Interlude: Izumherat 4
- Location
- ?
"You are trying to escape."
"In a satrapy with its only major port probably locked down by siege? If I wanted out I would have jumped ship at Wu-Jian and chartered to The Neck, and found some place the Realm hasn't reached yet."
You freeze, staring at her. She doesn't know what's there. How can she not know? Did her cursed mistress send her indirectly, without knowledge of her task? Is this another trick?
"Then why? Why would you go to that place?"
"It doesn't matter now. I told you to get it over with."
"You do not command me." you hiss. Your form shifts to that of Tepet Laran, clad as an afterthought in white silks. Your cloud-like, wool-textured hair billows like a cloak in the sudden breeze, your flawless sapphire skin reflects the lantern lights. A summer sky, in the flesh. One of your favourites. "Your torment will last for as long as I-"
She is already on her feet, daiklave unsheathed in an unconventional left-handed reverse draw and swinging up towards your torso at a low angle.
You twist your right arm unnaturally to intercept, bones popping and reconnecting, bulging with bestial muscle. White feathers burst through the skin, and the fingers fuse into a gleaming silvered talon that stops the blue blade dead in its arc. The impact resounds like a clap of thunder. The beam under your feet creaks and the waves of the sea shiver like a disturbed pond.
You anticipated the sword, but not the follow-up attack. You register too late that her opening draw took her a step towards you. You raise your left forearm to brush away her palm strike, only for a watery replica of her arm to form from her shoulder and strike your sternum with a crack.
"Pathetic." you snarl, and counter with a rising knee kick that sends her sprawling backwards to slam into the foremast. Her daiklave hisses as it clatters along the deck. "Your skills have clearly... have..."
You fall to one knee, still balanced on the beam, which creaks dangerously. You feel your muscles writhing and contorting, trying to compensate for a problem they can't identify. It feels like an anchor has been attached to you and is dragging you directly downwards, unable to stand. The strike. She has somehow tethered you to the depths of the sea. "Damn you! Release me!"
She stands, staring at you unblinkingly as she wrenches a dislocated shoulder back into position and picks up her sword. She takes a step towards you.
Cursing, you take the only movement you can make. You tumble sideways into the water. You land with a heavy splash, like a bronze hundredweight landing in the sea instead of a woman. You just have to ride out the effect. You have many forms that can breathe underwater, this will be easy enough to-
Oh, that's right.
A thousand tons of metal-shod timber rolls over you at the speed of a cantering horse, crushing your ribs and sending a plume of blood out to fog the water. The Kazudaris sails on.
You don't even feel the pain. The wounds will heal, but the slight done to you will not.
For a time, you bask in the depths as a school of fish, until you feel the weight receding. Then you leap to the surface, take your falcon form, and fly overhead.
The ship is on alert. The cursed woman is still on the forecastle, but now the commodore is with her, some blue-haired waif. She lays a white-gloved hand on your enemy's shoulder. A familiar gesture for a naval officer to offer a passenger. Interesting.
But there is no opportunity to attack now. A wise predator knows how to select the right moment.
Let that cursed island have them. You will act the scavenger this once, and feast on what remains.
[ ] Wake
[ ] Pursue another vision.
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