“So that's it?”

Everyone looked at him.

Darien pointed toward the ring.

“She dances around a few punches and everyone suddenly thinks she's some kind of legend?”

Kellen's expression hardened.

“She's good.”

Darien laughed.

“Good compared to you?”

The insult landed.

Kellen stepped forward.

But Zariah placed a hand on his arm.

“Don't.”

Kellen looked at her.

“He's disrespecting you.”

Zariah looked directly at Darien.

“That's his choice.”

Darien climbed the steps toward the ring.

Sable immediately moved.

“You're not getting in there.”

Darien stopped.

“Why?”

“You're not registered to spar.”

“I don't need to register.”

“Yes, you do.”

Darien smiled.

“I thought this place was about fighting.”

“It is.”

“Then let her fight.”

Sable's voice became colder.

“She already did.”

Darien looked toward Zariah.

“Come on. One round.”

Zariah said nothing.

Darien continued.

“Unless all that skill disappears when you're facing someone bigger.”

The room changed.

People looked at one another.

Maddox shifted uncomfortably.

Even he seemed to understand that Darien was pushing too far.

Sable stepped between them.

“Leave.”

Darien's smile faded.

“You telling me to leave?”

“Yes.”

His hand moved toward his belt.

Not his weapon.

But close enough to make several people notice.

Zariah saw it.

Of course she did.

She saw everything.

She stepped forward.

“Don't.”

Darien turned toward her.

“What?”

“Don't touch your belt.”

The silence that followed was immediate.

Darien stared at her.

“You giving me orders now?”

“No.”

“Then what are you doing?”

Zariah's eyes remained calm.

“Giving you a chance to stop.”

For the first time that evening, Darien Crowe felt something he had not expected.

Not fear.

Not exactly.

But uncertainty.

He covered it with anger.

“You think you're intimidating me?”

“No.”

“Then fight me.”

Sable grabbed Darien's arm.

“That's enough.”

Darien pulled away.

“I'm offering a friendly spar.”

“No,” Zariah said.

Darien turned.

“No?”

Zariah shook her head.

“You're offering humiliation.”

His face tightened.

“And what's the difference?”

Zariah looked around the gym.

“Everything.”

Darien laughed.

Then he said the words that would later follow him for years.

“Fine. Fight me as a joke.”

Several people gasped.

Sable looked disgusted.

Maddox looked away.

Kellen clenched his jaw.

And Zariah became completely still.

Darien mistook the silence for hesitation.

That was his final mistake.

“Come on,” he said. “One minute. I'll even let you survive.”

Zariah slowly raised her eyes.

Then she said:

“You should leave.”

Darien smiled.

“Scared?”

“No.”

“Then why are you telling me to leave?”

“Because once you understand what you've started, you'll wish you had.”

The room went silent.

Darien stepped through the ropes.

Orson immediately protested.

“This isn't happening.”

Darien pointed at Zariah.

“She agreed.”

“I didn't,” she said.

Darien's smile faded.

Then Zariah added:

“But I will.”

Sable turned.

“Zariah.”

Zariah looked at her.

“It needs to end.”

Orson shook his head.

“You don't have to do this.”

Zariah looked toward Darien.

“No.”

Then she looked back at Orson.

“But he does.”

Orson stared at her.

The memory returned completely.

And suddenly, he knew exactly who she was.

His face changed.

Sable noticed.

“What?”

Orson whispered:

“Oh, God.”

Darien heard him.

“What?”

Orson looked toward Zariah.

Then back at Darien.

“You have no idea who you're standing in front of.”

Darien laughed.

“Then tell me.”

Orson's voice shook.

“She's Master Renn's student.”

The gym went quiet again.

A few older fighters reacted immediately.

Master Elias Renn's name was known.

Not everywhere.

But among those who had spent enough years in serious martial arts circles, it carried weight.

Darien looked unimpressed.

“So?”

Orson stared at him.

“So she was the fighter people brought their best students to spar.”

Darien's smile disappeared.

Only slightly.

Maddox stepped toward the ropes.

“Darien, maybe we should go.”

Darien turned.

“Stay out of this.”

Then he faced Zariah again.

“You still want to fight?”

Zariah looked at him.

“I never wanted to.”

Darien raised his hands.

“Then prove it.”

The bell rang.

And Darien Crowe rushed forward.

One Punch

Darien was stronger than Kellen.

Heavier.

Larger.

And far less disciplined.

The moment the bell sounded, he attacked with the confidence of a man who believed size could replace skill.

His first punch came wide.

Zariah moved.

His second was faster.

She slipped again.

Darien pressed forward.

The crowd backed away from the ropes.

Maddox watched with growing concern.

He had seen Darien angry before.

He knew what happened when Darien believed someone had embarrassed him.

Darien threw another combination.

Wild.

Heavy.

Uncontrolled.

Zariah avoided every strike.

The difference between her fight with Kellen and this fight was obvious.

With Kellen, she had been patient.

With Darien, she was protecting herself.

Because Darien was not sparring.

He was trying to hurt her.

Sable shouted.

“Control yourself!”

Darien ignored her.

He threw a powerful right hand.

Zariah slipped outside.

His momentum carried him forward.

The crowd gasped.

Darien turned.

Sweat had appeared on his forehead.

His breathing was heavier.

And something new had entered his eyes.

Frustration.

He had expected her to be easy.

Instead, every attack was making him look foolish.

“Stand still!” he shouted.

Zariah stared at him.

“Why?”

Darien charged again.

This time, Zariah saw everything before it happened.

The tightening of his shoulder.

The shift of his front foot.

The drop of his left hand.

She had spent decades learning to recognize those details.

Master Renn's voice seemed to return from another lifetime.

Everything reveals itself.

You only have to wait long enough to see it.

Darien threw the punch.

Zariah moved.