Julian felt himself slip away as he struggled against the monstrous entity. They were at it for almost ten minutes, and he was leaning towards the losing end. He had tried everything in the grip of the monster. He kicked its stomach and clawed at its wrist. Nothing worked. It only seemed to make it even angrier and its grip around Julian's neck intensified. Julian was close to his last breath. His eyes dimmed slowly. His feet and hands were slowly becoming limp.
"Julian!"
Julian opened his eyes quickly as he heard his name. The voice was one he would never forget. He was familiar with it all his life.
"Nancy?" Her name escaped his lips. She wasn't there with him but there was no mistake that he heard her voice. And it was laced with desperation. Vigor flowed through him as he felt his strength gathering slowly. She needed him. This wasn't the time to give up. He knew it was inevitable that everyone would die one day. But his death was not going to happen this way. And certainly not by the same person who murdered his ancestors. The time had come for him to end the curse. Malorca was going to die. And now, he understood her game. Her mind tricks were going to end.
With a cry of fury, he kicked the creature on the chest. It wailed as it was suddenly caught off balance, releasing Julian from its grip. Staggering back, it glared at Julian. Julian matched its glare.
"You don't exist," He growled at it. "You're not my father. Sergio Fernandez is still alive. You are an illusion. "
The creature shrieked, clutching its head in pain. It crouched to the floor, writhing uncontrollably. Julian marched towards it and placed its foot against its head.
"Die." He said.
With all his might, Julian stomped on its head and the creature exploded in a cloud of dust.
Just then, the ground beneath him began to tremble. It sounded like an earthquake. Moments later, he saw the whirlpool of smoke appear before him. A steely gaze crossed his face. He walked towards it, clenching his fists.
"Round two, witch." He growled as he stepped into it.
Loretta stared in shock as she saw Julian reappear from the portal. His gaze was murderous, and his eyes twitched uncontrollably. He turned towards Nancy who stared back at him with a soft smile.
"Thank you." He nodded towards her.
Nancy nodded in return. She knew why he was thanking her.
"I'm impressed, Thalatian," Loretta said. "I was expecting you to come out broken."
"Sorry I disappointed you," Julian said sarcastically. "Your mind games and tricks didn't work on me. That's your only weapon."
As soon as he finished, Julian charged towards her. She shook her head in mock pity as she stretched her hand towards him. Once again, Julian found himself unable to move. She raised her hand up and Julian was immediately lifted off the ground and found himself suspended in the air. He groaned in pain feeling his bones bend in abnormal fashion.
"You never learn, do you?" Loretta said. "You keep forgetting my powers are more than mind games and illusions. I guess I'll have to beat it into you."
Waving her hand aside, Julian was flung away. He crashed against a gravestone with his head taking the impact. Blood began to trickle out of his forehead.
"Julian!" Nancy cried out in terror. She turned to Loretta.
"Stop this," She pleaded. "Leave him alone. You're hurting him."
"That's the idea." Loretta merely smirked at her.
Julian was thrown against the gravestone close to Nancy. As he raised his head up, he saw her through the blood spilling out of the cut on his forehead. Her eyes focused on him momentarily. Then she pointed to the side with those same eyes. Julian followed her line of sight and got the idea. She was staring at the sword. Nancy turned to him and gave him a discreet nod. He nodded in return.
Loretta who was behind them, was oblivious to it all. With a vicious grin on her face, she levitated. A small cloud appeared above her head and her hair rose high above her head. Cracks began to form on her skin as it turned pale. Her skin peeled off to reveal the burnt one within. The pupils of her eyes dilated and slowly faded. Her nails grew out and became sharper. Nancy gasped in horror at the sight of the once beautiful parapsychologist. What she saw now was a demon. A monstrous entity from the darkest pits of hail. Loretta was gone. Malorca was there.
"At last!" She shrieked, staring down at Julian who lay on his stomach. "The time has come, Thalatian. Time to meet your maker!"
She let out a cry of triumph and swooped down towards her seemingly fallen victim. She was overcome with glee that she never saw him grab hold of the sword. As she closed in on him, he quickly stood up. Malorca's eyes widened as she realized her fate; Julian had been playing possum. Before she could correct her error, she found the sword driven into her chest. A resounding scream of pain resonated around the graveyard. Nancy shut her eyes tightly as the sound penetrated her ears. Her hands were too restrained to cover her ears.
"Now I know why you couldn't kill me." Julian said, as he held the sword tight. The other end had penetrated through the demon's chest and the other end came out of her back.
"It's not because of your powers," He continued. "It's because, unlike my ancestors, I wasn't scared. And unlike them, I knew the legend. Which was why you tried all your best to drive me to the deep end and fill my soul with fear. To make it easy for you to kill me. But I'm grateful for one thing. Despite the fact that my ancestors slowly forgot about you as the years passed by, they still remembered to keep the sword. I don't know why but maybe it's probably fate. I bear the mark of the eagle. You bear the mark of the serpent. All these years, you've defied nature. A serpent should never prey on an eagle. It should be the other way round. But in this case, the best way to kill a snake… "
Julian paused and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Is to cut off its head." He snarled.
He removed the sword from her chest and before she could say her final words, he decapitated her. Nancy winced as the demon's head dropped to the ground. The headless body slowly dropped to its knees and followed suit. Julian stared at the body as it exploded into dust. The blank stare from the pale eyes of the severed head was the last thing seen before it exploded moments later. The black chains binding Nancy rattled before dissolving into dust. Julian rushed towards her and helped her to her feet.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah." She replied, nodding.
She ran her hand along his bleeding face and sighed.
"Let's get you to the hospital." She said.
Julian nodded. He let her wrap her arm around his waist as she led the way out of the graveyard. Turning around, he cast one last glance at the spot where the demon was murdered. He had a good feeling that this was the last he had seen of her.