Kiri: GAH! I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated in like... forever again! Busy again... But guess what? I FINALLY got an idea! yay!

Chapter 32

I'm not sure how much time passed when I finally started wondering if we were really safe now… I doubted it. Vegar was still at large, and that was reason enough to worry. If I were him, I'd send every metal head and deathbot in existence to Spargus to wipe us out… That little talk with Dawn I had a few hours ago really got me to thinking about it. It's funny, really. When we'd had that little conversation, I'd been completely confident, but now… I'm not so sure of things. I guess I'm starting to realize that I love my family far too much to destroy it. If I stay here in Spargus and the attack comes, I'll never be able to protect them, but if I leave to find Vegar and kill him before the attack, my life is sure to be taken.

Decisions, decisions.

Either way, lives will be lost and hearts will be broken. There's no way I could live through my fathers death again, and he loves me far too much to see me die, especially after he hasn't seen me in so long. Not to mention I'm the last link in the Mar bloodline.

I finally stood up. I'd been standing on this cliff, staring at the sky for Mar only knows how long. I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to think. Doubt it was really doing me any good… I looked back at the Dune Hopper, and then I pulled the keys out of my pocket. I could go… I could leave right now without anyone knowing it… Sighing, I stared up at the moon, the gentle breeze blowing a few stray locks of hair in my face. The keys were in my hand, no one was around for miles, and I had everything I needed for the final showdown… The conditions were perfect.

Hesitently, I started up the Dune Hopper, pulled down my goggles and my scarf. I knew that everyone was going to kill me when I returned, if I returned. But I had to finish this once and for all. My foot hit the accelerator petal and I was off. Since Vegars 'desert hideout' had been destroyed, there were only a few places in the desert he could go without detection. Number one on my list: The Monk Temple.

I hit the breaks and the car came to a halt. I put on the emergency break so it wouldn't roll away, and then I jumped out and proceeded inside. Since Dad had clearedthe temple of Dark Eco Creatures, the monks had made sure to keep it that way, and had done a pretty good job. There were a few annoyances here and there, but nothing I can't handle. My footsteps echoed through the halls as I walked towards the top of the temple. If there's one thing that will never change about this place, it's the fact that it takes two years to traverse it.

Eventually, I was at the top level and, you guessed it, Vegar was there. Turning my expression from blank and slightly regretful to a scowl of hate, I slowly drew my sword…

"Before you kill me, Jakie," Vegar suddenly spoke out, "allow me to say one thing." He turned around.

"Speak," I growled.

"What do you hope to gain by leaving your family, coming all the way out here just to kill me?" he asked.

"My families safety," I replied, "I'm sick of losing them to an evil, scummy piece of shit like you. It ends right here, right now, and not a god damn fucking thing you say or do is going to change that. I will leave this place with your head no matter what happens."

"Quite a tongue for a girl so young," he taunted.

"Shut your mouth, Vegar. You won't be around long enough to hear my full vocabulary."

"If you say so, Mar."

"Now I have a question for you. How did you change back from an ottsel to a human?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh, it was rather simple. I just had to speak with the precursor oracle. It was rather… generous," he answered.

"You are a bastard." There was a long silence between us as we stared each other down. I felt my hatred and anger draw closer to the breaking point… any minute I would lose it…

"Do what you must, Jakie," Vegar finally said turning away from me. …What…? So he was just going to LET me kill him? Ok, something's… fishy. But at the time, do you think that appealed to me? NOOOO! I, like a fool, just walked towards him, raised my sword for the kill, and guess what? He turned around and stuck his scepter right into my abdomen! Oh, that was REAL smart, Jakie! REAL smart!

Pain quickly flooded my senses and out of reflex, I grabbed the object that had just penetrated my stomach. I knew it had gone all the way through. Call it instinct… Vegar grinned at me tauntingly, mocking my pain, then ripped his scepter back out of me. I stumbled back two steps before hitting the ground.

"Well, well. I knew revenge would be the end of you. If you only knew what an influence you had on my army… they were all scared to death of you because of your little legacy in Haven city," Vegar rambled on. I coughed painfully and drug air back into my lungs several times. I felt Vegar kick my sword out of reach. He must've picked it up because he complimented it. "This is a beautiful sword… well crafted… balanced… sturdy… It's obviously seen it's fair share of battle because it's been sharpened several times over…" I screamed bloody murder as he struck my own sword into my stomach just above the first wound and then twisted it. He was enjoying every second of this torture… "That was for that piece you took out of my neck."

All I could do for the next few minutes was gasp for air and hope that the pain would just go away. I knew it wouldn't, however.

"Now that you're completely defenseless, I have to decide what to do with you… I could kill you and then kill your precious family… or just keep you here and make your life miserable… so hard to choose…" he paused, "so if I decided to kill your family… what order shall they die in? You decide." If I get out of this mess, I'm going to hurt him SO badly… Vegar continued to taunt me as I just lay there bleeding. No one knew I was way out here, so whom could I count on to come save the day? I could hardly move, my sword was almost across the room, and Vegar had the upper hand… What could I do? Nothing.

This could be that last anyone ever hears of Jakie F. Mar…

Kiri: heheh... is that evil or what? And the title was pleasantly misleading. Not to mention the huge cliffhanger here. lol, you guys will just have to wait until I get 33 up! Sorry! (dodges flying objects and runs from the angry mobs with pitchforks and tortches)