------------- Meeting Sheng Yung

She stopped when she was sure they were not being pursued, and sat down to wait for the slower members of Khalid's scouting party to catch up. Khalid stood watching her, wondering what to say. She turned to look at him and he could see, even in the dim moonlight, a burning hatred still in her eyes. He wondered who it was for.

"If you come to kill the Jouten, I will aid you."

"Seems you already have."

"Your help could be useful to me. There are many of them. And sooner or later, my skills will be overwhelmed by sheer numbers."

"So, who are you?"

"First,... tell me who you are. We are no common adventurers out to get rich. There are easier pickings closer to the cities of the Empire. Adventurers don't travel this far to find gold and jewels. They come with a mission in mind."

He knew better, he could see the trap right in front of him, but he couldn't resist stepping in it.

"Khalid ibn'Shen."

She said nothing. What was left of her smile disappeared. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn she was about to burst out in tears. She hopped down from the rock she had been perched on and crossed the space between them in less than a heartbeat. Her naginata suddenly ignited with a pale purple glow and she swung it to within a hair's breadth of his neck.

"Then know this, Khalid the murderer. When this is done, I will kill you. I will kill you quickly and take your head for a souvenir. It is more kindness than you deserve. But you will pay for the death of my uncle, the man's whose name you stole along with his life."

With that she swung the naginata back and slammed it into the rock she had been sitting on, splitting the boulder in two with hardly a sound. The halves tumbled out of the way of the hidden passage beneath, a hole that descended into pitch darkness. Before Khalid could say or do anything she had disappeared off down the hole, just as the others arrived with questioning looks on their faces.

------------- Credits

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