Chapter 16 (Showdown at the Gauntlet (finished.) Gore, violence and the like.)

Katibree looked up from her stein of mead as an explosion rocked the very foundations of the tavern. She turned her head to watch as the last of the taverns’ consumers cleared out in a panic. So she’s here now huh? The chick can certainly get around when she wants to. I’ve heard that she notorious for shaking down bandit gangs… But an entire town? That doesn’t make very much sense.

 And on top of that, I just met her on the road going in the complete opposite direction about a week ago. That means she hauled some serious ass back here from wherever she came from.

 “Hum” she uttered into her stein of mead. Now that I think about it, she was booking it right before we met then too… She went by like a shot and then back tracked to check out what the commotion was all about. She’s been in a hurry allot lately it seems. Was she headed to the Kingdom of Zephilia?

 Actually I think that I remember reading something while I was researching Zephilia for the hit… Something about it being known for birthing great heroes –

 ”Shit.” Her name was on the list of hometown heroes for Zephilia wasn’t it…?

 The half elf set down her stein of mead as things began to fall into place in her mind.

 “Fucking perrrrrrfect…” she chuckled audibly as an even closer explosion shook the windows of the tavern.

 Let’s just hope these magic amulets I’ve been wearing since our last encounter will make being near her at least somewhat bearable. The assassin thought to herself as she gestured to the cowering barkeep for another mead. 

It was maddening having them against my skin at first because of the strength of the enchantments on them, but I barely notice them now. 

A single shaking hand rose up from behind the bar and slid Katibree a fresh mead across the length of it before once again retreating as another even closer explosion shook the tavern, blowing out a front window.

 A moment later, the tavern door swung open and in strolled a carefree Lina Inverse. The scene would have looked fairly normal if not for the occasional thug running by on fire and screaming in the background…

 “Wreckage and chaos in her wake” indeed. The assassin thought to herself, still not bothering to turn around.

 Chapter 17

Lina spotted the assassin immediately and made a b-line for the bar.

 “Is this seat taken?” she asked the half elf coyly.

 The half elf merely lifted the stein of mead to her lips with one hand and gestured for Lina to “help herself” with the other.

 Needing no further invitation, the sorceress pulled a stool out from the bar and sat down directly next to the assassin, pivoting her body to face the half elf and propping her head up with an elbow on the bar.

 “Wine please.” Katibree said to the trembling barkeep while gesturing to Lina casually.

 That same shaking hand came up from behind the bar once more, selecting a wine from the rack and pouring a drink unsteadily.

 This guy is still here? Wow, talk about dedication. Lina thought to herself as she observed the dutiful hand shakily place the glass of wine on the bar before retreating behind it once again.

 “I met two of your friends on my way into town.” Lina began, leaving the wine untouched.

“They were all packed up and on their way out of this dump.”

 The half elf merely sipped at her mead silently.

 “That was really nice of you, but it’s really not something that I would expect from someone who - -“

 “Why don’t we just skip the foreplay for now, Inverse?” the assassin interjected smoothly, finally turning her head and giving her mostly platinum hair a slight flip to look at the redhead directly.

 Lina’s ears began to redden as the implications of the comment sunk in, but she managed to keep her embarrassment at least somewhat in check for now.

“Fine with me, I’ve never been very good at beating around the bush anyway.” The sorceress managed, trying her best to sound nonchalant.

 God’s that sounded wrong after what she just said…She thought to herself breaking eye contact with the half elf in an attempt to regain her slipping composure as her cheeks began to burn. 

Katibree cocked her head to one side slightly, struggling to keep her face expressionless. She’s blushing? She can save the world time and time again without batting an eye, but send some sexual innuendo her way and she’s as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs huh? Priceless. How old is she anyway, it’s kind of hard to tell…

 “Look, I know what you did in Zephilia, and I’m pretty sure that you’ve already guessed why I’m here.” Lina began while twisting the steam of her wine glass between her forefinger and thumb absently, turning it back and forth on the surface of the bar.

 “While I can’t say that I really agree with your chosen profession…” the sorceress turned her attention away from the wine glass to look at Katibree directly once again. “I do understand that you were only doing your job, just like I’m doing mine right now.” 

“So the way I see it, we can do this one of two ways…” “One, you can just hand over the name of the person who hired you so I can deal with this mess from the root of the problem.” 

“And the second option?” the assassin asked lightly, lifting a mostly platinum eyebrow.

 She’s not taking this seriously at all. She has to have some idea of how powerful I am by now, so how can she be so carefree about this entire thing? I don’t feel like this is some elaborate ruse to get my guard down either, strangely enough.

 “Do you really have to ask that, Katibree?” Lina finally answered back.

 “No, I guess not.” the half elf sighed with a strange smirk on her face.

 “Unfortunately revealing the identities of my employers is extremely bad for business, so it seems we’re stuck with option number two, Inverse.” 

“Looks that way.” Lina agreed.

 After a few moments of silence, Katibree raised her stein to the redhead in a gesture of toast and looked at her expectantly.

 Lina merely blinked at her.

 “The way I see things, we’re just two women doing our jobs just as you said before.” “So regardless of the outcome of this once the dust settles, there shouldn’t be any hard feelings.” The assassin explained matter of factly.

 Lina couldn’t help but smile at the half elf’s demeanor as she finally gave in, picking up the wine glass. 

She’s definitely got some serious charisma. This would actually be pretty nice if we weren’t about to try and kill each other…

 “May the best woman win?”

 “May the best woman win.” Lina laughed in spite of herself as she rose her own glass, touching it to the metal stein with a *clink* before downing the contents within it.

 After downing what was left of her mead, the half elf stood, reaching into her coin purse and tossing some coin on the bar before turning to leave.

 She even tipped the guy… Lina thought to herself in bemusement. I’m starting to have some serious second thoughts about this entire deal now…

 “See you outside, Inverse.” - - What’s that noise, like something tearing all of the sudden? Katibree thought suddenly, coming to a halt and looking up in the direction that she’d thought the noise had come from, but not seeing anything out of the usual.

 “Right.” Lina replied, still lost in thought and totally unaware of the half elf’s sudden alarm.

 The assassin stared in confusion as what looked like a tear in mid air opened up and a large, green, clawed hand appeared through it.

 “What the hell - - Watch it, Inverse!” the half elf exclaimed as she reflexively turned and tackled the startled sorceress off of her bar stool.

 A red ball of energy hit where the two girls had just been, exploding on impact and vaporizing the bar, barkeep, and most of the back wall to the tavern.

Chapter 18

Lina, still slightly dazed from the force of the blasted and currently pinned down by 100 or so pounds of half elf not to mention several more pounds of tavern debris, did her best to scan the area for an assailant.

 Who or what was that? And why did she bother to save me..? If we’re going to end up fighting anyway, wouldn’t it have just been easier to let someone else do the job for her? The redhead wondered, as she squirmed slightly under the weight of the larger woman.

 “What a waste of a tip.” the assassin growled to herself as she shoved some larger pieces of rubble aside while picking herself up off of the sorceress.

 Where did it go? Back in that… hole? Katibree wondered to herself.

 She walked out into the open, trying to entice the unknown opponent to attack, once again exposing itself, but to no avail.

 “That was by far the rudest display of alcohol abuse that I’ve ever seen.” The half elf called out to the thing, not even sure if it was still around.

 “You should consider that the least of your worries, mortal.” A disembodied voice responded tauntingly.

 That answers the question of whether it’s still here at least.  The assassin thought to herself, still searching for the source of the voice.

 Oh great, a monster. Lina sighed to herself, still watching the situation as it developed apparently unnoticed.

 “Then, maybe you would be so kind as to tell me what exactly it is I should really be worried about.” Katibree replied sarcastically to the disembodied voice. 

“You’re pathetic soul.” the creature shot back at her nastily. 

“Oh and why’s that?” the assassin asked feigning boredom in an attempt to stall as well as fish for more information.

 “You made the mistake of turning up your nose at the generosity of the Monster race.”

 Ok, I’ve read a little about these guys. I don’t think my blades will work on this opponent then though… Maybe if I charged them up… but that still takes way to much out of me, I’ve only learned how to do it recently…

 “All we required was that you eliminate the sorceress Lina Inverse, and we would reward you handsomely…” “A mere mortal should have jumped at such an offer and yet you had the audacity to blatantly refuse!”

 “You’ve got the wrong girl scales.” “I’m sure I’d remember doing business with someone who has green skin and claws for hands.”

 “We Mazoku take many forms, however it was not you who we dealt with directly.” “It was your superiors, whom we proposed our generous offer to, and them who refused the offer in your stead.” “They claimed that you would not accept it, regardless of who we may be.”

 “Then they’d be correct.” The half elf replied, shrugging carelessly.

 “Keep up your bravado while you can mortal, your pathetic superiors have already been dealt with as well as the rest of your pitiful guild.” “I’m only tying up the last loose end personally…” the Monster explained mockingly.

 The guild…! - - I’ll deal with that later. The assassin thought, forcing herself to focus on the current threat.

 “I’ve heard enough.” Lina said, finally stepping out from behind a downed section of wall. “All you Monsters ever do is talk about how great you are and how puny we mortals are…” “Yet, you were willing to pay one of the pathetic mortals that you look down on so much upon to do your dirty work for you.” “That sounds like quite the contradiction, Soshurn.” The redhead finished as she walked over to and stood directly beside Katibree with a hand on her hip.

 “You know him?” the half elf whispered

 “I recognize the voice yeah.” Lina replied.

 “I-impossible!” Soshurn stammered. “Lina Inverse… here?!”

 “Yeah, sorry to rain on your parade, Soshurn.” Lina laughed while placing a hand on the back of her neck and rubbing it in mock embarrassment. “Kat here must have been blocking your view of me while you were taking your cheap shot at her!”

 Katibree glanced at the sorceress in slight surprise. What did she just call me? “And speaking of cheap shots, you sure are pretty cowardly to be immortal. The half elf added mockingly.

 “What was that?!” Soshurn roared angrily.

 “Yeah, ducking in and out of the astral plane while taking pop shots isn’t exactly the most macho tactic.” Lina teased, picking up where Katibree left off.

 Astral plane. Katibree noted mentally. And there’s that noise again. She thought to herself turning toward the direction of the noise. This time it sounds like it’s behind us.

 Lina turned as well, gazing in the general direction that the assassin was looking.

 Does she know where he’s going to - - There he is.

“If your last wishes are to see me as you die, then very well!”  Soshurn roared, extending his serpent-like body out of the astral plane.

 Well, we’ve goaded him into showing himself. The sorceress thought to herself. But, what do I do now? I can tell that Kat’s stalling for time… so she’s probably not sure if she can take him out or not. I know that I can, but as much as we’re teasing Soshurn…he’s still a fairly high level monster. And on top of that, he’s really good at jumping in and out of the astral plane…

 Normal black magic won’t work and I don’t know any shamanist attack spells that are powerful enough to kill him. That leaves 2 spells, the Dragon Slave and the Ragna Blade… I’d have to hit him dead on with the Dragon Slave so that the beam will keep going or risk frying Kat and I as well, and the way he slips in and out of the astral plane… I really don’t see that working.

 That just leaves the Ragna Blade… If he retreats to the astral plane while I’m using that, I’ll definitely get him anyway. But it’ll leave me mostly spent afterwards and if Kat decides that we should continue our fight afterwards - -

 “I’ll exterminate you both with one shot!” the Mazoku exclaimed, extending both of his clawed hands toward them, charging a red ball of energy in each.

 Katibree took a brief moment to glance over at the redhead, reading her body language. She needs time to make some decision? I know she can take down a small fry like this… OK, more stalling it is.

 “One last thing before you “exterminate” us “inferior” mortals, Soshurn was it?”

 “Begging for mercy will get you nowhere half breed, but it’s always entertaining none the less.” The Mazoku sneered.

 “This won’t take long…” she assured him. “Now, correct me if I’m wrong but, the whole reason that you’re here to kill me in the first place is because I refused to kill her.”

 “What is your point lesser being?”

 “Well that basically, that means that you and your Monster buddies didn’t want to fight her yourselves like you’re about to do right now.” “I mean, I don’t really blame you guys.” “She’s killed a couple of your Mazoku generals as well as a fragment of your main boss Shabranigdo himself…” “She also helped destroy an entire Dark Lord from a completely different world as well, if what I’ve read is correct…”

 The energy balls that Soshurn had readied began to waver slightly.

 “Which basically means that the reason you high and mighty Monsters tried to hire me was because you’re tired of dropping like flies every time one of you tries to kill her yourself.” The half elf continued thoughtfully. 

Well someone’s done their homework - - Oh, I get what she’s doing!

 “And it’s really a shame too, Soshurn…” Lina added. “If you’d shown up just a few minutes later you might have had one of us out of your hair for good… maybe even both…” “But now thanks to your screw up, we’re working together.” “I’m sure your superiors will be thrilled…”

 “Either way, I’d say your odds aren’t looking all too good right now, and they’re only getting worse.” Katibree added with a confident smirk.

 Soshurn’s yellow eyes began to widen as the gravity of what the girls where saying to him began to sink in.

 “… I’ve decided to spare you both for now.” Soshurn said quietly. “I was planning to drink in your anguish by making you watch this as the last of your life drained from your body half breed, but I’ve decided that it is not nearly enough suffering for the likes of you!” the Mazoku spat, tossing a battered communication device at the assassin’s feet before teleporting away.

 “See what your insolence has wrought your comrades and SUFFER!”

 Chapter 19

Katibree picked up the device and stared at it a long moment before activating it. 

A fuzzy, dark projection appeared above the two girls. The details of a man’s face that appeared to be laying on the floor could barely be made out.

 “Elder Sharn.” The half elf whispered to herself.

 “Bladedancer, this is an urgent message.” “I can only hope that this gets to you in time…” “The guild is under attack by demons who where marauding as human beings.” “Our weapons have no effect on them, and they are hunting down and slaughtering us one by one…” “They will not be content until they’ve slain us a- -“

 The elders words where cut off as a green scaled foot emerged out of the astral plane above him, crushing his head against the floor with a sickening sound.

 “Oh, how terribly clumsy of me!” a now all too familiar voice to Katibree chuckled gleefully as he went to pick up the communication device to get a close up of his hideous face for the half elf’s benefit.

 “Don’t worry mortal, you’ll be joining him soon enough.” “But until then, let me show you what we’ve done with the place…”

 The scene was one of utter horror. Mangled bodies where strewn throughout the halls of guild, many of which the assassin recognized. Some where even strung up as grizzly decorations. Countless lesser demons frolicked about smearing blood of the fallen on the walls and several higher end Monsters could be seen moving about in the distance.

 Soshurn turned the device back toward himself to speak. “Now remember, you could have just agreed to kill Lina Inverse and avoided all of this… Maybe even have been granted eternal life and gained some favor in the eyes of the Monster race.” “But you’ve made your decision, and anyone who isn’t an enemy of Lina Inverse is an enemy of ours and so must be made an example of.” “I’m sure that the anger and despair radiating from you as I force you to watch this will be most - -“

 The assassin cut the device off having seen enough, and began to walk off purposefully.

 “H-hey, you’re not going to just go straight back there are you?!” Lina called to her jogging to catch up.

 “It’s suicide!”

 “You are the last person that I want advice from right now, Inverse.” Katibree said quietly, while quickening her pace.

 “There are a lot of monsters involved in this and some pretty powerful ones to boot, you’re going to need some help with whatever it is that you’re planning.” The sorceress persisted.

 “I work alone.” The assassin stated dryly, never slowing her pace.

 Lina skid to a halt, staring after the half elf in frustration. Why won’t she listen?! She has NO clue what she rushing into - - “SHADOW SNAP!”

 What do ya know…? It actually worked.

 The larger woman looked down at the dart in the ground and then back at the furious redhead storming toward her expressionlessly.

 Lina closed the distance between them and stood in front of the assassin defiantly. “Look, if you go rushing off without a solid plan, you’re going to wind up just as dead as all your buddies over th - -“

 Suddenly Katibree reached out and snatched the redhead by the collar of her shirt, pressing a blade to her throat angrily in a lightning fast motion.

 Lina simply sighed quietly as a single trickle of blood ran down her throat, before trying again.

 It looks like I finally have her full attention. The redhead thought with grim satisfaction.

 “Just stop and think a second.” “If you kill me, it’ll be exactly what they wanted you to do in the first place.” “That’s probably why Soshurn left the message we just saw with you the way that he did even though it wasn’t his original plan.” “On the other hand, us teaming up is probably one of the last things that they’d want…” “You saw yourself how Soshurn hightailed it out of here just now.”

 She’s got a point. The half elf thought, releasing Lina’s shirt with a frustrated growl. I’m not thinking straight… It’s not her fault that these Mazoku are depraved assholes.

The sorceress wiped the trickle of blood off of her neck absently while she continued. “I’ve been tangling with Monsters for a long time now, and I’m sure the stuff that I know would be useful to you…” “And besides, I sort of feel responsible for this whole mess.” “At least partially, anyway.” 

“So what do ya say?” Lina asked, extending her hand to Katibree with a smile that could light the heavens themselves.

 She’s completely out of her mind, but she’s definitely got a strange sort of… charm.

 The half elf took Lina’s hand and shook it firmly. “What did you have in mind?” she sighed in resignation.

 “Now that’s more like it!” Lina exclaimed hitting, the shocked assassin on her back with a resounding *THWACK!*

 “What do you say we talk about this over lunch?” “I’m starved!” Lina exclaimed, already headed down the path.”

 “Uh… Inverse?” Katibree called after her.

 “What’s up Kat?” Lina inquired turning back around.

 The assassin simply pointed at the dart still embedded firmly in her shadow, while giving the sorceress an amused look.

 “Eh heh heh heh…” “Oh, that.” Lina replied sheepishly, blushing profusely.