Myungsoo wasn’t sure when the tide of battle shifted, but at some point in the last skirmish, it had. He had been fighting side by side with men he’d known for several years, who had served under the same commander for that time, the line of them facing off with their enemies, a barrage of Chinese warriors who were determined to kill them all. Myungsoo had faced several opponents already, cutting through them easily, when he found himself up against a small statured man of more skill than the others the Korean had faced before. 

They sized one another up, then the Chinese man took a hard swing with his sword, the sharp metal scoring into Myungsoo’s shield and making sparks fly in his face. He ducked underneath his shield just as the other man’s blade came off right where his neck had been; with a quick step to the side, Myungsoo stabbed his blade into the space his opponent had just been occupying.

Unfortunately he was gone, though, predicting Myungsoo’s strike and already making a counter attack of his own. The Korean realized his own mistake just in the nick of time, turning his shield arm down to catch the that should have struck him in the ribs; he turned to follow the block with a hard sideways swipe, anything to set his opponent on his heels, and to his surprise it worked. The Chinese man leapt back out of reach of Myungsoo’s blade, and then to the Korean’s surprise, he smiled and dipped his head in recognition of the skill of the move. His opponent was a true warrior, then, acknowledging and another skilled fighter despite being on opposite sides of the war. Myungsoo ducked his own chin in return, then it truly began.

Tucking his shield in tight to his left side, Myungsoo angled it to protect his front and left side, leaving his right arm free to maneuver. The other man wore a heavier armor, actual metal plate covering his shoulders and chest, a big difference from Myungsoo’s own fighting leathers, providing a more difficult target for the Korean to strike. The shorter man let a smile slip over his face as he, too, observed Myungsoo’s lack of armor, and then he moved. 

The Chinese man stepped in quickly to get in a hard strike toward Myungsoo’s unprotected face. He’d half expected the move, knowing that heavier armored opponents tended to go for what they saw as his disadvantage, but he blocked the strike easily and parried with a swift cut of his own, his sword slipping through his opponent’s blocks and clanging hard against the armor on his upper thigh. He sensed the counter strike coming, moving his shield to block the shorter man’s blade coming from above, but almost missed the short dagger in his off hand that slipped under the shield and nicked the leather on Myungsoo’s stomach. He back away from it, avoiding a deadly gash, but the blade had slipped through the leather and cut a thin line across his skin there. 

The other man’s smile grew wider then, as if he were expecting Myungsoo to be a quick kill now that he’d measured him out, but the Korean was determined to not let it be so easy. He took the initiative and swung hard at his opponent’s side, hoping that his sword would be able to cut through the ar