"I'll take that as a no," I said, and backed up some more.
I took a quick survey of my situation, and it wasn't good. Despite the taxing climb and three hours of nonstop machete use, my opponent appeared fresh and ready for a fight. I, on the other hand, had barely caught my breath. To my left was the cliff that fell away into the sinkhole, and to my right, two feet away, was the cave wall.
The roof was tall enough for her to swing her considerable blade, but the pathway was narrow enough she wouldn't have a full range of movement. At least I had some sort of advantage. In such close quarters, she would have been better off coming at me with a knife instead of the machete.
I knew I had a blade of my own on the multitool in my pocket, but it wouldn't do me much good. I doubted she would give me the opportunity to dig it out, much less let me unfold the knife from it. It was designed as a tool and would be awkward as a weapon. I realized it would probably be more of a hindrance than a help.
She took a few more steps forward, and I retreated, matching her step for step. She was no longer talking or intimidating me with the blade. Now she was cold and focused on the only thing she could see, me. That's it! She couldn't attack me if she couldn't see me. I hastened my retreat, hoping to disappear into the inky blackness of the cave, but she had somehow anticipated my move and charged before the darkness could hide me.
She swung her blade horizontally, missing me by inches as I jumped back. Immediately she changed the direction of her attack, again barely missing me as I spun out of the way. Her attacks were calculated and well executed. As I had discovered in the villa, she was no stranger to fighting. I was going to have to use my head as much as my fists to win this battle.
Another close call from the machete threw me off balance and sent me sprawling past her back into the light. I needed to deal with that machete, and soon. Its reach advantage allowed her to keep me out of striking distance. She pressed her advantage, coming at me with an overhand slice followed by a reverse that made me jump sideways, dangerously close to the edge of the sinkhole.
"You can't run forever," she taunted. "I will get you, eventually."
"Is this idol really worth killing for?" I asked as I dodged another strike, this one from the left, cutting off an easy escape and forcing me a few inches closer to the cliff.
She's herding me, I realized. This entire time she's been moving me like a pawn on a chessboard. I had to switch from defense to offense, or I'd find myself dead at the bottom of the hole.
Slowly, I backed farther away from her, shuffling my feet until I felt the edge of the cliff. This was it, I had to make my move now. I feigned to the right, telegraphing which way I would dodge. She took the bait and swung. I quickly leapt to my left, arms outstretched, trying to gain as much solid ground as possible. I hit the ground, tucked into a ball and rolled, coming to my feet behind her. Awkwardly she lashed out, but I was prepared for the desperate attack and seized her wrists.
Using what martial prowess I possessed, I pivoted, pulling myself in close while twisting her wrist and applying pressure against the flat side of the blade. I felt the sharp edge slice into my forearm where it pressed against it, but I applied more pressure. Finally, the leverage was too much, and I pried the blade from her hands and sent it skittering across the floor of the cave towards the cliff. For a moment it teetered over the edge, balanced perfectly on the rim of the drop off.
Jaye broke free of my grasp and we both dove for the machete. She had the advantage but came up short, merely brushing the handle of the weapon with her fingertips. It was enough to tip the balance towards the hole, and we both watched as it slipped over the edge and tumbled into the void.
I recovered from the situation first and jumped on top of her, trying to pin her to the ground and end the fight. She struggled against me, kicking and clawing erratically, using her fingernails as weapons. Her eyes were wild, almost panicked. She was no longer the calm and calculating warrior from before. She was scared.
"Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you," I yelled at her as I fought against her flailing hands.
"Let me go!" she screamed and bucked against me. "Get off me!"
"Calm down and I will!" I replied as I finally grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head. Her breaths came in heaving gasps and the cornered animal look in her eyes intensified.
"You think you're some tough man, huh?" she spat.
"Tough? You kicked my ass back in the village and you almost took my head off half a dozen times. I think it's you who is the tough one, not me," I said. I could see my words were having at least some effect on her. Her eyes regained some clarity, no longer darting about wildly. "Look lady, I'm not going to kill you over some stupid artifact some rich asshole wants."
"That's your problem then," she said and promptly brought her leg up and kneed me in the crotch.
Reflexively, I let go of her wrists and let out a whimpering groan. With her now free hands, she shoved me over and rolled on top of me, reversing our positions. My balls hurt too much to put up more than a feeble resistance.
"Low blow," I croaked through the pain
