Aleksandra looked at the men with a cool, calculating gaze, trying to gauge the measure of their skills. They had to be excellent fighters for be in Aulfr's favor, and both were larger than her, and therefore stronger. A disturbing smile crept over her lips as she realized she was actually in for a challenge. She tugged off her boots, always having preferred to fight barefoot during weaponless sparring to avoid really injuring someone with her kicks. She'd cut open a friend's cheek with the edge of her boot, once.

After tossing her boots aside, she sank into an easy, relaxed stance. She was ready to move in any direction at any time. The beginning of the fight would probably be easy. After all, they didn't really know how well she fought. And she was small, and a woman. Everyone, no matter whom they were, underestimated her abilities at first. These two would likely be no different.

She was correct. They didn't quite attack together. The larger one came forward first and swung at her, but it wasn't the most powerful punch he could throw. She swayed to the side and sidestepped, then ducked as the second one sent out a kick that ruffled the hair on top of her head. Brute #2 was definitely trying harder than Brute #1.

The first minute of the fight was just her dodging and deflecting every blow they sent her way. She would leap in and jab at them almost casually, which she could see was infuriating. They kept level heads, however, and then lashed out with all of their power, startling her. They worked as a unit, which would be enough to break most people almost immediately. Not her. It made her easier to fight them, really. As a true pairing, their range of moves was limited and somewhat easy to predict.

She began fighting back for real, dodging blows and striking back at painful pressure points the second she saw an opening. She wasn't doing much to block, which meant she was taking hits but they weren't too painful. A glancing blow to the jaw, a trod-on toe, those sorts of things. And then finally, finally, she managed to isolate one of the men and sent a devastating kick to his jaw, and he dropped like a stone. The other one didn't hesitate. He continued the fight, now pouring sweat and growling about with a manic look in his eye. Battle rage.

At that point, she was almost certain she had won. She just had to send him over the edge and he would lose any sense of precision or tactics. He'd be a bull on the rampage. And it was this sort of thinking that cost her the whole fight. She let herself relax just the slightest bit and her concentration slipped. She took a hard elbow to her throat, leaving her gagging and gasping, and then she was on the ground with her face pressed to the dirt.