I LIIIIIIIVE! But seriously, I spent waaaay too long putting this chapter off. I apologize, and as a gift to you, my patient readers, an action scene. YAAAY!

Happy reading!

Chapter 19: At Long Last, A Boss Battle

"I still think using a sword as the third key was a REALLY stupid idea," Iris muttered as she shoved the second key into its lock and turned it, producing a loud cranking sound. "I mean, anyone with even the slightest amount of skill with a blade could kill enough demons to get the right amount of blood on it!" She looked at Poet's Wrath, which was stained with the blood of all three Guardian Mirror Wheels (Or GMW's, as she'd taken to calling them), along with that of every other underling she'd made into Sliced Demon. When Tobi didn't offer any form of defense over the design, she slid the sword into the final lock, and turned it. The lock glowed for a moment, before she pulled her sword back out and the door slid open. "I'd say that was too easy…" she glanced at the large wound where a shard of mirror had been lodged into the flesh over her shoulder blade, and was now wrapped in her other sleeve, "but I'd be lying."

"Are you sure you don't want to rest, before you try to face the hawk?" Tobi was turned towards the bloodied sleeve around her shoulder, voice laced with concern. "You're in terrible shape."

"Thanks," Iris said, "but I think I got this." No, I don't. She stared at the darkness ahead, and, a new torch in hand, walked into the tunnel, Tobi floating close behind her.

"My good woman, it's not too late to turn back…"

"Tobi, you are not chickening out on me right now." She kept walking, the torn hem of the gown trailing behind her as the light ahead grew brighter. "We're almost there."

"I am no "chicken", good woman. I am more worried about you…" He looked her over. "When did you last rest?"

"I have no idea." She stepped through the gold frame that lined the end of the tunnel, and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. "Ack, that's a lot of light. Now where is the hawk?" She glanced up at the clouds. "I don't see it any…" her eyes widened as they settled on the largest shape in the sky. "…Oh."

Iris jumped to the side as the giant hawk swooped at her, giant claws tearing up the rock. It turned to look at her, red eyes glinting with hunger.

"A human," it said, its voice a harsh cross between a growl and a scratchy bird's caw, "it's been so long since I tasted human." Its wings stretched out, cut off the sunlight. Without warning, the bird swooped back up, eyes glinting. It went torpedoing down again, beak first, and Iris jumped away. The ground behind her cracked into several parts, shaking the ground beneath her, the blade slipping from her grip as she attempted to unsheathe it. She grabbed it from the ground, held it in front of her.

"Tobi?"

"Yes?"

"Give me a nice funeral." She jumped again. The bird's beak attacked the spot she'd just been in. The bird rumbled in frustration, yanking at the ground. Her mind raced before she saw her opening.

Black ooze splashed from the wing onto Iris when she slashed at it, flight feathers cracking from the blow. She swung again, again, again, knocking them off, and she scrambled back when the hawk lifted its head and glared at her, wing dripping thick black blood.

"I will end you, human!"

"The name is-" The bird flapped its other wing until the gust knocked her to the ground. She stood again, ignoring the small rocks that had gotten into her wounds. "-Iris."

She didn't wait for the bird to try and knock her down again. Lifting her blade from the floor, she dashed straight towards it. The bird tried to swallow her when she was under its head, but she twisted away from the spot, and brought the blade down on the demon's neck.

CLANG! Iris's eyes widened when metal met metal, the long collar on the bird gleaming in the setting sun. Crap.

Its shadow cast over her as the bird stood, eyes bloodshot and gleaming. Iris froze, and the two stared at each other for a tense moment. The tension cracked, and the bird lunged for her with its beak, snapping as she lunged to the side and hit the ground, rolling away from another lunge. She ran, heart pounding in her ears as the bird chased her, leaving a thick trail of black blood from it wing as it ran. Iris stumbled whenever the bird took another step and made the ground shake, and hit the floor with a large thud, the blade falling beneath her and tearing through her sash. She rolled away when the bird pecked again, and stared at where the sash lay before looking at her sword.

…I've got it.

She rolled again, and forced herself up, ignoring the screaming protests from her bloodied knees. "Hey, egghead!" The demon shot her an icy look. "Come at me!"

"What are you doing?!" Tobi called from the side as the bird lunged, and Iris ran towards it. She jumped as it brought its head down, and landed right behind its beak. As the bird tried to pull itself from the ground, she crawled beneath the monster until she could hear its pulse above her. She gripped Poet's Wrath in both hands, and shoved it skyward.

The demon let out a ear-piercing wail as it pulled its beak from the ground, and Iris twisted the blade, squeezing her eyes shut as blood spilled from the hole in its chest onto her arms. She pushed the blade further up, and the bird tilted to the left, landing on its side with a loud, final thud, eyes shutting and the feathers floating away in the wind. Iris opened her eyes, and looked at the now bare bones of the monster, small buds blooming where it bled. At the center of the new flower field, something shined in the last shreds of sunlight, and Iris slowly, numbly, bent down and lifted the warm, dry comb from the leaves, and put it in her bag before she re-sheathed her blade.

"…I did it." She sighed, and the last thing she saw was Tobi dashing towards her as her body shut down and the world went black.