The Knight's Task and the Warrioress' Test Chapter 4
The Warrioress' Test... For Love or War
By Elizabeth Whittaker
Lufia knew that Devur was out there, meeting the First Disciple at the Shore of Sadness. She was worried sick about him and felt the impulse to go after the Knight. After all, from what she heard about Vala, she knew that she would be merciless at retrieving her and killing Devur. But why did he go alone? She wondered. It said for me to . . . No! Hurriedly, she ran to the Shoreline, desperate and hoping it wasn't too late.
She arrived there as Vala turned the tables on them. She recognized the guy in red as Aguro, but shocked to see Devur. He looked like her! Lufia shook her head in disbelief. He did all this . . . for me?! But why!!? She was only a few feet away and hidden behind a tree. Vala's voice shook her out of her thoughts.
"You see," Vala's voice echoed melodically, "women walk a certain way, just as men do. You, unfortunately, don't. I can tell just by the way you were standing in those shoes." Lufia saw her sneer evilly. "I'm the First Disciple, and I am no where near as stupid as you Mortals are." It was then she stabbed Devur in the stomach. Lufia couldn't believe it as the disguises from the two men faded, revealing their true selves. Still she wouldn't move.
After a minute, Devur said something, groaning in pain. "I take it you're Vala."
"Of course," she answered. Lufia could tell that she was laughing in her mind at Devur's situation. "I have accomplished one task. Killing you off. Now . . ." She reached for him, pulling him to his feet, pushing the sword into his stomach harder. Devur screamed in agony. She saw Aguro pull out his sword, but a minute later, he couldn't move. "It's only a matter of time before you die, Hero. And you don't have much of it left."
"No!!" Lufia wailed, bolting at the First Disciple. Vala turned around after she reached her, pulling her off Devur. Vala, now regaining her composure, pushed Lufia to the ground, stepping on her nose. It broke effortlessly. Blood gushed out Lufia's nose like a fountain as she screamed in anger. Lufia's strength was ebbing, but she managed to pull herself up and face Vala. "Don't think you can get away with this, Vala," she growled. Her voice was inhuman. The wind picked up and rain poured from the sky suddenly as the young Warrioress rose her arms and floated fifteen feet in the air. Aguro watched, having nothing else he could do.
"'Air above me . . . Water below me . . . Earth inside me . . .'"
"Lufia! Stop it!!" Devur cried out. "You can't do this! You don't know what you're doing--"
"'Firewind surrounding me . . . create a barrier to protect those who haveth befriendth me. . .'"
A black barrier surrounded Aguro and Devur. Aguro could find that he could move once again, but he was trapped inside the barrier, as was Devur. The barrier was healing his fatal wound as well as the minor ones. This made Devur bang on the barrier. "Lufia!! Stop this!! You've got to think about--"
Thunder cracked in the sky, lightning exploded in their ears. Jerin, Vanion
and Alan ran to the scene, but Jerin stopped them. "You can't. Let her go."
"But--" Vanion cried out, "she'll die without our help."
"You mustn't intervene, Vanion!" Jerin yelled.
"Why?!" Alan asked incredulously. "She will die if we don't help her!"
"That is yet to be seen," Jerin answered darkly. "She is the best sorceress the world has ever known. This is a test that she must complete. Legend and history are being held in Lufia's hands. As a Sinistral, she can choose to become the Mistress of Death or become Lufia. But also in the balance is one other thing. Love or war."
"What do you mean?" Vanion asked, confused.
Alan looked at Lufia as he answered Vanion. "If she doesn't stop the First Disciple, the world as we know it will be in danger. It could lead to world destruction, Vanion!"
Jerin also looked at Vanion. "This is the second part of the test."
Vanion got irritated. "What test!?"
"Lufia's test. The first was to prove to others that she wasn't a Sinistral. That she wasn't the Mistress of Death and to accept the fact that the balance of the world laid in her hands. Now, the Cult of the Lost Souls comes, wanting the Mistress of Death to revive the Sinistrals. Lufia now has to decide which person she will become. There are two things that hang on her soul, nagging at her and have her confused. Love and War.
"All her life, she's been exposed to war, but when Devur showed her love, she was confused. She now has to decide what she has to do." Jerin looked at Lufia, who now looked at Devur. "I hope that by the Goddess Lufia knows what she's doing and will make the right decision."
"'Firestorm of Wind, show me your power . . . as you light the world with
your shower of light . . .'" The wind grew fiercer. Lufia herself was now
incased in a barrier. The sky turned red and the raindrops turned into drops
of blood from the souls up above. They hissed as they hit the ground, creating
a mist around everyone. The wind wasn't cold anymore. It was hot and overbearing.
Then she saw Jerin and the others. Lufia pointed her finger at them and they
too were incased in the black barriers that Devur and Aguro were in.
Vala touched the barrier surrounding Devur as he pulled the sword out. The barrier broke, letting Vala attack. But before she could do anything, Devur stabbed her in the chest. Devur had a grim look on his face as she fell to the ground, dead. "That's what you get for trying to kill me and other innocent people," he told the lifeless body. Then he was incased again. "Lufia! What are you doing!?" Devur screamed at her. "There's no one else coming!!"
"There's a guy above you, Devur!" Aguro shouted. "Look up there!"
There was indeed a guy above Devur. He was about seventeen feet high in the air. He wore long black robes, had raven colored hair with chilling lavender eyes and wore a necklace with an amethyst on it. The jewel glowed in the Firestorm and in the red barrier he was in. "So, we meet again, Lufia." His voice was cold and full of hatred.
She gave him a calm and unafraid stare. "Sir Arek. So you were the one behind this."
He merely shrugged. "Of course, my dear. You've known that all along. Don't try to fool me. I know that you want to come back and see your brother."
Lufia shook her head. "No. I don't . . ." Yet she hesitated, only making Arek go further into his explanation. "Stop it! You're confusing me . . ." Then she lifted her arms higher. "Firestorm . . . ATTACK!!!"
"LUFIA!" Devur screamed. "You can't do that!!! You'll take us down!!!!"
Everyone in the barriers disappeared except for Devur. He stayed, strangely. All he could do was look around as everyone else disappeared. Aguro, Jerin, Vanion and Alan . . . they were probably in a safe place. And here I am stuck here, he thought sourly. But I think I'm here for a reason. And I'm going to find out what the reason is.
The wind blew even harsher, the fire in the wind heading at Arek. His barrier never fell. It didn't even waver in the slightest. Devur's, however, broke and he screamed in fear. He was always scared of magic. Now he was going to die in the worst possible way . . .
Then he floated in the air. He landed in the barrier that Lufia herself had created and when he landed on the ground of it, he panted in fear. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" Devur cried.
"Your petty Firestorm won't do anything to me," Arek calmly told her. "'Darkness around me, led me your power to unleash the Lost Soul of Terror!'" The sky grew dark now, the struggle between Fire and the Darkness beginning. "'Led me your mighty power and show the Mistress of Death her true self!!'"
The face of the old Master of Terror came forth in front of Lufia. The lavender hair exactly like her own . . . the chilling sapphire eyes that made you freeze in his presence . . . even the lizard like skin that he had after they changed him into the hideous creature. It frightened her. She was looking at her dead brother that had fallen. Fallen beneath her hand. "Daos!"
"Let yourself see, Erim, the true face of what you are!" Arek yelled triumphantly. "See yourself as you really are!"
"It's only a illusion, Arek," she said with a chilling tone. "Take that away!"
Feeling Devur's hand, she squeezed it hard. It reassured her of all her fears and all her worries about herself were okay. The main thing that she had to do was confirm those feelings . . . to herself. "I am not the Mistress of Death!" Lufia cried out to the wind and to Arek, bellowing her challenge. "I am not any of those things that you say I am! I am Lufia, and I will win! I will defeat you, Arek!"
She rose her hand up high, making lightning appear in her hand. Devur, scared as he was, had acquired Water magic in his training as a Knight and recalling what the teacher told him, he cast a ball of water in his hand. They put both the water and the lightning together and sent it flying at Arek. "Your days are finished, Arek!" Both of them cried together as the ball came at him.
He screamed once. It was a scream neither of them wanted to hear again. It was a bellowing, screeching noise that was inhuman. Then the body was gone. Arek was defeated. The Sinistrals were all defeated. Even the last bit of Erim that was left inside Lufia was gone, never again to be resurfaced.
The barrier that held the two young lovers departed as they floated to the ground, hugging each other tightly, happy that everything was going to be alright. Lufia was the first to speak. "Are you alright?"
"Don't ever worry me like that again!" Devur yelled. Lufia hung her head. "Look, Lufia. I want to know something. Where are the others?"
"I sent them back to Alekia. I didn't want them to see this," she answered. Devur looked at her. "It was my last test to see whether or not Erim would take over me. I won. I am Lufia. Never again will the Sinistrals be reborn. I was the last."
Devur hugged her tightly. "Oh, you." He ran his hand through her dirty hair. She liked his touch and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm happy that you were able to come to terms with yourself."
"You did it, Devur."
Devur was confused. "How, Lufia!?"
"You know when you took my hand? That's what settled it. I would be hurting you more than anyone else. That, and the fact that I love you dearly and couldn't stand the thought of being without you." She looked at him, tears glistening in her eyes. "Come on. Let's go home."
Devur nodded. "Yes. Let's do that."
Then the two of them walked off in the night, holding hands as they walked back to their hometown.