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charlequin The portal closes behind Kai, leaving her standing, alone with the vicious-looking Dragon-King in a land of black and red, where great stone pillars jut from cold, sandy ground and great black winds blast across the landscape, obscuring vision. Kai watches as the wounds she has just inflicted begin to knit themselves together before her very eyes, and the dark red scaled creature in its purple robes looks at her with the t

charlequin with the tiniest of smiles.

Kai smiles back over her two blades. "That may not have been the wisest decision," she says.

charlequin Kasima laughs. The sound resembles the mellifluous blending of voices that emerges when Ssithumi speaks, but it is different, colder, and more dangerous in tone. "I do not expect you will find many friends here, in the outlands of hell itself."

charlequin The Dragon spins its flamberge about casually -- Kai notes from the corner of her eye the unique grip intended for lizardy hands -- and then suddenly hops to the top of one of the pillars that dot the area.

charlequin He whistles, and purple-clad ninjas begin to rush in from three directions.

Kai "I did not come looking for friends," she says, idly twirling her blades, ready to strike out at the first rush of violet that enters her reach.

charlequin With a quickness, the waves of ninjas are upon Kai, striking and falling back to maximize damage to the target while minimizing exposure to themselves.

Kai The ninja's blows seem to roll like water of Kai's soulsteel defense, and each meets an attack in kind--a quick, almost gentle motion of the dark blade, as though merely flicking water off it. It is not water that flows into the ashen soil, though. In Kai's other hand, her solar saber glows bright in the grim light of hell, ready to do its own work when the time is right.

charlequin Two of the ninjas' blades slip through even Kai's firm wall of protection, cutting her oh so slightly.

charlequin Or possibly more than slightly.

charlequin One strike hits a ninja, sending him flying upwards and out of the crowd, as the others duck away from Kai's vicious sword blows.

Kai winces as one of the blows slips under her breastplate and mumbles something about Zahara being a damned slacker and any dealer in Nexus would have her in armor by now. Her eyes flit up to Kasima, up on his perch, and decides that, yes, fine, she'll give him a little show. As the last ninja tries to fall back from his strike, Kai lunges, driving Daybreaker toward his heart. Almost independently, the solar saber whee

Kai the solar saber wheels around towards another violet assassin, the second of a dozen strikes that Kai makes in only a few heartbeats. Her saber flashes with each of its blows, and by the last, the normally dim isle is nearly as bright as a summer day.

charlequin Six more ninjas go flying under Kai's vicious strikes.

charlequin Kasima takes this precise moment to leap down, ever so suddenly, towards the center of the melee, the vicious flamberge once again extended. His features grow blurry and elongated, and a gust of black wind obscures him from Kai's sight. He seems to vanish and she cannot be certain of from where the blows that strike against her come.

charlequin Kai has just enough time to register surprise at feeling Kasima strike her with the flat of his blade before his vicious blows render her unconscious.


charlequin Some time later, Kai begins to find herself re-emerging to consciousness.

charlequin She finds herself, shackled with dull, lead manacles to a wall that appears to be composed entirely of slowly writhing iron centipedes. It is at the bottom of a pit, a hundred feet deep, perhaps.

Kai jerks away from the wall as she realizes what it is, then falls back on her haunches and sighs. "Shit."

charlequin Kai can see that she is largely still wearing the things that she held when she went under... but Daybreaker is visibly missing.

Kai She steadies her breath, focuses her mind on the blade, and tries to call it to her hand.

charlequin From the top of the pit, over the slow writhing of the centipedes, she can hear a voice -- like many voices laid over one another -- say, somewhat quietly, "I do not think that will work for you."

Kai glares up at the voice, and tries to manifest her solar saber.

charlequin A weak beam of light gutters and sputters into life in her hand, but it is weak and transparent at best.

Kai Silent in her worry, Kai tries the blade on her shackles.

charlequin It hisses and a dark smoke arises from the blade, but it definitely does not appear that any damage has been done.

charlequin From above she hears a very slight sound of motion.

Kai peers up cautiously.

charlequin At the top of the pit stands a tall man in black robes, his face completely obscured by a dark black shadow. His head seems to be inclined slightly downwards in Kai's direction.

Kai stares up at him, trying to find his eyes in the shadows, focussing essence to penetrate the darkness.

charlequin Even with sensory-expanding magic, the shadow over his face is entirely and completely impenetrable.

Kai continues to stare up at where his eyes should be, regardless.

charlequin "This has been a most fortuitous encounter for us. I thank you for delivering the black sword to me."

Kai "Cherish your time with it, it won't be long."

charlequin "If you wish to think that. I might advise you to do the same with your life." He gestures dismissively with one hand. "Goodbye, Kai Buckthorn. When next we meet, your souls will have been put to a... different purpose." He turns from the edge of the pit and walks away.

Kai watches after him for a few moments, then yanks on her shackles in frustration.


Tags: (:tags Kasima, Isles of Ash, Daybreaker, Thousand-Faced Man :)

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