Ultimate Decision
Lilith flew and glided to the shoreline several kilometers away before she began to feel unusually fatigued. She dropped to a stone walkway and reverted to human form. She then glanced around to see where she had landed. She realized she was standing at the top of a sloping town. The stone walkway snaked through the village below. The village was decently large, which made the fact that it was completely empty much more disturbing. The only sound was the ocean on the other side of the village.
Lilith caught the faint scent of old blood. She quickly spun around to face the cathedral at the top of the village. It was much smaller than the one she was buried in for three days, but it was still imposing in its own right. A series of gargoyles hung over the side. Each had three forked tongues protruding from their mouths. Not surprisingly, they were like several of the tulpas.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Lilith did not turn around, but she lowered her eyes. "Yes, it really is."
Lilith resisted the urge to strike Kaliel when he placed a hand onto her shoulder. "You know," he said, "we can end this all, right now. All you have to do is leave."
Lilith balled her hands into fists. "You know I can't do that."
"You know what will happen if you kill me."
"I don't care. I'll still kill you."
Kaliel laughed as if he heard a bad joke. "Did you know? I'm only a few years older than you, but not as naive. Yet, I've been doing this for centuries. My family had a gift other than sustaining this island." Lilith allowed him to place both hands against her arms. "We had the power to reincarnate ourselves," he continued. "The same souls recycled themselves within a few generations, each stronger than the one before. But now that I'm the last of my family, and I have no children, there is no one who will be able to fix your mistake."
Lilith pivoted and planted her hand around Kaliel's throat. "I would rather they all die, than let them live like this!"
"Are you sure?" Kaliel asked defiantly with a weak raspy voice. "I think it's more personal than that."
Before Lilith could respond, Kaliel swung his arm towards her. A powerful hot blast knocked Lilith into the air. She slammed into the cathedral and slid to the ground. Kaliel stepped back and touched his neck where Lilith's nails had been. He felt a stinging sensation and some blood.
Lilith jumped to her feet quickly and charged at Kaliel. In a blur, Kaliel dodged to the side and rushed through the cathedral doors behind her. She turned and walked after Kaliel into the cathedral. He was standing on the altar with a large sword in hand. The blade was made of jagged bone. The hilt was a series of tiny skulls attached to each other. He raised it as if to salute her.
"A new toy?" Lilith suggested.
"Not really. This has been sitting here since I was a child in this lifetime. I used it to save myself during my first Blood Feast."
"This village," Lilith realized. "That's why it's empty. You ate them."
Kaliel leaned forward as if to bow. Instead, he raised the sword and charged at her. Lilith leapt into the air to meet him halfway. With her forward foot, she kicked the sword aside, but Kaliel did not let go. Then she spun in midair and planted her other foot into his chest. Kaliel flew backwards but landed on his feet a short distance away. He had barely touched the floor before running towards her again.
Lilith raised her right hand to ward the blow. She slapped his arm aside as he swung the sword towards her. He dodged to the side again, spun, and grazed her neck. Fiery pain blasted through her neck as she felt the skin open. She staggered away a few steps before Kaliel was on her again. She ducked in time and sent him flying with a well placed roundhouse kick to his chin. She then straightened and slapped the sword from Kaliel. It landed blade down on a nearby pew.
Kaliel recovered quickly and spat blood onto the floor. Lilith sprinted with one hand raised. Arcs of lightning flashed across her arm as she swung at him. He crouched and mirrored the move. Before Lilith could deliver the blow, Kaliel struck her in the chest with both palms. A powerful burst of lightning blasted Lilith across the room. The vibration caused some stone to shake loose from the ceiling. Lilith landed on her feet and charged him again. She thought she saw light flashing in Kaliel's palms. The two met in the middle aisle and slammed their palms against each other's. They clamped their fingers together and pushed against each other in a test of strength.
Kaliel felt his feet sliding backwards as Lilith began to overpower him. He dropped to one knee. A series of spikes suddenly emerged along Lilith's forearms. Kaliel leaned back and pulled one hand free. There was another burst of lightning as he swung at her again. Lilith flew backwards and landed with her feet braced against the wall. A few quiet seconds passed before either of them realized what happened. Lilith was stuck to the wall like a fly. Lilith's hair flew around her as she summoned more power. Her body was engulfed in flames as she triggered her demonic form. Then she launched herself from the wall as a ball of fire.
Kaliel vaulted into the air. Lilith passed under him and rebounded off the wall. She chased him to the bone sword in the pew. Kaliel snatched the sword and leapt behind a bench. Lilith smashed through it. Wood and upholstery scattered as the bench was obliterated. The flames died as she stood to look around. The bench lay in smoldering ruins at her feet. She returned to human form. Kaliel was nowhere to be found.
"Looking for me?" Kaliel called from the other side of the cathedral. "I still have some of your power. You'll never overcome me as long as I have it."
"We'll see about that."
"Oh really?" Kaliel pointed the bone sword towards her. "Do you dare?"
"Do you?"
As if in answer to her question, Kaliel jumped at her. Lilith waited until the last possible minute to dodge. She spun out of the way and reached out to snatch the sword from him. When she grabbed his hand, a strap of slimy tulpa flesh whipped out from his wrist. It wrapped itself around her arm and yanked her forward. Kaliel reached out to strike her, but a split second before he could, Lilith smashed her foot into his chest.
The two went back and forth for several minutes. Kaliel would use the tulpa flesh strap to pull Lilith forward, and she would ward off an attack with one of her own. In the final bout, she managed to kick the sword out of Kaliel's hand. She caught it in midair. An oppressive energy burst from the hilt into her body, but she refused to let it go.
Kaliel noticed her stumbling. He pulled the tulpa flesh taut. "Having trouble?"
Lilith straightened. "This sword. It's unholy."
Kaliel chuckled. "Who are you, of all people, to judge something as unholy? Your grandfather used to be a minion of hell."
"Used to. He wised up." Lilith raised her bound arm. "Besides, it's the sword's heart that is unholy, not the sword itself."
Lilith spun on the balls of her feet and swung the sword. It sliced the tulpa flesh easily. Lilith then aimed the sword for Kaliel. His hand snatched the blade before it reached his face. Blood spurted from the wound, but he clenched the blade tightly. He yanked the sword from Lilith and tossed it to the floor. The tulpa flesh melted off their arms.
"Happy?" Kaliel asked.
"Shut up." Lilith rushed him again. Kaliel raised a hand with flames leaping from his palm. He balled it into a flaming fist and aimed for her face. She swiped it aside to deliver her own punch. She aimed for his face, only to punch empty air. In a blink, Kaliel zipped backwards out of reach.
"You can do better than that," Kaliel taunted.
Flashes of lightning burst from between Lilith's fingers. "Consider it done." She blasted a large hole into the cathedral wall. Kaliel disappeared behind a pillar to avoid the blast. Lilith circled around the other side to catch him. He swung for her face, but she grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. She delivered a roundhouse kick to his chin again, which tossed him across the room. She jumped after him and began to pummel and kick him repeatedly. He made no successful effort to defend himself. He quickly realized Lilith was still growing stronger while he was getting weaker.
Lilith finished off the beating with a final kick to the side of Kaliel's face. He landed against the altar on the spot where his bone sword appeared. Lilith saw his eyes wander towards the sword on the floor. They both raced to reach it again. Kaliel got to it in time to kick it out of Lilith's reach. The blade slashed the tips of her fingers as it slid across the room. Covered in blood from being beaten, Kaliel raced after the sword with amazing new strength and speed. Lilith jumped to her feet to chase him. As soon as Kaliel grabbed the sword, he raised it to point the blade at Lilith. She stopped and crouched as if preparing for an attack.
"Not this time," Kaliel said. "This sword will decide our fates." He spat more blood onto the floor.
Lilith could not explain why Kaliel's words made her uneasy. "That may be, but it doesn't necessarily prove good for you."
Lilith waited as Kaliel continued pointing the sword at her. Then, without warning, he vaulted against the wall. Lilith moved to follow, but he flew up to the ceiling. Lilith watched in amazed silence as Kaliel used the sword to blast through the ceiling. She jumped out of the way as the debris fell. An orange ray of fading sunlight shone through the hole. She watched his silhouette climb through the hole and disappear.
Lilith tilted her head as if listening for the direction of Kaliel's movement. Then she crouched again and jumped through the hole in the ceiling. As soon as her feet touched the roof, she spun to find Kaliel standing on the edge. She ran for him with lightning flashing. Kaliel waited for her to reach him before making his move. Lilith threw herself at him as he spun to swing the sword. He knew something was wrong the moment he plunged it through her abdomen. Her hand swung around to hit the blade tip protruding from her back. It broke cleanly. She snatched it with her other hand and plunged it into Kaliel's heart.
Lilith and Kaliel stared at each other. Lilith smirked at him. "I guess this sword really will decide the outcome. Just not the way you thought."
Kaliel pulled what was left of the sword free and stepped back. He tried to pull the bone blade tip from his chest, but it snagged on the flesh and would not budge. Lilith stumbled as she grew weak from the wound, but she was still smiling.
"Go ahead," she taunted. "Make your move."
Kaliel spat blood onto the roof. "Do you want me to kill you?"
Lilith held her hand up as if inviting him. "You can't, but I really want you to try."
Kaliel scowled as if she had insulted his masculinity. He raised the broken sword over his shoulder and charged at her. Lilith made no effort to defend herself.
