Hey, fellas... sorry.. inspiration has been low lately... hopefully it will kick back up here some time soon... two more chapters with Lucientio... then you get to meet someone REALLY cool!

The fight scene was written my my good old friend Justin, because I SUCK at that type of thing, that's why is sounds kind of not-like-Cat sorta sounding... enjoy!

In the Summoner's Shadow

Part II Chapter VII

Fight fire with fire…

Sonja sighed. She sat on the porch of the old house, staring out into the night. Lucientio got them here shortly before sunset, and he and Xiv went in and talked with Arif, Lucientio's friend that was talked about. Sonja really didn't like him, but that didn't matter.

Now, she sat by herself on the front porch. She actually had been indoors for a short time, until she became bored… which case, she said she had a bad feeling and was going to go outside as part of her… 'Guardian duties.'

"Well, hello, little one… you seem bored…" Arif's old voice greeted as the seventy year old man walked outside. He sat in an old rocking chair and smiled at Sonja who was sitting on his porch rails. She looked over at him and scoffed.

"To say I'm bored is to say Sin has a bad reputation…"

"An understatement?" he asked with a smile. She nodded, then turned her attention back to the night sky.

"You are young to be on a pilgrimage… even as a guardian…" he told her.

"What's it to ya? I'm dying, anyhow…" she sighed and kept up her acting. He stared at her for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head.

"No, you're not! You're a perfectly healthy child, if a bit on the light side."

Sonja blinked and stared at him.

"What the who? How did you know?" she asked.

"I know a lot of stuff…" he told her, then looked out into the night as well.

"Tell me what you know…" she demanded.

"Well," he sighed and began. "I know that we revolve around the sun, not the other way around… I know about photosynthesis and the plants that use it… I know about your father and his marriage to your mother and your sister… I know about your father's guardians- the outcast monk and the drunkard,"

Sonja blinked and her eyes widened.

"You know about daddy?" she asked. He nodded gently.

"Yes… something else I know about…" he began slowly. Sonja stared at him with interest.

"Yes?"

"Is something you hold secret from everyone…"

"Yes?"

"Under your sleeve right there," he pointed to her arm. "Is a mark… not anything big… just a simple mark… signifies you as the worst thing you could have become… you assassin!" he hissed the last part. Sonja gripped her branded shoulder and glared at him.

"How'd you know about that?" She asked.

He chuckled and reached in his shirt, pulling out the same medallion she wore.

"I know about your borrowed red magic from Rye… I know about the do's and don'ts of your profession… you see… I am one, too…"

"How come you're not back at base?" she asked, glaring and whispering slightly.

"Well, Lieutenant, I am on an assignment myself…"

"Who are you targeting?" she asked. He sighed and kept smiling. He didn't seem to know she was there, and stared up at the sky. "Who are you targeting?" she repeated.

Still, no answer from Arif.

"Answer me!" Sonja demanded, walking over to him and standing infront of him.

Suddenly, before she knew what was happening, a flash appeared and disappeared just as quickly, and she felt a sharp sting across her arm. She glanced down at a long red streak from her elbow to her wrist, and noticed out of the corner of her eye- Arif was sheathing a hidden Claymore at his side. She blinked, then looked at him, frightened.

"Sorry to say this, Lieutenant, but well… quite frankly, you are the target…" he glared. In a flash as quick as his sword, Arif struck Sonja across the face with his heavy boots, sending her crashing to the ground right off the edge of the porch.

"Go ahead and scream… Xiv and Lucientio are asleep… they won't hear you… not under the spell," he laughed and walked over to her. She knelt on the ground, holding her bleeding arm. He had cut down to the bone, through all the nerves and veins and muscles… that arm wouldn't be used for a while…

"Look at me," he demanded. "I wish to see the face of my prey as they slowly die under my blade…"

Sonja glared up at the old assassin, then raised a hand out at him igniting the air in a focused trail of flames that flew directly at Arif. As the flames approach him, he simply smiled and mumbled a few words that Sonja quickly recognized as a null-flame spell. The fire hit the barrier and simply diminished into nothing.

"You cheater!" Sonja blinked and stared in disbelief.

"Cheating? Since when was that classified as cheating?" Arif just shook his head in laughter.

Sonja growled in irritation and kicked off the ground towards a wall, then sprung off of it and landed on the roof of Arif's house. Sonja looked down at him from on the roof.

"Are you coming up, or do I have to hit you all the way down there?"

Arif ran forward, putting his hand on his swords handle. He jumped forward at a tree trunk, kicked off it and flew high through the air towards Sonja. Arif drew his sword in mid air and brought it over her head, holding it in both hands. As he began his decent towards Sonja, he brought the sword down at her, using his own strength combined with the force of gravity.

Sonja followed him with her eyes, studying her every move he made. She saw the shine of the sword, then held up her hands and created a honeycomb-shaped protect spell over her head. The sword came down and hit the barrier with immense force, sending out a large shock wave.

The force of the shock wave pushed Arif through the air, knocking the sword out of his hand. Sonja kicked off, jumping after him. Arif landed on his back, a sickening crack following as his sword stabbed into the wood of the porch ten feet away.

Sonja began descending right as Arif did. She pulled up one leg into a knee and brought it down towards Arif's chest. Arif seeing the knee, quickly rolled out of the way causing Sonja to hit the dirt directly.

He put his hand down and pushed himself to his feet before looking at Sonja, who was holding her knee painfully.

"That," he told her, popping his back, "was some major barrier."

"Yes, well… you know… I've had practice…" Sonja looked at him and pulled back a fist and thrust it towards Arif's groin.

Arif blocked the punch and followed up with a crescent kick, bringing it high in the air and then down at Sonja's head. Sonja reached up and grabbed the foot as it came down. Sonja let go of the leg and dropped quickly to the ground to sweep him off his foot. Arif, extremely off balance, felt his leg fly from under him as he fell to the ground and smashed his head.

Sonja rolled backwards into a standing position. She raised a hand up and mumbled a few words followed by moving her hand down; this was shadowed by a large bolt of lighting that struck Arif in the stomach.

Arif jolted up wards into a sitting position, only to be beheaded by his own sword that Sonja held throat high infront of him. His body slumped and his head rolled off to the side. She smiled evilly, then stood above the eyes that stared up at her.

"Look at me, Arif…" she told him, holding the blade up to her lips. "I wish to see the face of my predator as they slowly die under their own blade…"

She laughed slightly, then stabbed the blade into his skull before walking off into the house. She coughed slightly, then screamed out in fake fear, running into Lucientio's room.

"Lucientio! Lord Lucientio! Wake up!" she pretended to cry, grabbing his robe and tugging on it violently. He sat up, snorting awake.

"Huh? What? Wha? Oh, Cricket! What's wrong?" He asked, looking at her.

"Arif! He's… he's…" she choked. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"Calm down… easy, girl… easy…" he tried to calm her down, but it didn't work too well. She grabbed his wrists.

"Arif was murdered! He was talking to me all nice and stuff, then he got stabbed by an assassin!" She blubbered. He blinked.

"What? Xiv! Xiv!" he shouted. The guardian blinked and ran in. "Go outside! She was attacked! Look," he held out Sonja's arm. Xiv nodded and ran out side.

Lucientio held Sonja to his chest, patting her back gently.

"It's okay, Cricket… calm down… it will be okay…" he told her. She kept the crying act up for a while, then pretended to fall asleep. He laid her in his bed, then left the room. Sonja sighed and sat up.

"The least ya could have done was heal me, ya bloody unthankful Behemoth!" she glared, rubbing her cut. She winced. "Ow…"

"Cricket! Good. You're up. Come on, we're leaving. If there's an assassin following us, then it's not safe here. Come on."

She yelped as she was suddenly hauled out of bed and onto her feet by Xiv.

"Ayah!" she shouted, falling when he stopped suddenly.

"You didn't see what the assassin looked like, did you?" he asked. She stared at him for a while, then nodded slightly.

"They had black hair, but that's all I saw…" she told him. It was true! She had black hair!

"That's not much… but it does narrow it down…" he sighed, then kept walking, holding her hand in his.

"How you doing, Cricket? Are you okay?" Lucientio asked as they walked out. She nodded.

"She's about as okay as it gets for a child who just saw someone slaughtered infront of her…" Xiv shrugged.

"Alright… come on, guys… let's get out of here before that assassin comes back…" Lucientio said, then started running, Xiv following him.

"Can you keep up, Cricket?" he asked. She nodded, running to catch up with Lucientio, sighing slightly.

Why was she targeted, and who targeted her?

Ooh! Scooby doo mystery time! Whooo! Anyhow... push da button, and throw me some ideas!