Eleanor vs River - The Final Call

"Barak!!!" said River, as if calling someone's name.

Soon, the crows came from everywhere, cawing. That one crow from the beginning came and sat on his shoulder. He smirked in confidence, telling Eleanor and Marthanda that it's not over yet.

"Stop it, River," said Eleanor. "You are not getting anything by doing all this."

"Shut up, women." River said it silently. "What do you even know?"

River sat, keeping both legs in the middle, and looked into the eye of the crow that was sitting on his shoulder. With the next blink, the crow's eyes started inducing electricity, and it flew on the back side of River, above his head, where he kept swinging his wings. Soon, all the other crows started producing lightning in the same manner, and they all surrounded River's body from behind at once.

The area around, soon became gloomy as the clouds gathered above them. The view of crows passing electricity to River's body as if worshipping him as he sat there ahead of them, with his one hand on his cheeks and eyes glaring at Eleanor, was horrendous.

"What is happening?" asked Eleanor.

"He is reviving himself," said Marthanda. "He has split his Infusion with his crows."

"Is that even possible?" said Eleanor, with an anxious face.

This was the first time she ever heard of someone splitting their Infusion with another life.

"He did it," said Marthanda. "The soul of crows has accepted him as their own."

The gloomy atmosphere suddenly felt even darker. The winds started passing fast around, and slowly, like rising from the grave, River stood. Even with those bruise marks and torn clothes, he stood looking down, clenching his fist as he felt the surge of power in him, and the crows dissipated in the air.

Gulps*

"Stay down," said Eleanor as she put Marthanda down and took a step ahead, holding her Witchcraft.

What Eleanor is doing is showing courage; she is feeling pain all over her body. She is already at her limits, and more importantly, she can't use her Core Infusion Pulsar anymore. It was already a miracle for her that she was able to pull it off. Realising this fact, she felt even more anxious and scared.

"River..please stop," said Eleanor.

No reply came from him.

"I don't know what has happened, but let's talk, okay?" said Eleanor, holding her witchcraft in defensive position. "Master is already feeling guilty enough. You know it too-"

*THUD*

In an instant, Eleanor found herself propelled backwards by an unseen force. Her body flew through the air, breaking Shrine's door in the path and crumpling against the wall. The echo of her impact reverberated.

River lowers his kick to the ground.

Marthanda, beside him, looks at his stone-like figure.

"River...." calls Marthanda.

Thup*

River grabs Marthanda's neck, slowly lifts it up, and turns his eyes to meet his master's.

River lifts his right arm in the air and summons his dagger.

*Clank*

Before Rver could pierce his dagger into Marthanda, Eleanor's chains intercepted and grabbed River's hand.

"Stop!" said Eleanor, half outside the shrine.

Eleanor's vision is blurred; she can't see anything properly anymore, but she is still perceiving.

"I guess I should just focus on you first," said River.

He lets go of Marthanda's neck and grabs her chains.

Eleanor tries to retract back into her hand, but she fails to do so, and suddenly, River pulls the chains hard, drawing Eleanor closer to him.

"Arrgh-" expressed Eleanor as she got pulled towards. 

She looks at River and sees that he has summoned his dagger into his left hand now. Witnessing that, she places her Witchcraft in defence, but he hurls her around.

He runs to her fast before she could stand and attacks with his dagger, but Eleanor spins behind and dodges it. She releases her knife to attack, but this time, River spins on his foot, dodging her knife, and from below, he charges his dagger towards Eleanor, whose stomach was open.

"Oh, Shit-" expressed Eleanor.

*Gush*

The eerie silence hit the gloomy afternoon; it was placed by the sound of drops of blood that fell on the ground from the dagger that found its mark in Eleanor's stomach.

With a clatter, her Witchcraft slipped from her trembling fingers, crashing onto the earth below. Eleanor's gaze, heavy with disbelief, lowered to the dagger embedded in her stomach. She coughed and choked on the scarlet droplets, mingling with the darkness that enveloped her.

*Thud*

With no hesitation, River kicked Eleanor out of the dagger.

Her body flung through the air and slid on the ground before coming to rest in front of Marthanda.

"Here, your another student goes down," said River.

Huff* Huff*

Marthanda's chest heaved with the weight of remorse, anguish, and the burden of countless regrets as he witnessed Eleanor's motionless body before him. Tears fell from his eyes in agony.

"Why..Why would you..." Cried Marthanda.

"Why? No one else can answer that question better than you," replied River.

"Aaaaaa-"

The sound of crying kept echoeing around the shrine as Marthanda's life was blurring out.

"Huhhhh...."

With a heavy sigh, he kneeled on the ground, his gaze fixed on Eleanor, his eyes devoid of hope. There was no longer any colour of emotion within him, only the weight of regret and a profound dissatisfaction with life itself.

"That's exactly how my mother looked at my father's body," said River, walking towards Marthanda. "Daniel Alves, the guy you left alone to die—the guy who trusted you with his life."

Even after hearing all that, there isn't a bit of emotion on Marthanda's face, as if he has accepted his fate.

Talking, River passed by Eleanor's body, which was laid upside down.

"Rest in peace," said River, closing for Marthanda.

As River neared Marthanda, a sudden jolt took him, freezing him in place. Bewildered, he looked down at his feet, only to find Eleanor's grasp firmly holding his leg.

"Oye, oye," smiled River, surprised and in shock at the same time. "Is this bitch immortal or something?"

"A-Arghhh!" trembled Eleanor.

No words burst out of her mouth, nor did she raise her head to look; she has no strength to do so. It was just that her body was now moving instinctively to protect the person in front of her.

The person who was more shocked than River in that moment was Marthanda.

"Eleanor..." said Marthanda.

The colour of his eyes, which had faded into nothing, saw another light of hope.

*Chrrrr*

River raises his dagger to give Eleanor one final blow.

Swing* Clank*

Suddenly, multiple blades that felt like snakes dancing around in a blue hue blocked River's dagger.

"Now, finally, you feel like fighting back!?" Yelled River. "Huhh, stupid geezer!!"

"I don't care about anything anymore," said Marthanda. "But I just know one thing."

"Huhh, and what is that?" asked River.

"I won't let you kill any of my students," said Marthanda as he tried to push River back with his weapon, Urumi.

Marthanda's body was numbed due to poison, so he shouldn't be able to move his hand, but still, he picked up the courage to at least stop River's dagger from hitting Eleanor with his Urumi.

Eleanor's eyes were going off into this world, ticking away with every passing second. Looking down on the ground, she could only hear the struggle of Marthanda and River above her head. The noise of the struggle lasted for a minute until a loud bang* sound came from the shrine's entrance.

"HE IS HERE!!!" said someone.

"TAKE HIM DOWN!!" said another.

"DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY THIS TIME!!"

The lightning flashed in the sky, which illuminated the gloomy atmosphere around it.

"FORM THE CIRCLE!!"

"OH SHIT!!!" Expressed River. "FUCK OFF GEEZER."

THUD*

"What is happening out there?" thought Eleanor, in a blacked-out vegitative state as she could only hear the noise that was coming from around her.

"HE IS RUNNING AWAY!!"

"BLOCK THE VALLEY!!!"

*Chrrrrrr*

*BANG*

"PROTECT MARTHANDA!"

*BOOM*

"SOMEOME TAKE THE GIRL ON THE GROUND!"

In the midst of the loud noises and multiple calls, that created panic and confusion in Eleanor's head. Yet amidst the chaotic symphony, a solitary voice emerged, gentle yet urgent, calling out her name in a worried plea, "Elea."

"Who called me?"