I liked your suggestions and added a few new things to
correct some of the problems you noted.

Striton 19 - A Battle with Death

	Sweat beaded off of Striton's forehead as he took a
slight breather above the clouds. What he thought would be
an easy fight had turned into a half-hour war. Below, the
woman he had encountered on top of the Don's tower still
searched for him.

	Striton knew that he was covered with bruises under
the tough purium armor that he wore.  So far, he had only
landed one blow, because he had surprised her when the
battle had just begun. Now, everything he did against her
seemed to backfire.

	Striton pondered many questions as he watched the
night sky around him. "Who was this woman? How did she
know so much about him? Why was he unable to break through
her defenses? And how did she ever come to be in the Don's
service?"

	Deep in thought, Striton did not notice the cloud
approaching him slowly. Only when it was almost upon him
did he realize what it was.

	The elfish woman darted out of the cloud, landing
a blow right to Striton's midsection. The only thing that
saved him from being gutted by the blow was the Armor of
Winds.

	Striton grimaced as he felt the sharp impact and
spiraled upward, intent on escaping the uneven playing
field, to get up as high as this woman could go and
defeat her there. It was the only thing he could think of
at the moment. 

	He had tried everything else that would have worked 
on an ordinary person : Magic, Weapons, Advanced Mapakin 
techniques. The only other thing he had was his dragon 
form, and he was certain that using that too much would 
drive him completely insane, a bad situation for anyone
around him. Still the upper atmosphere provided his last
vestige of hope. For up there, this woman could not hide
in the clouds.

	She followed casually below him, allowing him 
the "guest privilage" of deciding where their battle 
would take place, and where he would be defeated.

	As they broke through the top layer of the Nuian
clouds, the quarter moon illuminated them with a soft,
peaceful glow. Turning to face his foe, Striton stopped 
in midflight, his wings shining in the dim moonlight. The 
elfish woman stopped about twenty yards away and smiled 
at him. 

	"Who are you?" Striton again asked.

	The woman laughed, "Beat me and I'll tell you,
Striton. Until then, it is not important."

	Striton grimaced and launched himself towards
her, trying to gather enough force and speed to split
her in two with his wing.

	As he neared his target, she sidestepped out
of the way of the blade-sharp wing and conjured up a
stone wall in front of him.

	Knowing he couldn't slow down, Striton concentrated
his mind. A white ball coelesced in front of him and shot
forward at the wall. It would strike a second before Striton 
did, hopefully weakening the molecular structure of the wall 
enough so that he could pass through it unharmed.

	Unfortunately, the wall deflected the ball aside.
A second later Striton crashed, head-first, into the unyielding
wall. The wall didn't even budge as the ton of momentum gathered 
by Striton's speed smashed into it behind him.

	Striton fell off the still-undamaged wall unconcious
and descended slowly in a free-fall. The woman made the wall
swoop down and catch him as she flew down towards the unconcious
knight. She woke him with a hard strike to his abdomen. 

	Striton doubled over as the wind was knocked from his
lungs. Everywhere, pain shot through his nerves like bullets.
Every inch of his being throbbed with the most intense pain
he had ever felt in all his years. Realizing the danger he was
in, he did his best to get back into the air. There at least, 
he would feel safer. 

	The moment he tried to activate his wings to fly, he
was grabbed from below by invisible hands. Realizing that he
was sitting on top of the wall he had struck only moments
earlier,  he tried to sense a way out of the situation. When
the wall began to fall at a rapid rate of speed, he understood
what the woman's intention was. It took him endless seconds to
get his breath back. 

	In that instant, his mind focused. The air below the
falling mass began to solidify, slowing the descent of the
wall. Where the invisible hands held tight, the air passing
by began to pull Striton away from the falling bricks. One 
by one, the hands let go of him and Striton was left floating
in mid-air.

	He watched as the wall fell into the ground below,
digging a small crater in the grassy field beneath him. He 
began to climb back up into the sky, to get above the clouds. 
He had to get away from this apparently invincible lady and 
try to return to Atlan.

	As he broke through the clouds, he saw her streaking
towards him, a vicious smile emblazoned accross her face.

	Striton did the only thing he could do. He climbed 
higher into the star-filled sky, trying with all his might
to keep a mile between him and her. As the air began thinning
rapidly as he approached the edge of space, Striton looked 
behind him. The woman was still there, approaching at a
breakneck pace. Even going at mach five, Striton couldn't
lose her.

	As he continued rising, the altitude gauge on the
inside of his helmet reset and the armor's space protection
came to life. Inside the armor, much to Striton's discomfort,
it pressurized and a clear purium shield came down inside his
helmet to complete the seal. Striton had been unaware that 
the Armor of Winds had such capabilities.

	Forgetting about his pursuer, he stopped and looked over 
the blue planet beneath him.  He had never flown this high before, 
even back on Zenturas. It was the first time that he had ever been 
in space, or at least so close to it, in his life.  From his altitude, it 
seemed he could see the entire hemisphere. The planet Nu was a 
beautiful one from this vantage point. One could barely tell that life 
existed on the peaceful blue planet. On the horizon, light peeked 
around as a new day started on the other side of the globe. Striton 
was at once mesmerized by the striking beauty of the scene.  It took 
him a long time to realize that something was wrong.

	"Where did she go?" he thought suddenly.  There was no trace of 
the woman anywhere.  His eyes began darting about the clouds below, 
searching for some sign of her.

	"Beautiful, isn't it?" Striton winced as he heard her voice, 
dangerously close.  He turned slowly, to find her hovering only a short 
ways above him, surrounded by a sphere of crackling white energy, her 
arms folded over her chest and an almost playful smile on her face.  
"I must admit, I also find it... captivating," she said, slowly drifting 
down until she was level with him, her blue eyes fixed on the surface far 
below them.  Then she looked up at him, freezing him with a stare.  
"You've managed to amuse me, Striton Razoni.  So, I think I will allow 
you to enjoy this world for a while longer.  We will finish now, for 
tonight.  Unless, of course, you'd care to coninue?" Striton remained 
silent.  "Wise decision.  Go back to Atlan.  Go back to Serina."

	A lump formed in Striton's throat as a thought raced through his
already confused head, "How does she know about Serina?!"

	"If we meet a second time," she continued, "I promise, we will 
not meet a third."  With that, the woman seemed to burst into flames, 
becoming a sphere of white fire, and rocketing back towards the surface.  
Striton covered his eyes to shield them from the light, and when he 
removed his hands, she was gone.

	A long sigh escaped Striton's lips. He had expected to come to 
Evergreen, make the new Don promise to leave him and his friends alone, 
and return home. He had not expected to find such a strange person. It 
seemed all too clear that there were forces at work in Evergreen that he 
did not understand. His mind was full of questions, but he was simply too 
tired to consider them all. 

	It was time to return to Atlan and Serina: in that, at least, Striton 
agreed with the strange woman. He floated gently into a low orbit that 
would take him back to Atlan, and would give him enough time to heal the 
wounds that he had received. He enjoyed himself as he orbited the 
planet, his first time in space, blissfully unaware of the trap the 
woman had set for him: a rune, traced on his armor, that would put 
Striton and everyone around him in danger the moment he touched the 
ground.

---* End Striton 19

And in Striton 20, you'll find out what that rune will do... :)