"Kai, where are you going?! Come back inside!"

He ignored his mother's frantic screams. At the door, he pulled the key out of the door and then stepped out of the house and locked it. He hurled the key over the cliff into the sea.

"Kai, open this door!" His mother pounded on the door, then wiggled the handle to no avail. "My son, don't do this!"

Breathing shallowly, he faced his enemy with a warrior's stance.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," he said resolutely and drew his sword from its sheath.

The stranger smiled, a slow, menacing smile that twisted Kai's insides from both terror and something he couldn't quite name yet. Although he was smiling, he looked more terrifying and colder than he did before.

"You wish to fight me?" he drawled, sounding slightly incredulous.

"No, I want to dance," Kai tossed back, annoyed by the stranger's arrogance. He lifted his sword with both hands. "What do you think? Draw your sword."

"As you wish." Slowly, the stranger reached behind him for his sword.

Kai's eyes were glued to his flexing biceps and the chords of steel popping in them as he drew his sword from its scabbard. For a fraction of a moment, he was fascinated. Although not quite slender, Kai's physique could never achieve that muscle to body fat ratio.

Still smiling, he spun his large broadsword in his hand as if it were a stick, and said, "Let's dance."

Kai gulped. The stranger exuded strength; he had no doubt in his mind that he was outmatched in terms of physical strength. He would rely on his speed instead. He doubted a man of the stranger's size could move as fast as he could.

He quickly came to discover how wrong he was.

He was the first to attack, wanting to gain the upper hand. In a blur, the stranger sidestepped him and Kai swung at thin air. Shocked, he swiftly jumped two paces out of the way before his opening was exploited.

Shit.

He'd underestimated the enemy. How amateurish of him. Hakan would hit him over the head for that mistake.

Now he knew that the stranger was both strong and freakishly fast.

Heart pounding against his ribcage, he forced his hand to stop shaking. His fingers tightened around the sword's hilt. For this fight, he would have to draw upon every ounce of strength he had in him for the sake of both him and his mother.

He lunged again and their swords clashed.

"Kai, what's happening? Are you fighting?!"

It was the hardest duel he'd fought. The stranger was nothing like Hakan. His strength was indeed extraordinary and he had longer reach due to his taller build; every time their swords clashed, it took everything in Kai not to drop the sword or let it be sent flying out of his grip. After a few clashes, he began to suspect that the stranger was not using his full strength in the fight, which both chaffed and terrified him. He simply dodged and blocked Kai's attacks, never initiating an attack himself.

At only twenty-seven, Kai was not at his physical prime as a swordsman yet. There was also the important factor of experience to take into consideration. Clearly, the stranger was a much more practiced swordsman.

While Kai had half-exhausted himself by swings that did not connect or futile clashes of the sword, the stranger, it appeared, was still holding back.

"Why won't you fight?" Kai growled, angered. A part of him suspected that the stranger did not feel he needed to use his full power to fight him. Kai was worried that he was right.

A flurry of strikes. Still, the stranger never countered with an attack of his own, seemingly content with just expertly blocking each and every one of his attacks.

"Kai! Kai!"

"What are you waiting for? Fight me!"

It was when Kai made another mistake that the stranger finally seized the opportunity to attack. It was bad luck, really. A dip in the ground made Kai lose his footing as he swung his sword, his blade cutting too far off to the right.

Shit!

Horrified, he waited to be cut down by the stranger's sword. Instead, a large fist connected with his abdomen, knocking the air out of his lungs. Pain erupted from where he was punched and spread like molten fire to the rest of his body, immobilizing his limbs. He coughed bile as his vision went dangerously blurry, then dark, and then blurry again. His sword slipped out of his hand. His legs buckled, but he didn't feel himself fall to the ground.

"An admirable attempt, but futile just the same."

Was he imagining things or had the voice sounded close to his ears. His head felt too heavy to lift, so when he sensed a hard surface close by, he let his head rest against it. He closed his eyes.

"Kai! Kai! Can you hear me? Kai!"

When his consciousness returned to him, cruel sea-blue eyes stared down at him. Blinking, he drowsily looked around and quickly realized that he was being held bridal-style in the stranger's arms! Fear strangled him and tied his tongue as he stared back into his eyes. He couldn't look away.

The sound of waves crashing against the cliff drew his attention. With immense difficulty, he tore his gaze from the stranger's and looked down.

The stranger was standing at the very edge of the cliff with him in his arms. The sea was unusually angry, the water murky and the waves high.

He felt panic, but he was still so out of it that it felt like a distant emotion in the far off future. His head was still swimming. This time, darkness was slowly but surely ebbing into his vision from the corners. The cold darkness beckoned him sweetly and he so wanted to succumb to it.

"Remember what I'm about to tell you, because I will only say it once," The stranger said as he looked at him, "I always get what I want, and you Prince Kai of Astria, are what I want."

The stranger released him and Kai plummeted into the sea. By the time he hit the water and plunged into the sea, he was out like a light.