Un-Kase slowly returned to his senses, registering the almost liquid feel of his muscles, then the sense of satisfaction that seemed to have burrowed into his chest. He sat up from the silken sheets of the bed and looked around the previously luxurious room. Carts had been knocked over and the food scattered, most of it had still been eaten however, and the four, now empty, bottles of wine had been set on the table next to the bed.
He looked at Liu Gen, still sleeping in bed next to him. He could remember what they had done, though it was like through a fog, and felt a shiver of remembered feeling down his back. The sheets had been balled, bunched, and in places, torn, and were stained with smears of food, wine, and other fluids. He got out of the bed and stretched, the motion waking up his sleeping muscles and making him aware of the gnawing hunger in his stomach.
He ate what remained of the leftovers on the carts and retreated to the bath chamber, cleaning himself off in the now cold water of the tub. That done, he once again donned his robes and stepped out of the room, in the mood to stretch his legs. He retraced his steps and made his way to the gardens he had walked through before, now tinged with the light of early dawn. Servants rushed around and tended the plants, pruning small leaves and raking the beds of sand and pebbles.
None of the servants paid him any mind as he wandered and he eventually found a small gazebo to rest in. He sat on the bench and took note of an odd chair set up opposite his seat. It was almost made like a miniature hammock stretched between elaborate wooden arms. He didn't find it strange when an old man in robes sat down in the chair, despite not seeing him approach, nor did he question the sudden appearance of a stylish teapot.
“Hello there, Senior Disciple Un-Kase of the Dragon Sect. I am Elder Xo-Long Jiao of the Prismatic Eagle Sect. How are you faring today?”
Xo-Long Jiao was infuriated at the turn of his fortunes. The barbarian had entered the city not the very next day after killing Lao Fin-Mang, but had announced himself as being from some nonexistent Dragon Sect. Not even a realistic Sect name, like Roaring Dragon, or Raging Dragon, or Flaming Dragon, just Dragon! Apparently he truly was a Chosen, so that at least explained how he slew Lao Fin-Mang, but without a Sect backing him he was next to worthless.
A runner had been sent to intercept him and escort him to the Sect's compound, and he somehow intimidated the fool to the degree that he refused to have anything more to do with the fraud! The Elders couldn't explain that the brute wasn't from a real Sect either, as that would result in abject humiliation! If word got out that an Inner Ring Disciple had been killed by a fatherless cur with no training…
Then his favorite assassin, Liu Gen, was bested somehow! He wasn't sure what became of her, but he would investigate that situation afterward, the mere fact that this man continued living was an insult he refused to stand! He wove illusions around the man to lull him into a sense of peace, and sat down across from him to begin his interrogation. He would find the truth of this matter finally and he would make this thing before him into an example.
“Hello there, Senior Disciple Un-Kase of the Dragon Sect. I am Elder Xo-Long Jiao of the Prismatic Eagle Sect. How are you faring today?”
“Good.”
The truth.
“Were your accommodations to your liking?”
“Very much, yes.”
The truth.
“Did you sleep well?”
“I think so.”
The truth.
And so Xo-Long grinned. After asking three seemingly innocuous questions, the other Chosen was now firmly held under his spell. He would be incapable of telling a falsehood and when he had given up all the information that the Sect wanted, he would die.
“Did you kill Lao Fin-Mang?”
“Yes.”
Truth.
“How?
“I stabbed him in the face.”
Truth.
“We weren't told of a weapon, what did you stab him with?”
“My fingers.”
Truth.
“Your fingers?”
“Yes.”
He was taken back at that information, partly because it was unexpected, and partly because the thought of being stabbed with someone's hand was unsettling.
“Why did you kill him?”
“I told him to walk away, and he did not.”
Truth.
“Who taught you how to fight?”
“Nobody.”
That was… the truth?
“How did you learn to fight then?”
“It just comes by instinct.”
The truth again, even if it was baffling. Xo-Long Jiao decided to dig into Un-Kase’s origins.
“Who are your parents?”
“My first mother is Lady Golden Wren, my second mother is Ta-Rrun.”
Truth.
“And what of your father?”
“I've never known who my father is.”
The truth again and an unfortunate dead end for tracing his powers.
“Do you have any idea where your strength comes from?”
“Yes.”
He did not elaborate, irking Xo-Long Jiao and making him ask another question.
“Where does your strength come from?”
“My mother forged my soul”
Despite being an utter nonsense sentence, it was also the truth. The biggest weakness of this type of questioning was the fact that a person could only tell the truth as they knew it.
“Which mother did this?”
“Ta-Rrun.”
“Do you know how she did this?”
“She breathed fire on me until I fell asleep in a shell of glass.”
“She… breathed fire? How is that possible?”
“She is a Dragon.”
The truth and a brief spike of fear that burrowed into Xo-Long Jiao. If the boy's testimony was to be believed then that meant he was a first generation Chosen, which would make him automatically a sizable threat. It was no wonder then that the fool boy Lao had been killed, nor was it questionable how his assassin had been defeated.
“Now I have a question for you Elder.”
Xo-Long Jiao felt his blood run cold at the words. The boy should be firmly under his spell, shouldn't be able to speak out of turn.
“Did you think this spell could hold a Dragon?”
Un-Kase felt the effects of the magic worming through his mind after the fourth question, managing to beat it away through force of will. The old man didn't seem to be attacking him, instead he just started asking all kinds of questions. He wondered for a moment whether or not he should answer truthfully, but honestly didn't see the harm in it. The old man had tried to trap him in some kind of magic, and made no secret of his apparent hatred. His expressions showed openly on his face, the anger, the shock, the fear.
The last emotion only crossed his face at the end, when Un-Kase had asked his first question. He almost felt bad for asking his second question, but still planned on it.
“Did you think this spell could hold a Dragon?”
Elder Xo-something leapt up and out of the chair with a surprising amount of dexterity for a man his age. He threw the teapot at Un-Kase as he moved and a casual swipe shattered the porcelain in an explosion of scalding liquid. He burst forward, cracking the stone bench he had been sitting on and took a swipe at the retreating elder. The old man skillfully dodged the blow at the last second, only giving up a few thin locks of snow white hair.
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He swung a leg up and the dull glint of light sparking off of metal was the only warning Un-Kase had that the attack was more than it seemed. Three long, wicked looking knives had somehow extended from the elder’s boots, and had narrowly missed slicing his stomach open. He let off a kick of his own and the elder dodged through a topiary of a bird, sending glittering feathers from his long sleeves. Un-Kase chased after him, bursting through the leaves to find a terrified wrinkly face staring at him.
He stabbed out with his hand intent on piercing the shocked face, and instead mimicked its appearance as the old man vanished, being replaced by a glittering feather. A feather that promptly exploded. The burst of sound and light sent Un-Kase rocketing back through the topiary, skidding on the loose stones of a rock garden. He felt a painful tingling on his skin and a sensation of dizziness that slowly took him over.
He held out a hand to brace himself against a stone railing, but his hand passed right through it. He managed not to fall, but still bumped his head on what looked like empty air. He saw the old man trying to kick him again, leg knives flashing in the light, and attempted to intercept the blow. Instead, yet another shimmering feather appeared in the path of his swinging claws.
And yet another explosion sent him flying, albeit this time into a statue that broke and collapsed onto him. He groaned and pressed his hands against the statue, trying to push it away, but couldn't seem to get his muscles to listen. The feeling of dizziness only seemed to intensify and he felt like he would vomit. The figure of the old man appeared above him and laughed.
“You claim to be a Dragon? Laughable! You are nothing but a barking dog trying to appear more threatening than you are!”
Un-Kase tried to respond, but it seemed even his tongue wasn't listening to his directions, flopping uselessly in his mouth like a stranded fish.
“When you shook off my magic, I must admit, I was worried. But you fight with no technique, simply throwing around your brutish strength!”
“Truthfully I had thought Dragons were more dangerous. Perhaps after I'm done with you I shall hunt down this ‘mother’ of yours. I'm sure the meat will at least be up to standards.”
A wave of cold washed through Un-Kase then, his muscles stiffened and his head stopped swimming. Now that he was focused, he saw that the old man standing over him was surrounded by interlocking wavering rings of multicolored light. Looking at them threatened to send him back into the depths of dizziness, but the pressure building in his chest drove the feeling away.
“Leave. My Family. ALONE!”
Xo-Long Jiao smiled down at the feeble-minded Chosen he had bested. The boy was strong, that much was obvious, but his mental and spiritual resistances left much to be desired. The boy had fallen into his Illusory trap so easily it was almost sad, his mind being imbalanced to weaken his body. He couldn't help himself but to gloat over the prone form of his next victim.
“Truthfully I had thought Dragons were more dangerous. Perhaps after I'm done with you I shall hunt down this ‘mother’ of yours. I'm sure the meat will at least be up to standards.”
A sudden pulse of spiritual energy was the only warning Xo-Long Jiao had that something had gone wrong. He started to move backwards but was paralyzed by the emotion that gripped his heart in a sharp clawed vice. Fear. A reaction he had long since trained himself out of, had somehow stabbed deeply into him and frozen his muscles.
“Leave. My Family. ALONE!”
The final word was emphasized by a blinding rush of blistering flames. Finally released, Xo-Long Jiao stumbled backwards and tried to beat the fire out. The embers seemed to be infused with spirit energy however, and were impossible to extinguish. He looked back at the boy just in time to see the statue that had previously pinned him down flying towards him.
He barely managed to leap over the stone when he was struck by something moving even faster. The hand of Un-Kase had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall that Xo-Long could have sworn was at least fifty feet away. The wall surrounding the Sect compound had stood for over 500 years, sturdy and strong, second only to the towering walls surrounding the city. Yet still, it cracked beneath the onslaught of the raging Chosen, cracked but didn't break.
Until the grip around his throat vanished and Xo-Long looked up to see the statue that he had previously dodged. The worked stone smashed into his body, shattering numerous bones and finishing the job of breaking through the wall. He laid on the ground for a moment, trying to catch his breath past his mangled ribs, when the pressure of the statue was mercifully lifted off of him.
The face revealed by the statue's removal showed no mercy on its expression however, and Xo-Long knew he was in mortal danger. He dodged the foot that would have crushed his skull, ignoring his broken bones as he leapt to his feet. This battle was one of death, only one could walk away from this encounter and his determination said it would be him. He threw his knives forward, following shortly after them with his arm poised to strike.
Un-Kase ducked under the swarm of knives and put himself directly into position. Xo-Long brought his knife down towards his foe’s neck, smiling in glee as the top of the blade made contact. But he was quickly thrown off target, changing his precision strike into a glancing blow as he was thrown down the street. He tumbled across the cobblestones and felt a sharp pain in his chest accompanied by a pop.
Xo-Long realized his lung had been punctured, recognizing the sound from his own strikes. He shakily rose to his feet and braced himself, ready to stare down the end that was coming for him. The figure of death walked with a steady purpose, each step seeming to resonate in Xo-Long’s ears. Un-Kase’s eyes blazed with rage, literally blazed, as light poured out of them, casting the rest of his face in terrifying shadows. They had moved farther down the hill and were no longer illuminated by the rising sun, instead the only real light was that produced by the raging Dragon before him.
His teeth were bared in a snarl, seeming far too sharp for someone that claimed to have been human. And Xo-Long could have sworn he still saw faint wisps of flame dancing around inside of his mouth. His death began to step faster, breaking into a run and charging him down like an inexorable storm. He let out his final breath and felt his mind calm, clarity of thought filling him in his final moment. He braced his feet and prepared for the finishing blow, his poisoned knife gripped tightly in ready fingers.
A hand curled into a claw swung for his head and he leaned forward, blade whistling in the air towards his opponent's heart. The last thing he saw was the tip of his blade pressing into Un-Kase's robe, and he felt pleased that he had at least been able to take the man with him.
Un-Kase cursed as he looked down at his robe, the large gash torn in the chest had ruined both layers of his clothing. The old man's knife had barely scratched his skin before slipping sideways, slicing through his clothing instead. He brushed a hand over the area, forgetting that it was covered in the elder's blood, and smearing it over the clothing. He looked back down and considered the implications of taking the robes from the corpse, but with the people gathering around it was probably a bad idea.
He felt a wave of weakness suddenly crash over him, his knees buckling beneath the force of it. He stared down at the stones slowly being covered by the spreading blood and retched up a small amount of breakfast. His thoughts were getting cloudy, sluggish, hard to focus. He stumbled up, needed to get home. Needed to rest. The people parted around him as he moved, like tall plants making way for a passing deer.
He liked deer. It tasted really good. Better when it got older. Better than boar. Boar was bitter. Still good though. Spices smell good. Spiced boar would be really good. Spiced deer probably better. What did he step in? Where was he going again? Banners flapping in the wind. Red. Flowers. A door. Knocking.. Opened.. Falling.. Hands.. Darkness.. Sleep…
Liu Gen awoke feeling exhausted, sore, worn out, and deeply, utterly satisfied. She looked next to her on the bed and, not seeing her target, began the surprisingly difficult process of getting up. Her muscles protested her movements, a feeling she hadn't experienced since she was an Outer Ring Disciple. She gathered her clothing and noted it seemed to be after noon, meaning Un-Kase was long dead by now. A pity since she would have loved to have done the deed herself.
A quick trip to the bathhouse left her feeling much refreshed, even if she was a little confused at the lack of disciples. She donned her own disciple robes and went to report to Elder Xo-Long Jiao. She admittedly was curious as to what information he had managed to get out of the wild beast. She slipped through the hidden doors and down disguised passages, entering the Elder’s study undetected.
Elder Xo-Long Jiao didn't seem to be in his study however, and after a careful but thorough investigation she left to find a servant. One servant happened to be rushing past an intersection as she left the room, and a quick movement had her intercepting him.
“Where is Elder Xo-Long Jiao?”
“The Elder is currently in the cold storage rooms. But, honored Disciple-”
She didn't wait for him to finish, instead she hurried to leave the building, rushing to the ice chute. The ice chute was how they deposited vast quantities of ice and snow into the cold storage rooms during the winter. The nearly 100 feet of smooth polished metal was her absolute favorite part of the Sect. She opened the hatch door, and jumped inside before it snapped back shut.
She flew down the cold dark tunnel and grinned with joy. As the chute changed from a plummet to a slide she braced herself and shot from the end. Hitting the ground she rolled and came up on her feet, not expecting an attack, but being ready for one just the same. No attack came and she relaxed, walking through the various adjoined rooms until she found Elder Xo-Long Jiao. Or at least she thought it was him.
The body lay atop the cold metal slab of a table, custom boots still with the talon blades attached. Robes adorned with markings and designs denoting his station in the Sect were slightly charred and torn. Normally, one glance at his face would have more than confirmed his identity, but it wasn't there. In fact, most of his head was missing, the remaining bit being a chunk of his left jaw still connected to the neck.
His head appeared to be cut in places, but practically exploded in others. Whatever had killed the Elder, had not done so peacefully. If she were to use a word to describe the damage it would be…
Savage.
Her blood ran cold with the realization that Un-Kase had killed the Elder. She had planned to try and kill the man herself, but if he had done this to the Elder, what would he have done to her?
“Disciple Liu Gen!”
She turned, hands brandishing her thin stilettos, but relaxed seeing only Chen Jo. Chen Jo was a Core Disciple like her, but where she was more suited for the martial forms he excelled in the mystic arts. His face was split into his perpetual grin and his voice was high with joviality.
“Chen Jo, what happened?”
“He was slain by a rival Chosen. But where have you been Liu Gen?”
“I w-was recovering from a mission gone wrong.”
“Are you injured?”
“No, simply sore from exertion.”
“That's good! Have you eaten yet this morning?”
“No, I'm actually quite hungry.”
His smile vanished and his tone shifted to an emotionless drone.
“Why did you fail your mission?”
“I wanted to have sex with Un-Kase before I killed him.”
“What, and you fell in love with him after one night or something?”
“No. He fucked me into submission and I only awoke an hour ago.”
Chen Jo laughed, a cold, vaguely threatening sound that was reminiscent of beetle wings.
“That has to be the funniest thing I've heard in ages! Do you know what the price of failure is, Liu Gen?”
“Yes, corporal punishment and correction.”
“Correct! And the price of betrayal?”
“Execution.”
“Indeed, and personally, I think sleeping with an enemy of the Sect counts as a betrayal. So Liu Gen,” his voice started to waver, taking on an ethereal quality, “draw your blade, and slit your throat.”
Liu Gen did as she was instructed, the hot blood steaming in the freezing air of the cold storage. She snapped out of the hypnosis at the last moment, staring at him with terrified, confused eyes. He merely smiled down at her as the last of her life bled away.
“Gods I was getting tired of you.”
He stared down at her corpse for a few extra minutes, relishing the sight of the blood slowly spreading over the frosty stone. He turned abruptly and walked out of the room, calling his retainer with a sharp whistle.
“Any news about Un-Kase?”
“Yes master, he was found in a brothel in the mid-city. City guards have arrested him and escorted him to the mayoral manor.”
Chen Jo cursed at the miserable fortune. Now the Sect would lose face with both the guards and the citizens in general. The man who killed an Elder in broad daylight being apprehended by the guards? Laughable. The Chosen either allowed himself to be caught or had sustained wounds grievous enough from Xo-Long that he couldn't defend himself.
Either way, the Sect had a clear path forward. They would march on the mayor's manor, drag the Chosen out and execute him in the streets, then they would put the mayor and guards in their place. His mask slipped back on with the smile over his face and he set off to make his preparations.