Valandt awoke to the sight of Astral’s eyes opening slowly just as his were doing, they had both woken up at the same time During the night Valandt had gotten several blankets which he wrapped around himself and Astral and they had slept in each others arms. Valandt smiled at her and waited an eternity, lingering there in her arms before pulling the blankets from off his body and putting on a the shirt which he had removed the night before. Valandt looked back at Astral who lay in their improvised bed smiling and wanted to say something to her, however there was no need for words at this time, none could have done the moment justice. “Can I get you anything, its going to be a rough day” he said casually, breaking the deadlock of silence.
“Could you please pass me my clothes” she said with an almost seductive smile, taking Valandt back to the night before. Valandt smiled back and went around, picking up her clothes that had been scattered around during their passionate lovemaking and gave them to Astral, who began to put them back on underneath the blankets. Valandt continued to gather up clothes on the hillside, this time those that belonged to him. Valandt put back on his thick red cloak and boots, clipping on his sword belt afterward. Valandt looked down to his chest and felt concerned due to the lack of protection, he then remembered the chest plate which Sierra thought of so dearly. “I‘ll be back in a minute” he said to Astral and he began to walk toward the tent where Sierra was sleeping. As he entered the tent he saw the deceivingly innocent looking Sierra still fast asleep, he then saw her chest plate laying on the side. Valandt had an urge to take it, thinking that she would do so if she was in this situation. Valandt casually walked over to the place where it had been laid upon and picked it up. Presto had done a good job of repairing the metal, Valandt tested its durability by attempting to bend it but it refused to bow to his might. Valandt pondered taking the armour and with then no thought for the consequences pulled his shirt up and secured it into place, he then pulled his shirt down over it. Valandt then went to walk out of the tent but tripped straight over Sierra’s sword which lay on the ground, Sierra eyes instantly opened and she alertly rolled out of the blankets, grabbed her sword and aimed it at Valandt’s throat. “What‘s all this then?” she said, being very suspicious of Valandt. “Wait a second” she said, not letting Valandt get a word in. “I know what you‘re doing. You‘ve come to take the sword of Drakahor from me, once I am without the sword you can get rid of me. Admit it!” her voice was full of distrust and spite aimed in Valandt’s direction. Valandt stood silent for a moment, which Sierra took to be an admission of guilt. “That is it” she said, clipping her sword belt on and heading for the outside. “Come on, we are to settle this once and for all”. Valandt walked outside, following Sierra until she stopped by the campsite in a open clearing. Sierra moved a few paces away from Valandt and drew the sword of Drakahor from its sheath. “I‘m not going to fight you” Valandt said, defiantly.
“Then you‘ll die” she said, moving forward and slashing her sword through the air, catching him on the forearm slightly and drawing blood. Valandt‘s snorted angrily and recoiled with pain as she nicked him on the arm, he then drew his sword and stared into her eyes with a icy gaze. “We are going to move on to fight the greatest of evils come sunset. I do not want to have to deal with you trying to kill me behind your back, so now‘s your chance” Sierra said, backing off from Valandt slightly and then standing her ground, waiting for Valandt to make a move.
“You will regret ever giving me the choice” said Valandt, a split second before he launched himself at her. Sierra stood firm, holding her blade in front of her and parried away Valandt’s attacks with her upper body doing all the work while her legs remained still. Valandt, sensing that he would not be able to get to Sierra from the front, spun to the side of her and slashed her left arm open, causing a gaping wound to be exposed. Sierra instantly dropped her sword and clutched her arm with the other and fell to her knees, she then looked up at Valandt who was about to force his sword down into her and felt her body be overcome with anger, she then sweeping kicked Valandt off his feet and kicked the blade from his hand. Sierra then jumped onto Valandt and proceeded to punch him ferociously and repeatedly in the face until it was bloody, she then groaned in pain as she felt the sting in her arm wound return. Sierra got off Valandt and kicked him in the face as he attempted to get up, she then went to tear a part of her shirt and tied it around her arm to restrict the flow of blood there. Valandt staggered to his feet and wiped his face of the blood, smearing it on his cloak, the two then began to stare each other down. Sierra went to throw a swift right hook at Valandt, which he stopped in full flight with his right hand. She then immediately went to hit Valandt with a left hook, however he blocked it again, only this time he grabbed, twisted and pulled it behind her back. Sierra groaned with agony as her allready injured arm was being stretched to its limits, she then fiercely elbowed Valandt in the stomach to make him release her arm. Sierra attended her left arm as Valandt got back to his feet, he then surprised her with a swift kick through the air which made her lean backward to the point where she was in danger of losing her balance. The two then began to exchange punches and kicks, for each one blocked another connected with neither Sierra or Valandt gaining an advantage over the other. Sierra’s nose was bleeding now due to a inescapable kick from Valandt and she had returned this by severely bruising him just below his eye. The speed with which the two fought was at times lightning, however the majority of Sierra’s movements were restricted due to her cuts and bruises slowing her usually whirlwind pace down. After the two came to blows once more, exchanging punch for punch and kick for kick, they stood away from each other and stared into the other’s eyes whilst catching their breath. Sierra broke this temporary interruption to the fighting by leaping at Valandt and throwing a heavy right hook at him. Valandt reacted instantly, grabbing Sierra’s arm and twisting it around as he had earlier done with her other arm only this time she twirled around in sync with his twisting and she ended up bent over by Valandt’s stomach, which she then slammed her fist into. Sierra then went to throw the incapacitated Valandt over her shoulder but he clutched her shirt tight and used her momentum to then throw her over his shoulder. Valandt spat out a mouth full of blood and said “Give it up” to Sierra as she attempted to get back to her feet.
“Never” she replied with a steely determination, she then went to get up, ignoring the pain which completely immersed her now. Valandt stood smug as Sierra from behind as she struggled to her feet, he watched her move frantically on the grassy floor attempting to get back to her feet and he smiled. Sierra then in the blink of an eye rose to her feet and spun around, with the sword of Drakahor pressed straight against his throat. What Valandt had mistaken for fumbling was in fact Sierra reaching for her sword and he now had pushed up against his neck. Valandt acted quickly, turning to his side and snatching the sword with his left hand as he turned. He then moved the sword to his other hand and continued to spin around until he now faced Sierra and pressed the sword against her throat, all in the space of a second. Sierra smiled at the reversal of fortunes and powered her fist into Valandt’s neck chin in a flash, giving him no time to react and sending him flying into the air along with the sword. Sierra jumped into the air and retrieved the sword, landing cleanly as Valandt twisted his body around midair and also managed to land on his feet. Sierra and Valandt stared each other down once more until Sierra’s eyes dropped to Valandt’s feet, noticing that the sword of Drakahor lay right there by his feet. Sierra lunged forward, attempting to ward Valandt away from the sword and hoping he had not realized it was there. Sierra was wrong however as when she lunged forward, Valandt flicked the sword high into the air with his boot on its hilt and jumped into the air after it, somersaulting as he collected it and landing on his feet, with no more than a heartbeat to parry away Sierra’s attack, which he did. Sierra snorted contempt for Valandt’s arrogance in his retrieving of the sword and began to swing her sword through the air, with impeccable accuracy however each time, Valandt managed to deflect her advances. Valandt smiled condescendingly at Sierra, who had thrown her best at him and still had not inflicted anything on him. Valandt now began an offensive, slicing through the air with the elegance of a dancer and the speed of a cheetah and Sierra began to back off at his blows. Valandt backed Sierra all the way up against a tree on the fringes of the clearing. He then sliced his sword down rapidly through the air which Sierra only just about managed to avoid, however Valandt caught her partially, all but ripping open the bandage on her stomach. Sierra looked down at her now useless bandage and ripped it off, throwing it to one side and exposing her allready heavily wounded stomach. Sierra began to advance on Valandt again now, pushing him back into the centre of the clearing once more and swinging her blade through the air with almost too much speed for Valandt to handle. Valandt began to lash out now aimlessly, just trying to get Sierra to back away from him, swinging his sword hard and fast through the air. Sierra jumped backward out of the way of one of Valandt’s ferocious blows and Valandt’s sword then got stuck in the ground. Sierra stopped and smiled for a moment as she at last had her opportunity to get Valandt. She thrust her sword forward at Valandt’s stomach but Valandt managed to pull his sword out of the ground just in time, following it through by spinning on his heels and finishing by thrusting his sword deep into Sierra’s exposed stomach. Sierra’s jaw dropped and she instantly fell to the ground, there then came a cry from the edge of the clearing. “No!” Astral stood paralysed with what she had just seen. “Valandt what have you done?” she said, disbelief in her voice. Sierra struggled for breath on the floor and began to cough up blood as Astral ran to her side and pulled the perfect health formula which Valandt had passed to her out of her pocket. “What do you think you‘re doing?” Valandt said shocking himself by the tone of his voice, the first time he had raised his voice to Astral.
“I‘m saving her life” Astral said as she removed the top from the vial. “We need her to fight”
“We do not need her. I do not even want her. I forbid you to do it Astral” Valandt continued to speak without really controlling what he was saying. The moment after the words came out of his mouth he wished they had not. Astral gave Valandt a look of disappointment and then poured a few drops of the formula into Sierra’s mouth. Valandt could not watch as the wounds on Sierra healed almost instantly, he was more shocked by his own actions than anything else. Then he heard it. `Good. Your thirst for blood is not all gone. Now you are mine, and this time you will be mine, forever`. The evil voice in the back of his head had come back, his evil side had returned. And now it wanted total control.