It was the middle of the night. Drea tried to sleep, but couldn’t; her neck was burning. She jumped out of her dreams and sat up in bed, grasping the chain around her neck. It was burning in her hand as she panted under the disgustingly sweaty covers. She didn’t remember having a bad dream.
Drea looked around. She’d started wearing the shuriken charm when she slept ever since she figured out it could detect the dark aura. She thought it might help.
Suddenly the feeling of the dark aura hit her like a ton of bricks. It invaded her mind, begging her to find it. She wanted to, but she forgot her knife when she left. Without a weapon, she couldn’t fight. I’ll have to let Danny get it. She lay back down, finding it difficult to get back to sleep.
The dark aura wasn’t disappearing though; it seemed to be getting stronger. It didn’t alarm her until a new aura invaded her mind. It felt like the aura of just a normal human; there was nothing special about it. It began to approach the dark aura.
Drea sat up in fear. Where are you Danny? She extended herself out far, but could feel his presence nowhere. For a moment, she panicked. What if something happened to him? The feel of the Lori snapped her back to reality. That person was in danger, but a small part of her was still reluctant to go. Something didn’t seem quite right.
She couldn’t waste time thinking about that though with the possibility that someone was in trouble. Drea threw off her covers and quickly changed her clothing to her Kaienshi outfit. She donned her horse mask as well. As she opened her window, she thought, I hope you’re safe Danny, and jumped out.
The wind flew through her hair as she sped through the dark city. The faint glow of the streetlights illuminated patches of earth, leaving darkness in between. None of the houses she passed over were lit up. The beautiful moon shone in the sky, it was a full moon that night.
She moved quickly, hoping she would get there in time. She may have not had a weapon, but she didn’t have to fight, she just had to get that person out of there. Maybe it was cowardly, but it was efficient, at least until she found Danny.
Drea touched down in a rural area with a few empty buildings and a few trees spread around. One streetlight shone as the moon hung over it, spreading its eerie light. She advanced slowly, looking around for the aura she was sensing. Her necklace was still burning in response to the aura, yet she saw no Lori nearby.
Finally, she saw a little girl running towards her hurriedly from the shadows. It didn’t feel right to her; after all, what little girl would be out by herself like this? She wasn’t sure what to do. When she was little, her friend had turned into a wolf, so this girl could too. Maybe she was a Lori… Drea was torn. She wanted to help, but wasn’t sure if it was a great idea at the moment.
Against every fiber of her being, Drea stood her ground and waited for the little girl to come to her. She heard voices of dissonance clamor in her head, protesting her decision. She agreed it was a bad idea, but if this wasn’t a trick, she’d never forgive herself.
The little girl rushed up to Drea and stopped. Fear shone in those big brown eyes as she looked down into them. “Please, help,” said the little girl. She truly looked frightened. Maybe this isn’t a trick.
“Where?” Drea looked around, but still could see nothing.
“Here,” said the little girl in a menacing, skin-crawling voice. Drea felt her heart beat in panic for a moment before she understood what had happened. She felt a stabbing pain penetrate her thigh. Warm liquid dripped down her leg, staining even the back fabric of the pants. Her heart beat about a million miles per hour as she looked down to see a dagger in the hand of the little girl, sticking out of her thigh.
Drea panicked. The thought of the knife twisting in her skin and the sight of her own blood dripping in puddles threw her thoughts into a whirlwind. The girl’s eyes shone like the devils, or maybe like a wolves. She didn’t know what to do with her mind in such a mess, but she knew she had to get away.
Drea balled her fist and did a sweep of her arm to get the girl to release the knife and jumped back. When she landed, she felt the knife scrape up against her bone and fell backwards, realizing that her leg wouldn’t support her anymore. It felt like spiders were crawling in her as the knife remained lodged in her muscle. She looked up to see that the girl had vanished, but something far worse had taken her place. A Lori, about the size of a doorway, stood where the little girl had been.
How could I have fallen for this, Drea thought between breaths. Its aura had felt like a human’s, and she fell for it.
She looked up at the Lori again. Its eyes gleamed with hatred as its teeth glowed venomously. This Lori was strong, and it had stabbed her in the thigh not to kill her, but to immobilize her. It wanted to draw out the battle. That little girl must’ve been part of the Lori, just like her so called friend many years ago.
Drea stood, never taking her eyes off of the Lori. She needed a weapon, but there weren’t any near… except for the dagger in her thigh. She looked down and cringed at the thought of pulling it out. She’d lose a lot of blood if she took it out. Looking at the Lori though, she had no choice: It was either die without a weapon, or die from blood loss with a weapon. She took a chance and grabbed the hilt. Each second as she pulled was filled with new pain. It was really stuck in.
After what seemed like an eternity, Drea felt the knife slide out, it’s cold steel slithering around, sending chills up her spine. As she pulled the blade out, a line of blood followed, splattering the ground in front of her and around her feet. It was already dripping out quickly. Almost immediately, Drea began to feel lightheaded and fell to her hands and knees; it was obvious she’d lost a lot of blood, too much. She took the knife and ripped off one pant leg below the knee, quickly tying it around her leg to try and stop some of the bleeding. She knew that wouldn’t do much, so she had to kill this Lori quickly. She stood, her legs barely supporting her weight.
Their eyes met as each tried to figure out how they could out do the other. In a flash, they moved forward and clashed, Drea’s bloody dagger matched up against its massive paws. Its fur seemed to be made out of a thicker material, a material that couldn’t be cut with a knife. The claws were fairly small, but hooked, made for optimal shredding of Kaienshi. The Lori reached out with its other hand to get at her stomach, but she jumped out of the way just in time. Her speed had drastically decreased, along with her stamina. She was already panting as she slid backwards. The blood was seeping through her pants, dripping in sad little drops of crimson down to the earth. Where are you Danny? Surely he felt her aura, but why hadn’t he come?
It doesn’t matter, she thought. I have to finish this now. Drea rose, ready to finish the fight. Hopefully her leg would hold out a little longer. She advanced towards it, moving as quickly as possible, but with each step another stab of pain blossomed in her, racing through her veins.
They clashed multiple times, both of them on an equal playing field at first. It occurred to Drea that the beast wasn’t attempting more strategic movements. It was just continually clashing with her. That’s when it came to her: He’s trying to force me to kill myself by bleeding out. It was a great plan, and with her restricted movement, she couldn’t counter it.
I have to end this, or else I’ll end up killing myself. She needed to change her tactics, and she needed to do it fast. But how could she inflict damage on this beast when she could no longer quickstep or even run for that matter?
An idea came to her, but it was risky. She’d only have one chance. Now or never. Drea slid backwards from its last blow and planted her feet. Aim for the heart. She gripped her bloody blade, holding it below her thigh. She could barely move her leg anymore; this would be the deciding blow between life and death. She gathered all the force she had left in her tired arm and sent the knife flying. An onslaught of memories hit her once again, but thankfully they didn’t overwhelm her like before. Throwing that knife was natural, and hopefully it’d hit.
It came right up to the Lori, a clear shot. She was about to rejoice when just before it pierced the monster, the Lori disappeared. Her eyes widened. She’d lost her weapon now and had no way to defend herself. Where is it? Drea looked around frantically. She was so surprised, she let down her defenses, and so frantic, she couldn’t sense its aura.
When she realized where it’d strike from, it was too late. The Lori appeared in front of her and slashed through the shoulder opposite to her injured thigh. Blood spurted from it, flying out in front of her as her eyes widened in disbelief. It trickled down her arm in globs.
Then the Lori kicked her in the stomach, sending her back into a tree. The force of the impact knocked her mask of. She sat back, trying to get up, but her ribs hurt. A few of them were probably broken. She was coughing up blood now, the warm liquid dripping slowly out of the corners of her mouth. She had no more options; her shoulder was hurt and she could no longer walk, plus she’d given up her only weapon in a failed attempt.
Drea stared in contempt at the beast approaching her. It almost looked glad to see the face of the girl it would kill. I don’t want to die… I can’t die… I can’t leave Jackie alone; I can’t. Her breathing was laborious, and her body was weak, but she tried to get up. It seemed futile as the blood flooded from her wounds. Her hands and feet were stained with the dark, sticky liquid. She managed to sit up, but could go no further. She was in so much pain with her shoulder, thigh, and ribs throbbing, but she had to get up, she had to try to survive.
She backed herself up against a tree behind her, and used it to get herself on her feet, the worn wood scraping against her back. Every second was painful, but if she was going to die, she didn’t want to die a coward. She stared at the beast, staring death in the face. She didn’t want to die. She wasn’t ready to give up.
Memories began to flow into her mind then, just like before. They came quickly, as if they knew the urgency of the situation. Drea felt a power and strength emanate from those memories coursing through her. She saw and felt the movement of throwing a weapon. She saw and felt the feeling of creating a weapon too. She felt the knowledge seep through her from a mind much older and wiser than her own. It showed her how to picture a weapon and make it real.
In her mind’s eyes, Drea saw many weapons appear in her hand before her vision refocused on the approaching Lori. She tightened her hand, trying to create a weapon like the mind had showed her. She thought of every weapon, but none appeared in her hand like they should’ve.
She was out of energy and out of options. As she stared at the Lori, she suddenly felt a huge loss in her meager energy. When she looked down, she saw a huge golden shuriken materializing in her hand. It looked just like the one on her necklace, except it was probably a good foot in diameter. She held it at her side, feeling as though she’d held the shuriken a thousand times. It brought her comfort to hold it, even if she didn’t really know where it came from.
Drea held it up in front of her, and got ready to throw it. She knew what she had to do and now was the time to do it. She took a stance designed to help her get all her weight behind the blade, causing optimal damage. With one last defiant glance at the Lori, she stood straight and threw the shuriken with all the power she had left.
It left her hand in a blur, as if it moved on its own. It moved so quickly that not even the Lori could evade it this time. It struck the Lori in the chest, going deep into the beast. The monster howled in pain as it began to disintegrate and turn to dust. But as the Lori disappeared, so did the beautiful weapon she had thrown. It turned to dust with the Lori.
Just as it disappeared, Drea felt the cold of the shuriken on her neck. She’d stopped paying attention to its sting some time ago. She reached up to touch it, the memories of her brother embedded in its smooth gold coming to her once again. It was silent then. I won, I killed the Lori… It took her a minute to realize she hadn’t died, and that she had defeated the nightmare itself. I’m not dead… The thought made her smile, it elated her, but as she tried to take a step, her body gave out.
Drea fell to her side, hitting the ground with more force than she thought. She coughed as her limp and lifeless body smashed into the ground. So weak, she thought. Danny, help me… She’d lost too much blood and too much aura. It was impossible to move, impossible to save herself. She laid there, trying everything to force herself to move to no avail. She clenched her hand and released it as she passed out. Her only hope was Danny, but where was he?