Two days and nights, the would-be assassins rode through the land, avoiding any signs of jade on the way. There were many, and only got denser with each step closer to their goal. On the dawn of the third day, their target finally came into view. Ragefire Gorge.
It was a barren place. A chasm torn into the world due to intense volcanic activity, its soil barely enough to support irregular patches of grass. Its walls were thick stone, but even from a distance, they could see irregularities. Tunnels and holes had been dug into the earth. By skilled hooves, judging by their regularity. It was no longer just a sight of nature. It was also a military base.
The two infiltrators crept along the outskirts, watching the guards march to and fro in regular intervals. Their routines seemed solid enough at first glance, but extended watching revealed certain exploitable gaps. And for ponies like Lotus and Cherry, it was child's play to take advantage of them.
They crept right under the enemies' noses, moving swiftly and silently into the heart of the base. The guards easily numbered in dozens, each clad in Kabuto jade. Stopping for a moment to allow another patrol to pass, Lotus whispered:
"This sorcerer keeps a generous bodyguard."
"If all goes well, we will be gone long before the soldiers mobilise."
"Then let us move like the wind."
And so they did. It did not take long for them to reach the centre of the canyon. An especially large hole in the wall stood in the distance, a pair of guards keeping vigilant watch. The infiltrators glanced at each other, followed by nods. They separated, each making sure no other prying eyes were in the area. Then, they struck.
Moving as fast as lightning, they emerged next to their adversaries. The soldiers were caught utterly off-guard and both received a precisely aimed blow to the head. They collapsed on the spot, their helmets barely even cushioning the blow. The assassins shared another glance, then dragged the unconscious guards inside of the tunnel.
Cherry took a glance outside, then back to her compatriot:
"I will keep watch, you check deeper. If the sorcerer is down there, take care of them."
"Will do."
"Lotus?"
"Yes?"
"Be careful."
They stared at each other for a short while, before Lotus simply nodded. Without wasting another moment, she descended into the belly of the beast.
The tunnel coiled around like a snake, leading the swordsmare ever deeper into the earth. With each step, an unnameable stench became more and more prominent in the air. It was a foul mixture of what had to be dozens of alchemical reagents and it almost made her eyes tear up.
Finally, she reached the bottom and found herself in an almost stereotypical evil workshop. The reagents that irritated her nose so much were hung on the walls. Nearby tables featured various strange and more mundane tools of all shapes and sizes. Yet there was no sign of the sorcerer. Had they arrived too late?
The room had another exit and Lotus cautiously used it. What awaited her on the other end of the passage left her breathless. A truly immense underground cavern stretched for what had to be a good mile in every direction, its insides lit by torches with an unnatural, green flame. A small stream flowed through the area, the sound echoing throughout the area.
On the other side of the water, stood a lone figure, its body fully wrapped in a navy blue cloak. As soon as Lotus took a few steps forward, the sorcerer called out, his voice surprisingly high-pitched, yet raspy:
"I was wondering when this day would come."
"Are you some sort of prophet, sorcerer?" Lotus did not let her guard down for even a moment.
"Not in the slightest. But it does not take a great deal of intelligence to know I am a high priority target. There was bound to be an assassin sooner or later. I must say, having Lotus Windrider herself come after me is an honour. It also lets me finish what I started."
"We'll see about that."
Lotus blasted off with the wind at her side. With western magic users, speed was the key. She had to strike before the pony erected an arcane barrier and bring them down with a single, well-aimed strike. She closed the distance in the blink of an eye and struck. Her sword sliced right along where the side would be, cutting deeply and... with a surprising lack of resistance. She landed on all her legs a few metres away, even as she heard a body collapse onto the cavern floor.
Swiftly, she inspected her blade. To her utter confusion, it was pristine, without a single sign of blood or other bodily fluids. She immediately looked back, just in time to see the sorcerer's supposed corpse rise from the ground:
"Not bad, Lady Windrider. not bad," his robes were ruined and allowed for an unobstructed view of a skeletal ribcage, its pieces floating back together after her attack. A cloud of crimson dust floated between the bones, "but not good enough."
His head was now clearly visible, just as skeletal as the rest of him. Lotus held her blade in a defensive posture as she asked:
"What are you?"
"I could give you a lecture about that, if we had the time. The short version, though? I am a reject, a unicorn with thousands of years of experience," the dust gathered around his horn as he hovered above the ground, "I am Yevon the Eternal. And I will be your executioner."
Lotus dashed under him as he unleashed a bolt of arcane energy, vaporising part of the ground. The sorcerer turned to face her, only to black her blade at the very last moment with his magic. She landed on the ground and locked eyes with her opponent, even though Yevon did not have any.
He readied another attack, but this time, she met it head-on, with her blade. An explosion rocked the area, but when the dust settled, Lotus stood there unscathed. Yevon grunted:
"Ah, yes. The sacred Moonblade, forged in a dragon's flame. I am so forgetful sometimes."
"I do not fear your magic, sorcerer!"
"Truly? Then perhaps I can entertain you with something more mundane," with a flash of magic, a wicked instrument hovered next to him. A large, wicked scythe, its metal black as night, with a large, roughly cut emerald embedded in its blade, "and seeing as you are surely more experienced in this area, let us even the odds!"
He waved the scythe through the air and four more, though much more mundane versions, floated from hidden locations in the darkness. The gem emitted an eerie light and menacing, shadowy hands took hold of them. The item spirits were little more than shadowy silhouettes in the dim light of the cavern, yet they gripped their weapons with clear purpose.
Lotus hissed and prepared to defend herself, but the sounds of battle suddenly reached her ears. She turned around just in time to see none other than Cherry Petal fly from the passage to the workshop and land roughly on the ground. She got on her hooves, panting, just as a new, yet familiar figure entered the area.
Lotus cursed under her breath at the sight of that dark blue coat and green mane. Then, she cursed again when she saw just a hint of crimson staining his sword. She called out:
"Cherry!"
The kunoichi replied, her daggers at the ready:
"I should have known this wouldn't go easily."
The samurai was absolutely calm as he bowed slightly and acknowledged her:
"Lady Windrider."
Yevon, surprisingly enough, was not at all delighted to see him:
"Razor! A... pleasure to see you again. I do hope you haven't come to steal my glory?"
"The duel is your own. I shall not interfere," he pointed his sword at Cherry, "and neither will she."
"Excellent, excellent! Feel free to watch a true professional at work," the livid dead turned back to the swordsmare, "now, where were we?"
Immediately, the four tsukumogami charged, their leader close behind. Lotus met them in combat. At first, it seemed to be going fine, as the spirits were not nearly on her skill level and she parried or evaded them without too many problems. Once Yevon entered the fray, the sheer number of opponents became problematic.
The sorcerer attacked with reckless abandon, foregoing any sort of defence in favour of brutal, ruthless attacks. Lotus could have punished such recklessness under ordinary circumstances, but he was immune to standard counterattacks. Any damage she inflicted mended itself within moments and the spirits proved just as resilient.
Unlike previous assassins, their weapons were finely forged and resilient and she could not quite muster the strength to shatter them, especially when every other moment she was forced to evade a potentially lethal blow. Duck, sidestep, parry, block, measly counterattack. It continued in this manner for some time.
And then Lotus failed to keep up.
One of the spirits struck true, raking her side as she cried out. Yevon took this opportunity to blast her with magic, sending her through the air. She landed within the stream, bruised and wounded, though, thankfully, the water was relatively shallow. Shakily, she got back onto her hooves, leaving a crimson trail within the water. She coughed, ignoring the salty taste of her own blood, and raised her weapon for another confrontation, panting heavily.
The sorcerer was obviously amused:
"Bahahahah, don’t feel like running yet? That pride will be your undoing, Lady Windrider. Lord Kabuto will reward me generously for your head. Another step towards my triumphant return from exile," he chuckled to himself once more, "but I digress. It is time to end this."
With another wave of his scythe, the spirits marched. Lotus panted, swiftly forming another plan of attack, though she felt tired. Doubts lingered at the edge of her mind. What would happen if she failed? How many years would Kabuto's reign last? How many would... her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a male voice from behind her:
"The magic of a unicorn is an element all its own," Razor and Cherry had been observing the fight, but now, Cherry and Lotus both stared at the other samurai, "unicorn and arcane are one, indivisible. Calm and collected as a forest pond," Lotus's breathing grew more controlled as she calmed down and cleared her mind, "but when a disturbance appears, they become three things."
Lotus looked back to her adversaries. She knew those three things only too well.
A light breeze gathered around her, even as her adversaries drew close. Her fatigue seemed to evaporate in the blink of an eye. As the shadows raised their weapons to strike... she vanished. The sorcerer cried out in frustration and she reappeared behind her assailants, a powerful gale accompanying her movements. The wind. Untouchable, elusive.
The creatures turned to fulfil their commands, but the swordsmare struck first. Moonblade shone brightly with a silvery hue as she slashed through the air. In that moment, her blade was unstoppable, fuelled by a rising tide. The tidal wave. Merciless, unequalled in power.
One by one, their weapons were shattered. One by one, horrid wails filled the area as the creatures could no longer maintain their forms within the real world. With a determined look, she turned back to the sorcerer. Yevon screamed, even as the shadowy essence of his servitors gathered once again in his scythe:
"You think you can stop me?! I will summon another host, again and again!"
Lotus did not comment, only shot through the air to meet her opponent. As before, Yevon soared to meet her with reckless abandon. And this time, he would be punished. One with the wind, she evaded the clumsy blow and struck back. But her blow was not a wide swing as before. In that moment, she was the final aspect. The samurai. Tempered by honour, precise and deadly.
She stabbed downwards as she evaded the mighty scythe. Moonblade struck against Yevon's arcane gem. The crystal seemed to resist for a moment, before it was violently shattered into a thousand tiny fragments. She was sure that if he had the organs to do so with, Yevon's eyes would have been wide.
She landed on the ground and proceeded to collapse. The exhaustion returned tenfold. Her magic was spent, every fibre in her body ached. The sorcerer wailed above her:
"You insolent wretch! What have you done?! I'll turn you into reagents for this," the scythe rose into the air and he swung it in a slow, clumsy, overhead swing. Lotus could not have dodged even if she tried. She could barely even move. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Cherry screamed in the distance, but all she could hear was the undead, "dieeeeee-ack, wha-?!"
Blessed oblivion never arrived. She opened her eyes again to see a shadowy hand holding the scythe in place. The spirit growled and dozens of its kin joined into the rather unsettling chorus. They grabbed hold of the skeletal magus, one after another, while the fiend screamed:
"Unhand me, you worms! I am your master!"
The tsukumogami obviously disagreed. With hellish wails, the spirits attacked their jailer. Their shadowy claws did not shatter bone. No, they instead slashed at the crimson dust swirling inside of Yevon's form. It was resistant, but the sheer number of attackers scattered it. Bit by bit, the sorcerer's essence vanished into thin air, even as he cried out:
"S-stop! I-I demand it!"
The skeletal body fell apart during the onslaught, its bones dispersing over the area. Yet no matter how much the incorporeal creatures tried, they could not destroy the sorcerer. A single spark, one little red speck of life always floated within his skull. The freed slaves were irritated by this, but found their own way. Bones were, after all, items.
Just as they had fallen apart, the sorcerer's many bones came to life, before scattering themselves in a thousand directions, digging into the earth and lodging themselves into every nook and cranny of the underground caves.
Lotus, now alone, stared at the skull. Without showing any further emotion, she lashed out with one of her aching hooves and kicked it. It flew in a precise arc, right into the stream, where it proceeded to sink. The battle was over and she allowed herself to collapse once again. A voice, much too loud considering her headache, soon filled her surroundings:
"Lotus! Lotus, talk to me!"
"Cherry... too loud."
"Oh, sorry."
"Marvellously fought," they turned to the stallion, standing at the very edge of the stream, "watching you at work is a joy, lady Windrider."
The kunoichi helped her get up as she asked a simple question:
"W-why?"
Razor tilted his head a little, a slight grin on his face:
"Well, for one, I never liked him as an interior designer. Secondly, his practices were abominable, honourless and foul."
"Why didn't you take him out yourself if you hated him so much?" asked Cherry, still frowning.
The answer came from the swordsmare leaning against her shoulder:
"H-honour," Razor nodded slightly, "the sorcerer was still an ally of his lord."
"Indeed. And thirdly, falling to such arcane treachery is hardly a fitting end for one such as you, Lady Windrider."
She managed a grin:
"Heh, that sounds familiar, Razor. So, what now?"
He looked back towards the sorcerer's workshop, then to the assassins:
"You may wish to flee. Me and the kunoichi caused a fair deal of commotion. Guards are undoubtedly on their way. Follow the stream," he pointed with his blade into the darkness, where the water flowed, "it goes deep, but surfaces roughly four miles away."
The duo shared a look, then they both bowed his way. Lotus commented:
"Thank you, honourable opponent."
"May the wind grant you speed. And I look forward to our rematch, Lady Windrider."
"Mark my words, Razor, you shall have it."
They parted ways. The two infiltrators started with tired shambling, before gradually increasing their speed to something more respectable. Cherry lit the path ahead and always kept glancing back at her exhausted friend. Lotus seemed to walk more due to tenacity than any actual energy, but said nothing. Typical.
True to Razor's word, the blessed company of sunlight awaited them after an hour or so of trudging through the underground. Lotus made sure to take a long, deep breath of fresh air. Heavenly. Cherry had that look again and the samurai responded pre-emptively:
"Yes, I'm fine. Really."
"No, it's not that. You just seemed... lost in your thoughts for a moment."
"Well, today has been a rollercoaster of emotions."
"Heh, you got that right. That Razor is some stallion, huh?"
"A conflicted soul," Lotus sighed, "an honourable warrior serving an honourless lord."
"Quite a pickle to be in. And he's handsome, too."
Lotus' response was flat, deadpan:
"What?"
"Oh, come off it! Tall, dark and mysterious swordspony, complete with a conflicted soul, as you put it? The sappy romance novels write themselves!"
"Right... let's just continue."
"So you have given it some thought!"
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
Cherry giggled:
"You always go super serious when you're embarrassed, you know that?"
"I do now."
They shared a look, then a heartfelt laugh. They galloped through the night, watched over by Mother Moon.