Innerscape, Part 1, Induction

Takh Ahn

The Shinobi hid behind a tall pagoda tree, his lithe body swathed in the comfortable folds of black clothing he favoured. In the dark, with his long golden hair hidden by the hood, only his piercing blue eyes betrayed his presence as he carefully peered around the trunk of the tree in front of him.

A large bonfire burned in the clearing up ahead, and six guards stood around it, warming their hands against the chill night air.

Beyond the clearing, the roofs of the castle flared against the moonlit sky like predatory black wings.

That castle was where Takh Ahn had to go. But first he would have to get the key from one of the guards in the clearing.

The night sounds of the forest masked the soft hiss of daggers whispering from their sheaths. Both were of obsidian, and as sharp as razor blades. They could gut a man in less time than it took to form the thought. Unfortunately, two daggers would not be enough against six guards armed with katanas and wakizashis.

Even with his enhanced stealth capabilities, Takh knew he could only be sure of killing two of the guards before the rest swarmed all over him. He needed a distraction.

Reaching inside the folds of his katabira, he withdrew a small, spherical object about the size of a walnut. It was a flare bomb. If he could lob it into the fire, it would explode in a burst of hard, white light, blinding his foes for at least six seconds. That would give him more than enough time to deploy his shuriken, but once they were gone, the advantage of stealth would be gone as well. Killing the last few guards would be all down to his own skill with a blade.

Just the way I like it, he thought. His blue eyes glittered with excitement as he pulled a slingshot from another concealed pocket, and loaded the flare bomb.

A moment later, a soft plop broke the silence, and one of the guards looked up in surprise, exposing his neck. That was his first and last mistake.

As the flare bomb exploded, a rain of shuriken flew from the darkness. One caressed the guard's throat, opening a grinning mouth beneath his chin as he fell to the ground. The wordless drumming of his heels faded with the blood spurting from between his fingers. Death came quickly.

Death came for two other guards as well, but the rest were uninjured as they ran from the fire. Swords in hand, they blinked at the darkness as they waited for the blindness to dispel.

Another shower of shuriken hit them from the side, but this time only one went down.

The two remaining guards stood back to back near the edge of the forest, katanas raised to deflect projectiles. Their eyes flicked from side to side, but no more shuriken flew from the darkness. In fact, nothing threatening leapt out at them for so long, they were both beginning to relax a little when something rustled in a nearby bush.

The taller of the two guards lunged forward, burying his long sword into the heart of the bush, but the blade met with no resistance.

Muttering a curse, the guard straightened up, but as he turned, his foot tangled in something soft.

Glancing down, he stared in astonishment at the body by his feet, the hilt of a black dagger poking from its left eye.

As the last remaining guard bellowed in outrage, a second dagger flowered between his teeth.

The body was still twitching when Takh Ahn stepped from the shadows.

He reached the dead guards in two quick strides, and retrieved his daggers before starting his search for the key.

"Nicely done," a smooth voice said from the shadows. "But I wonder how you'll fare against a man who can see you?"

Takh did not waste time on a reply. His hands flashed to his waist even as he sommersaulted away from the guards. Three small, metal spikes flew from his fingers as he landed.

Unfortunately, the voice was no longer where it had been. "Over here," it called mockingly.

Takh spun towards the voice again, but this time he aimed his shuriken two feet to the right of where the voice should have been.

A soft grunt of pain from the darkness showed that at least one of the shuriken had found its mark. Unfortunately, Takh was now out of throwing stars, and still caught in the glare of the dancing flames.

Doing a back flip over the fire, he raced for the shadows, but before he could melt into their concealing depths, someone stepped out in front of him.

A small patch of red stained the Samurai's side, but his stance was firm as he stood waiting, both swords still sheathed.

Arrogant bastard, Takh thought as he took a step back towards the fire.

"I really can't let you have that key you know," the Samurai said as he slowly released his swords. His full lips still curled in a mocking smile, but his dark, almond shaped eyes were hard.

Takh did not respond. He knew silence would rattle his opponent more than any words, and he needed every advantage now, no matter how small.

A Shinobi's greatest strength lay in his cunning and stealth, so a fight in the open was not ideal. The coming battle would be hard fought, the outcome uncertain.

Slipping the manriki from his sleeve, Takh began swinging the long, weighted chain with his right hand. His left groped for the handle of the deadly obsidian blade tucked into his obi.

"A manriki?" the Samurai said with disdain. "Against a katana and wakizashi? Really?"

Still Takh refused to answer. He was one of the best Shinobi on the server, and knew his manriki could do more than just tangle the blade of a sword.

Spinning the chain in one hand, he wove the humming circles into an effective shield as the samurai raised his katana in the traditional opening stance.

Instead of stepping in to meet his opponent, however, Takh stepped sideways, forcing the samurai to circle to the left to keep him within reach.

In the flickering firelight, Takh could see his opponent's eyes darting left and right as he tried to keep track of both the manriki, and the obstacles at his feet.

"Keep going, keep going," Takh thought as the Samurai's left foot slid out, and stopped just short of one of the bodies. One more step...

As the Samurai took that last step to the left, the outer edge of his foot landed on the outstretched hand of one of the dead guards. It put him slightly off balance, and he had to do a quick shuffle to the right to regain his balance.

In the split second his attention was focused on his feet, the manriki struck.

Spinning just a foot off the ground, the whirling chain slipped beneath the Samurai's guard and tangled around his knees.

As his opponent fell, Takh Ahn threw himself into the air. Correcting with a half twist, he kicked the Samurai's katana away into the shadows.

The Samurai landed on his side and immediately tried to roll away. But Takh landed on top of him, and wrenched the wakizashi from his hand before straddling his chest.

"You never learn, Seph," he whispered as he bent to kiss his lover.