Change From What We Thought Before (Chapter 20)

Both Faalan and I visibly tensed. Faalan's face twisted into an expression of fear and shock, and I'm sure mines was as well. A shadow fell over us and we both looked up. Kaija's expressionless face looked at us.
"Long time no see." he said, his eyes cold and unforgiving.
"Y-you t-too!" I nearly yelped, forcing a smile.
"Nice try, but I'm not going to fall for that. You're afraid, aren't you? Now that you know, I'll have to kill you before to tell any more people than you might have already told."
"Kaija, don't do this. You can stop." Faalan pleaded, getting to his feet and backing off.
"Please, Kaija." I begged, also scooting back and then standing up.
"No. I plan to finish this. And I will. After I get rid of you two, my plan will be complete and then I will take over this land."
"Then you give us no choice." Faalan glanced at me and then rocks began to float around me. I knew what he wanted of me, and I lifted my flute to my lips.
Quick as lightning, Kaija stuffed something into his ears. He gave a
feral grin and looked at me.
"You can play as loud as you want, I won't be able to hear you. I've worked on these sound blocking devices for quite sometime now. I had a feeling that you would be going against me sometime. But I still know what you're saying. I've practiced reading lips for quite some time."
"What about me taking them out then?" Faalan said, raising his hands to face Kaija.
"Oh, that shouldn't be a problem."
It took me a several moments to realize that Kaija's voice had come from behind us and not in front of us. I whipped around to look at Kaija. He had a evil grin on his face. Why was he smiling like that? Then, the metallic scent of blood became present in the air. I looked down at Kaija's arm. It was thrust out, and as I looked
further, there was his hand, holding one of his signature twin swords. And the crimson liquid that was trickling down the curved blades; Faalan's blood. The blade was only half as long as it was normally. The rest of it was plunged deep into Faalan's abdomen and sticking out of his back. Some shreds of pink flesh and beige organs hung from the tip of the bloody, glistening sword. My fingers trembled and my flute fell from my fingers, thudding gently against the ground.
"Faalan!" I shrieked, my chest constricting. I couldn't breathe; my heart tightened and pounded loud enough for me to hear in my ears.
Faalan's face was in an expression of complete shock as blood bubbled out from his lips. Kaija roughly jerked his sword out of the dying boy's middle. He gave a sneer and with two quick motions, he wiped the blade on Faalan's clothes, leaving bloody stains on the two sleeves.
Faalan stared blankly at the gaping hole in him before his legs crumpled beneath him and he fell face forward onto the ground, his lifeblood spilling to the ground.
"No! You can't die, Faalan! I've already lost Khanna! I can't lose you too!" I screamed, shaking my head wildly, hoping that this was a dream, hoping that this wasn't real. But when I stopped, he was still at my feet, he was still on the ground, he was still bleeding, and most horrifying of all, he was dying.
I sank to my knees and gently tried to turn Faalan over onto his
back. By now, I didn't care that Kaija was standing there, I didn't care that he wanted to kill me. All that mattered now was to save Faalan before he died.
Shakily, I fumbled for the flute on the ground and managed to get it to my lips. A few shuddering notes floated in the air. Nothing happened to the giant bleeding wound in Faalan. I played some more. Why wasn't he healing?! Why?!
"Don't... It's too late for me, Fala..." I looked down at that beautiful face, that face that was now twisted with pain. I could tell he was trying to hide the immense pain he must have felt then.
"I have to try, Faalan! I can't have you die too!" There was a whoosh above me just as I leaned forward to press my hands to his wound, to try and stop the bleeding. I turned around and saw Kaija with his double swords. He evidently had just tried to chop off my head.
"Fala... Take care of yourself... Don't let him kill you too.."
"No, don't you dare say that! You're not dead yet!" I cried out, getting to my feet and facing Kaija, unconciously trying to shield Faalan from him.
"Still trying to live? You know you're weaker than me. You've always been the weaker one. Every single time you fought me without your instruments, you lost to me. I crushed you easily, like I would to a fly. You don't have a chance."
"Shut up!" I screamed at him, tears falling from my eyes for the first time since Faalan had gotten stabbed. The whole reality of the situation had finally come crashing down on me. Faalan was dying, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. Kaija was ready to kill me and I had no decent weapon. Sure, I had the two daggers that Faalan had given me for just in case, but what could they do against Kaija's twin blades?
I glared at Kaija, keeping my eyes on him as I leaned down to pull out the two daggers. I weighed them in my hands as I straightened up and shifted into a defensive pose. The one in my right hand was slightly heavier and longer than the one in my left. If I used the right one for parrying and the left for attacking, I might be able to
hold him off long enough to tire him out.
I couldn't afford to try to attack him unless he gave me an opening. He was strong in offensive, but not as good in defensive. Even so, he was highly trained in weapon usage, especially with his swords. I did have a slight advantage though. I'd seen him fight so many times that I could almost safely predict his movements. He'd only
fought me a couple times and never really watched me fight. I was the more flexible and quicker than him, so I could dodge his attacks more easily than he could for mine. He probably still had the upper hand though, for he was larger and he was the stronger of us.
Giving a savage scream, Kaija ran at me, his two swords drawn out in a cross in front of him. He slashed both at me as soon as got close enough, just as I predicted, and I jumped up, neatly missing the two deadly swords cutting the air underneath me. I landed gently on the ground and jabbed forward at his chest with the left dagger. He leapt back, taking his two swords with him. They swung back into a cross in front of him, his signature defensive position.
I pulled my arm back and went back into a defensive position, the right sword held out in front for defense and the left near my side, ready to strike. Kaija gave a smirk and his swords began to rotate in a circular pattern, basically defending his front and sides. He began to walk forward as the blades whipped through the air, faster and faster. I could hear the swish of the swords clearly now.
He was trying to make me attack him, and end the battle early. If I tried to attack him, I would most definitely be cut up. In training, he always stopped before he would cut me. But I'd seen a dummy become shredded and I didn't want that to happen to me. We were no longer training. This was real and he wouldn't stop this time.
Carefully watching his movements, I circled him slowly, trying to find an opening. The only places left exposed from the protection of the dancing swords was his back. He wouldn't freely show his back to me, so I'd have to find a way to slip around him when he was unaware. If I were to try leap above him, he could easily slash above and kill me.. Besides, that opportunity would only come if he were to crouch, because I couldn't jump that high. I
could try to slip under his legs and the windmilling swords, but that was pretty risky. Once again, he could easily slash me into pieces. The only options left were to slip around his sides or distract him to turn him around and then attack him. I didn't think either of them were going to really work.
Out of the blue, he leapt forward, knocking me down with his feet, his swords stopped. He pinned me down, his knees digging into my exposed stomach. The blades stopped only a hair away from my neck, shining brilliantly, as if they were waiting for the blood to come. My breath caught in my chest. I couldn't breathe as I stared at the swords that could end my life in an instant.
"Any last words?" came Kaija's cruel voice, his eyes filled with the anticipation of bloodshed. I opened my mouth, about to say something, when his eyes widened in shock and pain. He stumbled back, swords dropping from his hands, just barely missing me by inches. With an expression of agony, he reached behind him and pulled out a dagger covered in blood; his blood.
"Wha-" He began, before blood foamed out of his mouth and trickled down his chin. The dagger fell from his fingers and as I stared blankly, kept feeling as if I had seen it before.
Meanwhile, Kaija had fallen to his knees, and as I watched him silently, his blood spurted from the wound in his back and from between his hands cupped over his mouth.
"Don't look." commanded a voice that rang all around. I couldn't pinpoint where the voice came from, but in spite of the fact that it was most likely unsafe to close my eyes now, I followed the orders given to me. There was the sound of a blade whipping through the air and a thud.
"You can open your eyes now." I wasn't sure what to expect, so I allowed myself to expect the unexpected. What I saw was so unexpected that I couldn't believe it was true.
My eyes widened as I took in what was in front of me. A concerned face looked at me as I felt arms encircling around my waist. My heart stopped when I recognized who it was.