Just One Blow

"Master."

Aetri jolted, Black orbs stared inches from his face. He looked back at Crow for a moment, at her smooth face and soft looking lips "Ummm, Hey, Crow?" He was still at Valhal, a Valhal littered with knocked out and overly wasted Uld that was, Lok, had dived face-first into the cleavage of Red-headed servant girl, likely already the first couple of many courses, that meant that they were pretty deep into the night.

"You were daydreaming." Crow had the slightest hint of Ale on her breath, and He could have sworn that her usually wide-open eyes were relaxed.

"Are you drunk, Crow?"

She lent back from him, holding her abdomen as she shrugged "A Shadow doesn't get drunk *Hiccup*"

"Well, this is certainly a day for the history books, Black-Crow pissed on Ale!" He chuckled, but Crow just took a very lady-like sip from the flagon that seemed a little too big for her elegant hands.

"Lee got tired of you just sitting there and daydreaming, she has departed to Brawl with some of the locals." The Eastern Rogue spoke nonchalantly but Aetri shot up from his chair, trying to ignore the rush that too much drink had gifted him and looking around in panic

"ARE YOU OUT, OF YOUR MIND, YOU JUST LET HER GO?" He said, spotting the large grouped up circle over in the west corner of the grand hall

"My place is by Your side *Hiccup* Master..." She slurred a little, swaying until Aetri took her by the hand, rushing her to her feet

"What did I tell you about calling me that, come on before she kills somebody!"

Running with Black-Crow in hand, he pushed through the crowds, the sounds of cheering scratching against his eardrums as He-

"Where the Hell did Crow Go?" She wasn't holding his hand anymore... He doubled back on himself, pushing through the tall men, a few scowling at him, until He came upon Black-Crow collapsed on one of the benches where Lok's men sat, She stared at one of them, clearly unnerving him as she slowly pulled his mead towards her, never breaking eye contact with him as she began to gulp down his drink, like a cat daring to steal a salmon from a fishmonger, if said fishmonger was terrified of cats that is.

Aetri rolled his eyes, walking over and Grasping Crow by her hips and lifting her away "Thank You." She said to the Man, who nodded a little shakily

"T-That's okay, Aunt Crow..." He muttered as Aetri dragged her away.

"We already have One drunk in the family, I'm not having another." He grumbled as he felt Crow's arms constrict on his chest, her leg's tightening across his waist

"I'm tired." She muttered into his ear, resting her chin on his shoulder

"Well, let's find Lee and we'll go home. I ain't carrying you both though." He said, chuckling a little as Crow buried her face into his shoulder.

Together Aetri and Crow weaved through the shouting crowd, carefully moving forth amongst stomping feet and drunken roars until the two came to the eye of the storm.

"Oh, dear..." Aetri muttered, looking into the makeshift ring... or square, of pushed over tables and stools, two figures moving in the middle of it.

There Lee was, standing in the centre of the make-shift Arena, a host of bodies laid splayed, beaten to a pulp at her feet, some were the Old Generations, who He noticed that she had spared, only having been knocked out with a clean and swift attack, displayed by the black pool of bruises on their hard jaws... but two or three of the New Generation that lay there... well they were a lot worse for wear, One having had his shoulder bent out of shape, the second with his eye so swollen that it looked like a plum growing out of his eye sockets and the third, laying like an unconscious statue, holding unto his gonads with the purest of pains painted on his half-dead face.

Lee stood above them all, Her eyes dark, her face twisted with a lustful smile, the Crowd was quiet now as her Emerald orbs stalked along the circle of Huge Uld Men "Any other young bucks wanting to voice their discomfort of me residing in my lodge?" Her voice was that dark Growl again "Is there anyone else that I need to Unman to make my point?"

Nobody spoke, nobody moved, any courage that the drink might have given them had faded... save for one lad, Blonde of hair and arrogant as ever "You haven't made any point, Aunt Ector." Tyrg stepped into the ring, and Lee eyed him like a hungry beast

"Oh?" She Inquired.

Tyrg folded his arms, glaring with all the ice of the Uld blood that ran in his veins "You have no right to claim your point through combat because fighting you is not Combat... it is suicide."

Lee cracked her knuckles "Perhaps it is." She muttered, her eyes brushing past Aetri for a moment and Crow on his back "Your Grandfather and Father honoured me and my kin's blood with their own, The Only way to undo this is through the divinity of sacred battle, You have your god's boy, whether you care for them or not you have them, but I only have one god and she resides in the defeat of my enemies, with every crunch of bone, every split of flesh and snuffing out of life, Death is my god boy, and unless you beat me, then You will forever have nothing but empty words of complaint."

Tyrg's eyes widened slightly, betraying his fear of Lee as He stepped back. Lee clearly relished in his fear, but ultimately seemed to fall into a very dissatisfied kind of look in her eyes.

Aetri saw her look at him again, and He saw the look of epiphany in those balls of emerald iron. "Hehe... how about this, Tyrg. I fear that You are right, every single person in this room could try and beat me, but it would result only in an abundance of prayer to my Lady of death..." Her words seemed to resonate throughout every person in the room, Lee was feared and rightly so, but Her words were true enough, without Tyrg overpowering his challenger in the name of the Raven god, then His standing as a hater of Outsiders and Outcast would be left to nothing but hollow words... and so Aetri wondered just what she was playing at, in giving him a chance, and if she was really about to offer what He suspected.

"So... how about you and... hmmm, I don't know, four more of your friends come on out here and fight in the Arena?" She suggested her voice lightening and becoming slurred and playful again.

"But You just said-"

"Uh Uh, It's rude to interrupt when I am not finished."

"Don't do it Lee..." Aetri thought, but it was too late, she was already pointing a finger right at him.

"Aetri, My Kin, will fight You and the others in my sted." the Crowd flooded into whispers, all looking at him with surprise as Aetri blinked, "What do you say, Tyrg? You and your idiots want to fight my boy, to prove your point?"

Tyrg looked at Aetri, a shrill hatred sparking in his eyes, matched with a sinister smile "No tricks? If We beat him, then your Kinship to my Clan ends and You leave?"

Lee nodded "Immediately."

"I accept," Tyrg said with a growl, Aetri frowned as Fear began to swell in his chest.

Lee moved towards her Pupil as Tyrg went back into the now yelling crowd to choose who would fight with him, The Boy had a grim look about him, even as she took an inebriated Crow from him, resting the dark woman on her shoulders.

"This is against our Covenant" Aetri muttered to her, his face dark with conviction.

Lee smiled at him, beholding the resolve in ideals that she had spent forging inside of him "The End is Nigh, right? I'll let you go this once."

"I swore to you that I would not fight directly, for 8 years I have followed this rule with an unwavering piety." He echoed her words from years ago like they were yesterday, it made her smile, she was proud of him, fiercely so

"Do you know what Rules are, Boy?" She asked, Aetri staring silently as Lee grinned coyly "Rules are like the wind, they are resolute, powerful and necessary for us to live, but also, winds fly free and in all directions... the time has come for Iron to bend, and only your hands can do the wrenching." It was time, Lee realised as she spoke, time for him to make his own decisions, even if the consequences of letting her beloved Aetri find his freedom crushed her to the core.

"I'm Scared." Aetri said, "This is unfair, there's Five of them."

"Extremely Unfair, but it will break You from Your bonds... this is my most important command to you, Boy, so listen well: You only get one blow, just one, if I see you deal any more than that, then I will command you to throw the fight, and I will be out of house and home, do you understand?" She explained.

Aetri's eyes stared deeply into hers for a moment and then his head lowered obediently "Yes, Mentor."

Lee grinned at him, clapping his on his shoulder "Do me proud."

Standing straight, Aetri stepped out into the ring, a solitary figure in wolven fur, his long hair tied into a Nornish braid, a dark look in his eyes. But Tyrg had come forth too, with four more men by his side, two very large, and the other two light on their feet, all heavily muscled with their tops removed to let go of the weight.

Lee's eyes explored a few of the young men... it had been a long time, a very long time and Her celibacy was starting to drive her mad. But there was a time and a place, and despite the coming hunger from between her legs, she reminded herself to stop thinking with her pussy and to pay attention.

"I've been waiting for a moment like this, Fehu. To push the Rich-boy down a peg." Tyrg growled, he and his men snarling at him like beasts, Aetri merely stared, part coldly, part fearfully, holding his arms harshly by his side. "You not even gonna bother to fight, Fehu?" Said one of the smaller fighters.

"He's smarter than He looks, the Briton knows better than to even bother fighting back." Said a larger one, his voice muzzled by his clearly many times over broken nose.

Aetri nodded to them "I wish you Fortune in the battle to come." He whispered with a bow. His opponents all chuckled, raising their clenched fists as one of the smaller of his foes sprinted towards him.

"We're not the ones that's gonna need fortune!" He said in his prickly voice. He picked up his speed, raising his fist in a wide arc and slamming it directly into Aetri's cheek. Lee watched her Pupil's head wrench back, his opponent's fist cracking across his cheek in a blow meant to finish the fight before it began. The room was silent, as Aetri fell to one knee in apparent defeat. "HAHA, How easy was that! all it took was one blow, I the Mighty Isigur, claim victor-"

The Skinny man... or Isigur is what she thought He said, paused, as Aetri's hand appeared on his shoulder. The Boy was getting to his feet, using the small man to help himself stand, his face still cold and cautious as He stood back up straight, a lovely new bruise forming on his cheek.

Isigur's eyes widened as Aetri looked down at him, unmoving, frozen and staring "W-What in the Hel..." He muttered, Aetri looked fiercely at the boy until Tyrg got annoyed by the pause.

"The Hel are you doing, Sig? Knock his goddamn teeth out!?" Tyrg said impatiently, but Isigur grimaced, seemingly unnerved by Aetri's unflinching gaze

"I-I don't know, I hit him as hard as I could I-"

"Oh shut up, puny sig, come on let's get on with it." the Large man with the Broken nose said, stomping over to Aetri with a sour look on his face. Aetri didn't panic, He instead looked down at his feet, patiently and carefully shifting his position slightly before looking back up at the Large man and smiling "I'm gonna wipe that smile off your face, Outsider!" The Hulk screamed.

"You're gonna wipe it off somebodies," Aetri said, watching as a fist, the size of a cannonball flew towards him with the speed of such. The Crowd roared, if that blow didn't destroy Aetri, then nothing would.

But they were robbed of knowing that outcome, because although the Largeman's fist collided with a face... it was not Aetri's. Aetri was behind The Large man now, and Isigur lay on the ground, his face mush and with a few fewer teeth than when he started, out completely cold.

The Man growled with annoyance, whipping around to try and elbow Aetri, but he had spun, hitting nothing as Aetri ducked down in front of the larger man, still calm and still cold of face.

"You slippering son of a bitch, no more messing around, let's finish this!" Tyrg cried, he and all of his combatants charging at Aetri.

Tyrg went for the first strike, a strike that missed Aetri as He slipped through the cracks of his opening, forcing Tyrg to plant his fist into the Large man's stomach, another struck for Aetri's waist, only to blast Tyrg in his shoulder. Once again, Tyrg cried in rage, darting a fist right at Aetri's face, following Aetri as He lowered and eventually slipped away, making tyrg punch his friend directly in the manhood with a sickening crunch.

Aetri may have seemed calm as still water on the outside, flowing through their attacks like an untouchable wind. But there was boiling in him, Lee could sense it, see it in the aggression of his movements, having to play the game like this was obvious frustrating him, he was growing darker, faster, stronger in the way that He whipped them into beating themselves and it struck nervousness into the crowd.

"This is foolish." Crow peered out of one eye at Lee, staring on at Aetri who was spinning and flurrying "You've put him in too much too fast, You should have eased him in."

"Bullshit, look at him, He's a little scared but-" Lee started but was quickly interrupted by the Vatan's hand resting on her shoulder, pulling Lee's head beside hers as they both watched their pupil

"Is it fear that You see in those eyes?" Crow whispered, Lee, seeing the heat of her student's wrath in his dark visage "You understand him well, this is true, but there are parts of his legacy that plague him, parts that You don't understand...." Crow whispered grimly as Lee watched Aetri's speed and strength flourish with each dodge, duck and dive "I have always believed that He has a good heart, but deep in the recesses of his soul, is the spirit of a Monster."

Lee looked on gravely, most of her student's challengers were floored by now, having been beaten into bruised pulps by their own, only one remained: Tyrg, his face flushed and blackened, his stance weak and his eyes filled with a new kind of fear.

Aetri had taken more than his share of hits, his weaves were not always perfect and a few jabs slipped in, but if the Young man was in any pain, He wasn't showing it, that would be his endurance training kicking in, no blow from an Uld could easily floor him and He stood tall, chest pumping with aggressive breaths, eyes wide with a hideous Ire as He began to stalk towards Tyrg who backed away "S-Stay away, j-just wait, Hold on, Fehu... I-I yield, that's what you say in Britannia right, wait!" He pleaded, but Aetri did not stop moving, tracking in a slow march-like as a predator would its prey.

Lee saw the murder in his eyes, she had often seen sparks of it before in her pupil, but never like this, his eyes were positively blazing with intent... and it was in that moment that she realised, Aetri wasn't afraid of fighting them, He was afraid of killing them "He wasn't in the ring with them... they were in the ring with Him."

"Boy! that's enough!" Lee tried to call out, her voice drowned out by the cries of shock and Awe of the crowd encircling him, she couldn't just go in, that would negate the point of the brawl, but she couldn't have him killing anyone, He was capable of it she knew, she'd taught him dark things and there was little doubt that He could do everlasting damage with that single blow of his. All Lee could do was hope that He'd snap out of it...

Aetri paused in front of the Cowering Tyrg, but He did not feel like Aetri anymore... with each blow he sustained or flowed through without harm, His chest burned with irritation, his head ringing with through with a spiralling and disorienting rage that bewitched his senses, filled his bones with strength and made him feel lighter than the wind.

It was a primal twitch, an animalist urge that screamed at him to murder the quivering rat before him, to undo Eight long years of crippling stares of judgment and words that made him feel even more like Uld would never be his home.

This urge is what drove him to clutch Tyrg's collar tightly and pull him closer as He rose his fist which bulged with muscle. Tyrg struggled, growled like a wolf in a snare, flailed at Aetri, hit him in the face and butted at his head, but Aetri couldn't feel the pain, He could only feel the Urge, the drive to cave in this rotten-milk headed cunt's face and put an end to it all.

Tyrg's face paled, seeing the shadow of his eyes, that look of murder and Aetri saw the reflection of death in his Dark orbs.

"Aetri... You swore to me." He paused, hearing Lee's voice over the defending cries of the men around him, swaying at the melting pot of fury in his body "You swore to our covenant, that You would not fail. Don't start now. Don't become Your Sister" He heard his mentor's words, it seemed to switch something in him, allow a refreshing clarity to wash away the grime.

He looked at Tyrg, blinking at man who had once been a boy with him, arguing over sweets from the travelling merchants before letting him win, Frigg's little brother who would grimace every time She'd stick to him, He'd wondered if that one faithful day, when Frigg proposed to him under that Birch tree that morning even though Tyrg had proposed one of his friends if they would have remained close?

Aetri smiled at Tyrg, flashing his fist forward... and releasing it, and slapping Tyrg right in his eye. Tyrg yelped in pain, looking up with his good eye with shock, only to see that Aetri was already standing away, looking around at the crowd who had silenced.

He grinned, raising his fist above the fallen around him "VALHAL!!!!!!"

"VALHAL, VALHAL, VALHAL, VALHAL!!!" Everybody cried

He walked to his mentor, who seemed to be at once astounded and proud. He took Crow into his arms, "Just one Blow." He said to Lee who mouthed wordlessly as Aetri guided the two of them out of the Bustling hall, leaving Tyrg, leaving the Uld, leaving it all to the Night.