All of those things lacked obvious application when it came to combat but Pandora felt that a deeper understanding of an opponent was never a bad thing.
“Hello, Pandora.”
Placing her hand upon the hilt of her sword, Pandora slowly turned to the doorway. Gravedigger was standing there, blade held down at her side. “How did you find me?” was what Pandora asked, though her real concern was “How did you get inside the house without me noticing?”
“I asked a demon.”
“Somehow that seems appropriate. You’re consumed with Sin.”
“Pot meet kettle.”
“I don’t understand…”
Locke replied inside Pandora’s head, just as Gravedigger did the same aloud. “It means that you don’t have any room to talk. You’re the same way.”
Pandora drew her weapon. “I voluntarily accepted the demons into my soul to hold back their full power from the rest of the world. I was willing to become their prison so that people like you might be saved. But not only do you actively seek to interfere with that, now you choose to mock me?”
“I’m just trying to point out the truth.” Gravedigger had still not raised her sword. “You made a mistake. Maybe it was a terrible one but that’s all it was. You’ve done your best to atone for it but you can never undo the past. All you can do is move forward and try to do the best you can. For all the centuries you’ve spent on this, on trying to put the devil back into the box, you’ve missed out so much. You could have told the world so many facts about its own past. You could have become an inspiration to so many people.”
“An inspiration? I’m a villain!”
“You refused to quit. You never gave up. You’re a strong, proud woman. That sounds pretty damned inspirational to me.”
“You don’t understand,” Pandora said with bitterness. “Every time I see someone commit a horrible misdeed, every time a husband beats his wife, every time a war breaks out over some stupid disagreement about a border… All of those things can be laid at my feet.”
“A demon told me not more than half an hour ago that his kind relish my sort of suffering more than any other — because the truly damned don’t care about their sins but that people like us punish ourselves over and over again, because of our guilt. Sounded to me like something that could be applied to you, too. The fact that you’re so tormented tells me that you’re a good person and it tells me that nobody is ripping you to shreds over this but you.”
“Someone needs to,” Pandora said. “I deserve this.”
“I really don’t want to fight you,” Gravedigger replied. “I think we could do a lot of good together. We have so much in common. Please let me help you.”
“You serve The Voice. It directed you to kill evil people, didn’t it? Isn’t that how you’re supposed to remove your own sin? Don’t you wonder how those things can go together? How do you become a better person by becoming a killer?”
“Some people deserve to die. They’re a threat to everyone around them.”
“Then you should kill me, too.” Pandora dropped into a battle stance. “Because I’m the biggest threat there is. I’ll destroy the world if that’s what it takes to undo my crime.”
“That wouldn’t undo anything. It would just compound your mistake.”
Pandora charged, swinging her blade with terrible ferocity. Gravedigger blocked the attack with a fluid motion and then began the combat in earnest by delivering a solid kick to Pandora’s stomach. The blow knocked the other woman back but did little to really slow her. She was chopping at Gravedigger again within seconds, though once again all of her movements were parried with consummate skill.
“I’ve beaten you before. Why are you trying this again?”
“Because there’s no alternative. You stand in my way. That means I have to deal with you. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last.” Pandora punctuated her words by swinging for Gravedigger’s head. It was only the hero’s lightning-fast reflexes that saved her life. The blade sliced through part of her hood, sending the fabric flying.
“I know you’ve beaten many fighters before but that was in your own body, wasn’t it? This one hasn’t got the same speed or strength that you’re used to.” Gravedigger slid to the side and raised her mini-crossbow. It fired with a quick flick of her wrist and the next bolt slid down into place.
Pandora twisted to avoid it but once again she was undone by the limitations of her form. The bolt struck her in the side of her neck, leaving a deep furrow as it passed on and hit the wall behind her.
Roaring with pain, Pandora struck back with increased ferocity. She used all of her knowledge of swordplay to drive Gravedigger back and finally one of her strokes slipped through the younger woman’s defenses. Pandora’s sword slipped between two of Gravedigger’s ribs and then retreated, leaving a gash that quickly began to flow with crimson.
Gravedigger staggered, every breath now feeling like it was being dragged out across broken glass. She hissed as Pandora struck again, catching her in the right leg. It was a glancing blow but it left a small streak of blood across her thigh.
“You may have defeated me the last time we fought,” Pandora said, triumph seeping into her words. “But this time is different. I know that this has to be our final battle. I can’t afford to let you stop me from doing what has to be done!”
Gravedigger blocked a two-handed stroke of Pandora’s blade and the two women began a deadly ballet, each moving in perfect unison with the other. Their battle led them back-and-forth across the room where Charity’s old life had ended and in the gloom Gravedigger thought for a moment that she could sense her old mentor watching her. He reminded her that an outright victory wasn’t needed, for a plan had been hatched, one that required only that Gravedigger hold out long enough.
Each woman alternated between being on the offensive and merely trying to protect herself. Gravedigger was caught twice more by cuts to her midsection while Pandora winced when her opponent’s sword left a gash on her right cheek.
Slowly, the tide of the battle seemed to shift. Pandora’s actions began to grow slower but it was a peculiar sort of fatigue that differed greatly from their last encounter, when she had been betrayed by Locke’s body. This time, not only did her limbs begin to feel leaden but her vision was swimming as well.
Gravedigger, in response, stopped the fierce nature of her own attacks. Instead, she began focusing on merely blocking Pandora’s awkward thrusts.
When Pandora finally began to sway, Gravedigger dispensed with her own sword entirely, delivering a backhanded blow with her fist. It sent Pandora toppling to the ground.
After kicking the woman’s weapon away, Gravedigger knelt at Pandora’s side. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“What did you do to me?” Pandora asked, barely able to focus on Gravedigger.
“The crossbow bolt I hit you with was drugged.” Gravedigger hurried from the room and then returned with a small object that was wrapped up in cloth. Setting it on the floor, she removed its covering and set it between Pandora’s breasts.
“No,” the immortal whispered. “Please don’t do that. Kill me if you want but not this…”
The Silver Skull seemed to stare at Pandora with its glittering eyes.
“You left it behind when you escaped from Hendry Hall,” Gravedigger said.
“Please…” Pandora pleaded. “Death. Just kill me.”
“I thought about doing that,” Gravedigger admitted. “But I’m afraid that destroying your body might just free your spirit. You’d be able to take over someone else and then we’d be doing this all over again. The only way I can make sure you can’t harm anyone ever again is to put you back in your prison and then hide The Silver Skull.”