Thanks: IHL, Sandry, Fanty, Amber Faerie, Stacey, Min, LizzieCharmed
Xelena--ah, thank you for telling me that. I was beginning to think nobody
cared either way, besides IHL, Sandry, and Fanty.
Like, oh my god. This is the second to the last chapter. Can you believe this?
Only a few months ago I was churning out a chapter a month. Now I've written
three chapters in just a matter of days. Wow. *sigh* This truly is the second
to the last chapter. I'm not lying. I know I said earlier there was going to be a
chapter thirty, but chapter twenty-seven didn't have enough in it so I combined
twenty-eight and twenty-seven to get twenty-seven. Now I've got chapter
twenty-eight here...and...*sob*
**Chapter 28: Fall Away**
As soon as the initial shock of seeing Joren wore off, Kel and Merric hefted their
swords into the defensive. Neal hadn't bothered. If Joren could summon them
here just by the power of a bracelet, swords would do nothing against him.
"Welcome," Joren said again, his voice reverberating against the walls and
down their spines.
"Nice parlor trick," Neal replied. "Coming out of the shadows like that. Did you
practice?"
Joren chuckled. "So cocky. Always arrogant and obnoxious, as usual. I won't
attack you three, so you can let your swords relax. Holding that position can be
tiresome--I remember."
"Why aren't you dead?" Merric spat finally, not allowing his position to go slack.
"You mean to tell me that our dear Duke of Queenscove didn't share the story
with you?" Joren asked, his voice a mocking tone. "Why, I had one of Father's
mages create a simulacrum to send into the Chamber."
"And that's why 'you' died," Kel murmured.
"Bravo, Lady--pardon me, Duchess Keladry," Joren said. "You *can* think
without your other half."
"Where are Lianne and Acacia?" Neal demanded, trying to take Joren's
attention away from his wife.
Joren stepped to the side and motioned behind him. Acacia was on the ground,
at the center of four candles, differently colored and marking the four cardinal
directions. Something that sounded like a cross between Scanran and Carthaki
came out of Joren's mouth, and each candle sprung to life, producing more
smoke than any candle should have. The air became thick and heavy, the
product of major magic-working, and the smoke became a curtain over the
baby.
"Acacia!" Kel cried, starting to run forward, but Merric caught her and held her
back.
The smoke turned violet, then sapphire, and finally pitch back before
disappearing altogether. Where Acacia had lain as a child now stood a full-grown
female adult.
"May I present Lady Acacia," Joren smirked. He held out a hand to Acacia and
she took it, smiling. "You look stunning, my dear." But, she was naked. "Go
put some clothes on. There's some over there." He motioned to a standing
wardrobe against the wall.
Acacia hurried off without a word.
"Well, Alanna's going to kill us," Neal muttered to Merric and Kel.
A bitter, tense silence filled the following moments as Acacia dressed herself and
trotted back over to Joren. She had tied back her waist-length black hair into two
braids. She wore a silken black dress that clung to her body until just below her
waist and flowed out to her ankles. The sleeves of the dress tightened at the
shoulder, flared at the elbows, and tightened again at the wrists. The entire thing
was trimmed in violet.
"Do we have guests?" Acacia asked, looking at Kel, Neal, and Merric.
"We do," Joren agreed. "This is Kel, Neal, and Merric."
Acacia curtsied. "Hello, welcome to our home."
"Udaan!" Joren barked suddenly.
"Yes, m'lord?" answered Udaan promptly.
"Bring in Lianne!" he ordered.
"Yes, m'lord." He ran off, footsteps echoing in the room. A few moments later, a
door creaked open, followed by a panicked scream, a thud, and the sound of a limp
body being dragged across the floor.
"Lianne," Merric whispered, watching the limp body in tattered nightclothes make a
long, wide mark on the dirty floor. The three of them fought the urge to take up
their swords and defend a member of the Royal Family, knowing that the Master--
Joren, now, would prevent that from ever happening.
Acacia scampered over to a semicircle of a candles about ten feet from where she
had rapidly aged and gathered a handful of the colored wax. As best he could
with one arm, Udaan shoved Lianne into the center of the semicircle and backed
out. "Can I?" Acacia asked, motioning to the rest of the circle.
Nodding, Udaan grunted, "Feel free."
Merric ran forward, sword drawn, shoved Udaan aside and nearly made it inside
the semicircle when suddenly he was no longer there.
"It seems Merric was a little overeager, don't you think?" Joren asked them, strolling
in front of them. "But, alas, that's one less unwanted stranger here. Udaan?"
"Yes, m'lord?" Udaan stood straighter.
"Please escort Duke Nealan here outside," Joren instructed, turning his gaze onto
Kel. "Then, my dear, sweet Keladry, we shall be all alone..."
Joren reached for Kel and something in the emerald-eyed knight snapped. "Stay
away from her!" he shouted and threw himself in front of Kel, sword pointed at
Joren's throat. "I swear to the Mother Goddess herself that if you so much as
*move* towards Kel, I will chop your fucking head off and take it back to the crown
on a silver platter."
Raising a blond eyebrow, Joren looked down the sword at Neal's hands on the hilt.
The knight's knuckles had turned white, as had the rest of his fingers. "You may
want to loosen your hold on your sword. Don't want your fingers to stop recieving
blood, correct?"
"Back off," Neal ordered. Joren stayed where he was. "Back off, dammit!"
Shaking his head, Joren moved back a few steps. "Are you happy now?"
Neal aimed the point of his sword a little lower and Joren found it just a small
distance away from the bridge of his nose. "Back. Off."
He simply acquiesced to Neal's instructions until he was no longer within a
sword's distance of Kel. "Now, Udaan," Joren turned to the Bazhir descendant,
"I believe I asked you to escort Sir Neal from the chambers?"
Udaan hurried over to Neal and reached for his arm, only to find Neal's sword
buried in his ribcage. "I'm not going anywhere," he announced to the room as
he slid the blade free from Udaan and kicked the body over. "Not unless Kel
comes with me."
"Poor Udaan," Acacia commented from the completed circle. "Joren, when are
we going to start the ceremony?"
"As soon as the moon is completely in the sky," Joren replied, reaching for the
sword at his waist.
"That's the Sword," Neal muttered, keeping his eyes on Joren and wiping off
his blade on Udaan's still body.
Kel hefted her sword to her left hand and watched Joren and Acacia. Acacia
trotted off to a small, square opening on the wall further down the room.
"Joren!" Acacia called. "It's nightfall! The moon's up in the sky!"
Quickly, Joren drew the Sword of Abscador and began to stride purposefully
over to Princess Lianne.
*Shit,* Neal thought. *Can't let him sacrifice the princess...* Without thinking
twice, Neal hurried forward and tackled Joren at an angle, the Sword of
Abscador skidding across the floor towards Acacia. "Kel!" Neal shouted, using
all of his strength to pin Joren to the ground. "Grab the Sword!"
He hadn't even gotten the entire request out of his mouth before Kel ran to
follow it. She threw her bodyweight into Acacia and grabbed the Sword.
Joren managed to kick Neal off and rolled over, ignoring him. Slowly, he got
to his feet and walked towards Kel. "All right, Kel," he said softly. "Give me the
Sword. There's no reason for you to have it. In your hands, it's simply a
Sword."
"No," Kel refused, keeping the blade of the Sword aimed at Joren and Griffin's
blade aimed at Acacia. "Stay back!"
Neal dragged himself to his feet, his stab wound from earlier in the day having
reopened when Joren kicked him. He launched himself again, recklessly, at
Joren. The two tumbles to the ground, knocking some of the candles askew.
Acacia took advantage of Kel's distraction and easily disarmed the lady knight.
Smirking, she picked up the Sword of Abscador and kicked Griffin up to Kel.
"You, Joren, and I will be one big happy family, Kel. Why won't you let that
happen?"
"Because I," Kel grunted, feinting an attack one way and really thrusting another
direction, "hate Joren!"
Acacia blocked it. "How unfortunate...he doesn't hate you."
"Remind me why I care," Kel replied.
Acacia whirled, parried Kel's swing, and hooked her leg behind Kel's. As Acacia
swung for Kel's head, the lady knight ducked and brought her elbow straight into
Acacia's abdomen. The violet-eyed woman gasped and brought down the hilt of
the Sword of Abscador onto Kel's head with enough force to knock her
unconscious.
Seeing stars, Kel collapsed as Acacia unwound her leg from Kel's and ran over
to help Joren with Neal. The two men had been wrestling while Kel and Acacia
swordfought, and both were sporting some ugly bruises. At that moment, Neal
had Joren pinned. His stab wound had bled all over his breeches and the floor
whenever he and Joren had rolled around. He had scraped his elbows on the
ground so much while Joren and he had wrestled that the skin was raw, and Joren
had clawed at his face in an attempt to pry him off. Blood dribbled from a cut
on his mouth, and red scrape marks pulled across his face.
Joren didn't look much better. Both his bottom and upper lip had cracked and
were bleeding freely, his eyes was puffy and red, and his beautiful silk clothes
were torn and tattered.
"Joren!" Acacia cried, trying slice Neal in half with the Sword of Abscador. Luckily,
through Acacia announcing herself, Neal was able to roll away and reaffix his
hands at Joren's neck.
"Make her stop," Neal panted, glaring at Joren. "Make her stop."
"Acacia, stop," Joren said smoothly, even though Neal was trying to strangle him.
"You have the sword. Go to Lianne."
Neal jumped up, stumbled, and fell atop Acacia, sending the Sword clattering. In
a hurry, he crawled over and threw himself on the flat of the blade. He was dirty,
hurt, and running on pure adrenaline. There was no way he would let Joren and
Acacia reach the blade and sacrifice the princess. Not while he was serving the
crown. Never. Not while he still had something to protect. They would have to
kill him to get to the blade.
Gasping, Neal grabbed the hilt of the Sword and used the blade to raise himself
to his feet. It hurt to stand on his wounded leg, so he leaned heavily on the
Sword. Joren had kicked him in the stomach quite a few times and during his
gasps, Neal coughed up blood. *Internal bleeding,* he mused bitterly. *Well,
how about I just try to break this stupid Sword and end the gods-damned
suffering...*
"Where's..." he paused to cough. "Where's Kel?"
Acacia pointed. "Over there. She didn't put up much of a fight...how did she
become a knight?"
"You rhymed," Neal pointed out. Acacia grinned widely at him. "Wake her up."
"I can't," Acacia told him, spreading her arms helplessly. "I wish I could but I
can't."
"Fine." Using all of his weight, Neal stepped on the tip of the Sword of
Abscador and pulled back on the pommel in an attempt to break it. He frowned
when the blade wouldn't break. Normally, a sword would shatter if someone
applied that much pressure to it.
Joren laughed mockingly at him. "It won't work. That's an Immortal Blade."
"A what?" Neal replied, trying in vain to at least crack the thing.
"An Immortal Blade," Joren repeated, watching Neal. He knew Neal was trying to
stall the forthcoming events by trying to distract him. "It's the only one of its
kind. Made by storing immortality and godhood that a normal mortal couldn't
store in his body. Neal, you couldn't possibly break that blade by doing what you
are at this moment."
"Could this blade kill an immortal being?" Neal wanted to know, careful to keep an
eye on Joren and Acacia. When Acacia began to move, Neal whipped the blade
from the ground and trained it on Acacia while watching Joren out of the corner of
his eye. "Don't move, Acacia. Now, Joren. You were saying?"
"An Immortal Blade...kill an immortal being," Joren rolled the question around in
his mind for a few moments. "Neal, it could most likely kill a god, let alone an
immortal."
*He won't live long enough to test that information,* Joren thought haughtily.
"I see," nodded Neal. *Now what? I need to stall. They'll kill me if I don't keep
stalling.* "So, what was Cathos's wife's name? That was the question that
stumped us."
"Paska," Joren replied simply. "Neal, just hand over the Sword. I'm going to
lose my patience in a few minutes. This childish game has gone on long
enough."
"Well, I think in the game of life we're all losers, don't you think?" Neal asked
him rhetorically.
"You speak falsely," Joren told him. "Not everyone loses."
Raising his eyebrows, Neal turned his attention mostly to Joren. "Oh? Who
wins?"
"Everyone in this room except for you and Lianne." The smile on Joren's face
sent chills up Neal's spine.
"What makes you so sure?" Neal countered. *Shit. This is getting me closer to
the final showdown.*
"What makes you so certain that you can single-handedly prevent it?" Joren
asked.
*Fuck.* "Because I'm holding the sword that kills immortals, pal." *Whoo.
Smooth, Neal. Way to go. Let's keep this up.*
That seemed to stall Joren for a few more tense moments and give Neal some
precious needed seconds to think. *This is ridiculous. How the hell did I end
up like this? Something has to happen, soon. Lianne or Kel have to wake up.
Come on. Kel has a sword and no injured limbs. Lianne has the Gift as far as
I can tell and her mind should be in working order. Okay. Back-up plan. Plan,
plan...um. Shit. I can't run, they'd catch me a minute. I can't leave Kel and
Lianne in here. Somehow I need to get Acacia out of the picture so I can kill
Joren. I have a lame leg and my right eye seems to not want to focus
properly. My elbows hurt, my lip is cracked. No broken bones but starting to
feel a little dizzy. Bruises in various locations and internal bleeding. My Gift
should have taken care of the internal bleeding while I was talking to Joren.
Leg is next, bruises after. Lip is not a problem, it's already healing. Joren has
no Gift, but I have no idea what his magic IS like. He may have already healed,
but I doubt it. His lips are having trouble scabbing and he has a black eye, or
the beginnings of one. If he becomes a god tonight, he'll be one hell of an ugly
god.*
Neal coughed, and much to his relief, no blood came up this time. His internal
assessment of his injuries sustained and their status had been accurate. Joren
finally came up with an answer:
"But there's two of us, dear Nealan. You may be able to defend yourself
against Acacia, but against a simultaneous attack from both of us you would
wither and fail miserably," Joren said finally.
"That took you a little while to think about it, Joren. Are you sure of your
abilities?" Neal mocked him, leaning heavily on his uninjured leg. He would
have one shot at one of them. As much as Neal hated to admit it, Joren was
right. He would die against the both of them.
Suddenly, Acacia cried out in pain, reaching for her back with grasping fingers.
"Acacia?" Joren asked worriedly. "What happened?"
"Something...something in my...ah!" she cried out again, and one more time.
The last time her head flung forward, blood trailing from the back of her
scalp down her neck and onto her front. Three Yamani throwing stars were
embedded in Acacia, two in her back and one in the back of her head.
One whizzed past Joren's head and he turned his full attention on Kel,
crouched on the floor with Griffin in one hand and some throwing stars in the
other. "What in the name of Abscador is--" he began to demand but the
throwing star came whirling past him in the other way. He turned to find
Neal with the Sword of Abscador right in his face.
"Heads up," smirked Neal.
Furious, Joren grabbed the blade of the Sword with his bare hands and ripped
it from Neal's unbalanced grip as Kel ran up to check on Acacia. She was
barely breathing, wheezing, and looking at Kel with big, vacant violet eyes.
Kel couldn't stand to see someone die that way and gave poor Acacia a mercy
kill.
Meanwhile, Neal was staggering backwards with his life at stake. He tripped
over the candles left over from Acacia's rapid aging ceremony and sprawled
out on his back. *Shit! This is the end. It's all over now. Damn.*
Desperately, he tried to crawl backwards but his lame leg kept him from
moving too quickly. "Well, Joren, you win." Neal didn't imagine the tremor
in his voice. He had at least thought he would die like a man, with valor,
without fear and with fierce courage...but he was scared. He was so afraid.
He didn't want to die! "I guess you were right. The only winners in the
game of life are you and everyone in here except for Lianne and me."
*I have one shot at this. Miss and die.* Neal watched Joren come closer.
*He'll swing the Sword down on me. If I kick up at the right moment, I
SHOULD catch the pommel and send the Sword flying. If I miss, I might
catch him in the face, or have a split leg. Either way, I have one chance.
And here it comes.*
Joren came closer, and closer, and closer...raised up the Sword...aimed...
and brought the blade crashing down. Quick as he could, Neal kicked
upwards with his good leg, caught Joren on the nose, and knocked the
Sword into the eastern candle about five feet away.
Joren hesitated for a moment, grabbing at his bleeding nose, and lunged for
the Sword they so desperately fought over. Neal's hand closed over the
pommel, but Joren's hands grabbed the hilt and easily yanked the weapon
from the knight's hands.
"You must think you're pretty damn smart," Joren snarled, blood dripping
from his nose. Kel tried to tackle Joren but the blond-haired man simply
held up a hand and the lady knight was on the gound, pinned with invisible
bindings. "'Oh, while he's trying to kill me I'll just kick the Sword of
Abscador out of his hands!'" Joren mocked Neal. "*Not* this time. I get
what I want!" he shouted, blue eyes ablaze with fury. "I do *not* get
my careful plans fucked up by some brainwashed servant!"
Neal found he couldn't move. "This isn't fair! You're cheating! Do you call
this a fair fight?!"
"Fight? *Fight*?!" Joren repeated incredulously. "No, I don't call this a fair
fight! I call it a decent murder though! Your precious Keladry killed my
heir--*my* heir! The heir that I carefully prepared a special powdered
potion for her to be conceived with! The heir that I had Alanna and Jonathan
sleep together for! You people were supposed to *worship* me! The Royal
Family was supposed to fall and you would look to the only heir to the throne
left, a little goddess called Acacia! And I--*I* would be king!"
"You're crazy!" Neal shouted, trying desperately to move out of the invisible
ropes that held him to his spot. Or was his fear paralyzing him?
"What's wrong, Nealan?" Joren asked, suddenly calm. He pressed the tip of
the blade to Neal's throat. "Don't want to die?"
"No!" Neal gasped. "You're psychotic! I don't want to die at the hands of
someone like you!"
"Too bad!" Joren snarled. "You'll die anyway! *And* I'll kill your precious
Keladry too! Betraying little bitch!" Joren moved the blade onto Neal's
chest and began to press. Clothing tore, skin broke, blood began to seep.
"Yet, I don't want you to die immediately." Quickly, Joren yanked the Sword
away, causing Neal to yelp. That cold smile that sent chills down Neal's spine
spread across Joren's face as he placed the edge of the blade against Neal's
ribcage. "Say goodbye, Neal. I hope you had fun in this realm while it lasted."
With that, Joren pushed down on the Sword of Abscador and listened to Neal
scream in agony as the blade slipped through his ribs.
Xelena--ah, thank you for telling me that. I was beginning to think nobody
cared either way, besides IHL, Sandry, and Fanty.
Like, oh my god. This is the second to the last chapter. Can you believe this?
Only a few months ago I was churning out a chapter a month. Now I've written
three chapters in just a matter of days. Wow. *sigh* This truly is the second
to the last chapter. I'm not lying. I know I said earlier there was going to be a
chapter thirty, but chapter twenty-seven didn't have enough in it so I combined
twenty-eight and twenty-seven to get twenty-seven. Now I've got chapter
twenty-eight here...and...*sob*
**Chapter 28: Fall Away**
As soon as the initial shock of seeing Joren wore off, Kel and Merric hefted their
swords into the defensive. Neal hadn't bothered. If Joren could summon them
here just by the power of a bracelet, swords would do nothing against him.
"Welcome," Joren said again, his voice reverberating against the walls and
down their spines.
"Nice parlor trick," Neal replied. "Coming out of the shadows like that. Did you
practice?"
Joren chuckled. "So cocky. Always arrogant and obnoxious, as usual. I won't
attack you three, so you can let your swords relax. Holding that position can be
tiresome--I remember."
"Why aren't you dead?" Merric spat finally, not allowing his position to go slack.
"You mean to tell me that our dear Duke of Queenscove didn't share the story
with you?" Joren asked, his voice a mocking tone. "Why, I had one of Father's
mages create a simulacrum to send into the Chamber."
"And that's why 'you' died," Kel murmured.
"Bravo, Lady--pardon me, Duchess Keladry," Joren said. "You *can* think
without your other half."
"Where are Lianne and Acacia?" Neal demanded, trying to take Joren's
attention away from his wife.
Joren stepped to the side and motioned behind him. Acacia was on the ground,
at the center of four candles, differently colored and marking the four cardinal
directions. Something that sounded like a cross between Scanran and Carthaki
came out of Joren's mouth, and each candle sprung to life, producing more
smoke than any candle should have. The air became thick and heavy, the
product of major magic-working, and the smoke became a curtain over the
baby.
"Acacia!" Kel cried, starting to run forward, but Merric caught her and held her
back.
The smoke turned violet, then sapphire, and finally pitch back before
disappearing altogether. Where Acacia had lain as a child now stood a full-grown
female adult.
"May I present Lady Acacia," Joren smirked. He held out a hand to Acacia and
she took it, smiling. "You look stunning, my dear." But, she was naked. "Go
put some clothes on. There's some over there." He motioned to a standing
wardrobe against the wall.
Acacia hurried off without a word.
"Well, Alanna's going to kill us," Neal muttered to Merric and Kel.
A bitter, tense silence filled the following moments as Acacia dressed herself and
trotted back over to Joren. She had tied back her waist-length black hair into two
braids. She wore a silken black dress that clung to her body until just below her
waist and flowed out to her ankles. The sleeves of the dress tightened at the
shoulder, flared at the elbows, and tightened again at the wrists. The entire thing
was trimmed in violet.
"Do we have guests?" Acacia asked, looking at Kel, Neal, and Merric.
"We do," Joren agreed. "This is Kel, Neal, and Merric."
Acacia curtsied. "Hello, welcome to our home."
"Udaan!" Joren barked suddenly.
"Yes, m'lord?" answered Udaan promptly.
"Bring in Lianne!" he ordered.
"Yes, m'lord." He ran off, footsteps echoing in the room. A few moments later, a
door creaked open, followed by a panicked scream, a thud, and the sound of a limp
body being dragged across the floor.
"Lianne," Merric whispered, watching the limp body in tattered nightclothes make a
long, wide mark on the dirty floor. The three of them fought the urge to take up
their swords and defend a member of the Royal Family, knowing that the Master--
Joren, now, would prevent that from ever happening.
Acacia scampered over to a semicircle of a candles about ten feet from where she
had rapidly aged and gathered a handful of the colored wax. As best he could
with one arm, Udaan shoved Lianne into the center of the semicircle and backed
out. "Can I?" Acacia asked, motioning to the rest of the circle.
Nodding, Udaan grunted, "Feel free."
Merric ran forward, sword drawn, shoved Udaan aside and nearly made it inside
the semicircle when suddenly he was no longer there.
"It seems Merric was a little overeager, don't you think?" Joren asked them, strolling
in front of them. "But, alas, that's one less unwanted stranger here. Udaan?"
"Yes, m'lord?" Udaan stood straighter.
"Please escort Duke Nealan here outside," Joren instructed, turning his gaze onto
Kel. "Then, my dear, sweet Keladry, we shall be all alone..."
Joren reached for Kel and something in the emerald-eyed knight snapped. "Stay
away from her!" he shouted and threw himself in front of Kel, sword pointed at
Joren's throat. "I swear to the Mother Goddess herself that if you so much as
*move* towards Kel, I will chop your fucking head off and take it back to the crown
on a silver platter."
Raising a blond eyebrow, Joren looked down the sword at Neal's hands on the hilt.
The knight's knuckles had turned white, as had the rest of his fingers. "You may
want to loosen your hold on your sword. Don't want your fingers to stop recieving
blood, correct?"
"Back off," Neal ordered. Joren stayed where he was. "Back off, dammit!"
Shaking his head, Joren moved back a few steps. "Are you happy now?"
Neal aimed the point of his sword a little lower and Joren found it just a small
distance away from the bridge of his nose. "Back. Off."
He simply acquiesced to Neal's instructions until he was no longer within a
sword's distance of Kel. "Now, Udaan," Joren turned to the Bazhir descendant,
"I believe I asked you to escort Sir Neal from the chambers?"
Udaan hurried over to Neal and reached for his arm, only to find Neal's sword
buried in his ribcage. "I'm not going anywhere," he announced to the room as
he slid the blade free from Udaan and kicked the body over. "Not unless Kel
comes with me."
"Poor Udaan," Acacia commented from the completed circle. "Joren, when are
we going to start the ceremony?"
"As soon as the moon is completely in the sky," Joren replied, reaching for the
sword at his waist.
"That's the Sword," Neal muttered, keeping his eyes on Joren and wiping off
his blade on Udaan's still body.
Kel hefted her sword to her left hand and watched Joren and Acacia. Acacia
trotted off to a small, square opening on the wall further down the room.
"Joren!" Acacia called. "It's nightfall! The moon's up in the sky!"
Quickly, Joren drew the Sword of Abscador and began to stride purposefully
over to Princess Lianne.
*Shit,* Neal thought. *Can't let him sacrifice the princess...* Without thinking
twice, Neal hurried forward and tackled Joren at an angle, the Sword of
Abscador skidding across the floor towards Acacia. "Kel!" Neal shouted, using
all of his strength to pin Joren to the ground. "Grab the Sword!"
He hadn't even gotten the entire request out of his mouth before Kel ran to
follow it. She threw her bodyweight into Acacia and grabbed the Sword.
Joren managed to kick Neal off and rolled over, ignoring him. Slowly, he got
to his feet and walked towards Kel. "All right, Kel," he said softly. "Give me the
Sword. There's no reason for you to have it. In your hands, it's simply a
Sword."
"No," Kel refused, keeping the blade of the Sword aimed at Joren and Griffin's
blade aimed at Acacia. "Stay back!"
Neal dragged himself to his feet, his stab wound from earlier in the day having
reopened when Joren kicked him. He launched himself again, recklessly, at
Joren. The two tumbles to the ground, knocking some of the candles askew.
Acacia took advantage of Kel's distraction and easily disarmed the lady knight.
Smirking, she picked up the Sword of Abscador and kicked Griffin up to Kel.
"You, Joren, and I will be one big happy family, Kel. Why won't you let that
happen?"
"Because I," Kel grunted, feinting an attack one way and really thrusting another
direction, "hate Joren!"
Acacia blocked it. "How unfortunate...he doesn't hate you."
"Remind me why I care," Kel replied.
Acacia whirled, parried Kel's swing, and hooked her leg behind Kel's. As Acacia
swung for Kel's head, the lady knight ducked and brought her elbow straight into
Acacia's abdomen. The violet-eyed woman gasped and brought down the hilt of
the Sword of Abscador onto Kel's head with enough force to knock her
unconscious.
Seeing stars, Kel collapsed as Acacia unwound her leg from Kel's and ran over
to help Joren with Neal. The two men had been wrestling while Kel and Acacia
swordfought, and both were sporting some ugly bruises. At that moment, Neal
had Joren pinned. His stab wound had bled all over his breeches and the floor
whenever he and Joren had rolled around. He had scraped his elbows on the
ground so much while Joren and he had wrestled that the skin was raw, and Joren
had clawed at his face in an attempt to pry him off. Blood dribbled from a cut
on his mouth, and red scrape marks pulled across his face.
Joren didn't look much better. Both his bottom and upper lip had cracked and
were bleeding freely, his eyes was puffy and red, and his beautiful silk clothes
were torn and tattered.
"Joren!" Acacia cried, trying slice Neal in half with the Sword of Abscador. Luckily,
through Acacia announcing herself, Neal was able to roll away and reaffix his
hands at Joren's neck.
"Make her stop," Neal panted, glaring at Joren. "Make her stop."
"Acacia, stop," Joren said smoothly, even though Neal was trying to strangle him.
"You have the sword. Go to Lianne."
Neal jumped up, stumbled, and fell atop Acacia, sending the Sword clattering. In
a hurry, he crawled over and threw himself on the flat of the blade. He was dirty,
hurt, and running on pure adrenaline. There was no way he would let Joren and
Acacia reach the blade and sacrifice the princess. Not while he was serving the
crown. Never. Not while he still had something to protect. They would have to
kill him to get to the blade.
Gasping, Neal grabbed the hilt of the Sword and used the blade to raise himself
to his feet. It hurt to stand on his wounded leg, so he leaned heavily on the
Sword. Joren had kicked him in the stomach quite a few times and during his
gasps, Neal coughed up blood. *Internal bleeding,* he mused bitterly. *Well,
how about I just try to break this stupid Sword and end the gods-damned
suffering...*
"Where's..." he paused to cough. "Where's Kel?"
Acacia pointed. "Over there. She didn't put up much of a fight...how did she
become a knight?"
"You rhymed," Neal pointed out. Acacia grinned widely at him. "Wake her up."
"I can't," Acacia told him, spreading her arms helplessly. "I wish I could but I
can't."
"Fine." Using all of his weight, Neal stepped on the tip of the Sword of
Abscador and pulled back on the pommel in an attempt to break it. He frowned
when the blade wouldn't break. Normally, a sword would shatter if someone
applied that much pressure to it.
Joren laughed mockingly at him. "It won't work. That's an Immortal Blade."
"A what?" Neal replied, trying in vain to at least crack the thing.
"An Immortal Blade," Joren repeated, watching Neal. He knew Neal was trying to
stall the forthcoming events by trying to distract him. "It's the only one of its
kind. Made by storing immortality and godhood that a normal mortal couldn't
store in his body. Neal, you couldn't possibly break that blade by doing what you
are at this moment."
"Could this blade kill an immortal being?" Neal wanted to know, careful to keep an
eye on Joren and Acacia. When Acacia began to move, Neal whipped the blade
from the ground and trained it on Acacia while watching Joren out of the corner of
his eye. "Don't move, Acacia. Now, Joren. You were saying?"
"An Immortal Blade...kill an immortal being," Joren rolled the question around in
his mind for a few moments. "Neal, it could most likely kill a god, let alone an
immortal."
*He won't live long enough to test that information,* Joren thought haughtily.
"I see," nodded Neal. *Now what? I need to stall. They'll kill me if I don't keep
stalling.* "So, what was Cathos's wife's name? That was the question that
stumped us."
"Paska," Joren replied simply. "Neal, just hand over the Sword. I'm going to
lose my patience in a few minutes. This childish game has gone on long
enough."
"Well, I think in the game of life we're all losers, don't you think?" Neal asked
him rhetorically.
"You speak falsely," Joren told him. "Not everyone loses."
Raising his eyebrows, Neal turned his attention mostly to Joren. "Oh? Who
wins?"
"Everyone in this room except for you and Lianne." The smile on Joren's face
sent chills up Neal's spine.
"What makes you so sure?" Neal countered. *Shit. This is getting me closer to
the final showdown.*
"What makes you so certain that you can single-handedly prevent it?" Joren
asked.
*Fuck.* "Because I'm holding the sword that kills immortals, pal." *Whoo.
Smooth, Neal. Way to go. Let's keep this up.*
That seemed to stall Joren for a few more tense moments and give Neal some
precious needed seconds to think. *This is ridiculous. How the hell did I end
up like this? Something has to happen, soon. Lianne or Kel have to wake up.
Come on. Kel has a sword and no injured limbs. Lianne has the Gift as far as
I can tell and her mind should be in working order. Okay. Back-up plan. Plan,
plan...um. Shit. I can't run, they'd catch me a minute. I can't leave Kel and
Lianne in here. Somehow I need to get Acacia out of the picture so I can kill
Joren. I have a lame leg and my right eye seems to not want to focus
properly. My elbows hurt, my lip is cracked. No broken bones but starting to
feel a little dizzy. Bruises in various locations and internal bleeding. My Gift
should have taken care of the internal bleeding while I was talking to Joren.
Leg is next, bruises after. Lip is not a problem, it's already healing. Joren has
no Gift, but I have no idea what his magic IS like. He may have already healed,
but I doubt it. His lips are having trouble scabbing and he has a black eye, or
the beginnings of one. If he becomes a god tonight, he'll be one hell of an ugly
god.*
Neal coughed, and much to his relief, no blood came up this time. His internal
assessment of his injuries sustained and their status had been accurate. Joren
finally came up with an answer:
"But there's two of us, dear Nealan. You may be able to defend yourself
against Acacia, but against a simultaneous attack from both of us you would
wither and fail miserably," Joren said finally.
"That took you a little while to think about it, Joren. Are you sure of your
abilities?" Neal mocked him, leaning heavily on his uninjured leg. He would
have one shot at one of them. As much as Neal hated to admit it, Joren was
right. He would die against the both of them.
Suddenly, Acacia cried out in pain, reaching for her back with grasping fingers.
"Acacia?" Joren asked worriedly. "What happened?"
"Something...something in my...ah!" she cried out again, and one more time.
The last time her head flung forward, blood trailing from the back of her
scalp down her neck and onto her front. Three Yamani throwing stars were
embedded in Acacia, two in her back and one in the back of her head.
One whizzed past Joren's head and he turned his full attention on Kel,
crouched on the floor with Griffin in one hand and some throwing stars in the
other. "What in the name of Abscador is--" he began to demand but the
throwing star came whirling past him in the other way. He turned to find
Neal with the Sword of Abscador right in his face.
"Heads up," smirked Neal.
Furious, Joren grabbed the blade of the Sword with his bare hands and ripped
it from Neal's unbalanced grip as Kel ran up to check on Acacia. She was
barely breathing, wheezing, and looking at Kel with big, vacant violet eyes.
Kel couldn't stand to see someone die that way and gave poor Acacia a mercy
kill.
Meanwhile, Neal was staggering backwards with his life at stake. He tripped
over the candles left over from Acacia's rapid aging ceremony and sprawled
out on his back. *Shit! This is the end. It's all over now. Damn.*
Desperately, he tried to crawl backwards but his lame leg kept him from
moving too quickly. "Well, Joren, you win." Neal didn't imagine the tremor
in his voice. He had at least thought he would die like a man, with valor,
without fear and with fierce courage...but he was scared. He was so afraid.
He didn't want to die! "I guess you were right. The only winners in the
game of life are you and everyone in here except for Lianne and me."
*I have one shot at this. Miss and die.* Neal watched Joren come closer.
*He'll swing the Sword down on me. If I kick up at the right moment, I
SHOULD catch the pommel and send the Sword flying. If I miss, I might
catch him in the face, or have a split leg. Either way, I have one chance.
And here it comes.*
Joren came closer, and closer, and closer...raised up the Sword...aimed...
and brought the blade crashing down. Quick as he could, Neal kicked
upwards with his good leg, caught Joren on the nose, and knocked the
Sword into the eastern candle about five feet away.
Joren hesitated for a moment, grabbing at his bleeding nose, and lunged for
the Sword they so desperately fought over. Neal's hand closed over the
pommel, but Joren's hands grabbed the hilt and easily yanked the weapon
from the knight's hands.
"You must think you're pretty damn smart," Joren snarled, blood dripping
from his nose. Kel tried to tackle Joren but the blond-haired man simply
held up a hand and the lady knight was on the gound, pinned with invisible
bindings. "'Oh, while he's trying to kill me I'll just kick the Sword of
Abscador out of his hands!'" Joren mocked Neal. "*Not* this time. I get
what I want!" he shouted, blue eyes ablaze with fury. "I do *not* get
my careful plans fucked up by some brainwashed servant!"
Neal found he couldn't move. "This isn't fair! You're cheating! Do you call
this a fair fight?!"
"Fight? *Fight*?!" Joren repeated incredulously. "No, I don't call this a fair
fight! I call it a decent murder though! Your precious Keladry killed my
heir--*my* heir! The heir that I carefully prepared a special powdered
potion for her to be conceived with! The heir that I had Alanna and Jonathan
sleep together for! You people were supposed to *worship* me! The Royal
Family was supposed to fall and you would look to the only heir to the throne
left, a little goddess called Acacia! And I--*I* would be king!"
"You're crazy!" Neal shouted, trying desperately to move out of the invisible
ropes that held him to his spot. Or was his fear paralyzing him?
"What's wrong, Nealan?" Joren asked, suddenly calm. He pressed the tip of
the blade to Neal's throat. "Don't want to die?"
"No!" Neal gasped. "You're psychotic! I don't want to die at the hands of
someone like you!"
"Too bad!" Joren snarled. "You'll die anyway! *And* I'll kill your precious
Keladry too! Betraying little bitch!" Joren moved the blade onto Neal's
chest and began to press. Clothing tore, skin broke, blood began to seep.
"Yet, I don't want you to die immediately." Quickly, Joren yanked the Sword
away, causing Neal to yelp. That cold smile that sent chills down Neal's spine
spread across Joren's face as he placed the edge of the blade against Neal's
ribcage. "Say goodbye, Neal. I hope you had fun in this realm while it lasted."
With that, Joren pushed down on the Sword of Abscador and listened to Neal
scream in agony as the blade slipped through his ribs.
