Their final dance began.
Silas had long since run out of options and hope. That didn't mean he would stop. He wouldn't allow himself to stop even with all of his men dead at his feet.
A slash took him across the shoulder, but he ignored it as his blood began to drip onto the cavern floor. Silas blocked a strike aimed at his abdomen, spearing it, and leapt backwards to avoid a flurry of blows raining down on him.
Winning was impractical, impossible even. Even knowing this, Silas would continue to fight until his last. There was no way of knowing whether Redwynn and Derrin had been successful or not, so he just needed to hold the Pirate King down as long as he possibly could.
"What exactly is your end goal here, Silas?"
The Pirate King continued his relentless assault by bringing his blade down on his head. Unwilling to risk the Pirate King's sinister abilities, Silas was forced to leap to the side. The jump threw him off balance, preventing him from blocking the slash that reopened the wound in his side.
He hissed in pain, "I'm still going to kill you."
The Pirate King just cackled as he continued to push Silas back. His blocks grew slower as his life mixed with the dirt on the ground. He knew it was only a matter of time before he fell. All the Pirate King needed was one blow to kill him, which made it surprising that he was even still alive.
However, Silas knew what the Pirate King was doing. After being severely humbled against far weaker opponents, he was trying to show his power. He wanted to force the only remaining enemy to see his power as they slowly died by his hand. A sound strategy, had there been anything to gain aside from his own self-worth.
Silas had every intention of shattering that still; he only needed to be patient and try not to die too quickly.
"You know, things could have gone so much better for you and your men had you simply surrendered," The Pirate King sighed as if reprimanding a child.
Even as he spoke, a flurry of blows fell upon Silas. Most he managed to dodge or parry, but a few slipped through thanks to the man's power. A cut on his forearm, across his cheek, and another down his leg. They were all slowly bleeding him dry, even if his enhanced body was still able to ignore them for the moment, mostly.
"All of your hopeless mocking is a moot point," Silas coughed slightly. "You think I will feel humiliated and humbled?"
The Pirate King only raised an eyebrow in response. Well, and his blade as he brought it down in another impossibly fast arc. Silas lunged forward at the same moment, forcing the Pirate King to cancel his strike lest he take a blow to the chest.
"Well," Silas retreated a pace after his failed attack, "None of it will matter anyway. Even if you manage to kill me here, Redwynn and Derrin will kill you."
The Pirate King cackled with laughter.
Silas only smiled slightly. Regardless of how this ended, he knew that pointless banter would get him more time. He had taken that out of Red's book during their first encounter.
"You honestly think those children will be able to do anything without you soldiers? They are not even a threat to me. I could let them wander around the island and nothing would even…"
He paused mid-sentence as he suddenly turned behind him. Neither of them could see through the rock, but they could certainly feel it. And what they felt was a massive outpouring of mist unlike anything any of them had felt before. The power was so strong and godlike that they were both momentarily infatuated by the strange power.
"Something is happening," the pirate murmured as he stared blankly at the cave wall. "It seems that I must… oof."
Silas drove his spear point first through the Pirate King's abdomen. The blow caught him off guard and sent him staggering as he spun backwards to face him.
"Stay focused," Silas snarled.
Whatever had just happened, he couldn't allow the Pirate King to flee. Not yet, at least. Blood now poured down the man's injured flank, and he let out a low growl of rage that was supposed to be threatening.
Had they been of equal rank, Silas's strike would never have landed. However, the Pirate King's senses were far better than his own. That included the man's ability to sense mist. He had been distracted a few moments longer because he had felt the massive outpouring of energy far more deeply than Silas had.
In the end, it didn't matter, though. There was simply no way for Silas to take him down in one strike. Even a fatal blow on him wouldn't be enough to take down the pirate. A blow to his neck might have temporarily debilitated the man, but then he would have simply fled. The same went for any other potentially deadly spot.
The Pirate King would be able to heal from nearly any wound he could inflict with just a spear given time. Silas may have wanted the man dead. In fact, he wished it more than anything else. But he wouldn't allow his wishes to control his actions. The Pirate King would have escaped had the blow been nearly fatal, and then he would simply return in a day or two, mostly healed.
There had been no question about what he must do.
The Pirate King's eye twitched. "If you insist… then I must oblige."
The man exploded forward like a cannon.
Silas barely managed to weave out of the way of a sword slash before a kick sent him staggering. The next blow caught him in the ribs even as the Pirate King's blade fell towards him. He barely managed to roll to the side, but even then it wasn't enough. A boot slammed into his chest with enough force that he felt his ribs crack as he was sent careening backwards.
Silas grunted in pain, but had no time to contemplate his situation. Another blow fell upon him. And then another. The Pirate King seemed to have given up entirely on his attempts to prolong the fight. Whatever the source of the mist outpouring, it was of great interest to the Pirate King. It was of great interest to Silas as well, though he knew he'd never get the chance to see it.
Another strike lanced across his hip. Each second, another blow landed while he barely managed to block a dozen more. The Pirate King moved like a serpent, each strike in and out of range. Whenever Silas thought he blocked a strike, it teleported inside his guard. Even with all his focus on staying alive, each moment it became harder and harder.
He had known it was only a matter of time. Eventually, a strike was going to land hard enough to shatter his spear. He had been preparing himself for when it would inevitably come, but it wasn't enough. Everything versus someone of the Pirate King's calibre was not enough.
His spear exploded, and before he could so much as flinch, the sword plummeted downwards across his chest. Silas staggered backwards as hot blood gushed from the wound. This blow was a fatal one. Without proper healing, he'd be dead in a matter of minutes.
Silas threw himself forward, refusing to let himself be bested so soon. He surely could last those few minutes before commencing the final option. The Pirate King struck him in the face with enough force to shatter his nose. He crumpled as another kick sent him skidding onto his back.
He groaned and coughed up blood. The Pirate King casually approached him. They both knew there was no longer any way for him to escape. The man held a predatory grin even in the moment of his tough victory. He should have anticipated that Silas was not finished. The man crouched down beside Silas, who could now barely move his body from the blood loss.
"I thought you were going to beat me, Silas? What happened to all that confidence?" The Pirate King teased, "Here you lie in a pool of your own blood. You're dying. Any hope of a tomorrow is lost. So I must ask; it is only proper after such a good fight. Do you have any last words?"
Silas sputtered, trying to speak. With a cough, he spat a mouthful of blood in the Pirate King's face. The men glowered as he wiped it off.
"It's… not… over… yet…" he wheezed, struggling to breathe with so much blood in his lungs.
"Bloody hell, why won't you Valencians just admit defeat? You don't have a weapon, and even if you did have your spear, you wouldn't be able to lift it. So tell me, exactly, is this not hopeless?" he sighed as if in resignation.
"I'm more than… just a spear… I have more than… just a spear," Silas managed before breaking into a fit of blood-soaked coughing.
"Is that so?"
Silas grinned. Blood stained his teeth and his tunic. It drained around him in a pool that was slowly killing him. The Pirate King had been so focused on his victory and gloating that he hadn't noticed Silas's hand moving beneath him to wear a very important item that was kept.
"It's time for you to die." The Pirate King rose.
At the same moment, those words were ringing through Silas's head.
"Good luck!"
The Pirate King frowned. "What?"
Then the entire cavern exploded. Heat and electricity thundered forth from every point. Any remnants of the battle were washed away in a tide of sparks and power. Silas only smiled as the overpowering mist reached him. At least he managed to take the bastard with him.
Perhaps he was more than just a spear after all.