CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Mankar stood with his hands behind his back, giving me that same agitating smile he has always worn upon his elfish face. He started to walk towards me so I took out short sword and pointed the tip directly at his heart.
“Rayden, I am not here to fight, or at least right now. Before anything else happens don’t you wish for me to explain all of this?” he asked while looking and pointing to the ship.
Jena looked at him with a suspicious stare. She was also still grasping the collar of Velvus, who was laughing up a storm during all of this.
“I’ll take the silence as a yes. You see, Rayden, although you’re quite the skillful little wood elf, you are also very predictable. I knew how easy it would be to lead you into a trap, so I have done just that. The war is coming to and end and I knew soon you would hunt me down in an attempt to assassinate me and sway to the battle to your liking. That is why I set this entire event up, just for you. Granted I didn’t know you would be bringing along this here Blade with you, but more the merrier I always say. Now I will be able to kill two birds with one stone.”
“What about the island, where is it?”
Jena pointing out to the sea, and there was no land in view except for the shores of Anvil.
“You imprudent girl, there is no island! It was all a set up. I know I sound repetitive but if you would silence yourself instead of talking I wouldn’t have to repeat myself, now would I? Now, Rayden, and you, little girl, it is time to end your lives right now. We are in the middle of the sea. I am afraid there is no escape this time…”
Jena turned to Velvus, slashed his neck, and he tumbled overboard and into the water. Then she faced Mankar and charged towards him. I tried to stop her but she had already past me. Mankar simply smiled and threw a shock spell. The spell hit Jena in the chest and she flew back a couple feet. Her body rolled awkwardly on the deck of the ship and I heard a bone crack, but I’m not sure which one it was. Jena screamed out in agony as she squirmed around trying to subdue the pain.
Then Mankar looked at me and said, “It seems you’re injured, my little wood elf. That’s too bad. I was hoping for a better fight.”
Next he shot another spell, this one towards my head. I ducked just in time and spell flew off into the distance. Before I could do anything else another spell came my way, and again I dodged it, this time by rolling to my left. I landed on my right shoulder as I rolled, and it hurt dearly. But I couldn’t stay down for long because the spells kept coming and coming non stop. Finally my luck ran out and one of them hit me square in the chest. I flew to my right and smacked into the side of the ledge, hitting my shoulder once again. I turned around to see what was going on and Jena was charging at Mankar again, and it appeared that she was favoring her left knee a bit.
Mankar saw her coming and unsheathed a long Elven Claymore, and a fight commenced between the two. Jena swung at Mankar’s head but he simply laughed again and blocked it. She swung again but her injury disabled her from being affective at all. I got up to help out but it was too late. After taking another swipe, Jena missed entirely, and Mankar too advantage of the miss. He took his blade and shoved it as hard as he could into Jena’s armor. The blade appeared from Jena’s back and I watched in horror as her body shook and then we limp. Then Mankar pulled his sword from her body and she fell to the ground, lifeless.
I couldn’t believe it…she was dead. I hadn’t even known for a mere day and already she was gone. I never got to know her that well, but despite that I was almost on the verge of tears. I can’t explain it, I just…I don’t know, felt like Jena was really one of the good guys. I never thought she was going to die, not for a second. But there she was, lying in a pool of pool of blood.
And there Mankar was, standing over Jena’s body. And again, for the umpteenth time, he had that malevolent grin upon him. I wanted to strike that smile off of his face with my blade, but I’ll admit, for the first time I was actually scared. My arm was hurting like hell. And, just as Mankar had already mentioned, there was no place to run. I had no other choice but to face me adversary, one on one. It was obviously the honorable way. But what was to become of me now? Could I really take down Mankar, the evil sorcerer, with all of my injuries? Even if I was healthy I don’t think my chances would have been high.
“By look on your face I can see that you already doubt yourself, Rayden.”
He was trying to play a mind game with me; trying to get me down on myself. It was true that he was more skillful than I, but only because of his magical powers. But of course I being injured greatly disabled me from performing at my fullest, as I have already mentioned. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, though. Not after what he did to Jena.
“Look at your arm, Rayden. You are in no condition to fight, but oh well. I have heard about your superb fighting skills, and I was hoping for a grand finale of a fight between you and I. But it doesn’t matter. Either way you were going to die. I suppose this will only make things quicker. Then I can move on to more important things.”
Then surprisingly he shot a spell at me. I wasn’t paying any attention and it took me by surprise. The spell did not hit my body, but it did hit my blade. The sword flew from my hand and landed somewhere in the sea. I immediately looked for Jena’s blade but Mankar was already holding it.
“Looking for this, Rayden?” He took the blade and flung it overboard into the water.
Then I looked at the three guards and their swords had already been thrown into the water as well. It looked as if all was lost.
“Face it, Rayden, it’s over for you. Why not simply give up?”
He charged at me and swung his claymore. I dove to my right and rolled over, hurting my shoulder in the process. But I blocked out the pain as much as I could. He swung again but this time I ducked under the blade and tackled Mankar to the ground. Even though he was a lot taller than me I was still able to bring him down. I was on top of him and I punched him twice in the nose. Blood splashed into my eyes but I kept on swinging. Then he shot a spell at me and I flew straight up into the air. Mankar rolled to his left just as I hit the ground.
He grabbed his sword, which was lying to his right and as he was getting up from the wooden floor I saw something glimmer to my right: a steel dagger! I took the knife and turned to Mankar. He was running at me full speed with his claymore held high. As fast as I could I reared back and threw the dagger at him. The small blade hit him square in the chest. And when that blade made contact the evil smile was finally wiped away from his face, and in its place was that of shock and dismay.
His body began to fall forwards and as it did it ran into me. I flew back and hit my head hard on the wall of the ship ledge. When I fell to the ground I saw Mankar lying on the ground. His face was blank and his eyes were wide open. But he was dead…he was finally dead. Then, I looked up into the sky and I swear I could see Jena hovering in the air. But I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it, because slowly my eyes began to become blurry, and then finally everything went dark.
On to the next chapter
Mankar stood with his hands behind his back, giving me that same agitating smile he has always worn upon his elfish face. He started to walk towards me so I took out short sword and pointed the tip directly at his heart.
“Rayden, I am not here to fight, or at least right now. Before anything else happens don’t you wish for me to explain all of this?” he asked while looking and pointing to the ship.
Jena looked at him with a suspicious stare. She was also still grasping the collar of Velvus, who was laughing up a storm during all of this.
“I’ll take the silence as a yes. You see, Rayden, although you’re quite the skillful little wood elf, you are also very predictable. I knew how easy it would be to lead you into a trap, so I have done just that. The war is coming to and end and I knew soon you would hunt me down in an attempt to assassinate me and sway to the battle to your liking. That is why I set this entire event up, just for you. Granted I didn’t know you would be bringing along this here Blade with you, but more the merrier I always say. Now I will be able to kill two birds with one stone.”
“What about the island, where is it?”
Jena pointing out to the sea, and there was no land in view except for the shores of Anvil.
“You imprudent girl, there is no island! It was all a set up. I know I sound repetitive but if you would silence yourself instead of talking I wouldn’t have to repeat myself, now would I? Now, Rayden, and you, little girl, it is time to end your lives right now. We are in the middle of the sea. I am afraid there is no escape this time…”
Jena turned to Velvus, slashed his neck, and he tumbled overboard and into the water. Then she faced Mankar and charged towards him. I tried to stop her but she had already past me. Mankar simply smiled and threw a shock spell. The spell hit Jena in the chest and she flew back a couple feet. Her body rolled awkwardly on the deck of the ship and I heard a bone crack, but I’m not sure which one it was. Jena screamed out in agony as she squirmed around trying to subdue the pain.
Then Mankar looked at me and said, “It seems you’re injured, my little wood elf. That’s too bad. I was hoping for a better fight.”
Next he shot another spell, this one towards my head. I ducked just in time and spell flew off into the distance. Before I could do anything else another spell came my way, and again I dodged it, this time by rolling to my left. I landed on my right shoulder as I rolled, and it hurt dearly. But I couldn’t stay down for long because the spells kept coming and coming non stop. Finally my luck ran out and one of them hit me square in the chest. I flew to my right and smacked into the side of the ledge, hitting my shoulder once again. I turned around to see what was going on and Jena was charging at Mankar again, and it appeared that she was favoring her left knee a bit.
Mankar saw her coming and unsheathed a long Elven Claymore, and a fight commenced between the two. Jena swung at Mankar’s head but he simply laughed again and blocked it. She swung again but her injury disabled her from being affective at all. I got up to help out but it was too late. After taking another swipe, Jena missed entirely, and Mankar too advantage of the miss. He took his blade and shoved it as hard as he could into Jena’s armor. The blade appeared from Jena’s back and I watched in horror as her body shook and then we limp. Then Mankar pulled his sword from her body and she fell to the ground, lifeless.
I couldn’t believe it…she was dead. I hadn’t even known for a mere day and already she was gone. I never got to know her that well, but despite that I was almost on the verge of tears. I can’t explain it, I just…I don’t know, felt like Jena was really one of the good guys. I never thought she was going to die, not for a second. But there she was, lying in a pool of pool of blood.
And there Mankar was, standing over Jena’s body. And again, for the umpteenth time, he had that malevolent grin upon him. I wanted to strike that smile off of his face with my blade, but I’ll admit, for the first time I was actually scared. My arm was hurting like hell. And, just as Mankar had already mentioned, there was no place to run. I had no other choice but to face me adversary, one on one. It was obviously the honorable way. But what was to become of me now? Could I really take down Mankar, the evil sorcerer, with all of my injuries? Even if I was healthy I don’t think my chances would have been high.
“By look on your face I can see that you already doubt yourself, Rayden.”
He was trying to play a mind game with me; trying to get me down on myself. It was true that he was more skillful than I, but only because of his magical powers. But of course I being injured greatly disabled me from performing at my fullest, as I have already mentioned. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, though. Not after what he did to Jena.
“Look at your arm, Rayden. You are in no condition to fight, but oh well. I have heard about your superb fighting skills, and I was hoping for a grand finale of a fight between you and I. But it doesn’t matter. Either way you were going to die. I suppose this will only make things quicker. Then I can move on to more important things.”
Then surprisingly he shot a spell at me. I wasn’t paying any attention and it took me by surprise. The spell did not hit my body, but it did hit my blade. The sword flew from my hand and landed somewhere in the sea. I immediately looked for Jena’s blade but Mankar was already holding it.
“Looking for this, Rayden?” He took the blade and flung it overboard into the water.
Then I looked at the three guards and their swords had already been thrown into the water as well. It looked as if all was lost.
“Face it, Rayden, it’s over for you. Why not simply give up?”
He charged at me and swung his claymore. I dove to my right and rolled over, hurting my shoulder in the process. But I blocked out the pain as much as I could. He swung again but this time I ducked under the blade and tackled Mankar to the ground. Even though he was a lot taller than me I was still able to bring him down. I was on top of him and I punched him twice in the nose. Blood splashed into my eyes but I kept on swinging. Then he shot a spell at me and I flew straight up into the air. Mankar rolled to his left just as I hit the ground.
He grabbed his sword, which was lying to his right and as he was getting up from the wooden floor I saw something glimmer to my right: a steel dagger! I took the knife and turned to Mankar. He was running at me full speed with his claymore held high. As fast as I could I reared back and threw the dagger at him. The small blade hit him square in the chest. And when that blade made contact the evil smile was finally wiped away from his face, and in its place was that of shock and dismay.
His body began to fall forwards and as it did it ran into me. I flew back and hit my head hard on the wall of the ship ledge. When I fell to the ground I saw Mankar lying on the ground. His face was blank and his eyes were wide open. But he was dead…he was finally dead. Then, I looked up into the sky and I swear I could see Jena hovering in the air. But I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it, because slowly my eyes began to become blurry, and then finally everything went dark.
On to the next chapter