"Is this it?"

Toshi and Sierra had arrived at the only city in the general area that was directed by the assassin. It was a college town called Ebonheim. The two companions-by-fate walked into the nearest restaurant. The waiter came by and asked their orders. After they had ordered (Sierra had again ordered an unrealistically huge amount of food) Toshi decided to eat at the bar to talk to the patrons while Sierra sat at their table.

Toshi decided to try the man sitting to his right first.

"Hey, have you heard anything about a woman wearing black plate mail in this town?" It wasn't an unreasonable question. Women warriors and sorceresses weren't uncommon, but for anyone (even men) to wear black plate mail was unusual, it was considered taboo.

"Woman? Black plate mail? Sure. . .there's one over there. . ." the man pointed to a position on the other end of the bar.

Toshi looked in the indicated direction but the only people over there were a man and a woman whom the man was trying to pick up. Neither the man nor the woman wore black plate mail, not even any armor.

"What kind of crap are you trying to pull?" Toshi yelled at the man who gave him the more-than-slightly-faulty info, "Huh?"

The man was fast asleep and snoring loudly. A bottle of ale slipped out of his hand and broke on the floor.

"Stupid drunks. . ." Toshi complained.

"Yeah, they're pretty annoying aren't they?" a girl of maybe seventeen or eighteen years to Toshi's other side said.

"Did you overhear what I was trying to talk to him about?"

"Yup. You're looking for a woman wearing black plate mail. Why?"

"That's information I'm afraid I can't reveal,"

"I see," the girl said as she went back to drinking a glass of water. The girl had shoulder-length dark brown hair. She wore a dress shirt and a moderately long skirt. She was probably a student of the city's college; this was probably the school uniform for women.

Toshi waited. The girl looked as though she was about to say something, but stopped and shut her mouth.

"You know something?" Toshi stated as much as asked.

"Perhaps. . ." the girl simply responded, not looking away from her glass of water.

"If you do, we could really use your help,"

"'We?'" the girl asked, "I only see you. . .or are you a schizo?"

"The woman at the table over there and I," Toshi said indicating Sierra who was still eating her extremely large meal.

The girl chuckled, "Your girlfriend has quite an appetite."

"She's not my girlfriend,"

The girl chuckled again but said nothing.

"Look, if we let you in on what's going on will you tell us about this woman wearing black plate mail?"

"Sure," the girl responded as she got up and walked over to the table Sierra was sitting at. Toshi followed.

Toshi and the girl sat down at the table. "Hello," was all that Sierra offered.

"Sierra, this girl says that she might have a lead on the person we're looking for," Toshi said.

"Is that so?" Sierra replied, not looking up from her meal.

"Yes," the girl said, "I'll give you info on your search if you let me in on what's going on."

"Why would you be interested?" Sierra asked.

"My current semester at the college is over. I have vacation for another month. I'm bored out of my wits and I really need something to do,"

"Why don't you go to the beach or something like that? Isn't sunbathing popular amongst college girls?" Toshi asked.

"There are problems that can arise with sunbathing. Two words. . .'skin cancer,'" the girl nonchalantly said.

Sierra looked up from her meal to look at Toshi for a second. Toshi looked back at Sierra. Then Sierra went back to eating.

"Well? Will you let me in?" the girl asked.

"This isn't a game," Sierra warned.

"I know, I know! I just need something to do and right now it looks like helping a person in need will relieve me of boredom for a little while" the girl's voice was gaining excitement.

Sierra and Toshi looked at each other again. Toshi shrugged.

"I'll take your silence as acceptance," the girl said, "Well then. Let's go back to my dorm. We can talk there."

"Fine. Whatever," Sierra wasn't thrilled at involving this person in the whole situation, but if she knew a lead then they needed to know it.

After Sierra had finished the three got up and left. They walked across the campus to the dormitory area.

"Hmm, that's odd. . ." the girl speculated.

"What is?" Toshi inquired.

"There's no one around. Even during vacation breaks there are always a few people around here. . ."

"That's because we've warned them not to come here. Our employer didn't want to involve civilians," a voice from behind the three answered.

The three turned around to see an aged sorcerer wearing a green cloak and holding an oak staff who was standing about three meters from them.

"Who are you?" Toshi asked, he carefully and slowly moved his hands into a ready position to begin chanting a spell. Sierra slowly moved her hand to the short sword attached to her belt.

"We are Greenhell, an elite mercenary band," the sorcerer stated, "We've been told that your presence is a nuisance."

"Me?" Toshi asked.

"That's right, just you. . ." the sorcerer replied, "However, anyone who stands in our way may be taken care of as well."

Two other assassins walked came up from behind the three. One was a hulking swordsman wearing green armor and wielding a bastard sword. The other was a woman (wearing green clothing) and holding a razor whip.

"Hmm, these three must be allies of that other assassin you took care of earlier," Toshi said to Sierra.

"Enough talk! Now you die!" the old sorcerer commanded.

The swordsman and the woman with the whip charged at Toshi's group.

"DUG HAUT!" the old sorcerer slammed the tip of his staff into the ground causing large stone spikes to shoot out of the ground.

Toshi and Sierra leapt to the left, the college girl with them dove to the right. The huge stone spikes missed, but now Toshi and his companions were open to attack from the other two assassins. The hulking swordsman swung his bastard sword in a high arc for a vertical chop aimed at Sierra. She drew her short sword in an attempt to parry. The assassin's sword slammed into Sierra's much smaller blade and snapped the short sword in two.

Sierra stood up and drew her scythe while enchanting it with an Astral Vine. She charged head on to meet the hulking swordsman. . .

"I'll be the one you fight," the old sorcerer told Toshi who was about to help Sierra in her struggle.

"Whatever you say, old man. . .FIREBALL!" Toshi threw the sphere of compacted flames at the old sorcerer.

The green robed magic-user suddenly blurred and disappeared, the fireball flew off into the distance before exploding.

"What?! A teleportation spell?!" Teleportation was one of the most difficult magical feats to perform. "Well, if you can do that, you must be pretty good."

The old sorcerer didn't seem to care for Toshi's praise. He reappeared on top of one of the dorm roofs and threw a barrage of Icicle Lances down at Toshi.

"Balus Wall!" the only white magic spell that Toshi knew aside from weak healing; the magical shield absorbed the incoming ice.

Kleo ran as fast as she could. If she could make it to the guard station in Ebonheim's main district before it was too late then Toshi and Sierra could have a little bit of aid in their fight. These assassins weren't just your run-of-the-mill-hired-thugs; the members of Greenhell were good.

Kleo kept running, past the dorms, past the magic studies building, past the silversmithing building. . .then she stepped right in front of Kleo, stopping her path. It was the third assassin, the woman with the razor whip.

"You're not getting away, my dear little trouble-maker. . ." the assassin warned.

". . .dammit. . ." Kleo muttered under her breath.

"Nothing personal, darling. . .it's just that we can't have you going to warn the guards about this whole incident. I'm afraid that this is where you die," the assassin waved her hand at Kleo before she snapped her whip. Kleo sidestepped, but not fast enough to avoid the whip. It glanced against her left shoulder, drawing a line of blood that stained her dress shirt.

Kleo reached an arm into her shirt; she always kept her item there in case of emergencies.

"Oh, what are you doing?" the assassin inquired.

"This. . ." Kleo responded as she drew her weapon out of her shirt. It was a small shaft attached to a handle and a small metallic barrel. The sun glistened off of the shiny black metal that composed of the weapon's surface.

"A, a g-gun?" the assassin was a little worried. It was quite unusual for anyone to carry a gun; they usually backfired when used. Due to the downfall of Seyruun, technological advancement was not at it's best. Because of this, the gun had only advanced a little over it's original design by an inventor, (or some would argue pyromaniac) a short demi-human fox named Jillas.

The assassin laughed regaining her composure from the original shock of the unusual weapon. "Do you really think that you can managed to make that worthless toy work?"

The assassin slowly walked towards Kleo. Kleo trembled a bit but kept the gun aimed at the assassin's chest.

"Don't come any closer!" Kleo warned.

"Oh, come on. . .there's nothing that you can do to me with that piece of junk. Guns never work the way you want them to. It's worthless, just give up and I'll spare your life, don't and you'll--" the assassin stopped mid-sentence. The sound of a small explosion broke the air. Smoke rose from the nozzle of Kleo's gun.

Both Kleo and the assassin froze. Slowly, the assassin looked downward to her chest and to the small bleeding hole that was to be found there.

"It. . .it worked. . .?" the assassin asked in disbelief.

"It. . .worked. . ." Kleo responded, disbelief was present in her voice also, perhaps even more so than the assassin's voice.

The assassin touched a hand to the wound then held the hand up a few inches away from her face. She stared in shock at her own blood dripping from her hand to the ground.

"It. . .worked. . ." Kleo said again, excitement building in her voice. The excitement left suddenly as she realized what she had just done. She had brought a fellow human to a position that would soon lead to death. Kleo's face displayed horror at what she had just done. She looked at the gun in her hands as though it was some sort of traitorous symbol.

"I. . .I've just killed. . ." her voice trembled.

The assassin managed a weak laugh. "I'm not dead yet. . ."

The assassin laughed again, then growled and screamed in fury. "I'll take you down with me!" she yelled as she charged straight for Kleo, her whip seemingly flailing in every direction at once.

Another small explosion echoed off the buildings nearby. Kleo dropped to her knees. She stared at the gun, then dropped it to the ground. The assassin stood still then she too dropped to her knees. The difference between Kelo's and the assassin's actions were that after dropping to her knees, the assassin fell flat on her face to remain silent permanently.

"I. . .I have killed. . ."

"You're not bad," Sierra taunted as she panted. She stood for a second in an attempt to regain her breath. Her opponent, the hulking swordsman, did the same.

"You're pretty good too. . ." he taunted back.

The two had been at their deadly dance of attacks, parries, and dodges for about half an hour now. Sierra hadn't noticed where the college girl or the female assassin had gone, but she did notice when Toshi and the old sorcerer had slowly shifted their battle site out of view. Sierra took a quick glance around her to take in her current surroundings. The assassin saw this as an opening and brought his bastard sword in a quick horizontal slash. Sierra quickly hopped backward, narrowly avoiding the blade. She counted with her own slash from her Astral Vine enchanted scythe.

Apparently this assassin knew a bit about magic. Throughout the whole battle he had avoided parrying the scythe; he made hasty dodges instead. Even though this had brought him some cuts, none of them were serious and it was far better than trying to parry an Astral Vine enchanted weapon.

The assassin dropped to his knees, the scythe blade narrowly missing the top of his head. The assassin then brought his sword in at Sierra's lower torso with a quick stab. Sierra leapt backwards and again countered with her scythe. To Sierra's surprise, the assassin decided to parry the scythe this time. The scythe and the bastard sword locked together. That was odd. . .

The Astral Vine enchantment should have allowed the scythe to cleanly cut the sword in two. Sierra suddenly noticed that the scythe blade was no longer its deep crimson color. The Astral Vine had worn off! Sierra closed her eyes and tried to hastily concentrate enough to renew the enchantment, but the assassin used his bulk to shove Sierra down to the ground. The assassin raised his sword for a vertical stab and advanced.

"I'm sorry, Sierra. . .you're no longer needed," the assassin chuckled as he said it.

"Wait!" Sierra gasped, "How do you know my name? Who is your employer?"

"Why are you asking the questions?" the assassin said cockily, "You're the one who is about to die. Now then, be a good girl and be silent. . .permanently!"

Everything seemed to be in slow motion for Sierra. The sword began to drop, it's point aimed at her waist, an area that wasn't protected by her plate mail. The sword lowered, lowered, lowered some more. . .but then another slowly moving object entered Sierra's sight. A spike made of rock. It drifted towards the assassin's chest. The assassin looked at the rock spike flying straight at him and gasped. The spike cleanly broke through the assassin's armor and impaled him. The bastard sword dropped from his hands and lightly (for a sword) bounced off of the plate mail protecting Sierra's chest.

Time seemed to return to normal. Sierra looked in the direction that the missile had come from just in time to see the old sorcerer curse.

"SHIT!"

"You ought to be more careful where you lob those things. . ." Toshi taunted the sorcerer while wiggling his index finger back and forth in a "naughty, naughty" gesture that might be used to scold a toddler.

Sierra sat up, somehow or another she had failed to notice as Toshi and the old sorcerer had shifted their battle site to a position very close to her and the now dead warrior assassin.

"Ha! You haven't seen anything yet!" the old sorcerer said and began furiously chanting, "EMEKIA FLAME!"

A blue flame shot out of the old sorcerer's palm toward Toshi's position, he countered by surrounding himself with a Balus Wall. The Emekia Flame dissipated harmlessly around him.

Sierra wisely chose a spot safely away from the dueling mages to watch. The two continued on for quite some time longer, neither one gaining the upper hand. Both sorcerers were covered in small cuts and minor burns, but that did little to lessen their performance.

"Heh, heh. . .give it up little boy. There's no way you can win against me!" the sorcerer said.

"Little boy? Well, well. . ." Toshi looked as though he had about had his limit, but this new insult brought the flames of rage into his eyes, "This is getting ridiculous. It's time to end this, old fart. . ."

"Oh, what do you think some third rate sorcerer like you can do?"

"This. . ." Toshi replied calmly and began chanting.

"What?" the sorcerer asked, bewildered.

"What? No! It can't be!"

"No! Not the Dragon Slave! How can he be that powerful a sorcerer?"

"What's a Dragon Slave?" Sierra innocently asked.

An expression of sheer horror was plastered on the old sorcerer's face.

An eerie bright red aura surrounded Toshi. He positioned his hands in front of him, aiming at the sorcerer. A sphere of bright red energy formed in his hands and shot out at the sorcerer, a stream of spiraling energy trailing behind the energy sphere. The Dragon Slave slammed directly into the sorcerer's chest causing him to fly backward into the side of a distant building.

Then the Dragon Slave detonated.

Sierra threw up her arms to protect her eyes from the blinding explosion. Toshi silently stood in place with an evil grin on his face. Shards of debris flew in every direction. The huge explosion slowly dissipated leaving a heavy cloud of smoke. When the smoke finally cleared there was little more than charred debris and a crater where once multiple buildings had stood.

Toshi turned around to face Sierra. "Impressed?" he asked.

Sierra dumbly nodded her head.