- A Dance With Death

There are some who say death is merely a fantasy, a make believe idea that the living create to name the unimaginable.

There are others who believe that there lies something beyond death, in the works and makings of gods and legends.

And there are some who don't need to believe, because they can see.

Lia was one of those people. She didn't need to give it a name to know what it was. She didn't need to tell herself there was something on the other side, when she knew this was the end.

She didn't need to believe, all she had to do was look.

'Cain. Just what are you?'

The unmistakable fear she was feeling, it coursed through her veins and her blood, from bone down to the stone.

It was a pressure she felt, the force of his mana bearing its ugly head.

When she looked at him, she felt nothing. But when she turned her head, eyes tearing from his figure, every single sense inside her was telling her to run.

A sixth sense.

Fear.

"Y…You, what are you?"

Interrupting her train of thought, the attacker's panicked voice echoed throughout the silent atmosphere.

His voice wasn't the only thing that betrayed his fear, his face was pale and his hands were shaking. Even the hand that held the mallet was shaking beyond his control.

In only a few moments, Cain had taken over the entire battlefield with only his presence.

Dozens of thoughts flooded the heads of those present, whether it was fear, shock, or anticipation.

'How strong do you have to be to have that pressure?'

Wondered Rian, who was still locked in battle with two of the attackers, though they had long since stopped moving, and were now petrified with fear.

'That's what happens when you've lived a life full of power.'

Thinking it over, Rian had no choice but to write Cain's presence of fear off as a measure of his power.

But after looking it over very carefully, Rian shook his head.

'No…there's no power in this world that measures up to that.'

Preparing for the pressure to end, and the battle to resume, Rian narrowed his eyes with one final glance.

'That is death. Nothing more, nothing less.'

And with that, the pressure ended, and the battle commenced once again.

Taking a few steps forward, his motion slowing down, Cain held out in arms at his sides.

"What's the matter? I thought you said you were going to take me down?"

Seeming to have snapped out of his trance of fear, the attacker looked startled by Cain's words, before anger soon replaced the shock on his face.

"Why you…"

Rushing forward the man raised his mace high before attempting to bring it down on top of Cain's head. Attempted.

Easily dodging the attack by shifting to the right, Cain acted as if the attack was coming at him in slow motion.

However, his lax attitude did little to calm the man, who felt even more enraged.

The mace shattered the ground beneath it, but just as quickly as it had fallen, the mace swung across the air with the man's entire strength behind it.

It didn't' even leave a scratch.

Simply leaning back, Cain dodged the attack again, leaving only a few millimeters between the mace and his head.

But this didn't stop the attacker who continued to press his assault, nor did it stop Cain, who easily dodged them just by moving a small part of his body.

As the attacks increased, the force of the blows increased along with it, leaving crevices and craters in the ground where the mace fell. Yet the attacker still pressed on, his rage and anger fueling his attacks, thought little did it do him.

-Boom!

The mace fell, lodged between the stone ground and Cain's foot, who held it in place with only one. No matter how strong the man was, he could not move the mace from the ground.

Suddenly, Cain's voice filled the man's ears, as he slowly turned to look up at him.

"I've gotten a little bored of this 'cat and mouse' fight."

With one punch, the man was sent flying across the chamber by the force of Cain's attack. Smashing into the wall, Lia could do nothing but watch, her mouth agape from shock and awe, as the man desperately tried to pull himself out from the crevasse he left in the wall.

"Let's take this up a notch."

Disappearing from his spot, with the sound of a large boom, Cain reappeared before the tank, leaving after images from the distance he crossed.

The speed was so fast that Lia had no choice but to compare it with Drifting Winds, or something greater.

The tank had little time to react, barely managing to move his body to the side as Cain's fist pummeled deep into the stone next to his head, sending dust and debris flying everywhere.

Though the dust was in the way, Lia could easily tell what had happened.

Running out of the dust, the tank fumbled and slipped over his own feet, still shocked by what had just happened and how close he had been to death just then.

As the dust settled, Cain's figure could be seen standing in the same place as before, his eyes locked onto the fleeing tank.

Smiling, Cain disappeared once again from his spot, leaving behind after images from his running figure behind as he closed the distance between them, appearing by the tank's side.

Momentarily shocked by Cain's sudden appearance, the tank did not have time to react, as Cain raised his left foot and brought it down on the tank's back, pummeling him into the ground.

"Huh. And I thought you were strong?"

Said Cain, mocking the figure curled up on the ground, his face betraying the pain he was in.

But suddenly, the tank moved, his speed shocking Cain for a moment, leaving him narrowly able to escape the incoming punch the tank threw his way.

Similarly dodging the next few of his punches, Cain distanced himself from the tank, his hands behind his back.

Through labored breathing, the tank muttered a few words before yelling out and rushing Cain.

"I'm...I'm not done yet. So…HOLD STILL!"

Ducking, Cain landed a blow to the tank's knee, though leaving just enough force in his punch to stun him, not enough to fully break the leg, no matter how much he wanted to.

And stun him it did, leaving the tank exposed, and allowing Cain to land several, if not damning blows on the tank. Several on his chest, stomach, and head.

Lia was nearly about to count the man as done for, but was left surprised once again, when the tank fought back, landing his own blows of Cain.

The force of each blow delivered to either side left enough of a shockwave that even Lia could feel the vibrations in her bones.

The fight was just that costly to watch, let alone the pain in fighting in it.

However, this didn't seem to bother Cain, who used his speed once again to appear behind the tank, landing a flurry of attacks on his back.

The tank was brought to his knees because of the surprise attack, but relented at going down, and stood his ground.

Propping himself against the wall, the tank threw even more blows and attacks, while Cain followed suit.

The battle was just so mesmerizing that Lia found her entire attention focused on each blow thrown at the other party.

So much so, that she wasn't even made aware of the man standing behind her, until the sound of his labored breathing caught her attention.

Quickly turning around, Lia was face to face with another man, who was drenched in sweat from his silver hair to his soaking shirt.

'He was fighting with Cain before wasn't he?'

But what Lia found strange was that he was still alive. Knowing full well what must have happened to the other people Cain was fighting against, and the fact that the tank she was struggling with was currently being destroyed, Lia found it somewhat hard to believe.

"You..."

Snapping her from her thoughts, the man's voice echoed out clear as the bright sun in a cloudless sky. Even with the sound of destruction behind her, his voice was clear, like a light in the darkness.

"Me?"

Lia, in the end, couldn't keep her curiosity under control.

"You…you're the girl."

Confused, Lia was almost about to ask what he meant, until her mind drifted back to what the tank had told her before.

'I was the one they were after. Because of those three…'

Seeing the situation she was in, Lia tried her best to calm the man down, though little she knew that would do.

"Listen to me. I don't know why you think killing me will do any good for you, but if you don't stop now I'll-"

However, she was interrupted by the man, his calming voice somewhat frightening.

"So little hope."

"...excuse me?"

"So little hope you have…that talking to me will get me to stop what I'm about to do."

Lia's hand found the hilt of her blade almost immediately, but she did it subtly in case this man was just testing her.

But she was soon proven wrong.

"Do you know how long it took to find you? Almost a week's time, and I set out the same day as you did."

Twirling his blade around in circles, the man slowly followed suit, and began walking in one large circle around Lia, who kept her eyes trained on the man without fear.

"A week. Honestly, if I wasn't about to kill you, I'd be impressed."

"Impressed?"

Lia said surprised.

"Yes. Not only did you have the courage to stand up for yourself, but you had the gall to pick a fight with one of the top Guilds in Morden."

Lia didn't know what to say. The man who was trying to kill her, was complimenting her?

"At the time I didn't know that."

"Doesn't matter, what you did set off a chain reaction. Leaving me and my guild at the mercy of others…"

He went silent for a moment, thoughts flooding his head as he seemed to struggle to say something.

"...and at the mercy of my mother's banishment."

'Banishment? Was he banished for what I did? But how?'

As if reading her mind, the man answered her question.

"In Morden, those of high status care more about honor and glory than they care about their own families. My mother is no exception, except to say that she's one of the worst honor seekers out there."

"I don't understand. If you were banished, why would killing me do anything to help you. From the sound of it, your mother doesn't seem like the type who would forgive."

Lia only stated the facts as she saw it, hoping the man wouldn't grow angry. But she was left relieved when she saw him slowly nodding his head.

"True, true. In many ways I wondered why I was trying to find you. Trying to please my 'mother.'"

From the way he said 'mother' Lia knew that he was someone who loathed her with everything he had. A calming, but raging hatred for her, one that had been far suppressed for too long.

"When she finally banished me, I'll admit, I felt relief. I no longer have to prove to her that I'm her son. I don't have to prove that I am here. I don't have to prove myself to her."

"Then-"

However, just as Lia was about to say something, the man interrupted her again, this time, his eyes found hers and held that gaze.

"But I suppose, I wouldn't be here if I was trying to prove something to her now, wouldn't you agree."

Raising his blade to admire its edge, his eyes passed between Lia and his weapon, ever so subtly.

"I guess you could say that I'm not here for her."

Letting the blade fall, his figure shot forward towards Lia, who barley drew her blade in time for their weapons to meet.

And past their weapons, Lia could see the face of the man, his eyes calm and composed, a frightening look for someone who was locked in battle.

But what was even more frightening, was his voice that rang cold throughout Lia's head.

"I'm doing this for me."