End of an Era

Reflex kicked in, and the old man twisted downward and bent himself for a spring back, but Xarubbi's death-grip was gravely hampering him. That was the first thing he had to take care of. Second, the blades. Third, he had to get distance.

The sword in Xarubbi's teeth passed over his head, but the blade in his left had found home in the old man's hip. Gritting his teeth against the blow, he turned his wrist about 180 and pivoted his body on his one foot on the ground in a way that seriously twisted Xarubbi's wrist. Grip weakened, the old man whirled back bringing up his other hand and striking at Xarubbi's face with electricity sparking from his fingers, in what was essentially a lightning charged backhand, driven by the momentum of his spin.

He lept back, and burst into flame. Like a loosed firework, he whizzed past Xarubbi, right at Kenji...

he jumped backward, closing the distance between him and the old man in less than a second. he came beside him.

don't turn your back to your opponent!

he had loosed the blade in his mouth, and passed it to his left hand, he struck out, trying to slice at the man, anywhere he could. he wasnt going to let him get away. not that easily.

The blade passed through the flames as if they were immaterial...

which they were.

The fire scattered in all directions, and faded into ash and cinder. But not before setting several trees and much underbrush aflame. The smoke rose high into the sky...

he slammed against a tree, quickly turning around and catching himself. he jumped off it, and flew into the sky. his eyes were aflame with rage. he growled again, and he pulled both his blades down. he yelled.

COME OUT!!!

he flew down, slamming into the ground. The ground below him splintered and rose, making crevices in the ground, the ground flying out in different places. It cracked out, the cracks spreading out to as far as 50 feet. Waves of air exploded out from the cracks. The area directly below him crashing downward, making a large crater. The air around him, along with peices from the ground, splintered and flew out, exploding outwards, from where he was standing, to tens of yards away. Trees were blown away, making the ground bare and cracked, with peices jutting out at certain places. When the waves of air died down, smoke was spread out all around him. When it cleared, he was standing there, his blades clenched in his hands, still stabbed into the ground. He looked up, and started to yell something, but stopped suddenly. he yelled out, letting go of his blades. He looked down at his right hand, and he clenched his forearm with his left hand. It was contorting and moving rapidly. It shot up, and then went limp beside him. It hung there, and he stared wide eyed at it.

no.....not now.....not yet....no....not yet!

he tried to move it again, but it stayed limp. And then, it started bleeding. It started at his forearm, where he had put the symbold. they had opened, and made his forearm start to bleed steadily. Then, it moved above it, and the skin cracked, and split in a few places, sending streams of blod down his arm. It ddripped into large puddles on the ground. He stared at it for a moment.

I did it too long....does this mean....? no....I wont let it. I wont let this happen. Not yet. Not until I kill him!

he moved his left hand, and moved it along a long like of blod running down his right arm. He made annother symbol on his bicept, and the cuts stoped bleeding, and instantly healed. His right hand moved again, and he grabbed his blade.

Come out. I wont let you escape. Even if it costs me my arm. I'm not going to let you get in my way. I wont let you hinder me. I wont let you stop me from getting to him. so COME OUT!!!

he ripped his blades from the ground, and ran forward, slashing down trees and anything else in his way. He cringed slightly.

the pain's still there...but I can deal with that. I wont die from it. I just have to hurry up and end this quick.

he focoused back to the matters at hand, and kept slicing down obstacles in front of him, without second thought.

Kenji got into his combat stance, ready for the old man. As the old man got close enough into his reach Kenji thrusted his left palm into the old man's chest, stopping the man then following up his attack with a powerful right fist towards his face.

Raven stared down at the man with her book and didn't know what to do. Surely he was pissed about her doing that. She noticed Kyo was their to and he might have let him out. She was unsure now about what to do more than originally.

"I'm assuming this is yours." Cino spoke softly without even looking up from the book.

"I'm quite sure that wasn't a very pleasant thing you should've done." He continued matter of factly.

"I'm particlarly not the person you want to tick off."

Kyo sensed something about this guy and kept his bo out just in case. "Well I suggest you give the book back to raven, or i'll force it from you," Kyo said to him keeping his eyes squared on him.

She jumped down from the tree.

"Just put the book down......"

She looked at him.

"No one needs to know about me not yet..."

"And if I refuse?" Cino looked up slightly.

"I don't believe you are in a position to bargain here." He smirked slightly turning the page.

She crossed her arms "Oh and what makes you say that. Your not in much better......."

She gave a short smile.

"Just give me my damn book."

"Very well, but one thing first." Cino tore a page out of the book and folded it neatly before placing it in his pocket.

"I cannot allow you to have a record of this." He muttered as he tossed the book at the girl's feet.

"Now perhaps its tiem for me to meet your friends...." Cino began to move past the girl.

"You better give that page back. Besides I just might keep rewriting it in." She looked at him with an evil glare in her eyes.

"Nobody needs to know about this..." He murmurred as he stared at the page.

"You shouldn't have any records of...me and my past..." He gritted his teeth.

"I never added you.........Your not magical you have no need to be in the book......." She looked at him a little confused.

"Perhaps not me in particular but of what I am. " He turned the page torwards her revealing it.

"Half demons, thought to be extinct." He snarled. "As you can guess I am one. We look like humans, but our blood is very different..."

"yes very different I've fought them many times before...."

She looked at with anger in her eyes. "If I knew maybe I would of.........." she trailed off into thought, "Why........nevermind......."

She closed the book and just stood there.

"Well talking to you isn't being very productive, I think I'll just find your friends..."

"Don't you dare........" She looked at him with anguish in her eyes.

"You would have to deal with me first if you're going to hurt them..."

"Whoever says I was going to hurt them?" Cino raised an eyebrow as he smiled.

"Then what are you going to do...." She didn't like what was going on. She looked at him with pain feeling her...

"Oh perhaps just talk wit them. Is that so horrible?"

"I don't trust your kind......So why should I believe you........" She looked at him with distrust.....

"I gave you back your book didn't I?"

She stood in thought for a second.....

"You're not evil at all are you? My book only lets good touch it........"

Now she was curious about him. Could he be on there side or was he only full of trickery to get what he wants.