twenty pounds. He was furious, his leg heavily taped from their previous
encounter, and under strict orders from Silas to completely destroy the
"librarian." As they stepped onto the center mat, Grigor glared down at her,
his teeth bared in a feral snarl. Elara looked up at him, her expression as
calm as a placid lake reflecting the moon.
The bell rang, and Grigor charged like a derailed freight train. He didn't
bother with technique; he simply wanted to grab her and break her in
half. He swung a massive arm, a clothesline meant to decapitate. Elara
dropped low, slipping under the thick arm, and struck a nerve cluster behind
his knee with pinpoint precision. Grigor buckled slightly but roared and spun
around, catching her in a terrifying bear hug. The crowd gasped as he lifted
her completely off the mat, squeezing with rib-cracking force.
Kaelen yelled from the corner, panic gripping his chest. But Elara didn't
panic. Trapped in the crushing grip, she didn't struggle against his strength.
Instead, she found the hollows behind his collarbones. She drove her thumbs
deeply into the pressure points, pressing with the focused strength of years of
conditioning. Grigor’s eyes bulged. His arms spasmed involuntarily, opening
just enough for her to slip down.
As her feet hit the mat, Elara grabbed his thick wrist. With a pivot that
harnessed all of Grigor’s own massive forward momentum, she dropped to
one knee and threw him over her shoulder in a modified, devastating Koshi
Nage. Grigor’s colossal weight worked against him. He hit the mat with the
force of a small earthquake, the impact knocking the wind out of him in a