“What is going on here?” Lumina said to herself as she relaxed her stance.

  “Free me. Please.” The woman asked again as the environment quickly shifted back. Except now, a thick fog now shrouded her vision.

  Letting out another scraping screech, the spirit threw her arms furiously in front of her as thin sharp waves of water ripped through the rain towards Lumina.

  “Cut it!”

  She heard that voice again as she reflexively slashed at the blade of water slicing through the attack.

  Lightning blasted through the sky briefly illuminating the spirit, only to have it disappear from Lumina’s view as soon as the light dissipated.

  “Feel don’t seek.” The voice called out cryptically.

  “Feel don’t seek?” Lumina called out puzzled as she felt searing pain from the side of her body as it ripped across her exposed arm. Crying out in pain, Lumina reactively swung in the direction of the attack only to find herself slashing into the air. Another assault from the opposite side elicited more screams of pain as he struggled to find where the monster was attacking from.

  “Feel.”

  She heard the voice call again. Fear and anger started to well up inside Lumina as she wanted to gut the intrusive voice for the confusing advice. “What do you mean by feel!?” She shouted in her head as another attack raked across her back nearly knocking her over. The protective dress was the only thing keeping her alive.

  The same terrifying and guttural screech of frustration echoed through the air. Lumina realized that she couldn’t track the spirit’s movement in the fog. Hearing was out of the question as well because nothing worked quite the same in whatever place this was.

  Now that she thought of it, Lumina couldn’t feel her sword or shield. They felt as if they were actually apart of her body. The pain from the attacks, however, she clearly felt. Working faster than her mind could keep up, she instinctual felt the need to guard her chest with her shield. A heavy thud followed by screeching of ghastly nails across the armor informed her that she had just blocked an attack.

  “Now that you got the hang of that, let’s finish this.”

  The voice called out encouragingly garnering a response of relief and annoyance from Lumina. She still wasn’t 100% sure how, but she could now track Alice’s movement not through sight or sound, but through some sort of sixth sense. Whatever it was, she fully leaned into it closing her eyes to block out the distracting and occasionally disorienting flashes of light from the lightning.

  What could only be described as acting on instinct, Lumina began not only to block the spiteful spirit’s assault, but chase after it as well. Slashing through waves of vicious water that assailed her, Lumina managed to close the gap enough to score a small hit across the monster’s chest. “This thing is too quick. I can’t pin it down!” She exclaimed in her mind.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Remember, this entire area is completely made of energy. Even the water.”

  “That would be helpful if I could control energy!” Lumina finished with a flash of anger at the voice in her head as she continued to chase after Alice.

  “Can’t you though?” The voice called out before going completely silent.

  Her mind raced at how to control energy. The inner monologue forcing her to go back to a defensive posture as Alice started attacking again.

  “Sword. Shield. Myself. This spirit. Water… all of it is energy.” Jumping back, Lumina avoided a geyser-like attack. Her eyes were still closed. She could finally see the world around her. Truly she existed in a world made of pure energy. She could see every ripple, the movement of the lightning, and finally. She could see Alice’s movement clearly. It wasn’t clearly defined, but it was enough to differentiate.

  “If it’s all energy. Then it will obey my will!” She shouted aloud as she opened her eyes and caught one of the arcing bolts of lightning onto her sword.

  A panicked wail emanated from Alice as Lumina unleashed a sizzling bolt of lightning from the tip of her sword incapacitating the quick spirit’s movement.

  Now that her opponent was stunned, Lumina ran straight towards Alice with the intent on finishing it off. Mid sprint, poised to strike, Lumina stopped. No longer did she see the malicious ghost, but the beautiful and serene woman. The brief pause in her attack was all Alice needed.

  Pulling in all her might, Alice forced a massive wave of water to not only pull Lumina off the ground, but carry her away. Giving Alice time to finally recover.

  “Dirty trick.” Lumina sputtered as she fought to stay above the wave spitting the water-like energy from her mouth. Lumina barely managed to get her feet back on the ground as she blocked another frantic attack from Alice.

  The spirit knew it was in trouble. It had to take down Lumina or it would find itself in another dire strait.

  Staying on the defense, Lumina managed to keep up with Alice’s assault, her newfound ability to track energy barely keeping up. Her arms were becoming sore. Her movements, like Alice were becoming more sluggish. How long had the two been fighting? There was no way to keep track of time in the odd domain.

  Finding an opening in the overbearing onslaught, Lumina broke the vicious cycle of attacks with her shield and countered with a deadly slash taking off one of Alice’s legs at the knee. The guttural howl followed by the sudden blast of water Alice used in retaliation once again knocked Lumina back.

  Not wanting to give the spirit another chance to recuperate, Lumina charged the now hobbling spirit.

  In a desperate attempt, Alice threw another wall of water at the approaching Fereece trying to keep it at bay.

  Before the tidal wave could connect, Lumina used the water as a geyser to jump over the cresting attack. Catching another bolt of lightning midair, she set her sword to skewer Alice. Fury burned in her mind as the banshee once again took on the form of the calm woman.

  Lumina’s conviction would not be swayed. This was her final attack. She wasn’t sure if she could do much more if this were to miss. Plunging the blade all the way to the hilt just below the chest, Alice screamed and seizured in pain as the lightning-infused energy weapon discharged everything into her.

  Falling to the ground on her hands and knees, Lumina noted the fog and lightning had disappeared. The once thunderous skies had become a peaceful blue, Lumina looked up to find the same beautiful well-dressed woman, her sword still lodged in its torso.

  “Thank you.” Lumina heard faintly as the body slowly faded into nothingness.

  “It’s over. Finally…” She told herself as the clear skies quickly changed to a black void and Lumina found herself alone in the emptiness. She felt an odd sensation, like that of a shower pelting her skin, except it was rising from her feet and towards her head. Looking down, she found herself fading away just like Alice. Too exhausted to fight back, Lumina wondered if this was the end.