by Greg Dragon
“But Dibolosa is so good,” Isobel said.
“So, so good,” Jasmine repeated and Alysia felt like shaking them both.
“Listen, tomorrow morning when she is taking her walk to harass the members that clean up for her, I need one of you to grab her hand and bring her here.”
“I will do it,” Koko volunteered. “She won’t suspect me if I come close, since she likes to pick on me the most.”
“Great! So, I need you and Jasmine to return to the world of men. Whenever you are ready, send her here, and Isobel and I will handle the rest.”
~ * ~ * ~
It was during the early hours of the morning when Dibolosa felt the girl touch her hand, and she spun to chastise her for making contact with her. The touch was slight but sudden and as she spun she realized that the girl had taken her to the other realm. It was a prank and she didn’t like it, but out of instinct, she looked up to admire the dark yellow sky that was broken up by the dark clouds that moved slowly across its face.
“Dibolosa!” Alysia called, and the woman looked at her with fire in her eyes.
“So, this was your doing, I take it?” she said to her and then tied her long blue hair back into an elaborate ponytail. She turned on Koko and stared daggers into her. “Once I’ve committed this outsider to death, you will be locked in the tower for a month!” she screamed.
But Koko wasn’t fazed by her threat and spat back at her loudly in a foreign language.
“What did you say to me, you filthy girl?” Dibolosa asked her.
“I said that you will not see me again since you will be dead, you miserable animal,” she replied. Dibolosa started for her, but Koko clapped her hands to return to the other realm.
The blue-haired warrior shook her head, then drew the longsword from her hip and held it out towards Alysia. “It doesn’t matter where I fight you, earth girl. You are no match for the hero of the Hanyk realm.”
Alysia drew her sword and put her support hand on the base of the hilt, bringing it down to rest above her hip as she shifted her stance to a traditional Japanese one. “We should be sisters, the two of us. You saved your world and now mine is in trouble. Why couldn’t you have chosen to mentor me, to help me to be rid of these things that threaten my people, and hand me the sword with honor? You let love blind you into cruelty and pettiness, and have filled your halls with children that could barely fight you back when the time came.”
“What of it?” Dibolosa said, and she smiled cruelly to reveal the lengthy canines at the corner of her mouth. “I will have you as my handmaiden and we will watch your pathetic realm fall into ruin … together.” She threw her head back in a maniacal laugh, and Alysia used her sword to knock the tip of Dibolosa’s extended blade to the side to signal that she wanted to start.
Dibolosa performed a spinning flourish with the sword ending up over her head, and then as she brought it around to swing at Alysia’s throat, it was met by her own sword and they locked blades and began to circle one another. After they separated, Alysia pulled her sword down and around to try to cut at Dibolosa’s exposed arm, but the white woman was quick and she read the movement. She brought the Twilight Sword up and then down, cutting Alysia’s shoulder instead.
Alysia backed up with her blade before her, deflecting the blows that Dibolosa kept trying as she again brought the Twilight Sword up, and then down, several times as if it would strike home again.
The blood flowed onto the black kimono that Alysia wore and she shifted her stance to where she held the sword low, next to her rear leg, and pointing away from Dibolosa. The blue-haired warrior lifted the long sword above her head and pointed at Alysia, and the two women stood like that for a time. Their eyes were playing a game of poker with one another as they both refused to move until the other made a mistake. The wound stung from where Dibolosa had clipped her, but Alysia was healing, thanks to the melding of the blood that Isobel had afforded her.
Dibolosa grew impatient and thrust her longsword at Alysia’s chest, but she was ready, and parried hard, knocking the sword to the side and moving in for the kill. She held the blade low from the parry, and moved to do a thrust of her own, but Dibolosa dipped low, putting a hand to the ground and spinning away to rise with her guard reestablished.
“I didn’t expect you to be this good,” she said to Alysia, with a sound of annoyance in her voice.
“Serves you right for taking advantage of your position for this long,” Alysia said, wincing from the growing pain in her shoulder. “Did you honestly believe that you would only have to face off against unproven warriors, when the man you love wants the world to be free of the lost? Like I told you, you are a fool, blinded by love. I bet he doesn’t even feel the same way about you!”
Alysia advanced with her sword pointed at Dibolosa’s abdomen, and the woman backed up, swiping masterfully at the extended blade to try to knock it out of the way. But Alysia needed distance for what she intended on doing, and with the deadly blade coming towards her, Dibolosa couldn’t do anything outside of retreating.
From her vantage point in the trees, Isobel could barely breathe. The fight was exciting but she couldn’t enjoy it since the ramifications that would come to her sisters—should Alysia lose—would be both devastating and painful. She wished and wished for Alysia’s blade to strike true, but Dibolosa was still as good as she ever was, so the fight went on for a very long time.
The retreating Dibolosa gambled and swung at Alysia’s throat when the girl advanced and missed her target by an inch. This prompted Alysia to thrust again and this time the blade went in, just to the side of Dibolosa’s abdomen, missing all of her vitals but drawing blood that spilled out brightly all over her silky, white nightgown.
Alysia did not waste time in taking advantage of the cut, and pulled it out and swung it hard into Dibolosa’s hand, forcing her to release the longsword and retreat, holding her throbbing thumb. Alysia moved in to cut her down, but Dibolosa threw dust at her face and clapped her hands to vanish back into the other realm. Alysia sheathed her sword and motioned to Isobel, who hopped down from the tree and took her hand.
“Ready CeeCee?” she asked with a childish grin on her face, and Alysia winked at her, prompting her to take them back.
They appeared in front of the chairs with Dibolosa scrambling to get on the platform.
“Don’t you try it, Dibolosa!” Alysia screamed at her, and she rushed at her from across the room and jumped into a flying kick, which knocked them both to the ground.
The room full of warriors formed a circle around them, and as they fought, Lord Chaos walked from out of the back room to sit upon his throne. He noticed that Dibolosa had lost the Twilight Sword, and a look of annoyance crossed his handsome features.
“Why not draw your blade and kill her, Alysia?” His deep voice boomed across the hall.
“Because despite my dislike for Dibolosa, she is unarmed! To fight her otherwise is not my way!”
Chaos smiled at her sense of honor and sat back to cross his legs. If either woman won, he would still have a powerful warrior at his side, but he favored Alysia, since she would be the one to stop the horde and bring in his holy war. He motioned for the warriors to spread out farther, so that the women could have more room to fight.
Alysia got up and touched the hilt of her sword, waiting for Dibolosa to surrender. But the wounded warrior held up her hand and one of the spectators threw her another longsword. She grabbed it out of the air and charged at Alysia, hoping she could get her before she could draw her sword. It was a telegraphed move borne of desperation, so all Alysia had to do was move out of the way to avoid the thrust.
She circled Dibolosa with her hand on the hilt of her sword, determined not to draw it unless it was a sure thing. Dibolosa took it as an insult, that Alysia didn’t respect her enough to pull her blade, so she came at her with chops and thrusts, all avoided by the limber Alysia, who danced away from her blows.
Dibolosa grew tired as she swung her
sword—which lacked the balance and weight of the Twilight Sword—and after a while, her precision strikes had become sloppy swipes that she hoped would strike home soon.
“You need to stop and admit defeat, Dibolosa,” Alysia said to her after the woman lowered her guard and stood in front of her, panting. “You have lost your sword, which is a shameful thing, and with this new one, you are not the warrior you were before I cut you. You’re getting weak from your wound and I do not want to kill you. Bow before me and surrender the sword, and I will spare your life so that you can return to your home world with honor.”
Dibolosa looked as if she wanted to vomit and she stared up at Alysia with fire in her eyes. “I BOW TO NO ONE!” she screamed, and raised her longsword while moving in to deliver what she thought would be a killing blow. Alysia moved so fast that only Chaos understood what happened when Dibolosa fell past her unto her knees, and her stomach opened up to spill out on the floor.
The room was flooded with gasps and screams; some were crying but most were in shock. Before them lay a woman they thought was invincible but the life was gone from her eyes. Alysia wiped her blade and sheathed it quickly. It was a technique she had always practiced, the art of drawing the blade while simultaneously killing your opponent. She had never meant to use it on anybody, but with the situation and the threat to her life, she had simply reacted.
She felt sick for having to kill the woman, but then the room erupted into cheers, which didn’t last long as hushed whispers began to spread and the crowd parted to let Isobel, Koko, and Jasmine through. They walked up to Alysia and handed her the Twilight Sword and as she grabbed it, a surge of power ran through her body.
“You are to take this and free your world, CeeCee,” Isobel said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Not till I free you first,” she said to her, and then spun to face Chaos who was on his feet applauding with the rest of his warriors.
“Am I free now, Chaos?” she asked boldly, and the big man nodded with a smile on his face.
“You are free to return to your damaged world, Alysia, but now you have a weapon that can help you remove all of the lost.”
“Must it stay this shape?” she asked, holding it up to examine its artistry. “It’s beautiful, but I still feel like it belongs to Dibolosa. I prefer a more elegant blade, and I would like it to be a single-sided weapon; it is what I am trained in.”
“We will turn it into any weapon you want, Alysia,” he said, “but you must promise me that you will join us when it’s time. To defeat the lost, in my home world. You must take Dibolosa’s place by my side, but only after you have freed your world. Will you do this?”
“Of course, Lord Chaos, but you still owe me a few things, too. Release my father and my friends from whatever prison you have them in. And there is one final request,” she said to him.
“What is it? What is this final request?”
“I want my handmaidens to accompany me back into the world to fight. I want them freed from whatever you have keeping them here, and I want them to be extended the same privileges that you have given me.”
Chaos looked at the handmaidens standing next to Alysia and surmised that he wouldn’t be losing much if he agreed. “You can have them,” he said to her. “But come the time of the war, with the lost, I expect that as members of the Bloody Garot, you will answer the call to come and fight alongside your brothers and sisters.”
“Of course,” Alysia said, and Isobel hugged her tightly.
And Then All Was Lost
Chapter One
Tracy stared at herself in the mirror, wondering if she had dreamt the happenings of the last week, or if she was dreaming now. She lifted up her shirt and the bruises from the kreple bites were gone. Her skin appeared smooth and was flawless with the exception of the three tiny cuts that were healing.
“This is weird,” she said to herself. “Where did all my scars go?”
“Jimmy, baby, can you come in here?” she shouted through the bathroom door.
James Knight made a noise that sounded like he knocked something over and stepped in.
“What’s going on?” he asked, and looked in the mirror at the areas she was touching. He took her shoulders and maneuvered her around to stand in front of him, and then he started to touch her abdomen while scanning her face for any signs of pain. “How in the hell did you heal so fast?” he asked her. He knelt and applied real pressure to the old wounds to try and elicit some sort of response from her.
“That kinda tickles,” she said as he touched her, and then she wrapped her arms around his muscular neck. “I don’t know why it happened, or how I’m healed all of a sudden, but I’m not complaining.”
James lifted her up and seated her on the counter. He kissed her deeply and held her close, happy she was no longer suffering from her infection. “The two of us must’ve been high for a week because wounds don’t heal that fast, and I’m sure that your bullet wound should be right here.” He touched her shoulder and shook his head. “World keeps on getting stranger and stranger by the minute.”
“Let’s see you, now,” Tracy said. She pulled off his shirt and held him at arm’s length. “Apparently you didn’t get the healing miracle, baby. I’m so sorry,” she said as she touched the numerous scars that had come from the demon’s attack. “It really sucks what she did to you,” she started to say, but he shrugged and pulled his shirt down, looking as if the subject bothered him.
“Just let it be. We have more pressing business,” he said to her.
“Oh yeah, what’s going on?” she inquired, impressed at his patience with hearing her out first.
“I need to look a little lower to see how you’re healing,” he said with a smile.
“Oh, I forgot to check—“
“Mr. Knight, I think you better come see this,” Jaime announced from outside the bathroom.
James hesitated and sighed loudly. He looked into Tracy’s eyes, which seemed to beg him to stay and ignore everything, but he pulled away from her painfully and exited the bathroom.
“What is it?” he asked, and Jaime motioned for him to join him by the window.
When he walked over and peered outside, he felt his heart skip. There was his daughter, smiling from ear to ear, with three young girls standing next to her. She was dressed in red like the creature that had removed them from the house, and the girls were in all black. There was something different about her disposition, and it made him worry that what he was seeing was the result of a demon’s trick.
“Tracy, CeeCee is here!” he yelled as he ran out of the motel room and down the stairs to meet his daughter.
Alysia saw her father and ran to him. They hugged for a very long time before he released her.
“Where have you been, baby girl?” he asked her. The girls began to giggle when he said it. He looked at them curiously and noticed they were dressed in what appeared to be a uniform.
“It’s too long and too crazy to try to tell you now, Dad. There are parts of it that won’t make any sense, and parts that you are not going to like. Actually, you will want to change the reality of it, but—” She sighed and shook her head. “The fact that you all are safe, and I am able to be with you, makes it all worth it,” she said.
James Knight touched her chin and looked into her eyes, noticing a difference in them that frightened him. There was a slight reddening to her iris, and she bared her teeth to show him her short fangs.
He backed up from her with a look in his eyes that made her think he was about to cry. He seemed frightened and confused, but then he brought her in close and hugged her for what seemed like ages. Alysia could only imagine what was going through his head when he saw her like that. They had only ever killed the demons, some being freshly turned by the huntress. Now here was his beloved daughter – a woman who had gone missing for more than a week – surrounded by demon girls, and bearing features that were demon-like.
“I’m still me, Dad, you don’t have to ma
ke the face. I swear I’m me. You can ask me anything. I’m still your CeeCee,” she said, holding his hand and bringing it back to her face.
“You’re a vampire?” he asked her, and she smiled and shook her head.
“I guess you can say I’m part demon,” she said to him sadly, and they began to walk back to the motel. “I am still your CeeCee, Dad, so don’t be afraid. But there is something bigger that I have been made a part of, and that is what you will not like.”
James Knight didn’t say anything more as he led them up to the room. One of the drug addicts who lived in the room next to them was descending the stairs, and as he passed Isobel, he noticed she had a sword under her cloak. He began to laugh hysterically at it, because it was October, and he assumed that they were children coming back from trick or treating.
The group ignored him and piled into the room, where they removed their cloaks and sat on one of the beds. Jaime backed up and stood next to the guns he had stolen, and Tracy came out and took James’s hand and stared at Alysia.
“So, they finally got you?” Jaime asked as Alysia removed her cloak and handed it to Jasmine. “You’re here to tell us that you’re one of them now, and you need us to be your familiars,” he continued.
She looked at him, fanned the air, and then took a deep breath to calm herself. She then told them the entire story of her kidnapping. She spoke of her recruitment into the Bloody Garot, and the war between the factions of demons. She spared no detail as she told them about her fight with Dibolosa, the assumption of the power, and what awaited her when the world was free.
It took her half an hour to tell them everything and when she was finished, there was only silence and stares. Nobody dared to move or ask her anything, and Tracy turned to hug James and cry silently into his shoulder. Alysia drew her sword and handed it to her father; it was the one thing she could do to prove that her story was the truth. He held it up and observed the blade, then looked at the tsuba, the craftsmanship of it all, and the way it felt.
