Chapter 22 - The Witch and the Assassin

I looked up at Elowyn and Grace. Both were still on the magic carpet. Elowyn looked a lot more triumphant. “Besides,” Elowyn began, “This ‘stranger’ knew a lot more than you did.” She sent another blast of earth at Assassin.

First and foremost, I needed a new body. If anything, to buy myself some more time, this momentary distraction allowed me to prevent getting the weapon taken away. Even if it means Assassin gets my sword and shield.

“Teamwork time. Elowyn, Grace! I need you both to knock down the Witch!” I shouted for them. I trusted they knew what my plan was, as they dove for the witch, I made for my next move, I plunged the blade deep into myself.

I now had a nice second wound, even if it sucked having to go through the trouble of getting stabbed a second time.

Elowyn and Grace, meanwhile, had already closed the proper distance; they tried to ram right into her to knock her to the ground, but she flew out of the way.

“Nice try, I know what you’re doing, and it will not work. You cannot spray me with blood while I’m up here, and your friends will try and fail.” The Witch jeered at me. She dodged another shot at her from Elowyn and Grace.

Assassin, getting out of his momentary shock, made his way towards me. I felt weak; I would undoubtedly lose at this rate. I thought of a different way, the way I saw it. The Witch was the bigger threat here.

She dodged another attack, getting a bit fed up, she chased after Elowyn and Grace.

“You’re exhausted, and I’m able to block all the blood splatter; I’m afraid you'll lose.” Assassin sneered. “Besides, you wanted the body of that witch, right?”

I looked over at him. “No, I wanted yours. I simply needed her out of the way, so now it’s just–cough–you and me.” I hobbled my way towards Assassin, who stood still, looking at me as if I were something weak and pitied.

All I needed to do was get one hit in, and I won, and now I didn’t have the Witch blasting me aside.

Assassin made a swing in my direction, I exhausted almost all of my energy to dodge, and I lost my footing and stumbled back.

“Heh, heh…” Assassin himself was also looking a bit tired. “You know, I’m feeling very…” He stumbled around. I then realized, spiritually, he is not used to the magic drain. Then in that case.

I charged forward, putting the remainder of my energy as I rammed into him. Pushing him to the ground, I dropped the blood of myself back onto him.

Finally, it felt as if it took no time at all; I was back to my old self. “There we go, oh…and I’ll have to take this from you.” I kicked his dagger out of the way as Assassin said nothing. He couldn’t. He was bleeding out, and soon, he would close his eyes for the last time. Dreaming of what could have been.

All that was left was Witch. I looked around for her, finding her flying around some more, shooting spells at Elowyn and Grace, who were in turn firing back. I couldn’t reach her from this height.

As the clash continued, I looked over at the blade of the now deceased Assassin. If I could somehow land a hit, I could, in turn, get Witch onto the ground. Switch back, and we could win.

I saw a platform a bit further up, another one that brought me definitely closer to the fight itself. I slowly but surely dragged the dying Assassin up the stairway, being careful not to lose his weapon.

Eventually, when I reached the top, I plunged the knife again into Assassin once more, which caused him to really die now, fading away into magic. I didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that I killed someone; I had to keep moving. I only had one shot at this; if I missed, it was game over.

I waved for Elowyn and Grace, who seemed to nod to my waving and went to take the fight closer to the ledge.

Finally, she got close enough after a while, and I threw the now-charged weapon at her; blood eventually hit her.

Finally, I was in her body. I decided to immediately fly forward and tackle myself to the ground.

However, the blade itself, I had forgotten, began to fall just out of reach; however, Elowyn and Grace lunged down and were able to catch it just in the nick of time. If it got lost, I had no idea what I would do.

Witch was now on the ground, the knife itself was beginning to fade, and we had no time to lose. I did the same ritual as before; plunge, charge, drip. I was now back as myself. The fight felt a lot shorter than usual.

“We took care of these two pretty quickly. I suppose it’s a sign we’ve improved a lot.” She looked a bit stern, more serious.

“Well, I’m just glad you’re doing alright there, Elowyn,” I commented. “You know, I was worried about you.” Now my tone sounded a bit more like scolding. I couldn’t help it; my inner teacher was coming out.

“I know, and I must apologize for lashing out at you.” Elowyn looked at me. She did seem genuine.

“Not going to call me names or act mean to me for once?” I looked at her like she sprouted an extra head, which she may have. Given the circumstances.

“Only when you act like an idiot,” Elowyn was looking way too serious for her own good. Then again, could I blame her? “While you are acting like one, shouldn’t you be heading up to the top? You’re almost there.”

I looked up, and right on cue. I saw what looked like a large platform. The stairs didn’t seem to go past this point; I just had to run to the top. But I was pretty exhausted.

“Hah, nonsense, I will never falter, and I will make it to the top! Even if it kills me!” I shouted in determination as I bolted up the stairs. My body ached, it pained, and I most certainly felt a deepening sense of shame for the previous battle.

Still, the top awaited me. The end of this harsh, grueling training, and I could get back to where things left off.

As I climbed that last flight of stairs, I stood on top of a platform, a wooden throne in the center, on it was the stone statue of a woman, it was covered head to toe in moss and vines. Was this the goddess? She looked more like a prop than a creator.

Elowyn and Grace managed to catch up to me. “So, you’ve met her now.” She cleared her throat before brushing past me and Grace. “O’ mighty Goddess of Life! We come forth once more with the newest incarnation of Razan Hamada and Grace Wanders!”

With that, the statue began to glow slightly, before it slowly but surely opened its eyes. The eyes held an eerie glow of something otherworldly. As if a being of great power resided behind those eyes.

“Razan Hamada.” A woman's voice sounded from the still, unmoving mouth of the statue. “You have come once more.”

I felt intimidated by the booming voice emanating from the statue, yet I also felt cleansed. Washed clean of negativity in its entirety. It was a unique kind of serenity.

I felt I could trust every word she said.

“Yes, I have come. Please tell me how to defeat the Goddess.” I swallowed any trace of fear I had left of her. Any intimidation washed away as well. I had a lot of questions, and I had a feeling she was going to give me a lot of answers.

The Goddess remained firm in her stance, her expression unmoving. “Very well, listen well.”

“There is no defeating the Goddess.”

To be continued.