"Six hundred ninety-eight, six hundred ninety-nine…" The thief counted in monotone.
He looked up from the large pile of coins. "Come on Jihl, do you have any idea how long it'll take to count all this gold?"
"Shut up and count," Jihl snapped at the man. "I don't like it any more than you do, but orders are orders, and I wouldn't disobey this one. Isaya can be. . . irrational when he's angry."
"No kidding. You see him earlier today? I'm surprised all of Ionia wasn't after us after he wasted that old lady."
Jihl shook her head, mane of blue hair swinging about. "That man's a menace. Those little temper tantrums of his are going to cost us our lives one of these days. This guild doesn't run on murder. People start dying, they're going to ask questions. Then we'll really be in it."
Footsteps echoed down the cobblestone path, announcing the arrival of two more black clad figures, carrying a large crate between them. Without a word, they dropped it onto grass with a muffled thump, and retreated.
"Oh come on, more?" Jihl's companion groaned. "The biggest celebration of the year, and I'm stuck taking inventory."
"Quit complaining, or you won't get your cut," Jihl said, rubbing her temples. "I swear, do you ever get tired of bitching?"
The thief mumbled something under his breath, but resumed his work.
"Seven hundred . . . Seven hundred one. . ." He resumed, separating each coin from the larger pile as he counted.
He sighed and halted the counting. Already bored again, the thief looked up from his pile of coins.
The surroundings were quite serene here. He cared little for the history of Ionia, but he did know, as most did, that the city-state's center was quite old. Centuries upon centuries of civilization had started there, and fanned out with the years. As a result, the center of the city was dotted with ruins of ancient stone buildings that stood side by side with the new ones.
He and Jihl stood in the shadow of one now, in a small alcove. This particular building however, stood alone, surrounded on all sides by rolling green fields that glowed silver in the moonlight. What it had been, the thief couldn't tell, but the crumbling facades etched into the rock were quite a sight to behold. He breathed deeply. It was nice to be out of that stuffy old hideout for a change.
He sighed explosively. This was an affront to his intelligence! Here was the most skilled thief in this little outfit, and he was stuck counting coins like a common servant!
At the risk of being told to shut up again, he decided to try and voice his complaints to Jihl again.
She never heard what he had to say, for at that moment, something heavy landed on his back.
It was a perfect kill. The girl had leapt nimbly from the top of the broken wall of the old ruin, right onto the thief's back, as she once might have pounced on a rabbit. Before he could even try to rise, she had plunged the point of her dagger into the soft flesh of his neck.
She stood and turned to face Jihl, withdrawing the knife as she did so. Tendrils of incandescent green essence snaked up her arm and into her body.
"Well well, if it isn't the nine-tailed wench," Jihl snarled. "It just so happens we've been looking for you."
"What a coincidence," the girl said, brandishing the bloodied knife. "I'm looking for someone, too. Why don't you tell me where Isaya's cowering, and I'll let you live? This time."
"You'd actually be doing me a favor by killing that fool. But I can't let you do that just yet. No," She said shaking her head. "I think I'll take your head and show it to Isaya before I take his, too."
"Funny, I was almost hoping you'd say something like that. Mercy is highly overrated."
She flipped the dagger end over end through the air, catching it her arm outstretched, the blade leveled at the blue haired girl.
In response, she smirked and drew two thin swords from beneath her cloak.
"Come on then. You want to get to Isaya? You gotta get through me, first."
The fox girl was on her instantly. She raised the dagger and brought it down in a powerful overhand arc. The thief raised her own blades and caught the dagger between them. With a shove, she threw the girl away. She skidded backwards, sneering. Readying her dagger, she ran at the thief again. Again and again her dagger sparked off her opponent's swords, like striking a brick wall. Every angle was covered, every move anticipated. But anger and revenge burned in the girl's heart, and it lent her arm strength and speed. She was a blur of white as she lashed out again and again, sparks showering the two girls and ringing metal resonating through the air.
Despite having the advantage to two blades, the thief found herself completely unable to attack, so furious was the fox girl's assault, and before long, the thief stumbled backwards, bleeding from a long laceration up her left arm.
"You're good," She said with a grin. "Now I see how you managed to best Isaya."
"The world will be better off without people like you and him."
"Who the hell do you think you are, talking down to me like that?" She demanded. "I know what you do. You kill, just for the hell of it. We thieves don't operate like that. Except Isaya, of course. But I was planning on getting him out of the way, anyway. Now, who's really the bad guy in all this?"
"Shut your mouth! You have no idea what my motives are."
"It's irrelevant, honey. The point still stands that you're a cold blooded killer, and me, well, I'm a harmless robber."
"Like hell," The girl said, pointing the knife at the thief's own blades. "Harmless, yet you carry those around with you."
She laughed and twirled her swords in a circle. "Insurance. These tend to be more bark than bite, but they do come in handy when I'm pushed by bloodthirsty people like you."
The fox girl bared her teeth in anger. She had just about had it with this human and her insulting banter. "Oh I'll show you a push!" She cried, rushing forward again.
The thief simply smiled and dashed backwards. Taking her place where the two thieves she had seen bringing in the chest earlier.
"Attend to our guest here, will you boys?" She said with a coy grin "I'd tell you to leave her alive, but she's become too much trouble for that."
With that, she turned and sprinted away, echoing laugh following her retreat.
The girl cursed as she brought the dagger up again. This little distraction ratcheted her anger up a few notches. She wouldn't lose to these fools.
Without warning, the man on her right charged forward, an axe raised high over his head. The girl raised her own dagger and grunted slightly as the axe blade clanged off the flat of the dagger with a shower of sparks. Without missing a beat, the girl kicked the man in the groin, causing him to double over with a cry of agony. She drove the dagger into the base of his skull as he did.
Stepping away from the fountain of blood, she maneuvered to engage the remaining thief. A bandanna covered the lower half of his face, but the fear was evident in his eyes.
With a near-maniacal grin that bespoke hatred and bloodlust, the girl flipped the dagger through the air before catching it by the tip of the blade. The man had scant seconds to even register the action, and before he could react, the dagger was flying through the air before embedding itself in his abdomen.
He almost casually looked down to examine the dagger's hilt protruding from his solar plexus, before silently falling to his knees. The fox girl ambled over to the man and roughly yanked the dagger free before kicking him in the chest, toppling him over like a sack of bricks.
Flicking the dagger to free it of excess blood, she sprinted after Jihl, essence swirling about her in a jade cloud.
The cobblestone path wove through flat green fields, and the fox girl spotted her easily with her sharp vision. In the distance, perhaps 200 yards away, buildings loomed, backlit by colored sunbursts of fireworks. She mustered as much speed as she was able and almost seemed to fly over the paving stones. She must catch the thief before she left the plain at the city's heart and disappeared into the jungle of the city.
With a thrill she noticed that she was feeling something she hadn't felt in a long time; the thrill of the hunt. Since becoming human, she had never had the chance to chase down her quarry as she had loved doing so long ago. While fighting the girl called Jihl, she had slipped into a dark corner of in her mind, one that she had last occupied as a fox. It was a primal place of pure instinct, a place that longed to see spilt blood.
And she loved every minute.
The dot on the horizon that was Jihl steadily grew larger, and the fox girl could nearly savor the taste of victory. It was evident now that she was heading back towards the Placidium, likely hoping to hide in the throngs of people enjoying the Festival.
She would not let that happen.
The two reached the shadow of the Placidium, and now Jihl happened to look behind her. Even at the distance, the fox girl could see her eyes widen in fear.
As expected, the cloaked thief tried to cut through a milling crowd of citizens. She tore a swath through the sea of bodies, clutching her bleeding arm. She was too slow. The fox girl closed the distance between them, shouldering past men, women, and children alike.
The two emerged in a small plaza, surrounded on all sides by buildings and people that watched on in puzzlement. Desperately, the thief scanned the area for an escape.
Grinning, the fox girl slowly stepped closer, dagger in hand.
Then, the thief's voice rang out across the rooftops. "Guards!" She called shrilly. "Guards, help me, she's trying to kill me!"
Around the plaza, men in chain mail with swords and shields sprang into action, converging on the source of the panicked cries.
"There!" Jihl cried, pointing at the girl with her uninjured arm, palm dripping blood. "Stop her, I beg you!"
The girl whirled about, scanning the plaza from under her hood. Wordlessly, the town guards closed in on her from all sides in a loose circle formation, citizens murmuring amongst themselves in shocked confusion. She glanced back at Jihl.
With a mocking grin meant only for her, she turned tail and ran away once more.
The girl cursed under her breath and gritted her teeth. This was bad. Everyone had seen her chasing the girl, and she had a bloodied dagger in her hands. She couldn't talk her way out of this one.
She'd have to fight. She didn't have to kill though, that would take too much time. No, she thought, I must only wound them.
She sprinted towards a pair of guards that Jihl had been standing behind. One, closer to her than the other, raised his sword to slice at her. She was too quick. She ducked under his horizontal swipe and dragged the dagger's blade across his thigh, causing him to cry out behind her and stumble to one knee. The next guard brought up his long, rectangular shield, in effect creating a wall of sorts. The girl sprinted up the flat surface and sprung off the top, flipping over the stunned guard. She landed lightly behind the man and slashed upwards and across her body with the dagger, carving a long scarlet line up the man's unarmored shoulder. He dropped his shield in pain, and the fox girl turned and resumed her chase.
Ahead, she saw the fleeing form of Jihl. She had chosen a poor path of escape, for she was running down a long street hemmed in by high buildings, with no way to break the fox girl's line of sight on her.
As she gave chase, the girl saw the thief round a corner at the end of the street, prompting her to speed up to regain sight of her.
Around the bend, she caught sight of Jihl climbing a brick wall of about eight feet. She saw the end of her cloak floating down the other side of the wall. Another second, and she would have lost the thief for good.
Not to be outdone, the fox girl leapt onto a nearby fence and sprinted along the narrow beam before jumping onto the wall and down into the alley on the other side.
She heard the thief audibly curse as she turned around and saw her still following.
Before long, Jihl entered a large, verdant courtyard.
"Isaya!" Jihl called out at the top of her lungs. "Isaya, get out here!" At the far end of the courtyard was an old stone building. Jihl planted her back to this, arms against the stone at her sides.
"Looks like you're running out of places to run." The fox girl said menacingly as she entered the courtyard.
"Perhaps we should stop running then," A new voice called from a balcony above. "Now that we have the home field advantage."
The fox girl looked up and removed her hood. "Isaya." She greeted him calmly. "You've been looking for me?
"Day and night, baby doll; ever since our last date." He said as he gestured to his bandaged face. But It would seem you've saved me the trouble."
He snapped his fingers, and out of the shadows stepped five cloaked thieves; two on each side, and three that stepped in front of the motionless Jihl. The girl shook her head. No matter how many of these fools she put down, there was always more to take their place.
"Don't do this, Isaya." She called up to the man. "It's you I want. No one else has to die. Won't you come down and play?"
"That's precious. I think someone's overestimated their talents a little." He said. He jumped from the balcony to land lightly on the grass in front of the group of three thieves.
"Well if that's how it's going to be . . ." The girl said quietly to herself. She readied the dagger and pounced on the thief at her left.
She struck him across the jaw with her free hand, causing his head to tilt sharply with the impact. An instant later, the girl brought her elbow back to slam into his nose, causing the head to reel backwards, exposing the neck. She swung the dagger in a wide arc that sliced into the soft flesh, severing his jugular.
He was on the ground before anyone could react.
The thief that had been on her right was the first to recover. He lunged at the girl with a long sword, but she swiftly ducked under it and got in close, driving the dagger into his side, right where his kidney would be.
Isaya was shouting something, and the remaining three thieves jolted into action, moving in front of Isaya towards her.
She briefly recalled her last fight with Isaya. She had used magic then. Could she do it now? She didn't know, but it was worth a shot.
Closing her eyes and tightening her focus, she silently called the magic that lay dormant inside her into action, in the way she had remembered doing before. Then, with a start, she felt the familiar rush of energy surging through her once again.
She willed it to take a physical shape, and when her eyes opened again, she was surrounded with three dancing balls of spectral blue flame.
With a malicious smile, she spun on the ball of her right foot, the ghostly cobalt embers flying towards the men. A ball of flame exploded on the chests of each one, sending them flying across the courtyard, where they lay still.
Then only one threat remained. The girl summoned another sphere of flame to her right hand, and with a flick of her wrist, it hurtled through the air trailing blue light. It slammed into the balcony with a small explosion, and collapsed the structure.
With a shriek, Jihl, who had been standing under it, attempted to move. She was too late. Pieces of stone and masonry rained down on her head, and she too, collapsed motionless.
Isaya looked at the girl dumbly as she raised her right hand. Essence rose from the corpses that littered the courtyard, and tendrils of iridescent energy rose into the air, coalescing into a small sphere above the palm of the girl's hand. It sunk into her hand and into her veins, which glowed faintly under her skin for a few moments.
This done, she at last leveled her gaze at Isaya. "Perhaps it's you who's overestimated his abilities." She said coolly as stepped towards him, prompting him to move away. "Or rather, those of your friends"
"Look, we can work this out . . ." He said, voice trembling.
The girl shook her head. "Did you 'work it out' with that woman you killed in cold blood? I didn't think so."
"Fine. I know when my game's up." He said, finding an ounce of courage at last. "Make it quick."
"Oh come now, Isaya, don't you trust me?" She replied.
She raised her right arm, and her hand became wreathed in cobalt flames. With a blinding flash, they leapt forward to bathe the man's chest in their teal glow. He screamed and fell to his knees.
When she halted the flames, his entire body was blackened, and blue flames glowed from cracks in the skin.
His head rolled back, and his agonized eyes met the girl's own. "Who are you?" He whispered.
The girl looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying simply. "I am Ahri."
With that, she moved behind the shocked, dying man and yanked his head back by his hair. In one smooth motion, she drew the dagger's blade across his throat, ending his life.
She threw him to the floor and stuck the dagger in her belt with trembling hands.
She had expected to feel elated with Isaya's death. She had expected to be ecstatic at having finally exacted her revenge.
But all she felt inside was sinking emptiness. She looked down at her hands, now stained with blood. Whether or not they had deserved it was irrelevant to her now, for the mere thought of the lives she taken made her sick to her stomach.
She recalled with horror what she had become earlier that night. She had enjoyed chasing Jihl, and had savored the thought of killing her. She had laughed in the faces of the thieves as she had blasted them with fatal bursts of flame, and stolen their essence.
She really was a monster after all.
She had named herself, as the woman who had saved her life had suggested. She had named herself Ahri. But did she really deserve a name like that, after what she had done tonight?
"Nothing is written in stone," Ahri said softly, watching blood drip from her hands. "I choose my own fate. And I choose to be human, not an animal." There would be no more animalistic blood frenzies. She vowed it. She turned to Isaya's corpse. "And," She said, raising a hand to it. "There's only one way to do that." Essence sparked through the air and raced up her arm.
She turned to leave, but a pained groan stopped her in her tracks.
She whirled, and saw Jihl lying under a pile of rubble. Her blue hair was now black and matted with blood from a gash on her head.
"You're still alive," Ahri remarked in an almost bored tone.
"Yeah," She said. She spat blood into the dirt. "But you'll take care of that, I guess."
Ahri shook her head. "No. Killing you won't bring Ahri back. I'm done here." She was disgusted with herself and the death she'd wrought. She could stomach no more tonight. She turned to leave, but stopped when Jihl spoke behind her.
"You're really something, you know that? You just killed everyone here, and now you pretend like you have some set of morals to follow? You make me sick."
Ahri pulled her hood up and casually regarded Jihl, blood trickling from the corner of the thief's mouth. "You'll have to excuse me if I choose not to take your opinion to heart. I don't need to explain myself to anyone, least of all you." Ahri said evenly.
Jihl said nothing more.
Ahri turned her gaze from the girl to the horizon ahead. The sun was just starting to rise, tingeing the dark sky around it a dull orange. She took a deep breath of the cool dawn air and closed her eyes, feeling the rays of the sun play across her face.
Back to the old life. Her Humanity wouldn't earn itself, after all.