The End Part 2
Rae had finally mounted the path to the caves. She reached the small clearing that surrounded the mouth of the cave and looked around. No one. The cave's entrance was blocked with heavy, large rocks. Rae ran to the entrance, her mind in a dull alarm. Were the others inside? She tried to find a way to bring the wall of rocks down, but it was impenetrable. But then, just as Rae was going to try to run back to the portal and summon help, she felt a presence. She knew who it was.
Loa flipped down from a nearby tree, daggers drawn.
Rae breathed in sharply, surprised by the other warrior's pale face. Dark circles lined Loa's eyes, and her eyes were haunted. Rae drew her sword. She could feel no more remorse for this monster before her. This would all end now.
Loa advanced on Rae, not betraying any emotion, until she stopped halfway, doubled over by insane laughter.
"Loa…" Rae said quietly.
"Oh, Rae! Rae, my good old friend Rae's back!" Loa chuckled, flipping her daggers in the air. She smiled.
"Loa…?" Rae was confused. Evidently, Loa was very ill. She looked horrible, and her state of mind was betrayed by that strange gleam in her eyes.
"Rae, I'm so glad you came back." Loa approached her now, the smile slowly melting from her face." She sheathed one of her daggers.
"Loa, I'm not afraid of you. You know why I'm here."
"Yes, I do." Loa walked up to Rae, and pushed herself gently into the other's blade. "Go ahead, kill me."
Rae looked confused for a moment, until Loa tilted clouded, maddened eyes to meet green, clear ones.
"Before I kill you."
Rae was on her guard immediately, as Loa kicked her in the shins. Loa whipped up and around drawing her other dagger and moving away from the momentarily immobilized Amazon.
"Come on Rae!" Loa giggled, as if a child playing hide and seek. "Come and get me!!"
Rae looked up, her brown hair drooped over her forehead, and malice gleamed in her eyes. "You have caused so much pain to this island." She said, angrily. "I will stop this here."
"You can't stop something that you can't control." Loa said.
"Well… I can try." Rae said, and then lifted her sword. Loosing a battle cry, she threw herself at Loa, cutting Loa in the face. Blood sparkled in the night and blossomed like a strange flower on the stone cliff.
Loa didn't care about her injuries, she spun around and hacked into Rae's shoulder, and brought her other dagger into Rae's lower leg. Blood dripped from the wounds, and when Rae looked back up at Loa, her face was strangely serene.
Rae and Loa met again, and again, pushing closer and closer to the rocky outcropping that was the cliff. Below them, far below, lay the ocean. It hungrily growled and crashed at the rocks at the base of the cliff.
"It's calling you." Loa said, as she danced around Rae's blows.
Rae did not answer, just kept attacking. She studied Loa's disorganized, but lethal attacks carefully. They were too hard to put a pattern to. She didn't want to kill Loa, just stop her… Killing her was not her responsibility. But Loa was dead set on ending Rae's life. Rae dodged a dagger blow, and twisted around, forcing Loa to turn her back to the ocean. She had her where she wanted her. Loa had hate gleaming in her eyes. Another slash to the forearm, and Rae lost her balance. Bringing her right leg up, Loa smashed Rae's face and threw her to the rocky cliff's surface. Loa grinned wildly.
"You piece of Amazon crap." Loa smirked.
Rae rolled over and stared at Loa with focus and determination. "You think that your powerful, and you think you can destroy the Amazon nation. Well you can't! You could never destroy something you couldn't fathom or begin to understand. Stop thinking you're so self righteous, when your predecessors would be ashamed to know you were once a ninja! You weakling!"
Loa was stunned for a moment, a long eternal moment. Loa stared at Rae, whose arm was bleeding heavily. "You presume to tell me what a ninja is?!" Loa screamed into the dark, inky night. "You'll pay for this, you fool!"
Loa was about to bring down her right boot on Rae's stomach, when Rae grabbed Loa's foot and pushed her back. Gaining momentum, Rae brought herself to her feet, throwing Loa to the floor. Loa struggled to get up but she was unbalanced. Rae brought a leg up and slammed it onto Loa's arm. One of the daggers fell from Loa's hand and skittered across the edge and fell to the hungry sea below. Desperation in Loa's eyes, she struggled to bring her other dagger up to cut into Rae, but she could not, Rae kicked Loa in the face, and the other dagger was released from her hand. Loa was bleeding from her nose now, and her pale face was lit with anger, frustration, and hate.
"You can't kill me!" Loa said, her voice high on the rush and the heat of the battle. "This doesn't end this way!"
"But it does." Rae whispered. She looked upon Loa as if she were a lost and helpless child. "There is no more Loa, this ends… Now." Rae stood straight against the moon above, and her shadow fell across Loa's face, a face written with insanity and anger.
Loa smirked and lifted a bruised hand. "You forgot one thing…" Loa said, her voice low and distorted, her hand was surrounded by a ball of flaming light. "Time to die Amazon…" Loa raised her hand and the ball of light flew into the air.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Seconds felt like hours, as the orb of power flew towards Rae. For some unforeseen reason, Rae moved back, not even a quarter of inch. The ball of power nearly engulfed her, but somehow, she was all right, she looked down and saw, at the precise moment the pure power conflicting with the metallic surface of her pendant. Suddenly, as if the world was crashing down, Rae flew backwards hitting the cave's blocked entrance and slumping to the ground. The power though was still active. It flew down and hit the cliff. The ground shook horribly and the small rocky outcropping that Loa was immobilized on felt like it was floating, Loa barely had enough time to realize her power had split the cliff, and she was falling, faster and faster. Hurtling through the air. Loosing a final cry before she fell to the craggy rocks below, her words echoed through the quiet night air.
"Doshite arimasu watashi norowarete iru…"
And then silence.
*******
The silent night was now disturbed yet again Rae had gotten up and helped the Amazons free themselves from their prison. As the Amazon's made their way back to their destroyed village, Rae remained at the scorched end of the cliff… The cliff where Loa had met her final doom. Rae shook her head slowly.
It was never meant to be… She was never meant to live.
Suddenly she heard movement behind her. she turned abruptly to see none other than her dog, Teflic.
What's wrong? What happened…? He asked, startled.
Rae looked at the dog, her eyes written with sorrow, and sadness. Not for Loa, but for all the things that had died that night… Died at the hands of that mad fool. She turned her face to the moon, not wanting to speak… Knowing she had to, the words stung her tongue… And slowly she repeated the phrase that was now forever burned in her brain.
"Doshite arimasu watashi norowarete iru…" Rae looked down, to the dark sea below. "She was cursed…"
And the night fell silent, once more.
_________________________________________________