Of all ninja feats and spells known to the layman, their incredible speed is the most spoken of. Ninjas, Nijikana or otherwise, seem to fly over terrain. As though their feet barely touch the ground at all. Whether this is a result of magic or intense training, only they know. At least until Mr. Iblo's manuscript goes to print.

Nina (not her actual name) made excellent use of that legendary speed in her pursuit of the thieving publisher. The open plains of inland Braighden Prefecture passed by her in a smear of color as she sprinted along the winding highway toward Lancester.

Boyko getting the better of her still nagged at her core and pride as a Silent Serpent. Deceiving a ninja, with a ninja tactic no less, was deeply embarrassing. She castigated herself for her failure, for further mucking up the mission. Retrieving the stolen handbook was priority one for the Nijikana, and through much protest and advocating, Nina convinced the elders to assign her the task. She would do honor to her clan by fulfilling it.

Though of utmost importance, she anticipated this assignment to be a simple one. Locate Iblo, steal back the handbook, and kill him if needed. Things should have gone smoothly. But she had made the mistake of conflating simple with easy.

Lucky for her, a ninja's eyes are as sharp as their legs are fast. Down the road she spotted the other sellsword, the woman with the strawberry blonde hair, standing steadfast by a small lake. Feet apart, hands on her hips, and sword still sheathed. Sanna stood ready to do battle, an expression of iron defiance locked on her face. Behind her, the worm Iblo cowered on his horse.

The shinobi thanked the god of fortune for the luck, for she had no intention of fighting. The way the sellsword was standing, Nina could simply zoom past and slit her throat. She wouldn't even need to slow down. Then Iblo would be left without protection. Her mission would still be a success. Pulling her dagger from the short sheath at her back, she took position to end her foe quickly.

But Sanna would not be caught unawares. Her stance practically dared the ninja to attack her. And while she might not have possessed Nina’s pinpoint clear vision or her husband's nose for danger, she did possess strong senses of her own. Namely, a sense of hearing that would put a bat to shame. Cupping an ear, she caught the slight jangle of ninja tools and near-silent footsteps. Combined with the gossamer cloud of dirt the Nijikana kicked up, a solid idea of where her opponent was formed in her head.

"All right. Let's do this woman to woman," she said.

Gripping the swirled blue basket hilt of her sword, she unsheathed it, revealing a glistening white blade that resembled pearl more than steel. Holding it at her shoulder as though she made to thrust, Sanna dragged two fingers down the fuller, illuminating lines of spectral cerulean.The enchantment activated.

Once done, she swiped her weapon toward the lake at her side, hard as a clock hand striking noon. The water seemed to churn at the spot the tip pointed to.

"Come to me."

Two fist-sized globes of water shot out of the pond, flying toward her upraised blade. The sword caught the twin spheres in its arcane aura and they circled around it, like orbiting planets. As the liquid comets spun trails at her command, Sanna took up her fighting stance.

"Mr. Iblo, I suggest you back up."

"Oh. Yes miss," said her employer, leading his horse back a bit.

Sanna closed her eyes and let her ears read the landscape. The ambient noise fell away as she scanned for the only sound that mattered. Nina did her Silent Serpent moniker proud, betraying only the faintest footfalls as she advanced on the sellsword. Her half-cloak didn't even snap in her wake. Sanna's lip twitched up at the corner, almost imperceptibly, when she caught her prey.

For the ninja’s part, she was confident in her Shinesilk's camouflage. Invisible to the eye, the sellsword would never see her blow coming. Her throat would be slashed apart as if from nowhere. Its suddenness would terrify the publisher into cooperation. She smiled at her certain victory.

The gap closed between the two. Nina leapt toward her target, chisel-shaped dagger primed. The moment her feet left the ground, Sanna's eyes snapped open.

What happened next lasted a split-second.

Sanna thrust her pearl sword forward and the circling globes of water shot out. One struck the Nijikana in the throat, instantly soaking her and throwing off her momentum. Water slick, her Shinesilk cloak lost its invisibility, leaving her exposed. The second globe swung around in a curve, hitting the would-be assassin with the force of a cannon, and sent her rolling across the dust of the highway.

The twin spheres of liquid reformed and returned to the orbit of Sanna's sword. Trained in proper academy swordsmanship, she kept her weapon lowered but ready and examined her opponent.

Crumpled like a sack of wet leaves, Nina coughed up water.

"So, you have an enchanted sword too?" she remarked.

"Indeed, I do."

The sellsword flashed the flat of her blade.

"Behold, the Dolphin Arc. Its maker infused the metal with crushed sea dragon pearl. The enchantment gives me some limited control over water. And as my husband might have told you, this sword and his cost us a great deal."

She held the Dolphin Arc's tip at the still prone ninja's throat.

"So this is your last chance to sod off and let us do our job."

The two's gazes, hard as the steel of their weapons, locked. Both recognized the others' lethality. But Nina got a different read from Sanna than from her husband. Though coarse, the female sellsword had a refined core. Out of respect, she pulled down her facemask.

With a sad smile, she said, "You know as a Nijikana I can't."

"Then catch me."

Sanna wheeled around and mounted her horse. Whinnying, it galloped down the highway. Mr. Iblo followed after her. Their forgotten foe stood slowly, water still dripping off her, surprised the other woman hadn't simply killed her then and there.

The sellsword shouted back, "We aren't at the border yet. Your invisibility may be gone, but your prize can still be yours. Or do you have no Nijikana pride?"

As though she needed the provocation. Nina stripped off her ruined half-cloak, and clad in naught but her tight dark blue ninja togs continued her chase.

She caught up fast. With expert speed and acrobatic skill, the shinobi vaulted into the air and landed perfectly on the back of Mr. Iblo's galloping horse. Sanna looked over in shock.

"How dare you insult my honor as a ninja," said Nina.

The two warriors grinned at each other. No more words were spoken. The real battle began.

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Nina exchanged her dagger for a short, curved sword of Soganese design, flinging away its scabbard with a flourish. Springing up from her saddle, Sanna leveled her Dolphin Arc. The twin water globes circled around it faster. Balanced atop the galloping horses, they clashed.

The duel was a chaotic mish-mash of styles. Nina favored slashes and quick cuts, drawing blood from Sanna's forearms as she parried. But the sellsword focused on thrusts, feints, and ripostes, throwing the poised ninja off balance. Blades locked like chains and light flashed off the flying steel. The clang of metal on metal echoed over the beating of horse hooves.

After a flurry of strikes, the combatants paused. Though of different schools, both were too well trained. But Nina's objective wasn't to win the fight. The ninja smirked and clamped her arm around Mr. Iblo's throat. She spun him out of his saddle, making to throw him from his steed.

The publisher squawked in her grasp.

Sanna reacted fast and snatched her client's foot before Nina could toss him away, yanking the pudgy middle manager toward her horse. Her opponent yanked back, still trying to hurl him off the horse. Between them, Mr. Iblo cried out in fright and confusion. His upside-down vision filled with fast-passing ground and hooves coming too close for comfort to his face. It was the world's most ridiculous tug-of-war.

The horses raced down the highway to Lancester uncontrolled, Sanna and Nina still standing astride their backs. Neither woman released her grip on the chubby book agent. With each pull, he screamed.

"Tree!" He cried.

Both combatants turned. A thin but firm birch rose from the middle of the road, right in the dangling Mr. Iblo's path. He would splatter against it if one of them didn't let him go. Nina saw no reason to.

Sanna however, not only let her client go, she snapped him like a whip as she did, finally knocking the ninja off balance. Nina tumbled off the horse, but snagged a loose stirrup as she fell. Acrobatically shifting her weight, she vaulted back up into her seat.

In the same moment, Sanna caught Mr. Iblo by his scruff an instant before he collided with the ground. She swung him around like a sack of potatoes onto her own saddle. The publisher muttered to himself, still trying to process what just happened.

Client saved, Sanna hefted her weapon in a broad overhead arc, bringing it down on Nina's head. But the Nijikana stopped the blow between her hands.

Sanna gasped.

Unfolding her fingers, the spry shinobi revealed a set of hooks on her palms that caught the blade's edge.

"How many tricks do you have?" asked the exasperated sellsword.

Nina didn't answer, only twisted her wrists, loosing the Dolphin Arc from Sanna's grip. As she scrambled to retrieve her enchanted weapon before it hit the rolling ground, her ninja adversary struck her in the forehead. Sanna reeled, but managed to grab her sword. With an upward thrust, her water spheres splashed into the ninja's face.

She held them there, enveloping the Silent Serpent’s head in a single huge orb of liquid. Before long the air in her foe's lungs grew thin, and she clawed at her throat as her breath gave out. Sanna didn't intend to kill her, but wouldn't release the sphere just yet.

After another few seconds, Nina's eyes rolled up and she collapsed, slumping off her horse. Riderless, it slowed to a trot.

Sanna sheathed the Dolphin Arc with a sigh, undoing its enchantment, and took her own horse's reins from her employer. She decreased speed as well, spying soldiers milling around ahead of them. The border station, an unassuming little shack sandwiched between a series of wooden gates, lay there waiting.

The plan appeared to have worked, despite their enemy's persistence.

Relaxing in the saddle, she told her client, "I think you'll make your publishing date, Mr. Iblo."

On her right, the other horse caught up to them, still without a rider. The sellsword admired the animal's loyalty, but fast found her admiration misplaced. Nina swung up from under the animal feet first, kicking Sanna off her own steed.

Quick as lightning, the ninja held her dagger to Mr. Iblo's throat. The publisher whimpered at the sudden violence.

"The handbook manuscript," demanded Nina, "Now!"

"But I don't have it!"

"Don't lie to me!"

"But... But..."

"Give it to me now!"

Then to Nina's surprise, he pulled on the horse's reins, bringing the beast to an unexpected stop and throwing her from her perch. She fell hard to the ground and as she recovered, found a forest of spear points thrust in her face. They had reached the prefecture border.

Nina took stock of the circle of lawmen surrounding her. "In the name of her majesty Queen Vysa, stay where you are," one of the soldiers shouted.

"I'm so sorry miss," said Mr. Iblo, unsure why he did so.

Scowling, the Nijikana pushed away the border guards’ spears and lunged at him. Strong hands held her back, but she fought their grasp to reach her hated target.

"Give me that handbook you slime! I know you have it!"

"But I don't. I swear I don't."

She managed to fling one throwing star at him before the guards wrestled her to the ground. The publisher ducked with a peep, the projectile flying over him.

"My employer is telling the truth," Sanna said, strolling down the road and nursing the spot where Nina kicked her. "He doesn't have the manuscript."

"But your husband didn't have it either!"

The station administrator approached the sellsword. "Miss," he said, "I'm going to need an explanation, and to see some papers, before I let anybody cross into Lancester."

Sanna turned on her feigned charm. "Of course Officer. If you would be kind enough to wait for my husband to arrive, we'll be happy to explain to everyone what just transpired."

The administrator surveyed the scene around his station. Despite her near feral protests, his guards had restrained Nina and put her in shackles. Mr. Iblo dismounted, his quivering lessening now that Sanna arrived, and stood close to her. Up the highway, another lone rider was coming toward the border crossing.

"Ah, here comes Boyko now."

The hangdog mercenary trotted his horse up to the wooden gate and the assembled crowd. Splotches of mud and loose bits of bark covered his clothes and a long length of rope trailed from his ankle. Bee stings covered his skin. His client's leather satchel remained slung over one shoulder. More than anyone, Boyko fit the description of "worse for wear."

"What happened to you?" his wife asked.

"Her, mostly." He pointed to Nina, sitting cross-legged in the dirt and stewing in unspoken frustration.

The station administrator came up to the married mercenaries. "Could I get my explanation now?"

"Yes, where is my clan's handbook?" demanded the ninja.

Mr. Iblo raised a cautious hand. "I'm curious about my manuscript's condition as well."

"Don't worry. Your book is safe." Boyko dismounted his sturdy horse and pulled the Nijikana handbook from one of its saddlebags, holding it up for all to see.

"But you said you didn't have it!"

"No. I said it wasn't in the satchel, which it wasn't. I never said I didn't have it."

Nina frowned. "Misdirection?"

"Misdirection."

"I'm still confused," said the station administrator.

Sanna took him aside, subtly leading him and the other soldiers toward the gate so they could proceed, and explained. "It's quite simple Officer. My husband and I are sellswords. This gentleman by my side is a publisher who hired us on as bodyguards, to protect him until he reached Lancester with his manuscript."

"Which I would like back now, please," said their employer, extending a hand to claim his company's property.

Boyko slapped him away. "Oi! Not until we're through the border you lout."

Sanna continued. "Anyway... That manuscript contained some information sensitive and personal to the girl you're arresting there."

She pointed to the defeated Nina.

"She would stop at nothing to steal it back, even attempting to murder us and our client."

The soldiers sized up the ninja; not quite believing the slender young woman in blue pajamas could be such a threat. They would once they relieved her of her huge cache of hidden weaponry.

"So after surviving her first attempt, my husband and I developed an ingenious scheme. We would split up, one of us going with our client and the other going with his bag, and presumably the manuscript. Naturally, our would-be assassin would go after whoever appeared to have what she sought. But when confronting Boyko here, she would discover he didn't have the book and go after me instead."

"But your husband had it the whole time, just not in the way this girl thought?"

"Correct Officer."

He chuckled. "Yeah, that is pretty crafty."

Sanna thanked him for the compliment with a curtsy she almost meant. Watching her performance, Boyko again admired how talented of an actress his wife could be.

The border guards took Nina into custody, and she sneered at the sellswords as they brought her into station. With the excitement concluded, the regular business of crossing into Lancester Prefecture could resume. The administrator went to his work window and said, "Now, your papers please?"

"Of course, Officer."

She retrieved the necessary documents from her saddlebags, identifications, sword licenses, and etcetera. Boyko let her and Mr. Iblo handle the paperwork. He hoped the rest of the journey would go smoothly from here. They certainly wouldn't need to worry about the Silent Serpents' rival clan pouncing on them. That easy money was as good as in their hands.

But the matter of the Nijikana seeking revenge still hung over the whole enterprise. What use was money if you wouldn't be alive long enough to spend it?

As he mused, pacing back and forth outside the station gate, Boyko spotted one of the guards leaning against the fence, perusing a copy of A Long Night of Summer Passion. Everybody seemed to be reading the trashy thing. The sellsword thought of the one Nina had dropped into the mud during his confrontation and an idea occurred to him. A great liar he wasn't, but Boyko felt confident he could pull this one off.

He called after the guard. "Excuse me, do you mind if I read the description on the back of your book?"