Kairee?s teleport was wild but not uncontrolled.

Her anger burned like a firestorm within her catching up her indignation, her shock, and even her pain. Each bit feeding the blaze, each remembered exchange stoking the fire even higher.

When Tasselhofl fled rather than face her righteous indignation, it was all she could stand. She had to leave the Inn; had to get away from the prying eyes and gossipy tongues lest she vent her rage right then and there.

It would have been a useless gesture. The nature of the Inn and all the various Wards she crafted into it, so many years ago, would prevent any real damage to it or those within. It would only serve to give the barflies the satisfaction of seeing her ?discomposed.

A satisfaction Kairee would always seek to deny them

The violent swirl of fire hissed around her as she reappeared some considerable distance from her intended destination.

?What the f***?? she demanded of no one in particular as the flames dissipated and she found herself looking up at the entrance to Nua?s Slot canyon.

Kairee should be standing within the canyon peering up at its steep, rocky walls instead of outside of it. She did not have to search hard for the cause of this dislocation for the canyon reeked of foul magics. Her Sorcerer?s Sight? provides the means to see the barriers and the clues to their makeup. Against the night sky, the canyon lit up in dark magic, necromantic with a touch demonic.

?Who the hell?? Kairee?s hands braced on her hips as she realized the nature of the magic that disrupted her travel. She did not recognize the magical signature within the twisting thaumaturgic animations.

With an angry stride, she storms toward the canyon entrance.

Nua?s Slot was a box canyon far to the west of Rhydin Towne. It was not so much a canyon but a notch within the mountain range. At one time in the distant past, it had been a center of worship for the followers of the goddess Nua. At the far end of the canyon, after you squeeze though a crevice and into the heart of the mountain, a temple was carved in her worship and within that temple there is a spring; a heated spring brimming with restorative powers. ?Nua?s Dew?, a gift from the goddess to those that worship her.

To Kairee it was merely a canyon where should could sling excess energy at the un-living rock walls and then relax afterwards in the hot spring. Its mystical energies relatively minor in her eyes but it did smooth the muscles and helped alleviate any lingering anger or angst that may still plague her after her ?exercise?.

?Halt!? a voice cried out to her as she turned around the last major outcropping that blocked her from the canyon.

They clattered as they scrambled, breaking cover from the overhangs of the rock face and the significant boulders that had been arrayed across the opening. Only small gap was left for the passage of the troop. A smattering of archers using the boulders as cover drew a bead on her.

She smelt them long before they assembled before the boulders blocking the entrance. Rotting flesh, death, and decay.

The one in the lead bore a pike and a torch, ?Who are you? How did you get through the pass? What is your name? Why are you here? Step into the light so you may be known.? He barked.

Kairee had no need for a torch or other light to see. Her Sight? told her everything she needed to know. Make shift armor, not one wearing a complete suite. None of the armor was magical except for the breastplate of the one with the torch. A minor enchantment meant to deflect the edge of a blade. As for weaponry, two others carried pikes and the other three drew bows. Once again, none of the weapons were special in any way.

As to their Auras it was painfully evident that none of them had any Talent in the slightest and could not have erected the magical field that interfered with her Teleport. Their life aura, instead of being bright and warm was cold, sickly, bile yellowish green tinged with black.

She sighed muttering, ?Deadites.?

?You?re in my way. Move.? Kairee snapped as she continued to stride purposefully forward, intent on brushing them aside.

The leader stepped quickly to block her way; she was only a scantily clad woman. ?Halt, Woman!? he commanded, ?You may not enter!? was what he said, but as his eyes roamed over her form, he thought, ?Yes, the Master will like this one. I hope he lets me help prepare her for re-animation!?

Turning her baleful gaze at undead grouping, Kairee unleashed the force of her presence. It is as if she grew larger than life, glowing a blackish red, her aura crackling, and dancing; fire and shadows taking ominous form around her. Without moving, the hapless leader was grabbed in her telekinetic grip, hoisted up and yanked over to her. His feet dangling above the ground, paralyzed and unable to move as Kairee clearly disrespected his personal space. His troop fleeing in terror behind him, weapons discarded; all resolve gone.

?Are you telling ME what I can and can?t do? Do you presume to dictate to ME?? Kairee?s eyes burned; her voice echoed in his mind as she shredded through what thoughts he had left as he screamed his terror.

With a sickening snap, his neck broke and he hung limp. ?I didn?t think so.? Kairee concluded as she flung the re-dead deadite aside.

?Why is that people think they can tell me what to do?? She demanded as she strode angrily forward through the gap in the rocks, ?Do they actually think I?m some weak willed and mindless girl?? A wave of her hand and a burst of fire charred the incoming arrow flight.

?Do I look like I don?t have a mind of my own?? she demanded of the band of charging swordsmen. Another wave of her hand and fire leapt from the nearest fire pit in their camp and from the torches there-about to form a whirling firestorm whose path quickly intersected the ragtag charge; consuming them in its blaze.

?Have I ever quivered in fear and uncertainty seeking the guidance before I acted? Have I ever needed anyone to tell me my mind? Granted, I know most can?t get past my body to even consider that I have a mind?? the next volley of arrows were grabbed mid-air and set hurling back to their origination, ?But we aren?t talking here about people in general. We?re talking a bout someone that has known of me for YEARS.? She continued to verbalize over the screams of agony and terror of those that oppose her, ?Like ALL males, the blood rushes from his brain to his penis at the mere thought of me, but he should know better. Surely he has witnessed my actions or heard the tales told of me, if nothing else.?

Slinging more magic in a seemingly off handed way, the forces facing her dwindle either by re-meeting death or by fleeing.

A lone, brave yet corrupted soul, having skirted the firestorm, the arrow barrage, the balls of sheer thaumaturgic energy, advanced behind Kairee, intent on a murderous backstabbing plan.

?And then to use Gondar to shame me! The unmitigated gall! How dare he use Gondar?s memory to try to control me?! Am I to be emotionally blackmailed?? She cried in indignation, as a large rock appeared above the head of her stalker, dropping precipitously upon his head, ?Who was he to Gondar??

?I?ll tell you who!? she flung an angry mass of dark energy at the two would be warriors who had been guarding a crude wooden cage filled it cowering peasants, ?No one! I doubt Gondar would ever have remembered his name!? a directed bolt shattering the chain that held the door to the cage locked. ?And now he presumes to Gondar?s place??

?He presumes to be the guardian of MY Honor!? Kairee raged, the firestorm she left roaming burning brighter and casting the entire canyon in hellish light, ?He openly disrespects me by assuming that I am not capable of safeguarding my own Honor!" she ranted at the unfortunate folk who were sure they were meeting their death, "And yet somehow, I am in the wrong when I call him on his hypocrisy!?

Suddenly a force buffed her protective wards, nearly breaking them and drawing her attention away from the screaming and cowering peons huddled in the cage.

Kairee watches the attack rebound back to the mage that cast it, ?Does he really think that I can?t take care of myself? That I need a protector? I'll show him!?

The unknown mage was fairly nimble as he reflexively danced to the side though his blade reabsorbed the pukey green bolt of necromancy.

Kairee smiled as she recognized the signature of that bolt. It was the same as the teleport blockng Aura surrounding the canyon. It belongs not to the mage but to the sword that he wields. Her smile was cold but her attack was hot.

Power pumped into her wards first, re-enforcing them as she studied the mage and his blade. Both are Necromantic but the blade thirsts for souls as a result of the demonic influence in its creation. The mage was a mere one-trick pony probably unaware of the true nature of the blade and the depth of its power. He may only be a Necromancer but he was not a novice, a swirling mass of enslaved spirits wove through his aura protecting him from direct Auric attack.

Another swipe and the Mage cast a powerful bolt from the blade.

Kairee trusted her wards to hold as she focused her attention on the sword. The dark magics of Necromancy are arcane to her and Kairee knows she does not have the knowledge or skill in that discipline to undo what a blade threw at her.

There are only a limited set of choices in a situation like this; attack the mage, attack the sword, or attack them both. Never being one for half measures, Kairee chose the last option.

Sometimes all you need are the little spells to be effective.

Whipping up the debris, stones and dust, and hurling it at the attacking mage; seeking to break his concentration as she focused a different spell at the blade.

Kairee may not be able to affect the Necromantic incantations but she can effect the blade itself. Heating the metal from which it was forged while the storm of dust and stone pelted the mage, wearing at his concentration.

A frustrated cry of pain and anger serenaded her ears as the Mage flung the burning hot sword from his hand, the magical assault on her wards, disrupted.

Laying a hand out, palm up, Kairee called the blade to her.

Racing through the air, hilt first, the sword quickly came to rest in her right hand Almost immediately she heard its whisper in the back of her mind.

?Shut up!? she commanded overwhelming its insidious purpose, ?I?m in no mood for you.?

The Mage, meanwhile, took the opportunity of Kairee?s pause to dominate the blade to flee the debris storm and slip back through the crevice in the rock face.

?Don?t you run from me!? Kairee ordered, her rage whipping up again, as she spotted the Mage weaseling away, ?I?m not done with you!?

?Men!? Kairee hissed, whipping the sword in hand, gaining a feel for it. ?Always running when they can?t get their way.? She complained as she pressed on to the crevice in pursuit of the coward. ?Challenge them just a little bit and they hide. You?d think that at least Dragons would have a set of balls on them, but no, they are just like the rest.?

The crevice continued on, forming a natural tunnel. The dark passage smelling of minerals and dripping with moisture as a result of the hot spring within,

Soon the tunnel would open up into Nua?s Temple. The ambush, if anyway, would be there.

Kairee could feel the magic ahead; she could sense the minds, the anger, hostility and fear. It was more than just the Mage beyond but the ambient magical energy in the area made their exact number and position obscure.

Bursting forth with fire again, a most natural expression for Kairee, she filled the tunnel with a rushing fiery wind, blasting a column of fire into the temple. Teleporting to the temple to appear within the fire blast, Kairee had hoped to find the mage unprepared.

Before her was the hot spring, a body floating in it, dead and bleeding into the waters. To her left the Mage stood grasping a young man to him, slitting his throat and draining his life from him magically, channeling it into the spell he chanted. Beyond the Mage two more people cowered, ankles and wrists chained.

Between Kairee and her quarry, two malevolent specters waited. As the life was stolen from the poor man, the Mage cast the corpse aside; still chained to his fellows.

Other than human when last alive but so corrupted now whatever the racial orgination of the ghastly beings is lost to all. These tormented souls? angry features distorted and cried in unholy anguish. Spectral claws lashed at her as they speed their attack moving fast and setting Kairee back a step.

The Mage, still canting the esoteric spell, quickly grabbed the next of his prisoners and started the process again. His spell hissed in evil desire, the life bleeding from the captive to feed the summoning

Arcing the sword upward, Kairee swiped at the spirits sent to kill her. Perhaps the Mage thought that as a woman she would not know how to heft a blade and swing it with deadly precision. Or perhaps he thought mages tended to rely too heavily on their magical abilities and never learned such a physical art, but Kairee was not always as powerful as she is now. Swords have served her well over the years. Perhaps he noticed that she did not use Necromantic magic and assumed she would not risk handling his sword or know how to invoke its abilities. In that, he miscalculated again. Though she could not fully exploit the blade?s abilities; she could and did dominate it enough that it posed no immediate threat to her. Its innate ability to suck down souls not hampered in the least.

?What really gets to me is that I was nice to him! I let him be the one to escort me back to the Duels. I gave him honor by acknowledging his solicitations!? The blade cut into the spirits draining their essence. ?How does he pay back my favor? By being obstinate and rude to the one I now favor over all others!?

A few more skilled slashes and they spirit guardians were no more.

The captive gasping his last breath; the Mage?s voice rose as he neared the completion of his spell. Kairee could feel the mystical tension as the Mage gathered whatever powers he could to feed this last ditch incantation.

It felt bad? very bad.

?Jerk.?

Without a second thought, Kairee hurled the sword, guiding it telekinetically, pushing it at her adversary with the remnants of her anger. Thrusting through the chest of the dying captive and into the casting Mage.

The telestic magic contained and controlled by the Mage shattered free as his concentration wavered from the shock and pain of the unexpected sword thrust; exploding with kinetic force; rendering his physical form, shredding his soul.

?Dragons are just too damn emotional for their own good.? Kairee concluded as the splatter of the Mage washed over her wards and she ducked the flying body parts of the
dead captive.

Pausing a moment Kairee surveys her surroundings her rage mostly spent, satisfied at the conclusion she drew and looking forward to relaxing within the heated pool.

Kairee throws her hands up in exasperation, ?What a dump!? exclaiming as she viewed the carnage within the Shrine itself; the hot spring polluted with the residue of the mage and that unidentified body.

Reclaiming the sword, Kairee pondered her next move.

A unexpected jangle of chains drew Kairee?s emerald eyes from the desecrated spring. In the corner, still chained to the two other sacrifices, a woman tried not to be noticed. She was dressed not as the native women of these parts but like they do at the space port. Raising a hand up, as if to forestall any hacking attack, the woman pleased, voice cracking, ?Don?t kill me!?

?Why would I kill you?? Kairee gave the woman a dead pan look, ?Have you annoyed me??

There is an awkward pause, ?No?? the woman ventured.

?Well then.? was the only response Kairee offered as she turned her gaze once again upon the carnage.

There was another awkward pause as the woman struggled to suppress the terror of such a short time ago and make sense of her current situation. Meanwhile, Kairee?s temper, which had mostly burned itself out, was sparking again as she contemplated her ruined plans. First her pleasant time with Braxeus was ruined by Tasselhofl. Then Tasselhofl ruins a perfectly good argument by fleeing. Now this. Sure, she did get to sling magic wildly and with abandon, but the hot spring is ruined, corrupted with the night?s handiwork.

Finally, the still chained woman manages to begin, ?Thank yo??

?Whatever.? a dismissive sweep of Kairee?s hand toward the supplicant, ?Just clean up this mess.?

Her growing annoyance is quickly cresting into a foul mood again.

A jingle of chains again, ?I would but?..?

A roll of her eyes and an impatient sigh; made it perfectly clear that Kairee was getting annoyed. However, with another flicker of her hand, the locks on the prisoner?s restraints popped open.

The woman could see the shift of Kairee?s mood as she watched her swing the dead mage?s blade about, slashing at the air. And so, she determined to be very quiet least she annoy her accidental rescuer.

Kairee was thinking, pondering what she was doing to with the rest of her night. Then she remembered Braxeus? words and Tasselholf?s mimic of them as he taunted her, trying to prove that she was under the command of another.

?You!? Kairee swung the deadly blade to point it at the survivor, ?Would you wait to be summoned??

Falling back, gasping in shock, startled by the aggression of Kairee?s movement and tone, ?uhhhhhh?no?? she guessed at the answer to the cryptic question.

?Nor will I!? Kairee asserted, ?I go where I want, when I want!? She thrust the blade upward and it vanished from her hands. Running her hands over her shapely hips, she smoothed down her short tight dress, adjusting how it lay on her body. ?Summon me.? She muttered; the embers of her anger sparking again as she considers Tasselhofl?s accusation, ?I am no favored pet! Nor a faithful servant! F*** that. I?m not going to wait for any freaking summons!?

Suddenly she was gone.