Darkfire smiled to herself as she looked through the spyglass. The large
figure that had been in the same room as her target was now moving away
into his own room, while Isaac was preparing himself for bed. It was
almost showtime. She figured she would wait a few minutes to ensure Isaac
was asleep before going down to attempt to finish him off. The whole idea
of killing a Paladin still didn't sit well with her; she had done plenty of
assassinations in her short career, usually on far more dangerous and far
more well guarded targets, but nothing like this before. Darkfire herself
never had anything against King Picard, and she was actually hired by Iodem
at one point to eliminate a person who posed a direct threat to Picard's
life. She also had met some Paladins personally when she was not assuming
her role as an assassin; they were well mannered, wise, and powerful. On
top of that, they all seemed like brothers. This is what troubled Darkfire
the most; should she kill this Isaac, she may incur the wrath of every
Paladin in the order, and then there was the matter of Felix himself coming
after her. However, these thoughts did little more than make Darkfire all
the more cautious.
Her career, although very short by the opinion of many experienced assassins, had been highly successful. She had picked up the art of being an assassin much quicker than most and she quickly became the best of the best at what she did. So far, her record remained totally unblemished; Darkfire's success rate was a full one hundred percent, a success rate to boast about to be sure. Although this made her considerably more infamous throughout the land with the more evil minded, she did not allow it to get to her head. As with any assassin, doing so would be fatal. Over her career, she had developed a single signature for her assassinations. If her quarry was asleep when she prepared to kill, she gave what she called the "Kiss of Fire", which was simply a kiss; a kiss that symbolized the touch of Hell's flames as the deceased would soon feel for themselves.
Darkfire folded up her spyglass and sat back, slowly drawing her katana and inspecting it in the darkness. The blade was red, almost as though the blood of her enemies had solidified permanently on it. The edge was a shiny obsidian black stone, sharpened to the point where it cut through the air like a razor blade. Her weapon had been forged to pierce the strongest of plate mail, but she was yet to have to actually attack someone with that kind of protection. Her small dagger was fashioned in the same manner, and she checked that after slipping her sword back into her scabbard. She gazed up at the gibbous moon and laughed lightly to herself. It was time to go to work and make Saturos cough up big time in gems when she finished. She rose up from the ground and moved toward Mia's house like quicksilver. Gracefully and quietly, she snuck around the grounds searching for the best venue in to the house. Her only stealthy choices were to enter via the front door or via the chimney. Behind her mask she frowned. It was either play the fool by jumping down the chimney which was probably housing a little bit of a fire, or play the fighter by barging through the front door. Given the two options, Darkfire pondered for a moment, deciding that picking the lock on a door was a lot quieter and more efficient than jumping down a brick shaft only to land on smoldering flames. The assassin smiled as she pulled out two small pieces of metal wire, which she used to quickly and successfully pick the lock to Mia's house. Carefully she cracked open the door, slipping into the house completely unnoticed. She could hear the calm and soft snoring of the Venus Adept in front of her, and she carefully approached him while drawing her sword. Again, a smirk drew across her face as she came aside the Paladin's bedside. Now she got her first chance to look at him.
Even in the darkness, she could clearly see his face; it was young, full of vitality and strength. His golden hair that sat in an organized mess on his head just added to this. To her eyes, Isaac looked like a very nice person and someone with great wisdom. Isaac rolled onto his back while sleeping, and she was now able to see the whole of his visage. After studying it, she made the determination that this person was quite handsome. It was too bad that she had to end his life right here and now. She lifted the veil of her mask to expose her lower face, and she leaned down and kissed Isaac softly on the cheek. Then, after re-covering her face, she drew her sword into the air and prepared to strike downward into his chest.
"Hey Isaac, do you know where Mia keeps the extra blankets?" Garet asked fairly loudly coming out of his room. Darkfire instantly halted and turned her head. Garet too halted in his tracks at the sight of this new stranger, especially one holding a sword preparing to kill his best friend. A moment passed before either could figure out how to react. "Hey! What are you doing here?!" Garet said, charging toward her, drawing his weapon. Darkfire quickly sheathed her weapon and darted out the door, into town. Garet began the pursuit immediately after, chasing the shadows into the night.
Darkfire charged away with all of her incredible speed and agility. She darted between buildings and shadows, hoping to lose the man who had been the first to ever detect her. She hid down a particularly secluded alleyway and seemed to meld with the shadows.
Meanwhile, Garet felt almost helpless as he chased someone obviously trained for this kind of situation. Whoever was trying to kill Isaac had made himself invisible through the dark night. Garet sighed heavily, almost giving up all hope of ever catching the assassin, until his mind turned back to his heritage. He was a barbarian, right? The barbarians from the Northern Mountains were supposed to be the greatest trackers in all of Angara, and he had received that training, so why couldn't he give it a shot? The Mars Adept sighed and cleared his mind. He trained his ears for the sound of movement and heard none right away, so he instead focused his eyes on the paths around him. The paths were dirt footpaths, and he strained to see any imprints in the paths that might give him any indication of where his quarry might be. He glanced back to Mia's house and the path leading from there. Stooping down, he ran his fingers through a very light and very subtle crease in the dirt. Someone was moving quickly and lightly here recently. Judging from the crease's angle, he walked carefully toward an alleyway where he suspected his foe awaited.
Darkfire watched from the shadows to this person playing with the dirt. What was he doing? Casting a spell or something? Darkfire watched carefully and examined her pursuer's work. Wait. He wasn't casting a spell. As the figure rose and approached her exact position, she realized: he was actually tracking her! Her expression darkened drastically as she pondered her next escape. The figure closed and blocked off the alley, and there appeared to be only one way out: up. Darkfire leapt from the shadows and kicked off the wall of a house and caught the opposite house's roof. Quick as lightning, she hauled herself to the wooden roof, leaving her tracker awed.
Garet was stunned at what he just witnessed; the assassin had just leapt to the roof of a house! How was he supposed to catch that? He watched her go on the move and disappear over the edge of the house. He sighed, and shut his eyes tight, he focused all of his strength into his ears, and he could hear the near silent thump of the assassin landing on the other side of the house, and he heard her take off quickly and lightly to the east. Garet frowned and charged off after her, keeping his hearing focused; his target was definitely in front of him now as he rounded around another house and gave chase. He couldn't discern how far ahead the assassin was, but he knew that his quarry was still moving ahead. Suddenly, the beats of his adversary's feet halted and he found himself doing so as well. He was now near the edge of town, and he was sure that the assassin was hiding again.
Darkfire peered around a barrel that was shrouded in darkness. This person was persistent, and very good. Never before had she encountered such amazing tracking skills in a single individual. Despite her excellent eyesight, she couldn't place exactly how big or how strong her pursuer was, so she decided it would be best to try to confuse him. She leapt from her hiding spot and began dashing from spot to spot extremely quickly.
Garet paused; he could catch brief glimpses of the assassin, but whoever he was chasing was moving so fast they seemed to phase from one position to another. Garet did not draw his weapon, but rather focused on each of the phases that occurred. In the darkness, it was easy to confuse the actual movement of the assassin and the mind playing tricks. The Mars Adept focused all of his strength and power into his eyes, giving him the eyes of a hawk. Finally, he caught glimpse of what was definitely his target and he lunged forward towards it.
Darkfire was dumbfounded. The technique she was using, though nothing special, always threw off pursuers, but tonight her enemy was far too smart to fall for it. She frowned as she turned tail once more; in the back of her mind she knew it was inevitable that she would end up having to fight this person, but she wanted to avoid the risk at all costs. Her only hope was to escape into the woods not far from town; there she should be able to lose this foe in the trees.
The Mars Adept frowned as his enemy again took flight. This was getting really old really fast. He gritted his teeth as he pushed his tired legs forward after the black-clad assassin once more. It was already clear to Garet what the person was planning to do; make for the trees and either escape or ambush. There were still many yards between them, and Garet didn't think he was going to be gaining on his foe any time soon, and the use of Psynergy would simply slow him down. He decided to press froward and prepare to fight whomever this person was.
Darkfire smiled as she reached the edge of the woods, where she happily leapt into. After making a short way into the forest, she quickly climbed a tree and shrouded herself among the leaves in the branches, confident that she would not be found.
Garet bounded into the woods and quickly lost sight of the assassin, and he sighed. The wind rustled the leaves in the trees, so hearing where his enemy hid was impossible, and in the dark forest with all of the cover would make the assassin nearly invisible. There was only one sense he could now trust, and that was his sense of instinct. Garet paused and thought for a moment. If he was the assassin, he would've hid in one of the trees to escape him. That was a start. However, how many trees were there in this forest? Garet squinted in the dark as he looked left and right. Finally, relying on his gut alone, he drew his weapon and hacked at the second largest tree in the area.
The branch Darkfire clung to shook. She peered down at her enemy; he was actually hacking at the trunk of the tree she was perched upon with his sword! How could he have known she was up there? Darkfire's mind raced as she struggled to stay in the tree as her pursuer beat at the tree with his sword several more times. She heard a snap, and looked toward where her branch met the trunk, just in time to see it splinter into a thousand pieces. She leapt from the branch before it fell completely and rolled to the ground.
Garet jumped as he saw the figure he had been chasing literally fall from the tree he had been hacking for no real reason. He charged toward the figure who had by now gotten up and began running again.
Her mind raced as she dashed through the forest. It looked like she was left with but one option: kill the person following her and then go back for Isaac the following night. The only problem was finding a field of engagement for a fight with her pursuer; fighting in close quarters with many trees wasn't her idea of a wise place to fight. It'd be easy to hide, but she couldn't maneuver anywhere. As if on cue, she came into a large circular clearing in the middle of the forest; the diameter of the clearing was about fifty feet, a perfect place for a sword duel. She dashed to the other side of the clearing and spun around, drawing her weapon, awaiting the arrival of her opponent.
Garet pushed through the last of the brush and passed the remainder of the trees as he crossed into a clearing; he halted as he saw the glint of his adversary's sword in the moonlight. He quickly drew his own and stood, waiting.
"You know. . ." a voice from across the clearing said to him. It sounded feminine, but totally steadfast and unafraid even after the chase he had been giving. "I've never been detected, let alone tracked like what you have done tonight. You are the first to ever foil a plan of mine."
"That's nice, but who the hell are you?! And why were you trying to kill Isaac?" Garet called back.
"You may call me Darkfire, sir. And why does any assassin kill a man? For money."
"Who is your employer?!" Garet demanded.
"That's for me to know. For someone of your tracking skills, I'd say you would have to be a barbarian of the far north, correct?"
"Now that is for me to know!" Garet retorted.
"I thought so." Darkfire said, with a laugh. "To think, I was caught by a dunderhead such as yourself. It's quite insulting, I must say."
"If you think you're so good, then why don't we fight?!" Garet asked, leaning forward, preparing to go on the offensive.
"Not one for conversation then?" Darkfire smirked, moving in the similar fashion of Garet. "You'll never win. I can kill half a regiment with my bare hands, so think of what I can do with a sword."
"You think I'm afraid of big talk, assassin?! You'll have to do better than that!" He smirked. "Besides, I've received the best sword training in Angara. We shall see who can win." Garet lunged forward at the same time as Darkfire, and their two blades met head on in a shower of sparks and illumination. Garet swung forward several times, each time being blocked by the fluid fighting style Darkfire possessed. His adversary then pushed the attack, and using her agility, she swung in a variety of angles and each swing varied in power. Garet was hard pressed to block the sword's rapid attack, and he even stepped back to get some more room to maneuver. After he managed to lock his sword with Darkfire, he used his might to push her back.
The assassin frowned to herself. This man was a brute; to make matters worse, he really was as good as he said. Any normal man would've been cut to ribbons by her skilled strikes, but this man was far from ordinary. Luckily, she was far more than an ordinary woman, too. When it became apparent to her she was not going to win a war of muscle, she withdrew with her sword and leapt back several feet.
Garet, who was puzzled by the sudden defensive move on her part, rushed forward and tried to swipe at her. Darkfire danced to the right of his attack, and a red light formed around her blade. Garet stared at it as she swung the blade at him, even though she was more than seven feet away. A geyser of pure flame shot from Darkfire's sword, rushing toward the Luna Knight with the power of a stampede of wild mustangs. Garet leapt out of the way, rolling along the ground, but still getting seared by the intense heat from the attack. He rose, quickly realizing he had just stared down his own Heat Wave attack. Great. Not only was he dealing with a skilled assassin, but he was dealing with a skilled assassin who also happened to be an Adept. Well, now nothing stopped him from being able to use his powers. Garet pointed his finger at Darkfire, and several spheres of flames danced around him before finally seeking their target.
Darkfire was in shock; not only was she dealing with a barbarian with incredible tracking skill and brute strength, she was also dealing with someone of her own alignment. She scarcely recovered from the shock in time to dodge most of the incoming fireballs. One or two grazed her as she leapt and rolled from side to side. She frowned as she dashed in for a quick strike. Garet scarcely blocked his foe's strike and he tried to out muscle her when they finally locked together again.
"Huh. You're not too bad for a brainless buffoon." Darkfire stated with a condescending chuckle.
"And you're much tougher than you look." Garet stated. The two continued to try to out muscle each other, and it looked like Garet had the definite advantage. With one swift and strong swing, Garet broke the lock and sent the sword of Darkfire clear from her hand and into the air, where it impacted blade first into the dirt nearby. Darkfire stepped back a few feet and raised her fists. Garet frowned and sheathed his sword.
"What? Not using your weapon because I'm a woman and you think I can't fight?!" Darkfire demanded.
"No, it's because I wasn't trained to be dishonorable." Garet stated, raising his own fists. "Besides, it's like my friend Isaac. I can't stand it when my opponent has a handicap and I don't. You've already proven to me that you're capable of fighting." With that, Darkfire lunged at Garet with her left, and he pitched backward to avoid getting his jaw taken off. He countered with a right hook, which Darkfire promptly blocked with her arm before jumping into a roundhouse kick. Her foot missed Garet as he ducked beneath her high kick. Garet frowned to himself; now he was at the disadvantage. As strong as he was, there was no way he could match the assassin's fluid motions in direct combat. He would have to grapple where he knew he could win. With Darkfire's next punch, he grabbed hold of her arm and snatched the other one quickly. With one quick motion, he flung himself backwards and hurled her over him.
Darkfire gasped at the sudden throw and scarcely had time to align herself so she wouldn't get hurt badly by the throw. She stood quickly and turned to face Garet once more. The male Mars Adept charged again but suddenly dove away before he decided to throw a punch. Darkfire, confused by this sudden move, found herself held from behind less than a second later. She couldn't reach him with her arms, and the barbarian was too tall to hit him in the face with the back of her head. She was caught. No doubt about it.
"Okay, who are you?!" Garet demanded.
"I've told you who I am."
"Who are you under that mask?!"
"No one needs to know that but me." She smirked, quickly stomping on Garet's foot as hard as she could.
"Yow!" Garet exclaimed, almost letting her go. With his grip weakened, Darkfire broke free of his grasp, and Garet made one last desperate grab at her. She slipped away, but not without leaving her mask in Garet's hand. She spun around again with her fists raised to the knight. She realized instantly her mask was missing, and she would definitely have to kill this person, or die trying.
Garet meanwhile, stared at the mask he had somehow pulled right off the assassin's head. He tossed it to the ground and turned back to the fight. As soon as he raised his fists, he loosened his stance, and his face showed an expression of awe. In the waning moonlight, he could plainly see the visage of the woman he was fighting; her face, her hair. . . it was all the same. The way her hair rested past her shoulders, the fire in her eyes, the expression on her face; it was her. He dropped his arms completely as he managed to form a word.
"Jenna?" He said, softly.
Darkfire jumped slightly. He not only let down his guard, but he also had spoken her actual name. She eyed him cautiously. "Who are you?"
"Jenna. . . it's me. Garet." He said, still somewhat in shock.
Jenna could feel her face pale completely; as she finally got a good look at him, it was indeed the big, oafish Garet she had once known. He hadn't changed a bit. "Garet? That's. . . really you?" She said, approaching him slowly. "I. . . didn't know." She had tried to kill one of her best friends and she hadn't even known!
"I can't believe it's you. . . why. . . did you try to kill Isaac? Why are you an assassin?" He stumbled out.
"Garet. . ." She said, walking over to pick up her sword. As she did, she immediately sheathed it, and walked back over to the knight. "I cannot begin to explain to you, my friend." She sighed.
"You don't have to." Hissed a voice from the woods as a bolt of lightning shot to the ground at their feet. Jenna and Garet jumped several feet back and watched as about a dozen skeletons, each with eyes and hands glowing four different colors emerged from the forest. "Miss Darkfire." The lead skeleton hissed. "Consider yourself terminated."
Her career, although very short by the opinion of many experienced assassins, had been highly successful. She had picked up the art of being an assassin much quicker than most and she quickly became the best of the best at what she did. So far, her record remained totally unblemished; Darkfire's success rate was a full one hundred percent, a success rate to boast about to be sure. Although this made her considerably more infamous throughout the land with the more evil minded, she did not allow it to get to her head. As with any assassin, doing so would be fatal. Over her career, she had developed a single signature for her assassinations. If her quarry was asleep when she prepared to kill, she gave what she called the "Kiss of Fire", which was simply a kiss; a kiss that symbolized the touch of Hell's flames as the deceased would soon feel for themselves.
Darkfire folded up her spyglass and sat back, slowly drawing her katana and inspecting it in the darkness. The blade was red, almost as though the blood of her enemies had solidified permanently on it. The edge was a shiny obsidian black stone, sharpened to the point where it cut through the air like a razor blade. Her weapon had been forged to pierce the strongest of plate mail, but she was yet to have to actually attack someone with that kind of protection. Her small dagger was fashioned in the same manner, and she checked that after slipping her sword back into her scabbard. She gazed up at the gibbous moon and laughed lightly to herself. It was time to go to work and make Saturos cough up big time in gems when she finished. She rose up from the ground and moved toward Mia's house like quicksilver. Gracefully and quietly, she snuck around the grounds searching for the best venue in to the house. Her only stealthy choices were to enter via the front door or via the chimney. Behind her mask she frowned. It was either play the fool by jumping down the chimney which was probably housing a little bit of a fire, or play the fighter by barging through the front door. Given the two options, Darkfire pondered for a moment, deciding that picking the lock on a door was a lot quieter and more efficient than jumping down a brick shaft only to land on smoldering flames. The assassin smiled as she pulled out two small pieces of metal wire, which she used to quickly and successfully pick the lock to Mia's house. Carefully she cracked open the door, slipping into the house completely unnoticed. She could hear the calm and soft snoring of the Venus Adept in front of her, and she carefully approached him while drawing her sword. Again, a smirk drew across her face as she came aside the Paladin's bedside. Now she got her first chance to look at him.
Even in the darkness, she could clearly see his face; it was young, full of vitality and strength. His golden hair that sat in an organized mess on his head just added to this. To her eyes, Isaac looked like a very nice person and someone with great wisdom. Isaac rolled onto his back while sleeping, and she was now able to see the whole of his visage. After studying it, she made the determination that this person was quite handsome. It was too bad that she had to end his life right here and now. She lifted the veil of her mask to expose her lower face, and she leaned down and kissed Isaac softly on the cheek. Then, after re-covering her face, she drew her sword into the air and prepared to strike downward into his chest.
"Hey Isaac, do you know where Mia keeps the extra blankets?" Garet asked fairly loudly coming out of his room. Darkfire instantly halted and turned her head. Garet too halted in his tracks at the sight of this new stranger, especially one holding a sword preparing to kill his best friend. A moment passed before either could figure out how to react. "Hey! What are you doing here?!" Garet said, charging toward her, drawing his weapon. Darkfire quickly sheathed her weapon and darted out the door, into town. Garet began the pursuit immediately after, chasing the shadows into the night.
Darkfire charged away with all of her incredible speed and agility. She darted between buildings and shadows, hoping to lose the man who had been the first to ever detect her. She hid down a particularly secluded alleyway and seemed to meld with the shadows.
Meanwhile, Garet felt almost helpless as he chased someone obviously trained for this kind of situation. Whoever was trying to kill Isaac had made himself invisible through the dark night. Garet sighed heavily, almost giving up all hope of ever catching the assassin, until his mind turned back to his heritage. He was a barbarian, right? The barbarians from the Northern Mountains were supposed to be the greatest trackers in all of Angara, and he had received that training, so why couldn't he give it a shot? The Mars Adept sighed and cleared his mind. He trained his ears for the sound of movement and heard none right away, so he instead focused his eyes on the paths around him. The paths were dirt footpaths, and he strained to see any imprints in the paths that might give him any indication of where his quarry might be. He glanced back to Mia's house and the path leading from there. Stooping down, he ran his fingers through a very light and very subtle crease in the dirt. Someone was moving quickly and lightly here recently. Judging from the crease's angle, he walked carefully toward an alleyway where he suspected his foe awaited.
Darkfire watched from the shadows to this person playing with the dirt. What was he doing? Casting a spell or something? Darkfire watched carefully and examined her pursuer's work. Wait. He wasn't casting a spell. As the figure rose and approached her exact position, she realized: he was actually tracking her! Her expression darkened drastically as she pondered her next escape. The figure closed and blocked off the alley, and there appeared to be only one way out: up. Darkfire leapt from the shadows and kicked off the wall of a house and caught the opposite house's roof. Quick as lightning, she hauled herself to the wooden roof, leaving her tracker awed.
Garet was stunned at what he just witnessed; the assassin had just leapt to the roof of a house! How was he supposed to catch that? He watched her go on the move and disappear over the edge of the house. He sighed, and shut his eyes tight, he focused all of his strength into his ears, and he could hear the near silent thump of the assassin landing on the other side of the house, and he heard her take off quickly and lightly to the east. Garet frowned and charged off after her, keeping his hearing focused; his target was definitely in front of him now as he rounded around another house and gave chase. He couldn't discern how far ahead the assassin was, but he knew that his quarry was still moving ahead. Suddenly, the beats of his adversary's feet halted and he found himself doing so as well. He was now near the edge of town, and he was sure that the assassin was hiding again.
Darkfire peered around a barrel that was shrouded in darkness. This person was persistent, and very good. Never before had she encountered such amazing tracking skills in a single individual. Despite her excellent eyesight, she couldn't place exactly how big or how strong her pursuer was, so she decided it would be best to try to confuse him. She leapt from her hiding spot and began dashing from spot to spot extremely quickly.
Garet paused; he could catch brief glimpses of the assassin, but whoever he was chasing was moving so fast they seemed to phase from one position to another. Garet did not draw his weapon, but rather focused on each of the phases that occurred. In the darkness, it was easy to confuse the actual movement of the assassin and the mind playing tricks. The Mars Adept focused all of his strength and power into his eyes, giving him the eyes of a hawk. Finally, he caught glimpse of what was definitely his target and he lunged forward towards it.
Darkfire was dumbfounded. The technique she was using, though nothing special, always threw off pursuers, but tonight her enemy was far too smart to fall for it. She frowned as she turned tail once more; in the back of her mind she knew it was inevitable that she would end up having to fight this person, but she wanted to avoid the risk at all costs. Her only hope was to escape into the woods not far from town; there she should be able to lose this foe in the trees.
The Mars Adept frowned as his enemy again took flight. This was getting really old really fast. He gritted his teeth as he pushed his tired legs forward after the black-clad assassin once more. It was already clear to Garet what the person was planning to do; make for the trees and either escape or ambush. There were still many yards between them, and Garet didn't think he was going to be gaining on his foe any time soon, and the use of Psynergy would simply slow him down. He decided to press froward and prepare to fight whomever this person was.
Darkfire smiled as she reached the edge of the woods, where she happily leapt into. After making a short way into the forest, she quickly climbed a tree and shrouded herself among the leaves in the branches, confident that she would not be found.
Garet bounded into the woods and quickly lost sight of the assassin, and he sighed. The wind rustled the leaves in the trees, so hearing where his enemy hid was impossible, and in the dark forest with all of the cover would make the assassin nearly invisible. There was only one sense he could now trust, and that was his sense of instinct. Garet paused and thought for a moment. If he was the assassin, he would've hid in one of the trees to escape him. That was a start. However, how many trees were there in this forest? Garet squinted in the dark as he looked left and right. Finally, relying on his gut alone, he drew his weapon and hacked at the second largest tree in the area.
The branch Darkfire clung to shook. She peered down at her enemy; he was actually hacking at the trunk of the tree she was perched upon with his sword! How could he have known she was up there? Darkfire's mind raced as she struggled to stay in the tree as her pursuer beat at the tree with his sword several more times. She heard a snap, and looked toward where her branch met the trunk, just in time to see it splinter into a thousand pieces. She leapt from the branch before it fell completely and rolled to the ground.
Garet jumped as he saw the figure he had been chasing literally fall from the tree he had been hacking for no real reason. He charged toward the figure who had by now gotten up and began running again.
Her mind raced as she dashed through the forest. It looked like she was left with but one option: kill the person following her and then go back for Isaac the following night. The only problem was finding a field of engagement for a fight with her pursuer; fighting in close quarters with many trees wasn't her idea of a wise place to fight. It'd be easy to hide, but she couldn't maneuver anywhere. As if on cue, she came into a large circular clearing in the middle of the forest; the diameter of the clearing was about fifty feet, a perfect place for a sword duel. She dashed to the other side of the clearing and spun around, drawing her weapon, awaiting the arrival of her opponent.
Garet pushed through the last of the brush and passed the remainder of the trees as he crossed into a clearing; he halted as he saw the glint of his adversary's sword in the moonlight. He quickly drew his own and stood, waiting.
"You know. . ." a voice from across the clearing said to him. It sounded feminine, but totally steadfast and unafraid even after the chase he had been giving. "I've never been detected, let alone tracked like what you have done tonight. You are the first to ever foil a plan of mine."
"That's nice, but who the hell are you?! And why were you trying to kill Isaac?" Garet called back.
"You may call me Darkfire, sir. And why does any assassin kill a man? For money."
"Who is your employer?!" Garet demanded.
"That's for me to know. For someone of your tracking skills, I'd say you would have to be a barbarian of the far north, correct?"
"Now that is for me to know!" Garet retorted.
"I thought so." Darkfire said, with a laugh. "To think, I was caught by a dunderhead such as yourself. It's quite insulting, I must say."
"If you think you're so good, then why don't we fight?!" Garet asked, leaning forward, preparing to go on the offensive.
"Not one for conversation then?" Darkfire smirked, moving in the similar fashion of Garet. "You'll never win. I can kill half a regiment with my bare hands, so think of what I can do with a sword."
"You think I'm afraid of big talk, assassin?! You'll have to do better than that!" He smirked. "Besides, I've received the best sword training in Angara. We shall see who can win." Garet lunged forward at the same time as Darkfire, and their two blades met head on in a shower of sparks and illumination. Garet swung forward several times, each time being blocked by the fluid fighting style Darkfire possessed. His adversary then pushed the attack, and using her agility, she swung in a variety of angles and each swing varied in power. Garet was hard pressed to block the sword's rapid attack, and he even stepped back to get some more room to maneuver. After he managed to lock his sword with Darkfire, he used his might to push her back.
The assassin frowned to herself. This man was a brute; to make matters worse, he really was as good as he said. Any normal man would've been cut to ribbons by her skilled strikes, but this man was far from ordinary. Luckily, she was far more than an ordinary woman, too. When it became apparent to her she was not going to win a war of muscle, she withdrew with her sword and leapt back several feet.
Garet, who was puzzled by the sudden defensive move on her part, rushed forward and tried to swipe at her. Darkfire danced to the right of his attack, and a red light formed around her blade. Garet stared at it as she swung the blade at him, even though she was more than seven feet away. A geyser of pure flame shot from Darkfire's sword, rushing toward the Luna Knight with the power of a stampede of wild mustangs. Garet leapt out of the way, rolling along the ground, but still getting seared by the intense heat from the attack. He rose, quickly realizing he had just stared down his own Heat Wave attack. Great. Not only was he dealing with a skilled assassin, but he was dealing with a skilled assassin who also happened to be an Adept. Well, now nothing stopped him from being able to use his powers. Garet pointed his finger at Darkfire, and several spheres of flames danced around him before finally seeking their target.
Darkfire was in shock; not only was she dealing with a barbarian with incredible tracking skill and brute strength, she was also dealing with someone of her own alignment. She scarcely recovered from the shock in time to dodge most of the incoming fireballs. One or two grazed her as she leapt and rolled from side to side. She frowned as she dashed in for a quick strike. Garet scarcely blocked his foe's strike and he tried to out muscle her when they finally locked together again.
"Huh. You're not too bad for a brainless buffoon." Darkfire stated with a condescending chuckle.
"And you're much tougher than you look." Garet stated. The two continued to try to out muscle each other, and it looked like Garet had the definite advantage. With one swift and strong swing, Garet broke the lock and sent the sword of Darkfire clear from her hand and into the air, where it impacted blade first into the dirt nearby. Darkfire stepped back a few feet and raised her fists. Garet frowned and sheathed his sword.
"What? Not using your weapon because I'm a woman and you think I can't fight?!" Darkfire demanded.
"No, it's because I wasn't trained to be dishonorable." Garet stated, raising his own fists. "Besides, it's like my friend Isaac. I can't stand it when my opponent has a handicap and I don't. You've already proven to me that you're capable of fighting." With that, Darkfire lunged at Garet with her left, and he pitched backward to avoid getting his jaw taken off. He countered with a right hook, which Darkfire promptly blocked with her arm before jumping into a roundhouse kick. Her foot missed Garet as he ducked beneath her high kick. Garet frowned to himself; now he was at the disadvantage. As strong as he was, there was no way he could match the assassin's fluid motions in direct combat. He would have to grapple where he knew he could win. With Darkfire's next punch, he grabbed hold of her arm and snatched the other one quickly. With one quick motion, he flung himself backwards and hurled her over him.
Darkfire gasped at the sudden throw and scarcely had time to align herself so she wouldn't get hurt badly by the throw. She stood quickly and turned to face Garet once more. The male Mars Adept charged again but suddenly dove away before he decided to throw a punch. Darkfire, confused by this sudden move, found herself held from behind less than a second later. She couldn't reach him with her arms, and the barbarian was too tall to hit him in the face with the back of her head. She was caught. No doubt about it.
"Okay, who are you?!" Garet demanded.
"I've told you who I am."
"Who are you under that mask?!"
"No one needs to know that but me." She smirked, quickly stomping on Garet's foot as hard as she could.
"Yow!" Garet exclaimed, almost letting her go. With his grip weakened, Darkfire broke free of his grasp, and Garet made one last desperate grab at her. She slipped away, but not without leaving her mask in Garet's hand. She spun around again with her fists raised to the knight. She realized instantly her mask was missing, and she would definitely have to kill this person, or die trying.
Garet meanwhile, stared at the mask he had somehow pulled right off the assassin's head. He tossed it to the ground and turned back to the fight. As soon as he raised his fists, he loosened his stance, and his face showed an expression of awe. In the waning moonlight, he could plainly see the visage of the woman he was fighting; her face, her hair. . . it was all the same. The way her hair rested past her shoulders, the fire in her eyes, the expression on her face; it was her. He dropped his arms completely as he managed to form a word.
"Jenna?" He said, softly.
Darkfire jumped slightly. He not only let down his guard, but he also had spoken her actual name. She eyed him cautiously. "Who are you?"
"Jenna. . . it's me. Garet." He said, still somewhat in shock.
Jenna could feel her face pale completely; as she finally got a good look at him, it was indeed the big, oafish Garet she had once known. He hadn't changed a bit. "Garet? That's. . . really you?" She said, approaching him slowly. "I. . . didn't know." She had tried to kill one of her best friends and she hadn't even known!
"I can't believe it's you. . . why. . . did you try to kill Isaac? Why are you an assassin?" He stumbled out.
"Garet. . ." She said, walking over to pick up her sword. As she did, she immediately sheathed it, and walked back over to the knight. "I cannot begin to explain to you, my friend." She sighed.
"You don't have to." Hissed a voice from the woods as a bolt of lightning shot to the ground at their feet. Jenna and Garet jumped several feet back and watched as about a dozen skeletons, each with eyes and hands glowing four different colors emerged from the forest. "Miss Darkfire." The lead skeleton hissed. "Consider yourself terminated."
