Clashing

            Warning: gets a bit violent
     Callum, having just lost one of his closest friends at the hands of Claudia, only felt vengeance in his heart. That same night, he picked up one of Rayla's daggers, and rode off after Claudia. He knew Claudia couldn't get far with her wounds so he kept a tight perimeter check. He found something... blood. Hopefully this isn't anyone else's and this is the ticket straight to Claudia. He follows it for some time until he finds himself at the entrance of a cave. He sees flickers of light resonating from inside. He draws what is now his dagger and cautiously precedes.

      He goes deeper into the cave system and nears the source of light. He rounds the corner and finds Claudia resting by a fire. He gets closer and prepares to strike, but Claudia was expecting someone. She quickly turns around and starts yelling attack incantations doing many things to Callum like blinding, weakening, and slowing him. He stumbles around, unsure of what happened. Claudia draws a small knife from her belt and gets closer to Callum. He swings wildly in front of him, still covering his own eyes. These flaying attacks temporarily heade Claudia's attempts to get closer, but his stance opens when he starts getting to frantic. Claudia sees her opportunity and tries stabbing Callum in the left shoulder. She successfully lands her blow, her small six inch blade plunging into his arm. He cries in pain and swings towards the direction of the blow. He hits Claudia on her left flank and she stubbles around having had a piece of flesh cut from her body.

       By now the effects of the blinding spell has almost worn off and Claudia is gathering herself. She reaches for her brothers sword that she took with her and prepares to fight Callum. Both have no previous hand to hand combat experience so they are equally matched. Callum parries one of Claudia's attacks and cuts her face. She know she can't carry on taking and missing pot shots like this. She stands back and waits for Callum to attack. Callum, still filled with the fury of Rayla's death, strikes multiple times and makes no progress, all attacks being blocked. In this moment after his string of attacks, Claudia thrust her sword forward and hits him on the right side of his stomach. His light clothing does nothing to stop the sword from going into his stomach and he feels as it tears his internal organs apart and rearrange the now excuses for organs into various new shapes. With this strike, he knows he isn't coming home, might as well go all out. He focuses on his rage to numb the pain and runs at Claudia. They lock swords and the feel each other pushing against them. He gets close and feels her sword run through his chest as she levels it and he runs into it. He quickly takes Rayla's dagger and starts hacking at her neck, Claudia unaware he could still fight. He successfully almost decapitates her and her lifeless body falls to the ground. He stares at her unmoving body and feels as his own body goes limp, full of unknown pain, both physical and emotional. He falls to the ground, not being able to feel the cold floor below. He feels as everything shuts down from his legs and hands to his lungs and almost heart. He can't breath and he feels the world closing in. In his last moments of thought he thinks "this it what it feels like to no longer be able to support the weight of the world... and let it... take you"

Callum's body, no longer moving, lay on the cavern floor. The fire, now reduced to embers, slowly goes out finally ending this adventure, for everyone involved... except.