Nigkala Tales Pt. 23: Blurred Lines

"I've been in a fair number of fights. You may have noticed I have a few scars?"

"I did. Ticklish ones."

"Well, I got some of them from some overpaid thugs. There's even a few from an ex-girlfriend. Seems she didn't like to share me. I'm no cook, but I can survive in any city. You already know I can please a lady. I am also good at finding things in the market that others cannot find."

"I see. You need help between cities, but do well within one. Have you ever spent any time in the wilderness?"

"As little as I can. Usually when I decide to see the sights of a new city."

"You mean when they get wise to you?"

"Well, some might be thankful I departed."

I gave a chuckle. "So you went city to city. Were you by yourself or with others, perhaps riding along with a merchant?"

"I always could find a merchant willing to take a passenger who was good at telling a good story along the way. A few times I had to walk, but I was usually in a cart or wagon telling my tales."

"I have a distance to go, but we will pass a number of towns and cities along the way. Are you willing to join me?"

"Where are you headed?"

"I don't want to say just yet, but a place north of here, but first we would head east to get a better route north."

"Hmm. I was in that town a few months ago. They might remember me unkindly. But if we don't tarry, it should be all right."

"Good. We'll need to do some shopping in the morning. You'll need some things. You can show me your skill at the market, but no mischief allowed without my say-so."

"Huh? I can't have my fun?"

"No. I won't have you bring on extra trouble to my mission. However, we may encounter someone who needs a lesson. They are acceptable prey. As is anyone I hurt, not just toss around. I do have my own reputation to protect, and don't want people curious about me, or us."

"Secret mission, huh?"

"Only until it is completed. As things have been decided, you can go back to your room, or stay with me. But be ready to go shopping early in the morning. I want to leave quickly."

"Regrettably, I must leave, as my things are elsewhere. But I shall return first thing." He got out of bed, dressed, and left.

"Cut!"

Our next scene was in the market, where I deliberately bought some eggs with my fake arms, as well as other food items. I also got a bedroll for him. We left without incident, but we were followed out of town by three thugs and one of the thief's marks.

"Action!"

With my hands on the side away from him, I cast a spell. Some lights appeared near my hands, ending with a red glow. It only lasted a few seconds, and the lights were small, but the camera sees all.

"Hugo, we are being followed."

"Where?"

"Stop looking. They'll notice. We are nearing a good place to fight. See that tree over there with the fallen branch? On the other side of the road is a small hill. It is not much cover, but can hide us long enough to ambush them. When I say so, turn off the path and follow me."

"Okay. You sure they are after us?"

"Yes. Or, more properly, after you. It seems someone noted you and their loss."

"I didn't -"

"Hush.... Now." I then rushed off the path and headed up the hill, stopping and then crawling up to the crest. I used a small mirror to look over the crest. "Get ready to run and attack." After a few moments, I returned the mirror, backed up a few feet and stood. Hugo stood also. I whispered, "Now," then ran over the top of the hill and launched into the air to come down in the middle of them. With my prop weapons, I lay into them, leaving bloody lines on them, and even causing a prop hand, and later a prop arm to be sliced off. Hugo also came, and showed he was no slouch, eviscerating his opponent before I finished off the other three. During the fight, one lower breast slipped out.

After replacing my breast back in my top, I said, "Do you recognize any of them from last night? I do."

"Yeah, I do also. The others look like hired thugs." He then began to go through their things, collecting anything of value.

"Quickly, I don't want to stay here, and we will need to wash soon to get this blood off us before we enter the next town."

"Actually, fresh blood might be better."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. They'll think you are someone to not cross, and for one of your appearance, that is fairly normal."

I looked at him a bit, and then said, "I hope you're right. Come, let's be off."

We left, and walked down the path, and out of the scene.

"Cut!"

The director quickly reviewed the fight scene, with all four cameras, and then said, "Good. We don't need to reshoot it." On to the next scene.

Later that day, we shot our entrance to the same town set as before, but altered to make it look like a different town. We then broke for lunch and regrouped to the river set, where we shot the scene where we waited for a boat, and then bargained for passage. 'Hugo' did the negotiation, with emphasis on my volatile temper and our need to be on the boat. After securing passage, he told me he got a discount.

After a set change, we disembarked in a new town, and called it a day. The next day, we did a montage of travel, with one night in the wilderness having sex. During our montage, I had explained to Hugo who I was seeking and where. The travel ended up in the city of Demon Breath. The day after, was centered more on Hugo, with his seeking information on the mage, Pulse.

"Action!"

The next bit to be filmed was the entry to the first evil lair, and sneaking down to where Pulse was being held. Hugo got to pick the locks while I watched and covered him. I snuck up on two guards and beheaded them with my sword. The prop guys did the mannequins up good, and lots of blood gushed out.

When we came to where Pulse was, we found her with her hands encased in metal gloves held by chains, and she also had a gag in her mouth.

"Hugo, keep watch. I'll take care of this." He nodded, and I pulled out my prop knife. I slashed it against the hinge, which caused the magnetic seal to break, letting it be cut off. Pulse then pulled, and it unfolded on the lock and let her hand out. I did the same to the other.

As I was slicing open her shackles, I said, "I am Obsidian, a friend. He's with me. Time to leave."

Pulse whispered, "We must free others. Not only is it right, but it will distract them, and some may escape."

"Okay, as long as it doesn't slow us down."

"Follow me." She first went to others in this wing, and when I saw her start to cast, I reached over and grabbed her wrists.

"Let me. The sound of my blade is not as noticeable." I then sliced through the bars, causing the door to open.

"I'm impressed." We then headed further in and released seven others.

As we left the wing, she turned to go further in, Hugo said, "No time. I hear guards coming. We must hide."

Pulse said, "Over there." And she pointed beside a door. "We can attack from behind."

I saw there wasn't room for all three, but looking up, I smiled. I put my blades into my lower hands and placed one leg on the wall behind me and leaned to the other. I then proceeded to push against both and walk up the walls until I was at the ceiling, twenty feet up. I noted several on set were bug-eyed, as I climbed up without any support, not even a safety wire.

Two guards came in with a prisoner between them. After coming through, I jumped down and landed on my feet before quickly smashing the guards heads together, dropping them. "They won't be giving the alarm. You there, best to leave with us." Looking at Pulse and Hugo, "We have no more time. We must leave now." I then headed out the door.

"Cut!" Quickly, a buzz arose about my hanging from the ceiling. So the director said, "Everybody, please remember she climbed Mount Everest. I'm sure this was a piece of cake. Quiet, please." The buzz stopped, but the issue was clearly on their minds.

We shot a few scenes of us leaving, with Pulse using her destructive magic once the alarm was raised. I sliced through doors and locks with my own weapons, clearing the way for us and others following us. We then fled into the poorer part of the city, where the guards would have more trouble searching.

We discussed my plan to wait a week, and then sneak out of the city. The three of us spent two days hiding, but Pulse convinced us we had to leave quickly. We needed to get horses, food, and supplies, to get to the next city and quickly. Hugo was sent for these, with some charms from Pulse to locate good horses. I stayed to guard Pulse. When Hugo came back leading three horses, Pulse rolled her eyes. She assigned each horse, and I got the largest. She had to show us how to pack the horses and also how to mount and ride.

Knowing this scene was in the movie, I had designed my outfit so that when I sat on a horse, I was almost flashing. If I leaned a little to the side, or twisted a little, or encountered a bit of wind from the front, then my skirt would fail to cover me adequately. This was noted, and Pulse said there was no time to fix this, as we had to leave immediately. We then headed out.

When we came to the gate, I led, waving my sword as we charged. Pulse cast a number of spells to knock out the guards. Hugo followed, and the peasants got out of the way quickly. Once through the gate, Pulse aimed at the arch over the gate, and her spell collapsed it, making pursuit difficult. Hugo's complaints made it easy for the audience to know we traveled the main path for two hours, before finding a good place for an ambush. That was all for today's filming.

In the morning, the prop guys checked us over extensively to ensure all the gimmicks were in place, on us and the pursuit team. When all was ready, the director yelled, "Action!"

On cue, all three of us looked up briefly. Pulse said, "We have lost the element of surprise. Prepare yourselves, they are upon us." A moment later, they came into view. We saw ten approaching us, two more in back were some kind of mage, and one was a leader, in better armor. The rest were guards. All the mages began to cast spells, as did I. However, while their spells would show as special effects headed towards others, mine just made my body glow briefly. Hugo and I went to meet the guards, and I cut down three before they realized my lethality. Hugo was keeping two occupied, and one headed for Pulse. The leader stayed back to command the troops.

Pulse managed to dispatch the guard coming after her, but was having difficulty with the mages. Hugo finally took one down, but wasn't in great shape. I had taken two more down, so the leader came to attack me. He thought to run me through with his pike, but instead I jumped over him, flipped and twisted, and landed with my (trick) blade in his back with lots of gore pouring out. That was enough to draw one of the enemy mages off of Pulse, and he began to attack me. I ducked a bit, but I also counter-spelled, even as I took down another guard, leaving one guard left alive. Hugo had taken the second by this time. With a contemptuous swing, I decapitated my guard.

"I'm coming for you, mage."

"You don't have anyone to hide behind anymore. Take this!" He cast some spell at me.

I sent my lower arms into casting a shield, while I advanced on him, and he only got one more spell off before I took him down by slicing him in half from neck to groin. The shock of that was enough to distract the other mage, and Pulse got a spell through that set him on fire before exploding him.

"Cut!" The pyrotechnic team rushed to put the fire out on the actor, and check that he was okay. He indicated he was.

Almost immediately, we continued. "Action!"

Hugo began to search the bodies after I pulled them to the side in a neat row. Pulse cast a spell to bring the horses together, so we could collect them. As we did, Hugo passed a scroll to Pulse.

"This scroll commands this guy here to capture me and kill all with me. It describes my magical abilities, and it describes you, Obsidian, as a powerful warrior. There is no mention of your magic, and even more curiously, it fails to mention Hugo."

"Yeah. What about that magic? You've been holding out on us."

"Like Pulse, I can use magic, but I focus on myself, not others. I am a spell blade. I tried to be an attack mage, but it doesn't work well for me. My form, however, is well suited to the sword, so I mix them both. Don't tell others. The longer no one knows I do magic, the longer I'll have that edge when needed."

"Hugo, I have heard of Obsidian. She is of my order, and it is difficult not to have heard about someone as unique as her. Like you, I was surprised, but she is well-chosen for this quest. Her secret will come in handy when we rescue Blight. What little I know of her is that her magic is strong, but not for offense. That she can cast and fight at the same time is a wonder, for I know how hard it is to cast when someone is menacing you."

Hugo asked, "So, what do we do with the extra horses?"

I answered, "We keep the best and sell the rest. What do you think, Pulse?"

"Good idea. We each keep two, so we can switch off to ride farther at speed. Maybe keep an extra as a pack horse. The rest we sell. But we will have to work a bit to disguise them as something other than guard's horses."

"Then let's do that down the road. I want to leave all this bloodshed behind and find a better place to stay. I don't think they'll send another group tonight."

"I agree," Pulse replied, "but they may send one tomorrow."

Hugo hopped up on his horse, and said, "Let's get going then, while there is still light."

"Cut!"

We did a few stretches of travel with me in the lead, trailing half the extra horses, followed by Hugo and the other half, with Pulse bringing up the rear. We did a scene where I said, "We camp there." And I pointed to a thicket of trees, followed by having camp set up in those trees. While talking over dinner, Pulse asked to sleep in my tent, as she was not used to roughing it. Later, we had sex, with a few cut scenes showing Hugo listening and masturbating.

When we came to the next town, we sold two horses, and that paid for room and board, as well as some supplies. We were able to sell four more in the next town, as it had a much larger market. Hugo and I went to an armorer to get me some armor. Afterwards, I had on my signature armor from the other films. Hugo's armor, while looking more protective, was less restrictive. Pulse got a new outfit, and we all got travel cloaks to help keep our appearances hidden. I was obviously a Shokan, but which one was hidden. Pulse told us to leave through the same gate we entered, but then cut around the town and go cross-country, avoiding several towns. This would break our trail, hopefully.

We had another travel montage until we arrived at Magma Crossing. We chose to enter with a caravan, so that the guards wouldn't notice us. Pulse and I cast spells to make us less notable, and thus ignored. I had a steel sword, and the obsidian blades were hidden. We succeeded, and got a pair of rooms at an inn. We spent several days collecting information. Pulse did scrying, Hugo collected rumors, and I did what I could to plan an assault upon the citadel she was likely in. Pulse and I spoke a lot about what we would face, and how we could best succeed.

We began the ascent from a ravine most would think un-scalable. I was not most. We began after the sun set, and I led, with a rope dangling below me. I used four special spikes that I would strike into the rock, and scale the wall. Once inside, I lowered a rope. Hugo climbed it, and Pulse tied it around herself, letting me pull her up. In reality, the wall was only thirty feet tall, before the opening. While there were bars across the opening, my strength was sufficient to pull it out. Our planning told the audience we had chosen that window because it never showed any light, and that once inside, that I would lower the rope.

As I dealt with Pulse, Hugo opened the locked door after checking that there was no one on the other side. We were low in the main part of the citadel, but we needed to go lower. Pulse led with Hugo checking each intersection. I came last. We got as close as we could without anyone seeing us. That's when we had to acquire guard outfits. We waited nearly two hours for ones to pass that were their size. No way would I fit any guard outfit. Shokan rarely dressed that way usually, even as guards. We like showing our muscles.

The following scene was more complicated, as we had lots of extras to deal with. "Action!"

With Pulse and Hugo in guard outfits, and me between, we were ready. Pulse cast an illusion on me to make me seem an ordinary prisoner. We walked further in. We passed a number of guards, fooled by her magic. This let us get just outside, where Blight was being kept. Just before we arrived, we dropped the ruse. Hugo returned my sword, but I let him hold the dagger, as he would free Blight. Pulse and I would give him that chance. I began with my own incantations, while Pulse did some for her and Hugo. I then rounded the corner, and faced four guards.

"I am here to destroy you. Who is first?"

One idiot replied, "I'll take care of you."

We walked towards each other, and then I rushed and sliced him in two, including his sword. Or at least, that is what it would look like in the final film. The other three rushed me, and while they weren't looking, Pulse hit two and took them out in flames. I had jumped back when Pulse cut loose, then jumped forward and took the last one down.

"Cut! Send for Jewel." She had been in her trailer to this point to keep her daughter occupied and quiet. She was needed in the next scene, so someone went to bring her. When she was ready, the director called, "Action!"

Picking up a sword from one of the dead guards, I pushed the doors open and rushed in, bowling over several on my way through. I went into full battle mode against these better warriors. We came inside and Pulse closed the doors, so she could concentrate on them. I kept them busy, while Hugo, with Pulse's invisibility enchantment, slid around the side and began working to free Blight. His invisibility would be done by special effects later. We just all stood clear of him to make that easier.

"Come on, you lazy dogs. Those were supposed to be guards? They were pitiful. Are you any better?"

"Get the Shokan!" and they all came at me, but one not quite so fast.

"You think four is sufficient? Ha! You don't know what you face. I shall kill you all!" While they looked at me, Pulse cast her first spell at them.

One fell back and took on Pulse. He said, "You three stay on the Shokan, I'll take the mage!"

Pulse was busy with her mage opponent, while I held my own against these three warriors that I soon saw were spell-swords. While they tried to cast against me, I had the advantage of being prepared, and also having two hands free to cast even as I had two hands to engage them. After three minutes, I cut the casting arm of one, just as the script called for. He was out of the casting bit, now.

"Not so good now that you can't cast, huh. Your time is almost up. Prepare to die." We fought a bit more, and then a bit later, I said, "Your time is up!" and then I cut the second one's hand off. "Or maybe not." I chuckled.

The one who lost a hand yelled, "I'll kill you for that, you bitch!"

"Promises, promises." That's when I saw Blight was somewhat free. Pulse, however, was having difficulty, so I knocked the third spell sword facing me crashing into the mage. That surprised them sufficiently, her flames burnt them, but they both survived. The distraction also allowed me time to take the remaining caster facing me. Hugo gave Blight a potion. This gave her a boost of energy, and she quickly cast a spell at my last opponent, who was blindsided by it. He fell, a dried husk, and Blight seemed infused with energy.