Chapter Twenty-Two

The battles rage on!

Rose glared at Sakura as she came towards her. A mischievous smile crossed her face as she studied Rose's eyes. "My dear, sweet girl." She said coolly almost menacingly. "I can see that you are not cut out for this line of work. Protection; fighting for the ones you love…" she allowed her voice to trial off before permitting a smile to form across her lips. "And watching them as they die-"

"Shut up!" Rose cried abruptly staring into the woman's chilling eyes. She raised her hooked blade. "I am in no mood to listen to your words. Now raise your sword!"

Sakura looked down to her blade in hand then back to Carrion. "Here." She called throwing the sword to him. She turned back to Rose. "I need no weapons to defeat you young one." She said charging her. "You are no match for me!"

"You must be so proud of yourself." Asha said to Carrion in mock admiration. She watched Rose and Sakura's fight from the corner of her eyes. "Treating Gina the way you have," her gaze then shifted to him, "you have raised to a new low."

Carrion let out a humorous laugh. "Who are you to speak on how I treat my kind?"

Asha stomped her left foot angrily. "She is your daughter!"

"Enough of this!" He hissed before laughing once more as he looked down to his sword. "We have a score to settle."

Asha placed a hand to the hilt of her sword, unsheathing it swiftly. She saw Carrion raise his hand and readied herself for an attack. He laughed again. "Quite jumpy, aren't we?" He said snapping his fingers.

Asha lowered her sword. "What are you-?" She began in uncertainty but stopped short as the door entering into the hall flew open.

She looked to Carrion who smiled back in amusement. "I have a little present for you." He looked to the door. "Bring him in!"

"No…" Asha said in disbelief as she watched two of Carrion's guards pull someone through the door.

"How hard will you fight to save his life?" Carrion asked as he looked back to his guards.

"Kane…"Asha said quietly.

The guards threw him to the floor. He didn't move. Asha clenched her hand tightly on the handle of her sword. "What did you do to him?"

Carrion looked back to her. "It's not what I've done to him but our Lord." His gaze shifted from her to Kane before meeting hers once more.  "It is the price for failing in your capture." He raised his sword. "It's ironic that now It depends on your success on whether he lives or dies."

Asha grit her teeth.  "You b*****d."

Carrion then raised his free hand out before him. "Time is running out."

* * *

 "Jade…" Tygra said quietly to herself as she stood to her feet. She looked down to Jade's body, still held within Drake's arms as he tapped her lightly on the cheek as if she had just fallen into a deep sleep.

He looked up to her. "She won't wake up." He said quietly studying Jade's face. He then held her tight against him. "She won't wake up..."

Tygra watched him for the longest moment, unable to move, unable to even think of what happened as tears slowly began to roll down her cheeks.

"What a touching moment." Alester said from behind. "I really hated to do that. She was an exceptional warrior."

Tygra remained silent as she turned to him, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes. "You b*****d." She said quietly. "You will pay for what you've done!"

"What did you expect? For her to live forever?" Alester said in amusement. "She knew of her fate; she knew she was to die."

"I'm not listening to this!" She said snapping her whip out at her side. "You are nothing but a liar!"

"Am I?" Alester asked taking a step forward. "I was in her mind!"

"Then how come you didn't foresee her betrayal?" Tygra questioned angrily.

"She was a tricky individual, you know that." He said looking down to Jade. "She hid what she thought was most important from me."

There was a pause as Drake laid Jade gently onto the floor. He stood to his feet, glaring at Alester. "What is most important here is your death!" He yelled angrily unsheathing his sword at his side.

Tygra grabbed his arm as he walked by her. He stopped and looked back to her half in confusion half in anger. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" He cried unable to believe what he heard as he turned to her furiously. "How can you tell me to calm down?" He pointed to Alester with his sword. "This b*****d killed Jade!"

Tygra tightened her grip on his arm, meeting his gaze head on. "I know that, but if you go and attack him in a blind rage like this…" she let her voice trail off as she turned her gaze from him briefly, then back. "I just don't want to loose you as well." She looked to Alester. "I will die before I let anything happened to you or the others."

"You think you can defeat me?" Alester asked, looking from Tygra to Drake. "The two of you couldn't even defeat your friend." He looked to Tygra. "She couldn't even defeat me."

"Maybe not." Tygra said watching him closely, releasing her grip from Drake's arm. "But she did give us a chance." She smiled at him slyly. "Without that stone of yours, you will die as a mortal does."

"Even with that stone gone, you still cannot kill me." He said then swiped down with his sword, causing a powerful wind to rush at them, pushing them back. Tygra and Drake were unable to keep their footing as they fell to the floor.

Once the wind vanished they looked up at Alester a triumphal smile upon his face. However, he soon fell hard to the floor as he was hit from behind.

Drake stood to his feet. "Haru!"

"What are you doing here?" Tygra asked getting to her feet as well with Drake's aid.

"I've finished my little quest." He said walking towards them.

"You mean-" began.

"Katsuro is dead." He answered then stopped a few feet before them when he saw Jade lying motionless on the floor. He looked back to them. "What happened?"

Drake and Tygra's faces were filled with sorrow. "She-"

"I killed her." Alester said from behind as he stood to his feet.

Haru looked at him, then back to Tygra and Drake. "What?"

"She removed his power source." Tygra said. "She hid it somewhere within the floor."

"She was too tired to keep going…" Drake continued.

"You mean she fought?" Haru questioned surprised.

Tygra stared at him in amazement. "What do you mean by that? Of course she fought!"

"But not well enough." Alester said with a laugh his hand to his stomach, though vaguely feeling the pain. "And now it's your turn."