Toki's Tale

"Allow me to show you fourth stage. I must warn you, it's a bit scary," said Vee.
"I'm an Assassin. I can handle scary," replied Murasha. Vee cracked his knuckles and shook his head.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said. "Hmm, it's been a long time since I've done this, keeping in mind I was alive..."
He hair suddenly started growing. It grew faster and faster until it tumbled down to his waist. His wings stretched and grew larger than the entire room, vanishing into the walls.
"Scared yet?"
"No."
"You will be," said Vee, and clenched his fists. His arms and legs bulged with sleek muscles. Murasha had seen Tharon many times before, but Vee was now bigger than the Jotun. His claws grew and curled like dragon's talons, his tail thickened and grew longer. The two small horns on his forehead grew out until they jutted out a good foot from his head. He roared, and his teeth resembled those of a wild animal, ragged and sharp. Long black spines slid out of his forearms and legs, and the bright red stripes on his body flowed along his veins and muscles. They formed whorls around his eyes and face, and spread across with wings.
He roared again and towered over Murasha. He grinned, showing off long white fangs.
"Scared?"
"Impressed, but not scared," said the female Assassin. Vee leant back against the table, wings still wide apart.
"You're not scared because you have nothing to fear. I am noncorporeal, a mere shade of a fighter. In my prime I could tear a dozen Grendels to shreds without even breaking a sweat. I could wage war against entire nations. I was the champion of my people, and we were unstoppable," said Vee. He sighed, and Murasha could see a regal air about him, something noble.
"You were their king, were you not?" Murasha asked gently. Vee let out a long, bayful sigh.
"I was. My bloodline reigned over the Gargoyles for thousands of years, and still would to this day, if not for..." Vee trailed off and sighed again. It was the weary sigh of one long dead. He faded from fourth stage back to third, and then to second.
"What happened?"
"Tae'Pan, that's what *happened*," scowled Vee. "Maki thinks that *he* is the Ragnarok, the end of everything, and sent his pet out to kill my kind."
"But isn't he the Ragnarok? The preachers all say so," said Murasha. Vee snorted and flicked his tail.
"I thought you'd know of these things, Prophet," he said. Murasha glared at him with cold eyes.
"The Prophecy is cryptic, subtle. It could mean anything," she said icily. "Aleosh died after making the Prophecy. Remember that."
"Then you should know that she claimed the Gods would die. All of them. Maki is killing my people, and my people are the only ones who will be able to save Midgard. So it is foretold."
"What of the sorcerers? The ones of magic born?" Murasha retorted. "They are said to be born of the Creator, and to be the hope for the future."
Vee said nothing. He knew of the sorcerers, the offspring of the great creators. Kalis himself spilled his blood to create them. He was sworn to silence about them.
"Besides, the Ragnarok is far away from now. It's nothing we have to worry about," said Murasha. Vee was still silent, and she turned and looked into his eyes. There was a deep, dark fire in them.
"Understand what it is like for a spirit," he spat acidly, "for you might just end up as one."
He drifted out of sight, consumed by ethereal mists. Mushara watched him go impassively. Stupid, crazy spirit. Six thousand years hadn't done wonders for the mind. Still...

Toki dreamed. Fever-induced nightmares swam through her mind, tormenting her in a fretful sleep.
Towering flames, burning blood red, lashed out at her. Hot and cold ran through her skin, making her shake with pain. Terrible screams haunted her, and in the midst of this maelstrom of agony was Tae'Pan, his grotesque features twisted further into an army of gibbering demons and monstrosities, then back together into Tae'Pan, laughing his cruel laugh and towering impossibly high over Toki.
Toki sat bolt upright on the table where she had been lying, the horrible screams still in her ears. They were her own, screams of pain at the burning cold that was in her heart.
That *had* been in her heart. The pain was ebbing now, but the trauma was not. Tae'Pan had... had... had done *something* to her, something so awful she could not keep the tears back.
"Shhhhh, shhhhh, it's all right, you're safe now," said a warm voice, one that was cradling Toki's head in their arms. Floods of tears streamed down her face as she buried her head into the soft fabric.
"Please," she managed to say, "please tell me it's all over. It was only a dream, a horrible dream. He doesn't exist, he doesn't exist, he doesn't..."
"Hush now, get some rest, you're weak. You got beat up pretty bad."
"I... I..." Toki began, and drew her head back. She curled up, wringing the blanket between her hands, and closed her eyes. This time, only silent blackness. Only the dark. Only the dark...

Chapter 16

Chapter 18