The Battle That Does Not End

Talua felt her long before she saw or heard her. A suffocating presence like a wet blanket across your soul, but also a feeling like an unquenchable rage in your very bones and blood. The trees of the forest trembled, and the surface of the lake rippled. The air seemed to still, like a wildfire was sucking all life from it.

Just as suddenly the feeling let up, like the eye of a storm. Talua exhaled a sigh of relief for a moment, but wondered what caused it. Looking around, she spotted a woman at the edge of the lake. The woman seemed to be angry and was shouting at the lake, and as Talua cautiously drew nearer, the words became legible.

"Fight me!" The woman shouted. "Get out of the water and fight me you coward!"

As Talua inched nearer, the woman's ear twitched, but she didn't take her eyes off the water. When Talua drew within a couple dozen feet of the woman, she suddenly turned and stared Talua directly in the eyes.

"Who are you?" The woman demanded, her legs spread, hands on hips. "I'm kind of busy."

"I could ask you the same question!" Talua shouted back at her. "You're giving off a terrible aura!"

"Oh aren't you a feisty one?" The woman shouted back with a grin, and closed the distance between them seemingly in the blink of an eye. "Come on, tell me what's on your mind."

"Who are you!" Talua shouted, her anger rising. Why was this woman making her so mad?

"The little spirit shows no fear. Good, good." The woman said, nodding her head approvingly, and yanking the quarterstaff off her back in a smooth practised motion. "Fight me, little spirit."