Lightning flashed as the clouds above the cliffs darkened. Thunder echoed around the hard granite cliffs.

Cascade knelt, jamming her sword into the ground, connecting with the storm around her. I'm lucky this storm is here tonight. Without it, the odds might have been better for Sephtis. Cascade didn't let her thoughts break through her calm and quiet demeanor.

Sephtis shook his head as he saw Cascade appear to settle down. He disappeared. Or at least he appeared to.

Cascade sighed as she lost sight of Sephtis. She left the sword in the ground and took a deep breath in, raising her hands.

Sephtis gasped quietly as he saw the colossal wave rise in front of him. He tried to force it back down, but he didn't have enough skill or energy to do so and maintain his illusion. He had used too much of his energy on controlling the Iscoren to do his bidding. He spun diagonally behind him and to his right to see if he could outrun the massive wave that was pursuing him. But then he saw it freeze and become a massive wall of ice. Sephtis quickly realized that he could not outrun the icy tsunami, and, in a fit of frustration, abandoned attempts to maintain his illusion.

Cascade suddenly caught a glimpse of Sephtis as the illusion vanished. At the same time, her wave was suddenly hard to maintain. She saw a crack form inside it as Sephtis increased the pressure around the wave. Cascade quickly melted it and swept it away, only to recreate it in the shape of fifty spears, which she launched at Sephtis. Icy blue lines swept through the air towards him.

As soon as Cascade released the spears, she yanked her sword out of the ground and ascended into the air on a pillar of water, spiraling into the air.

Sephtis shattered the spears against the ground and ducked as the shards shot across the area. He looked up to try and bring Cascade's pillar down once more, but there was no need to. It was already coming down.

Cascade shot downwards on the pillar, rapidly descending from high. The pillar crashed down on top of Sephtis.

Sephtis was thrown to the ground as a massive amount of water crashed down upon him. Cascade yelled as she landed over him, her sword descending in a deadly arc. Sephtis threw his swords up, crossing them into an X. His arms nearly went numb at the impact of Cascade's sword, which had all of Cascade's power and weight behind it. Sephtis desperately rolled out of the way as an icy spike rose up from the ground right where he had been kneeling. He stood and immediately had to force Cascade's sword down as its blade sped towards him. Sephtis lunged forward, hoping to reach Cascade with one of his dark swords, but an icy wall met his blade, locking it in place. Sephtis tried to yank it out, but it was no use. The sword was stuck fast. With a sigh, he released the handle and turned on his heel to run, disappearing once more before Cascade could attack him.

Cascade released Sephtis' sword from the ice. She threw it on the ground and shattered it. "He won't be using that sword anymore." Cascade kicked the remnants aside and created another set of spears. As they shot forward, Cascade ran with them, ready to lunge forward at Sephtis as soon as he revealed himself once more.

Suddenly, the spears all dropped and shattered on the ground. Sephtis appeared in front of Cascade, lunging forward with his sword, only to disappear right in front of her as she surged forward as well, running around behind her to attack.

Cascade gasped as she felt a searing pain in between her shoulder blades, Sephtis' sword sliding between them. She spun around and faced Sephtis' sword with her own, her power draining as she felt warm blood flowing through the gash.

Sephtis continued his merciless attack.

Flashes of light flickered across the cliffs as the lightning reflected off the clashing swords.

Constantly, spikes of ice rose and shattered as the two adversaries battled their way up the cliffs. Septhis dodged and jumped and rolled, while Cascade's calm demeanor, despite her wound, never seemed to fade. She battled on, a determined expression set on her face, her confidence seemingly strong and unwavering. Inside she was worried, and in pain. But she didn't let it show through.

Sephtis' movements, on the other hand, became ever more frantic and desperate as his strength faded underneath Cascade's continuous barrage and her increased strength due to the storm. He couldn't understand how she could remain so strong even with such a horrific injury.

Sections of the cliffs fell and slid, and what trees were there bent and fell in the strong winds.

The two adversaries fought in fear of being the one who dropped to the ground first, at the mercy of the storm or their opponent. Cascade could control the rain that fell, but not the storm itself.

Sephtis gasped as he felt his foot slide into something and become lodged there. He looked downwards momentarily to see his foot stuck in a crack in the rock of the ground. It was a mistake. Sephtis felt his sword being wrenched from his grasp in his distraction. Cascade had swung her ice sword against it with all her strength.

Sephtis watched in horror as his sword spun away into the distance and Cascade raised her sword again. Everything appeared to be in slow motion. He pulled on his foot even harder as he heard Vespara's voice in his head, telling him over and over again how weak he was for letting Cascade get the upper hand. Finally, he wrenched his foot out of the crack, immediately disappearing and rolling to one side.

Sephtis shuddered as the huge blade burrowed deep into the ground only a few inches away from him. He crawled away hurriedly, eyes wide, then stood, legs shaking, and turned to Cascade once more.

Cascade gave a groan of exasperation as her blade met nothing but the ground. Damn. He got his foot out of the crack. He affected how fast my blade came down, even if he didn't realize it. Cascade's thoughts almost seemed to affect the storm, though it wasn't possible, as it thickened ever more, a crash of lightning making a nearby bush go up in flames.

Cascade's snow white hair was slowly turning red from the wound on her back, but she didn't notice. She was focused on finding Sephtis.

But Cascade was weakening. As the wind blew stronger, she could hold up against it less and less as she stumbled up the cliffs, looking for where Sephtis might have gone. She no longer traveled with a sword, for it drained her energy. It was riskier if Sephtis would decide to attack, but she might run out of power otherwise, and have no defense. Cascade did not have enough energy to create a wave to find Sephtis. All she could do was wait. Sephtis wouldn't go anywhere else if she didn't attack him. But then again, neither would she.

Sephtis saw Cascade lose her focus. She looked tired and bedraggled. It was time to strike. Sephtis ran forward, leaping towards Cascade, and landed on top of her, drawing his dagger.

Cascade gasped as Sephtis landed on her, and the illusion of him not being there faded. Cascade threw her right hand up, an icy dagger now in her hand to block his.

Cascade tried to throw Sephtis off, but his long, sharp claws dug into her shoulder, making it impossible.

As Sephtis jabbed and stabbed and slashed, Cascade desperately blocked and deflected each stroke. She was exhausted, and her movements became slower and more clumsy as Sephtis attacked. It seemed that he was now the one who never tired.

Sephtis never put his feet on the ground, forcing Cascade to carry him as she fought, draining her energy even more. Finally Cascade fell to her knees, no longer able to continue running while she fought. Desperately throwing her dagger towards Sephtis' blade, blindly moving from side to side, trying to ignore the searing pain which assailed her shoulder every time she moved, Cascade fought. She felt her grip loosening on the hilt of her dagger as she continued to fight, her arms tiring. Hope was no longer a thing that she wished for.

Cascade knew she didn't have much time left to make her move. Panting and gasping heavily, she swung her dagger around and swung it with all her might, hacking Sephtis' hand off as if it were made of butter. She felt the hand go limp on her shoulder and heard Sephtis' agonized shouts as he scrambled back, throwing his dagger away, not taking the precious time to sheath it, instead desperately trying to bandage the wound with pieces of cloth.

Cascade yanked the limp hand out of her shoulder, wincing as she did so. She threw it to the side. Then she tried to materialize a new sword or dagger, as the other dagger was no longer in her grasp. But it didn't appear. She didn't have enough energy. Cascade and looked around for the dagger she had just been using. But it was nowhere to be found. There were only a few snowflakes on the ground in front of her, the remnants of the dagger which was now gone. "No..." Cascade started forward, only to be met by the agonizing pain which flew up her back and into her shoulder, then moving to a cut in her side where she hadn't been fast enough to block Sephtis' dagger. Moving only made her injuries hurt more, but she couldn't imagine Sephtis' position. Overall, he had less injuries, but his left hand lay in the dust some meters away. He had certainly lost more energy from that wound then any single one of Cascade's had done. But Cascade needed to be prepared for anything. She could not be sure as to how fast and how efficiently he had dealt with the wound. Probably better than she could do to hers.

Sephtis leaned behind a large boulder, tightening the layers of cloth that he had wrapped around what used to be his hand. He clamped his mouth shut, determined not to make any sound that might give away his location. Or make any sound that would make Vespara think that he was too weak to continue, for that matter.

Once Sephtis had recovered his strength sufficiently enough, he glanced around the boulder to see Cascade attempting to stand once more. He looked around for his dagger, but it was nowhere in sight. Or at least, he couldn't see it from where he was. Without Cascade in control of the water in the area, the mist had thickened once more and rain had started pouring heavier from the storm. He couldn't hear anything except the patter of the rain and the loud boom of the thunder.

Sephtis watched Cascade, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. A few moments later, it came. As Cascade stood, Sephtis leapt forward at Cascade, slashing his right hand across her face.

Cascade was taken by surprise at Sephtis' sudden move. She gasped as she felt the four cuts open on her left cheek. She brought her hand up briefly to feel them, but then had no more time to think about it as Sephtis lunged forward once more.

She didn't see him approaching, as he had created the illusion that he wasn't there. But Cascade had heard his footsteps as he had run forward towards her.

Cascade blocked Sephtis' hand to the side, kicking him away once more. Sephtis disappeared.

That's going to be annoying. Cascade sighed. She heard Sephtis' footsteps become louder once more as he sped up, this time coming from her left. She ducked unexpectedly and rolled somewhere else.

Sephtis stopped as Cascade ducked down into the mist at their feet, now hidden. He slid to a stop, sliding on the wet ground and falling. As he hit the ground, he felt a cold metal plate press against his leg. He felt around with his right hand for the object, wincing as he cut his hand on the sharp edge. He felt around more carefully now, feeling more and more metal until finally he felt the leather hilt of the sword. He picked it up and stared at it as it reflected the light of the lightning that still flashed around the cliffs. Perfect. Just what I need.

Sephtis saw Cascade rise briefly to see where he was, then drop back down again, having seen nothing. Sephtis pounced.

Sephtis swung his sword in a deadly arc from above. Cascade was only alerted by his attack by the "whoosh" that was made as the sword swung through the air. She threw herself to one side, and the sword just barely missed her, slicing through her hair with a "shing" as she escaped.

Sephtis hacked and slashed as he advanced, reinvigorated. Cascade was forced to simply dodge his blade whenever he attacked.

As the blade whistled around her ears, Cascade desperately threw herself from side to side, simply hoping that the blade wouldn't hit her. There wasn't much else she could do.

Sephtis threw the sword towards Cascade in a mad rage, not caring where it went or where it hit her, as long as it did. All he wanted was to feel the satisfaction of the blade slicing through his adversary; his troubles gone. Sephtis stumbled forward, his black veil torn and ripped, laughing maniacally. His sword swung in deadly arcs, the power of his attack magnified by many times. He was increasing the gravity at just the right moments, making the blows ever more deadly to hit Cascade.

As the sword cut towards her once more, Cascade turned to dodge the blade, but not quite quick enough. The sharp edge nicked the top of her ear, and the side of the blade knocked her in the head. Her head spun with the force of the blow. Every time she took a step, her head throbbed with pain, and the world seemed to spin slightly. Her ears rang loudly.

As the sword continued to be thrown forward, Cascade's dodges became less and less in-time, as she became more and more distracted by the pain in her head, and more and more disoriented as she slid on the wet ground. Soon, Cascade was simply hitting the blade aside when it came, sometimes succeeding, and sometimes cutting her arm or hand in the process. Sometimes, she could still duck the blade, but then it would change direction and come down on her instead. She would be forced to swat it aside. Her hands were slowly becoming useless, tools that she could not use to block the blade aside any longer.

Now, when the blade came forward in its complex patterns, Cascade would kick it aside. Sometimes, Sephtis would change the trajectory of the blade, making it go slightly to the right or slightly to the left of where he had made it seem it would go, making a long cut on the side of Cascade's leg; simply another distraction from the fight, which would make dodging and deflecting harder for Cascade to achieve.

Sephtis tried over and over to pin Cascade down to the ground by increasing the pressure around her, but Cascade stood strong. But every time that Septhis attacked and succeeded, then tried to pin her down once more, her knees buckled just a little bit more, and she seemed just a bit weaker than she had been the last time that he had attempted to do so.

Finally, as Sephtis pushed Cascade down once more, her legs crumpled underneath her, and she fell to the ground. Keeping her pinned down, Sephtis ran forward, his energy draining fast, and raised his sword high in the air above her.

As Sephtis brought the blade of his sword down, Cascade put her hands up, straining to keep them up against Sephtis' power. She concentrated fiercely, more fiercely than ever before. Her life depended on it now. Cascade did not think about the sword, only thinking about what she hoped to happen. She didn't let her mind wander to a distraction as she would have done before.

Just as the sword was about to touch her hand, a blindingly bright flash of light erupted from Cascade. A beam of snow and ice erupted from Cascade's fingertips, flying outwards with an immense amount of force. It seemed almost as if an entire blizzard had been compacted into an area only a few feet wide and thrown forward.

The force of the blow shattered Sephtis' sword immediately, throwing him back and sending him rocketing through the air.

Sephtis landed on the ground, hard. He groaned as he tried to rise, having fallen from quite a height. He placed his hand behind him as a support and gasped as it met only air. He threw it forward again, grasping at the ground. He gave a sigh of relief as he pulled himself back onto the cliff. Behind him, there was a deep, dark gorge in the ground. He couldn't see the bottom, but there were screeching sounds coming from inside, sounds that sent shudders up Sephtis' spine. I wouldn't want to fall in there, he thought, but I am certain that's where the creatures I've been looking for are. Sephtis looked closer. It would be decidedly better to observe from the cliffs, however. I'm not sure how the creatures would react to having me appear. I don't wish to be a meal. Sephtis' thinking overtook Vespara's idea to jump into the pit.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning hit the ground some place behind Cascade, silhouetting her still figure on the ground, unmoving and powerless. Sephtis smiled weakly. This is my chance. My chance to finish this.

Cascade's eyes were barely open. Her energy was drained, but she knew that she needed to continue to defeat Sephtis. But when she tried to move, all she could manage was a small twitch. Her energy was depleted, and she could fight no more.

Sephtis rose, taking his sword in his hand, taking his first step back towards where Cascade lay. But he didn't move away from the edge fast enough.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck next to where Sephtis stood, searing his left side. Sephtis gasped as he felt all feeling leave where the lightning had struck.

Cascade saw Sephtis standing off balance, stunned, and took her chance. She forced her eyes open and created an icy floor beneath Sephtis.

As Sephtis tried to move, he slipped on the ice, falling back into the gorge. Sephtis cried out as he fell, grasping at the cliff, but to no avail. In a few moments, he was gone from sight, engulfed by the darkness below.