166 Clueless (1/2)

No, I wasn't imagining it. The infamous Dawn Breaker was indeed a woman. She was, in fact, a tall redhead with high cheekbones and a spattering of freckles over her perfectly straight nose.

\”You're a girl…\” I repeated still surprised.

Piercing gray eyes glared back at me underneath s-shaped eyebrows.

\”So, what?\” she growled. \”Looking down on me now?\”

Holy crap, I knew her voice was an octave higher than normal but I didn't think it actually was a girl's voice I'd been hearing all along.

She lunged forward with her broadsword swinging sideways at me.

\”Whoa! Hold on! Time out!\” I screamed as I dodged to the left.

That was unfair. I needed time to process this sudden reveal and she wasn't giving me any.

\”What? Can't fight a woman now that you know who I am?\” she hissed.

No, I could fight girls. I trained with several every night. But I couldn't exactly tell her that what was throwing me off was the fact that she was very pretty. Not like Aura who was perfect in her otherworldliness, but more like Ashley in that pretty next-door-neighbor vibe. And she was on the youngish side too, and possibly just two to three years older than I was.

I dodged a second attack, a thrust that would have skewered my head if I hadn't moved away at the last second.

\”Time out already,\” I pleaded.

At the same time, I launched a counterattack with my falchion that forced her to step away, giving my warrior's heart a chance to sync back with my stupid teenage brain.

\”Look, I don't mean to sound insulting… I don't think being a girl makes you weak at all. In fact, I think most girls are seriously dangerous opponents,\” I babbled on in an effort to explain my sudden change in attitude. \”But you're called the Dawn Breaker so I admit that I was caught off guard by your, um, pretty face…\”

That last part ended terribly, and it caused my cheeks to feel extra hot.

She raised an eyebrow at me.

\”Are you dumb?\” she asked. \”You're letting my looks distract you in such an important fight?\”

Well, that was harsh. And here I was trying to be nice. But she had a point, and I conceded that I might actually be a bit dumb when it came to the opposite sex.

\”You realize we were just trying to kill each other, right?\” She pointed her greatsword toward me once more with one hand while her other hand went to the side of her face to hook her hair over her extra-long ear. \”And now I don't feel an ounce of fight left in you…\”

\”Whoa… you're a half-elf,\” I blurted out.

It was the ear. It was too long to be a human ear which was a contrast to her face that most definitely had human features. Elves don't get freckles or pimples for that matter.

My realization made her eyes narrow into deadly slits, and I knew she was just about ready to murder me which I understand was a trait among half-breeds, how they get riled up whenever someone mentioned their mixed heritage.

But before she could blow up on me, I raised a hand in a gesture of peace. \”I'm not trying to make you angry… it's just, I've never met a half-elf before nor was I expecting to fight a pretty girl tonight… so could we please just chill for a bit and discuss the possibility of not trying to kill each other?\”

My latest nonsensical outburst actually made her eyebrow rise even higher.

\”Oh my God… you're flirting with me in the middle of a battlefield,\” she rationalized.

\”I'm not!\” I protested.

She giggled. The freaking Dawn Breaker actually giggled like she was watching a funny movie.

\”Stop that!\” I yelled. \”I wasn't flirting… I was just trying to be nice…\”

\”Well… I know I'm good-looking but this is a first,\” she continued.

I glanced to my left and right in the hope that Aura wasn't around to hear this obviously deluded person. Who actually compliments themselves and says that they're good-looking?

Luckily, Aura was far away from my position. In fact, while I acted out the part of the lead in a rom-com, Aura was leading a charge of our Foolhardies cavalry deep into enemy territory. And she wasn't the only one doing her job too.

Luca had successfully managed to disrupt the enemy's shield wall by harassing its left flank. This made it easier for Ashley's shield squad to break the enemy's wall in two and push her squad forward through the breach.

Closer to me, Azuma was showing off his war-god skills and reminding everyone around him just why he was so feared on the eastern borders of Trickster territory back in the day. I had no doubt that Edo, who I couldn't see, was doing a fine job reaping lives too.

In fact, my guys were doing such a good job that the enemy's formation on this side of the battlefield was in danger of yielding to us. Their success made me feel remorseful that I wasn't doing my job at all.

I glanced back at my opponent who was still rambling about how she'd never experienced getting hit on in a battlefield, and the sight of her acting like a teenage girl evaporated all the remaining fight I had in me.