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"Why should I kill her? You have her in a cell whenever she isn't battling and still after that you are the one betting on her to win, is there something I'm missing," Sephera thoughtfully rubbed knuckles against her lower lip. The cloaked man dropped a pouch on the table separating them, "Hurt not kill remember, I know it might be against your typical rules but it needs to be injury enough to dissuade others from betting on her yet leaving her healthy enough to compete. Mind you however you will need to be extremely cautious for her, she is quick and strikes hard as you can imagine this is why she is always a safe bet." "Not the most sound things to hear especially when I'm not allowed to kill the target however I enjoy a challenge now and again, but how will I identify her?" she leaned forward and poached the pouch from the table to check its weight. A faint grin graces the half visible face as it nodded gently, "She's hard to miss, lean but strong, a thick strip of hair down the length of her head, each eye its own colour, and still if you can not figure which is her above each cell is a name, Kortux is that which you look for. As said however do come ready to fight with all your skill and technique for she is more than formidable and well versed in every manner of combat that I know and some I do not." "Consider done on the condition you provide a better pay once the job is done, this here wouldn't pay enough to have a beggar carried away from your shop," the look she gave was sharp but still light enough to lead on as a humor though not a joke.

The two did not leave together instead Sephera waiting a week before heading to the south lands of Corinis. Though not traveling far south of the border between the aforementioned and her home of Eldryn, the Badger was told to expect less humidity and a fairer climate than she was familiar with. Journeying on the main road was the only choice but luckily for the the young and less than prominent assassin the relations between the Pandas and her people had turned for the better. Had it been only a year prior Sephera would have found herself lucky to only be detained by soldiers of the other race however at the present such worries were far removed. It would be near a month to make her way to the target and possibly longer to locate and survey her foe before striking. Gold was promised and paid in a quarter before leaving Kor-Kaine and though a reasonable sum the Corinian pieces would be nearly gone by her arrival in Stynn. Despite only lasting so long the authentic Corinian gold coins made travel far easier and herself somewhat less suspicious, most would think her a merchant, though lacking the typical garb, or one of the wanderers now able to travel the otherwise forbidden until recent southern land.

Stynn was a marvelous city that by some means what design to be a perfect circle, homes and business and so on were layered in rings echoing out from the city's center. This center itself a perfect circle of stone standing higher than most any building in any of the surrounding rings. Equally a far cry from its peers in size was the age of the stone and structure as a whole, though well maintained the weathered rock faces shown to have stood centuries prior to any dwelling in the city. Within the ancient ring were columns of seats surrounding a sizable circle of bare dirt wherein the target battled opponents. However the target herself was to be in a building made one with the original structured that housed the warriors among other things, traps and weapons and the like of which a sadist would imagine. It would be a struggle to assess the security of the outer building, without windows and only a singular entrance it was a danger and a trap to any who would go forth to preform the deed if they were any less skilled than Sephera. All the same the setup put ill feeling in the pits of her stomach, nonetheless the job would pay more than the ten prior combined and doubled, so regardless of the worry and doubt she would proceed. At the coming of dusk she would survey to be assured none lie within who would walk free and none would lie in wait at the entrance.

Slipping through the empty darkened streets like and eel through the tide Sephera made her way to the building, it was silent and as far as she knew empty of anyone but prisoners. A series of heavy locks decorated one end of the door, however the fault in such locks were easy to pick out for one who knew anything about locks of the sort and quickly became useless as the Badger set to work. In only a handful of minutes she was creeping inside trying to see any figure or name above a cell in the pitch black hall. Rusted metal and old and faded blood tinged the air making the dark trot all the more unsettling, metal chinking down the corridor was almost welcomed as it confirmed something else shared the empty black space. Feeling her way around the bend in the hall a ray of light caught her eye, it was reflected twice over of shining bits of metal of what they made Sephera was unsure. Creeping closer to the light she found it's origin in a cell the very one that seemed to be the origin point of the metal clink noise. In the faint and dim light immense toned muscles worked in the motions of striking against a sack hung from the ceiling. Intimidation was not hardly the intent however upon the first glance the Badger was shaking as the black and white furred covered biceps tensed and released amid the cycle of each punch. Pressing the back of her long dagger to her forearm she crept to the cell door and quietly broke through the lock. Pushing the cell open only enough to slip through she continued close enough on the floor to be mistaken for a furry snake. All the while the Panda kept on striking the punching bag and began integrating kicks to the routine. A kick was the perfect opportunity to strike and exactly that Sephera would do. As the right leg came down from a strike she slid across the ground slicing into the left thigh, not deep enough to bleed out but damaging. Before the woman could ready to strike Sephera rolled back and pounced forward slashing into the left bicep and dragging the tip from shoulder down clavicle until departing from an inch right of the sternum slicing the adjacent breast slightly. Two lucky marks made were well enough but not enough to stop the savage creature from attacking and with one lurching step she caught her assailant. Thick muscular arms tightened over the Badger's chest and only in that moment did she realize just how large the other woman was; able to lift her off the ground until Sephera's legs desperately were wrapped around the Panda's knees trying to find some support and yet the chin resting on the top her head. Splotches white fading to a blue and finally a pale red dotted her vision as darkness began to creep in while air was pushed out. In a moment the struggle would be over she would be breathless and if not dead at the mercy of the brute however fortune changed at the call of a voice in the dark.

"Kortux drop the girl," a man called and at the very word Sephera was dropped to the the floor. Foot steps echoed closer but the Badger could only think of how lucky she was to be alive, "After all, if you kill her now there won't be anyone for you to battle tomorrow." "I don't think this one will draw a crowd sir, she's quite scrawny," another man called while lifting Sephera to her feet. Studying the woman in the cell the first voice replied, "On any other day I would agree however the fan favorite Kortux will be wearing wounds from this evening something none of the others were capable of so you see there will be a crowd and in fact those to bet against her." "No you've got it wrong, I was sent by.." Sephera tried to speak up but caught a strike across the back of her head dropping her to the floor and filling her eyes with the blackness she had so recently been saved from.

Blackness consumed the cell the Badger found herself in, however it was lessened from before certainly night had turned to day the warmth of the brick making the exterior wall would prove such a conclusion true. She had spent the night sat up though unconscious against the far wall of the cell her chest aching still feeling crushed in the vise like grip of the Panda coupled with the new sensation of stiffness in both neck and back. Shakily, trying to overcome the stiffness, Sephera pushed to her feet before staggering to the cell door to look out into the dimly lit hall. There had been voices moments prior however before she reached the door they had vanished. Breaking the silence came the clank of a metal chain, "Hey, hey you in there, can you hear me?" No reply came to the Badger's question so she called again, "Kortux, that's your name isn't it? We have to get out of here, I can explain it away it's all big misunderstanding, if I can just find the man who hired me for this job." Sighing she pressed her head against the bars, "But of course I took the job anonymously didn't I? Of all my mistakes that my be the worst."

An handful of hours past and the quiet was replaced with a rumble from behind the wall on the other side of the hall, only a murmur but it was growing in volume slowly but surely. Boots slapped against the stone floor until coming upon the two occupied cells that sat side by side. "Show time girls, hope your ready little killer, there are many that have put money on you already with word you were able to strike the champion, first of your kind in fact," it was the same man from the night prior. Pulling her glance up from the floor she paused and drew back the moment she caught sight of the lower portion of his face, "You're not.. could you be really?" "Yes, if you care to know why it is to eliminate your kind, surprised to see you hadn't notice your colleagues going missing one by one. I'm afraid to say your the last on the record I have from your boss," his grin was the same as the night she had taken the contract from him. Shuttering as silently she put it all together in her head and had to come to terms with it Sephera fought to not break down inside and out. "He wasn't just a boss or a master to me and they were not just colleagues or associates, those people were family, brothers and sisters and.. and he was father. What did you do to them?!" with hands gripped tight to the bars she thrashed until it hurt. Not a word passed his lips only his bobbed in the direction of the other cell and in doing so he left for that direction while guards came forth and opened Sephera's cell, placing her in chains while she watched the Panda be led from her cell, docile and cooperative for the man. Seething with hatred, fury, disgust, and heartbreak Sephera maintained herself as she had been taught and tried to quiet her mind as the men led her out a door connected to the ring the building was attached with. Light poured in, blinding for a moment and the rumble now was more vivid and now she knew it no longer a rumble but cheering and chattering from hundreds in the elevated seats surrounding the dirt arena. Stunned at the sight the Badger had stopped taking no notice of the Panda who now stood at her side with a blank and careless expression as she looked to the horde of cheering civilians. The guards unbound Sephera then pushed her in one direction while the man in charge waked Kortux to the other end of the arena, "..And tried to give her a little chance this time, last time you broke that old man like a twig in the first round and hardly gave the people a show, do that again they'll be rioting in the streets and they'll be out for your blood and mine!"

A rope ladder was cast down to the man as he stepped away for Kortux and quickly pulled up as soon as he was ascended. In a moment's time he reached a overhanging platform that jutted a few feet over a section of the arena where he began a speech. Sephera did not hear a word as her mind was wrapped in fear and anger and anxiety, she noted only two things during his ramblings; the sky slowly turning from clear to overcast and the rippling muscles of the stoic brute. Lost in thought the piercing shriek of a horn hardly penetrated the Badger's mind to snap her back to reality, luck was in favor to have her opponent not instantly seize her. Pacing diligently along the ring's perimeter Kortux made it clear she was only biding time to strike with a killing blow before any real blows had been exchanged. Following suit Sephera began along the edge catching glances from the Panda every other moment as she could not bring herself to keep locked in the tension. In the champion's stare however there was a serenity, a calm even, as though distant from the screaming and jeering civilians with the miscellaneous things they through among which were poorly fashioned bats and blades as to liven up the battle. Nearly catching the piece with the back of her head, Sephera desperately leapt for the round wooden debris that looked to be nothing more than the top of a barrel with a leather strap on it. The Panda had hardly looked at the make shift shield or the Badger, she instead fixed sight on her handler who was no longer looking amused by the spectacle. Another make shift tool fell, this being a think tree limb with rusted spiked driven through. Before it could smack to the dirt the Panda reached out and caught the handle with one quick motion that was quickly followed with a sprint. She charged the unprepared assassin slamming the spiked end into the shield despite openings which could have taken her opponent down. With the rusted pieces deep in the shield she tugged and snapped the leather strap which fractured and shattered the shield as it tore away, the weapon the Panda used in the act had become near useless as the spikes broke free from their place. Sephera rolled back but her opponent stayed in place, Kortux of course had no reason to hurry and even less reason to act fast as not to lose her life in the battle. Silver flashed past through the Badger's peripheral, a spear head with only a faint remainder of the shaft had rocketed through the air next to her head and would have made contact with the Bear if not for her own quick reaction. Again in a smooth and fluid motion the Panda reacted catching the fragmented shaft and with a full rotation in a spin launched the weapon back at the man he flung it, his reaction was far less quick. Blood shot into the dirt followed by the owner who fell atop the spot stained by his fluid, a faint groan passed his lips but thereafter nothing not even air escaped him. Sephera, despite her skills in fighting, knew she would need a weapon and the closest one at hand was plunged in the man's chest but no for long as with another evasive roll she was at the corpse and hastily retrieving it from the blood hole in his guts.

Clouds were filling the sky and darkening and for just a solitary moment the Badger considered the chance the event could be postponed until potential rain had passed, however it was short lived as she realized an awning covered all but the dirt field. Kortux was moving forward, an amble pace but any pace from the near giant was enough to terrify an opponent. Two alternate paths began to form in Sephera's mind as to the fate of the spear head; one charge forward telegraphing an attack that just before the point of no return would form into an entirely different strike or hope her aim as great as her foes and toss the point directly at her betrayer. The second thought was as momentary in the reality of her mind as the the postponing, even if she succeed in killing him who's to say Kortux would kill her before she could make certain of her success. A desperate plan but of course the only realistic plan was the former and with much hope it would at least enough to get in a solid strike and take the Panda off guard. However as she again focused on Kortux she became certain that if the slash or stab she made actually was made it would be the only one she would be able to achieve, the opponent seemed the type to became berserk in the sight of her own blood. No time needed to be wasted on further thought, there would be no third option or chance to escape, moving her feet first the path of the blade began to work out organically her mind as she came near to the target. Against her elbow the edge of the spear rest, the underhand position would throw off the Bear more importantly make the switch to an upward stabbing motion seem almost impossible. From right to left, low to high the strike would go for one attempt the real motion in underhand but as she pulled upward she loosened her grip on the shaft allowing the weapon to spin forward and slap to her palm now in the stabbing form. Driving it up with all her might it would certainly be a damaging blow if not one to vital organs, of course only if it had connected.

Bones crackled as though the arm was pinned tight between boulders and being tugged at with the full force of the struggling persons body. Shaking erratically the Badger let loose her grip from the shaft watching in despair as the weapon, the only hope of her survival, clattered to the dirt with a drip of her own blood moistening the dust on the blade. Grimacing she scanned the other woman and picked no expression nor mood from the still almost uncaring eyes staring through her. Harnessing again an uncanny quick and subtle motion the Panda pulled her into the air by the arm and caught her around the midsection before she could drop to the dirt upon letting loose the arm. Sephera knew what was to happen next however unlike the night before was certain this time the action would be complete, no one would call off the brute and her spine, ribs, lungs, and every other vital in the Bear's grip would be crushed and she would be lucky if not left to bleed out slowly. Frantic she swung her arm, the right being near useless with the shattered bones in the forearm, hoping pain would override Kortux's control she jammed a thumb in her right eye however as she looked to the patch fur her hand sat a series of scars suggested this was futile. Arms tightened more so around her, breaths became fleeting little air entered and escaped, the world was becoming darker not simply because of the black clouds above, a drop of rain splattered against the Badger's eyelashes moistened already by tears. Faintly a crackling echoed inside her, certain this bones breaking Sephera was reluctant to accept her end, and with the last bit of air in her lungs she let out a blood curdling shriek of agony and rage. On the heels of the call to the heavens above an answer came in the form of white-yellow hot, hotter than anything she ever deemed more than warm before, light from above. Not a light to onlookers however, this light was lightning accompanying the downpour that was picking up in this last leg of the competition. Lightning struck her entering from her gaping screaming mouth and filling her with its surging branches of power. Not alone was she in being struck, the platform where the speech was given was struck, the murdered spear thrower, her shield, with a massive yet broken bolt the ring was entirely electrified, and her opponent most importantly. In a moment Sephera went from the grips of the Panda to lying in a heap of blood and viscera gripping what remained of Kortux's head. In her line of work a severed head was common for the right price but what had happen to this one was beyond her experience. Quivering she looked to her betrayer and held the barely recognizable piece up before another flash of light struck and the assassin had vanished.

With a thunder clap the sky opened and let loose the storm lightning shooting through the sky an one bolt dropping the Badger into a deep puddle somewhere she could call familiar and somewhat more welcoming. Her first thought would have been to as how she had arrived home, however being alive still was a far more perplexing idea. More over as she pushed up out of the puddle she nearly had been submerged in she found her right arm suddenly functioning as normal again and whatever internal parts damaged in the crushing grip of the Bear too were intact again. A series of shallows breaths took place of calm and regular breathing as she pushed herself against the side of a building she was well acquainted with before scanning and feeling herself for injury. Rumbling came up through her and in a quick jolt thick brown bile burst out of her into the puddle. "Wha.. what? What is this? It was just a normal job and.. no there's.. there is nothing normal about this, not if I still have a sense of it," she muttered hysterically to herself. Electric arcs webbed across her fingers, pulsing in the same yellowed white tone that had struck in the arena. Resting her head against the wall she tired only to recount the pleasures of home, her home for one, friends though she was no longer sure those she knew would be returning from their respective jobs, and the view from the spire's top which she rested against. With the flick of her eyes a surge took her and as she opened from that blink she was atop the spire on one of the four overhanging ledges placed at the corners of the peak.

For a moment Sephera thought to pushing herself off the ledge and plummeting to the vacant street below, after all if all she had for friends and family were now gone there was nothing left. Flinging her legs to one side of the spiked column she placed a hand against the last bit of wall near the top and the other next to her on the ledge. Even if they were alive there was no way down after all not knowing the way she happened up the spire in the first place. Looking out at Kor-Kaine all seemed set in the dreariness saved for dreams and equal to the dreary demeanor overall the city felt without life. Never before, while looking out of the ancient tower, did she feel so empty and defeated nor had the city felt so from the widest view. Gulping down a burst of air that would have been a pitiful weeping cry she slammed shut her lids and bowed her head, tears washing away in the rain as she hoped to wash her self away a kin to the distraught and dismal world around her. Leaning all her weight forward she shot down head first ready to collide with the slick browned red bricks that made the walkway below, opening her eyes she found that for whatever reasons she was however spared the fate she thought easy to control and found the view far less common and unimpressive than that of crimson soaked brick.

Cradled in an orb of the intense light yellow and white as she had come to associate with the lightning Sephera was aloft in a surrounding she could not believe was real. The area itself felt spherical and though dark as night seemed to be surrounded by an intense light that seemed to have trouble properly lighting the orb. All around the perimeter everything was cast in distorted deep golden hue making all as shadows as the light came from all directions but disrupted by a murk surrounding all. Directly in front of her, foremost of her examination and observation was a figure much too like a massive spider, its limbs spread in between the basic directions leaving it to look as an X. Something was moving at the core of this monstrosity, nothing more than head bobbing and swiveling however all the same it moved. "Emhh," it was a low rumble, masculine and aged similar to a man as old as her former master but something unheard in any voice she had known it sounded overlapped with another as though in perfect sync with both a lighter and heavier pitched man. Air sounded to be sucked in before anything else could permeate the silence that filled the bubble. "Electricity, lights of the sky in the storm, both beauty and danger, uncontrollable to the hands of this time but for one. There are many things I want to tell you Lady Ohymn Sephera of Kor-Kaine but what such knowledge would do is not to plan and in fact derails the structure and causes untold damage. Though there is one kernel of true knowledge that at this time I not only must be permitted to pass along but indeed have not choice to not allow you the information. You will be a master and that power coursing through you is a key to unlock the door to reach such heights but there is preparation to be made. I would not leave you alone to discover all that can be done with your gift, you will leave here with more than a basic command of it all and it will put you leagues ahead of your opponents. Your opponents are those who will stop your endeavor, with your power they will fall before you not to serve however they must die. Though you will be followed, you powers will put you to command an army, a nation, of followers all trained in your ways, their minds impenetrable as your master forced yours to its serene and solid state. The Claw you shall call them and they will be of all lands and in time all lands you will take, but first the opponents. They have gifts as yours but not the same as yours and if they are left alive they will destroy the Claw before it can bury deep into the other nations and twist it to your will. Alysia Meako the man of minds, Amaleir Argos the eye of truth and justice, Rahalic Haven might unseen, Suhai Turial ill and poisonous, and Tiru Ursa the stone Bear of the mountain. All must fall by your hand and done before the Claw can reach out, this is not an option, this is your path and your fate, you must follow to the end," the words rebounded again and again against the internal walls of the Badger's skull. With a start she jolted up in her bed, home for certain now, unsure of it all until lifting her hand and arc came into being from around her wrist and wrapped around her hand as glove.

Rain was pouring again outside, the type she loved and wished horribly her room featured a window at a height she could look out and enjoy the shower. Moving with a slowness in her body she felt tinges of agony as though all parts of her were asleep before and now were begin to wake sending out the dreadful feeling of it, pins and needles pushing from within. Sitting at the corner of her cot it took a moment before it occurred to her she was nearly nude but more surprising than nudity was the marking working its way across her body. Starting near her waist line a thick white-yellow line worked up before breaking and branching off upward and outward. The markings flared out again from the arms branching out and looked almost as a tree with its furthest branches terminating at her sides, mid point of the rib cage, and the highest worked ones just beneath her breasts. However alarming the markings were it all was set against all that came before it and almost was of no concern to her as she forced herself up from the bed. Pressing against the blank plaster wall Sephera struggled to recall any strength she had to carry on out of the bedroom, no larger than a closet, to the main corridor and into the common room of the dismal and abandoned temple.

Taking her cloak before leaving her room she did not bother with it as she made her way to the entry of the temple, silence was all that was present with her within. The treacherous contractor had been truthful after her captured, this she was sure, else one of her clansmen would have returned from their assignment by now. Gritting her teeth an overwhelming wave of anger lapped upon the shores of her mind and while it did the thoughts of what her power could do came to her in a rush like water erupting from a broken levy. Whoever He was, the man or whatever it was, from the trance or dream she had did truly gift her with knowledge of the lightning that seemed to sway to her will now. As it flooded her mind a wicked grin came to her face and for a second she giggled as a child would after successful playing a practical joke on another. Whirling the cloak in the air Sephera caught the hood on head while the rest gentle fell to her sides. The banner, the old master's banner, for those in the know the banner of assassins hung just below the walkway she stood. Leaping down she tore the pale cloth piece from its place and wrapped the ends around her back beneath the cloak as a make shift shirt that would warn any who saw her of what she was of before they extinction of them. Master, or father in the eyes of those he took in, had left his favored tool behind for his last job instead opting for a bow and arrow. Sephera was aware and despite the forbidden nature of looking let alone touching the tool without permission took the blade for her tool of redemption. The elegantly crafted kusarigama hung on pegs over the fireplace in father's chamber. Long and curving like the beak of a great blue heron the blade was marked with old speech letters naming the wielder grandmaster, despite years of use the handle had no signs of wear on it or the curved portion featuring the ring connecting the chain. It too was tended well, the Master had always made certain any weak points in the chain were mended before and after any job this time however there was no time for such repair and had no need for it either. At the end opposite the blade was the strange bulb shaped metal cage with a thick glass like item set perfectly within. In his time father had never found a purpose for it other than reflecting light in the glass or smashing fingers to force hands to drop a weapon. Sephera's cloak was not made for such a weapon however the three separate slots within could house beginning, middle, and end starting with the blade on one end of the cloak, bulk of the chain in the middle at her back, and the lantern like object on the other end. Her proficiency with a kusarigama was lacking but enough, the master command all students to practice with one, however the symbolism and sentimentality overrode the consideration for a different tool.

Rain drenched her cloak as she stepped to the street and with only a thought she summoned the lightning from the heavens above and with a flash was gone. The rain was absent on arrival, the lightning around her and producing her were the cause of the distant storm. Within a moment she assured herself she had not lost a grand length of time since the day of the battle as the remains of her opponent still lay scattered around the arena. Lifting the desolated head she began to stare into the empty eyes, "I am sorry. You didn't deserve to die like this but let's leave it at better you than me." Taking Kortux's head with her she enacted the plot her mind had produced in the time since picking up the master's weapon. Summoning a burst of the electricity within her she launched a massive charge into the north wall of the arena, blowing it apart, then disappeared before any could arrive. From the shadows she could hear townsfolk talking, "Someone ought to tell Master Welry bout this, not that I think he know how to fix it." "Well it ain't going to be me, he'd fired me and put me in the arena next chance he had for certain," another voice answered. A third voice came, "What in the world have you two done?" "Now just calm yourself Izal we were just passing by and heard the noise, thinking we should find someone to tell Master Welry then you happened by and well I'd be damned if that weren't your job," the first man replied. With a low angered grunt the third man returned, "Did you see anything or anyone who might have done this, anything at all that might help us figure you this out?" "No but reckon that old fighting machine's passing along with the shenanigans with the lightning today now this figure it all has some connection, something stirred up or off now and we're going to feel the crack of the whip, all of us I mean not just the master," the second man responded his voice grim. Pausing for a moment the outer circle fell silent until a reply came, "Spooks and curses that's all you ever talk about and all your family ever spoke but never once have a single one of you seen a thing or heard a thing not even felt a single thing of the sort. Now this, this right here is destruction and vandalism and I wouldn't be half surprised if were on the behalf of someone who lost a friend or some blood to the battle. I'm going to talk to Master Welry, you two keep your eyes open and you Golie, shut your mouth once in awhile. Give my children nightmares with your talk and you best believe I'm upset about that but if I catch you spreading your lies and madness about in the face of this little incident, I will personally come to your home, drag you through the streets, and throw you in that arena and then you will see real spooks after I run you through!"

Sephera had intended to spend the night lurking into the early hours of morning and then take the life of the man known as Welry however the servant delivering the message would prove to perfect an asset to pass up. Creeping about the street she stalked him, not once when he looked about was she detected nor half too often seen by the man. Three rings out she watched as the man entered a modest two level building lit dim with but two lanterns, one at the door as he entered and a second on the top floor. Using the dark of night, as she would in any job, and the kusarigama she crept from roof to road climbing the chain as silently as possibly. Slithering as a snake across the floor of the balcony in through the open door and within found a study lit by the lantern. Placing had over the cup she found the contents warm where it sat on the table adjacent to a grand chair covered in fine fabric in a deep forest green hue. A corner across the room from the chair was black as pitch and was a perfect place to hide as she left a small token noting her arrival next to the cup. Muffled voices went back and forth below her for a time before final the sound of a door ended the exchange and the distinct click of a lock followed. Twelve stairs, the foot steps came ever closer until bathed in the dimness of the candle was a face shaped in a familiar manner, it was the man she had met without a doubt, the betrayer, his ridged jaw line could not belong to any other. Master Welry paused a moment after arriving on the second floor, he looked distraught as he took in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh before seating himself in the chair. Leaning his head back he exposed the unprotected throat, Sephera fought not to jump so quickly, she wanted to savor the moment and the surprise. Blindly he reached for his cup but upon gripping its handle felt a wetness on the back of his hand. Letting loose his hold of the handle he gripped the damp chunk of fur and flesh and without hesitation pulled it into his lap. A shriek was expected yet he sat quiet staring at the head of deceased champion.

"You haunt me now, don't you? More now than ever in life you trouble me. You, your kind, your savage ways were doomed to defeat and desolation, it was written in the stars and in on the wall in the blood that you shed. So maybe I made a profit on yours until the last drop, your last drop, but after the destruction of war, your brutality, it was a reasonable idea," with a grunt he threw the head into the dark corner but a thud did not return to him. Sephera stepped forward, head in one hand and her weapon in the other, "You seem to make a habit of trying to turn a profit from your enemies." "Who are you, another of the assassins that went unnamed or happened to be out for the time I went looking?" Welry growled his grip tightened on the arms of his chair. A sinister smirk graced her cheeks and in the quickest of motions she threw the head into his lap and produced the chain from her cloak. Following behind Kortux's skull was the kusarigama's end, it struck his chest leaving him to halt a moment as she wound the chain around him tightly and pressed the blade to his throat. Leaning in close she rested her free hand on his head and tapped her fingers on his brow, "So care to explain why you came after us? My people that is, your issues with the deceased is nothing of my business despite you trying to make it mine." "Make it yours?" confusion and contempt toned his voice to an awkward response. Pulling the chain tighter it began to force air from the lungs, "I didn't come here to kill her, you even requested I only injure her, so you see as far as I was concerned I wasn't brought in to preform a dirty deed you couldn't muster the manhood to perform." "The foolish girl, you want to claim to be the dead, now I've heard tales of hauntings but they are only tales, the dead do not take flesh and exact revenge on the living," Master Welry's laugh only served to get more of his air taken from him. Growling low he collected his breath, "Do you want to know why I had that savage butcher your associates in the arena? I wanted your people to pay for the less than subtle approach to the most sensitive job I came to your master for and because of his blunders I found myself not only lucky to be alive but lucky the emperor is so simple mind and slow witted." "Father never once took on a job beyond his abilities and no job was beyond his abilities, whatever mistakes was made or miscalculation was your folly," she defended not certain what he could me. Despite his situation the master put on a smug expression, "That old kook, I gave him the emperor's description and every scrap of information about the palace as well as the proceedings of the night's events. Somehow he manages to sneak past the palace guards, so far so good, remains undetected in the banquet hall, even I did not see him until the time came, but when it came to the subtlety of dropping poison in the man's wine he instead launch three bolts from a crossbow hitting the emperor's most favorite concubine, his nephew, and if only an arm's length more to the right myself, if only he did he would have saved so much embarrassment. His luck however turned when it came to escape, smoke filled the area he once stood and not a single scrap of evidence remained where he had. Being the next in the line of succession as the emperor was and still is without I was the only one considered to have a reason for such a plot. However without any evidence they instead stripped me of my title and I found myself lucky to have kept what little I owned beyond the palace."

Unaware of she was pushing the slanted portion of the blade's top into her captives skin the silence was broken by a strained noise of Welry pushing the pain away. "Father never once under performed or took out the wrong target, you have the wrong man or you are simply a liar," Sephera worked to right herself before fury could spill forth. With deep breaths the master regain his composure, "You know the more time I spend with the people of your clan the more I realize how brutish yet childish you are not too unlike the Pandas. Was that another question you would ask or have you lost your nerve?" A strain of the white and yellow light shot from her hand and traveled down the chain before surging through the blade into the man's wound. Again she tried to steady herself, "I don't care, another petty excuse or misunderstanding, some reason that reeks of your own mistakes and trying to cover them with the live of innocents." "They were far from innocent, we had drive them back from taking the ringed city, they claimed it there own telling a tale of seasonal travel from the city. So much blood was shed when they could have moved on, of course it was more their own then ours, naive children running about without a scrap of armor or a weapon. Kortux, fought the way of her people and in the end died the way they had, bloody and scrapping the earth they walked upon trying to bring down the final foe. If you thought she was powerful and ruthless you should see all those before her, she as the only one I would have called easy to subdue," his head slung forward almost forcing the blade into his windpipe. Catching the scent in the air she found it heavy layered in the metallic scent of blood and was not surprised to found the man's ash grey robe turning a deep crimson. A jolt crept through the metal again and for a moment he sprung back to coherency, "Tried to take a piece out of me the first time we lead her in just like that fool old man of yours, except she took her beating and came out of the fight with more of the unlucky participants blood on her, he.. well I suppose I should have struck his ribs more than head but... well I suppose it did a greater justice that I crushed that tired old brain of his and not.." Hot light filled the room, thunder rolled shaking the city of the rings, fur burst into flame and the flesh beneath melted while insides cooked and the skeleton blackened. Her blood was filled with the same white surge of electricity, it did not disappear as she returned with a bolt to her point of arrival. Letting herself go and allowing the flows to take her a massive blast shot from her, the ring did not fall instead each brick came apart from the mortar and fell outward into the street. In the crater where she had stood was pushed the remains of the unlucky and unfortunate woman she had not known but all the some mourned. Loose dirt covered the bulk of the mess and at the foot of the burial the Badger carved a crude image reminiscent of a claw. Two vectors on the left, furthest smaller than the second, two straight lines spanning longer lengths in both directions than the vectors, and a V-shape, crooked at the tops pointing inward towards the center line. The symbol of the Claw would mark her and those to fall by her hand at the order of he who is unseen and for those who's lives must be necessary loses in the preservation of progress.

Icy drops shattered on the glass divide between the chamber and balcony, cold grey and blue clouds made up the sky and in the dimness all beyond the window were shadowy figures washed of detail. White-yellow orbs were unsealed from the lids and surveyed the surroundings as well as the sky through the glass barely visible from where the host lie. The warmth had been present by feel and was not to any surprise to find the trio of male worshipers still sprawled around the bed maintaining space between themselves and the woman. Cerulean pools peeked from minor slits at her feet which upon notice were directed to the door. One of hazel and another of evergreen were nudged awake to follow in tow without a word but a bow before exit. With a thin tan blanket used as a makeshift cloak the Badger crossed the room to the window and tried for a better view of the outside. Rain drizzled down the where it hadn't directly splattered into drops making it an incoherent glance. Dropping the tan hide, still filled with the warmth of the sleepers and the activity of the evening before Sephera stepped out to the balcony and looked onto the waterway. At the bank Nevanii sheltered together from the storm, their dense leathery skins deflecting the water however not holding in enough heat alone. Freezing lines streamed through her fur down spine to trickle from tail while other branches washed past ribs following the curve of buttocks and not terminating until reaching the stone. Further Rivulets streaked through the ridges markings of her face and down across neck and perked nipples, through feminine regions and wrapping round the leg joining with and interrupting other currents of the rain. Beauty was not something Sephera knew well, to her followers she was beautiful however it was nothing to be called such if not knowing it herself, however as the downpour washed Kor-Kaine thunder rippling and lightning swimming through the see of clouds or not it was the truest beauty in her eyes. A thought however pierced the veil of splendorous beauty as the Nevanii came to mind, their lives and purpose for the city and what they endured before their eventual end. They were leather for those beyond the city and to Kor-Kaine they were the life blood for trade but how were treated? As far as she could recall they were let to roam like any wild creature however would be picked off one by one when need arouse for greater supplies. Crossing her arms and tapping fingers against moist ribs she began to devise a better means of keeping the creatures, building stables of sorts to house them in such inclement weather. Sensation rattled through her brain as the aura of another seemed present behind her and to no surprise she found one of her clan bowed in the doorway to the balcony.

Reentering her chamber she took the blanket from the floor and strung it over her shoulder concealing half of her form however leaving one breast nearly fully uncovered. "Is it of much importance why you have come at this early hour?" her tone carried no harshness however any in such a position could imagine harshness for her. Stammering a moment the young Rabbit tried to speak, "Your prisoner, the Raccoon, he is.. he will be ready travel any day now.. however this morning he attempted escape." "I trust he is caught, not that I believe there is far he could run," a coldness began entering her voice. Shaking her head as though frightened the messenger came again, "Yes but he injured a few in his attempted, those he struck want him flogged and that is coming of the most kindly of them." "Tell them not to worry, I will personally attend to the matter and in short time he will no longer be an issue to the Claw or any of Kor-Kaine," the venom in her vanished with such minor news. Bowing once more the woman tried to keep her gaze indirect, "I will pass the message on and insure the prisoner is not hurt by the men." "What is your name," Sephera locked eyes with the woman nearly putting her in a trance. She stumbled on her words before righting herself again, "Buryr Reeva." "Well Buryr Reeva might I say your eyes are quite pretty such a perfect melding of tones for such an excellent violet hue," she placed her hand at the back of the woman's neck and pulled her to her until their foreheads touched, "You wouldn't happen to have a brother you have been hiding from me would you?" "No... no ma'am," Reeva quivered in fear unsure what would the response would be for such an unsatisfactory answer. A calm but eerie grin came to her lips as she realized her nude form was pressed against the clothed woman, "A shame, I was wishing immensely to see such violets in my chamber again, I suppose even if I were so lucky he would be back where I plucked you from my dear violet." "I.. I'd better be going the men seemed eager to cause harm to the prisoner, my Lady," she bowed and hurriedly exited before Sephera could speak another word.

Gripping at her face she watched silently as Reeva left her chambers while slowly morphing loose fingers to fist and pressing her ring finger to her lip, dragging it and stretching the lip before letting go. Again the safety of her mind saved face as well as much explaining, having found luck again in a situation ending something premature of her imagination. Seating herself at the edge of her bed Sephera buried her face into her hands, not crying only in shame, thinking herself the most absolute fool and deviant to boot. It was with hope she thought on it though, she had maintained a calm and corrected herself before anything could get too far, with luck her people wouldn't share her thoughts. But what of young Reeva, the Rabbit must have it hard enough answering to the leader of the Claw and to be far from home no less. Folding her hands she slid her head beneath her palms and muttered to herself, "How do they still see me as their leader, leading them to chamber late in the evening seems to be what I excel at over leading them into the future." Slipping into a loose maroon tunic, too loose to be her own, found on the floor by her foot she decided it was no longer time for the internal contemplation and condemnation but rather time for breakfast and to check Meako. Time had been long enough for him to heal and the plan to be put together, possibly even enough for his powers to come back in full. Haven awaited, though she did not know it, and Sephera's luck would at least be great enough to defeat the Rabbit rather than keep her as some morbid pet or so she hoped.