A small fire crackled in the fireplace. Its orange-yellow glow was able to drive away the darkness, but it failed to hunt down the shadows that danced madly on the walls or hid in the corners of this small study. Quietly snapping and popping, the flames slowly ate their way through wood, turning light-brown logs into formless pieces of grey-and-black ash.

Sir Henry Sherai did not see burning wood as his old eyes gazed sadly into his fireplace. He saw a tower, a castle, an entire city bathing in flames. All of his people, slaughtered, their blood painting the streets red. Even stone had to yield to the relentless heat of destruction, the buildings were blackening and crumbling in fire. Wings of the great windmills blazed in some grotesque imitations of red-petaled flowers.

An entire kingdom, destroyed. All of this because of a single woman.

Of course Henry knew that it was only his imagination that painted these horrible pictures into the flames. But he was very afraid that all of it would come true some day.

Sighing, the old man stood up and spread out his gray-feathered wings in an attempt to nurse away some numbness from his back. Calmly he walked across his study and sat down before his desk. He had barely picked up a quill and pressed its point onto the paper as somebody knocked to the door.

"Yes?"

"Sir", called out his servant from the corridor, "the representative of the Jokers is here."

Henry set the quill down. A little, hopeful smile lit his wrinkled features as he said: "Let him enter."

The door opened and a younger man entered. He was dressed into a completely ordinary traveler's garb and had tied a red scarf over his head. There was a simple stone amulet openly hanging on his chest.

"Finally!" Sir Henry intoned and rose to greet his visitor. There was almost youthful eagerness in his voice as he asked: "Have you caught her?"

To the old Windian's disappointment, the man shook his head. "Not yet. But don't worry", he hastened to add, "one of my cousin's working on it. They've set up a trap for the Princess and her bodyguard. I guess they should be caught by now."

Henry sighed with relief. "Good, good, Mr…."

"Pavin. A Joker, Pavin."

"Mr. Pavin", the Windian repeated. "That girl is a threat to the entire kingdom of Windia. You cannot possibly know how much your help means to me."

Considering the size of the moneybag this old nobleman had already given to the Jokers, Pavin really had no troubles at imagining the importance of this little black-winged girl. However, he decided only to smile and nod. Money was always a good motivation to make people agree with their employers… or should we say "financiers"?

"Black wings in the Royal Family", Sir Henry sighed and turned to stare at the fireplace. "Did you know, Mr. Pavin, that it means the destruction of this land? It is a mark of a dark prophecy."

Pavin had already heard this same lecture several times, but he remained silent. His patience was endless, as long as this old Windian paid big coins to the Jokers for chasing this elusive black-winged princess, that is.

"And what is even worse, the King himself had denied that such a girl had even existed!" With a little grunt Henry bent down and pushed one of the logs a bit deeper into the flames. "He does not realize, he sets the entire kingdom to danger with his actions! He has been ruthless quelling all the rumors, the foolish man…" Quietly he closed his eyes and allowed the flames to warm his old face. "He doesn't realize that the only way to prevent the prophecy… is to slay the girl."

"Don't worry", Pavin comforted Sir Henry with a reassuring tone, "just like Essar Shoo promised to you when he acted as a go-between for you and the Jokers, we shall get that girl for you." As long as you pay us for it, he added silently and struggled to keep his face straight.

Sir Henry didn't seem to hear him. He simply continued to stare into the flames. "All the people who have whispered about the girl with the black wings…" Sadly he shook his head. "They have all disappeared. Almost everyone of them. Even my dear sister, acting as a granny in the castle, even she disappeared soon after that drama…"

"He's ruthless", Pavin dared to say. "It's a good thing that you have decided to take action for this."

"Yes…" Henry nodded and fell silent. Soon, however, his eyes flung open as loud noises could be heard outside his house. Heavy footfalls… Clinking of chain mails, clatter of shields and swords. Swallowing, the old Windian stood up. "No", he whispered weakly. "Not now! It can't be…"

"It's them", Pavin stated grimly. The younger man quickly glanced around the room as if looking for something.

Loud thuds echoed all the way to the small study as a heavy gauntlet knocked at the front door of the house. Soon, it was accompanied by a proud shout: "Open up, Sir Henry Sherai, in the name of the Great Kingdom of Windia!"

Pavin and Henry exchanged glances. The Royal Guard, no doubt.

"I have to admit", Pavin said, taking several quick and silent steps towards a curtain that covered one of the walls in the small study, "your King's intelligence service is pretty darned good. No wonder they've caught almost everyone who knew about the girl."

"I should know", Henry replied with a submissive sigh, "I was once part of it." Allowing his head to bend down, the old Windian sank into his chair and closed his eyes once again. "By the gods, no… Now, there's no hope. We have been caught, Mr. Pavin…"

As if that wouldn't be clear already, Pavin thought sourly and moved behind Sir Henry.

There was a loud crash as the out door was battered down. There were several footfalls and quickly barked commands as the soldiers streamed into the house.

"Mr. Pavin, I'm so tired of all this… I tried, heaven knows I tried to save this kingdom…" Tears began to make their way underneath the old man's eyelids. "Curse the bearer of the black wings… She made the King turn against his own kingdom…"

He never got to say anything else. With a firm, swift move Pavin's hand closed around Sir Henry's mouth while the other sank a dagger into his throat. Blood gushed out, staining the chair's soft cushions and the desk before them. The Windian's death throes were firmly subdued by the younger man's strong grip. It was over within mere moments.

"Too bad, old man", the member of the Jokers muttered as he quickly grabbed the dead man's limp hand and pressed it around the dagger's handle, doing his best to make it look like a suicide. "But I can't let you blab about us to the officials. Bad for the reputation, eh?"

The sounds of the guards were close now. They would find this room very soon. Not wasting another moment Pavin took several steps backwards and slipped behind the curtain. Fortunately he had had time to recharge his amulet after his latest performance as Captain Sandell of Golden Auria.

Soon the guards crashed into the room. After the first shock of seeing their target in such a horrible state had passed, it took only a moment from them to realize what had seemed to happen. The captain ordered his men to search the room for any important clues or documentation and the soldiers obeyed instantly. After a few moments, when the guards had nicely disbanded to search different parts of the small study, yet another Windian soldier stepped from behind the curtains, shrugged to his fellow patrolman in a gesture of not finding anything, and joined the other searchers.

Pavin was safe for now, but he had yet to find a way to leave the patrol unnoticed and hurry to write a bleak message to Joker. It seemed that one of their money sources had run out. The Boss had to find a new way to use that black-winged girl. And he wouldn't be very pleased to hear it.

This really didn't seem to be a good day to be a Joker…

* * * *

"Don't move, any of you!" Aryn shouted as he stepped between the Jokers and Nina. The bandit with the bow attempted to nock a new arrow. A flick from the bodyguard's wrist, a flash of metal in the halo of the lanterns. The throwing knife cut through the bow's string and sank into the Joker's arm. The bandit gasped and dropped his weapon.

"I'll do the same -- and worse -- to everyone who wants to push his luck", Aryn warned. Keeping the glimmering blade of Swallow ready in one hand, the bodyguard hid his other hand into his sleeve and drew out a set of three daggers. With a swift move he spread them out into a fan-like formation.

"Aryn!" Nina shouted behind her. She was pulling the door's knob with all her might. "It doesn't open!"

"Of course it doesn't open", Essar remarked calmly. "Thiss iss, after all, a trap."

"Oh, that's right", Hain added, giving a mark to his men. Slowly, keeping a careful eye on the daggers in Aryn's hands, the Jokers began drawing their swords and other weapons. The tan-skinned man smirked. "You may have an impressive weapon there, Seaholt, but I suppose you can't defeat us all, hmm?"

To the surprise of them all, Aryn flashed an evil grin and lifted his set of throwing knifes. "Care to see who'll die first?"

None of the Jokers were exactly eager to take their chances. They had been chasing this black-winged girl for long enough to have already heard all about the marksmanship of her bodyguard.

Aryn smirked, his green eyes gleaming in the lantern light. "Thought so", he said, doing his best to sound confident. He was fully aware of the fact that should any of his opponents find enough courage to take the first step forward, the entire Joker group would follow. So, this was how a gambler felt like. "Essar! I know that you've locked the door with some sort of spell. Cancel it. Now!"

Without any hurry, without even the slightest hint of fear or nervousness, the snake-wizard tilted his head. The large feather in his beret swayed with the motion. "And why sshould I do that?"

"Because if you don't", Aryn countered, "I'll kill you."

"An expected threat", Essar replied. Slowly he grabbed the hem of his cape and lifted it before him. His reptilian eyes, partially hidden by the red cloth, answered the bodyguard's stare evenly. "And rather uselesss one."

"I know better than to try to throw a knife at that cloak of yours", Aryn admitted. Without hesitation, he lifted his other hand, the one holding Swallow. "That's why I have this reserved for you!"

"An impressssive weapon, indeed", Essar agreed. "Except… That you are not allowed to draw blood with it, correct?"

Aryn's eyes widened. He had not expected this.

Seeming to fully enjoy the bodyguard's amazement, Essar continued: "Because if you do, you fear that you sshall never be able to use it again…"

There was a pause. Nobody, not even Hain, dared to break the silence.

"Essar…" Aryn let his gaze wander to the floor and shook his head with disbelief. "Looks like you caught me. You've always been too good with schemes… You are correct, I don't want to lose this beautiful dagger. I love it, you know… But… When there's something like her at the stake…" Suddenly he snatched his eyes up, a flame of anger flashing in their depths. "You think I care?!"

With those words, he threw Swallow.

The dagger had been designed for close-range battle, but still, it flew through the air in a single, glimmering ray of silver. Even in all its deadliness, it was beautiful, beautiful and graceful like the bird after which it had been named. It was too swift, too quick even for the agile snake-wizard.

Swallow flew right through Essar's lifted cloak, penetrating the red cloth with ease. The snake-wizard let out a wild, keening hiss of pain and fell back, clutching his right arm.

On that very same moment, the lock of the hideout's door clicked, its magic obviously canceled with the new distraction for Essar's concentration. Immediately Nina flung the door open and dashed outside, the Jokers stormed forward, Aryn lifted his throwing daggers, and chaos began.

* * * *

Nina had been doing this kind of activity a lot lately, so she already knew what Aryn wanted her to do.

She ran.

Her small feet beat the pavement as rapidly as they could, carrying her through the shadowy alley. The turn she took was so abrupt that she almost lost her balance on damp stones, but she didn't dare to slow down. There were people coming for her and Aryn, and she definitely did not want neither of them to get caught. Well aware that her bodyguard was more than able to keep up with her pace, she dashed down the road without looking back.

At this time of night, the dim, dreary maze that was the storehouse blocks was absolutely silent. All the dock workers and sailors who generally could be found from this area had gone to enjoy the night in the taverns and inns located in other parts of the town. Not even city guards were very enthusiastic to enter the storehouse district at night. Still streets and alleys resembled eerily those of a ghost town.

Nina had no time to think about this. She and Aryn had to get out of here as soon as possible, the Windian girl reminded herself as she ran around another street corner -- and halted. A little distance down this alley rose a high, dark brick wall.

They had run directly into a dead end.

"Aryn -- " Nina began and turned around to ask her bodyguard for directions. She gasped as she found the street behind her completely empty. Her heart missed a beat as she realized that Aryn had not followed her… at all.

Aryn had stayed behind at the storehouse.

She was alone… and worse.

She was lost.

* * * *

With an angry shout Aryn dodged the first blade brave enough to try a swing at him. The bodyguard shifted nimbly his balance to one leg and lifted another, landing a firm kick into the Joker's chest. The bandit stumbled backwards, momentary blocking the way of the other attackers. Aryn used this time best as he could, flicking his right hand once, twice, thrice. However, his daggers had not been aimed at any of his attackers.

With a loud crash the first lantern was shattered, its burning contents spreading over wooden boxes. Within an eyeblink it was followed by other lantern, and soon the third and final lamp was bowled over by a throwing dagger.

Aryn didn't like this kind of destruction, but he knew that his only chance was to create a diversion large enough for the girl to escape.

Flames spread along the oil with dazzling speed, setting fire to everything that was unfortunate enough to get caught in its path, be it floor boards, storage boxes or a member of the Joker. Soon the storehouse was no longer illuminated by a few lamps. There was an entire roaring blaze.

Aryn smiled grimly as he thrust his hands into his sleeves and pulled out his battle daggers. That should be a diversion enough, he thought as he stepped forward to meet the first challenger.

Standing close to one of the storehouse walls, Essar hissed with some disgust as he batted out a smoldering spot in the hem of his cloak. The snake-wizard's dark-yellow eyes reflected the leaping flames, making the black slits serving as his pupils stand out even more startlingly than usual. Quickly the reptilian sorcerer took an inventory of the combat at hand. Even though the fire was quickly spreading in the hideout, the Jokers remained admirably calm and organized. The bandits were threatening Aryn from all directions.

His battle daggers working in a harmony with each other, the protector parried, blocked, then launched himself into a spinning motion that carried him right through the fray. His short blades extended to keep the Jokers in a good distance, he continued with a crouched, spiral-like move, lifting and lowering his arms, weaving a pattern of spinning, flashing metal around him. In the constantly shifting and swaying illumination of the storehouse, it was difficult to see where his daggers were at any given time.

One of the Jokers attempted a stroke, moving too close to Aryn. The bodyguard responded immediately with a parry, stepping past the bandit's defenses and giving matching wounds to both sides of his throat. His adversary had barely begun to fall as the protector already spun himself away, again moving directly through the Joker group. The bandits, reluctant to get too close to those spinning daggers, withdrew from his way and stumbled to each other while doing so. Aryn played the lack of battleground space to his advantage at the same time as giving his opponents a constantly moving target, desperately doing his all to prevent his adversaries from organizing themselves.

An adaptation of one of the Shadow Society tricks, known as the Velvet Blossom, Essar recalled. With that move, the bodyguard would be able to hold his ground for a little while, but very soon someone would recognize the pattern and find an opening. For an eyeblink the snake-wizard actually considered giving a helping hand to his ex-contact, but soon decided otherwise. Aryn was a big boy: he had to handle his problems.

Essar had his own to take care of.

Snorting to the wound in his right arm, the snake-wizard turned and almost stumbled into Hain, who had been following the battle surprisingly close to him.

"Going somewhere?" the tan-skin asked. Essar was glad that the Joker member didn't wear his annoying smile this time.

"Aryn will tire ssoon. Take care of him", Essar ordered quietly while passing through a few mystic gestures with his unwounded hand.

"What about you?"

"Like I promised, I sshall get the girl."

Hain didn't seem too convinced about this. "Hey -- " He cut short, seeing no point to continue. Essar had already disappeared in a red flash of light. Blinking his eyes to get his sight back, the tan-skin turned to look at the battle.

Although the Joker members were not as officially trained as Shadow Society assassins, Hain's hoodlums were no bunglers with the blade, either. The battle didn't go well for the bodyguard. Although he moved as quickly as he could, doing his best to keep all the Jokers at bay, his adversaries had already organized themselves to work as a team against him. The protector had already suffered numerous scratches and small wounds. His hair had been stained partially red, but was the blood his own, Hain could only guess.

"Oh, damn", the tan-skin muttered, leaped up onto one of the store boxes, then onto another, making his way around the battleground and towards the hideout door.

* * * *

In the faint light of stars and the meager illumination that wafted from the other parts of Hometown, the rooftops of the warehouse quarter were dark and angular. Alleys and streets crisscrossing around storehouses were little more than black ravines opening in a little less black landscape.

For a blink of an eye, one of the rooftops was illuminated by a red flash of light.

Standing perfectly balanced on the eaves, Essar Shoo took out a little vial from the folds of his cloak. Pouring some of the enchanted contents into his palm, the snake-wizard applied the concoction to his wound. Taking a moment to allow the magical medicine do its work, he turned to survey his hunting grounds, the arena for the bizarre version of the game of cat-and-mouse he and the girl were about to play.

As expected, there was no sign of Nina Windia. The warehouse quarters of Hometown were considerably smaller than those of Capitan, but still, there was more than enough space for their little game. They would have some privacy, too. Although Hometown was not as large a settlement as some cities Essar had seen, it still was not a village where everyone helped and defended each other. In the places like this, few would be stupid enough to get involved with the quarrels of others.

With grace that was partially granted him by his magic and partially by his unnaturally lean being, Essar leapt across the street and landed onto another roof, easily catching his balance. His eyes gleamed, his forked tongue lashed at the night-time air once, twice.

The smell of fish, the smell of alcohol… the smell of blood… the smell of the girl he sought after.

Satisfied with this observation, the snake-wizard began his hunt across the rooftops. His pace was determined, yet he saw no reason to really hasten his steps. Assuming that Aryn would be able to cause enough distraction to trouble the Jokers, there was time.

A little of time. That was all Essar needed to play the complex game he had started way back in Capitan to its end.

* * * *

Calm down, girl, Nina thought, Aryn doesn't want you to panic. You have to get out of here -- that's what he would want!

She forced herself to take a deep breath. Unlike what she had hoped for, it didn't help to calm the beating of her heart or ease the invisible noose that was slowly tightening around her throat. Spreading her wings out of the way, the Windian girl pressed her back against sturdy, cold brick wall. Slowly the chill of the stone made its way through the fabric of her clothes, soothing her emotional turmoil.

These dark alleys were not the place where she wanted to be alone. Once before she had braved night-time streets at Capitan, and that adventure had had almost ended up into a catastrophe. She had learned her lesson: these kinds of places were not meant for little girls. Around these parts, there were people who tended not to be very kind to the likes of her. Last time, she had been fortunate enough to meet Eiji, the carefree and kind Highlander gambler. This time, she was sure of it, she wouldn't be so lucky.

Nina had already experienced more than most girls of her age. The last time she had been on dark streets, it was their unfamiliarity that had scared her. Now, she was scared by what she knew about streets.

Her first thought was that her bodyguard wouldn't have been stupid enough to allow himself to get lost. He would have paid attention to his surroundings, picking up landmarks to pinpoint his location…

Feeling like an idiot, Nina slapped her hand to her forehead and glanced up. True enough. Even from the narrow alley in which she was hiding, she could see one clear and distinct landmark.

It was a building, a building so large that it rose above everything else as a hulking shadow, spotted by dozens of windows filled with warm, yellow light. It was the place she would soon learn to know well, assuming that she would live through all this mess. It was the place she would soon call home.

The Great School of Magic.

Master Yoji would help her! If Nina could just get into the shelter of the School, her teacher could think up something to help Aryn and get rid of the Jokers!

Desperately hoping that her sketchy plan would work, Nina left the alley and moved to the street. She had hardly taken five running steps before she came to a startled halt.

There was a tall, cloak-clad shape standing unmoving on the eaves of a nearby building. Though the newcomer was little more than a mere shadow, only slightly blacker than his surroundings, his leanness made his identity unmistakeable.

"There you are, Misss Anina…" Essar Shoo hissed gently. "I have been looking for you…"

Gasping, Nina turned, ran down the street as fast as she could and took a hasty turn around a corner. She disappeared from sight at the same time as Essar leapt casually down from his perch, his heavy cloak fluttering around him as he softly landed.

Not him! Nina thought desperately as she rushed down the alley. Tears were swelling in her eyes even as she ran. Of all people, I don't want to be hunted by him!

Her eyes widened and she came to a stumbling stop.

Just a moment earlier, the alley before her had been empty. Now it was blocked by the familiar shape of Essar.

Nina had no idea how the snake-wizard had been quick enough to get ahead of her, not that she would have even cared on the moment. Gritting her teeth, she took a hesitant step backward and turned to flee --

-- only to see that there was another Essar Shoo standing in the other end of the alley.

"H-how?!" she gasped, throwing a frightened and disbelieving glance over her shoulder. The ominous shape of the snake-wizard was still blocking the other exit as well!

"Ssimple", answered the Essar before her, taking a calculated step forward.

Nina gasped, turning to look back at the snake-wizard who had talked. This was impossible! How could he…

The small, cool part of her mind, the part that had been hardened by the tragedy and pain she had suffered, the part that no longer seemed to be scared of anything, offered her the answer: "Illusion!"

"Precisely", nodded the Essar behind her, slowly closing in at his target. "One of uss iss a fake."

"Yess", began the one before Nina, taking another casual step forward, "You can ssimply run through one of uss and flee…but… the question iss…"

"…which…" asked the Essar behind her,

"…one…" continued the one before her,

"…of…"

"…uss…"

"…iss…"

"…false…?"

* * * *

Knocked out of balance, Aryn gasped in agony as the floorboards struck the air from his lungs. Forcing his hurting body to move, he instinctively rolled to dodge a boot heel that stomped to the floor where his head had been just a moment ago.

"You're dead meat, Seaholt!"

Aryn didn't waste time to answer. Using his left dagger to stop a sword stroke mere inches away from his neck, the protector slashed with his right-hand blade at the ankles of his attacker. The hoodlum faltered and Aryn spun himself on the floor, landing a kick into the bandit's crotch and another one into his stomach. This sent the Joker member reeling backwards, stunned.

Aryn was all too well aware of the truth of the bandit's words as he desperately scrambled to his feet. He was skilled, but he was no Pooka. The battleground was to his advantage and there already were many dead or seriously wounded hoodlums lying sprawled on the storehouse's floor, but there were still all too many opponents left. This Hain character had collected quite a team of Jokers for this mission: he seemed to wish to make sure that he would get what he wanted.

It was getting stiflingly hot inside the burning storehouse. Sweat streamed down the fighters' arms and foreheads. It wouldn't be long until the flames would spread wide enough for someone in the town to notice them. However, Aryn feared that he wouldn't have enough life span left to wait for his rescuers. He was tiring and wounded and the hoodlums had no intention to leave a single breath of life into his lungs. He didn't know for how long he could continue to play for time.

Every move the protector made hurt like hell, but he couldn't give up now. Quickly wiping his mouth into his already blood-stained sleeve, Aryn lifted his daggers to meet the next bandit rushing for him. Parrying two blows in a quick succession the bodyguard spun around a full circle and launched his counter-attack.

Pain flashed from his left hand and across his brain in a mind-numbing white surge. Unable to hold back a gasp, Aryn recoiled from his attack and swore as one of his precious battle daggers clattered to the floor. Gritting his teeth, he pressed his left hand against the sleeve of the right one. The inevitable had happened: while he had been busy with one opponent, other hoodlum had taken the advantage and caught him by surprise.

Aryn knew that he had no chances of fighting with just one dagger in hand and the Jokers knew it, too. Eager to draw more of his blood, the remaining bandits were quick with their advance, scrambling over their fallen comrades.

If he wanted to delay the Jokers a little longer, it was time for a quick withdrawal.

Tucking his remaining dagger into his belt, Aryn recited one of his two spells and opened his right palm at his adversaries. He closed his own eyes just in time as a dazzling series of bright flashes filled the entire storehouse. It didn't slow his opponents down much, but it did buy enough time for the bodyguard to run -- or rather, limp swiftly -- to the door. He slipped outside and slammed the door close just in time to save himself from a throwing dagger that sunk into wood with a hollow thud. Noticing a few empty barrels piled into the alley, Aryn kicked, sending some of the wooden containers crashing to the stone pavement to further slow down his pursuers.

* * * *

Moving in absolutely perfect unison, Essars set their feet to the cobblestones one after another, slowly advancing, leisurely closing the trap, gradually shrinking the time Nina had left. "You hesitation iss your downfall", one of the snake-wizards reproached, his eyes gleaming from the shadows of his cloak's high collar.

Gulping, Nina turned her gaze away. She could look at those slits of darkness no longer, so she raked the alley with her eyes. As her gaze happened to fall over an empty bottle somebody had happened to drop there, that fearless part of her mind suddenly offered a way out of her strait. Keeping an eye on advancing Essars, the Windian girl darted across the alley and grabbed the bottle. Its weight felt good in her hand.

"Clever girl", one of Essars commented casually, taking yet another step forward. "Testing the ice with a sstick instead of going to the peril yourself."

His tone of voice made Nina hesitate to put her plan into action. A terrible suspicion that the snake-wizard would already have planned for this kind of riposte entered her mind and made her grip the bottle until her knuckles turned white. Then she swallowed, gritted her teeth and stepped into the middle of the alley. Lifting her hand over her shoulder, she hurled the bottle at one of Essars with all her might. Though the snake-wizard himself was unnaturally lean, his broad cloak made him an easy target.

Essar snorted and sidestepped the bottle, allowing it to crash to the stone pavement behind him.

The snake-wizard had hardly finished this maneuver when Nina had already turned and rushed towards the other Essar. Her plan had worked! By being forced to dodge the bottle, the Essar behind her had been forced to reveal which one was an illusion. Now she only had to run through this image --

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted as she bumped right against the slim, cloak-clad figure of the snake-wizard. "Your idea wass basically a good one", Essar approved, his scaled arms folding around the struggling Windian girl, "but you sshould know that although an illusion cannot directly affect ssolid objects, it can be made to dodge them. And now --" His words ended into a loud hiss of surprise and anger as Nina slammed a bright, multi-colored flash right against his snout.

Taking an advantage of the slackening of Essar's grip as the snake-wizard reflexively lifted his hands to protect his eyes, Nina tore herself free from the clutches of the red cloak. By the time the bright spots ceased their merry dance before Essar's eyes, the Windian girl had already rushed around the corner and disappeared from sight.

Letting out a hissing sigh, the snake-wizard straightened himself. Although he had been deliberately slow and careless while closing his trap, he never liked to be out-tricked in his own game.

"Clever girl."

* * * *

"This way!"

Aryn pressed himself tightly against the brick wall in one of the dark alleys, remaining as still as he could and doing his best to mold into the shadows. Carefully controlling his breathing so that his panting wouldn't give him out, the bodyguard watched as a small group of Jokers rushed past his hiding place. The protector's wounded left hand had clenched over another wound in his thigh. In his right hand he had a throwing knife ready, just in case one of the hoodlums would happen to look into his direction.

None of them did.

After the last sounds of footfalls had gone into a safe distance, Aryn let out a sigh and slowly sank down to the cold cobblestones, his back scraping against the wall as he did so. His clothes were wet, as much because of the blood of his enemies as that of his own. He had lost the count of how many wounds he had gotten. Every drop of the red fluid of life that seeped out from him marked one moment seeping away from the precious time he had left… Soon he would run out of both blood and time.

And the numbers of the Jokers' gang hadn't seemed to diminish in the least. Aryn had already slain a good amount of his opponents, but still they pressed on, searching for him, attacking him, wishing to kill him. The protector was rather sure that they had called reinforcements from somewhere nearby, because there hadn't been this many people back at the storehouse. You can always find some cutthroats to do the dirty work for your if you know where to look in any town.

Sooner or later, they would find him.

Sooner or later, they would find the girl.

Aryn hoped that the case would be the former. At least then he could try and take as many of them with him as possible. However, the protector realized that he was no longer fit to do battle. He had to think up something new, something desperate that would make sure that the price would be dear for the Jokers… Perhaps a trap of some sort, with the bodyguard himself as the bait?

Snickering, Aryn shook his head. A desperate and stupid idea from a desperate and stupid quarter-Woran.

At the thought of his Woran blood, the protector found himself toying with an even crazier idea. He realized that he really had to be desperate in order to even think about such a plan, because such a feat was absolutely impossible for someone like him. Only a pureblood could do it. But still, that could have worked…

"Meow."

Aryn flinched at the sudden sound. The throwing knife had almost flown from his hand before he recognized the pair of yellow, smoldering eyes blazing from the darkness. Even in the shadows the bodyguard could see how Cat's white-tipped tail swayed back and forth in an unease move.

A cat…

A feline…

A desperate, impossible idea dawned in the bodyguard's mind. "Cat!" he hissed, gesturing at the animal he called his little shadow. "Come here! I need you…"

All the Clans in the world had their own secrets, their own mysteries. The small-numbered Clan of Worans was no exception of this. Every adult member of their family had a seed of power sealed deep within their souls. It was terrible power, a dangerous power, both to the one who possessed it as well as to those around him. The secrets of how to wield that power were passed along from generation to generation within each Woran family, but only the purest of the blood ever were able to unseal that seed.

Thus, it was well beyond Aryn's abilities. But if -- if the blood of the feline was the key to unlock the secrets of the Woran Clan, then…

Though his grandmother had taught him how to do it, Aryn had never been stupid enough to attempt it before, he had never been stupid enough to even think about it before. But now, he was desperate and troubled enough to pick up any choice left within his grasp. And he knew that there was only one option left.

"I hope you'll understand", the bodyguard whispered as he gently nuzzled the velvet-soft fur of his shadow. He closed his eyes tightly and attempted to keep his tears from flowing. Slowly he allowed his mind drift deeper, deeper into the emptiness that was his spirit and soul. He searched, sought… found. A fleeting image, quivering and barely visible. But it was there. Desperately he groped with his spirit, trying to catch a hold of that image, trying to bring it to reality…

"I'm sorry…" he admitted, "and I'm afraid… What if this doesn't work? What if I can't keep it in control? What if --"

Cat let out a long, self-satisfied mourn.

Aryn gasped as pain surged through the every inch of his being. His wounds were nothing compared to the burning agony of birth. His hands and legs twitched, he clenched his teeth firmly together in order to prevent a scream from escaping his lips. He had never been this afraid, this horrified before.

Oh well. Too late to turn back now.

It had begun.

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Next: Chapter XXII
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