Toki's Tale

"What are we going to do, Imshan?" asked one of the younger Assassins.
"You know the rules. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. I have no idea what did this to Toki, but we're not going to let her die," said Imshan.
"So... we're going to... knock?"
"Yes, damnit! We're going to let them open the front gate and stroll right in there!"
"Will Serail allow it?"
"He will. Fryn, take Toki. We're running all the way to the Temple."
"Sir, I have asthma, and-"
"SHUT UP!" Imshan roared. "It's about time you learnt what being an Assassin means! We don't let our own die!"

Imshan may have been the oldest of them, almost approaching thirty-five, but he could still run. And by the Gods, he ran. They reached the temple in just over an hour. Toki was still freezing cold.
It was odd, thought Imshan, how such a strong and capable fighter could be reduced to something so... fragile.
He got Fryn to bang on the gates. They were big gates.
"What? You guys are meant to be scaling the walls or something! You can't just knock!" the sentry yelled. Imshan threatened to put the sentry's pike where Jyann didn't smile. The gates were opened.

"Murasha! Tatsuya! Kayim! Mahmed!" Imshan called out as he entered the main hall. Two Assassins dropped from the rafters. A third stepped out from the shadow of a pillar.
"Where's Mahmed?"
"I am standing on your head," said a heavily accented voice from above him. Imshan shook his head and a short, swarthy Norn of Torescian descent landed gently in front of him.
"Right, Toki here is sick. Very much so. It might be Chaos. Heal her."
"A Gargoyle? Hmm, haven't seen one of those for centuries," Kayim muttered to himself. "It could be difficult, but Gargoyles are strong, yes, very strong."
Tatsuya pulled a deck of white cards from his belt and nodded without saying a word.
"Fryn," said Imshan, "follow these four and help them as best you can. Leave if they tell you to."
Fryn nodded and followed Tatsuya, Kayim and Mahmed down a hall. Murasha remained, leaning against a stone pillar.
"Well?" Imshan asked. Murasha smiled.
"It's Chaos alright, I can sense it," she said. "I can also sense Chaos blood on her hands."
"Blood on her hands?"
"She was in a fight, no doubt," Murasha said. She yawned and stretched. "Though what could leave a vibration that powerful is beyond me."
"We were... stunned by something. When I woke up, she was like that and the jungle around us was in tatters," explained Imshan. Murasha put a hand on her hips and closed her eyes.
"The question is," she said, walking up to Imshan, "was it the Chaos creature that ripped up the place, or her?"
She placed a finger on Imshan's lips and smiled.
"I'll leave you to think about that, shall I?" She said, and melted away into the shadows.
Imshan sighed. If he were ten years younger...
"Sir?"
"Shut up."

Tatsuya dealt three cards, and they hung in the air in front of him. The Shroud, the Gravestone and the Skull. He snapped his fingers irritably and they dissolved into ashes. They were black cards, not white. He dealt again. The same three. He snapped his fingers again and the entire deck vanished.
"It's a powerful hex. I shall need my iron-bound cards," he said. He dealt two cards from his regular deck. The Door and the Void. He smiled.
"Teleportation!" he called out, and vanished. The cards went with him.
"So," said Murasha, standing in the doorway, "we have a sick Gargoyle on our hands. I assume Tatsuya's gone to fetch his strong deck, so we've got a rather potent hex on our hands."
"Aye, yes," said Kayim. He was an amiable old fellow, and rarely took contracts unless his... skills were needed.
"Mahmed, fetch me a bottle of athen'roue and some tethes dust. Kayim, would you be so kind as to locate me half an ounce of Thysten White 15? There's a dear."
"Who put you in charge?" Mahmed grunted. A throwing star thunked heavily into the wood above his head. "Fair enough."
The fabric of reality rippled, and Tatsuya stepped back into the room. In one hand he had a deck of metallic cards. Murasha said nothing, but merely nodded. Tatsuya took a deep breath in and out, then dealt three cards.
The Kiss. The Breath. The Light. All white cards.
"The hex is strong, very strong, but the cards are holding. I am not sure what could cause such a hex," he said. He palmed the three cards in one swift movement.
"Whatever it is, it's powerful Chaos stuff. I'm shaking just from standing here," Murasha replied, and turned to Toki. She held one of her arms out, palm down, and moved it slowly above Toki's body. When it came to rest above her heart it started to shake uncontrollably.
"There, inside her heart. I think," she said, trailing off. Suddenly she pulled her hand back as if it were burnt.
"What is it?" Tatsuya asked.
"Damn! It's a schwartz crystal!"
"In her heart? But, that's..." Tatsuya trailed off, and bowed his head.
"The pain should have killed her alone," sighed Murasha. She didn't know what to feel. She turned to Mahmed, who had just sidled back.
"Fetch me an enchanted red glass jar, a set of pure iron instruments and some zauber dust!" she screamed.
Mahmed hesitated for a moment, and was sent on his way by a hail of throwing knives. Kayim watched him go, and held up a small leather bag.
"Thysten White, fifteen, as you requested dear lady," he said. Murasha took it gently and thanked him.

Murasha had many talents, though not all of them were known to the rest of the Assassins. Only Tatsuya knew her deepest, darkest secret.
"Kayim? Would you find me some wyrmroot? At least an ounce should do it."
"Oh, righto then," he said happily. He bumbled off, and Tatsuya sighed as he watched him go. Kayim was a likeable old rogue, sure enough, even for a dragon lord.
"So," said Murasha. She flicked her head and the door shut and locked itself. "I suppose this is what must be done."
Tatsuya took her hand and kissed it. "I have every confidence in you."
"You old charmer," she smirked., and her eyes began to glow blue. In an instant she was far more than a mere Assassin. She had power beyond what many could imagine.
"Hmmm, this is curious. A free-floating spirit, dormant right now, tagging along. Not sure how old it is..."
"Six thousand years, my dear lady," said Vee's disembodied voice. Only Murasha heard. "May I enquire as to what happened to my charge?"
"Zauber crystal in the heart," thought Murasha. "Chaos did this."
"Tae'Pan, the bastard... I'm going to kill him!" Vee growled.
"You don't look like you're in much shape for anything, unless it was you who tore up the forest."
"Tore up the... forest?" Vee asked. He made and ethereal sigh. "Something knocked me out and my head still hurts. Explain."
"You don't have a head anymore."
"Well, I'm still in pain. Explain please," grumbled Vee. Murasha snorted.
"I'm finding it a little hard to talk to you without anything to concentrate on."
"Oh, very well. One visible form for you, then," Vee said. He faded into existence on the opposite side of Toki to Murasha, in full stage three Gargoyle. His neon blue hair was now glowing red, and his eyes were a luminous yellow as always. He was a good deal larger than Murasha or Tatsuya, so large his wings vanished into the walls.
"Impressive," smirked Murasha. "I take it you're a gargoyle as well?"
"The first! Crafted by the Golden One himself," said Vee, and bowed. "I am Viroth á Prei of legend, but you can call me Vee."
Murasha laughed. "Though I don't know the name, I can safely say you look like a legend to me. I'm surprised your race is so rare, with males like you around."
"Thank you, I'm sure," replied Vee. He looked down at Toki and sighed.
"She'll live, I promise," said Murasha. "But we need to get the crystal from out of her heart, and soon."
She took a deep breath and held her hands over Toki's chest. The skin parted like cloth, with no signs of tearing. It merely opened up without a touch or knife. Not even a drop of blood spilled.
"A Prophet Assassin? That's got to be rare," Vee observed. Murasha shot him a glare.
"Forget I asked, then," mumbled Vee. He ruffled his wings and leapt up onto the table. Murasha had to quickly remind herself that he was a spirit.
"Tell me, how does a six thousand year old spirit like you last this long in such good condition? You don't seem to have faded at all."
"Yoga," said Vee, and grinned. Murasha stared at him blankly. He shrugged. "Well, to be honest I don't really know. All Gargoyles stay like this after death. It must be something to do with the stages, I guess."
"Stages? Do go on," said Murasha. She quickly opened up Toki's heart and lifted the crystal out. She could feel is radiating vicious energies.
"Tatsuya? Isolate this," she said aloud. The Norn nodded and flicked three cards out of his deck.
"Capture!"
The crystal was suddenly suspended in a cube of dull orange light.
"How shall she fare?" Tatsuya asked. Murasha shrugged.
"I'm not sure. I don't know how long it was in her heart. I'd say no more than an hour. She could live or she could die. We'll have to just wait," she replied, and turned back to Vee. The Gargoyle spirit crouched there on the table, looking down with concern at Toki. Murasha coughed politely, and he looked up.
"Right, I can tell you what happened now. Imshan was taking your young friend here to the Temple when they all dropped unconscious. Much like you did, I suppose. Toki was left awake, they think, and whatever foul Chaos presence is here must have torn up half the jungle before sticking that in her heart."
"It wouldn't make sense for Tae'Pan to beat up on Toki if he was going to kill her this way. It wouldn't be suffering enough."
"Suffering?! Have you any idea what pain she endured?"
"Oh, a fair idea. But Tae'Pan would want more. He'd want to see her die before his eyes," said Vee. His tail twitched violently.
"Who is this Tae'Pan? Is he a Schwartzenmeister? A Chaos Lord?" Murasha asked. Vee laughed out loud.
"No, he's something far worse," he sighed. "Ever heard of the term 'Spirit Hunter' at all?"
"Vaguely. Hexenmeister lore, isn't it?"
"It's truth. Tae'Pan is the Spirit Hunter, the devourer of souls, consumer of hatred and fear. He slew Toki's mother and now wants her blood."
Murasha chewed on her lip. "Powerful, then?"
"Beyond belief. He's as powerful as a Chaos Lord, but works alone. Hunts like an animal. Acts like one too. Likes to think he's cleaning up the gene pool by hunting elves and other non-Norns. All in all, not that pleasant a person."
"So, if this, uh, Tae'Pan isn't the kind to tear up the place just to use a schwartz crystal, who did it?"
"Oh, that's obvious. It was Toki," said Vee. Murasha looked down at Toki's prone form and then back to Vee.
"You've got to be kidding. She did all that? By how Imshan made it out, it sounded like an entire herd of lizards had stampeded seven times."
"Must have gone up to stage three, then," mused Vee. "She must have unconsciously tapped into her anger to fuel the transformation. Amazing for one so young."
"You mentioned stages before," said Murasha. She was mildly aware of Mahmed knocking on the locked door. "What do you mean?"
"Well, let me demonstrate. Toki is in stage two right now. She spent three months encased in stone to achieve this. Note the stripes and long tail, which are not present on younger Gargoyles."
He leapt down off and through the table, reminding Murasha again that he was only a spirit.
"I am a stage three Gargoyle. If a Gargoyle trains enough, they can hold this naturally. It means added speed, strength and agility at slight loss of mental faculties. Thankfully it doesn't affect me, being quite dead."
"So... Three stages to a Gargoyles life? That's very interesting," said Murasha. Vee chuckled darkly.
"Who said this was the last stage? No, this is just what many think is the last. I know better."
"Oh, and how do you know better?"
"Because I can reach stage four, and so will Toki."

Chapter 15

Chapter 17