Nothing Will Stop Her

"Have you given up, then, girl?" The nightmarish pirate snarled at Tina.

Wiping her face with her arm, Tina slowly brought herself to one knee, propping herself up with he sword. "No," she whispered, "You haven't beaten me." She brought her foot down, making a loud SLAP against the floor, and stood up straight, brandishing her sword.

Nightmare Rey bared her teeth. "Then let your final lesson begin." She swung her massive sword down against the naked knight, who deftly side-stepped it and struck with her own blade. Her thrust left a gash in the monster, which grimaced in pain. It retaliated with a swipe of its oversized claw, sending Tina sprawling backwards. The strikes continued, Tina barely blocking them with her sword as she was pushed back until her bare back touched a cold stone wall.

Letting out a bellowing laugh, Rey lifted her sword once more and tried to drive it into Tina's sternum. Thinking quickly, the knight placed her bare feet against the wall and leaped, landing on the flat edge of Rey's blade. She wasted no time, running along the cold steel and punching the monster squarely in the nose. Rey recoiled, letting go of her sword and reaching up to her face. Tina landed back on the ground and let loose a flurry of strikes at the creature, but all of them merely brushed off it's hardened skin.

I can't make anything but surface-level wounds Tina reasoned. I have to aim for a vital area.

The creature was about to stand back up, so Tina acted swiftly. She swung her sword towards Rey's stomach, only to find it as tough as the rest of her skin. Rey grabbed the blade of Tina's sword and lifted her up, like a mouse caught in a trap. "Run out of tricks? You can't best me with brute strength, stupid girl." Tina struggled to free her sword, bracing herself against the monstrous grip of her opponent. Rey didn't flinch, instead swinging the sword and its wielder into the air, sending the nude knight sprawling onto her back. Tina felt the wind knocked out of her, thinking that if she were in the real world, she'd definitely have some broken bones. Her vision blurred, but she could see the outline of Rey standing over her, brandishing her own sword like a toy. "There's no surrender in this fight, Tina Brandt." She lifted her arm, holding the blade downward toward Tina's head. "Only loss."

Tina's eyes darted around, looking everywhere to find a way out. She could feel panic rising in her throat, threatening to break out in the same wailing she'd let out before. Finally, she looked to her rear, and saw Rey's massive sword, still embedded in the wall behind them. It was longer than she was tall, with an obscenely thick blade; there was no way she could lift something like that. At least, not in the real world. But this was a dream, and it was time she started treating it like one.

Rey drove the sword down like a guillotine. Tina lifted herself up on her hands, the blade just barely touching her exposed back and butt. She wrapped her legs around the hilt, and pulled on the giant sword in the wall. The shrill sound of metal grinding against rock filled the air as the blade hit the open air again, and Tina, lifting it as if it weighed nothing at all, swung for Rey's face. The monster barely had time to react, taking a single step back as the blade ran across her eyes. She let out a fierce scream, somewhere in between a human being and a dying bird, and stumbled to the ground. Tina carried the momentum of her sword and, in a final downward strike, drove Rey's blade into her skull.

The monster sprawled to the ground, letting out its final breath, and Tina stood above it in all her naked glory, victorious. The dark fog covering the area disappeared, revealing the all of her fellow squires in shocked silence. Turing back to Rey, Tina was surprised to see her teacher, still wearing the face of the fairy, looking at her solemnly. "Well done, Miss Brandt. You impressed me, today. Your training is complete, as... unorthodox as it was." She looked Tina up and down, drawing attention again to her exposed body.

Tina didn't care. Even if people had been laughing, she had nothing to be ashamed of. She'd won, and no one could take that away from her. "Thank you. I will honor the role as knight of the realm." She knelt before her teacher, ready to accept her knighthood.

"Then let's get you back out there to do it."