Tracy's P.O.V.
She stared in shock as the two boys circled each other warily. Just last week, no one would have allowed this to happen. The enormity of shedding blood, the utter wrongness of a knife cutting into red flesh had become trivial, mundane. She looked into the faces of the onlookers and saw only a vague interest. There would be no sympathy here.
Evan lunged, his face a hard mask of hate and Dan sidestepped deftly, swiping his stiletto along the length of the longer blade in a shower of sparks, only to trip on Evan's outstretched leg. The heavy katana swept down again and this time Dan was on the floor. As he ducked, the blade cut into the muscle of his shoulder. Dan screamed and backhanded Evan, who staggered backwards, his nose streaming with blood and tissue fluid.
As suddenly as they had engaged, they broke apart, both swaying slightly as they struggled to orient themselves.
"So, I am opened and you are opened. Shall we fight another 5 hours?" Evan sneered, wiping a streamer of blood from his eyes. Dan said nothing, adjusting the grip on the stiletto. "No, one of us will be finished much sooner than that, won't we?" Again the lethal strip of burnished steel flashed and Dan yelled in pain as he deflected it with the stiletto-barely. With a deft flick, Evan severed Dan's hamstring and gashed into his right wrist.
Dan dropped to the ground like a limp marionette. A chill wind blew as Evan strode over to him, the katana trailing in the sand behind him. Dan's numb fingers closed around the hilt of the stiletto.
"No!" Chloe burst forward, only to be restrained by two henchman. "Leave it." Tan pronounced, face grim. "Evan's our best fighter. You wouldn't even get close."
"Look!" Evan grabbed Dan's head, baring his throat to the crowd. "Look at him!" This was directed at Yi Ning who stood wide-eyed. "Is this your friend? Your hero? This good-for-nothing brawler?" He hurled Dan to the ground who deftly transferred the knife to his good left hand. "Did you really think you could barge in here and just take over?" He raised his sword. "Well now you die, just like all the other would-be invaders!"
Quick as thought, Dan flung the knife. It sang through the air, like a deadly beam of light that somehow hung in the air for an eternity. For one frozen moment, Evan's horrified eyes centered on the projectile. In the next millisecond, his forehead sprouted a steel horn. Gouts of blood sprayed as he dropped the katana and sank to his knees.
Dan scrambled upright and kicked Evan's leg hard, splintering bone. Evan collapsed forward into Dan's arms and for one moment, it seemed like an intimate embrace, the prey acknowledging its demise and the predator gratefully accepting the prey's sacrifice.
"No. I-I beat you." Evan had already begun to gurgle, flecks of gore specking his chin as he struggled for breath.
"Rest well." Dan grabbed the hilt of the stiletto and shoved it out the other side of Evan's head then staggered to his feet. "Bury him." Tan ordered as Dan limped off, followed by Alonzo, Tracy and Chloe. It would be a long day.