Shadow of the Blade

The Mark

TALON:

Somewhere in the wildlands of Ionia where maps can tell no tales, here I am.  

The mark is an Ionaian witch or sorceress or practitioner of some kind of magic.   It's all the same to me.  They're all just otherwise ordinary people who, whether they know it or not, sold themselves for gods know what reason.  Money or power or to avoid loss.  They're all the same.  They always think they're different, that the trade they made is somehow better.  I've yet to actually see that be the case. We all lose everything in the very end.  I know because I'm often the bringer of that end.  God or man or sorcerer,   We're all doing it one day.  Not like any of it is going with us when we meet the Kindred.   I've seen what practitioners of magic do to themselves for whatever it is they want.  Sometimes I can use it against them.  One thing that has been pretty clear in my experience is that the unnatural power they've been given is not worth whatever they gave for it.

The keepers of the legacy of Noxus think this witch could be a threat to the empire.  They take no chances.  There always seems to be some kind of problem for Noxus in Ionia so I find myself here a lot.    

Right now I'm tracking her.  I can track anyone like a Freljord wolf but no one seemed to know where she is.  seems like anyone who asked our informants, found they thought they knew but couldn't seem to remember where she is exactly.  A selective form of amnesia. More likely a spell.   "Where do you think she is?"  I ask the informant currently standing in front of me.  Finally one of the more articulate thugs was at least able to tell me he thought she lived in an underground town.

That should narrow it down.  How many towns are underground?  Most people wouldn't be able to find such a place but I know where to look for that type of thing.  I'm as good in the wildlands as I am in the city.  This witch doesn't stand a chance, magic or no.  She'll be gone before she ever sees my face.

I'm not bragging.  I'm pretty much the best at what I do.  Only General Du Couteau has bested me.  And His daughter Katarina matched me move for move once but that's really it. The General offered me a choice and, having no ridiculous delusions of honor and how I might need to die for it,  I chose life.  Those failures were a while ago.  They will never be repeated.  The General wound up training me like his own and I'm even better now.  And failure is not an option.

So Now, I work for them, meaning General Du Couteau or Grand General Swain or whoever General of the week is, and they only send me out when they think someone will be difficult to kill.   That's what I get paid the big bucks for.  The toughest jobs.

I don't seem to be getting any information on why this particular witch is such a tough case.  In fact, I don't seem to be getting much information on her at all.  LunaBella Wintersong.  Known to most as Just Luna.  Her name means beautiful moon.  I can appreciate that.  I spend a whole lot of time working in the dark under the moon.  I suppose it is beautiful.

I'm headed to where the mountain meets the stream. In the Eastern part of Ionia.  If there is an underground town., I'd bet it is either there or in the hills to the west.  The mountain is closer.  I'll check there first.  

The day ends as I travel there and night is beginning to fall.  The sunset is actually really something out here.  Not like where I'm from.  In Noxus the lights and shouts in the taverns offer threats of drunks, violence, and other vices that lead men and women to do things people don't normally do.  It's loud and ugly.  I can see why Ionia wants to preserve itself.  The quiet out here is special.  I like it.  It compliments my natural desire to be alone.

One day they'll all eventually fall in line.  The Ionians.  Noxus is the Ruenterra superpower.  We're the strongest and the best.  If we weren't I probably would have chosen a different side long ago.  I'm just practical that way.  I've always done what I need to do to.  I probably always will.

I hear the stream bubbling up ahead and examine the exterior of the mountain.  It's no Mount Targon.  More of a really large stone hill.  My eyes scan the surface for anything that belies a route under it.    There seem to be several sets of caves.  indentations in the side.  One is pretty close to the water.  A necessary element of survival.  

I decide to make camp by the trees just off to the west of the river.  I could look for any entranceway down and find her now but it is best to hold off.  Patience is essential to the job.  In this line of work, you must know when to strike and when to hold back.

I settle down for the night.  About an hour before the light of dawn I hear a faint noise.  I'm a really light sleeper out of necessity for my role.  It's barely a whisper of a sound but I'm on my feet, crouched down, one of my blades out,  ready to strike.

A small shadow moves in the night by an adjacent tree.  Really small. Still, only a fool would completely disregard it in a land where the spirit world and the material world collide so easily that everything has the potential to be dangerous.

The beautiful moon illuminates the ripples in the stream.  The shadow stops at the base of the tree.  I can feel eyes upon me for a moment.  Then the shadow leaps up and bolts onto the grass on the banks.  I can see in the moonlight now, that the shadow is a black cat.  

I have great respect for cats even though they unnerve me a bit.  They're about as slick and stealthy as me.  I learned a lot from watching the alley cats as a kid on the streets of Noxus. I can move just like them.  This cat looks back at me in a glance and starts to drink from the river.

A couple of things about this cat.  One is I want to know what he's doing out here far from any town.  Not that it's unheard of for a cat to travel through a forest to a river by a mountain but it's not usual.  Another is why does he seem to be watching me yet not too concerned about me at all.  Unnerving.  I've always felt like cats know more about the worlds than any other creature.  I'm certain they know far more than they let on.  

I'm going to follow him of course.  This cat may think he can outmaneuver me but he'd better guess again.  My sharp eyes follow it to the base of the mountain.  I make my way carefully over.  Closer to where the cat is standing.  The moon glows in his eyes in the dark.  I don't want to spook him so I move slowly but he doesn't seem to be spooked in the slightest.  In fact, he looks slightly annoyed that it took me so long to get close to him.  He struts toward the mountain to the side closest to the flowing water.  

He trots around the side and leaps on a ledge by a groove.  Then, he appears to be gone.  I follow in turn determined not to lose him.  I see that next to the groove is some kind of cave.  Payday is coming.  I step into the dark and let my eyes adjust. It's just starting to get slightly light outside.  The cat is sitting impatiently licking a paw by a winding path in the rock leading downward.  

This has to be it.  I turn my back to the colors just beginning to stain the sky like blood and make my way down.