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“Great, so now we’re going to locate and kill a *Mahjarrat*, with no knowledge but a guess that he’s somewhere ‘west’? We just won a battle; can’t we call it a day?” Toin said grumpily when Kashan finished explaining.

“You can call it a day, I’m leaving tomorrow. Come if you wish,” Kashan said sternly as he bounded to the stairs.

When he left, Timier and Toin sat for a second, looking each other in the eye with an ‘I’ll go if you go,’ look on their faces; then they rushed to their respective rooms to pack.

****

Kashan saw a shadow on the edge of his vision a few minutes later. As he turned around, he saw Arya walking towards him. She stared him dead in the eye, her green eyes glistening with **** as she walked towards him, her movements so soft it was almost as if she glided over the floor. He noticed she wasn’t wearing the same clothes as before, but a tattered, V-necked, sleeveless green shirt. Her pants were different as well, raggedy, and only reaching her knees.

Kashan seemed shocked, and couldn’t take his eyes off of her; it was as if he were enchanted.

“Arya, hi,” he managed to mumble as she glided towards him, swaying elegantly with every step like a leaf. “What are you doing?” he weakly protested as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and wet her lips longingly before thrusting herself closer to him. Kashan’s breath became heavier.

“What? I can’t long for my man?” she asked softly as she fluttered around him like a bird, stroking his chest and stomach softly.

Kashan seemed to try to say something, but reconsidered as Arya put her hands up his shirt, caressing his bare chest. She pushed him backwards with the lightest touch, causing him to fall down on the bed. He looked up at her, a strange smile obscuring his face as she climbed to him. Her eyes were burning with desire, and every movement, every breath, described ****.

20-Sep-2006 00:11:14 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:13:21 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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As she got on top of Kashan, she wet her lips again, and kissed him vigorously, melting into it. Kashan immediately rolled over, switching places. Strangely, he put his claws to her neck.

“Don’t move, if you value your life!” he hissed, the edge of the claws breaking skin.

Arya was petrified. Her green eyes, normally displaying joy and curiosity, were now open to the extreme, displaying the purest of terror. Tears started to roll silently down her eyes, almost identical to the drops of blood rolling down her neck, colouring the covers beneath her a murky dark.

“W-why?” Arya felt as if her world had crumbled around her. Her muscles were tense, trying to escape, but she couldn’t move.

Her eyes became ever wider as Kashan’s lips parted in a grin, and he spoke. His voice wasn’t as strong and masculine as it always was, but rather smooth and feminine. He spoke with a strong accent, emphasizing and softening syllables seemingly at random.

“You know nothing,” he stated smugly in this newfound voice. Arya’s eyes grew wider, and she was on the verge of screaming as his hair lengthened and grew lighter, his nose got smaller, and the red blades at her neck broadened and lost their edge, turning into a dark staff. She still didn’t dare to move, as an emblem on the staff, a circle with a five arm star in the middle, was now pointing toward her throat; point of the star first.

On top of her there now sat a woman. Odd locks from her hair fell over her face and onto Arya’s, tickling her nose. It was flawless in every aspect, long and blonde, framing a smooth, delicate face. Most of her body was out of sight to Arya, but she saw that the woman was wearing a linen shirt. She saw that the woman was good-looking, beautiful even, had it not have been for her eyes. They were as perfect as any other feature of her body and face, but almost shone with cruelty and malice.

20-Sep-2006 00:11:16 - Last edited on 18-Nov-2006 18:34:04 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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“Now I think you should understand, even a pitiful human like you,” she said, her voice finally matching her appearance.

Arya didn’t reply, but her expression showed that she did.

The woman smiled, and raised her head, looking at a point behind Arya. “Xen, dear, shouldn’t you be going now?” She sounded slightly uneasy, as if something bad were going to happen if he’d stay.

A raspy voice sounded from the other end of the room, and though he was out of Arya’s field of vision, she knew who was there.

“You go with the girl, Merol*ha. I’ve got business with the Balancer,” the voice of Xen growled, tainted with spite and hatred.

Merolgha sighed and let her head drop, so the tip of her nose brushed against Arya’s. “I always knew your pride would be the death of you, and now it probably will be,” she said as she raised her head once more, and then added through gritted teeth, “Very well.”

Arya heard the growl of Xen, and then the room seemed to grow continually darker, except for the grinning face of Merolgha, which became constantly brighter, until it hurt her eyes. Merolgha had lowered the staff, but moved her face even closer, which thwarted Arya’s vision even more.

Eventually the room faded away completely, and in its place, there was a small room, undecorated with no walls or windows. It seemed to be solid rock. Merolgha stood up, a smug smile on her face, and walked to one of the walls, staring at Arya wincing on the floor all the while. The walls continued getting brighter and brighter, as Merolgh*** face before, until the point that Arya couldn’t keep her eyes open. It still hurt. She covered her eyes, but it was useless; her hands started emitting painfully bright light as well. She screamed in pain, and low-pitched buzzing started to sound at the edge of her hearing.

The light grew ever brighter, and the buzzing with it, though it wasn’t as painful as the light; at least not yet.

20-Sep-2006 00:13:30 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:14:18 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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‘What is this? What’s happening to me?* she thought frantically, squirming on the ground from the pain in her eyes. The buzzing grew to the point where it hurt her ears, and the light grew ever more painful. *Kill me now! Don’t make me go through this any longer!* she thought, and the light and buzzing doubled in strength for a second. She screamed. Suddenly, everything stopped. The light disappeared, and the buzzing went away.

She opened her eyes, trying to stand up, but didn’t see anything. Just blackness. She was blind. She sat down again, moving her hands slowly in front of her face.

“In case you manage to escape,” she heard the voice of Merolgha say casually. She was beginning to hate that woman. “I’ll leave you to it, then.” Arya heard a faint buzz, and began worrying if her hearing was next, but it stopped as suddenly as it had started.

She slowly got up, her muscles trembling as if she had just climbed White Wolf Mountain in an hour. She began running, though it was more tripping and regaining balance than running, waving her hands in front of her for any obstacles. She ran for an hour before she limped down, never meeting an obstacle. Not a single table, chair, or even wall was on her path.

Arya became worried. She had seen enough of the room she had been in to know it was small, not more than five feet long on either end. Had she been able to see herself, she would have seen her stumbling into a wall, disappearing through it, and then reappearing through the wall on the opposite side, only to continue running in an endless cycle.

End of chapter 2.

20-Sep-2006 00:13:32 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:14:30 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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Chapter 3 - Change of plans

~~~Five minutes earlier~~~

Kashan was at a brisk walk down the hallway towards his room. As he got up the stairs, he spotted a young boy, probably ten or eleven years old. He stood just outside of his door, raising his hand to knock. He lowered it when he noticed Kashan, however.

The boy was wearing simple travelling clothes, and, by the insignia on his chest, he was obviously an errand boy to some royalty.

“Are you Kashan Beast slayer?” he asked submissively as Kashan approached.

“Yes, I am.” Kashan replied, looking kindly down at the boy, who was now staring inattentively at his shoes, and added, “Do you bear a message for me?”

The boy looked up, and his eyes became wide. “How did you know?” he asked, but interrupted himself. “Oh, sorry, sir, it’s not my job to ask questions, but to bear them. Kai would very much like to speak to you, preferably immediately.” He shifted his weight constantly, and as he waited for Kashan’s reply, he started staring at his shoes again.

Kashan paused for a second before answering. He needed to pack, but if he’d meet with Kai now, he might be able to get him to lend him some horses, which would greatly cut down on the journey time.

“Very well, lead me to him.”

The boy wordlessly grabbed Kashan’s hand, and rushed out of the inn, with a very embarrassed Kashan dragging after him. As they went down the stairs, they met Timier and Toin, who both furrowed their eyebrows at this. The fact that he was holding a young boy’s hand was trivial; people did that all the time, but the flustered look on his face was something else.

Timier and Toin had other matters at hand; namely deciding what to take with them, and continued to their rooms.

A couple of minutes later, Arya came to the inn. Instead of going to her room, she tiptoed to Toin’s room. She emerged through the door with a slight smile on her face and a small, soft package under her arm.

20-Sep-2006 00:13:33 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:14:50 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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She stood in the doorway, fingering the parcel under her arm. “Hey, Toin, do you mind if I use your room for a couple minutes? I’ve got a… surprise, for Kashan,” she said, giggling slightly as she spoke.

Toin stared at her blankly for a second, and then something seemed to click in his head. “Well, I best be packing, but… I doubt Kashan minds.” He smiled. “Sure, go ahead. Just make sure it’s a good enough surprise so he won’t go ballistic when he finds out I ain’t packing.” With that, he grabbed a small pouch of gold, and scurried out the room, winking Arya as he passed her by the door.

He knocked on Timier’s door as he went, asking him to keep him company as they waited for the ‘surprise’ to be finished. They went downstairs, and ordered drinks. Only a minute later, Kashan bounded through the front door, and jumped up the stairs like an arrow.

~~~~

The strong voice of Kai sounded through the alley. “Ah, there you are! Here kiddo, three coins, as usual; I think Walorie wants a message sent, why don’t you run to the palace and check?* Kai said kindly to the young boy as he and Kashan came into view, and poured a couple coins into the boy’s hand. He quickly pocketed his newfound riches, and ran out of the alley, towards the palace.

“Now, the reason I called the kid to get you –” he continued, but Kashan cut him off.

“Kai, I’m leaving tomorrow. I’m going to Falador with the others, but I’d like to see if we could borrow some horses from the stables. Saradomin knows there are plenty rider less horses after the battle.”

Kai seemed slightly taken aback; he wasn’t used to people cutting him off. He was, after all, a noble, in addition to being the highest ranked person in the army.

“Well, that’s true, and I guess I could spare a few horses. Ok, I’ll make sure the stable boy knows you’re coming by tomorrow. But, there’s something else I’d like to –” he stopped as Kashan suddenly froze up, staring at a point behind Kai’s shoulder.

20-Sep-2006 00:13:34 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:15:43 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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“Are you all right?” he asked concerned.

“I have to get back to the inn. Sorry Kai, we’ll talk later,” he said as he ran back to from whence he came, leaving a slightly frustrated Kai.

When he reached the inn, he was at a fast walk. When he noticed Toin and Timier sitting by the bar, that walk turned into a full-fledged sprint. He reached his room within seconds, thrusting the door open as he went. The second he got in, he felt his body twist strangely to the side with unmatched speed, yet without any knowledge as to why.

He looked back, and saw a black knife protruding from the door on the opposing room. He turned his head wide-eyed, back to his own room, and found Xen standing by the bed. His arm was outstretched as if he was greeting Kashan with a handshake, had it not been for the fact that a second earlier that hand had held a throwing knife.

Xen seemed unconcerned that his initial attack had failed, though underneath, he wasn’t so calm. He had thrown the dagger before Kashan came into view, relying on his sense of hearing and smell, yet, somehow, Kashan had known it was coming. No one was that fast, not even Balancers; he knew that from his dealings with Shinsu.

He kept a mainly straight face, though, and didn’t let his fear show; only contempt. He twirled his daggers in both hands as he spoke, without ever taking his eyes off Kashan: a sign of great coordination.

“As I said in our previous meeting, you WILL meet your death, Balancer or not.” He spat on the floor in disgust. “Though it is up to chance how one dies, I intend to make yours slow and painful.*

Kashan stared back at him, and began slowly walking towards him. His face was stern in his stare, his stride confident. He saw only one purpose in life now, and that was to find and rescue Arya from whatever prison she was confined to. Whether life or death followed or preceded was trivial.

He spoke three words, emphasizing each as the distance between him and Xen slowly diminished.

20-Sep-2006 00:14:58 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:16:10 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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“Where is Arya?”

Xen hesitated for a split-second, as uninvited thoughts of uncertainty flooded him. It was only for a split-second, though, and his secure attitude came back to him.

“She is safe, for now. Long enough for me to kill you, at the very least.”

Kashan didn’t reply, but struck out with his claw. Xen managed to block, albeit close, but Kashan didn’t waste any time. He immediately struck out with his other hand, and caught Xen’s shoulder with the fierce blade. He leaped back, taking a moment to enjoy the sight of Xen fretfully whipping his head around in order to see the wound. That moment didn’t last long.

Flames sprouted on Xen’s body as they had before, burning a hellfire red. The wound he had sustained healed in seconds, and he held the daggers in a position to counter any further attacks.

He immediately started a flurry of blows on Kashan, repeatedly lashing out against his guard. Kashan blocked each one without emotion.

Suddenly, and with force that seemed unfitting for his body, Kashan kicked Xen away and leapt back himself. For a second an image of their last encounter flickered through Kashan’s mind, only this time Xen didn’t stumble back; he slid along the floor, crashing into the wall behind him with amazing force. Spider line cracks formed, and it leaned dangerously outwards.

Xen stumbled two paces away from it, obviously surprised at the force that Kashan had mustered. Then he let the full force of his wolf-hood go.

He threw his hands down beside him, and the flames around them suddenly turned blue. The colour of the flames around his body took on the same hue, and they rose to the point where he was perfectly engulfed in them. His eyes were glowing with unholy light as the bed sheets closest to him caught on fire, and the flames spread through the bed.

20-Sep-2006 00:14:59 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:16:31 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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Xen slashed at Kashan’s head, the unholy powers of his rage lending him speed and strength. The battle took on a new pace, with faster attacks, stronger blocks, and more advanced movements. They struck high and low, fighting with speed and skill that would have put any human swordmaster to disgrace, and, after what seemed like hours to the two twirling combatants, the tides changed.

Xen managed to break through Kashan’s guard, and sliced into his upper arm. Kashan lost his guard, and Xen broke through. Instead of finishing him off with a simple stab, though, he punched him in the chest with bone-breaking force. Kashan slid into the door, breaking through it, just as he had done to Xen only seconds before. This time was no different.

Kashan, now out on the hallway, doubled over and stumbled forwards. Then he looked up. His eyes were burning with the same rage as Xen seconds before. Finally, fear could be read in Xen’s eyes.

He stood back, shocked at the sound emanating from Kashan’s throat. He was growling.

Yet that wasn’t the end. All his features became rougher, and his face became almost unrecognizable as the jaw line lengthened, the cheekbones rose, and facial hair grew to resemble a wolf’*. His teeth and nails lengthened, and although they weren’t even close to the length or sharpness of Xen’s, they weren’t something one would like to see inside of their body. His hands and feet changed as well, becoming more animal-like in appearance, and fitted with his newfound claws and canines better. Ironically he now had sixteen sharp objects on his arms, more than enough to stab the life out of a wild boar.

His bone structure altered almost completely as well, giving him much more mass and muscle. He now seemed to be a wolf on two legs, much as Xen. They were easily recognizable by the lack of fur on Kashan, though, as aside from hair on his head and face, no fur had sprouted.

Xen’s eyes widened. This was unprecedented.

20-Sep-2006 00:15:00 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:17:14 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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“No…” he breathed, desperation now mixed with fear. He took a slow step back, heading for the window.

Kashan bowed his head, and threw down his hands. Instantly, they became engulfed in black flame. Flames erupted similarly on his feet, and seemed to crawl up his limbs as he stood completely erect, staring at Xen with eyes that burned with the unholy hatred of death itself.

“No…” He slowly shook his head, and took another step back.

Kashan grinned sinisterly. “You won’t greet your own creation?” His voice was raspy, making known hatred and spite above what words could possibly achieve.

“NO!” He turned, and started a full-fledged sprint towards the window.

He only reached a few steps before he came to an abrupt halt. His eyes closed against his will, and his head fell to his chest. When he managed to open his eyes, he saw two curled up fists, each with three, blood red blades protruding from them. They were completely engulfed in a black flame, at odds with the blue of his own. He didn’t see the end of the blades, but knew exactly where they were.

He looked up, seeing the absolute hatred in the new face of Kashan. The flames on his fur fizzled away like a match in a storm, and he raised his head as if looking to the sky.

“Zemouregal… forgive me…”

The flames on Kashan evaporated as well as the limp body of Xen fell to the floor, and his eyes lost their glow. The black blood on his claws and curled up fists, however, did not go away.

He stood there for a few seconds, alone with his thoughts, but was then interrupted by the sound of booted feet against wood. Seconds later, Timier and Toin appeared in the doorway, ruffling through the broken door, with the barman in hot pursuit.

“Is everything okay? We heard some ruffling-” Toin, still with golden drops of beer in his thick beard, started, but stopped when he saw the body of Xen on the floor.

20-Sep-2006 00:16:41 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:17:39 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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