A Different Story: Dead By Sunrise part 3.1

Fionna's excitement was momentarily forgotten as she and Llewellyn, trekked through a similar path.
It was 1:30 in the afternoon, she and Llewellyn were close to their destination now.
The storm was as strong as it could get, but Fionna didn't mind.
She was pretty worried abut Llewellyn though, and she was still pretty guilty.
Why was she guilty? Llewellyn had (literally) carried Fionna into safety, healed her injuries and let himself get hurt just so he could make her feel comfortable.
And to top it off, he hadn't muttered a single complaint, no matter how much pain he felt.
He was just like that, he'd sacrifice a lot for complete strangers, as long as he knew that they weren't evil.
Anyway, they both felt very uneasy, they didn't know why though.
Fionna clutched onto her sword the way any hero (or heroine) did when they were nervous.
Llewellyn's gauntlet was glowing a shade green... not a good sign, that meant something evil was around.
It couldn't have been Fionna, the gauntlet let him heal her, it only did that to people who weren't evil.
"Maybe it's just the him." he thought silently, but some strange part of him knew that, "the other guy" was not behind this.
What was even stranger was that they both had this weird feeling that they were being watched.

Llewellyn tried to hide this, he didn't want the stalker to know that they were afraid.
He knew that he had to show the creep following them around dominance.
Unfortunately, Fionna wasn't thinking about the same thing.
She was going for the, "I know you're there, and I'll rip your head off if you go ten yards of me, freak!" solution.
Needless to say, she was clutching onto her sword as a child holds onto his favorite toy.
She'd look at her surroundings every once in awhile, which probably made the stalker delight in his prey's fears.
Fionna made it very obvious that she was nervous, and you should never do that when around a stalker, ever.
Llewellyn sort of sighed whenever Fionna would stop and look at their surroundings.
"If she doesn't calm down, we'll have to go with the heads on attack tactic." he thought.

Boris had been trailing Llewellyn and Fionna for an hour and a half.
He had been hiding in the shadows, moving very stealthily.
But to an experienced heroine like Fionna and a, er... traveller, maybe?
Yeah, but to a heroine like Fionna and a traveller, like Llewellyn (honestly, we don't really know how to describe him), this was close to useless.
But given the circumstances, it wasn't exactly a miracle that he hadn't been caught yet.
This was his last chance to finish the job, without his boss having to step in.

He shuddered at the thought of his master taking over the operation.
Boris would be a dead man, if that happened, for his master was ruthless magician.
A tyranical ruler with control over magic, this master of spells' immeasurable power, literally fed on people's fears.
Every second the day advanced, more reserves of energy were added to the magician's already great power.
This whole, Marshall Lee's mysterious sickness thing was drawing great reserves of fear into the spirit realm (recap: you've seen this world in Beyond This Earthly Realm (a real episode) ).
But why kill Marshall Lee if his existence was a benefit to the wizard? The whole set-up would confuse any sane person.

But not Boris, all he cared about was money, he'd be willing to do any job for his master... for a price.
Every job he did, the more treasure and gold would be put into pay, this just goes to show that true evil can come in any form.
Sure, he wasn't the only minion that served "The Big A", but he certainly had a handsome paycheck.

Who was "The Big A"? Well this person is Boris' master, the magician mentioned above.
Why someone would want to call themselves' "The Big A", or something equally ridiculous is beyond my understanding.
Well I should shut up now and get back to the story...

Anyways, Llewellyn and Fionna were close to their destination... Marshall Lee's house.
They could see the cave from a distance, it was still pretty far, though.
The rain had gotten even harder, and Llewellyn's leg weaker, but he hadn't regreted his decision of healing Fionna.
It was his belief that everybody deserves help, and he'd help them, despite the consequences.
Boris was nowhere to be seen, he had decided to use a magical item,  so that he could camoflauge himself.
Fionna didn't notice him anymore, but Llewellyn did, or rather, his gauntlet.
It was eminating a green aura, and Llewellyn could feel the filth of whatever his gauntlet was sensing.
Fionna and Llewellyn were both pretty close to the house now, there was no way this could go wrong... which was, unfortunately, not true.

Boris had decided to strike, he could see that Llewellyn was in pain so he decided to pick him first.
Turning off his invisibility he struck Llewellyn's head with the hilt of his mace.
This knocked Llewellyn down, he wasn't unconscious, but he couldn't move, not yet anyway.
Fionna was surprised and confused, a man had just materialized from nothing.
But her reflexes got the best of her, which was why she dodged the blow Boris had attempted with his mace.
She was lucky that her reflexes controlled her during battles, if not for them she would have suffered from a serious concussion, and maybe even some lacerations.

Meanwhile, Llewellyn was focusing on trying to recover from the blow he had suffered, courtesy of Boris' mace.
He felt pain surge throughout his body, his arms had scratches and bruises all over them, as with his legs.
His right cheek had a small, open cut and there was blood coming out of his nose.
But still he had to get up, he had to help his fellow traveller, Fionna.
He was strong enough to get up, but fell on his knees barely five seconds after standing up.
He was going to have to watch this battle, and live to see the outcome, for good or for ill.

Fionna wasn't afraid of Boris, but rather, by his mace.
That thing was huge! It was at least four feet long and the part used fro striking had some sort of weird design.
Being a heroine, Fionna knew that a huge, odd and -not to mention- heavy blunt weapon, spelled trouble... or pain... or both, it doesn't matter!
She was determined not to get hit by this strange man, who looked as though he were ready to slaughter an entire village, and get some iced mocha, while he was at it.
Boris swung again, this time it nearly hit her, it had almost got into direct contact with his ear, but it didn't, and for that, I deem her lucky.
The large man looked upset, but calm and collected, he had obviously been expecting much slower prey... too bad, you get a heroine who possibly has ADHD and an albino who has a magic, freaking, gauntlet... so not the kind of adversaries, Boris wanted.

Boris would have sparred with knights clad in heavy steel armor, and had huge broadsword, in their hands.
But no, he was going against agile kids, who wore light clothing and carried small weapons.
He was agitated as heck, upset, bitter and a bit jealous that his boss got to lie around and watch the battle on some sort of weird orb, but he didn't show this though, he kept a "this is business, nothing personal" look on.
Boris tried elbowing Fionna this time, the momentum came from his mace and into his elbow.
But, alas, he missed Fionna, who had ducked just in the nick of time, what made it worse was the fact that he nearly hit her.
Something inside Boris couldn't accept that, but that had to stay inside, he couldn't risk failing his mission and losing his momentum.
Both were way to valuable for him, and both would probably land him a few diamonds if he succeeded in his task.

If Fionna wasn't relying on pure instinct, she might have seen that Boris had a blind spot whenever he swung his mace.
She however, was preoccupied, with not having to die a horrible death, by way of a two ton mace, which is understandable.
Llewellyn however saw the blind spot, if only he could stand up, than he'd be able to help Fionna.
But he couldn't, for even warriors have their limits, and Llewellyn was close to his.
If only he could find something that would allow him to blast all the damage he received towards it.
But he couldn't do it, not to a living, breathing creature, evil or not, everybody deserves a chance.
He could only watch helplessly, and pray to grod that Fionna's battle would have a desirable outcome.
There was no way he could've fought in these conditions, just no way...

"Ignorant child!" Boris yelled, he was obviously upset "Stay still so I can mutilate you and, your freaky friend over there!"
Whether or not Fionna heard this wasn't important, what was important was making sure that, both she and Llewellyn survived.
Llewellyn watched the battle, not only did he have to deal with the wounds and bruises all over his body, he had to deal with the fact that every time the strange man swung his giant mace, Llewellyn's heart araced as he imagined the blow connecting, only to realize that his own (or maybe somebosy else's?) subconscious was projecting these images.

Llewellyn had no idea how to get out of his situation, but than he had an idea, that could change the layout of the battle...
"Will this whole crazy scenario work?" he thought "Or will I fail horribly and get all three of us killed?"
Something inside Llewellyn heard this and answered, "I'd go with the latter, but than again, who shall host me if you fail?" the voice asked sarcasticaly "Besides, I think this is a good time to play a game."
Llewellyn frowned, but got back to the task at hand, he only had one shot at this...

Llewellyn gauntlet started to grow really, really bright, blue rings of energy surrounded it, he was going to launch the energy of all of his injuries into the ground.
This may or may not propel him depending on the angle, but he didn't have time to care, so he was going to take a shot at the dark.

"3... 2... 1... LET'S ROCK!" he yelled as he was propelled into the air like a freaking missile.
All of Llewellyn's physical injuries left him, and his wounds faded as he glided through the air like a hawk.
But now he had to land on Boris, luckily for him he landed on Boris' back, mid-swing.
If Llewellyn was a second to late, or a second to early, he would've failed and landed on Boris' mace, but he wasn't a second late, or a second early, he was right on time for the blind spot.

Llewellyn started pounding his protected fist unto Boris' face, for some reason it wasn't really that effective.
"Dang it, what in glob's name is keeping you, a filthy old man, alive?!" Llewellyn yelled while punching Boris, his voice was distorted and didn't fit him at all, what was going on here?
Boris frowned and threw his mace at Llewellyn, and proceeded to retrieve it.
Boris wasn't paying any attention to Llewellyn, 'cause as far as he was concerned, Llewellyn was just a little punk, who got in the way, between him and his real target.
But Fionna was watching the battle closely, she was surprised by the drastic change in Llewellyn's attitude, his hair was slightly raised and his red eyes seemed to be even deeper.
His face had a ghoulish scowl stuck to it and black traces of pure energy encircled him.
But what scared Fionna the most was the fact that he was hit by a two ton mace, yet his face showed no trace of suffering from a blow that severe.
She had no idea what was going on here...

And if this wasn't freaky enough, Llewellyn's shadow was different.
It didn't fit Llewellyn's tall figure, the shadow looked like that of a horrible demon, with a crooked snout, a large deformed body and wings that spelled fear... but they were coming from a teenage boy.
Than the shadow started to spazzing out, like it was being attacked, the demon was freaking out... than it faded, when it came back, it was the shadow of a tall adolescent.
Fionna stared at Llewellyn, his face seemed more and inviting, and his expression was that of a determined swordsman, his shadow wasn't messed up anymore, his hair wasn't flailing around wildly and she was glad that Llewellyn wasn't a terrifying beast... he probably wasn't, at least.

Boris scowled at Llewellyn and spat on the ground... "The name ain't filthy old man, the name's Boris." Boris told Llewellyn, his tone was menacing, but it came out cool, cold, dark, exactly what you'd expect from a villain "And you should move aside, before I kill both of you."
Boris raised his weapon and pointed it at his foe, this was basically the universal way to say "Come here and fight.", Llewellyn did of course, his gauntlet was glowing a shade of blue, he wasn't going to hold anything back...

Llewellyn dashed towards Boris, seemingly defying physics -though in a way they both were- and landed a huge right to Boris' face.
He didn't give Boris time to react, he simply slaughtered Boris with quick right blows to his head and body.
You had to feel sorry for Boris, unless of course he slapped Llewellyn with the back of his hand, which he did.
The blow sent Llewellyn flying, how could one pimp slap be that strong?!

Well, the thing is kids, Boris followed his mother's advice and drank his glass of milk, everyday!
Okay, okay, I know that isn't the reason why Boris is so freaking strong, I just wanted to be a good role model to kids... even though you're most likely 13 to 21...
Well, here comes the truth, Boris's genes have been adapted to fit any condition, he was born through the unholy union of a rock person and a demon, and with that, madness's call to malicious intent and bloodlust was born, he however, had different plans.
He didn't want to become the personification of bloodlust, but rather, the personification of wealth, money and treasure... tons of treasure.
Aside from that, minions of "The Big A" were bound to the magician's will by magic, and a side-effect of that was accelerated healing, so... you get the picture.

Anyways, Llewellyn and Boris's battle was now serious, both parties' weren't going to hold anything back... or would one side hesitate?
Llewellyn recovered from the pretty quickly, his gauntlet was glowing a lighter shade of blue...
Boris on the other hand, had lost all interest in killing Fionna, Llewellyn had ticked him off, he was going down first...

The two combatants stared at each other blankly for several seconds and proceeded to run towards his enemy.
Boris drew his mace, readying the sinister weapon for the kill, while Llewellyn raised his fist, his gauntlet was generating distortions around it's environment, and a blue light trailed Llewellyn's figure...

Inside Llewellyn, though, things were different, he wasn't calm and ready for battle, he wasn't read for anything.
"Fool, let me take over, I can destroy the half-fiend myself."  a voice told him haughtily "In exchange for this day of course..."
"NO! This is my fight!" Llewellyn mentally yelled back at the voice "Besides, I'm not taking any more lives to the grave, and their deaths shall not be caused by you..."
Before he could continue quarelling with the other guy, something stopped the fight between him and Boris.

Both combatants were momentarily stunned as a young woman, teleported into the field.
She looked beautiful, but deadly, she had long, white hair, grey skin, and a forked tongue.
"Tsk, tsk." the woman tutted "Boris, will you never learn, I'm afraid you're dismissed from this mission."
Boris' face grew pale, he was obviously afraid of this woman... but why?
"Don't worry, Boris, I forgive you." the woman said in a menacing tone "You will still work under me, albeit with a few deductions."
Boris's skin tone changed from, pale grey, to pale white, something wasn't right here... but what?

The woman diverted her attention to Llewellyn and Fionna, "And as for you two, I shall dispose of you now." the woman said with a tone that rivaled Boris's "Both of you have disrupted my business with the Abadeers already, and for that, all of you little insects must die."
Fionna stared at the woman in horror, she didn't know how to react to this, she was both afraid and angry at the same time.
She wanted to break down and cry, while strangling this woman at the same time... this was weird, she was a heroine, she wasn't supposed to get this mad, but she did nontheless.
Llewellyn could see from Fionna's face that she was feeling scared, and at he also figured out that Marshall Lee was one of the Abadeers.
"You're not killing anybody..." Llewellyn told the woman calmly "And you will not lay a finger on the girl or Marshall Lee..."
The woman looked at Llewellyn, her face was a mixture of amusement and curiousity, "Two powerful beings... Let's see what sort of power, the boy posseses." she thought silently.
"And why is that?" the woman asked Llewellyn, masking her interest "Who do you think you are?! I'm a sorceress boy, you can never stop me!"

Llewellyn was calm as ever, it was as if he'd predicted that this would happen...
Truth be told, Llewellyn had no idea how it got to this, the only thing that mattered now was keeping Fionna and Marshall Lee, the boy Fionna spoke of, safe.
"I am Llewellyn, and I challenge you to a duel, no holds-barred, and if you are the magician you claim to be, you should have no problem disposing of me." Llewellyn said, determination twinkling in his dark, red eyes "If I defeat you, you shall leave us alone, but if you defeat me, don't take the girl hostage, take me instead, and I will be your servant, who obeys your every whim... and I know you can sense the power that I must guard."

The woman laughed after Llewellyn said his terms, "Fine, I will not touch the girl, but the moment I defeat you, you shall follow my commands." the woman said haughtily "Do not worry, I will not ask you to harm the girl, all I need is you and your gaunt;et anyway..."
Llewellyn's mouth was a grim line of determination, and his eyes burned with the fury of a thousand suns...
He raised his arm to shake the witch's hand, as if to say "I shall abide by these terms... now fade to dust!", he had to find his momentum, for he knew that the coming battle just might be the toughest one he's ever gotten himself into.

Fionna watched in awe, she was certainly impressed by Llewellyn's new found confidence, she was glad that he was the only other human remaining...
She was still worried about Marshall Lee, but she was way too excited to remember that at the moment...
Llewellyn had just saved her life... again and the sun hasn't even set yet...
Fionna was glad that she had just found a new friend... and she hoped that her new friend, wouldn't be a limp body in around twenty-four minutes.