Fragments of Ash Vol. 1 (Urban Fantasy)

Chapter Fourteen: Ada vs Malphas II

It was sundown, a year after the deal was made, the moment of truth. Ada and Eleanor walked into Malphas' decrepit factory, the large iron double doors led to a massive wide open hall, one the other side were windows that spanned the whole wall, broken, dirty. The orange sun shone directly through them and made it hard to see. Malphas' silhouette could be seen sitting in the middle, patient and silent. The entire hall stunk of rotting meat, the air was thick with some sort of musk, it was more disgusting than ever.

"Here I am Malphas! Ready for our rematch!" Ada yelled to him from across the hall, "I hope you didn't forget."

"I didn't forget," Malphas croaked. He stood up, slowly. Ada and Eleanor both gasped. Malphas had changed, his muscle mass had decreased greatly, his face, while still grotesque, had become skeletal and fragile, his hair had grown out and his stance was less confident. He looked wretched, weak, pathetic.

"What did you do to yourself!?" exclaimed Eleanor, "You look like you've been starving yourself to death!"

"Do I look human to you yet? Or am I still a monster?" he growled. His skin was still leathery and coloured a dead beige, his features were as skewed as ever. It was true that he had lost his monstrous hulking figure, what was commonly associated with outlanders, but now...

"You look like an abomination Malphas," Eleanor said, "if you think you can psyche Ada out by making yourself look more human, you're wrong. Right Ada?"

Ada didn't respond.

"Ada!" Eleanor exclaimed,

"Y-yeah... it's not like I haven't taken out human bounties in these past few months anyway Malphas. I'll still fight you."

"Little girl. I was asking the knight," Malphas said,

"I called you a monster all those months ago. But it's not about how you look, it's the fact that you're consumed by hate, anger, bitterness and perversion," said Eleanor, "you can try to masquerade as a human all you want. It doesn't change anything," she grit her teeth, she seemed to have trouble saying such harsh words, "the heart of a beast remains the same, no matter how much you cloak and polish it, it's still dirty. Tainted."

"Then I suppose the only way I show you how human I am is by fighting your new loved one," Malphas spluttered his nonsensical logic, "haha, you hear that girl? I'm ready to fight you now."

"...You can't beat me in this state." Ada muttered, "if you want to concede I'll let you-"

"NO!" Eleanor shouted, she was furious, "don't back down Ada!"

Ada stared at Eleanor, she shot daggers at her with her eyes,

"Eleanor, this fights mine!" Ada replied, "it's my choice if-"

"Oh no, I want to fight," Malphas grinned, "I've been anticipating this for a long time."

"... Fine," Ada drew her sword, although as confident as she looked, there were beads of sweat dripping down her brow; she'd never had a confrontation where her opponent looked so... pathetic. This wasn't going to be a fight, she was putting down a creature on its last legs. She'd never learned how to be strong enough to do that.

"Don't let him confuse you with all this 'I'm a human' crap Ada," Eleanor whispered,

Ada didn't respond. Stepped forward, "Pick up your sword Malphas."

"Of course," Malphas crouched down and picked up his ugly, worn out sword, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages.

The two stood with their swords drawn for several minutes, not a word was said. Neither felt the need to make the first move.

Ada looked deadly and stone faced, Malphas simply looked exhausted. After what seemed like an eternity, his patience wore thin. He ran towards Ada.

He stormed towards her as fast as he could, however his weak body lacked the power it once had; his grip on his sword was loose and hence he had to drag it along the ground, creating sparks. His passion was as flared up as it had ever been, but his body was too weak to keep up. Nevertheless he raised his sword, ready to strike.

Ada focused and then zoomed towards Malphas faster than his eye could catch. The beast could barely swing his sword to strike her, the moment the two came in attacking distance Ada ducked under the tall but decrepit body of her foe and thrust her sword upwards. She pierced his heart with cleanly and effortlessly. Malphas couldn't even finish his first attack.

Malphas' body fell limp and started to fall deeper into Ada's sword. Unable to handle his weight, Ada let go of her sword and let him collapse, blood splattering as his body slammed onto the cold, concrete floor. Ada stepped back. Her sword remained embedded in his body, now difficult to pull out seeing as Malphas had landed from the front, on the hilt. Blood poured out from the beast's wound.

"Very good... little one... " he said, while coughing out blood,

"You're still alive?" said Ada, her eyes widening,

"What do you expect from a monster?" Malphas croaked, "You think something like this could kill an outlander?" his voice was fading, it was hard to make out what he said.

Ada stood and watched Malphas bleed out; she found it to be a sorry sight, pathetic, sad. But right.

"Malphas I-" she started,

"Don't worry, this feels nostalgic. It's been a long time since I've felt a pain like this." Malphas replied, "thanks. I think... I like it..." he managed to form what looked like an almost gentle smile on his grotesque face. After that, he stayed silent, not another word came from his mouth, and slowly, his chest stopped heaving. He was dead.