Sayuri’s Demise
Her heart was beating wildly.  She could hear the nervous shuffling of the army behind
her.  The sound of the quivering breaths carried in the vast, green valley.  An odd tree stood in the middle of the battlegrounds.  It’s multicolour leaves shone bright in the rising sun.
    Sayuri, the leader of the army of men, was staring across the lush field at the vicious scowls of the thousands of demons that glared back at her.  Scaly, black skin covered their thin body and spread across their winged backs.  Some of the smaller demons were engaging in conversation in a foreign tongue to Sayuri.  She retained her composure and still stood staring at these demons.
     A shrill horn rang out from behind the army of the winged beasts.  They started to howl along with the horn, creating a disturbing feeling.  Sayuri spun her head around to check out her followers.  They were shaking in fear.  Their armor was rattling and they had the most terrified look on their faces.
    The bellowing horn ceased and the screaming demons did the same.  There was an eerie silence that swept across the valley.  The only noises were the sounds of armor knocking together from the army of men.  The noise of an approaching horse echoed through the valley.  The thousands of beasts spread as the horse went past them, creating a path.  The hooves were growing closer.  Sayuri was getting anxious so she readied her bow with an arrow from her quivver on her back.
    The last few demons moved aside and revealed the monster.  On an armor coated horse was a bulky, large winged, yellow teethed monster.  The tar black body shifted as he drew an arrow and grabbed his bow.  Without hesitation, Sayuri lifted her arrow and aimed it at the demon’s chest.  Her hand shook as she saw an arrow pointed back at her.  They stood staring at each other for a long while.  Sweat was loosening Sayuri’s grip; she had to release the arrow soon.  She pretended to lower her bow but released her arrow mid-way down.
    The dull thud of the arrow rang in her ears and was followed by the horse’s sickening screams of pain.  It threw its body upward and collapsed to the ground in a mighty heap.  During the horse’s panic, the large demon was tossed from the steed’s back.  He rose to his claw like feet from behind the deceased steed and quickly fired his arrow.
    It whistled by Sayuri’s right ear and sunk deep into her right shoulder.  The pain was excruciating, but she removed it and prepared for the oncoming attack.
    The large, scaly beast raised his talon like hands and emitted a nauseating scream.  He opened up his wings and the entire army did the same.  They all began beating them madly in unison.  Sayuri had to use her bow to keep upright because the wind was so intense.  Sayuri drew both of her swords and put her bow away and bellowed to her followers.  “Alright, Men, Show no mercy; take no prisoners.  Get ready; ATTACK!” She pointed her forearm length swords ahead and the army charged forward.  The winged beasts did the same, except for one.  The large leader of the army of demons was retreating.  Sayuri set her mind to one goal: she wasn’t going to let him escape.
    She started to swing madly at the bloodthirsty demons.  She could hear screams from humans and demons throughout the battlegrounds, but she continued her search for the leader.  Two demons armed bows were attempting to slow her down by fly over top of her and raining down arrows.  Sayuri replaced her swords into their sheaths and drew her bow.  She grabbed two arrows and shot them, in unison, at the demons that were in flight.
    One arrow drove right into the skull of one creature, while the other landed right in the other beast’s chest.  The one demon with the arrow deep in its head fell to the ground very quickly, while the other demon stayed somewhat air born.  It drew one more arrow from his quivver and shot wildly at Sayuri.  He plummeted down to earth and lost consciousness.  
    Sayuri was in burning pain.  She looked down at what was causing her agony and the tail of an arrow was sticking out of her right forearm.  She ignored this wound because she had more important things to do.  She pulled out her swords and continued to hack her way though the waves of demons.  She was gaining on the retreating beast.
    What seemed like hours had passed as Sayuri sliced her way through the nearly endless army and finally found the end of them.  She was now in the shadow of a tall, ornate castle.  She saw the winged leader sprint inside the main entrance.  Sayuri stopped at the mouth of the door and took a deep breath.  She ripped the arrow that was still protruding from her arm and tossed it aside.  She caressed her wound while grimacing.  She stopped the care of her arm and focused on the task at hand.  She readied herself and then ran into the cavernous castle.  
    She would have never guessed that the castle would look like this based on the outside.  There were bricks scattered all over the gravel floor.  Cobwebs were everywhere and rats fled as she entered the room.  She took a few more steps inside only to be greeted by a sword being swung just above her head.
    The large demon was waiting for her.  He swung his blade again but Sayuri lifted her swords and blocked the thick metal.  She pushed away the monster with her foot and began her attack.  The clang of the two metals was ricocheting off the walls with each attack Sayuri did.  Sayuri executed a high slash to the beast but he blocked the blade with his own.  Sayuri was hoping for this and with her other sword she sliced the demons left leg, rendering it useless.  He dropped his sword to tend to his wound and Sayuri tossed it away.  Sayuri then pushed him over onto his back.  She stood over him with her swords pointing at his neck.
    His violent greens eyes pleaded with her, she didn’t take notice.  She lifted her blades up above her head and swung them down with all the strength.  The tip of her sword was inches away when something caused her to stop.  
    Her eyes were wide and she was gasping for air.  She dropped both of her swords.  Sayuri was stroking her neck to figure out what had hit her.  On the left side of her neck was something metal in the shape of a spade; the right side had a wooden shaft that, at the end, had feathers.  Sayuri could feel coldness gripping her tightly as she struggled to stay on her feet.  With the little energy she had remaining, she turned her body and looked at the assassin.
    A pale, black haired male human was holding a bow exactly like Sayuri’s.  In his hand was another arrow.  With a tear in Sayuri’s eye, she opened her mouth to speak but her voice was no longer working.  She mouthed the words, “You traitor”.  The man released the other arrow and it landed in Sayuri’s forehead, knocking her off her feet.
    Sayuri’s body slumped onto the ground; she could no longer bear the cold.  Her eyes were wide open and a small circle of blood was pooling around her head.  The assassin walked over to the injured demon and lifted him to his feet.  The last thing that Sayuri heard was an inhuman scream of joy coming from the battle ground.  The demons had triumphed.