Fighting a Master

Her tensed muscles released explosive strength that could barely be defended against by our young hero. He threw his sword in the way of her kick. Her bare, calloused foot met its light steel, releasing a pained whine. She recovered with a twirl and poised for another strike, her arms bulging with primed, pure power. The hero’s wrist and forearm burned, having barely maintained the appropriate form to defend the kick. He placed his sword into his off-hand and prepared another shoddy guard, readying to block the karate master’s coming punch.

     It flew in at Mach speed, whipping through the air and whistling like a missile. The hero stepped to one side, allowing the fist to graze his wrapped forearm. Raising the sword’s pommel, he moved to strike down at the attacker’s back, but she parried the blow with expert skill. With a slide of her foot, she pressed down into a half-split and brought her palm up into the hero’s chest. Reversing his attack’s momentum, she shifted their weight together as one fluid being and launched him into the sky. The air exploded out of his lungs and his sword clattered to the floor. She followed up her reversal with a quick flurry of blows and knocked the remaining will to fight out of the hero. She caught him out of the air with the scruff of his tunic, tossed him to the ground and sat on his back. He was well and truly defeated.

Chosen prompt: she is a karate expert

If you'd like to participate too, the contest/prompts can be found here: @mariannewest/single-prompt-option-the-weekend-freewrite-924

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