Shades of Doom, chapter 2

II: Dancing Shadows

As he ascended the flight of stairs to the entrance hall of the temple Hulhra turned over in his mind what had transpired from his meeting with the Night Mother. It made sense, the Brotherhood, despite its power needed protection, thusfar the imperial family had seen to that protection. If the imperial family were to ever for whatever reason to relinquish that protection then the Brotherhood would be forced to find it elsewhere. Hulhra ascended into the entrance hall of the temple and as he did so a shadow stirred in a far corner.

At the 'twang' of the bowstring the assassin jerked his head back to let a silver arrow pass within less than an inch from his face. Drawing his wakizashi Hulhra turned to face in the direction from which the arrow had come. A quick dash brought him to the centre of the spacious hall where the few torches lining its outer walls could not penetrate the darkness. In the darkness he relaxed his stance, bringing his empty left hand in front of his body, lowering his wakizashi. Suddenly, a movement in the stifling air, his opponent charged him, a katana brandished to strike. Hulhra deflected his opponent's blade with his own, guiding his opponent's katana along with his wakizashi while landing a blow in the lower ribs of his opponent. A feminine voice grunted in pain at the sustained hit and the shadowy figure stumbled aside. Quick to recover her balance the attacker took a defensive stance and started circling Hulhra, trying to find a gap in his guard. Hulhra took a quick step towards the shadowy figure causing her to spring back quickly.

'You should've stuck to the bow,' Hulhra stated calmly and plainly. 'You should know by now that you'll never win a direct confrontation with me.' Hulhra sounded confident, not boasting merely stating a fact.

'Is that the best you can do?' the girl in the shadows replied. 'We'll see who's the better assassin right here and right now.'

Hulhra shook his head, his opponent took the opportunity to launch a new attack. Swinging the deadly blade into a diagonal slash as she dashed towards the assassin. Again her blade met with Hulhra's wakizashi sending a cold, harsh clang through the silent hall. But this time the girl had been prepared for the parry and as she passed Hulhra she turned in her tracks, slashing horizontally at the figure behind her. This time her blade struck the glass bracer of Hulhra's right arm. Hulhra, using the momentum he had gained in turning to block the blade, shot out his left leg and delivered his opponent a kick in the back which sent her stumbling forward.

'Is that the only thing you can do,' the girl hissed, 'just parrying and counter attacking?' After which she quickly scrambled to her feet.

Hulhra stared at the girl. Her perseverance was commendable, if perhaps a bit foolish. A memory of his training years and sparring with the Night Mother flashed through his mind.

'You are not one for armour Hulhra,' she had once told him. 'It is for you to rely on speed and stealth and relinquish armour in favour for those two. This will make you vulnerable to attacks therefore you must learn how to fight without using your own force. Instead you must allow your opponent to make the mistake of attacking you. When attacking, a person is focused only on his own attack. This allows for a variety of defensive and offensive countermoves to be made all of which use your opponent's force against him.' He felt, for a brief moment, sorry for the girl facing him.

Once again she had recovered and was now scrutinizing him, her sword drawn back in preparation of a counterattack. With a flowing motion Hulhra moved forward, his wakizashi raised in front of him. In a fraction of a second he was upon her, in panic the girl tried to slash her blade forward only to find it preliminarily blocked by Hulhra's wakizashi, the following punch to her stomach made her slump forward into unconsciousness. Catching the girl in his left arm he laid her down gently and sheathed his wakizashi. Then he sheathed her own blade and laid it beside her.

After the fight in the stifling entrance hall in the temple Hulhra welcomed the cool autumn breeze on his face, but he had little time to indulge in this small pleasure. He had work to do, a mission to prepare. First he must gather information, the trick in there was not so much as to how or where but rather as to how much. Poking around for secrets too much would certainly set the imperial bloodhounds on his trail, but too little would make preparation difficult and the operation potentially perilous. Hulhra decided to go to his favourite haunt first to let the magnitude of his latest mission sink in and decide upon the best course of action. As he drew his black cloak about him the shadows absorbed his silhouette.

(c)2005 Deadyawn