VG Rumble

Caim laughed at Warren's demand. "Do you honestly think I'm going to open the docks back up for you?"

Luke's face hardened at what he said. "I don't think demands are going to get us to where we want to go," Luke said. "There's no way we can trust him to keep his word, and assuming he does open the docks for us, what's stopping him from coming after us once we let him go?"

Ilum sighed. "He's right. The only way we can make sure he no longer becomes a problem is to kill him."

"But he's a human just like us!" Raven said. "If we kill him then we're no better than he is."

Warren rubbed his chin. "Well, this is an interesting situation. Let him go and he'll try to kill us. Kill him and we become the bad guys."

"I have an idea." Everyone looked at Karana. "We know we can't kill him when he's defenceless, but if he were to attack one of us..."

Warren smiled. "I see where you're going." He turned to Luke and said, "Hey, Luke. What do you think of having a duel with Caim?"

Luke: "What?"
Caim: "What?"

"A duel," Warren repeated. "One-on-one, no magic. Whoever kills the other person first wins."

"That sounds a lot better than just killing him right here," Ilum said. "This way it'll be more honorable."

Karana knew Luke was stronger. He was the strongest of all of them. He would be able to take Caim easily. At least, she hoped.

Ilum and the others waited for their response.

Raven

"No!" Raven exclaimed, her voice cutting the air so suddenly that the murmurs of anticipation and agreement that had sprouted amongst the bandits died down. "You can't even consider such an irrational idea, Luke. You can't!"

"I think the decision is up to Luke," Caim said, his voice disfigured by a sneer. "It sounds the most inhumane means to me. You want me killed fairly do you not?" He risked a shrug, his neck barely missing being nicked by the blade and yet, he managed to look casual and almost commanding. His men grinned and snorted like a group of pigs.

Raven wanted to argue, she wanted to protest and even to offer herself in place of Luke - which she very nearly did - but instead, she remained silent and tried to catch his eye. He would not look at her.

"Okay," Luke said. "We'll duel." And then he did meet her eyes and Raven was so terrified and filled with such a devout regret. No. It should be me risking my life this time, not you. Never again should it be you.If you kill him, you might never be free again, plagued by guilt and shadows but if you don't... you can't die, no you can't!

"Luke," Raven said softly.

"It will be okay," he promised.

"Let's take this outside," Luke said as he led Caim out the front door, his sword still pressed to his neck. When they were out he released the leader and took a few steps back. "Pick any sword you want," Luke said.

Caim scoffed and went over to a pile of swords Warren had brought out for him to choose from. As the man was choosing his weapon Luke motioned Raven to his side. He unbuckled the small pouch around one of his thighs that held all his throwing knives and handed them to Raven. "Hold onto these, I'm going to need them back when I'm finished."

At that moment Raven knew what Luke was doing. By giving her his pouch of throwing knives he was making a promise that he would come out of this alive. She took the pouch and held it to her chest with both arms. "Please, be careful," she said.

Luke smiled as he placed an arm around her waist and kissed her. When he pulled away he smiled and said, "I promise." And that was that, he was going to come out of this alive. She could see it in his eyes, he was going to go all out to win and come back to her. The thought of him fighting so hard for her touched her so deeply she thought she would cry.

Warren nudged Ilum with his elbow. "When'd Luke and Raven hook up?"

"After you left," Ilum said.

"I have my weapon," Caim said as he made his way back to Luke. The sword in his hand was almost twist as long as Luke's short sword. "Let's finish this once and for all."

Raven got out of the way so Luke could fight. As the two men squared off against each other she prayed for his safety.

Karana moved to Raven and pat her on the shoulder as the atmosphere continued to get tense. The danger and strength of the men was almost so strong, you could feel it in the air.

"He'll be fine," I promised her, watching closely.

She nodded nervously, still clutching Luke's knives against her heart.

Ilum whispered to Warren one last time before all eyes turned on the duelists. "You've missed a lot since you've been gone. Trust me on that one."

And the duel began.

Warren

I've missed a lot, have I? Warren frowned but then dismissed his worries. Afterall, the split from the group had been necessary, it had helped him discover just who he was. He turned his attention back to the fight.

As the swords clashed, Warren noticed a trickle of blood along both blades but, at first, the duelers were moving too fast for him to see who was hurt. He decided it must be Caim and watched them move with interest, memorizing every step and lunge they made and smiling at particularly clever or swift moves performed by Luke, while frowning when Caim appeared to have the upper hand. Then Luke stumbled and Warren realised that the halting, thin stream of blood was coming from his leg and suddenly he was worried. Surely Luke coulen't be, wouldn't be...

Caim's sword dived forward, aiming to slash at Luke's chest and the bandit's cheers mixed with the sharp intake of breath from Raven who foolishly clutched those knives closer and closer to her breast. She's going to end up driving one through her chest in a moment, Warren thought absently as Luke dodged to the side and sprang back so quickly with an upper-cut that his sword slipped an inch into Caim's shoulder before it was withdrawn as Luke dodged back to recover his breath and ballance.

For a moment, the warriors stood apart, each sizing the other up, considering the current status of their fight. They were evenly matched. While Luke had struck the deeper wound, he had also lost more blood and both were breathing heavily but Warren was confident in his friend's ability to win. It helped of course that Luke had the better weapon.

Ilum tensed, watching intently. To think that they were evenly matched in speed, strength, and skill! They were both injured, Caim for severely, and the battle had only just begun.

"Come on, Luke," Ilum whispered, trembling in excitement that Luke was winning so far.

"Go, Luke! You can take him!" Karana shouted, still trying to comfort a panicky Raven.

Of course, the bandits' shouts nearly drowned them out. Luke still managed to hear them, acknowledged his comrads, and moved in again, swinging with deadly speed and force, leaping back or to the side to avoid taking another hit. It got to the point where it was hard to keep up with them, and the groups did nothing more than cheer their leaders on.

Luke squared off again with Caim, waiting for him to make the first move. He did his best not to give in to the pain, one of the most basic rules of fighting was to never let your opponent know how injured you were.

Caim dashed forward once again. Luke easily parried the attack, but as his opponent went past him he saw the glint of silver in his other hand. The warning alarms in Luke's head were blaring but before he could get out of the way in time he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his right shoulder. He made a quick yelp of pain before spinning around and swinging his sword at his opponent. Caim easily dodged the attack and took a step back to ready himself for his next attack.

Luke felt the spot where he was hurting and found a knife jabbed into his right shoulder. He wrapped his fingers around the handle and pulled it out. When he tossed the knife aside he thought, "This isn't good. My right arm is my sword arm, I won't be able to fight at full strength. I'll have to finish this right now." Luke exchanged his sword to his left hand and readied himself for the next, and hopefully last, confrontation.

Karana heard Raven gasp, heard her whimper. "No..."

Karana gripped her shoulder in case the woman decided to run, to get involved. It would only make matters worse. It would only get Luke hurt more, maybe even killed.

Everyone watched as Caim rushed Luke, weakened by the injuries, and swung at Luke's chest and head. Luke avoided them with some difficulty; it was almost obvious that he was hurting a lot. Still, he somehow managed to duck a full-force blow that would have severed his head, rolled around behind Caim, and shot to his feet, driving his sword forward and into Caim's back.

Everyone froze, waiting to see if the bandit leader was dead or not. Everyone was quiet as Caim just stood there, face set in an expression of alarm. Ilum shifted to the side, closer to where Luke was, and grinned. He could see fresh blood trickling along Luke's sword, the blade pressed deep into Caim's back.

He leaned toward Warren and whispered. "He got him."

Raven

I don't know what I was waiting for but as soon as Warren nodded in agreement with Ilum's statement, I rushed forward. I didn't want to touch the body but Luke wasn't moving, seemingly frozen where he stood with Caim sliding further and further down the sword, knocking Luke off weight, so I pulled Caim by the arm and laid him on the ground, pausing only long enough to close his eyes before turning to Luke.

"Have you got my knives?" Luke asked, half smiling and half grimacing. I nodded placing them on the ground and then I took the sword from him and Warren took it from me and I looked away as he began to wipe it unceremoniously against Caim's blood-stained shirt.

"Come here," I said softly, pulling Luke into a hug. I clung to him tightly and then leaned up and we kissed, his lips pressed softly against mine as I trailed my hands across his back and then took both his hands in my own and as we stood, locked together, I opened my pores and allowed every fibre of my magic to pass through into him.

"Next time I'm taking the risks," I whispered when we parted and I hugged him again.

Luke has gained Level 3 Intimidate!

Current Abilities:

Ilum:
Level 3 Ice
Level 3 Fire
Level 1 Gravity (Advanced)
Level 3 Burst of Strength (Skill)

Karana:
Level 3 Fire
Level 3 Lightning
Level 3 Ice
Level 2 Meteor (Advanced)
Level 3 Burst of Speed (Skill)
Level 2 Burst of Strength (Skill)
Ifrit (Summon)

Raven:
Level 3 Healing
Level 3 Water
Level 2 Lightning
Level 1 Holy (Advanced)
Level 2 Empathy (Skill)
Level 2 Metaphysical Shield (Skill)
Shiva (Summon)

Warren:
Level 3 Wind
Level 2 Lightning
Level 2 Time (Advanced)
Level 3 Enhanced Sight (Skill)

Luke:
Level 3 Lightning
Level 2 Void
Level 2 Healing
Level 2 Earth (Advanced)
Level 3 Shadow (Skill)
Level 3 Intimidate (Skill) UP!!!
Leviathan (Summon)

Izuki:
Level 3 Void
Level 2 Wind
Level 1 Bio (Advanced)
Level 3 Unlock (Skill)
Level 2 Burst of Speed (Skill)

(I'll be camping all weekend so I won't be able to post until Monday.)

Luke held Raven tight in his arms. "I'm sorry I made you worry," he said.

"Uhh, guys?" Warren said, "I don't mean to spoil the moment, but we've got a bit of a problem."

Luke and Raven turned in each other's arms to see the angry mob of now leaderless bandits glaring at them. One of them shouted, "Do you have any idea what you just did!? We're going to kill you for what you did to Caim!" The fact that they didn't have any weapons to fight with didn't seem to bother them as they began marching toward the group.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground in their path, causing them all to stop in their tracks. Raven looked at the man in her arms and saw his arm outstretched toward the bandits. Smoke gently rose from the palm of his open hand.

"You will not take another step closer," Luke said. Even though his voice was calm everyone could sense the threat in his words. Hearing it made Raven shudder.

Luke's eyes suddenly began to glow red. It made each and every bandit take a step back. "I fought and killed your leader under the terms we had agreed, even though he injured me with a concealed weapon. Do not forget what kind of power we control. I only need to wave my hand and you would all be killed in an instant by my magic. So don't think about trying to attack us, because you will all be dead before you hit the ground." His eyes flared with the red light when he shouted, "Leave, NOW!"

All the bandits cried out in fear as they scattered. Some went back into the bar and others dispersed into the streets. The red light in Luke's eyes faded when they were all gone. "Now, let's get back to the docks."

(Luke was using his Intimidate skill magic, just so you know.)

Raven

The echo of that terrible voice resounded in Raven's mind as they headed towards the docks; she was filled with confusion. Caim's shocked, frightened face would not be banished from her memory and the words of that dead man echoed in her ear: 'Has he not told you how many men he has killed in the past?' But then she looked up at Luke, at his gentle face, his soft smile and her reason surfaced: he had to do it. He is the kindest, bravest man I will ever know. Raven squeezed his hand gently and he squeezed back then they both turned their heads towards the docks and approached the startled ship owner.

"Caim is dead," Luke said simply, in his ordinary voice and yet, those three words rang across the docks and stilled the heartbeats of everybody there.

"It can't be true," the man who had promised us passage on his ship gasped. "And even if it be so, his men will not let us go. The docks will remain closed."

"Are you willing to make a bet on that?" Warren asked, suddenly striding up beside the man though none could recall him deserting the group.

"I'm willing to bet my weight in silver!" the man declared. Warren grinned widely, walking a tight circle around the tall, bulky man before turning to see that Luke was shaking his head in disapproval. Instead he decided to concentrate on Ilum's matching grin.

"What do you think friend, sound like a fair wager?" Warren winked.

"Don't be greedy, Warren," Raven said with a light laugh: "Passage on his ship is more than enough reward."

Ilum stepped up beside Warren, smiling.

"Don't worry, sir," he spoke calmly, confidently. "Luke and Caim had a deal. The winner of their duel got the docks. Understand?"

The man stared at Ilum for the longest moment. What was he thinking?

(Sorry if it's been a while since I posted, I couldn't think of what to write and I just kept forgetting.)

"If it's proof you need, look at this." Luke showed him the sword Caim had used for the fight. It was still stained with Luke's blood.

The man looked at the sword for the longest time, his eyes wide with surprise. "That's Caim's sword alright," he said. "I can't believe it, you guys actually did it!"

"So, can you take us to Drokonia?" Izuki asked.

He smiled and said, "I'll take you guys anywhere you want! You've opened the docks and now I can leave to see my family again."

"Thank you, sir," Luke said. "All we really need is a ride to and from Drokonia, after that you can leave us to see your family again."

"I don't think we've been formally introduced." The man extended his hand and said, "Name's Rick."

Luke smiled and gripped Rick's hand with his own. "Luke."