~Chapter 16~

Feeling the full force of Marfa's divine energy within her, Arwen faced Ka and narrowed her eyes menacingly, "You know I can't let you go through with your plans, Ka." She drew her sword before her and the light of the sun reflected off of it, "For all of Lodoss, you will die!" And with that, she lunged at the evil empress, blade first. With a wicked laugh, Ka deflected the blow and launched one of her own. By now, all the surrounding soldiers had fanned out to leave the two women room to fight.

"You fool!" Kardis' voice raged inside Ka's mind, "It wasn't supposed to happen this soon!".

Ka sneered amidst the swordplay and shouted aloud, "Who cares, just help me now!" And instantly, the Demon Sword began to glow the red colour that she had seen before back in Beld's ancient fortress.

Ka slashed the massive broadsword crosswise, targetting Arwen's stomach; Arwen jumped back and scooped the empress' blade away, flinging it upwards. Promptly, Arwen kicked Ka in the stomach and eagerly watched her stumble back; unfortunately for her, Ka was no longer Ka at all...she was all Kardis now, which meant she was even more insane and oblivious to pain than ever before.

As such, the empress/goddess charged foreward with a battle cry and slammed Arwen onto the ground. She tried desperately to impale her opponent's head with her sword, as the woman in question wriggled around beneath her. Arwen's hand came up from behind and produced a dagger that was unseen to Ka; with a sharp cry, she stabbed it in the empress' back -- repeatedly. To Arwen's horror, Ka did not relent.

On the sidelines, Silk held Rose back with all his might, "I don't like this!!!" The dark elven woman cried over and over, savagely trying to twist out of the thief's grip, "Let me go!".

Silk frowned deeply and tightened his hold on Rose's arms, "Over my dead body. Enough people will die...there's no use throwing yourself into the fray." He snapped sternly although Rose did not seem to care.

With a mighty effort, Arwen pressed the flat of her sword against Ka's and succeded in pushing the empress off of her. She jumped to her feet and backed away just as soon, her heart beating at a hundred miles an hour. She watched breathlessly as Ka whirled to face her, her eyes ablaze with fury; she proceeded to remove the dagger from her back, casting it aside resentfully. Why wasn't she dead?!

"Die, stupid girl!" The empress cried, her voice cracking with the strain. She dove for Arwen and engaged her in a hit and block routine, driving the woman back with every blow. Arwen was pushed back into the ring of soldiers and nearly stumbled into them as Ka continued to hack away at the Holy Sword of Falis; finally, tripped by one of the empress' men, Arwen fell back and into the crowd. Instantly, Ka was upon her, an evil grin spread across her face.

The empress laughed and raised the Demon Sword high, preparing to strike the final blow, "Lodoss is mine!!!" She cried and heaved the heavy broadsword over her head. Beneath her, Arwen cried out and stuck out her own blade instinctively, in an effort to protect herself; she closed her eyes and braced for the blow to her skull that would surely split her in two...but the blow did not come. Slowly, she opened her eyes and watched idly as Ka fell backwards, the Holy Sword of Falis dug deep into her chest.

Rose screamed a bloodcurdling scream as the empress' body hit the ground with a resounding thud. It came to her then that Ka was not going to get up again as she had after the dagger wound. Tearing away from Silk with monstrous strength, she cried out, "I knew it! I knew it!" And made her way towards the fallen Ka. Silk meant to follow then prudently decided against it as the triumphant Arwen emerged from the crowd of stricken Marmo soldiers.

Rose also saw Arwen. "You!" She hissed malignantly and headed straight for the half-elven woman, "YOU!" She cried this time, her magic courisng between her fingers. The prisoner-girl was going to pay...

Arwen, elated by her first kill, did not get the chance to rejoice too much when she caught sight of Rose's intense hate-filled visage. She silently figured that Marfa was still part of her, but the more she searched herself for the presence of the Goddes, the more she doubted it. Panic struck her as she realized that without Marfa's help and protection, she could not do battle with a magic-user of Rose's power. She had seen Kalie in action before and she had made it clear in her mind since that very day that warriors were not to fight against mages...at any cost. None-the-less, Arwen dre her sword and eyed Rose levelly...then she charged with a battlecry and hoped for the best.

Rose stopped within fifteen meters of her charging opponent and had already begun to mutter the incantation to a particularly powerful spell. The nearer to he that Arwen got, the more intense her mystical chant became, and finally, as Arwen's sword just about impaled Rose's belly, the dark-elven sorceress pointed a finger at her opponent and spoke one word, "Morte." The word escaped her lips in a whisper, which was a delicious contrast to the crescendo incantation.

Instantly, Arwen sighed and dropped to the ground in a lifeless pile at Rose's feet. Rose laughed, "This ends now." She breathed vengefully and whirled around in a swirl of crimson robes.

Silk came forward and started towards Rose, "Rose!" He cried, wild-eyed and worried at the entire situation that was quickly developping into something much more terrifying then he had previously expected, "Enough already! Ka is dead -- let's get out of here and try this silly taking over the world thing later!" He tried desperately, reaching out for Rose with shaky hands.

Just as Rose reached out to take Silk's hands, a beam of scorching silver light zapped between them, "Who?!" Rose sneered and turned to look in the direction which the beam came. There stood Kalie, a horrified expression marring her perfect face. Rose's fury swelled once more and she promptly pushed Silk away, so that at least he would not come to harm. She then returned her attention to Kalie.

"I beat you once and I can do it again." Kalie warned, throwing her hair back and flashing Rose a defiant smile.

Rose lifted her sleeves and summoned her strength, "Even without the help of a Goddess?" She asked slyly. Before Kalie had the chance to reply, she launched a fireball. The flaming monstrosity missed Kalie, as the elf had nimbly flitted out of the way, and crashed into the ranks of Marmo soldiers -- killing them instead.

Kalie landed a few feet in front of Rose. This was her chance to finally prove to her childhood bully that she was truly the most powerful of the two! "Fire arrow!" She screamed and a fire bolt appeared and sailed towards Rose. Rose snapped her fingers and disappeared, re-appreaing behind Kalie. With a contemptuous 'hmph', the dark elven sorceress kicked the half-elf's backside, sending the poor girl face-first to the ground.

"You were always so predictable!" Rose cackled and planted a series of sharp kicks into Kalie's side, "Then again...you are a white elf, and white elves are so stupid." She added, gleefully watching Kalie squirm beneath her boot. Kalie seemed to blank out for a moment, and this enraged Rose, "Why won't you say another one of your smart comebacks?" She demanded, kicking the bloody-mouthed and absent-looking elf harder, "Hmm? WHY?!" She demanded louder this time.

Suddenly, Kalie was all there again, "Wench!" She screamed and shot her arms up towards Rose. A blast of silver energy errupted from her palms and slammed into Rose, who cried out and stumbled back. Incredibly weak, Kalie hauled herself to her feet and trudged towards Rose, who lay about a dozen feet away, her robes tattered (even more!) and her skin a beaten mess.

The soldiers crowded and Silk was pushed around, making it impossible for him to get a good look at Rose. Almost madly, he fought his way through the mass of orcs and kobolds, swearing and praying to the Gods that everything was alright. When he finally got clear of the soldiers, he gawked powerlessly at what he saw.

Kalie straddled Rose and drew a long, thin dagger from her belt, "Never again will you plague my mind with insecurity!" She cried at the unconscious sorceress, Now join your empress in Hell!" And with that, she plunged the dagger into Rose's heart.

"Rose!" Silk screamed at the top of his lungs. His heart was beating at a mile a minute within his chest and he wondered why on earth the dark elven woman's death meant so much to him...then, he remembered hwo she had called him 'friend' back at the Salbad fortress. "You're dead, Kalie!" He cried, pointing a shaky finger at the elf, who quickly pulled away from Rose's body as if to disassociate herself with her murder. He stalked into the clearing of soldiers, where the bodies of Arwen, Ka and now Rose littered the ground. In response to his challenge, Kalie unsurely stepped forth, her bloody dagger in hand.

Then, before both of them could clash, the voice of Marfa entered every soldier's --as well as Silk and Kalie's-- mind.

"Stop this at once!" The Goddess demanded, her voice tremendous, "Those who had to die have died, there is no need to lengthen the island's torment by sacrificing the lives of more players!" She paused, then spoke again in a commanding tone, "Forces of Marmo begone, and never threaten Lodoss again!" And with that, every soldier that had served in Ka's army disappeared from the battlefield -- without a trace.

With Silk and Kalie now the only two (live) people left out near the Marmo sea port, Marfa's voice rang out again, "Kalie, return to Valis and share with them what you have been through -- and let it serve them as a lesson. This quest was never yours and you needn't lose your life to it." She said and just as the army had vanished, so did the stunned Kalie.

Finally, only Silk remained. Marfa's voice dipped to a disapproving tone, "I am disappointed in you." She said dismally, "But what should I have expected from an immoral man such as yourself?".

Silk ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes, "It's really not the time to be saying things like that." He snapped mentally, tears forming in the corner of his eyes, "Why don't you just leave me with my own misery?!" He cried aloud, his voice resounding off the distant mountains and open wastelands of Marmo.

"As you wish." Were Marfa's last words.

The Goddess' voice and presence gone now, Silk looked around at the open plains. A few feet away from him lay Ka's body, as well as Arwen's and Rose's. He walked over to Rose's and closed his eyes, then dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands...however, he did not shed a tear.

***

The purple clouds of the Marmo sky roll across the heavens outside of the window facing Ka's old throne. Atop the basalt throne sits Silk, deep in thought.

"What am I going to do now?" He mumbled to himself, his voice echoing in the derserted halls of the fortress, "What am I going to do now?".

Somewhere outside, the unintelligeable cackle of the kobolds can be heard, mixing eerily well with the grunts of the blood-thirsty orcs.

~ End ~