Kage yawned and walked up to a group of faelnir who were moving in a line. They all looked happy and hopeful, not knowing that none of them were going to live past the hour. Their fate? They were to be sundered.
"Lackluster batch," someone said to Kage as he approached.
"That so?" he replied nonchalantly.
"Unfortunately. Only ones left are Galsterei and none have any notable power."
"Shame. I was hoping for something a little more unique, but aetherite will do." Kage scratched at his cheek while surveying the remaining faelnir. Another one stepped into a room, obviously soundproofed so that nobody on the outside could hear the screams.
"I'll take this one, then," he said, pointing one of the women. He got a nod in response, so he walked up to the woman and grabbed her by the shoulder to pull her out of the line.
"You're coming with me," he said before giving her one of his steely gazes. He then turned around and walked back towards where he came.
It was a long walk. They went for about six miles before Kage looked back to even see if the woman was still following him. He'd heard someone following, and had just assumed it was her. The woman was surprisingly keeping pace with him and didn't look that tired. She must have done labor for most of her life to be able to be in such good shape. This was going to be fun.
He walked to the nearest area that had a portal service. They were in Graentun which he was becoming more and more familiar with as time went on. He certainly was spending more time around humans nowadays. Along the way he spotted an alkahest salesman and he picked some up. Just what he needed – more aetherite. He tucked the bag into his pocket and kept walking.
There was a line to get a portal which was annoying, and Kage's patience was growing thin. He eyed an inn and barged into it. A human greeted him cheerfully but Kage wasn't having any of it. He kept walking until he got to the rooms and started pushing open doors until he found a room that was unoccupied. He ignored the yells then pulled the woman into the room.
He held out his hands to the wooden door frame and reinforced it so that nobody would be bothering them. He then looked at the woman who had a very confused look on her face. He could tell that she really wanted to ask him what he was doing and why she was brought here.
He pulled out a sinister looking box from within his coat. It had worn edges and was marked with symbols that might have danced in the light if he had paid his craftsman a little more. With a grunt of effort he pried the lid off and the sound of creaking metal broke the tense silence of the room. Inside was an uneven blade that looked like it was meant to be filled with some kind of otherworldly power. This was no ordinary weapon. It was a tool meant for one thing, to extract the very essence of power from those who had the strength to hold it. He raised the blade in his hand, curling his lips into a grim smile.
The woman across from him started to panic. Her breathing quickened evidenced by her shallow gasps. Then her eyes darted to the window. A brief promise of escape, she knew, was futile. Kage was faster. He flicked his wrist and sent a burst of vines from his palm that came upon her like living chains, coiling around arms and legs, making them still.
Kage said coldly, "Don't bother. You're not going anywhere."
She tensed up, and for a moment, he saw it, the fire in her eyes. It was that defiance, stubborn spark of resistance that made her just the kind of woman to be selected to have her power taken from her. She had power, and now it would be his. But the woman struggled against the energy binds, her muscles twitching with the strain. Kage watched her with detached interest.
He admitted, almost to himself, "You're strong. But strength is useless when you're helpless. Let me tell you a little secret before you die. There is no afterlife for you. You will die and nobody will remember you. All you've known your whole life has been a lie."
Her frustrated muffled cries only made him more determined. She tried to cast magic but her eyes were covered and she missed him by a wide margin. Kage shuffled forward and he focussed his attention on the knife. He held it in both of his hands, closed his eyes and focused, flowing the energy into the blade. The power he fed into it began to settle into the dark metal until it started glowing.
As Kage neared she seemed to struggle more and more. No – her instincts were screaming at her to fight, to run, to do anything but stay still. The vines tightened further though, constricting her movement and cutting off her cries. She was completely immobilized by the flora wrapping around her throat, her wrists, her ankles.
Kage said, his tone without sympathy, "This won't take long. You'll barely feel a thing."
With the knife held ominously in his hand he stood before her, the lie hanging in the air. He felt her power radiating. This was what he had come to do. This was what he needed. Kage plunged the knife into her exposed stomach without hesitation. The woman's body convulsed violently and the blade sank in effortlessly. Her scream was muffled and her attempts to escape made the vines only tighten even more around her.
The woman's energy was drawn out in tendrils of light that coiled around the blade like smoke. Her body wriggled with unholy ferocity as all its muscles straining against what was inevitable. The knife was relentless. The light within her dimmed, the woman's struggles grew weaker until she let out one last shudder and then her body fell, leaving a small pile of dust which settled on the floor.
He murmured 'Excellent' and slid the blade back into its box.
His gaze fell upon the room, and he stood over the crumpled remains of the woman's body. The energy extraction had worked out as it should, but there was still work to be done. Her soul had moved on but her corporeal form persisted, what was left of it anyways.
He told himself without emotion, "better clean this up."
Kage waved his wrist, and the same energy he had used to bind her earlier beckoned. Vines started snaking around and momentarily hovered before lashing downward, wrapping around the lifeless mass of flesh and bone. The binds tightened just like a snake would and then the remnants of the woman's body began to shift under the pressure until they folded inward.
The methodical compression of her remains was accompanied by the faint echo of cracking bones. The body was crumpled into a dense, compact sphere. It was disturbingly small for what it had once been. Kage allowed himself a moment to check over his work for stray fragments or traces and find that they did not exist. He turned his attention to the bed in the corner of the room and was satisfied.
Their plain, unassuming sheets were faded with years of wear. He ripped them free then put the ball into it. All that left was the blood, which he simply covered by putting a layer of wood on top of the floor. Lastly he got rid of all the plant matter he'd used earlier. He was sure there would be some commotion as the humans tried to figure out what had happened here, but he wasn't going to be sticking around to deal with their superstitions.
The ends of the sheets were tied tightly together into a makeshift bundle. He picked it up in one hand, and tested its weight. It looked lighter than it was, but he could handle it.
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