Gareth and the Black Ledger shifted from each other after clashing twice.
They stood apart breathing heavily, their bodies trembling with exhaustion, their wills burning with the need to continue. The destroyed vessel groaned beneath them, sinking lower into the water, threatening to capsize at any moment.
The Black Ledger's face was filled with great fear.
Every muscle in his body was shaking so much so that he could not even compose himself. His hands trembled. His legs quivered. His heart pounded against his ribs like a caged animal. He sweated bullets great droplets rolling down his temples, his cheeks, his chin mixing with the blood that still poured from his broken nose.
But even in that great fear, what kept him was his desire.
How could something like Gareth exist?
The question echoed in his mind repeating, reverberating, refusing to settle. He had studied human anatomy for centuries. Had dissected bodies, cataloged weaknesses, understood the limits of flesh and bone.
But Gareth was beyond those limits.
He was a demon in human form. A force of nature that had manifested in a body that should not have been able to contain it.
He smiled.
Tears slowly fell from his eyes hot, silent, unexpected. He had a very sure certainty. It was the very certainty of death. Death was surer than ever, and he knew to himself that he would die.
He smiled again.
He jumped up.
And then he ran toward Gareth.
It was suffocating.
He could not get his senses together to predict the next course of action he could take. His mind raced. His thoughts scattered. His instincts screamed at him to flee, to hide, to survive.
But he could not.
It was like falling into infinite darkness where there is no beginning and no end, where the weight of the void crushes you, where the silence suffocates you.
Gareth threw a broken floorboard at him.
The wood spun through the air jagged, sharp, deadly and the Black Ledger could not react fast enough to evade the attack.
It pierced him.
SHLIK!
The wood stabbed into his right eye splitting the orb, shattering the socket, spraying blood and jelly across his face. The pain was immediate, blazing, white-hot.
He stumbled.
His vision swam.
Then Gareth came.
Attacking him from the blind side.
His blade swung fast, precise, deadly aimed at the Black Ledger's throat.
The Black Ledger smiled.
"Well, well, well." His voice was thick with blood. "My eyes are gone. There's no way I can restore them." He laughed a short, wet, broken sound. "I'm blind in one eye."
He laughed in pain.
"Yes." His voice hardened. "Yes! This is it!"
He raised his hands.
"What I needed exactly." His eyes one ruined, one still burned with a new intensity. "The sensation of pain to balance out the sensation of fear."
He felt it.
The adrenaline surge a rush and a burst of energy that flooded his body, pushed him beyond his normal physical capabilities, ignited a fire in his veins.
In a second, he was jacked up.
His body moved faster. His reflexes sharpened. His pain faded. The fear that had paralyzed him was washed away by the flood of adrenaline.
He smiled.
"I can feel it over my body." His voice was calm, almost peaceful. "The inbuilt mechanism that will save me."
The battle transformed.
The Black Ledger darted forward his body a blur of motion, his movements fluid, precise, deadly. He closed the distance between himself and Gareth in an instant, his arms extended, his hands open, his fingers spread.
Gareth's blade came down.
The Black Ledger twisted.
The blade passed by him close enough to cut his coat, close enough to draw blood, close enough to kill but he moved through it, around it, beyond it.
His hand shot forward.
His palm pressed against Gareth's chest feeling his heartbeat, measuring his intensity, understanding his rhythm.
Gareth reacted.
His elbow slammed into the Black Ledger's face CRACK! shattering his cheekbone, spraying blood, sending him stumbling backward.
The Black Ledger laughed.
The pain was gone drowned by the adrenaline, washed away by the flood of energy. He recovered instantly, lunging forward, his body moving with a speed that defied his injuries.
He attacked.
And attacked.
And attacked.
Gareth was a demon of malice every strike filled with hatred, every movement driven by rage. But the Black Ledger was something else now. He was a scholar on the edge of madness, a scientist who had tasted the drug of adrenaline, a man who had embraced the certainty of death.
He moved like water flowing around Gareth's attacks, twisting through his defenses, finding openings that should not have existed.
His fingers found Gareth's ribs.
He pressed.
CRACK!
A rib shattered under his touch.
Gareth's face did not change. His eyes cold, empty, absolute remained fixed on the Black Ledger's face. He attacked again his blade cutting through the air, his body moving like a shadow, his intent consuming everything around him.
The Black Ledger dodged.
His hand shot forward grabbing Gareth's wrist, twisting it, redirecting the blade away from his body. His other hand slammed into Gareth's stomach driving the air from his lungs, forcing him to stagger.
Gareth recovered.
His knee rose slamming into the Black Ledger's chest, cracking his sternum, sending him flying backward.
The Black Ledger caught himself.
His body skidded across the deck scraping against the wood, tearing through his coat, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
He rose.
His face was broken. His body was broken. His will was unbroken.
"Wonderful." His voice was thick with blood. "Your body is wonderful."
He took a step forward.
"Every strike." His voice hardened. "Every movement. Every breath."
He smiled.
"I want to learn you."
Gareth did not respond.
He attacked.
His blade shot forward fast, precise, deadly aimed at the Black Ledger's throat.
The Black Ledger moved.
He flowed around the blade, twisted through the strike, countered with a palm to Gareth's chest. He pushed not hard, but right redirecting Gareth's momentum, sending him staggering.
Gareth caught himself.
He attacked again.
And again.
And again.
The battle continued intense, brutal, exhausting. The destroyed vessel shook beneath them, sinking lower into the water, threatening to capsize.
But neither of them stopped.
Neither of them could stop.
The adrenaline rush began to fade.
The Black Ledger felt it a slowing of his reflexes, a dulling of his senses, a return of the pain that had been drowned by the flood of energy. His movements grew slower. His breaths grew heavier. His will grew weaker.
Gareth pressed forward.
His blade cut through the air fast, precise, deadly and the Black Ledger could not dodge in time.
SHLIK!
The blade cut across his chest opening a deep wound, spraying blood, forcing him to stagger backward.
He fell.
His body crashed against the deck heavy, final, broken. His vision swam. His thoughts scattered. His will flickered.
The adrenaline rush was gone.
His body returned to normal.
And the pain returned.
Gareth stood over him.
His blade was raised. His eyes were cold. His will was absolute.
He was about to cut off his neck.
The Black Ledger smiled.
His eyes one ruined, one still looked up at the demon who had defeated him.
"Wonderful." His voice was barely a whisper. "Truly... wonderful."
Gareth's blade hung in the air.
The Black Ledger waited.
And the sea roared.