Before any of us could attack, Tie -as we will call her- flew down from the tree and kicked Athena in the chest.
Stumbling back, Athena regains her footing and spits to the side in anger.
"Cheap shot. But hey, you've always been that way."
She said, readying herself for the fight to come.
Himora draws his sword and steps forward as the uncanny Tie stands in guard with two of her own blades drawn.
"Do you know this woman?"
He shoots at Athena, who steps in front of him, leaving me at the rear with my spear at the ready.
"Yeah...she's no good. She didn't hold off the Rigori, Himora... She was Yatsimoto's right-hand man!"
Wow.
That bit of information hit me hard. It made little sense as to why she was here, but I guess I would have to take Athena's word for it.
"Then how did she get here? Isn't she on the bad guys' side?"
I asked Athena, who looked as if she was about to burst.
"She told my mother her story to get her to raise her from the dead, as all the other members of the Shadow Militia, but I knew the whole truth... The thing with that is, no matter how much I begged my mother, she wouldn't hear it. I think Tie must have brainwashed her or something..."
Weird.
We all stood at the ready, weapons drawn and ready for Tie to attack, but as I expected, Himora acted first.
"I don't have time to sit around; my people are waiting for my return!"
He leaps high into the air, flips several times, then comes crashing down in front of Tie, swinging his sword in an attempt to end the fight quickly.
"HA! Himora Amir! Nice to make your acquaintance!
She shot him a flirty look as she blocked his attacks.
The casual nature of her approach threw the seasoned swordsman off.
He flinched before he could help it.
"Ungh... How do you know my name?"
He was angered now, whereas before, he had been quite calm by comparison.
"I've heard a lot about you, Big Boy. You weren't bad in your time! You should go back to being a Master Assassin."
That was it.
She had pulled the big, red "do not touch" lever, and Himora suddenly flew off his hinges.
"YOU'LL DIE FOR YOUR WORDS!"
Himora hacked at her relentlessly.
His aim?
To take off anything and everything within reach of his deadly blade.
Tie backed into the wooded area, a look of mock desperation on her face as she teased and egged Himora on.
"WOOOOW! That's a great display of power... But can you show me some skill?"
With this, she spins several times, and her twin swords flash out in a series of attacks that send Himora flying back and into a tree.
His sword flies from his hands, and his right arm spits blood from a deep, ugly gash.
He lay unconscious to our right.
"HIMORA!"
Both Athena and I shout in unison.
I fly at her, my spear ricocheting between her twin blades.
As hard as I tried, I couldn't breach her defenses.
As long as she wielded the two swords, she was nearly invincible.
"BASTION! Hmmm, what an advisory!"
The sly yet somehow attractive Tie was using her words like snakes, trying to get to me, get into my emotions, just as she had done with Himora.
But I kept my cool.
Her tricks wouldn't work on me.
I kept silent and stood up to her aggressive attacks.
She pressed on.
"Why so quiet? Are you scared? You know, you are legendary! Why do you travel with such a weak crew!? Leave them, and I'll travel with you... Just you and me."
This got to me.
I felt that strange yet powerful sense of strength swell within me, and I was sure that I was about to go ballistic.
"BACK OFF!"
I shouted in frustration, swinging a swift kick at her face, which she ducked with little effort.
"Ah, temper, temper, young man! You don't want to lose your cool as your friend did, do you? You might just suffer the same fate!"
She withdrew for a moment, then came at me with a similar attack that she had used on Himora. Within seconds, I had suffered almost the same fate as he had, but her last swing just barely missed, and my arm was left unmarked.
She stopped, regained her balance, and let out a deep, jarring laugh.
"AAAAH! HA! HA! HA! TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO!"
She said as she turned from me and stared at Athena, who waited, axes drawn, and temper flaring.
How dare she count me out so soon?
"NO! MAKE THAT TWO TO GO!"
She had but a split second to spit a single word out.
"WHAT!?"
She turned just in time for my foot to make contact with her face.
I kick her hard, sending her tumbling across the leaf-littered ground.
After the horrible fall, she slowly climbs to her feet and smiles.
Blood drips from her mouth, her right eye is swollen, and a long, deep cut runs the length of the left side of her face.
She stood looking weathered, with leaves and twigs in her hair and tears and cuts all over her clothing, many of which were from Himora's sword.
Although she had kicked Athena in the chest, knocked Himora out, and even hurt me a bit, I felt bad for kicking her as hard as I had. She stood there with blood-stained clothes, looking much like a weathered rose.
She spoke, jarring me from my distraction.
"Huh!... That wasn't expected... But all the same, that was a good attack, Bastion! I see now why you are so famous, Legendary even."
She stumbles a step closer, then stoops to pick up her weapons, falling to her knees in the process.
"I... I still don't see why you chose that rat-faced blond over me!"
She kicks off and launches herself at me full speed with both her swords pulled back and ready to swing, obviously as a desperate final attack, but before she comes within a yard of me, Athena flips over my head and launches her axes at Tie.
One lodges itself into her left shoulder, the other, square into the center of her forehead.
Athena lands softly behind me and steps around me to my right, smiling as the lifeless body tumbles past us in a twisted heap and rolls to a stop.
"Wow..."
Was all I could say.
Athena beams.
"Ha! Now who's the rat-faced blond!?"
She places her booted foot on the dead woman's head and yanks hard, pulling the axe from her creased skull with a wet pop, but before Athena could lay a hand on the second axe, Tie sprang suddenly back to life, and her foot found Athena's face, sending her spiraling off into the nearest tree.
"ATHENA!"
I yell as I stare in shock as the heavily wounded Tie stands up and reaches up to yank the axe from her shoulder.
"HA! You thought it would be that easy? HOW DARE YOU!... I am offended. Come on, Bastion, you should have known after that little story that Athena told you... I AM INVINCIBLE!"
I step back and ready my spear before me.
I knew that she would attack just as soon as she thought I wasn't ready.
"What do you mean, invincible?"
I ask, already knowing, but wanting an explanation.
I would be sure to tell Himora and Athena this story.
"Oh, don't play dumb!"
She snapped at me.
"Yatsimoto himself lent me some of his destructive powers in order for me to defeat the three of you, and you know it! Yes... There are plenty of advantages to going evil. You should give it a try! I THINK YOU WOULD LIKE IT!"
I step back once more, readying my spear for flight as the crazed woman once again stoops to pick up her swords.
"I'm done playing games... Now you'll die for once and for all. You first, then I'll go finish those two idiots off! HA! HA! HA! HAAAAAA!"
She raises her swords above her head and prepares for one last devastating attack.
"THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! DIE!!!"
She takes one step forward and suddenly front-flips into an aerial assault.
I can't describe the trouble I had blocking all of her vicious attacks, but somehow I did. I've been in plenty of fights and battles, and let me tell you, the sword is not my specialty.
That is probably why I have so much trouble sparing with Himora...
I block attack after attack as she pressed her massive frontal assault.
"Ungh, can't...defend...much longer."
I think to myself between her measured attacks, but before I had a chance to stumble or mess up, the strangest things happened. Tie stops dead in her tracks and falls unceremoniously to her knees.
"AAAAAAAGH!... THIS POWER!
She screams as she drops her weapons and clasps her hands over her head.
Her voice twists and distorts, taking on a strange and unearthly dual tone.
Her body begins to shift its shape and mass, like a sack full of rats trying to fight their way out.
"WHAT'S...HAPPENING...TOOOOOOO MEEEEEEEEEE!?"
The earth under our feet starts to rumble, and the light from the moon and stars above fades. I take a step back from the hideous sight that my eyes seem to reject.
"What the hell is that thing!?"
A familiar voice shouts from behind me.
I turn to see Himora, his sword at the ready, and his right arm bandaged with a strip of cloth from his pant leg.
"Luckily, he's left-handed."
I think to myself.
Tie's female figure twisted and distorted itself until she no longer looked like a woman. She suddenly took on the form of the last thing that any of us really wanted to see.
"A RIGORI!?"
Athena screams as she stumbles to my side.
"Unless one of you has a really good plan, we are facked..."
She adds.
The huge monster stands at a massive 10.5 feet tall, easily towering over the tallest of us.
I had never seen an Ogre before this point, but obviously, Athena had.
At that moment, I admit this was one of the very few times I was afraid to attack first.
"BASTION!"
Athena shouts as she dives at me
I had failed to notice that I had slipped into a state of shock until Athena collided with me just in time to remove me from the path of the charging Rigori.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Himora yells as I feel a wave of ice-cold water hit my face.
"Bastion, get up! We don't have time to nap; it's fight or die right now! Kill or be killed!
I climbed to my knees just in time to see the hideous thing rush at Himora, who, may I add, expertly fended off its deadly attacks like so many other battles I had witnessed.
"We... Must help him."
I managed to get out as I climbed to my feet.
"Are you okay?
Athena asked.
"I'm fine, just got a little dizzy... Let's go!"
I brace my spear and Athena her axes as we rush towards the backside of Tie (if we could still call her that).
Our charge was rather rudely interrupted.
"RAAAUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAUGH!"
As we launched ourselves at her, she turned from Himora and let loose a devastating roar in our direction, sending us right back to where we had just leapt from,
Luckily, we both landed on our feet.
"NO!"
Athena exclaims.
"We have to help him! She's trying to single him out!"
A wild yet desperate look brewed in Athena's eyes as she said this.
I had to think fast.
There was obviously no way we could get to him physically, and by the looks of it, Himora was growing weary. I even thought I saw him stumble (something very unlike him).
Then, it came to me.
"Athena, she can stop us physically, but what about pro-"
"PROJECTILES!"
She exclaims.
(She was way ahead of me.)
"NEA TIEY KEYO!"
She yells as she springs into action.
This must have been her secret attack, because Himora and I had never seen it before.
Athena stood with her arms out, palms spread, and her mind focused on Tie.
Her eyes were glowing a bright yellow.
If I heard correctly, the name of her attack translates into something along the lines of;
"Wrath of the berserker."
"Marakai..."
I thought aloud.
And just as I had predicted, a huge stream of light shot forward from Athena's body, and within it was the spirit of Marakai.
"YOU SHALL NOT HARM THEM!"
His voice boomed as he raised his massive Aetheral mace high above his massive body.
In the blink of an eye, he and Ogre-Tie collided.