The peace of the moment shattered in less than a second. Even looking back at the incident with the benefit of hindsight later, Roni couldn’t be sure who had moved first. So many things happened in that first crucial moment that it was impossible to say who made the first action. All she was aware of was a flurry of movement, noise, and magic. It transpired too quickly even for her to react.

With the blinding brightness of an explosion, magic rushed out in a wide radius from Tsuyoi Shimonseki. It crashed over the party, the soldiers around them, and even Mitaka Shimonseki himself, throwing them all back. Taiki, who had already lunged forward, suffered the worst of the attack. She was thrown clear of her enemy to land, nearly a dozen feet away, painfully on her back, and her head smashed against an inconveniently placed stone that jutted from the ground and was stunned. It seemed to take ages for the dust from that one explosion of magic to pass When it did, only Lady Shimonseki was standing.

She let out a long sigh as if mildly inconvenienced by the events of the day. “You really are a clever druid, girl. I never thought you’d suspect me.”

Stars burst in front of Taiki’s eyes as she forced herself upright. “This is how you’ve remained hidden?”

“Indeed,” Shimonseki replied, a slight smirk touching her face. “It’s quite hard to get any power as a woman, but I managed well.”

“As a woman?” Taiki asked. The shock of the impact on the ground was making her head spin. She couldn’t focus on the situation long enough to find her anger again. “But you’re a man.”

“She’s not,” Roni groaned, also picking herself up. “She’s an elder Changeling. She can make her appearance permanent, and assume another off of that.”

Shimonseki looked from Taiki to Roni, that small, cruel smile plastered onto her face still. “Indeed. You know quite a bit about Changeling magic, don’t you, girl?”

A moment of silence stretched between them, then Shimonseki realized the full meaning. “Ah, but of course. You’re a Changeling yourself, aren’t you? I wondered how you all arrived at that conclusion.”

“What you’ve done is considered taboo,” Roni snarled. “Giving up your Changeling form locks you from certain abilities.”

“As if I care about any of that,” the enemy said, taking a step forward. “It didn’t make me stronger, so I don’t care. What need do I have of spreading my illusions? Illusions are weak. Other areas of magic are far superior.”

Taiki, back on her feet and only a few feet away, lurched forward, her one good arm raised to swing. Before the blow could connect, Shimonseki had smacked the arm to the side, her own body reinforced with energy. Falynn, watching from where she still lay on the ground, realized that she was using reinforcement magic, the kind so strong that it was rarely seen outside of Nihon-Ja. Then she grabbed Taiki by the throat and lifted her from the ground.

“Hayakawa,” Taiki growled, her voice strangled by the enemy’s grip on her throat. “You’re using… Hayakawa.”

“Indeed,” Shimonseki replied, baring her teeth in a feral grin. In an instant, her disguise had fallen away and revealed the male countenance she’d assumed. “I read all the stories about Takeshi Hayakawa, and how he was slain by the young Tokugawa boy. But before he died, he was known as the strongest mage ever to live within this country.”

The story of Takeshi Hayakawa was familiar to them all, of course, even those from Tyrman and Attos. For that heinous criminal was so indelibly linked to Shigeru Tokugawa, the once mortal man who had risen to the ranks of the Divine. In the early years of his first life, he’d nearly died at the hands of the Hayakawa clan, and only through cunning and fierce determination had he managed to put his mortal foe down. It was regarded as the first of his many acts of justice that had rooted out much of the world’s evil.

“Except that, I did not make Hayakawa’s mistake,” Shimonseki growled. “I did not seek to rule by fear. I kept my actions hidden, and killed everyone that I interacted with, so I would remain hidden!”

“Not everyone,” Taiki gasped, her one arm trying feebly to break the grip. “I survived!”

“Yes, you did. Just like the old story, isn’t it? Did you think yourself like Shigeru Tokugawa? That you would bring your friends to my door and slay me like Tokugawa did Hayakawa?

With a laugh, they threw Taiki back down to the ground, then spread their arms wide. “You cannot hope to kill me! And once I’ve finished with you, I’ll simply kill all the soldiers here, and hide myself away again! Nobody will suspect that the graceful Lady Shimonseki was a criminal, but they will believe that Mitaka put you all down after you killed the soldiers!”

Except for one problem. The sound of a sword leaving its sheath reached their ears, and it seemed that all eyes turned slowly toward the source of the noise. Mitaka Shimonseki, who had previously only spoken to disparage upon the foreigners, was now glaring at Tsuyoi with undisguised hatred. It became clear in that instant that he hadn’t been doing her bidding of his own will, but that he’d been controlled by magic.

“You charmed me?” He asked, his words barely discernible through clenched teeth. “You’ve made me commit so many horrendous deeds for you!”

“Yes, you’ve been an excellent pawn,” Tsuyoi said. “But don’t even think fo attacking me. I’m the one that gave you a life when you would have been doomed to disgrace otherwise, boy.”

With a snap of her fingers, Tsuyoi had ensnared him again. But then there was another wave of magic, and he staggered back, shaking his head. His face, which had momentarily relaxed, became angry again. Shimonseki turned slowly to see Falynn, who had cast the counterspell.

“Very well, little druid girl,” the dark figure said. “I suppose you’ll die first, then.”

Falynn pushed herself to her feet. As she rose, thick tendrils of vines burst out of the ground with her, crackling with that violent green energy of chaos. Weak and dizzy as she was, she took up a ready stance. The ends of the vines, sharper than any blade, pointed toward her foe, matching the rage she could feel billowing inside her. “You’ll find that very hard to do. I’m going to make you pay for what you’ve done to Taiki and so many others.”

Tsuyoi Shimonseki let out a laugh as she resumed her disguise, lifting one arm. “Playing with chaos are we, little druid? No matter. It will not help you.”

A wave of fire erupted from her fingertips, cascading over the broken ground toward Falynn. But the Druid flicked one hand, and one of the vines lashed out, latching onto Shimonseki’s legs, and yanked it out from under her. Before she’d even hit the ground, another of the vines slammed down upon her from above, denting the ground with its force. Then another rained down, and another, until the enemy was hidden from view by the thick vines pummeling her.

For a moment, it seemed that the fight was over, that Falynn had defeated their enemy. Even Taiki, who knew more about her foe than any of the others, allowed a brief moment of hope to flare up inside her. But then the tendrils of vines froze, and she knew that, in spite of the vicious attack, Shimonseki was still strong. The next moment, the vines had shattered into a fine black powder as if incinerated, and their enemy was standing, her face stretched with rage.

“Enough!” She bellowed, and the tendrils of flame that erupted from each finger of her hands shot out, impaling Leonov, Falynn, and nearly all of the soldiers. In less time than it took anyone to blink, her victims, just like the vines, had vanished, turned into that dark dust, already beginning to blow away on the breeze. But Taiki was given no time to consider the horrific attack before Shimonseki rushed forward, grabbing Taiki by the throat once more.

“A valiant trick,” she snarled. “But your game is over now, girl. You die here, and nobody will remember you.”

Over her shoulder, Taiki saw Roni sling the bow over her shoulder. They made eye contact, and Taiki nodded as best she could. She forced out her reply. “You’re right. It was a good trick. And you fell for it.”

Shimonseki blinked in confusion, then her eyes widened. Just a moment too late, she’d caught onto what the party had planned. Too late. With a grin of triumph, Taiki’s form began to flicker. In a second, she’d transformed, and the mage was holding a human-sized replica of Taiki, but made, not of flesh, but living wood.

“You really thought we’d let you kill innocent men just to vanquish us?” One of the surviving soldiers said, drawing his sword with his left hand. His form flickered and revealed the tall Nihon-Jan woman that had survived the massacre of her village so long ago. Rage stretched her face, but she was grinning in triumph, the same grin her duplicate had worn. And beside her, two other guards were transforming, revealing the appearances of Leonov and Falynn. “Not a chance in all the hells you could dream of.”

Shimonseki dropped the fake, turning quickly with her hands outstretched. But before she could utter a spell, she let out a scream of agony, as an arrow slammed into one of her hands, piercing it through. She doubled over, her other hand already rising toward Roni who had fired, determined to strike her. It was only a small mistake, one that barely left her open for a fraction of a second. But it was all the time Taiki needed.

In one massive, powerful upward slash, Taiki stepped forward and swung the katana she’d taken from the assassin that had wounded her. It was a fine weapon, honed by one of the greatest smiths in Minato, and sharper than the finest razor. It sheared through the shoulder of the evil mage as easily as a hot knife slicing through butter. A poetic sort of justice, she thought, watching the severed arm fall to the side, completely useless to its owner.

The roar of pain and fury that erupted from the Changeling was infused with magic, and strong enough to knock Taiki back yet again. She hit the ground hard but retained her grip on the weapon. Still, the roaring sound continued to batter against her ears, forcing her back, and preventing another approach. Filled with fury and helplessness, she turned towards the only source of help she could count on, the druid girl who had saved her life.

“Help me,” she said, her voice half growl, half plea. “We’re nearly there. I have to be the one.”

Slowly, Taiki met her eyes, seeing the determination there. Then, just as slowly, she nodded. “I’ll help you. Finish this.”

Forcing as much strength as she could into her legs, Taiki took a step forward against the repulsive magic that battered her. A tongue of flame flew at her but was dispersed in an instant. Furious, Shimonseki tried to strike Taiki down next, but Leonov stepped in its path, slashing the spell apart with his sword. His face was as grim as Taiki’s and he shook his head. “No more killing for you, scum. You end today.”

Taiki took another step forward, forcing every particle of her being forward. Body, mind, and soul, she was focused on only one task. Another step and she saw the flicker of fear in her prey’s eyes. Another step. Shimonseki actually took a step back herself, horrified by the battered, bleeding figure that approached her without a care. She tried to strike her down again, but Falynn foiled that attempt as well. Another step. The barrier holding her back broke.

With a roar to match the one that was dying away as the magic ended, Taiki rushed forward. Her presence and rage alone were nearly enough to kill, but it was the sword that struck the final blow. She drove herself forward smashing her unstoppable rage and will into her enemy, pouring years of hatred and grief into this one single strike. When she finally came to a stop, the movement expended, and she found she’d left a good deal of it behind. She didn’t have to look to know. She let the blade drop from her tired hand, just as she heard the figure behind her drop, followed half a second later by her head.