Soulcat
Jalene Soulcat
Rodcet Nife Server

Story by
Phaedrus

ello, Soulcat,” a voice oozed out of the darkness behind her.

Jalene turned towards the sound, surprised; she had felt no other presence in this clearing. The voice belonged to a rough-looking man, lightly armored and well-armed, perhaps a mercenary. He was leaning against a tree on the other side of the clearing, about thirty feet from where she stood.

“Looks like you've suddenly found yourself in a bit of danger, milady,” he mocked, maliciously.

“On the contrary, fool,” Jalene spat, her cheeks flush with anger. ”Your ashes shall soon scatter on the wind. I attribute your insolence to ignorance, but I shall still suffer no fool so rude.”

She began to draw power, with which to incinerate this imbecile, but there was only a slight trickle to be found.

“Milady, I know who you are and what you are capable of, please don't make this any harder than it has to be,” he sounded as though that was exactly what he'd like her to do.

She intended to oblige him, but could not draw the power to perform a simple conjuring, much less deliver force. Her ability remained, she could sense some magic, but something was blocking the source.

"You'll find that it's quite pointless to attempt to resist me. I must deliver you alive; however, there is nothing restraining me from injuring you.”

He was working for someone. That meant this sudden damper on her ability was most likely due to a relatively weak charm tuned specifically to her power; that would also explain her inability to sense his presence. He was just a cheap thug with toys. He stood upright slowly, enjoying the moment, feeding on her apparent helplessness.

“In fact,” he said lowly, “you could actually make it quite pleasant.” The lustful gleam in his eye left no doubt as to his intentions.

She could not suppress her laughter at the thought of bedding this hideous cretin.

“So the rat seeks to couch with the lioness? You have proven yourself too stupid to understand your offense. Leave now and keep your life,” her tone became ice at that last. There was no doubt of the sincerity of her threat.

“I was hoping you would say that, it will make the taste of your treasure all the sweeter,” he advanced as he spoke, his sword held leisurely to the side.

Jalene prepared herself. Her magic may have left her, but her senses remained, and that was enough for this.

He made several clumsy attempts to strike, only to find her staff waiting, positioned to deflect the force harmlessly away from her body. Several times as a wild swing cut the ground she lightly pushed his back, causing him to stumble to catch his balance.

“Such a child,” she laughed, then added darkly “this begins to bore me.”

She pushed him again and sent him tumbling to her right. As he fell she lashed out with the steel tip of her staff at the back of his skull, intent on finishing this game.

Only to have her death stroke casually batted away by the edge of his sword.

“Good,” he was laughing now as he regained his feet, “I'll try to keep you entertained.”

At this he began a barrage of swift blows that seemed to arrive at all four corners of her guard simultaneously. The force of his blows pushed her back with every parry, crossing the entire clearing. As she broke the tree line, he slowed, and then stopped completely.

She saw it then, the charm which blocked her ability, hanging from his neck by a thick platinum chain. It must have come out of his armor as he fought. As he stepped back she lunged and struck it full force, obliterating it against his armor and sending him flying backwards, unconscious.

She attempted to draw power to finish him off and, to her surprise, still found none.

Suddenly, she felt a rope slide over her torso and tighten, pinning her arms against her sides. She spun around to face another mercenary, who stood ten feet back in the woods. Only this one was an ogre.

“How many of you does it take to catch one woman?” She asked.

“Shut your mouf witch, you snared and we dun hafta play no game no more,” he spoke as if with a mouthful of jam.

“Fool, always stand with your back to the bright light,” she chastised him angrily.

“Whut? Hey, I told you to shu-,” he began, ending his sentence suddenly as a steel encased hoof crashed from behind through his flimsy helm and thick skull, instantly killing him.

"Well it's about time, Sorcium," Jalene said with a grin as her steed stood valiantly over the ogre's corpse. He sniffed deeply and pronounced with a snort that he was in fact dead.

She loosed her bonds and approached the fallen beast. He wore an identical charm around his neck. As she examined the etching on the back, she knew exactly who had sent these men.

Waves of power washed over her as she smashed the second charm against the dead ogre's breastplate. She would deal with their employer later, right now she had to tighten up a few loose ends.

She grabbed the end of the rope and formed it into a tight noose as she walked back towards the still unconscious mercenary in the clearing.

Payback was going to be a bitch.