Sabanti's lips curled into a sinister smile as she watched the group stare at her in disbelief. It was so easy to figure out where they were after she had eavesdropped on Kumraa and learned their whereabouts. Now it was just a matter of redeeming herself before the eyes of her Lord and Master. Tracking them down in such a long distance hadn't been easy in itself, but it was worth it...oh, how it was worth it to see them helpless before her now!
"You..you won't get away with this!" stammered out Jeneta, her heart racing in her chest. "You know we'll just get out of this somehow..."
But the smile on Sabanti's lips only grew wider. "Sweetheart, I've been 'getting away with this' for hundreds of years. Do you honestly think your silly little speech mean anything to me?" Her eyes turned hard as she looked at the rest of them. "You all have been nothing but an annoying thorn on my side from the beginning. It's time for this to end, and when it does, I'll be more than happy to present your dead bodies to Kumraa. Now, if you please..." She raised her hand and pointed them out to her demons. "DIIIIE!"
"Not today, ugly!" yelled out Ling. She looked to the other girls and nodded her head. "It's time to end this and put her out of commission for good. Let's do this!" She, Jeneta, Heather, and Prya held their swords close to their bodies as Angeni stepped back into the protective cover of Tao and Djoser. Kondolar nervously gulped.
The swords seem to come alive as the blades shined their power and strength in the fading sun. With their swords gripped in their hands, the four girls stood in a fighting stance together as the demons advanced, ready to defend their friends and all they believed in.
Ling was the first to fight as she gave out a loud battle yell and slashed down heavily on the first grey demon before her. She made a large gash on the creature's chest, but barely ducked down in time to avoid being cut in half by its impossibly long claws as it swung down on her. When she straightened back up, she back flipped away several times as it swung its arms at her again and again, the sword still clutched in her hand. Then on her last landing, Ling jumped up and did an expert spinning kick on the demon's head, knocking it back a few inches. Then holding the sword with both hands, she jabbed it hard into the monster's midsection as it groaned from the force of her kick. She then pulled sideways and cut the demon cleanly in half...the force and strength of the blade making it seem like she was cutting butter with a hot knife. Steam rose out of the severed ends of the demon, and with narrowed eyes, Ling turned away rushed to see if anyone else needed help.
Jeneta had just jumped through between the legs of her own demon opponent and stood up quickly to face it, sweat forming on her dark face. The two stood and stared at each other for a moment, then with lightning quick moves, rushed forward. Jeneta dodged to the left just in time to avoid the demon's deadly claws, then dodged quickly to the right as it swung its other arm down not even a second later. Growling and roaring in frustration, the creature brought both hands up and swung them down, intending to pummel her to death if it couldn't slash her to pieces. But that was a big mistake as Jeneta brought her sword up protectively in front of her with the sharp edge facing the outside. The demon nearly severed its hands off as its hands smashed down on it.
As it screamed and yelled in pain, Jeneta quickly crouched down and did a sweeping kick, knocking the demon's legs from under it. The creature barely had any time to roar from the new pain of hitting the hard ground before the dark-skinned girl swung down and cleanly separated its head from its body. For just a second, the body convulsed slightly as the head rolled away, then lay still. As she looked away, it was then that Jeneta saw another one of the grey-skinned demons coming up behind Heather as she just finished knocking one away with a powerful kick. "Heather, right behind you!" Jeneta yelled out.
The blonde girl looked up, then dropped and rolled away just as a demon landed on the spot she was standing in. Heather gave a surprised look for a moment, then narrowed her eyes and stood up in a fighting stance against her opponent. The monster roared loudly, but as quick as she tried to be, Heather was not able to dodge the deadly claws enough to get away unscathed. Red lines formed on her left arm as she ducked and rolled again. When she stood up, Heather gave out a painful yell and looked down on her arm. Although some blood leaked out of it, it didn't look to deep, but it still made Heather angry to know how that thing was daring enough to even do that to her.
"You'd better have had your rabies shots!" the blonde yelled out angrily. The creature, not intelligent enough to understand, only roared louder as it rushed towards her, its arms waving all about.
Heather rushed forward too, and right when it had almost reached her, she jumped high and double flipped over its head. When Heather went over him, the demon stopped short and looked around, not understand why it couldn't see her anymore. Suddenly, it felt a painful, excruciating jab in his back and chest, and when it looked down, the sharp, gleaming blade of a large sword was sticking out of it. The demon gave one last growl of confusion, then fell heavily to the ground as Heather quickly pulled her sword back out. But her victory was short-lived as the first demon she was fighting regained consciousness, then jumped up and rushed towards her. With narrowed eyes, Heather gripped the handle end of the sword and threw as hard as she could, just like she'd seen javelin throwers do in the Olympic Games. The sword sailed cleanly through the air, and as though knowing what Heather intended, imbedded itself deeply in the demon's midsection. The demon gave one last scream of pain and fell heavily to the ground
"You okay?" said Jeneta, rushing up beside her.
The English girl nodded and adjusted her glasses as she pulled her sword out. "Yeah...but I don't know how much longer we can keep this up." She gingerly touched her arm, which thankfully had stopped bleeding, and looked at Jeneta worriedly. "Wait a minute, where's Prya?" The whole time they were fighting, Heather didn't even remember to worry about whether the caramel-colored girl was strong enough to fight. She could be in trouble!
Both looked behind them...and were surprised at the scene they were watching; Prya was holding her sword out in front of her, its sharp edge pointing out protectively as she slowly backed away from one of the demons. Almost as though smiling, the creature bared its teeth and roared, thinking this would be its easiest kill yet. The demon jumped up and seemed to fly towards her. It was then that Prya gave a small, knowing smile, and she rushed forward and jumped in the air too. She flipped in mid-air, and using the momentum of the flip, she slashed down with her body and cleanly cut the demon in half sideways. The two pieces fell to the ground at the same time the Indian girl landed. When it was done, she lightly dusted off her shoulders.
Jeneta and Heather's eyes widened as they first looked at her, then at each other in amazement. But unfortunately they didn't see another demon heading towards her. She turned around a second too late and screamed, but instead of meeting her death as she thought she would, a young voice filled the air.
"Incantantous Flamourus!"
Kondolar rushed protectively in front of Prya just in time to let loose a large burst of fire from his palms. Instantly the grey-skinned demon was engulfed in flames, and it rolled on the floor and screamed in unbearable pain. Moments later, the still carcass of the demon lay smoldering, black smoke rising slowly from it.
Prya turned to looked at him with wide eyes. "Kondolar! Your..your spell! It worked!" Prya's face was filled with amazement.
But the young man barely heard her or anything else. His eyes were wide with shock as he blinked and looked down on his hands. "I...I did it? A spell of mine actually...worked?" He looked at Prya and saw the gratitude in her eyes, but before he could say anything, Ling, Heather, and Jeneta rushed up to them.
"Sorry to cut this happy moment short, but we still got trouble!" Ling said. She pointed to where Tao and Angeni were being surrounded by the two last remaining demons. The group was about to rush forward and help, but it was at that moment that Tao nodded, and both he and Angeni jumped up and expertly landed a kick in the two large demons' chest. The creatures stumbled and crashed into one another, and with movements almost too quick to see before they fell, Tao reached inside his traveling vest and brought out his whip. He cracked his whip and it wrapped around their necks. He pulled hard and yanked them to crash hard in front of a tree. Then seeing Tao's nod, Jeneta rushed up and slashed her sword into the tree trunk. The tree was cut in half and it fell with a loud crash on the unconscious bodies of the creatures, entrapping them.
When the dust cleared, silence once again filled the area, and the group allowed themselves a moment to breath out a sigh of relief. Then closing their eyes, the four girls concentrated and their swords glowed and absorbed back into their bodies, safely tucked away until they were needed again to defend their mistresses. Angeni rushed over to her friends and they all hugged her at once, glad she wasn't hurt.
"I'm glad that's over with. You girls were great!" the Native American girl said, smiling broadly.
"I have to agree." said Tao as he stood next to her and smiled at Ling. "You all showed you have the makings of a true warrior.
Unable to help herself, the Chinese girl blushed slightly and turned away.
Jeneta saw that and smiled. "Thanks Tao! But Kondolar was great too. I know you'll be a great sorcerer someday!" The young man blushed slightly too, and Prya landed a gentle hand on his shoulder to show she and the other girls always believed it too...especially herself.
"I bet Djoser saw that and must have been so proud..." Jeneta stopped in mid-sentence and looked around, finally noticing that someone was missing. "Djoser?" she called out, her eyes already filled with worry.
"Where did he go?" said Ling.
"I don't understand, he was just standing with me." Tao's eyes narrowed as he reached for his weapon again. "I don't like this."
Her heart filling with panic for the young man she had come to care about so much, Jeneta rushed off from everyone and looked wildly around. "Djoser! Where are you?" she yelled out.
Suddenly, a high-pitched cackle filled the air, and in an instant, the figure of Sabanti and Djoser materialized in front of Jeneta. Her eyes widened in panic as she saw that the green-skinned woman held her arm seductively around Djoser's neck...and held a long, sharp-tipped dagger in her other hand aimed right at his throat. The man's eyes were only semi-opened...as though he was about to lose consciousness or, under a spell.
"Looking for something, sweetie?" Sabanti chuckled. She pressed the dagger closer to his neck, drawing out a thin drop of blood.
"Let him go!" screamed out Jeneta. The rest of the group rushed up next to her and stood in stunned silence, truly not believing what they were seeing.
"Awww, I don't want to. He's so cute!" replied Sabanti in a mock child-like voice. "I want to have a little fun with him first." She smiled and caressed his cheek a little.
"Coward! Get your slimy claws off him and face us like a fighter! Don't hide behind Djoser!" yelled out Ling. Her eyes flashed with barely contained anger.
"But this so much more fun!" giggled out Sabanti. Her eyes glowed with mental instability and she laughed loudly. When she was done, she looked at the group with scorn. "Believe me, child, when the day comes and I face you in a fight, it'll be the day you meet your death. So don't be too quick in giving out challenges."
Ling stepped forward to rush her, but stopped when the woman pressed the dagger even closer to Djoser's neck. "One more step, and he dies." Sabanti warned. She nodded when the group was still. "Now, be nice little lovelies and take of those pretty medallions you're wearing. They would make a lovely gift to my Master Lord Kumraa."
"What? No, there's no way we're doing that! We'll never hand them to you!" growled out Jeneta.
"Do it, NOW!" screamed out Sabanti. More blood seeped out of the small wound as she pressed the dagger just a bit more harder against Djoser's neck.
Jeneta lowered her head in defeat, and with tears filling her eyes, she and the other girls slowly reached up and was about to take off their necklace as Sabanti laughed in triumph.
Suddenly, a sharp flying object flew through the air and knocked the dagger out of Sabanti's hand. The demoness gasped in surprise as Djoser fell limply from her hands, and everyone looked up to see a very disheveled General Zain walking up slowly towards her. Blood covered his face with streaks along with cuts and bruises, and his clothes were so torn, they nearly fell off his body with every moment in the breeze.
"Zain!" Sabanti hissed out with disdain as she rubbed her wrist.
The group of friends nearly fell back in shock at the sight of the man. "Oh no...." breathed out Jeneta. "We'll never survive this."
The man stood before Sabanti, his eyes hard. "Back off Sabanti. You're not getting those medallions before me. I know what a liar and manipulator you are. You'll just use them for your own selfish purposes. I'll die before I see them in your hands."
The woman's lips curled up in a sneer. "Is that a wish?" Before Zain could even answer back, Sabanti raised her hand high and a sword suddenly flashed into existence in it. She gave a high pitched screamed and flew forward in an all out attack against the big man.
But Zain was already prepared, knowing all too well the stories of Sabanti's lies and treachery. His reached down to his belt and produced his own sword, and held it protectively in front of him just in time before Sabanti's sword could strike him. The two swords crashed together with a loud clang before they pushed apart.
For what seemed like forever, but in actuality just a few minutes, the two were locked in the ancient battle of life and death as they blocked, parried, thrust, jumped and kicked.
Jeneta looked with worry at the still form of Djoser, but she knew she couldn't dare move for fear that anyone one of them might forget their fight and strike them.
Suddenly, Zain stepped back and spin kicked Sabanti away from him, knocking her to the floor heavily. Breathing hard, Sabanti slowly got up and she dusted herself off, smiling softly at him.
"Such a worthy opponent indeed." she breathed out, then lowered her eyes as she walked up slowly to him, her hand seductively caressing her collar bone as she dropped her sword. "Come now, we shouldn't be fighting. Let's work together to get the medallions back to Lord Kumraa. You know he'll reward us greatly. What do you say?" She looked up at him and blinked her eyes wantonly as she stood right before him. But Zain remained silent when she slid her hands over his chest and collar bone.
"After all, we are working for the same cause." Her one hand secretly went behind her back as she moved closer to hug him, and Ling's eyes widened as she remembered how similar it was to the move she did on Hun Li.
She was about to yell out when Zain quickly shoved his sword upward before Sabanti could make her move. As the sword plunge through her body, the demoness's eyes widened in disbelief, and a strangled gasped escaped her lips. How could it be? She was promised an immortal life by Kumraa when she swore her allegiance to him! She wasn't supposed to die! But that thought and the pain only confused her more and more. He lied...her Lord and Master Kumraa lied to her! Then slowly, she fell to the ground and lay still, her surprised eyes forever opened in death at how her she could have been so easily deceived.
When the last of her breath escaped Sabanti's body, Zain turned to the others with cold, unforgiving eyes. "We're going back to Kumraa's castle, and if any of you give me any trouble, you will end up like her." he said coldly. Beside him, Sabanti's body slowly began to disintegrate into dark sand, and when it was finished, it blew away swiftly in the wind. Soon, there was nothing left of the demon woman at all.
Fear like nothing she had every experienced entered Jeneta's heart then, and she knew that if something wasn't done, all that they have fought for and went through would mean nothing. Kumraa would win, and there would be nothing they could do about it.
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To Be Continued.
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