Spinning around, Larani wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Bendings?” she panted. “If you were really as skilled as you think, you wouldn’t have to resort to such tricks.”
Isara just kept coming, snarling, hissing air through her teeth. If she even noticed Larani’s taunts, she didn’t show it. Without warning, she surged forward and threw a mean left-hook.
Larani ducked and felt a fist passing over her head. She sent a pair of jabs into the other woman’s stomach, then followed that with an uppercut to the chin.
Ignoring the pain, Isara fell backward, catching herself with both hands. Her legs came up to trap Larani’s head between her shins. And then she flung Larani down onto her side.
Trapped as she was, Larani feared that her opponent might squeeze until her skull cracked. Th
