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ounded me. I threw him twice, but he rolled lightly in the water
and came to his feet unharmed, too fast for me to follow up. His
style was brutally solid, taking my hits on his gut and chest without
slowing down. He faked left once, and I raked the tip of my horn
across his gut from my watery crouch, opening a line of dark red blood
on darker red scales. This gave him pause, pause enough to rumble in
his deep, firey voice.
"I am Syrin, unicorn. I would have the name of so fine a warrior."
"My name is Luagha," I said, relaxing slightly. His eyes became
incinerators, and it was clear that he intended to continue this to
a conclusion.
"It won't be your name for long," Syrin said, and advanced into
another flurry of blows. We both blocked and took hits, his footwork
hampered by the water more than mine. I went for a high punch to his
head, but his snakelike neck eluded me, setting me up for a full-power
slam into my chest that flew me up out of the water and across the
pool. I staggered up out of the water and launched myself
hooves-first into his oncoming charge,
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