small frown, as his arms crossed over his chest.

“A rematch?” He said, his words slightly darker, somewhat playing the part, somewhat frustrating him that she would try this against him. “It would only be called as such if it was a fair fight in the first place. I believe you snuck in and knocked me out without a moments notice.” His eyes narrowed as he slowly moved into a stance, unlike what he did with Erin and Sean. Here would be a true adversary… that he didn’t want to fight.

Don’t make me do this.. He silently pleaded with her, though his face didn’t show it, so her men couldn’t see it. He had one move, one that could make sure this fight ended without either hurt, but it was completely risky and hard to pull off. He would just have to wait for the opening…

"Hey, no reason to be a sore loser about it." Sabine smirked as she looked him up and down. His fight with Sean had given her insight on his fighting style and she wasn't going to rush at him headlong. Alexander's style didn't seem to rely on strength but more so turning his enemies strength into a weakness. That was something she'd have to watch out for if she was going to beat him.

Maybe this was a dumb thing to do. Maybe she should have just let Nicholas take his turn instead of going up against Alexander herself. After everything that had happened between the two of them fighting him would have probably been the last thing she should have done but there was no way she was going to pass on the opportunity to go against a worthy opponent. It was the warrior in her that pushed her forward to pit herself against anyone with skill to see how she ranked.

"Come on Captain!" Erin called out form the sidelines as Nicholas only grinned. This was going to be a good match and they were lucky to get a chance to see it. Sean was still glaring daggers at Alexander and was hoping that she would hand him his ass for what he did.

"Now then, let's play." The girl smirked as she suddenly dropped her center of gravity before rushing at him. Her movements were quicker then Sean's and she wasn't aiming straight at him. Instead she was shifting from left to right to see just what he would do. She had yet to see him throw a direct punch and was curious as to how he would handle someone who wasn't going after him directly. At the last minute she dropped down with her foot extended towards his leg in hopes of knocking him down.

He frowned slightly at her retort. “Sore loser? Sore, maybe. I felt the ringing in my ears until I was thrown unceremoniously into my new ‘room.’” He shifted himself into a more ready and flexible position. He knew this was going to be a interesting fight if anything. They obviously had different goals. He had to pay attention, keep to a loose body for a fight, if he wouldn’t suffer any wounds.

Suddenly, she lowered herself and rushed forward, and he took a step back in slightly shock before he got his body to stiffen just enough to be like a coil. She weaved and bobbed, trying to make him show his plan before diving down, a leg sweeping, trying to get him off his feet. He jumped, pushing forward, flipping and rolling before getting back onto his feet. His back was to her troops, and there was a visible ‘don’t make me do this’ face before he wiped it, steadying his form. “You’re too slow.” He said, in a low voice. “If you really wanted to hit me, try to move faster than that. IF you can.”

She could already see that he wasn't as intent on this fight as he was in the others. Before he had no problem going up against Sean but it looked like he was holding back against her. "Heh, I'd be more worried about yourself." Sabine said as she got back into a crouch and watched him.

Sure he was quick but that speed could be a liability as well as an asset. When moving quickly it was harder to change positions and you left yourself open for a weaker defense. All anyone would have to do would be to give you one hard punch that would throw you off your game. Standing back up her eyes watched over him critically as she waited for him to make his move. Sabine had already struck first and seen what he could do so now she would take a more passive role to see how his offense went up against his defense. "Why don't you show me just what you can do?" She said with a smirk as she put herself in a defensive position.

(I'm really sorry that this took so long )

If he had been just a little angrier, he would have growled at her. “You obviously didn’t learn anything from the last match. I prefer not to be on the offensive, especially since this is a TRAINING battle. But, if you so sorely insist, it seems that I have very little choice…” He stood up straight, stretched himself out a little, then fell down into another stance. “Prepare yourself!”

It was much more than he would offer to any other opponent. He rushed forward, with a speed that he hadn’t shown yet, weaving a few steps as he got close before doing a heavy shoulder charge. If he hit, his shoulder would roll on impact, his left arm coming up and hitting a second time in her stomach before he swept her legs out from under her. If she did dodge the charge, he would turn the loss of momentum into a roll and face her, springing out and doing a heavy oracle wheel kick to her right side.

Sabine merely smirked as she watched him stretch and take his stance. Sure he might not like to be on the offensive but that didn't mean she couldn't push him towards it. She'd already seen what he could do on the defensive and was now ready to see what he could do when he had to go on the attack. "Don't worry, I'm ready." She said as she dropped down to her own defensive stance and prepared herself what for what was coming.

He was faster then she'd ever seen him move before and the speed caught her off guard a bit. Sabine muttered to herself as she struggled to keep up with his movements and guard herself against what he could throw at her. Her eyes followed him and caught what he was up to. She moved her arm to the right and threw herself to the side in an attempt to dodge the attack. Sabine managed to avoid his first attack but turning around she saw him roll and come face to face with her. Before she could react she felt the impact of his kick on her side sending her sprawling on the ground. Growling she could feel the pain shoot up through her body and cause her to wince with each move. Her body was telling her to stay down but she couldn't lose the momentum and instead pushed up off her heels with her own punch aimed straight for his gut.

He watched the kick hit the target, almost in slow motion as he watched her easily crumple from the blow, getting knocked down and over easily compared to what one of the guys would have done to such a hard hit. Almost sorrowful, he took a step back as he watched her struggle to get up. Though it wasn’t long before she sent a counter attack at him.

It was a sudden movement, but just before she hit him hard, he hardened his stomach muscles, feeling the force of her fist hit him hard. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it would have been if he was unaware from the attack, and it would have been akin to punching a brick wall to her, but he still staggered back a few steps from the blow. His momentum was moved back but for a instance.

He rushed forward, ignoring the burning pain in his stomach from her attack, and grabbed her by the wrist. He jerked it behind her back and pulled up, putting pressure through her whole arm, as his hand went to her throat. “Give up.” He said, in a low growl. No, he wasn’t completely happy. She forced him to do this.

Dammit! Pain burst through her hand as it came in contact with his stomach. It felt like she had hit something solid that had absolutely no intention of budging. Already she could feel a burning in her hand as the blood flowed to where her fist made contact with him. No doubt it would be a bit swollen just from the sheer force of the hit. His momentum seemed to have gone down a bit but that didn't last for very long.

Sabine tried to pull back before he had a chance to grab her but she felt his hand around her already injured wrist. A quick twist and he had it pinned behind her putting an immense amount of pressure on the limb. "Fuck." The girl muttered angrily as she stopped herself from yelping in pain. The men on the side got up on their feet ready to step in at any moment and stop this but one quick look from her and they stood back down. This wasn't their fight and if they tried to interfere then they would suffer the consequences.

"No. There's no way I'm giving up." The woman said with a small smirk as she felt his hand around her throat. She wasn't going to lose in front of her men and she wasn't going to let the prince force her to relent. Sabine was the greatest knight in the kingdom and if she had brought him to his knees once before she was going to do it again. With her hand pinned behind her back she just managed to move her body in a way to bring her leg out in contact with the back of his knee. Turning in such a way only served to put more pressure on her arm and send more pain through her.

It was an attack that was completely unexpected, but he made sure to make sure he didn’t lose his control of the situation. He felt her foot hit the back of his knee and pull, feeling his knee buckle from the unexpected impact. He felt himself falling forward, and he shifted his weight to a roll, flinging her off to the side.

He laid there for a moment before slowly standing up. Whatever she had done hurt like hell, and his knee was pulsing now. He nursed it slightly in his stance. “That was foolish. Had I been with a knife, you would have been dead right now. Be thankful that I wasn’t.” He stood a little straighter, fighting back the wince from his knee.

“I think that’s enough for the day.” He said in a low voice. She forced him to give her such pain, so he wouldn’t show her any pity at the moment.

She hit the ground with a heavy thump as she slowly pushed herself up on her knees. Her whole body ached now and no doubt there would be swelling and bruising showing up later on in the day. Every time she moved her arm a sharp pain went through it causing her to wince. Damn, if her wrist was hurt then that would be horrible. Luckily it wasn't her main hand but it would still be difficult to complete some of her sword-work with only one hand working. Hopefully it would heal up and the pain would fade quickly.

Sabine pushed herself up on her feet though her body was slumped over and her breathing was still heavy. "You didn't have a knife. If you did I wouldn't have done it in the first place." Sabine shot back as she struggled to stand up straighter. They were both worse off for the wear and it would be best to take it easy for the rest of the day. She nodded slowly as she raised her hands over her head and let out a small groan as her muscles tried to get used to the pain in her body. God was she going to be sore tomorrow.

The three men on the side had watched this whole display in wonder and shared knowing looks amongst each other. Whatever was going through their minds they thought it better not to voice it and instead mind their own business. Obviously the prince was a worthy opponent and this little match had proved quite a few things. "Lets head back to the castle." Sabine said with a sigh as she started moving back towards the imposing building. That had been enough of this for one day and she'd really like to tend to her injuries as soon as possible.

His stance had shifted subtly, moving so his legs weren’t fully straight. His knee hurt like hell, and he knew already that he would be hard-pressed to straighten it fully. As it was, shifting slightly was painful, and he knew walking would be hard to pull off without showing weakness.

It was a sudden shove after Sabine’s words that galvanized his movements. He definitely didn’t want to fall onto it, so he moved carefully, but didn’t slow his pace down. His face was a stone mask, the only way he could hold back the winces of pain with every other step. His room couldn’t have come fast enough, and when they did get there, he nearly threw himself onto the bed, door closing behind him.

He curled up on his side, bending his knee inward with a hiss of pain, his hands going down to rub it, trying to release some of the pain. It didn’t work so well, but it kept his mind somewhat off of it. He shooed away the maid that came with dinner, cursing angrily at her. After the fact, he knew that he would have to apologize to her if he saw her again. It wasn’t her fault he was injured, or that he was here in the first place.

Sabine sighed as she splashed cold water on her face before wrapping a bandage around her arm. No doubt it would hurt like hell in the morning and tomorrow she would be covered in bruises from their little fight. The woman kept replaying the scenes in her head as she wondered just where she had gone wrong. She was the king's champion dammit, there was no way she was supposed to be bested by anyone. Yet he had managed to beat her and that hurt her more then any of the wounds she had received.

Her pride was greatly wounded to be bested in such a way in front of her own men. Yet she was still regretting that things had ended as they did. Both had been caught up in the heat of the moment and no doubt Alex was also in quite a bit of pain. He was still her responsibility after all and even with what had happened she would have to make sure that he was still alright. Still grimacing, she managed to change into a fresh pair of clothes since her old ones were now caked with mud and dirt before exiting her own room and moving towards his.

Knocking lightly to alert him of someone's presence she quietly opened the door before walking in. "How are you feeling?" Her tone was measured and calm as she closed the door behind her and walked towards the center of the room. He was curled up which couldn't have been a good sign.