I landed on the crystal chandelier and it swung back and forth at the sudden force.  The crowd of on-lookers screamed and turned away.  

The Jackal's smile wiped away, and he scowled angrily.

"You thought I would just jump to my death?" I questioned. 

The Jackal growled in response.  Then he ran backwards.

My smirk grew when I realized what he was going to do.

Suddenly he ran toward the edge of the balcony and jumped off toward the chandelier.  

I shifted my weight and managed to swing it away from him.  He fell down toward the floor below, but managed to land on his feet.

I guess dogs landed on their feet too.

When he realized what I had done, he stomped his foot angrily.  The floor cracked under the force.

"Everyone!" I called out. "Get out of here! It's too dangerous!"

No one hesitated to leave the building.  They pushed their way forward as far away from the scene as possible.

But they weren't fast enough.

The Jackal started grabbing at some of the nobles, trying to bring his sword down on them.  

I only had a few throwing stars left.

I aimed one and cut off one of The Jackal's fingers before he could kill anyone.  

The Jackal roared and his anger grew.

But it was enough for the nobles to all escape.

Not completely unharmed.

But they would survive. 

I flipped off the chandelier and landed on my feet, knees bent.  

"Lily! Heads up!" James called, tossing a sword to me.  

I caught it and said, "Thank you, good sir. Now let's go kick some dog's butt!"

"This is going to be fun," The Jackal growled.  Then he charged forward, sword raised.  I blocked him and twisted away.  His sword blade hit the ballroom floor with a clank.  He raised it up again and swung it around.  I jumped over it, bounced off his arm and landed on his shoulders.  

The Jackal stumbled a bit, but quickly regained his balance.

He twisted around, and I flew from his back, landing a few yards away.

"Lily!" James exclaimed. 

"You can't get distracted!" I cried.

I groaned as I tried to rise.  I carefully touched my stomach and gasped at the pain.

It felt like I had broken one of my ribs.

I sucked up the pain and got to my feet.  I lifted my sword, which suddenly felt a hundred times heavier and charged forward.  

The Jackal whipped around and blocked me.  I swung again but to no avail.  James tried to jab him in the stomach, but The Jackal blocked him and pushed James' sword from his hand.

The sword went flying.  

The Jackal took the opportunity to try to kill James, but I brought my sword down on his, and The Jackal's sword just grazed James' arm.  

James ran toward his sword, but The Jackal grabbed his shirt and threw him to the side.  He went flying across the room.

He didn't move.

I prayed that he was just unconscious.

The Jackal grabbed the James' sword and swung it at my head.  I quickly ducked and rolled forward.  I caught his legs and tried to get him to trip and fall, but he wouldn't go down.  I rolled backward just as The Jackal brought his sword down.  I cried out and landed on my back.  Each breath was more painful than the last.  I stared up at the ceiling which was beginning to shift and blur.  

Then an idea came to me.

I scrambled away from The Jackal and ran as fast as I could to the stairs.  I jumped onto the banister then jumped toward the railing.  I grabbed onto it with one hand and pulled myself up.  I gridded my teeth as the pain in my ribs grew.  

I grabbed my sack I had brought my throwing stars in and searched through it.  My heart sank when I didn't find anything.

They must have all fallen out.

But then my fingers brushed against cold metal.  I pulled out the last throwing star.

It must have gotten stuck on the lining of the bag.

My heart soared as I aimed the throwing star.

The Jackal bounded up the steps and was about to reach me.  I threw the throwing star at the rope holding up the chandelier.  It just grazed it, but it was enough.  I jumped onto the chandelier and waited for The Jackal to follow.  He jumped after me.  I grabbed onto the upper part of the rope, tugged at the bottom, and let The Jackal do the rest.

He grabbed onto the chandelier and the rope strained at the sudden weight.  Finally the rope snapped, releasing the chandelier.  The Jackal crashed to the floor on his back, and the chandelier landed on top of him.  

He didn't move.

I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold on to the rope.  Normally, I could probably hold on for an hour, but my ribs made it much, much more painful.  And I was getting dizzy.  

One of my hands slipped off the rope, and then I was only hanging on by one hand.

With my last strength, I threw myself at the balcony.  I landed and pain shot through my body.

But I wasn't dead.

I was alive.

And I was a surviver.

Then everything went black.