Asha Ignivora's Story

"These men have committed atrocious crimes to this nation and to this community! Today, we will serve judgment to these fools and see who has the last laugh once they're on the ferry across the dark river!"

In a wide open space, six people were on their knees side-by-side, their wrists and ankles bound tightly together with rope so that they had no chance of escaping. This was, no doubt, a platform for public execution, and Asha had witnessed many of them in her time. Various streetfolk gathered in a semi-circle around the criminals with furious expressions on their faces as they picked up rocks from the ground and began hurling the stones at them.

"Die, scum!"

"Go to hell!"

"You'll pay for what you've done!"

"Monsters!"

"I hope this stings in the afterlife!"

An older woman with visible wrinkles marring her face approached Asha, cramming a stone into her hands with an angry, determined flare behind her eyes.

"Here, you should throw, too," the woman said, urging her to join in the stoning. Asha briefly shifted her attention to the six people, watching as they flinched and spat blood as the stones struck them, some cursing at the top of their lungs and others staying silent with their heads down.

"Sorry, I'm not interested," she finally replied, pushing the rock back into the surprised woman's hands. "I'll be on my way." As she turned around and started to walk again, something hard hit her in the back of the head and she turned her head over her shoulder to see that the woman had flung the rock at her, clearly even more displeased than she was before.

"You're just as bad as they are," she spat. "Anyone that supports scum like that deserves to die, too."

Asha reached toward the back of her head and pressed her hand against the area where she felt a prominent sting, looking at her fingers to see that they were slick with blood. She turned to the woman again.

"I see," she said quietly. She stood still for a moment with her eyes fixated on something in the distance as though pondering something, but instead said nothing, continuing on her way and was not disturbed again. At length, she came across a poster that was attached to the wall of a bakery, and gave it a quick look. It listed a request to slay a dragon that's been terrorizing the kingdom, encouraging warriors and magi from all walks of life to join in the effort.

A dragon...

Asha looked down at her Gatekeeper Blade, seven runes inscribed on its surface, two of them with a faint red glow.

Yes, I suppose that is one of them. I'll be looking into this, but first...

The warm scent of the bakery lured her inside and the doors closed lightly behind her with the tinkling of a bell. Outside, someone had freed the six dangerous convicts from their bindings and set chaos loose in the city...

As Taethion wondered the city in search of those who need help something caught his attention. He heard the roar of crowd and the words they spewed definitely were not of the friendly variety. He proceed down the street and noticed the crowd throwing rocks at bound criminals. It would seemed they faced execution and whatever they may have done maybe deserving of their fate, but they didn't have to suffer at the hands of this mob. After all stoning is a pretty barbaric form of execution, even though hanging seems just as viscous. Yet one citizen out of the crowd shone in Taethion's eyes. A woman who refused to toss a stone, he was glad to see tolerance and integrity. Not many people understand this, but even criminals deserve some clemency.

Yet he nearly gasped as the stone struck the back of her hand. He didn't mean to stare but it looked like it struck her hard. She even sent her hand to comfort the wound. He noticed her walk into the bakery and thought he could help. He entered in after her. He then calmly walked up to her and spoke, "Pardon me mi lady, but I noticed that act of tolerance you committed earlier." "I found that very brave, it's very easy to be swept with the crowd." He then quickly laughed. "Oh I'm sorry I've been rude, my name is Taethion, and I hail from Gilfried!" He then bowed his head. "Anyway my voice of compliment is not the only reason I sought you out, I-" The young Paladin was suddenly caught off by a shriek.

The six convicts were freed and they are attacking the populace. One particular one has the same old woman clasped in a death grip. He was slowly choking her out. "Sorry, a moment." Taethion spoke, his very friendly persona now switched into someone who looks and sounds like an actual warrior. He quickly left the bakery and landed a swift punch across the face of the criminal. The strength of his punch forcing the criminal to let go of the old woman and went straight to attacking Taethion. "Stupid fool!" "I'll kill you instead!" He lunged at him and Taethion kept him at bay by forcing his hands away with his own. The two were caught in a struggle.

As Asha took a seat to quietly enjoy some coffee and bread, a young man donned in armor approached her and greeted her. She sat in silence and listened for a few minutes, confused. By the time he was done speaking, she was still confused. What is he talking about? She set the cup down and tried to rack her thoughts for a proper response, whatever that would be. That process was cut short when the man suddenly pardoned himself and left through the door with a determined expression on his face, intervening with the criminals that had been set loose. What is he doing? she thought blankly, watching as the man fought them off. Well, I guess there are people like that. Asha wasn't about to be interrupted by her break and was about to resume her snack when the glass in front of the shop suddenly shattered as a woman was hurled through it, knocking aside chairs and tables as she hit the ground. A tall, lanky man with unruly hair and a wild look on his face followed through the mess, torrents of fire swirling around his hands. That looks like one of those criminals from earlier.

The man's next target seemed to be Asha - he pulled his arm back and hurled a fireball at her, to which she responded by kicking her table over as a makeshift shield, the flames scorching through the wood but stopping just short of its target. She calmly rose from her seat and waved the smoke and steam away with a slight hint of displeasure. She casually dodged the second fireball by moving her head to the side, the projectile grazing past and hitting the wall behind her. That was all she needed to see.

Asha and the criminal were an entire room apart, standing on opposite sides, yet the second after she took her first step, she had already closed the distance between them, slamming his face into the ground with enough force to leave a crater. She stood up and brushed herself off, sighing over her lost meal as she stepped out of the bakery. The guards look like they're having trouble with the other criminals. I wonder if they'll hand out a reward if I lend a hand? I could definitely use the money for food and lodging. With that goal in mind, she stood at Taethion's side and assisted him - While they were busy with each other, Asha came around the side aiming for a knockout blow only to find that the criminal responded instantly, dodging her attack perfectly and countering with a hard palm strike to her side. Winded, she stumbled backwards in surprise, putting some distance between them. This guy's dangerous, she thought somewhat approvingly. His reaction speed is good. She gave a silent nod of acknowledgement to Taethion and advanced toward the criminal again.

Taethion did hear some scuffle going on behind him, but payed little mind to it. This guy was stronger than he looked, if he hadn't of intervened when he did, he could have easily snapped that woman's neck. Suddenly he noticed the woman from earlier come to assist him. She seemed to be a skilled warrior but the criminal's reaction time impressed him as well. It would seem even while distracted he had enough sense to dodge. He has good instincts, he thought. He noticed that strength come into play when the woman reeled back. Taethion had to end this now. With a nod back he went to assist in the attack. Taethion struck first, the villain weaved, again, the villain blocked with his forearm and with his right first punched Taethion. His head flicked back and felt a little bit of blood trickled out of his nose.

He began to mutter a few words, then he felt relief to his recently bloodied nose. He went for the next assault and this time his punches where faster, fast enough to land three consecutive blows. A right and a left, and an uppercut. The enemy stumbled backwards as blood began to run from his face. Yet, that didn't seem to deter him, but instead piss him off even more.

The hit was a lot harder than it seemed at first and the aftereffects of it was not giving her a good time - She kept her distance and looked for the right time to attack. Alright, I'm wrapping this up. Asha dashed in after spotting an opening, sacrificing some of her speed to concentrate all of her energy into her fist and launch a bone-shattering strike that sent shockwaves rippling through the man's body, dropping him on the spot. Even she felt the impact of the powerful strike, shaking her hand to stave off the sting from her punch.

"You're bleeding," she told the paladin flatly. She glanced down at the fallen criminal. So is that guy, but I guess he's not in any position to complain right now. "Are you alright?"

~

Can't believe I had to go through that travesty, Gale thought, pulling his hood over his face and quickly fleeing from the scene in the ensuing chaos. Luckily, those other five crooks were ticked off by the stoning and didn't have the mind to high-tail it out of there like I did. Shouldn't have gotten caught in that mess in the first place, but these things happen I suppose. He massaged his wrists, slightly upset about the restrictiveness of the rope bindings. Not like they could me hold down with something as weak as that. They must've never seen a shape-shifter before. As long as I keep a low profile, they shouldn't be able to identify me and with some luck, they'll forget about this whole fiasco in a short while as long as nobody recognizes me.

Taethion wasn't sure what just happened there, but this woman was strong. Well, he was always told strength can be found in the most surprising of places. Although it looked like that strike hurt her as well. She then mentioned his bleeding. Taethion perked up as he made a quick, "Oh!" He then wiped the little blood from his nose with his gloved finger.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I should be just fine, thank you for your concern." He spoke with a smile, that former friendliness shining through again. "I also have to thank you for your assistance, but I supposed you would have helped anyway." He spoke with friendly chuckle. "Well we must return to the task at hand, this is but one of the criminals." "Last time I saw there were six to deal with." Taethion spoke his resolve returning. He then headed for the next enemy who noticed the previous scuffle. This one charged blindly at the Paladin, as he quickly sidestepped him and the oaf feel over his own momentum. Taking advantage of his positioning, Taethion came swiftly with a well placed kicked to the oaf's head. A quick knock out.

Yet he should have been a little more aware. Another foe had lunged on his back. He was smaller compared to the other two. He held on to him like a vicious animal. He was even snarling like one. Taethion made a quick grunt as the man proceeded to choke him. Taethion swung his arms trying to pry the man from his back.

"If you say so," Asha said, putting her hands behind her back as she took a step back - Taethion made quick work of one of the convicts who clumsily tripped and took a blow to the head that subsequently knocked him out. Was that one really such a dangerous criminal? A third one snuck up on him from behind and latched on, attempting to throttle his neck from behind. During his struggle, Taethion turned his back to Asha, who promptly knocked the bugger out with a blindingly fast roundhouse kick. He wasn't going to be getting up any time soon. "I guess that leaves three more out of the six..." she commented, her eye following a suspicious hooded figure - one of the six criminals was wearing that exact same cloak. "...and that looks like our number four."

~

Alright, now I just gotta...? Gale stopped in his tracks when he noticed that there were eyes on him - he turned his head to see that there was a man and a woman standing next to each other, having wiped the floor with three of the criminals he'd taken a seat next to during the stoning. They were now looking at him. You've got to be kidding me. Looks like there's no helping it, then.

Asha made the first move, dashing toward him and opening with a sharp kick. Gale side-stepped it and replicated the same move, which she barely moved her arm up in time to block, only to be struck by a second hit immediately after. Flinching from the blows, Asha backed up a little, starting to grow wary of the man's attacks. I can already tell, this guy's on a whole other level from the other criminals, hand-to-hand isn't an option here, she thought. I might have to use my sword for this one. With that, she drew her Gatekeeper Blade and advanced again, her fast swing a blur a of steel as it connected with his arm, except...

Not a scratch? Asha thought incredulously, withdrawing for a split-second and attacking from a different angle. He deflected my sword with his bare arm? Is he even human? The second attack missed and Asha was about to follow up when a jet of black acid suddenly sprayed out of the man's mouth, barely missing her and dissolving the stone tiles as though it were molten lava. What the hell? What kind of ability is that?

She's pretty strong, Gale thought, but I should be able to take care of this pretty quickly. A pair of enormous wings sprout from his back and he leapt high up into the air - while he was suspended, his wings withdrew and his arms changed size and shape, morphing into massive, boulder-like hands that were clearly not built for human bodies. He landed with a shattering boom, slamming his fists into the ground. The resounding crater and shockwave sent Asha reeling off balance even though she managed to narrowly avoid the attack, only to find that the man was already closing the gap, his golem arms now replaced with mantis blades and his griffin wings replaced with dragonfly wings. Although he was highly susceptible to magic spells, Gale was a formidable opponent when it came to melee combat, able to switch gears from armored powerhouse to an incredibly fast reaver in the blink of an eye. Still, Asha wasn't about to let up any time soon. She parried the first slash and countered with her own, forcing him to dodge and weave around for his second attack. While the outcome of this scuffle was uncertain, it wouldn't hurt to solidify the outcome a little more.

"Taethion," Asha called, gripping her sword with both hands. "Let's take him out."

Taethion took large gasps of air as the woman relieved his of his back troubles. He made a large cough and the looked towards her. "I must thank you again." He then made another chuckle as if it wasn't some big problem. As he raised his head he noticed her attention was drawn.

"...and that looks like our number four."

He watched her walk towards a hooded man, one of the criminals from earlier. "Ah yes, good." He spoke but soon stopped in his own tracks. Taethion was suddenly surprised by the skill of the hooded man, he easily countered the woman. She quickly drew her blade and struck again. No visible damage could be seen from his perspective. Then the fight grew increasingly alarming. The hooded man began to demonstrate strange abilities. Each more stranger and deadlier than the last. It was about when he sprouting wings and hands made of boulders, that was a bit much. The sudden tremor, nearly took the young man off his footing. He gasped a sudden, "Whoah." As he balanced himself out.

"Taethion," Asha called, gripping her sword with both hands. "Let's take him out."

Taethion's eyes returned to the battle, his foe now looking more insectoid in appearance. "Well this certainly changes things." Taethion spoke as he now drew his blade. "I was hoping not to raise my arms against these unarmed criminals." "Although this one really presents no options for us." "Let's hope we do not have to kill him, I rather let these people's laws be enacted by the people themselves." "And not by mere strangers." Taethion spoke, not really looking to see if the woman understood him. Taethion then stepped forward and made a horizontal swing with his sword from the right going to the left. Depending upon Gale's reactions, if the sword connects it won't make a deep cut, more or less be nothing more than a flesh wound.

At the same time Taethion slashed at Gale, Asha came around from behind with a simultaneous attack, swinging in the opposite direction. The resulting strikes looked as though they would've created a scissor effect and divided him in half but his wings had just enough power to allow him to leap forward into the in the air, landing with a concise spin that put both of his enemies in front of him, out of his disadvantaged flanked position.

This might be more trouble than I thought, Gale thought sourly. This is already starting to wear me out but those two look like they've just gotten started...What do I do now? His eyes quickly scanned his surroundings for something to work with and spotted something - or rather someone, he did not expect to see.

Iator

The gnome watched the fight between Gale and the two others with a gleam in his eye. He hummed along to their fight with a strange tune as if the clashing of their weapons was the beat. He stood stock still, his hands on his staff as he inspected the three. One might have been a guard, his armor and style seemed to point in that direction. The other female seemed out of place, her sword in particular seemed to resonate with untapped potential. All three were highly skilled and Iator delighted in the swiftness and strength of their attacks. It was fun to watch Gale use his powers, he always surprised people with them.

It was just as the two started to flank Gale that Iator thought his friend might actually be harmed by them. He walked forward intoning words of power and following very specific motions with his hands. He winked when Gale looked at him and a wall of blue and green fire burst up in between Gale and the two fighters, effectively cutting them off without putting any of them too close to the fire itself.

"Now Now." Iator cooed as if he was teaching small children a lesson. He let the fire sink back into the ground, a line of ash all that remained from the spell. "Surely there must be a good reason for you two to attack such a wonderful man as my friend Gale here." He said, a smile upon his face. "Did he do something wrong? Or were you all just playing?"

A wall of flame divided the combatants and Gale immediately caught on, taking a step back and relaying a brief gesture of appreciation. Nice cover, Iator, he thought. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon, but I can't say that I'm not glad things ended up turning out this way.

"Yes, why are you attacking me?" Gale played along. "I haven't done anything to you. I suppose this happened because I was dressed like one of those criminals that were bound during the stoning? I assure you, it simply must've been someone one who was merely dressed like me. Look, not a scratch." He lowered his hood and pulled back his sleeves to show that there was indeed not a scratch on him. This was the result of a clever technique Gale liked to call fragmented transformation, which was essentially transforming only a small area of his body for a split-second, timing them carefully to negate damage but at the same time, making it appear as though nothing was actually happening to his body. My head was down so they shouldn't have been able to see my face - people tend to have poor memory in passing and if it's only my clothes they have to go on, I should be able to pass the blame on by suggesting that the criminal must've been wearing something similar and escaped during the chaos - that coupled with the fact that I was uninjured from the stoning should be enough to convince them that they have the wrong man.

He turned to his benefactor and performed a slight bow in thanks.

"Thank you for intervening so that I could...clear up this misunderstanding, Iator," Gale said. "It's been some time, hasn't it?"

While the story was convincing enough, Asha was incredibly perceptive and immediately saw through Gale's lies - still, his circumstances were of no concern to her and she saw no reason to call him out on it, if only because that would likely be more trouble than it was worth. She remained silent for the time being.

Taethion watched as his uniquely skilled foe sort of fluttered by over them with those strange powers of his. Taethion's blade nearly connected with her's. He quickly spun around in fear of his enemy's counterattack. Quincy always said to never have your back to your enemy. An important lesson indeed, many foes are not so honorable as to not attack a man while his back is turned. Before any more advances could be made, something just as surprising as the Hooded Man occurred. A wall of flame appeared. "Where did this come from!?" He shouted at that moment. He knew it didn't come from the enemy before him, this came from somewhere else.

A voice came from the Hood's side, as the fire died off. Taethion looked over to see a being, one that is quite small in stature. Yet, then again tall in posture as well.

"Surely there must be a good reason for you two to attack such a wonderful man as my friend Gale here." He said, a smile upon his face. "Did he do something wrong? Or were you all just playing?"

He dressed rather snazy. A style, Taethion is not accustomed too. Obviously he's not from around here. Then the one called Gale spoke. Taethion turned his attention to the strange man. He explained himself and passed off the blame. Taethion then felt embarrassed. He quickly then sheathed his weapon. Gale turned towards the small being, he called him Iator. Taethion then spoke up. "I apologize sir for my hasty actions." "I did assume you were a criminal, your clothing was reminiscent of the ones upon the platform." "I'm glad we didn't bring harm to you but your strange abilities should be most responsible for that." "In fact they are very strange, I haven't seen nothing like it in my travels." "Your not actually a monster underneath that skin are you?" "I never heard of a creature that has multiple parts from monster's I've seen in books." Taethion spoke.

He believed in Gale's tale, but was wary of him still. While he couldn't have been one of the criminals, if he had that kind of power all along he wouldn't have been caught and be so easily bound by rope. Still his presence is suspicious, what kind of person like him is doing here? Then there is Iator, a complete mystery but the two seemed to know each other. Iator is another creature he hasn't come across before. Taethion believes he is a Gnome, although has never met one before and isn't too sure. Nevertheless if it wasn't for him defending his friend then Taethion would have attacked an innocent man.

"I have to say thanks to you sir." "If not for your actions I would have harmed an innocent man." Taethion spoke to Iator gratefully.

As the conflict came to a close, Asha put her sword away and Gale retracted his wings, morphing his mantis blades back into normal human arms. Her gaze shifted to the shape-shifted. Seems like he doesn't want trouble any more than we do. I suppose we did bring the fight to him, after all. She kept her eye on him nonetheless in case something else unexpected were to happen, as this day just seemed to be full of surprises.

"There's a monster inside everybody," Gale answered with a subtle grin. "Maybe you just haven't met yours yet."

Iator

The gnome clapped, his smile wide with the guard-that-was-not-a-guard's acceptance of his friend's story. He was glad to see the conflict come to a close. "Not a problem! Not a problem at all!" He laughed. "I assure you, Gale is no more a monster than you or I. He is simply very talented." He bowed to the two. "I am most glad that I could be here to help clear things up. I believe I overheard your name, ser Taethion, was it? And I believe you now know my own name, Iator, and that of Gale here. It is a pleasure of the highest order to make your acquaintance."

He walked slowly over towards the girl with the magic blade. She was silent, but the smallest of scowls upon her face betrayed some negative emotion towards either him or, more likely, Gale. He was cautious of her and stopped at a respectable distance. He bowed again and tipped his hat ever so slightly. "Praytell, what is your name? I know that I have never heard of you, for I know no stories that tell of a woman so fair and so skilled with a blade."

Taethion watched as Gale reverted to a most humanoid form. He then responded to the Paladin's words.

"There's a monster inside everybody," Gale answered with a subtle grin. "Maybe you just haven't met yours yet."

Taethion narrowed his eyes after Gale's comment. Then closed them and then laughed. "Yes I suppose their is truth to those words, heheheh." He chuckled with a smile. Then the one called Iator spoke, defending his friend. He then introduced himself properly as Taethion laughed again at the spry being's comments.

"Oh, come now." "I'm no Sir yet!" "You have to be knighted for that." He spoke laughing a loud laugh. "But yes you may call me Taethion, Taethion of Gilfried to be more exact." He spoke, his mood quite visibly changed. He was once defensive, a warrior to be sure, but now he is all buddy-buddy with these strangers that were not but moments ago his foe. "Yes it is of great fortune to meet you two as well." He spoke with a smile. He noticed Iator change his attention to the Woman. He had nearly forgot!

"Oh my!" "I had never gotten your name as well!" "I apologize for my behavior!" "I have forgotten to ask for your name as well." "And we've fought side by side to make it worse!" He spoke all embarrassed. "One should always know the name of his allies, lest he forget and they no longer be allies." Taethion spoke a bit flustered.

Asha kept quiet all the way up until the gnome approached her and asked her name. One of these types, she thought. Quite the flattery, considering my swordplay wasn't anything fascinating. With the way he conveyed his words, it was clear what kind of first impression he was meaning to give, though unfortunately Asha was not one for compliments. Still, there was no meaning to twisting an innocent question the wrong way so she responded in kind, as it seems that Taethion had the same question as well. Allies, huh? This is the first I've heard of anyone calling me an ally. That'll come to pass eventually, as all things do, assuming we have each other's company for long enough. Even if things went well at first, everybody always seemed to be cautious or suspicious of her - it was inevitable, really, that people would be on edge around someone who was entirely indifferent to killing, showing neither satisfaction nor anxiety from it, no matter whether the victim was a helpless child or an eldery man. There was always a stillness behind her eyes that seemed to harbor a silent void that was beyond comprehension, almost to the likeness of a machine that was trying to pass as a human.

She gave a short, formal curtsy and said in a quiet voice, "My name is Asha. Nice to meet you."

Iator

As the girl introduced herself Iator watched her carefully. A knowing look passed over Iator's face for a split second but then vanished behind his smile. "Asha then. It is a pleasure." He nodded kindly and turned back to Gale and Taethion. "So you are to be knighted then? When is the ceremony?" He said to Taethion with a laugh.

"Gale my friend! It has been far too long without your company. Glad am I to see you in good health and spirits!"

Radionalia Ashengrits was summoned by the king to have an audience with him. She arrived at the doors to his thrown room and the guards let her in, once she was inside she got down on one knee and pressed her fist to the ground, her other arm laying across her upper knee, her head bent. "Good day my king." She said.

"Randi, stand. I am not a king as of this day." Randi nodded and stood, looking at the king with her hard eyes, though she wasn't being disrespectful. "Randi. As you may know my daughter, the princess, has been kidnapped by that demon dragon who has taken our land. I can only turn to you Randi, to get her back. I trust you most for this mission, you may recruit any you find are trust worthy and strong enough to not become a hindrance."

"If I may ask my lord, is there any knowledge as to where the princess may be?"

The king shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid not, we have no knowledge as to where the dragon made it's lair. I will have to leave it up to you to find it and rescue my daughter."

Randi nodded in understanding then bowed low. "Yes my lord, I shall depart immediately." The kind nodded and dismissed her.

"Good health, yes, but maybe my spirit's taken some hits," Gale laughed, putting his hand out to shake. "It's been one thing after another the past few weeks, I can't seem to catch a break at all. Anyway, I take it you've been well, too?" It hasn't been too long since they'd gone their separate ways, but the sheer coincidence of a second meeting like this seemed to elicit a forward, welcoming response like this.

Asha took a seat on the ground to take a short rest, closing her hands and folding her hands in her lap. Although she hadn't fought much, she'd expended quite a bit of energy when she'd used aura manipulation abilities to enhance her attacks, which could be quickly regained by resting or meditating.

Taethion bowed his head as he heard Asha introduce herself. "Nice to you meet you as well!" He spoke with a smile. Then Iator drew his attention as he spoke. "Oh no, not anytime soon, but I shall inform you if there will be one!" He laughed. He watched as the group seemed to deflate from the encounter. He too was about to lull of into comfort when suddenly he perked up. "Oh no!" "The other criminals!" "There is still three out there!" "I must quickly find them!" Taethion spoke out loud. "Sorry to have disturbed any of you but my task is not yet done." "Excuse me friends." Taethion spoke as he quickly walked from the gathering.

He went off to make sure this business is done with but to his surprise he heard no more ruckus. "Oh no have they fled?" Taethion had thought. He would walk few steps to come across a new sight. The criminals that had been vanquished where tied up. Well it seemed someone else had completed the work he had set out to do. Not too far off where some guards, a boy, and a fellow in a strange attire. Something like a bird. "Well that's a relief." Taethion spoke. "You fellows must have done this right?" He spoke towards the boy and the mysterious man, not really addressing anyone.