Chapter Twenty-Eight: Ashes to Ashes
I charged up at Charon, sort of flying. As I made my slash, he parried it once again with the center of his new staff, causing another shockwave and stirring the dust on the floating islands.
In the air, we did a set of quick attacks and parries, neither Charon nor I scoring a hit. Falling to the island below us, we blazed at each other, cutting in attacks too fast to be seen by normal humans.
After the clash, Charon and I stood on opposite sides of the dusty, small floating island. We paused for a moment, our backs to each other, in a recoil pose. A small bit of my coat sleeve was cut, but I turned around to see a gash in Charon's side. He was bleeding a little.
"Hah! It'll take more than a flesh wound to slow me down," Charon proclaimed. "Just as all the other heroes challenged me, so you will meet their fate, as well!"
"No taunts will work any more, Charon. Nothing will weaken my resolve," I told him.
"Taunt? Who's taunting? You see the dust on these islands?" he asked me. "That isn't dust. Those are the ashes of all the 'heroes' I've killed. And after I have killed you, you shall meet the same fate!" Charon yelled, charging at me.
I blocked his attack again, then we did a few sets of quick attacks and parries. Eventually I got in a couple slashes on his arms, but then Charon thrusted me in the shin. It hurt… a lot. I was barely able to stand.
"You see? All 'heroes' fall before me. You will be no different!" he yelled. Whirling his quarterstaff above him, then bringing it down, the staff nearly tore me in half. I stuck my blade in the ground, then used the handle to swing around and get out of the way.
After Charon's attack, I pulled my blade out of the ground, then dragged it along until I was close to him. I then slashed it upward, jumping into the sky along with my attack, giving Charon a deep cut on his shoulder joint.
Apparently, he really didn't like being cut in his shoulder. Because after I made my attack, Charon got this really twisted look in his eyes…
Charon slowly flew up into the sky, drawing a ball of light energy around him. Then, with a great explosion, all the islands were destroyed, and I lost consciousness for a moment.
When I regained consiciousness, I was standing on… nothing. The white sky wasn't gone, but it was dotted with black stars, kind of like an inverted outer space. Charon then floated back down.
I knew it was the eleventh hour. My last chance.
