//------------------------------//
// 39: In Which This Story Receives A Bad Ending 
// Story: Dark Body, Light Soul (Or the Tale of the Stalfos) 
// by Garino 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 39: In Which This Story Receives A Bad Ending

In all honesty, I hated the odds right now. I managed to reduce thirteen rats that wanted me dead into twelve rats that wanted me...I guess deader than dead? Either way, Priestess could barely keep her thoughts together.

"Y-you...you were...you..." she stammered.

"Yeah, me me me me me," I interrupted, rolling the non-existant eyes. "Now, I don't know who started this shit (they totally started it), but leave now and we'll pretend nothing happened."

I swear, silence reigned when these rats were around. A scowl appeared on Priestess's face. Apparently, they didn't believe in 'let us never speak of this again' when one of their own died because of what 'this' was. She was so pissed, she couldn't even gain the focus to give the vocal command. She simply pointed, and the ten attacked.

*THUNKTHUNKTHUNK*

Excuse me, the eleven attacked.

Ignoring the arrows for a bit longer (and not paying attention to the arrows I had pulled out and mysteriously disappeared), I pounded my sword on my shield, taunting the others. First, were the two easiest ones: the axe men. I guess now would be a good time to show why swords defeated axes?

As they charged, both rats held their axes up high, hoping to cleave me in half vertically. This was cleared up immediately as I did a side jump to dodge the terrible attack. I then chopped the left one's head off. I'll simply leave the graphic details to you, since imagination is greater than anything I could say.

Surprisingly, my action was exactly what the right axeman wanted, as now he didn't have the clumsy oaf to work with. Glancing to the side, I noticed that none of his friends seemed to want to help him. Does EVERYTHING underestimate me?

*THUNK*

...sadly, yes.

As we circled each other, I decided to try and throw him off with the oldest trick in the book. I feigned charging at him. He didn't buy it, instead holding his axe like a shield to block the 'charge.' Okay, so rats aren't dumbasses. I twirled my blade and did a real charge this time. This time, he sidestepped as I ran by him. Believing he would attack me with a quick swipe of his axe, I crouched. My belief was correct as I heard the blade miss my head by a small bit.

I stood back up quickly and slashed at him, getting a clean cut on his side. While not immediately lethal, I now had him on a time limit. He tried to stop the bleeding, but the cut was too big; he couldn't cover ALL of it. Apparently, the archer knew he was done for, because an arrow actually hit HIM and not me. The second axeman dropped his weapon and fell over dead. Next time, they won't use slow axes to try and hit a quick swordsman. The speed of the swordsman combined with the slow reaction time of an axeman is what gives the sword the edge.

Turning to the remaining eight *THUNK* nine warriors, the swordsmen came next. I reached for the lance, only to realize I had left it in the room with the book. I blame Timber the Tiger for making me forget it, even though he has absolutely nothing to do with this.

The three rats surrounded me, intent on sealing the fight as quickly as possible. I noted that, when two of them got the same idea and charged at me, swords out, they were headed straight for each other. Added bonus; if they didn't stop and I sidestepped, they'd both skewer each other. I sidestepped, and the two skewered each other. Sucked to be them, huh?

The third swordsman used this opportunity to attack, going for an overhead slash. Instead of using my shield to block the attack, like I should have, I parried with my sword. As we engaged each other, I noticed my opponent had a shield. Ah, a mirror match. But which one is the better? Bard muttered. I decided NOT to answer that question right now.

Soon, as our swords clashed once again, the rat threw me for a loop. I felt something grab me by the neck and toss me over to the group of lancers. They immediately took advantage of the fact that I was down and started kicking me. I may have lost a few bones, but I did manage to make them stop; namely, by kicking one, slicing a second's foot off, biting a third's leg (terrible taste, would not recommend as food), and finally punching the fourth one where it hurt.

I got back to my feet as El Gigante deemed it time to get himself involved. He grabbed my spine and started slamming into the ground multiple times. I felt, and heard, a lot of my bones breaking. When he was finished, he tossed me to the side. Thankfully, the bones he broke were...unimportant to the fight for right now. I shakily got up and assessed the remaining situation.

One swordsman with some otherworldy powers, three lancemen still recovering from the unexpected counter with one dead and legless, El Gigante who was roaring like Hulk, and the Priestess watching all of this with a smirk.

*THUNK*

Oh, and the asshole archer who refused to reveal himself.

Okay, screw this, I thought. I am NOT losing to a bunch of pack rats. I held my sword out in front of me and started charging. I filled it with a good bit of magic, but only enough. I know this because the last bit actually hurt to finish the job.

One shot to do this...but how to go about this? Pretty soon, they're gonna get bored and just finish this. Then...well, the mansion's going down.

...speaking of which, why hasn't Drac or the others decided to help me with my plight? I decided to act fatigued, driving the sword into the ground and breathing heavily.

Priestess laughed at this. "Aww, is the widdle skeleton getting tired of fighting? Sorry to destroy your thoughts (NOT!) but that won't work twice. I think it's time to end this. SPECTER! FINISH HIM!"

I actually expected something to hit me. Anything. I looked around for this Specter, but he didn't appear. I looked a bit puzzled. Priestess did, too. Her brow furrowed as she barked her order again. "SPECTER! I SAID FINISH HIM!!!"

Then he appeared. Specter. He was cloaked like a rogue from all of those RPGs. I guess he was the one taking pot-shots at me with those arrows. Something told me my gambit was about to take a SERIOUS nosedive. By the gleam of his dagger, which I saw was a dull silver, it looked like it was about to end.

He approached me, fury dancing in his eyes. He held the blade to my throat, and I felt it burn. All it would take was one swift movement, and the unkillable...would be killed. But he never did. Instead, he tilted forward. Until his mouth, or where it should have been, was next to my ear. Then, he whispered.

"You owe me big time for this, Daniel." Hold on...I never gave him my name. He then removed the dagger from my neck and 'slit' my throat. As he walked away, I collapsed, pretending he performed the deed. I seriously needed a heal, or else this would be real. Unbeknownst to them, my sword now had that blood-red aura, confirming the enchantment.

I heard Priestess laugh. "It's too bad we couldn't keep him. He would've made a good pet. But then, I'm not into necrophilia. Now, let's go inside and claim our mutt. We can't keep them wa-" her words were cut off by the sound of El Gigante's cry of agony. He collapsed to the ground, gurgling. The reason?

'The Specter' had stabbed his eye, then slit his throat. I think Priestess was going to flip her shit. "Sp-Specter! What the HELL is wrong with you!? He was on our si-" A gasp. "No...it can't be..."

There was a laugh as 'he' spoke. "I'm afraid so. Y'see, 'Specter' is out of it right now. And he will be until I see fit that everyone else is dead."

Another female growl. "DESTROY HIM! KILL SPECTER IF YOU MUST, BUT HE MUST BE ELIMINATED!"

I quickly got to my feet and added my input. "Actually, I prefer 'EXTERMINATE. EXTERMINATE." I then ran to the remaining soldier rats and did a quick spin attack, gutting them in thier confusion. As they breathed their last, I breathed a LOT better, my bones repairing themselves back to full.

When all was said and done, it was now down to me and the turncoat 'Specter' versus the rat Priestess. Her anger was just about to hit boiling point. "You...you'd dare defy us...for one stupid mutt!?" she practically screamed.

"Well, he's kinda grown on me," I admitted. "After all, I saved his life, he saved mine, the others like him, and unlike you, I know his name."

I didn't pay any mind, but her staff began teeming with dark magic. "Oh, I know who it is, alright. Treble has been a disobedient pain in our asses since we found him!"

I blinked (Y’know what? From here on out, I’m just gonna pretend I have eyes. Makes it a lot simpler). Either she didn't understand a hellhound didn't go by other names, or she was looking for the wrong dog in the first place. If I could glare, I would. "Priestess, I only ask once more; leave now with your life. Specter will soon follow, but if you dare stay any longer, I will END you."

Priestess let out an ungodly roar, firing a huge blob of...darkness, for lack of a better term, at me and the renegade. 'Specter' managed to disappear and dodge the attack.

However, with my luck, I didn't dodge in time. Instead, I raised my shield up and hoped that it would protect me. Sadly, my shield had failed me.

I blacked out on impact.