Chapter Five

Gabriela's intended victim proved to be quick on his feet — quicker than she cared for, in fact. She couldn't seem to get a solid hit on him no matter what she did, something that was frustrating.

It felt different to be fighting on earth though, somehow. She felt heavier, slower, her movements less graceful. Only hours upon hours of endless practice aided her now, and she could barely touch the demon in front of her. He wasn't even attacking, just constantly dodging, and she felt that she should have had him by now, to her frustration. She was usually better than this, and she had no excuse for her lackluster performance.

"Too bad. You're dealing with me now." As Gabriela began to feel him slip away from her continued attack with new ease, she renewed her effort and pushed in even harder, forcing herself to move quicker. Her focus narrowed entirely to her and the demon as she settled herself into a zone of absolute concentration.

If she feinted that way, he would move to the other side and she'd finally get a solid hit, hopefully solid enough to slow him down, except she realized midway through the carry-out of the attack that he had seen through it and moved into the feint, leaving her once more swinging at empty air.

She shifted from attack to attack, performing each one as quickly as her practiced muscles could, her mind whirling as it watched and directed from the sidelines. When he suddenly stopped and ran, it actually took her a moment to comprehend what was happening. If she'd taken a moment to consider what was happening, she might have realized that the demon had some sort of plan.

Rather than stop to think and chance him getting away, though, Gabriela lowered her makeshift weapon and gave chase. "Hey! Get back here!"

Unwilling to let him get away, she sprinted into the thick of the crowd after him, jostling people out of her way as her blue eyes scanned faces to find his. She could still feel his aura clearly, telling her that he was still close, but the trick would be figuring out where he was amongst all of the people, who were causing a chaos now that the battle had been moved into their ranks.

The few seconds in which she lost sight of him and the humans around her caused their panic turned out to be costly as it led to the umbrella being suddenly yanked from her hands. That act revealed the demon to her again, and unconcerned about having been disarmed, Gabriela renewed her attack. By this time, most of the humans had been smart enough to clear out from the general area of the two with only a few left still attempting to get away, meaning that Gabriela once again had no obstacles between her and the demon.

Just in time too. Hand-to-hand was her best area.