turned and used his body weight to throw her sideways. He jumped to startling height, around seven feet in the air, and came down with his paws on Aleu’s ribs. She uttered a strangled cry of pain, her breath crushed from her lungs. As Shadow prepared to strike her again, she kicked him in his wounded shoulder, and he yelled, nearly falling down. Aleu got up and struck Shadow across the face, knocking him away. He retaliated with frightening speed, biting her leg and taking her off balance. He tackled her, and they rolled across the ledge, scratching and biting furiously. Aleu’s head struck a rock, allowing Shadow to gain the upper hand. He hit her in the jaw, then knocked her head against the ground. Then suddenly, Shadow surprised Aleu by stopping. He didn’t hit her anymore; he instead caressed her bruised face, speaking softly.

“You know it is coming,” he said. “You know death is creeping up on you. Why do you not help me break my curse? That way, both of us win. My curse will be lifted, and instead of dying with such pain, you may even like it. It will be quick, I promise.” Aleu felt a little dizzy, and she wiggled out from under Shadow. “Get…get away…” she said. Shadow spoke again. “It will not be so very bad. You will enjoy it until it is over. I can make sure that you will; I know how.” Shadow’s voice was beginning to sound hypnotic, and he slowly moved towards Aleu, who began breathing hard. Her fear was being quelled somehow, and comfort and tranquility stirred in her soul. Shadow stared into her eyes, and she could not avert her gaze. “Can you not see? I am giving you something wonderful. I cannot even tell you how much you will love it. It shall be for as long as you wish. I shall do it however you like. I can make it feel so good…” Aleu’s eyelids began drooping, and she panted slightly, not knowing what was happening. “No…um…oh…” Shadow leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips, and she gasped, her emotions spiking. He walked to her side slowly, touching her hind leg, and she began trembling with pleasure. He moved behind her. “And I will…I promise…” He climbed up on her, and suddenly, she realized what was going on; Shadow knew the Shirae arts, and he was using them on her to calm her and weaken her will. She yelled and threw her back up into Shadow’s stomach. He coughed and fell down, the wind knocked out of him. Aleu stepped away and turned around as Shadow struggled to his feet. His face twisted into a snarl. “You have chosen,” he growled.

They jumped at each other, colliding in midair and falling to the ground. Wielding terrifying strength, Shadow bit into Aleu’s back, spun around, and let go, sending her flying into the nearby rock wall. He walked to her fallen body, but as he was going to bite again, she lunged and caught his front leg in her teeth, twisting it. He cried out and tried to back away, but Aleu held on, hurting his leg more. He hit her in the face with his other paw and was able to get loose, but he fell over when he accidentally put his weight on his injured leg. He looked back in time to see Aleu’s paw right before it struck his head. She hit him again, then a third time. She shoved his head into the ground and began mauling him. He growled and flung her off of him, standing up. She kicked him in the face with her back paws, but as she turned around, he jumped into the air and smashed her with his front paws, sending her tumbling backwards. Then, suddenly, the bottom fell out of the ground, and Aleu realized she was about to fall off the cliff. She cried out, twisting her body, trying to stay on the edge, but it was no use. As she began to fall, she was able to get her front legs on the edge, holding herself on, but barely. Shadow walked up to her as she struggled, gasping with fear as she tried to get a foothold with her hind legs. Shadow smiled. He reached out a paw, placed it on her forehead, and pushed her gently backward…but that was enough. She lost her precarious grip, but no sooner did she begin to fall than she lunged and caught Shadow’s paw in her mouth. He tried to brace himself, but loose pebbles under his feet made him slip, and he tumbled screaming over the edge with Aleu. They plunged quickly, rolling down a nearly vertical slope for several seconds. Certain that she was going to die, Aleu felt her body leave the cliff wall. She looked down…to see level ground rushing at her from a few feet away. Bracing herself, she yelled with pain as she smashed down. She had landed on her side, but Shadow landed almost on his head; he was lucky not to break his neck. He got up, shaking with rage, and uttered a bloody battle cry before charging at Aleu. Instead of reacting like he thought she would, Aleu simply lay down, and he tripped over her, sprawling. As he got to his feet, Aleu jumped and kicked him with all four paws, sending him crashing through some ice stalagmites. As Aleu watched him, she saw that he was weakening. He struggled up again, but merely stood, hesitant to charge. “What are you, a coward?” Aleu challenged. “COME ON!”

Shadow growled and lunged for her. They began mauling each other furiously, but Shadow began to gain the upper hand, shoving Aleu back. She backed off a little…but felt her tail hit the rock wall. There was nowhere to go. Shadow grinned and lunged to bite into her face, but she dodged to the side and kicked one of his legs. He stumbled forward, and his nose struck the wall hard. As he howled with pain, Aleu hit one of his ears with her paw, and he yelped. She turned around and began lashing out with her back paws, kicking Shadow in the nose and face over and over and over. Blood poured from Shadow’s nose and lip, and he crumpled with pain. As he struggled not to fall, Aleu yelled, charged low, and bit up onto Shadow’s throat. He screamed as she twisted and pulled, tearing the flesh and spilling a torrent of blood from his jugular vein. He coughed up some of that blood, groaning…but not dying. Aleu felt a cold fear break over her. “What is it going to take to kill him?!?” she thought.

Then, she noticed a strange wind blowing. Knife-like streaks of white light began materializing out of nowhere and plunging through Shadow’s body, coming out the other side and turning to enter again. Shadow began yelling, and the wind intensified, all of it being sucked in to him. As Aleu watched in horror, the white light all entered him at once, and his body began to fragment and split like it was made of charcoal. The light erupted from his body, and it exploded, sending a cloud of dust flying into a vortex of wind that dispersed it into the surrounding air. The light was blinding, but it lasted for only a moment. It passed, leaving silence and a fog of dust. Aleu closed her eyes, breathing hard, relieved that the ordeal was over. She heard a hollow scuffing sound coming from the ground in front of her, and she looked down. Through the smoky remains, she saw a black skull sitting on the ground. She reached out and touched it. It was as cold as death itself, but it was very real. Taking it in her mouth, she headed back down the mountain.

In his cave, Muru was sitting, busily working at something, when he heard someone approach. He ran to the cave’s entrance and looked out. Aleu walked up to him and set the skull on the ground. He looked up at her and smiled broadly. “I knew you could do it, Aleu!” he shouted. “I knew you would! You are truly a Shirae warrior. I know you shall bear the title with honor.” Aleu nodded, but then grimaced and sucked in her breath. Muru saw the many wounds she sustained from Shadow. “Come,” he said gently. “I will care for you.” She lay down painfully in the cave, seeing that Muru had prepared several herbs and infusions. He had her drink one of the infusions and placed one of the herbs near her nose. “The drink is a painkiller,” he said. “The herb is to help you sleep. You have had a night of great trial.” He poured another infusion over all of her wounds, and although it stung badly at first, it left them feeling cool and less stiff afterwards. Aleu began to feel sleepy, and took deep breaths of the herb. Muru treated all of her cuts and scrapes with one herb, and her bruises with another, rinsing the blood and debris from everything with another infusion that smelled sweet and quelled the stinging from the herbs. Over all of them, he rubbed a crushed herb that would prevent them from stiffening. Aleu closed her eyes and fell asleep, hearing Shirae songs from Muru’s lips in her head.

Aleu awakened late the next morning, getting up with surprisingly little soreness. She couldn’t believe how much better her wounds felt already. “Hello,” said Muru, who was sitting off to her left, eating his breakfast. Aleu smiled. “Good morning. Thank you for the herbs, by the way; I feel just fine.” “I am glad.” “Where did you learn how to do that sort of thing, anyway?” “Well, some of it was by experience, some of it was from the elders, some of it was from imitating humans…here and there I learned parts of it.” “What sorts of other things have you learned?” “Many things about how the heart moves, and how it affects its owner. For instance, I can tell you have spoken with your father. You feel like you understand him now…but something is still confusing you.” “You’re right. I’m…not sure how to convince him that I need to be on my own now. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to work through that.” Muru smiled softly. “You shall find all the strength you need, if only you trust in your heart.” Aleu sighed. “It’s hard to trust myself sometimes.” “Yes; that affects everyone. Your self should not be your focus or your ruler, but there is nothing wrong with having confidence. Someone in your position needs confidence; you have a responsibility as a daughter to confront your father with this problem and resolve it.” Aleu thought about what she had already done to help get her and Balto through their difficulties, and was somewhat ashamed to find that she had