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Fever Heat; [P] Rinky 4... IN SPACE!
Topic Started: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:42 pm (3,790 Views)
Nkiruka
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Decades ago, many years before Nkiruka was born, the Choma were a fully functioning tribe of Istani nomads. Locals at the time characterized them as hardy, keen-eyed and humorless. While the stereotype may not have accurately fit every member of the close-knit community, it did at least follow from their notoriously spartan lifestyle in the badlands and canyons of the Arash'kana region. Other ethnic groups like the jarandi used to also live there, mostly as pastoralists, but it was the chomai who were the masters at navigating through the area's most unforgiving routes in order to survive. It was no surprise to Nkiruka, then, that the extremists would be holed up in some of the most remote parts of the Dragonspine Mountains. The soldier knew from personal experience that a body well-suited to life in extreme environments could often translate those abilities to similarly harsh new places in a pinch.

The pass they were currently hiking through was so deep that it had never been named before. Wind currents were too fast to send a roc or an airship through, so the whole trip had to be done on foot. On the bright side, it was summer now and the air at this (relatively) low altitude was almost tolerable. Down below the snow-swept rock were rolling valleys sprinkled with long grasses and bright yellow flowers. The occasional stand of pine tree provided some cover against the oppressive winds. Yesterday, they caught and cooked a mountain goat, gave the white pelt to Mu'tamid; poor farmboy had never been anywhere outside Istan before and seemed a little starstruck by everything, including the goats. No one in their seven-man squad complained about the thin air or the cold. They almost seemed used to it after being up here for so long.

The cave was right where Brigadier General Korzul said she pinned it down. Nkiruka suspected this wasn't the way its occupants normally came and left, though. Too inconvenient for them -- unless they were just hiding, which was unlikely now that their leader Chaitaki was on the move. The initial opening was easy to miss, hidden in a stand of pine trees nestled into one of the flatter parts of the pass. No one spotted it, but Nkiruka could smell the faint stench of human wafting up from the narrow hole in the ground. When she pointed it out to the others, they instinctively knew to get ready for a confrontation. They pulled up their scarves, which were mottled with neutral colors to blend better with the environment, wrapping them around their heads and lower faces in the traditional Istani manner so that only their eyes peered out. The rest of their attire consisted of light winter gear: nothing to identify them as soldiers from the Army of Istan.

Nkiruka peered into the dark, narrow crevice. Once she determined it was clear, she gave the signal. Dion tossed a rope in and secured the end. They slid down as quietly as possible. From there, the mountain opened up into a truly respectable network of passageways with high ceilings. Only a shaft of light filtered down from the opening high above, where they came from. Torches would give away their position, so for now the soldiers that couldn't see perfectly in the dark -- unlike Nkiruka and the tiefling Anadil -- would have to make do. Nkiruka took point, entering the tunnel with the freshest scent. Her steps were quiet, cautious, and very much unlike her, but she was willing to try stealth if it meant getting the jump on these dangerous enemies. As they continued, the cave became brighter and brighter with the residual lighting from a nearby base of operations.

That Korzul was a scary woman. She didn't intentionally put Nkiruka's squad at a bad entrance; she found a secret back way that the guerrillas themselves might not even have known about. They would never know what hit them.

They approached a corner and Nkiruka raised her fist, ordering everyone behind her to freeze. The captain then peeked around, her back hugging the wall. Their current path opened up to a larger chamber that was artificially shaped and expanded with digging tools: one of many, possibly dozens. A large mechanical device, a machine beyond anything Nkiruka could guess, was the centerpiece of this particular room. A middle-aged northerner in plainclothes had her whole upper body stuck into one of the openings, moving her arms like she was tinkering with it. The chamber opened up to three more passageways, each entrance guarded by men all too familiar to Nkiruka. They lacked identical uniforms, but all of them were similar in that they wore loose cloth clothing, were armed to the teeth, and were ethnic Istani. A lot of them were older and the men had long, untrimmed beards.

Nkiruka looked back at Dion, pointed at one of the metal egg-shaped contraptions he had dangling from his belt. A quick series of gestures indicated where she wanted it. She stepped off, letting him throw it into the chamber. The bomb hit the ground at the center of the room and immediately started belching smoke, spinning wildly and filling the whole room in seconds. Nkiruka gave the order to attack. Blades sung from sheathes and soldiers spilled into the room. The initial clash cut down several unprepared guerrillas before they could even call for help, although eventually they realized a runner made it to one of the adjoining chambers. Nkiruka split her squad into three teams that remained to guard each entrance while she approached the mechanical contraption in the center. The mechanic spotted her and shied away, and she ignored her, instead lifting her blade and running the edge across her outer arm. The soldier's grip on Arivaz tightened; the black blood spilled on its blade crackled as it crystallized.

More company. Guerrillas spilled into the three chokepoints. The Istani soldiers took cover behind each entryway as arrows and bolts flashed through the tunnels. Nkiruka bent down and partially climbed up into the mechanical device. The outside was fortified with a solid steel chassis, but the inside consisted of a multitude of impossibly complex clockwork mechanisms. She had no idea what its function even was. Still, the first thing she did upon getting inside was stab her blades into the delicate mechaniks. While the air filled with the sounds of shouting -- no enemy casualties confirmed since the initial ambush -- Nkiruka carved massive arcs through the machinery, spilling tiny pieces of metal everywhere, fraying wires and severing tubes. She finally stabbed Arivaz as deep into the core of it as she could. Shards of crystallized blood exploded from the weapon, radiating out as a visible pattern of warped and jammed clockwork.
Edited by Nkiruka, Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:46 pm.
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Rin
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The Dragonspine Mountains were one of the more breath-taking locales in all of Imythess. They made up for their innate beauty by being uttely impossible to traverse. There were several wide passes that snuck through the valleys, but Rinrae Dromigg was never one for taking the easy path. She had purchased some rock climbing gear in one of the villages in the foothills and immediately started into the mountain range. Her only companion was an unusual creature. It was in the shape of a cheetah, but instead of being flesh and blood and fur it had been crafted out of pure metal. Its internal workings were a mess of complicated cogs and gears and pulleys and other mechanical systems that were far beyond the current technology in Imythess. Solid plate metal surrounding these delicate inner components, a protective layer that could be shed in case it needed to move at a faster speed. Rin had rescued the girl from an entire town full of mechanical creations. Instead of a more traditional battery source, it was completely powered through the Grand Grimoire's essence.

The mere thought of the sentient tome that had created her made the girl's perfectly sculpted face screw up in consternation. The book was a multidimensional entity that constantly recorded information from every facet of reality. Rin had actually been created in order to serve the book and hunt down its lost pages. However, the Grimoire had expected her to function like a machine, constantly searching out and reclaiming the next fragment. It hadn't anticipated her developing a personality and almost insatiable curiosity. Recently, the book had decided she was no longer operating at maximum efficiency and decided to replace her with a second construct. They had clashed once, a terrible fight that had almost resulted in their mutual destruction. Now Rin was free to pursue her own interests. Right now, that meant she was completely devoted to climbing her way across the Dragonspine Mountains.

It was almost two days later before the girl saw another human being. A flash of movement from a nearby ridge caught her eye. the construct's brilliant blue eyes immediately locked onto the area. The man crouched there probably thought he was completely hidden, but Rin was not a normal girl, despite her naive, teenage appearance. She had been constructed to be the perfect warrior, with keen senses and almost unbelievable speed and strength. She lodged crammed the fingers of her right hand into the face of the cliff she was scaling, waving her left at the crouched figure. "hello there! Nice to see another face way out here!"

His response was immediate and far less friendly than she had expected. He sprang up from behind the rock, grabbing an object off his belt and hauling his hand back behind his head. Rin's amiable expression faded in a flash, her mouth pressing into a thin line and her eyes narrowing dangerously. By the time the throwing knife was hurling through the air she was already in movement, releasing her grip on the stony bluff and dropping down. The blade bounced off of the rocks where she had been clinging only a few moments before, spiraling away and dropping down the side of the mountain. The air around the construct's left hand blurred and warped as she twisted reality, a weapon conjured to her grip in a flash. She slammed the axe into the rock wall, the edge scraping down the stone in a flurry of sparks. It soon caught in a small crevice, bringing her suicidal drop to a jarring halt.

The mysterious man immediately launched another throwing blade at the girl, but the rapid descent had brought her within reach of a precipitous outcropping. She let go of the handle of the axe, landing nonchalantly on the narrow ledge and letting the knife zip over her head. Rin immediately dashed towards the man, seemingly balancing on the dangerous pathway with no effort whatsoever. The man couldn't completely suppress an outcry of surprise when she started to bound towards him, jumping from boulder to pinnacle with ease. He threw two more daggers at her as she sailed through the air, but she effortlessly dodged the first and caught the second in her free hand. By then the construct was close enough to lunge at the man. He growled and drew a scimitar, but clearly hadn't anticipated her preternatural speed. She bodily slammed into his torso, bearing the man to the ground. Her free hand clamped around his wrist, keeping him from bringing his sword to bear while slamming the pommel of the throwing dagger into his temple.

He slumped to the ground, but the sound of shifting pebbles nearby made her freeze. She slowly turned her head to one side, staring down the slope. A woman was standing there, casually holding a large crossbow that was aimed straight at the construct's heart. When she spoke her voice was thickly accented, flavored in a manner she recognized as originating in the Istan Desert. "That was impressive, but you should check your surroundings more often."

"Ditto." The girl's smile was wide and wolfish. The woman with the crossbow looked confused for a moment, but froze when she heard a crowl from behind her. The mechanical cheetah was perched on a boulder behind her, eying the woman with faceted eyes that glowed gently. Metal claws as sharp as daggers sank into the rock, leaving thin scratches in the stone as it yawned, revealing jaws lined with teeth like a bear trap. The woman stared at the mechanical creaure in raw shock, her original target completely forgotten.

This soon proved to be a mistake, because a few moments later Rin was standing behind her, one arm wrapped around her nack and the point of the throwing dagger against her throat. "I was just passing through. Why does everyone immediately respond with violence?" The construct's tone was utterly cheerful and bubbly in sharp contrast to her demeanor.

"Is... is this magnificent creature yours?"

"Of course. You have other concerns at the moment, though."

There was a note of desperation in the woman's voice when she mustered the courage to speak, dropping the crossbow. "Please... please! You have to help us!"



It took a lengthy explanation and plenty of questions from rin, but eventually the woman managed to explain her strange request. She was a member of a small group that was hiding in the mountains, working against a cruel overlord that was repressing their people based on racist cultural misconceptions. They were trying to construct a mechanical system that would allow them to hide their small village in the mountains from magical detection and spying. However, they were having difficulty with some of the more intricate workings and couldn't get them to function properly. She claimed that examining the cheetah might teach them how to fix their contraption and keep all of the gathered citizens safe.

Rin was suspicious at first, but when the man she had knocked out woke up he collaborated the story. He also apologized for attacking her, expressing his beliefe that she had been an agent of the ruler they had fled to the Dragonspines to escape. The construct eventually agreed to travel with them to their hidden base. It was hidden in the depths of a steep pass with razor-sharp pinnacles of rock that made it almost completely inaccessible. Rin searched her 'captives' for more weapons before letting them lead the way, keeping the crossbow loaded and pointing straight towards their back. They entered the subterranean village through a hole in the ground. There were more armed guards within, but they quickly let her through once they witnessed the mechanical cheetah.

The construct was introduced to the leader of the small group for assessment before being led to see the huge contraption that took up the majority of the largest chamber in the cave system. The mechanics wanted to examine the golem at once, but Rin insisted on letting them her investigate the interior of the system first. When she emerged fifteen minutes later, her face was splashed with dark oil, but she was grinning widely. "I can help you with this! No worries!"



She had been living in the cave system for almost a week when a loud BOOM! woke the construct up in the middle of the night. She sprung out of her bunk, instantly aware and running out of the barracks. Other men and women were jumping out of bed in various stages of undress, muttering Istani curses as they pulled on garments and reached for weapons. The construct barreled around the corner, dashing towards the source of the noise. It had come from the chamber that housed the machine. No experiments had been planned today, which meant that something was wrong. A naginata formed in her hands as she sprinted through the corridors she had memorized, speeding past many of the freedom fighters in a blur of golden hair and white fabric.

When she reached the nearest hallway leading into the chamber, she was greeting with a chatoic scene. The men and women she had started to get to know where scattered on the floor. The interior of the chamber itself was completely obscured with dark smoke, but she could hear the sound of metal being torn asunder from within. Rin's eyes narrowed, her lips pursing as she stepped forward. "out of my way." The defenders ignored her at first, but cried out in surprise when the ground underneath them shifted, slanting so that they stumbled into the walls of the corridor and out of the girls path. Rin marched through their midst with a indignant mien, anger burning in the depths of her eyes. Clearly, the dictator these people had fled across the entire continent to escape had found them.

The construct spent a few minutes surveying the battlefield. She saw two heads peek out from under cover, clearly checking to see why the assault had paused. She grinned mercilessly and spun forward, the naginata whipping through the air. Amenonuhoko was probably the strongest mythological weapon in her possession, the polearm that the original gods of Imythess had used to raise islands out of the ocean. She had far less majestic plans for the weapon, although they would be just as effective. The ground underneath the two intruders rumbled before surging upwards, pillars jutting out of the ground with the intent of launching them backwards across the chamber. Rin started to move down the corridor without opposition, her pupils beginning to dilate as she dragged the blade of the naginata along the floor, leaving a deep gash in the solid rock.
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Nkiruka
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The soldier heard a loud crash. She sped up her efforts to back up and lower herself from the mostly-destroyed machine, getting out just in time to see Kadri and Nalkeri fly across the room and land roughly. The source: a pair of pillars that had seemingly grown from the wall where they had taken cover.

The blood drained from Nkiruka's face as realization instantly dawned on her. Amenonuhoko. Rin. A scene from years ago flashed behind her eyes: a pillar of earth rising from the ground, another forking out, breaking her nose. They took Amenonuhoko from Rinrae Dromigg. The captain had no time to consider how this was even possible, as her mind became overwhelmed with dizzying possibilities as she stepped toward the entrance. If they took Amenonuhoko, that meant... that meant, most likely, that...

Nkiruka couldn't help it. Her pupils dilated, wide and sudden. She raised her head and shouted a long, mournful battlecry so powerful it made the whole cave shake, sending pure explosive power rippling through the confines of the tunnels. Insurgents charging in though the other entrances visibly slowed down, hesitating from fear. Her squad members tossed their commander and each other horrified glances, sensing that something was unique and dangerous about this particular rage. Nkiruka finished, turning to level her gaze on the new owner of the legendary naginata, her arms trembling with power she could barely contain. She reached up, not even thinking, and used the tips of her fingers to grab her headscarf and rip it down off her face in one clean motion. It was obstructing her vision -- the overly vibrant perception of a berserk rage -- and she wanted to be able to clearly see the opponent she was going to grind into a bloody stain on the tunnel walls.

By the time she processed that the wielder of Amenonuhoko was Rin herself, she had already charged.

"Captain!" The other squad members started shouting at her with increasing desperation, any time they could between exchanging blows with the insurgents. "Nkiruka!!" They didn't know who Rin was or why Nkiruka had suddenly lost herself, but they did know that this operation would go very, very bad if their leader fell into one of the pitfalls she urged the others to avoid so insistently.

The narrow white and gold together with the legendary glaive registered in Nkiruka's brain and her stride faltered midway down the tunnel; a split-second opening that allowed one of the guerrillas behind Rin to shoot at the berserker through the narrow passageway. A crossbow quarrel dug deep into her torso up near her left shoulder. One of the Istani soldiers came up from behind and readied some sort of wrist-mounted contraption, aiming it at Nkiruka, shouting something like "cover me" to the others. The berserker didn't stop trying to close the distance. Now her clouded mind searched for answers as to why Rin was here, why she was assisting the extremists, grabbing for any excuse. She was only a couple meters out from Rin's striking range when the injury slowed her, made her stumble and lose speed after combining with the shred of logic in the back of her mind that kept telling her to stop attacking, stop attacking, but she couldn't stop, she clenched her jaw and stepped forward-- then realized she couldn't.

Nkiruka looked down and saw a thick chain around her ankle, keeping her firmly in place. The end of it was a long spike that was normally used for embedding into walls, but now only locked the grip tight around her leg. The chain led back to the device on Dion's wrist. Her other soldiers surged forward around her, taking out the insurgents behind Rin with carefully placed throwing knives. Dion slowly activated the winching mechanism on his rapid climbing apparatus, making Nkiruka's foot slide back. Outrage flared up in the soldier and she struggled with all her enhanced strength, but the restraint was too far below her center of gravity that she couldn't just snap it. She lost her balance, her foot slipped, but she briefly struggled on her hands and feet, dropping her weapons, digging her fingertips into the hard ground until they were bloody, baring teeth. Another bolt grazed her back deep enough to draw blood, which Nkiruka didn't seem to notice along with the black blood belching from the wound on her shoulder. Her subordinates remained close around her, defending her against this girl -- none of them seemed to remember Rin -- and trying to talk her down from her rage, all while keeping the other guerrillas at bay despite their own assorted minor injuries.
Edited by Nkiruka, Fri Jun 15, 2012 2:59 pm.
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Rin
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Rin felt a chill pass down her spine as someone exited the machine, and it had nothing to do with the sparks and steam gushing out of the contraption she had worked on for so long. This figure was dangerous. The construct could tell simply from the way they moved, the subtle tension in their limbs, the confidence as they approached an unknown enemy. The construct was incapable of feeling true fear, but that did not mean she was stupid. She prided herself on being able to tell exactly how much of her formidable strength was necessary against an enemy.

If she did not go all out, she would probably die here.

The change that came over the girl was almost immediate. Her pupils rapidly dilated, going so wide that her iris was a slender azure ring around them. Her face drained of any emotion whatsoever, strict discipline overpowering the rage that burned through her veins and further augmented her strength. She gripped the naginata with both hands, whipping the polearm around so the blade carved through the wall of the corridor. It sliced through the rock like it wasn't even present, separating a long, slender sliver of stone from the tunnel. Instead of falling to the ground, the shard began to float above Rin, its edges as sharp as any sword.

She had sunk so deep into her martial trance that she didn't immediately recognize her opponent when she yanked off her scarf. She had hard features and tanned skin, hair so dark it appeared black, and an expression of rage so powerful it appeared to be permanently carved into her features. The shock of recognition spread through the construct like ice water, her anger fading as quickly as it had arisen. "Nkiruka...?" The softly-spoken question was barely a breath, too quiet to be heard above the din of battle. The Istani officer was the closest thing Rin had to a friend in Imythess. She had taught the construct how to take control of her emotions and use them to fuel her attacks without being consumed by them. Together, they had fought against opponents too powerful for most mortals to comprehend. "Why... What is this?"

The quarrel seemed to strike the woman in slow-motion. The bolt that struck her shoulder had been fired at almost point-blank range and could have punched through steel plate. The blow made Nkiruka spin to the side, black blood spraying across the chamber in an arc. The change that came over Rin was immediate and terrifying. Her lips pulled back in a bestial snarl, her nostrils flaring and eyes narrowing into mere slits. She turned around to face back down the tunnel, glaring at the men and women who had taken her in and fed her and sparred with her. They had been hesitant to trust the chipper, bubbly outsider, but recently several of them had started to open up to her. Joso was one of those. He was one of the youngest villagers, in his early twenties. Right now he was cranking his crossbow for another shout, his mouth moving as he shouted at her. The words echoed down the corridor, but Rin didn't hear them. She didn't hear anything but roaring.

Joso had just managed to fire a second quarrel before the shard of rock rocketed straight through his torso, literally tearing him in half. The expression of chock had just reached his features when his upper half struck the ground, blood fountaining out of the terrible wound. The rock stopped in the center of the hallway, dripping blood. In the next instant it exploded, razor-sharp splinters filling and entire twenty-foot section of the tunnel with instant death. Any of the defenders taking cover were almost liquefied from the stony shrapnel, dying before they even had a chance to cry out.

Rin turned to the other two tunnels with a primal outcry, completely ignoring the soldiers that had clustered around Nkiruka. It was almost as if she couldn't perceive their presence, even after one of their throwing daggers thudded into her upper thigh. More of the villagers were hurrying down the corridor, unaware of the fact they were facing a far more dangerous foe than the intruders. The walls of the nearest hallway heaved and shuddered before rapidly beginning to squeeze together. Those who were unlucky or slow enough to get caught in its grip were crushed to a red paste, their screams echoing through the chamber. A handful managed to enter the chamber with the mechanical contraption and avoid a rocky grave. The last tunnel was quickly forced shut as well, although the villagers had retreated out of range after hearing the death cries of their comrades.

With each of the three tunnels closed off, Rin froze, her dilated eyes flicking back and forth like a caged animal. She very slowly lowered the naginata, her wild stare eventually focusing on Nkiruka. All of the anger seemed to flow out of her in a rush, an expression of concern replacing the terrible fury. "Nkiruka...?" She raised the polearm, absentmindedly using the blade to deflect a dagger that would have stabbed straight through her eye. "Are you okay? What's happening here?" She tried to take a step forward, but stumbled when she put weight on the leg that had been injured. She stared at the knife protruding from her thigh like she was seeing it for the first time, although it was buried in her flesh up to the hilt and her entire limb was coated in blood. "I... I'm confused..."
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Nkiruka
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Nkiruka gave one last push, shouting incoherently and struggling with all her might against Dion's cursed climbing device. It took the combined strength of Dion and Nalkeri to hold her back for several seconds. When the burst stopped, the others rushed in to grab their squad leader, holding her back by her arms as she struggled and growled and made her injuries even worse. It took the combined strength of four soldiers to pin Nkiruka down. The blood gushing from her shoulder uncontrollably crystallized and melted, as if the berserk commander was trying to form a blood lance from it. One of the soldiers, a female with a soft voice and locks of crimson-streaked black hair coming out of her headscarf, turned up to Rin. "I'm sorry, could you please back out of her view for just a moment?"

It was a lot easier to convince Nkiruka that the fight was over when the white and gold wasn't visible. Her wild eyes toned down, her eyelids relaxed a bit. A second later, the powerful tension drained from her muscles, and her pupils slowly constricted back to a normal diameter. She was breathing heavy and fast. A pained choking sound came out of her mouth as her expression contorted instantly into a grimace. When her subordinates took their weight off of her, she swore, raising her opposite arm to grab the embedded quarrel and yank it out of her body. A gush of blood followed, but then the wound began to heal unnaturally quickly before their eyes. The crossbow bolt clattered to the ground. She remained lying down, staring up at the ceiling and trying to steady her breathing.

Rin asked what was going on, explaining that she was confused. The laugh Nkiruka responded with didn't sound quite right. "You're confused?"

"Nkiruka, who is this girl? Do you know her?" Anadil asked.

"It's been a while, Rinrae Dromigg," she added, slowly pushing herself up. When she was sitting up the soldier finally looked at Rin directly, a bemused, toothy grin on her face. "My friend." Kadri blanched. Her throwing knife was in the thigh of Captain Menai's friend. "I hope my troops didn't inconvenience you too much. Sergeant Turan would probably like her throwing knife back, though."

Nkiruka got up to her feet now, the wound healed at least enough for her to function. She walked past the whole group in a slight hurry, expecting them to follow. Midway through the passageway, she picked up her shortswords and proceeded into the room where Rin had dispatched so many people at once. Razor-sharp shards of rock were stuck in every wall of the chamber, blood covering every surface. Quite the mess she made here. "No time for much talk right now, I'm afraid. We're hunting rats." She located a tunnel that was still intact and started into it. "Aim for taking prisoners, people! Don't tell Zaki or she'd have a fit, you know?" Nkiruka glanced over her shoulder at Rin. "We can explain ourselves once I'm done here."
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Rin
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The construct obediently stepped out of sight when the soldiers asked, awkwardly limping around the opposite side of the machine so Nkiruka could no longer see her. She took the time to look up into the innards of the contraption, frowning slightly. The delicate clockwork mechanisms she had worked on were completely and utterly trashed. It would be easier to start from scratch than to try and repair the devastated machinery. When she heard a pained noise that sounded like her former mentor, the construct quickly hobbled back into sight and expressed her confusion at the situation. Nkiruka's response was a soft, manic laugh. It took Rin a few moments to realize that the rest of the intruders were, in fact, the members of the officer's squad. She had met them shortly while helping the Istani quell a bloody coup, but it didn't seem like they remembered her.

The girl glanced down at the dagger embedded in her thigh. "Well then, Sergeant Turan should probably keep a better grip on her weapons." She grabbed the hilt firmly, pulling the dagger out with a slight wince. Blood immediately started to gush from the wound, but as the soldiers watched flesh stretched across the gap, sealing the injury with a thick, knotted scar. Rin flipped the dagger, nimbly catching its blade between her thumb and pointer finger and offering the pommel to the nervous-looking woman who had thrown it. "Be more careful next time, okay?" She grinned widely at the soldier. The expression might have been lest eerie if her white sundress wasn't pink from bloody mist.

Nkiruka and her soldiers quickly started down the tunnel, searching for any remaining survivors. Rin elected to stay behind, sitting on one of the nearby workbenches and humming to herself as she waited for the woman to return. The Grimoire had never liked Nkiruka; it believed the Istani distracted Rin from her proper task in Imythess. She had meant to look the woman up after freeing herself from the tome's control, but she hadn't found the time yet.

"You... you killed them." The construct looked up to see Nelij staring at her with wide eyes. The woman had been the village's primary mechanic before Rin's arrival and they had become fast friends during the long hours of tinkering with machinery. She was holding a dagger in both hands, but her fingers were shaking and her face was waxen. There was a long cut along her right arm that was bleeding freely. "So many of us... so quickly. Who are you?"

Rin smiled sadly at the mechanic, running her hand along the shaft of Amenonuhoko. The floor underneath Nelij opened up, her feet suddenly sinking into two holes. Another gesture made the rock press against the woman's skin, effectively sealing her in place. "I'm sorry, Nelij. If Nkiruka is attacking, that must mean you're doing something wrong." The mechanic squealed as the stone shackles tightened slightly, putting an uncomfortable pressure on the woman's legs. "Just stay right there. She'll be back soon and you can try to explain what's going on." Rin resumed her humming, ignoring the pleas and curses from the trapped woman.
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Nkiruka
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With most of the guerrillas dispatched, Nkiruka and her squad cleared out the remaining tunnels with fierce efficiency. They split into four teams -- three with two members and one containing Nkiruka alone -- and captured three people. No sign of Chaitaki, and no witch-warriors. That was a bit surprising. Wasn't this supposed to be one of the most critical hideouts to their mission? Either way, the squad returned to the central chamber about half an hour after searching every possible entrance in the intricate network of caves. Nkiruka had a person slung over each of her shoulders, knocked out, while another carried the third in his arms. One of the teams had found the main entrance, too, which was good for their getaway after all this was over. "Hoy, Rin!" She would have waved as she entered, but her arms were full. "You got the mechanic? Thanks."

The soldier set the unconscious prisoners down nearby and turned her attention to the third, who was awake but tied up. After a short coordination period, letting her squad start working on getting each person properly restrained, Nkiruka paced across the room anxiously, her back stiff and her gaze often flicking up to the ruined machine. She suddenly whirled around to face Rin, her calm facial expression belying the tension in the rest of her body. "Rin, could I ask you a favor? Could you please use Amenonuhoko to completely crush this machine? They were going to use it as a weapon and I just- I just don't like the look of it, to be honest." Nkiruka laughed nervously, but cut it off when someone informed her that everyone's arms and legs were shackled. "Ah, I'd like to interrogate the mechanic and the conscious one before we leave, please."

"Are you sure? That's not really in your-" Nkiruka gave the dissenter an intense look to shut him up. She folded her arms behind her, approaching the two of them.

"Where is she?" she growled, cutting right to the chase.

No one answered for several seconds. The bolder one, the insurgent, finally spoke up. His voice was a mumble at first, so Nkiruka yelled at him to speak up. "Whatever you're doing, it's not going to work," he said.

"Actually, I don't know if news travels very far out into these mountains, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job of stopping her rampage across the country." Nkiruka laughed again. "So, mechanic, what exactly did this machine do?"

"It... it intercepts magic," she said, her voice shaky. Nelij was not as bold as the young man sitting next to her. "It isn't like a normal anti-magic field. It doesn't just nullify magic, it interacts with it and destroys it forcefully. Strong magical barriers and enchantments used for defense... they're turned into a weapon."

"Sounds like a great thing to use against all the defenses protecting the Sultan's Palace, doesn't it?" Nkiruka said, still looking at the column with a restrained grin.

"...I-It does."

Meanwhile, the other insurgent was looking directly at Rin. His eyes were genuinely desperate and pleading. "Rin," he whispered.

Nkiruka's hearing was too sensitive not to pick it up. The room became silent. "Hmm. Rin, come over here." She waited for the girl to do so before continuing. "Go ahead. Tell her what you wanted to tell her." The soldier folded her arms, listening.

"Rin, everything we said was true. We are a coalition of refugees from tribes-- former tribes of Istan. Tribes that were destroyed by the Sultan's expansionist regime. All we want is to live in peace." Nkiruka interrupted him with a loud scoff, but he glared at her and continued. "The greatest in our ranks are part of the former Choma tribe. We were canyon nomads before the Istani sultanate claimed our land for its own, stomped on our rights and divided up our ancestral hunting grounds. We were confined to a tiny reservation that did not provide enough for us to survive, and it forced us to settle in a single place and abandon our way of life." The insurgent looked again at Nkiruka to gauge her reaction. It was a neutral one, since that particular part of their history was indeed true. "Captain Nkiruka Menai is a Chomai. She betrayed her people, joined the sultanate and now hunts us down like dogs. If that wasn't enough, Rin, she is using our own religious beliefs, twisting them to use them against us."

"...Stop."
"She uses our spiritual rites of joining..."
"Stop!"
"...To graft the souls of--"
"--Stop speaking right this goddamned second!" Nkiruka screamed at the top of her lungs, completely overpowering whatever words the man had said.

"Rin, whatever she's said to trick you into considering her a friend, you have to believe us and help us! She is a godless, soulless, power-hungry monst--"

The air went quiet after the sickly sound of bones snapping. Nkiruka let the man's head fall from her grip, having lashed out at him in a blur and snapped it. Her eyes went wide and lost focus after his body thumped lifelessly to the ground. The mechanic whimpered in horror. The soldier's whole body was trembling, and she was breathing quickly through her clenched teeth. She lowered her head and held it with both her hands, almost like she was covering her ears, running her hands through her hair in a sort of manic, panicky gesture.
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The construct perked up when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. She hopped off of the bench, raising the naginata so its shaft rested on her shoulder and skipping over to Nelij. The frightened mechanic swiped at her with the dagger, but Rin caught her wrist and pinched the nerve cluster, forcing the girl's hands open and sending the blade clattering to the floor. "None of that now. You're in enough trouble." She stood just outside of the mechanic's reach as the soldiers filed back into the room, carrying three captives. Rin recognized all of them on sight and couldn't completely suppress a small frown. Someone needed to explain the situation here, and quickly.

When Nkiruka asked the girl to destroy the huge contraption, she pause, obviously torn. "Oh... Is it that bad? Erm..." She bit her lower lip, glancing at Nelij nervously. "I kind of helped them build it... They said that it was an anti-surveillance device, so I didn't see what harm it would do...' The Istani officer quickly bullied the mechanic into revealing the true purpose of the device. It was basically a bomb, a weapon that would absorb the magical defenses of a building and completely and explosively destroy. The girl ground her teeth together, glaring daggers at Nelij. Without another word she began to walk around the circumference of the machine, dragging the naginata behind her. Amenonuhoko left a deep line wherever it touched.

When the construct had scraped a complete circle around the machine she stepped back, warning the others to do the same. She wrapped both hands around the shaft of the weapon, closing her eyes and concentrating. The rock floor began to shudder and sink, the area she had marked rumbling as it sank into the earth. The sides of the pit moved together as it sank, inexorably crushing the machine into useless fragments of scrap metal. By the time she was done, the floor of the chamber was smooth and unmarred, every last fragment of the contraption entombed within solid stone. Rin dragged the back of her hand across her brow as she lowered Amenonuhoko, wiping away the sweat that had gathered there. "There. No more superweapon."

After this impressive display was when the conscious 'villager' attempted to plead with the construct for assistance. She turned to him with a conflicted expression, but her eyes were hard. Nkiruka gave him permission to speak with a slightly worrisome severity, crossing her arms and standing guard over her captive. The girl listened to his explanation of the situation, noting the obvious differences from the original tale she had been told. The only reason the 'cruel overlord' was seeking them out was because they were basically terrorists. She could understand their point of view. After all, she had fought against the Grimoire because it had tried to control her way of life. However, attacking and destroying the Sultan's palace wasn't the way to set things right.

She was about to say this when the man started to talk about Nkiruka herself, revealing that the officer was a member of the tribe who had twisted their religious beliefs. Before Rin could say a word, the soldier stepped forward and almost effortlessly snapped the man's neck. Nelij cried out in horror and terror as the prisoner slumped to the floor, his eyes wide and unseeing. Rin didn't even flinch or look at the corpse, her blue eyes fixed on Nkiruka. The officer's eyes were wide and frantic, and her fingers were visibly trembling as she ran them through her hair. The girl stepped closer, stabbing the blade of Amenonuhoko into the floor and leaving it sticking out of the ground.

"Calm down, Nkiruka." She reached out and placed either hand on the taller woman's shoulders. She spoke softly and calmly, as if the situation was completely normal. "Of course I don't believe him. I know you." The officer's subordinates were staring at the confrontation in wonder, clearly expecting their boss to snap this insolent waif's head off her shoulders. Rin didn't seem concerned with the woman's obvious mental instability. "You taught me how to do this, remember? Your emotions are a weapon. Get them under control before you cut yourself." A second later she wrapped her arms completely around the woman's torso, squeezing tightly. "I missed you!"

She released the embrace quickly, recalling how uncomfortable the Istani was with physical contact. "Besides, we need to get out of here. If what you're saying is accurate, we should probably try to catch up with Chai-Chai. She had the blueprints for this contraption, which means we can't let her get away." Rin had turned back to Nelij, which meant that she missed the expressions of mixed shock and nervousness that flashed across the soldier's faces at the casual mention of chaitaki. "You know where she went, right Nelij? I saw you two talking right before she left."
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Nkiruka's eyes turned to look sidelong at Rin. Her face was completely blank except for her wild eyes. Rather than lashing out at her friend she listened to her very carefully. It finally occurred to the soldier that she was starting to crack. This was exactly what Nadiyah Korzul warned her about when she recruited Nkiruka into this special project. The soldier had to be completely resilient against whatever would happen in these deeply personal missions. It was the only way the Brigadier General would even allow her to do them. Moreover, that man she just killed was a little more correct in his accusations than Nkiruka was willing to admit to herself, especially after having such a strong reaction to his attempts to divulge her secrets. The edge seemed to come off of Nkiruka's countenance at least, but a lot of tension remained. She basically allowed her former student to give her a hug without even responding, much less retaliating: just passively accepting whatever was happening to her without even offering an opinion.

The mention of a name snapped her out of it. Nkiruka whirled around, staring intensely at Rin. "She-- 'ChaiChai'? Chaitaki? You met her? How long have you been here?!" Then Rin's words finally caught up to her. "Oh mechanic, you'd better make my day." Her hands conspicuously rested on her sheathed blades, making Nelij gulp. She should know by now what Nkiruka was capable of.

"S-she was going to Striberg. The Academy. I don't know why. Please don't hurt me."

"Striberg?" Nkiruka's head tilted slightly, her arms folded against each other. "She hasn't tried a hit in a major city yet. Maybe picking up some more assets?" The captain looked back at her squad and got some nervous nods. "No use waiting any longer. Free the mechanic. We're going." One of the soldiers walked up to the woman and removed her restraints, motioning for her to follow the rest of them as they headed for the cave's exit. Anyone who visited this cave later would come across the carnage, the missing machine, and the two living insurgents shackled on the ground.

The cave's mouth was so small that one had to bend over and shimmy through it in order to get in or out. That must have been a real pain at the cost of increased security. Nkiruka halfway wondered how Korzul even found this place. They emerged onto an obscure path that had a hundred-foot sheer drop on one side. Thankfully it was wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side. Nkiruka led with Rin, her hands in the pockets of her light -- and now very bloodstained -- jacket. "Before we catch up, I need you to tell me everything you know about Chaitaki."
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Rin blinked in confusion, cocking her head to one side and giving Nkiruka an inquisitive look. "Around a week... Why?" From the soldier's tone and interest, she already knew about Chaitaki. She turned and started to interrogate the mechanic while the construct watched. It didn't take long for Nelij to fold and reveal the destination of the charismatic leader of the hidden 'village.' Rin had only met her on a couple of occasions, most notable when she had first been brought to the hidden caverns. Chaitaki, unlike many of her comrades, had met the girl with a grin and laughter. The woman had moved through the corridors with an easy confidence, her smile never wavering in the least. She had been friendly every time they talked, but Rin had noticed she always managed to talk her way out of answering any of the construct's more pointed questions.

It wasn't long before they were on their way. Rin made sure to call out to her pet before departing. The mechanical cheetah soon came padding down the hallway, curling up by her feet and licking the blood off of its paws with a long, silver tongue. The construct bent and patted the cat on the head before following Nkiruka and her soldiers out of the cavern, leaving the two unconscious men behind. Nelij accompanied them, the slight mechanic wrapping her arms tightly around herself as she walked in the middle of the column. Rin sent her pet to walk next to the diminutive girl, partially to keep an eye on her and partially to make her feel more comfortable. Nelij had treated her well, despite her obvious subterfuge and shortcomings.

The path leading down out of the mountains was just wide enough for Rin and Nkiruka to walk side by side. The construct quickly banished Amenonuhoko, knowing that in this desolate stretch of mountains she probably didn't need the weapon. The only settlement for miles around had been the cave of tribal Istanis, and now they were all either dead or captured. "Well, Chaitaki was the leader of the group. Istani, although her Common wasn't accented at all. Dark brown hair, tanned skin, sharp features. She looked like she was in her late thirties. Her eyes were orange. She didn't trust me. She only allowed me to work on the machine when I was supervised." The leader of the rebels had never openly admitted her lack of faith in the construct, but she had never asked the girl to participate in their nightly meetings either. The men and women who were closest to Chaitaki had obviously shared her suspicions and never spoke of their plans while within earshot.

"She called me Rinny, so I called her Chai-chai in return. She didn't like that.She was very clever and friendly, quick to admonish others yet very sparse with her praise. She liked to watch everyone else spar in training matches. She watched mine too, but she didn't seem very impressed. I thought that was unusual." Rin didn't sound insulted, simply surprised. Her combat abilities were far above most mortals thanks to the unusual nature of her construction. She had held back in the sparring matches so as not to hurt her opponents, but her strength and speed were still noteworthy. "She never fought while I was there. A few days ago, she gathered up a pretty large group and left the caves. I saw her talk with Nelij, but that was it." She glanced at Nkiruka, measuring the impact of her words on the soldier. "Why? how important is she?"
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Rin went into as much detail as she could, and Nkiruka almost regretted even asking her. The description was too accurate, too familiar, and brought back too many unpleasant memories. Her body unconsciously tensed up as the explanation continued, until near the end when she realized what was happening and forced her shoulders to relax. Rin asked her how important Chaitaki was. Nkiruka took a deep breath, which helped drain a bit more of the tension out of her limbs. She stared straight ahead while she explained. "Over twenty years ago, a Chomai witch-warrior led a rebellion trying to drive the occupying sultanate forces out of Arash'kana Canyon. Maybe this story sounds familiar to you." It was unlikely that Rin would have remembered a story told in the streets of Istan City so long ago. "That was my mother, the leader of that rebellion. Her name was Chaitaki Menai."

She let those words sit for a couple seconds, staring down at the trail while she kicked stones off the cliff. "She was in hiding for a long time after the Rainfall Rebellion. Then, a few years back, my father died. It turns out he was probably the only thing keeping her from acting on her obsession with revenge. It was like he was the last thing she really valued in the world. So... well, with nothing left to lose, she went on a rampage. Revenge killings built off a humongous hit list. She killed twenty-seven people in the first three months. Everything about each death looked so carefully planned that it disturbs me thinking about how long she spent planning every assassination. I almost caught her a couple times, which slowed down the deaths a lot, but they just keep coming and we can't stop them. Everyone even remotely associated with the Rainfall Rebellion is dying, with lots of collateral damage; family members, that sort of thing. The body count after two years is 53. That's just from her hand alone, that we know of."

Nkiruka's voice at times sounded oddly strained, although for the most part she kept a more professional, detached tone. It occurred to her there was really a lot about her that Rin didn't know. They were good friends, and Nkiruka had helped the construct through some of her worst moments, yet she herself had never once opened up to her for real, which seemed unfair. This was the most personal thing she had probably ever told her, and it was still something she had to treat like any other terrorist case. That was why the soldier abruptly looked to Rin, her expression oddly desperate. "I need your help with this, Rin. I know the Grimoire doesn't want you getting tied up with politics, so just, I don't know. Think of it as a favor for a friend, maybe? ...Wait, that reminds me, why are you even here in the first place?" She looked around. "Is there a page all the way out here?"
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Rin's eyes widened in shock when Nkiruka revealed that the woman she had met and lived with for almost a week was actually the officer's mother. After she got over her initial surprise, the girl realized she should have reached that conclusion sooner. After all, the two women were almost identical in appearance. Chaitaki had slightly darker skin, but otherwise they looked eerily similar. The only reason she hadn't recognized the similarities sooner was because of their completely conflicting personalities. While Nkiruka was usually very serious and austere, Chaitaki had oozed charisma and friendliness. Of course, if the older woman was truly a deranged serial killer who sought to topple the most powerful and militaristic nation in all of Imythess, she had doubtlessly hidden her true personality from the outsider in their midst.

"Wow... Nkiruka... Just wow. That's more messed up than my family tree." The girl smiled haltingly, clearly attempting to defuse the tension in the air with a clumsy attempt at humor. She could tell how tired and worried the officer was. This case hit very close to home; after all, her target was the Istani's mother. Nkiruka quickly drew attention to the Grimoire, which earned a slightly bashful grin from the construct. "Er... Well, about the Grimoire..." She stopped walking for a moment, pausing on the edge of the ledge and staring out over the mountains. Although the grin never left her face, there was a clear undercurrent of uncertainty in her voice.

"I... am no longer beholden to the Grand Grimoire. Our relationship is no longer... friendly. It has replaced me, and so I abandoned it. I exist for my own sake now. The pages I collect... I now absorb." She glanced at Nkiruka pointedly before beginning to walk forward once more. the soldier was one of the few people in Imythess who understood the true power of the Grimoire's pages and how dangerous it was for the construct to meddle with their essence. "It... is a far more beneficial arrangement. I grow stronger with every page I collect, which allows me to maintain my autonomous nature. Eventually it will attempt to reclaim the power I have stolen… But it had better be prepared.” There was a note of finality in her tone, as if she did not want to further discuss the subject. ”So I decided to visit the mountains, do some rock climbing… and stumble across another coup. Some girls have all the luck.”

They walked in silence for a few more minutes. ”Er… Nkiruka… I hate to be a bother, but Striberg is a long walk. I’ve made the trip a few times, and I don’t need sleep. Chai-Chai- er, sorry, Chaitaki will probably be long gone if we don’t have another mode of transport. If she’s as dangerous as you say…”
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An imperceptible burden was lifted from Nkiruka's shoulders after she heard the news. "This is good," she said. "I always wanted you to do that." Even though the construct used to urge her that the Grand Grimoire was merely an artifact and not a god, the way it functioned was similar to the latter due to its infinitely world-bending power. It also had all the personality and flaws that would inevitably come from godhood: aloofness, a complete detachment from the individual in favor of brutally broad-scale thinking, that sort of thing. Rin's mind and body were truly free now that she was free from the Grimoire, something the very human girl deserved. "Ah, but this isn't just a normal coup you stumbled across," Nkiruka quickly corrected her old friend. "Chaitaki doesn't want to just conquer the sultanate: she wants to destroy it. That makes her more dangerous than anyone like, say, Demir." She smiled. It was a wolf's smile: toothy, grimly cheerful, more subtly manic than before. "All the luck," the soldier echoed.

Nkiruka was content to continue descending the mountain in silence for a few more minutes. She could barely hear some of the hushed banter between the soldiers behind them. Almost all of her squad members were legitimate friends and enjoyed having casual conversations. A few were more withdrawn, like Anadil Zeid the girl who was afraid of her own power -- or too rigid, like Namir Kantor the jundari with a seemingly permanent chip on his shoulder -- but even these people at least got along with the others. The captain knew she needed to rely on every single ally she possibly knew of in the mission ahead of them. Later, Rin brought up the subject of transport. "We just need to get a little bit further down. Then I think you'll enjoy what we have set up. I have to say, I'm starting to really love some of the assets I can get my hands on now that I'm working a high-priority job."

In almost a half-hour longer, they finally managed to get near the treeline as opposed to the rocky alpine tundra above. Before getting too deep into the scruffy pine forests Nkiruka led the group to a large, relatively flat area jutting out from part of the mountain, stretching out very far in all directions. The soldier encouraged everyone to leave a lot of space, standing as far up the side as they could. Then she pulled out her warhorn from her belt and sounded three long tones that carried easily through the thin air. Almost immediately the air became filled with the response: the overpowering sound of flapping, like a flag whipping in the air but magnified greatly.

A minute later everyone shouted with delight at the sight of a colossus taking flight from its perch on a nearby mountain. It was a bird as large as a dragon, riding Dragonspine's high winds around the tricky ridges and quickly increasing altitude. At first it was below them -- its brown and white stripes were clearly visible, as well as the ornate metal crest it wore that was embossed with Istani jewels -- but it caught a drift, disappeared from view for a moment before its humongous form exploded into view right in front of them, taking several seconds for its entire body to pass.

"We've seen Ashaki the roc before," Nkiruka mentioned, arms folded and looking pleased with herself at the positive reactions of the others. "She normally transports Faceless Berserkers. Her presence here is a special favor from General Nazar Salgin of the il-Makhti... a man better known to you as Khopesh." Ashaki circled above while she carefully fine-tuned her landing; it was hard for a creature so bulky to maneuver onto a cliff that looked small compared to her. Clasped in her talons was a long chain connected to a large ornate box that looked Istani. Once the box touched the mountain without breaking, she was able to land her own body next to it. Ashaki was truly gargantuan. A single one of her talons was longer than Nkiruka was tall. She was big enough to carry off and eat elephants, although her contacts within the Faceless Berserkers claimed she preferred to eat dune drakes instead. And she was just the runt of the clutch, the chick her parents refused to feed in favor of her slightly larger sibling. No wonder Cascadia would probably never want to invade Istan.

They all piled into the box, which was surprisingly cozy and lined with padded benches with windows all around the sides. It was big enough to carry twenty people, so there was more than enough space. Nkiruka fastened the door behind them and banged on the roof of the box to signal to Ashaki that they were ready. The big, silent raptor snapped the chain taut, spreading her wings and awkwardly taking to the skies with powerful strokes. The takeoff was bumpy and they were whipped around a bit, but once she got a good headwind it was virtually smooth sailing all the way. "When we touch down, I'd like you guys to take our mechanic to the Istani embassy in Striberg and send a message to Nadiyah about this news. Me and Rin will check out the Academy. Don't worry, girl, we're not going to hurt you or anything, we just want to protect you for a while so Rainfall can't use your skills. We'll even compensate you for the lost time and income. Sound good?"

The quiet, emotionally scarred mechanic nodded dully.
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The construct wasn't surprised that the soldier approved of her separation from the Grand Grimoire. After all, when she had still been its thrall the powerful tome had threatened to kill Nkiruka if she didn't stop distracting Rin from the collection of its pages. The first major confrontation between the girl and the book had happened at the same time, when she had demonstrated her ability to resist its direct control. She had grown more powerful than the Grimoire had predicted. Hopefully it would respect her strength and leave her alone, but Rin knew that was an unlikely eventuality. If she had to describe the sentient reservoir of knowledge in one word, it would probably be 'stubborn.'

They continued to descend down the mountain until they reached the tree line. Nkiruka called for a halt, allowing the soldiers to sit down and rest for a few moments before their transportation arrived. Rin was too excited to do the same, looking around curiously in search of what they would use to make the trip to Striberg. The officer pulled a horn out of her pack, sounding out three blaring tones that echoed through the mountain range. The construct gasped in amazement when she saw a massive shape break off from a nearby peak. Huge wings flashed out, with such a wide span that it seemed impossible that they could keep anything afloat.

The roc soared towards the small group, clutching a box on the end off a chain in its large talons. It flapped its wings steadily so that it could descend smoothly, setting the box down on the thin ledge before landing itself. Rin stared at the colossal bird with wide eyes, her mouth dropping open in awe. "That... is... the... coolest bird!" She remembered the last time she had seen the roc, of course. The man who had been riding it had been a terror, a nightmare in the shape of a human. Khopesh had managed to kill the man, but it had been difficult.

"It's good to know that Kho is back at work! He seemed much happier not being an exile anymore." She entered the box, sitting on one of the provided seats. much to the construct's dismay, there didn't seem to be any windows on the transport. She wouldn't be able to watch the land flash by underneath them, but at least she would get to travel in style.



They landed in the City of magic a few cramped hours later. The roc dropped them off several miles outside of the northern metropolis so that their cover wouldn't immediately be blown. The soldiers, Rin, and Nelij made their way to a nearby docks and purchased passage on a ferry to take them to the city itself. The construct had seen the city before, but it was still an impressive sight. The buildings perched on top of the massive iceberg like a stony crown, towers and roofs giving it a jagged outline against the sky. The boat quickly took them across the magical barrier that surrounded the town, the climate instantly changing from freezing cold to almost uncomfortably warm. Steam rose from the ocean due to the abrupt change in temperature, making the sea around Striberg appear to be smoking.

They disembarked at one of the many docks near the bottom of the iceberg and started the long climb up a staircase carved directly into the ice. The steps had been enchanted to maintain their shape and not be slick to keep visitors and sailors from slipping and falling. Rin skipped up the staircase excitedly, a wide grin on her sculpted features. She was excited to be traveling with Nkiruka again, even if they were hunting an insane terrorist leader that was the soldier's mother. "I don't suppose being an officer in the Army of Istan will get you access to the Academy? They're not very fond of me. There was an incident with an artifact that was a page and..." She trailed off, shrugging bashfully.
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Nkiruka shrugged out of her bloodstained jacket once the climate was temperate again. "Don't know. I got a plan, though." When they got up to the main body of Striberg from the docks, they were assaulted by the sight of the glamorous city. Being an iceberg, the whole thing was tiered so that streets and buildings were built higher and higher up, partially cut into the ice. At the very top was the Castle of Striberg that gleamed with some kind of iridescent stone, but a section of iceberg just below that was engulfed by Imythess' largest chapter of the Academy of Magic.

That monster of a complex was even bigger than the giant one in Istan, which was still hard to believe; its buildings wrapped partway around that section of iceberg and then extended almost all the way down one side. The campus was made up of overwhelmingly large buildings supported by flying buttresses, twisting spires, and colossal towers. A network of sky-bridges connected higher towers to each other; Nkiruka could even see robed students in their windows rushing from one place to another. The soldier knew that one of those ridiculously high towers was feeding magic into the air twenty-four-seven to bolster the strength of the ancient enchantment around the city. It was truly impressive, and became moreso once they were engulfed by the campus' unique atmosphere.

Crowds of people -- students, professors, associates -- formed a constant cloud of chatter and bustle as robed people of all shapes, sizes and races crisscrossed through the main courtyard. Even from the point of view of someone in the military, this place was steeped in symbolism; Nkiruka couldn't imagine all the meanings of the different colored and styled robes, sashes, hats, everything, and that was just the people around them. The buildings themselves were incomprehensibly ornate and possessed with a consistent dignity that the Istan campus lacked, at the cost of looking overwhelming. Nkiruka actually hadn't been inside any of the buildings before, but she managed to find an administration building where they could talk to someone. The front desk was staffed by a female gnoll who was looking at some kind of inscribed, three-dimensional message through the small spectacles resting far on her hyena-like snout.

Her eyes flicked up to the two of them and she suffocated the message with her palm to dismiss it. "How may I help you?"

"My name is Nkiruka Menai," she said.

"Oh, another Menai, huh," the gnoll immediately responded. "You're pretty damn late, but your big sister's still up there. You've been to old Greystein's lab before, right?"

"Can't say I have."

"Upper Spires, block 3-C. Take the lift up to Magitech and it'll be the third door to the left, right across from the golemancy lab. Want me to let her know you're here?"

"No, it's fine. She knows how I am about punctuality," Nkiruka lied, waving her hand in a gesture of polite dismissal. "Thanks a lot for the help, though."

"No problem," the gnoll said before pulling the three-dimensional script back out into the air.

The ride up the lift was tense. Nkiruka had never been in a contraption like it before, and its base concept made her extremely uncomfortable: they were to step into a small metal box covered in arcane runes, which then caused the box to levitate very high up a narrow shaft until it stopped at a certain floor or destination. The soldier propped herself against one corner. "Do not underestimate her," she said quietly to Rin. "She's just as strong as me and leagues faster. She's one of the last Grandmasters of mandak, the martial art I use. She can cast magic. In one hand she wields a sickle and in the other, a flyssa -- an Istani mailbreaker. The sickle does something, I can't really describe it, it just makes things... confusing. She poisons both the blades, too. And the knives can--"

The lift lurched to a halt and the doors opened. Nkiruka stepped out of the untrustworthy contraption and came face-to-face with a woman with piercing orange eyes.

Chaitaki Menai was wearing a veil embroidered with colorful designs that matched well with her desert cloak. The hood on the cloak was up, leaving only a sliver of her face exposed. Nkiruka froze, matching her enemy's intense gaze. Every time they had met these past two years, Chaitaki's pupils were permanently dilated: just wide enough to look unnatural but not quite as wide as a berserking warrior.

She grinned. It looked so genuinely friendly that it was sickening. "Think carefully about what you do next," Chaitaki said, her voice a confident purr. She put her hand on her hip; the motion lifted her cloak just enough to reveal an ornately etched war sickle as well as a belt full of knives. "Rinny, too. If you're wise, you'll both join me in Maester Greystein's laboratory. We... really need to have a chat."

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