The Lost Panacea [ ✓ ]

Chapter Ten: Battle Finale

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Day 2 -·- 0:00 (Unknown)

Location: Tulkuhorn (Unknown)

Mission: Operation Annihilate Prof Tulkaemon
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I parried the strike again, almost losing balance. The thing made use of both arms like a boxer's. Typical of SJ Gallagher, he had always fancied himself as a pro boxer (which he really sucks at). It's quite a pity he cannot perform any longer in a professional match in his new form.

Whilst trying to regain my balance, the Tulkaemon used its other arm and gifted me a left jab in the jaw. I accepted the meaty punch like a Christmas present and careened to the side, not quite falling but balancing myself with just a finger.

"Nice skill," it clapped, sneering.

"Do you think I attended dojo for fun?" I retorted with a winning smile.

As though connected by a telepathic link, we suddenly both rocketed upward into the air and let all hell break loose above in fits of frenzied slashing, fisticuff and kicking.

Somebody just have to come down with a missing part. True to my thoughts, my katana broke when I slashed a particularly hard spot around the demon's elbow and my sword's broken piece fell down with a clank.

When we finally landed, our impact, I can declare with unwavering pride, is synonymous to the meteor that caused the Big Bang, give or take.

The ground literally cleared off of volcanic ashes. My broken piece of sword flew away in some direction. The torches held by the statue blew off and came back to life immediately. The cavern shook to the depths of its lava-ridden core.

All these happened by the magnitude of our nuclear-impact landing.

The jagged broken stump in my hand was all I have left. I managed to steal a glance at where Finn was and he was still tightly secured in his makeshift hammock on the tree branch. Yet, I could swear that I saw Finn twitch. Or was I hallucinating again?

Tulkaemon kicked me with its retracted leg (I thought professional boxing doesn't involve kicking) and I fell on one particularly malicious geyser. As though waiting for my fall, the geysey spurted a hot steam of pressurized water and propelled me upward.

Even with my newfound strength, it hurts. As in damn hotly hurts. I yawped like a wounded dog and the Tulkaemon seemed to be enjoying all of this.

I stood up, picked my stump of a sword and charged. It sidestepped easily and I went running for a while before skidding to a halt. I turned and saw the creature's back well now. The back had a red lozenge-shaped stone that seemed to be the heart. At constant intervals, the exposed heart-stone kept beating, sending molten lava to the various parts of the Tulkaemon.

That was it! Kill the heart! Kill the demon!

Suddenly, it turned and strutted like a majestic monarch towards me and like a subservient seneschal, I watched as its fist connected to my jaw again.

My half broken sword flew out of my hand and I tasted blood as I fell. Then the Tulkaemon pounced on me and rained a downpour of jaw-breaking, nose-scrunching, black-eyeing punches.

Once again, I accepted my fate as a dead meat.

The punches kept on coming, I could feel my eyes dimming slowly, getting hazier by every blow.

Somehow, I saw an obscured figure of a man standing behind the creature with a short stick. At first, I thought it was my last hallucination until I noticed the glint of the 'stick.'

It was my broken sword! And the obscured figure was Finn!

I was smiling as the demon kept making a punching bag out of me. Heaving a heavy sigh, I managed to mutter, "Finn, that red stone in its back!"

And Finn stabbed it with all his renewing strength and extricated the lozenge-shaped stone from its back. The last thing I saw was of a disintegrating Tulkaemon, crumpling into flaky crumbs and flowing away with its ashes.

Then I blacked out.

When I came to, a tangled mass of blonde hair was tingling my nose. I tasted metal and a burning sensation was all over my bones. My eyes fluttered open and the hazel eyes of Finn was what welcomed me.

Badly, I wished it was the green eyes of Lucia instead.

I rolled my mind eyes and pushed Finn away from me, then I propped myself up on my elbows and scanned my surrounding. It was still the same volcanic cavern. The heat was less unbearable due to the powers of the Panacea and the death of its guardian: the Tulkaemon.

It was true, the Lost Panacea worked wonders. There was no doubt about its potency, medically expressing. Perhaps even physiologically and physically.

"Finn, you alright?"

"Never felt aliver."

And we both shared weak chuckles.

"You?"

"Hanging on alright. Can you get a handful of leaves from that large tree?" A handful that can actually be the next big step for medical science.

"Aye Aye Captain!" Finn saluted and turned to go, then he stopped and turned back to me. "And thank you for saving me Alex, I owe you my life."

I turned my head away in shame, not quite able to maintain eye contact with Finn. Despite the fact that I was the first one who stood up for him, together with Lucia, I just couldn't get my head over the fact that I had abandoned him to his gruesome fate with the Maneless Bush Lion.

"You owe me nothing." I said finally. "We're even. Remember that red stone in the back?'"

And we both chuckled again, then he zombie-walked to pluck the wonder leaves.

I remembered him losing a hand to the Maneless Bush Lion but the wiry strings of flesh had regrown to a fingerless stump. In fact, the thumb of his right hand suddenly regenerated in the volcano glow and I knew all was going to be well.

Now by myself, I began to playback the events that had happened the two days here and my conclusion was that everything was extreme, thrilling and fast; a frenzy rollercoaster ride.

The wreath-portal, through its mysticalness appeared during my playback. I looked at it for a while before calling Finn to see 'what was not there.'

The hole was showing a mingle-mangle of blues and greens and I agreed with myself that the Isle of Eye was definitely a paradise of a place for the most curious of minds.

And adventurers.

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