Chapter 3 - Delaney Falls First
Kael gave her Delaney because Delaney was the platoon’s blunt instrument. Six-two, heavy shoulders, arms like rope and iron, a reputation built from making smaller men regret standing too close. He walked forward smiling, rolling his neck while the line watched with the easy confidence of men who believed size would settle the matter.
Riley did not raise her hands at first. She only asked him one question. “How many of your opponents were smaller than you?” Delaney’s smile weakened because he understood the insult only after the truth touched it. Riley continued, calm as a metronome. “Big fighters often mistake size for skill. You close distance, use weight, overwhelm. It works until someone understands where your force is going before you do.”
Delaney lunged. Fast, committed, both hands reaching to control her upper body. Riley dropped her center by inches, turned her torso, and let his force slide into emptiness. She caught his wrist, stepped inside instead of away, and redirected him so cleanly that his knee hit the sand before his mind had accepted he was falling. She released him immediately.
“Get up,” she said.
The second attempt was harder. Delaney came lower, feinting before driving into a takedown. Riley rolled with the pressure, changed the angle, and ended behind him with one knee near his spine and one hand controlling the back of his neck. Delaney fought, but she held him with position, not strength. “Your strength is real,” she told him near his ear. “But strength without direction is just energy looking for somewhere to go. I gave it somewhere.”
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When she stood and asked who was next, Webb stepped forward. He did not smirk. He tested her carefully, adjusting, striking, circling, learning as he moved. Ninety seconds later, he tapped from his back, breathing hard but not humiliated. Riley offered him a hand. “You think before you move,” she said. “That’s rare.” Webb took it and said the sentence that made the line uneasy. “You’re real.” Riley answered, “I know.”
That was when Kael came forward.
