Shaiya lurched forward at Torak, mouth opened, fangs bared. Renn yanked an arrow from her quiver, knocked it in her bow and shot it at Shaiya in less than second. But Shaiya knew it was coming. She dodged it easily, by spinning to her right and landing gracefully a meter away. But Renn was even further ahead of Shaiya. By the time she had dodged the first arrow, Renn had another arrow flying at her head. Shaiya took drastic measures. She raised her hand, and waved it swiftly across her body. To the naked eye, it would have looked like the arrow would have just bounced off of pure air, but up close, as Torak saw, Shaiya had conjured a shield of air to protect herself. Torak was behind her, and saw that the shield was only covering the front of her body. He knew what he had to do. Torak reached his hand down to his side and pulled out his knife with his right hand, his eyes never leaving Shaiya's head. He raised his hand, but as he brought the blade down, Shaiya whipped around with inhuman speed. She grabbed his knife hand with her own right hand, rushed it past his side, and twisted it into his back, taking the blade tip with it. Torak cried out, and Renn, in response aimed another arrow at Shaiya. But Renn's nightmare came true. Shaiya blocked herself with Torak's own torso. Renn was at a proverbial dead end.

"As you may have guessed," Shaiya started, twisting Torak's arm behind his back again. "I didn't plan this all by myself. I have a master." Shaiya looked up, and let out a screech of a banshee. She reached down to a small pouch on her belt and pulled out a fine, red powder. She threw the pile down, and flames exploded from the small area. The flames grew, licking the ground. But the flames grew vertically, not across. The flames grew until they were just over Torak's head. Suddenly, the flames disappeared. In its place was a person. The Soul Eater, Eostra.

"Thank you, my best minion." Eostra's voice rattled. "Now turn over the boy to me." All Renn could do was stand in shock.

But Shaiya hesitated. "But master, I've worked so hard-"

"Tuli, now!" She said forcefully.

"No," she said bluntly. "I've worked too hard! I'm taking this to my world. My land. The Underworld."

"You can't!" She almost screamed.

"Oh I can. And I will." Shaiya took the heel of her hand and shoved it into Torak's temple. Torak's neck went limp. He was still breathing. Good, Renn thought, I still have a chance. "Hades will be so pleased. A living soul. For once I will be appreciated! With this soul, Hades will become living once again, and the demons will take over the world!" She smiled. "Cliché, I know, but that's the way it works." She reached down to the second pouch on her belt, pulled out a second, dark blue powder. As she threw it down onto Eostra, she screamed and disappeared in a small cloud of dark smoke.

"Now for you." Shaiya noted at Renn. She thrust her palm forward at an invisible body, and Renn found herself thrown back on the tree just behind her. When she tried to move, some invisible force restrained her and confined her to the tree trunk. Renn struggled with every ounce of her strength, but the invisible force didn't budge.

"Now, little Spirit Walker. You will bring my kind back to the surface of earth!" Shaiya reached toward the third and last pouch and pulled out a very fine white powder. Shaiya confined Torak to another tree, and took the pouch in one hand and her knife in the other. She took the knife and carved a small circular rut around her. Then, she poured the fine white powder into the rut. She somehow broke the force keeping Torak to the tree. It must be her power, Renn thought.

Shaiya gripped Torak's shoulders in front of her. Torak struggled, but it was no match.

"Bye!" She smirked. "Agor hon dirio at 'n agor lesewch!" The powder ignited in a blue and white flame. It started in the right side of the circle, and licked up all the powder in the circle. Once the flames reached around the entire circle, the flames grew to about one meter high. Just as they did, both bodies disappeared into a burning black hole. Wherever the rut was, inside it was a giant hole. From deep inside, Renn heard a cry. Her name. Torak.

"NO!" Renn screamed. She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face already. Forever. Torak was gone forever.

-|~§~| |~§~|-

To Be Continued