Against the Champ- BLASTED! (Patreon)

This was a tight spot. Tal'naya is known as the Submission Queen in the KWA for a reason- her holds are inescapable. She's climbed to the top of the circuit through nothing but tapouts and blackouts. It was abundantly clear with her dragon sleeper that she intended to continue that here today.

Zaerine's back was screaming in agony. Her spine was stretched to its limit, the muscles behind her shoulders feeling like they were being ripped in half. The champion's huge arm forced her head down and backwards. All she could see were the lights above the ring- and that view was starting to go dim.

Zae knew she had one last chance to make something happen before she was yet another victory on Tal's record.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, she gave every last bit of strength she had into one last twist; she desperately tried to free a leg from the night elf's brutal hold. One thing Tal's incredible size does not impart her is a lot of flexibility- and it's often something she underestimates in her smaller opponents. Indeed, Tal was confident that this match was over, and was looking at Zae's hand simply waiting for it to tap or go limp. The purple warrior didn't expect her opponent to be anywhere near able to twist and flex a leg free. Tal CERTAINLY didn't expect that leg to then come flying up and crash its knee into her face.

Zae had bought herself a moment- a moment she needed to capitalize on immediately. The first blow to Tal's face stunned her briefly, more with shock than damage. She quickly repeated the strike two, three, four times before she was able to batter the champion's grip loose and pull herself free entirely. Tal'naya made a critical mistake here: rather than attempt to maintain her grip on Zaerine and end the fight, she retreated. Tal scrambled to her feet, creating a little distance between the pair to stop the repeated blows.

A little distance was exactly what Zaerine was looking for. By the time Tal'naya got to her feet, there were already two white boots sailing towards her face.