Sam Airey- Stars

We fought as the emblem shrank smaller and smaller. Giving me a rusted armor and shield wasn't a good idea for Ishtar because they decreased the sharpness of her sword. Clashing against my blunt sword made her sword loose more of its sharpness while mine lost its bluntness.

As time is passing, she is getting more and more restless and breaking more and more rules. I pushed her out of the emblem several times but she did not lose more of her armor while I have lost everything that I had in the name of protection.

Many small cuts cover my body in numerous places. The pain from the wound she gave me in my abdomen is still there. There's something in her sword which is delaying the healing process. I am tempted to abandon the sword and use Oculus Reaper. It'd be way easier for me if I use my enchanted whip rather than the crappy sword as I am well trained in it but I can't. I have to stick with the rules. I have to fight this dual with the weapon that had been given to me. I cannot choose one of my own.

Ishtar can cheat but I won't because I am not her. I'd rather lose than cheat and have fake victory. She may or may not have it but I certainly do have some dignity.

As she tries to hit me again, I bring my sword up and they clash. The sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the courtroom. Suddenly, a loud thundering sound shakes the ground beneath us. The chandelier that had been hanging above us is violently swinging like a pendulum.

A look of confusion crosses over Ishtar's face before she gives me a pointed look and says, "Seems like your mate is here," This makes Vesta stir inside me and the pain that I had somehow forgotten while fighting with Ishtar had now come back. The light of the courtroom suddenly dims as another thundering sound cuts through the silence of the place.

Why is he here? And how did he know that I came here? Thoughts about him flood my mind and suddenly, I am not standing in the courtroom of Ishtar's palace. I am back in the grave, standing by the well.

"So this is where you've been coming all this time?" His deep voice rumbles, making me look at him. He's standing there, looking at me haughtily. He seems cold and distance.

"Yes," I answer, unlike last time as I step in front of him.

"You're no god. Just a self-obsessed, obnoxious, unworthy, mortal man who called himself a god," He speaks sternly. The tone of his voice sounds cold and distant. I step closer to him regardless of the amount of energy radiating off him. The air around us is buzzing, charged with so much tension. I want to break this. I want to mend everything.

"You don't deserve to be called a god! You don't deserve anything!" He continues to quote me while watching me like a predator as I eat the distance between us. I stop when I am standing so close to him that our toes are touching. He's looking down at me with empty eyes but I know there are so many things going on behind them. I want to let everything out. I want to tell him everything. It may be too late but I want to give us a chance for the last time. Just once, I want us to be real mates. No running away, no hiding, no hurting, no lying to each other. I want us to love each other once, even if it's fake. Even if it's just because of the bond. I want to love him and be loved by him.

Just once...

I find myself rising on toes while I rest my hands on his chest. My hands travel up to clutch his cloak near his neck and pull him down.

"Mine," Is the next thing that I growl before I claim his lips and the next thing I know is everything on fire.

Suddenly, a searing pain makes me snap out of my daze. I look down to find a deep gash on my abdomen, right where Ishtar cut me before. Bloodstains my clothes as it gushes out of the wound.

A loud, guttural growl makes me look up from my wound to find that our surroundings are on fire. Ishtar stands in front of me with a smug look on her face with her sword stained with my blood. She is in the stance to attack me again. I look past her and ... I find his silver eyes trained headedly on me.

What did you do, Neffie? It's like I could read his eyes. His eyes are telling me so many things that he failed to tell me.

He is here? I can't believe my eyes. He feels like a fragment of my imagination. Looking at him, it feels like it had been ages since I last saw him and now, he is back... for what purpose, I don't know.

He's standing at the door of the courtroom. For some reason, I am sure that Ishtar is aware of his presence. She wanted him to be here, to look at me getting defeated by her but suddenly, the idea of getting defeated seems so wrong. I can't do this. I took an oath in front of his people and sealed it with my blood. They have expectations that I have to fulfill. I gave them hope, now I can't take it away from them just because I hate him.

"Look at your mate getting defeated," She yells before lunging on me. I wrap my fingers around my sword while maintaining eye contact with him. I can see Ishtar about to hit me in my peripheral vision. The sword in my hand heats up until the metal is hot and red. I can feel the particles of the weapon buzzing, rubbing against each other, creating friction.

As Ishtar is about to hit me, I bring my sword up and together they clash. A shrill metallic sound is heard before Ishtar's sword breaks and she falls back due to the impact. I am also pushed back due to the impact. At this moment, I don't care if I lose or win. Everything seems to have lost it's meaning to me. I'll be done when it's finished and I'll be gone.

I look down at her to see her get up. Rage and surprise, both the expressions play on her face. Her red eyes are giving me a death glare. Suddenly, the emblem disappears around us as she stands up. Her teeth are clenched and black smoke is rising from her body.

"I won't let you get away with it!" She growls before a ball of black smoke starts to form in her hands and it the second time I am having a flashback of the past. I had faced a similar situation before and the worst part about is that it's related to him.

Vesta lets out a painful howl inside me as more and more thoughts subjected to him flood my mind and interfere with my functioning capabilities. It takes everything in me to pull myself out of the pool of memories that surround him.

As she throws a big fireball at me, I see him in the peripheral vision as he tries to interrupt us but he is pushed back by an invisible force. This breaks the solid expression on his face and through the cracks of it pours all the emotions that he had been holding back all the time. I somehow manage to dodge Ishtar's ball of fire with the aching wound in my abdomen. His thundering growl shakes the floor beneath our feet again. Goosebumps erupt all over my skin as I try to get up and move again as Ishtar directs another ball of fire at me.

As I dodge Ishtar's black fiery balls, I notice that Arles is fighting Nadal, who has casted some spell around us to keep Arles from interrupting me and Ishtar. It was very close when Ishtar throws her next fireball at me. It manages to burn some of my cloth and leave black marks on my exposed skin.

The whole room is in chaos. Nadal is accompanied by Ishtar's fighters to fight Arles while I dodge from her fiery balls. Slowly, I feel the energy darning from my body. I have been fighting for long and my wound is still bleeding. It hasn't started to heal yet and I feel that I have already lost a lot of blood.

I am finding it hard to breathe and I know Vesta is doing everything to help me heal but it's not working. Slowly, I feel my steps stumble. I am finding it hard to keep my balance while the world around me is spinning and black spots start to appear in my vision.

Ishtar is looking smug as she notices her effects on me but I keep fighting, dodging her fiery balls. If I take out Oculus Reaper, it won't work here. I need something else. My sword has gone and I need another weapon with which I can use to actually hurt her.

A loud crash makes me snap out of my daze and that's when I notice that Arles has beaten Nadal down into a pulp along with Ishtar's other fighters. As soon as my eyes fall on Arles' sword, an idea strikes my mind and suddenly, I am reminded of the dagger that I was given at my coronation ceremony. Before the fight began, I had tugged it into my hair bun to keep my hair at place.

I know that the blade of the dagger is sharper than anything and it's made of very powerful metal and had been blessed by many gods. It's powerful enough to hurt a goddess like Ishtar. I was so submerged into my thoughts that I didn't notice when Ishtar threw another fiery ball at me.

I am thrown back by its impact. It burns the fabric of what's left of my cloak and the fighting suite that I originally wore. As soon as the fire burns through my clothes and touches my skin and the place near the wound in my abdomen, I let out a loud cry of pain.

"NEFRET!" I hear him roar as I writher in pain on the ground. I collect all the courage in my body and look down to find that pretty much of my stomach has been exposed. The fire has left blue burnt marks on my skin and it's burning like lava on my skin. I feel tears trickle down my eyes due to the excruciating pain.

Ishtar lets out a laugh before she comments, "Pathetic," I bite back another painful cry as I try to get up. My eyes are met with his terrified, silver ones as I get up facing him. I have this rage slowly rising inside me like lava inside a volcano.

I feel Ishtar step behind me as I slowly stand up. With maintain eye contact with him, I reach for the dagger tucked in my hair bun. I feel Ishtar getting ready to attack me as I pull the dagger out from my bun and let the hair drop over my shoulders like a black curtain.

For a moment, I see lust and longing in his eyes as he looks at me heatedly. Butterflies flap their wings in my stomach as I feel the same sensation taking over me but my heart aches thinking that in the next moment, it'll be all gone. Everything will be finished. There will be no us.

As Ishtar finally steps closer behind me and her breath blows on my back, I take a deep breath and turn around before aiming the dagger right in her heart.

A scream is all I hear before I am thrown back with so much force that I hit the courtroom wall, knocking him with me. I squeeze my eyes shut and hold myself from screaming as I feel a tingling on my neck before it's replaced by excruciating pain.

His mark is gone.

I am free... or that's what I thought.