OUT OF THE ASHES
You trained to block and parry and dodge, yes, but you didn't think about it, didn't focus on long dancing combinations.
You swung. You screamed a lot. You killed as fast as you could and didn't think about anything but the feel of flesh giving way under your hands. And if you were even a hairbreadth too slow, if today just wasn't your day, you were never, ever going to stand up again.
I gritted my teeth and prayed today wasn't that day.
I lunged forward, meeting the monster midleap, slicing its body right through the gut. Cold, black blood sprayed out, but I was already finished firing my gun which is in my left hand, to another monster before the first corpse fell.