?Oh, I bet there have been at least a few people who?ve been wondering what I?ve been up to lately, that?s kept me away and so busy.? Jin Mishin mused aloud, leaning back in a comfortably cushioned chair with a cup of coffee steaming in his hand.

?Yes, Mister Mishin. You disappeared without word for a short while.? A man sat across from him, a much older gentleman with round spectacles and stark white hair. He reclined in a manner much like Jin, though he favored tea over the bitter drink in Jin?s grasp.

?Well, allow me to explain??

--------

Jin was walking home from a long day of work. He had gone into the courthouse early that morning but spent the remainder of the day at the Watch House, mostly filing paperwork. He hated paperwork. It was a clear night, just a few clouds overhead, and he had his coat thrown over his arm, deeming the weather too warm for such attire.

He walked briskly through the city, avoiding large crowds like the plague. It was during one of these little roundabout trips to keep him from a large crowd of people in the market that he passed an alleyway opening. No, he wasn?t snatched and dragged into it, as one might expect. He heard a curious sound that was difficult to make out over the throng of excited people moving past. But a moment?s pause and focus deduced that someone was sobbing, likely a small child.

Jin, with a frown on his face, turned to step into the alley, looking around carefully for what he assumed was a young boy or girl lost in the complex alleyways of the city.

?Hello?? Said the detective. The sobbing stopped immediately.

A pile of full garbage bags to his left shifted, one rolled from the top. It sounded like something had jumped in to hide. Turning, he leaned toward it, picking a bag up and dropping it aside. Sure enough, there was a small girl there. She wore a little white sundress as though she were due for a little tea party, had blonde hair in pigtails and her brown eyes were red rimmed from crying for an extended length. She cowered at the sudden sight of Jin, this stranger catching her in the middle of nowhere, and curled in on herself.

He quickly stepped back, mostly out of surprise.

?Are you hurt?? He asked. The girl didn?t answer.

?Are you lost?? Again, no response.

?It?s all right. You can trust me.? He said, lifting his coat and reaching into it to pull out his detective?s badge, which he then held out to her. ?See? I?m a detective.? The girl took the badge from him and studied it skeptically.

?You should run.? She whispered, her voice hoarse from crying. ?Before they find you.?

?Who?? Jin asked, frowning as he looked around for some sign of another person present.

The girl?s already incredibly pale face seemed to go a few shades paler. She shook her head vigorously, throwing the badge back at Jin, who caught and tucked it away, then jumped up and hopped over the garbage, taking off at a quick run.

?Wait!? Jin exclaimed, starting to move after her when he felt something grab his wrist.

?Hey, let go!? Jin turned to look behind him, but there was no one there. Nevertheless, there was a firm grip on his wrist and whatever was holding him tightened its long and strong fingers. Jin winced, he felt as though his bones would snap under the pressure.

Then he was flying. Well, not really flying. He was actually thrown. Whatever it was had considerably strength and lifted the man like a plaything, hurling him into a wall. He grunted, coughing as he slumped and his vision went a little white at the edges from the back of his head connecting with stone.

Frantically, Jin fought to right himself, looking around for the unseen culprit. He saw the mud in the alleyway; saw large prints of three toed feet that looked like they belonged to some type of lizard. More were appearing; the creature was marching toward him. He threw his coat at the lizard and twisted quickly, taking off at a dead run as the sound of shearing material met his ears.

?A centaur? We don?t see many of those in Rhy?Din.? The old man said, studying Jin curiously now.

?Yes. And he wasn?t a very friendly fellow, kept telling me to leave, so naturally, I left.?

?And is that it??

?Oh, of course not. I returned a couple of days later.?

--------

The sun had just set. It had been about two days since Jin had ventured into the forest, two days since his attack and two days since meeting the unnamed centaur. He was dressed more appropriately this time, forgoing the vest, tie and coat in favor of loose fitting clothing and a baldric that held a blade that was quite familiar to him. He felt a bit nostalgic when pressing a hand against the weapon?s hilt, remembering the roguish days of his youth.

The perks of being a changeling were taken advantage of during the excursion into the forest. He could alter himself ever so slightly, just enough to help him blend in. Though he looked relatively the same, as always, there was a difference to his smell, it was forested, earthen, like he lived amongst the trees. This made most of the creatures he passed by ignore him without a care. The tracks were deep and wide; they wouldn?t be covered over for a good few more days unless a sudden storm struck, so they were easy to follow.

He slowed as he neared the area where he?d encounter the centaur. Jin leaned down, examining the track and studying the ground around him for the rest of the trail. There was a lot of underbrush around the area, broken in two parts. One was a slim break, made by the centaur. The other was a gaping hole that looked as though something had torn the brush right from the ground. Turning, Jin headed toward the latter break, slipping through and finding himself before another heavily set track. He could tell easily, now, where the trail was leading him. It was a small dirt path, likely beaten in by the very creature he was hunting now. It winded a bit of ways but through the gaps in the tress, Jin could see the opening of a cave in a crag jutting sharply from the earth. He turned, following this trail toward the entrance.

The forest around him was quiet, few creatures moved around in this area. The cave itself offered no peculiar sounds, just a dark hole in the ground. He stepped up to the entrance, the large hole that opened to a steep path leading down. He walked forward and grabbed the edge of the rough stone, leaning forward to peer into it. It took a moment?s concentration to adjust his physiology, eyes flashing bright and red for a moment like a drow?s, then the world changed colors, the area around him exceedingly bright and the darkness before him comfortable and inviting. He stepped forward.

The steep slope caused him to slide a bit. He skidded after a few short feet before hopping up and looking around warily. A hand grasped the sword in his baldric, drawing it quickly. Jin crept forward, employing a talent he hadn?t made use of in years; stealth. The cave was naturally formed from the way the rough and uneven walls and ceiling looked, the floor showing only the wear of several large feet passing over it. From the looks of the tracks on the ground, the creature was either very active or there were quite a few of its type.

The passageway Jin was in was tall and wide, but not very long. Soon after sliding down the slope he found himself turning at a sharp bend that opened into a roomy chamber that looked big enough to hold his house. Repressing the urge to whistle at the massive size of the cavern, Jin crept forward, peering around. He was on a ridge that had a roughly hewn staircase leading down into a sort of basin like area. The ridge went all around the room and he saw in a few corners, large piles of wood smoldering with recently extinguished fires. In the basin itself was a trio of large creatures, covered in thick brown fur with massive clawed hands and huge feet that fit the tracks he?d been following perfectly. One turns its head and he caught sight of an elongated muzzle similar to a dog and teeth about as thick as his forearm.

Gulping, he quickly closed his eyes and murmured an incantation, lowering his sword to do the hand movements necessary to cast the invisibility spell upon himself, knowing the creatures likely had a dark vision similar to his. Picking the gleaming blade up again?which disappeared once he touched it?Jin quietly crept along the edge of the ridge, peering down into the basin. There was another opening on the wall of the basin opposite him, leading into tunnels that likely contained more of these odd beasts.

Dropping low, he gripped a large boulder beside him, leaning around it to peer down at the three beasts again, who seemed to be discussing something in some harsh, guttural language. Then he saw one disappear on the spot, confirming his suspicions. These were the beasts he was looking for. Listening intently, it wasn?t difficult for Jin to track the movements of the invisible beast, hearing it take the stone steps up and head out through the entrance he came in from.

As he focused, Jin heard an odd echo coming from the tunnel below. He quickly moved to get a better angle, climbing carefully down the steps into the basin below, where the two other beasts sat before a blazing fire, which had what looked like a whole cow hanging over it. It was as Jin got closer to the beasts that he realized how large they really were. On average, Jin was about six or so feet, these beasts were several feet taller, likely around eight and a half or even nine.

He chewed on his lip and turned toward the tunnel entrance, listening again to the distant echoes. When he finally reached the large and round tunnel he heard the sounds more clearly, it was screaming, or crying perhaps, difficult to tell. He shot a quick look over his shoulder at the beasts behind him before quickly and quietly hurrying forward.

He was truly lucky that the tunnel was straight and hand no branching passageways, leading for several feet into another, smaller chamber. The screaming was deafening now, and it was definitely a helpless plea. The chamber was round with large wooden posts built up to hold prisoners by their wrists with rope. There were six people present, a woman who had just woken and seemed dazed, a young boy, an elven man, another man who was the source of the screaming, and two more women who were unconscious.

?Shh.? He said, approaching the man. ?My name is Jin Mishin,? Jin whispered, ?I?m a detective with the Watch. Calm down, I?m going to get you out of this.?

The man fell silent almost immediately, jumping in surprise at the sudden voice. Dispelling his invisibility, Jin reached up to untie the man?s bindings.

?Be quiet, wait here for me to get the others. Do not move.?

?R-right. O-o-okay.? The man nodded dumbly, rubbing his arms, as he looked around frantically.

Nodding, Jin turned and hurried off toward the first woman to his right, untying her and laying her down on the stone floor before moving to the one beside her. In hindsight, telling the man to hush was a terrible idea, for the beasts weren?t as stupid as he?d thought. With the sudden loss of screaming, one of the beasts became curious and walked down the tunnel toward Jin, who was ignorant of this fact as he untied the next prisoner.

An earth-shattering roar reverberated through the chamber. Jin thought the stone was moving beneath his feet and half expected the ceiling to crash down onto his head. He turned quickly, seeing the large, hairy beast roaring and charging toward him, its dark and beady eyes flashing angrily.

?Oh?? Jin said, staring like a deer caught in the headlights before common sense took hold and he turned, trying to run out of the way. Then he was slapped in the side by a powerful hand, tossed toward the cavern wall like a ragdoll.

((The following scene was played out between Cassie Hendon and myself, edited and posted with permission.))

Jin was slumped next to a wall, groaning and holding his side as his head lolled to the side. His vision was blurred, but he could hear just fine. He heard, rather than saw Cassie appear and heard her rather frustrated question, but he couldn?t muster the breath to answer just yet. The flash of light came as a surprise to the beast, which stumbled back and covered his eyes. The voice, however, brought it back to its senses. Snarling, the beast bowed over and charged at Cassie, clawed hands reaching out toward her angrily.

In the distance, down the tunnel, another roar echoed. The other beast present heard the commotion in the chamber that Jin, the beast, and now Cassie were all causing and quickly rushed toward the tunnel entrance.

Jin weakly got to his feet, staring at Cassie blankly for a moment. ?Move!? He shouted suddenly, grabbing his discarded sword up and running after the charging beast.

Hands on her hips, arms akimbo, Cassie glared into the darkness, for a moment completely unaware of her danger. Then she heard a roar that sounded far too animal-like and violent for her tastes, and let out a squeal of fright as a huge dark shape charged out of the darkness toward her. Frozen in place, she threw her arms up to protect herself, and Orbed out in another shimmer of bright light. The beast charged right through the orbs, and she reappeared behind it, just in time to get in Jin's way.

"Ack!" He tried to stop mid run, throwing the sword aside to prevent either one of them from being impaled as he stumbled toward her and fell. If she didn't do her little teleporting trick again, he'd end up bowling into her, if she did, he'd stumble and fall flat on his face. Regardless, Jin was going to end up on the ground in some manner. Meanwhile, the beast slammed into the wall next to the freed man, who jumped in surprise and turned to run toward the tunnel opening.

Jin did bowl into her, and they did go down, Cassie beneath him letting out a yelp of shock and pain as she impacted with the ground. Frowning up at him, she gave him a shove.

"Get off me," she growled, lifting her head to see where the creature had got to.

"Who are you?" He asked, quickly rolling from her and scooping his sword up, turning to face the creature that was slowly turning to face them again. "And what are you-Move!" He cut himself off mid-sentence, moving to step around her as his blade was lifted toward the charging creature.

"Thosi mys shar!" He shouted, his free hand moving in a complex range of motions before sliding up the sharp edge of his sword, a small trickle of blood dripping down over the blade. It was washed up quickly in a violent torrent of crimson flame that shot from the metal weapon like a gun, making him hop back from the force. The flames slammed into the beast and forced it back, lighting it ablaze.

By the tunnel entrance, the man who had tried to flee was flung into the nearest wall, the other beast charging toward Jin and Cassie.

"You called me, I ask th- whoa!"

Ducking out of the way, Cassie stumbled back onto her knees, the fall tearing open the knee of her jeans as he threw himself into a fight with the creature. The sword thrust was bad enough, but when he threw fire at the beast, she cringed away, feeling sick to her stomach. Her eyes fell on the other creature charging toward them, and she acted on instinct. Lifting a hand, she waved forcibly toward the charging beast.

"Wooden post thingy!" The post against which the fleeing man had been tied shimmered in a swirl of blue and white orbs, and shot toward the charging monster, slamming into its head with considerable force.

The blow did considerable damage to the monster, but it wasn't out for the count yet. It had fallen over from the hit, slowly pushing back up to its feet to turn and glare angrily at Cassie, now. Meanwhile, the beast Jin was contending with was standing again, arms lifted to try and ward the flames. Jin couldn't keep the spell active any longer and had to stop it, panting heavily as he dropped the sword to the ground and leaned forward, hands against his knees. The beast growled and gingerly lowered its arms, then suddenly leapt at Jin.

"Aes-" Jin paused, coughing and trying to catch his breath again. "Aes maraes." He muttered, slamming a foot on the ground. The earth in front of him shifted, and then erupted beneath the charging beast, a large spike of it jutting out to impale the creature on the spot. Jin collapsed to his knees, turning to look over at Cassie and the other monster wearily.

As the beast she'd walloped went down, Cassie scowled over at the man who was trying to run, assuming he was the one who had called her.

"Come here," she hissed at him, waving a hand at the others still tied up. "Get them freed already." Despite her terror, she turned her eyes back on the creature she'd felled, deciding that the hero behind her could deal with his.

"Monster!" This time, her hand rose to push her palm out hard, and with any luck, the beast would rise in a shimmer of orbs and slam back against the wall of the tunnel.

It happened, the beast fell to the floor after being slammed against the wall and made to stand again, much, much slower this time. "Hurry up!" Jin shouted at the man.

"Untie the rest of them, before more arrive." Then Jin pushed to his feet and mustered up the energy to run toward Cassie, sliding to a halt beside her.

"Throw this at it." He said after scooping up his sword, it's blade white-hot from the previous spell. "Aim for the head again."

Cassie flinched away from Jin as he skidded to a halt next to her. No way in hell did she want some sword-wielding maniac that close.

"Don't you want it back?" she asked in alarm, before the slow movements of the creature got her attention again.

?At this point, I really don't care."

Rather than be charged again, she cringed, thrusting her hand toward it.
"Sword!"

The blade flew from Jin?s grip and tore through the air, its heated blade easily piercing the beast's skull and plunging in deep. The creature fell forward, sliding to a halt a few feet before them, very dead.

"Good. Help me untie everyone." Jin said, turning to untie the other three people since the man had simply stared at them, dumbfounded.

In silence, a little too terrified to speak, Cassie edged around the very dead beasts and moved toward the people tied at the stakes, dropping to her knees to untie the first to hand, one of the unconscious women.

"Where the hell is this?" she managed, when she finally got her voice back under control.

"Not too far south of Rhy'Din?" He frowned at her, moving to untie the young child. "Who are you and how did you get here?"

"I Orbed," she answered him shortly, moving to untie the second of the unconscious women. "And I came because someone here keeps jingling in my head and giving me a damn migraine. Who're you?"

"Uh...you what?" He stared at her blankly, carefully lowering the child to the ground and moving to help her lower the woman as well. "I'm Jin. I'm a detective, I was tracking some monster here...and well, there you have it. There was a third but it left earlier."

She snorted. "You're a detective who fights monsters," she repeated in a slow, disbelieving voice. "Of course you are. Look, get these guys together, I can Orb all of us to safety."

"Right." He nodded, going to pick up the child and lay him next to the others. "You, come here." He said, turning to the man who was still lingering by the tunnel, reluctantly walking over to the pair. "Help me move them."

Holding her hand out to the last of the women, Cassie moved to kneel beside the unconscious pair, offering the child the best smile she could come up with for the time being.

"Everyone needs to be touching each other, or this won't work," she told them quietly, leaning down to link the hands of the unconscious women.

Jin dropped to a crouch to help Cassie link everyone together, turning to eye her again.

"You didn't say who you were."

Green eyes met his with a faintly smug smile. "I know." Reaching over, she laid her hand on his shoulder, the other on the hand of the only conscious woman, and concentrated. The entire group shimmered out of view in a swirl of orbs, only to reappear outside one of the larger hospitals in the city.

He blinked, shaking his head several times at the odd sensation of essentially teleporting. "...Nnnngh." Jin wobbled a bit, blinking at the hospital. "Wha'?'

Already Cassie was moving, standing up to call out to the staff on duty within. They came out of the hospital in small groups, moving to tend to the wounded who were lying on the cobbles. Stepping back, Cassie nodded to Jin. She still didn't know who had called her, but at least the headache was gone. Her boss would be looking for her, though; she had to go.

"Take care, detective."

"Wait. What? You're leaving?" Jin shook his head again, turning to stare at her. "Who are you? Where did you come from? And why are you leaving? I have to file a report and need a witness statement and there's a lot of paperwork that needs to be done."

"I've done what I was called to do," she shrugged, shaking her head at him. "Take the credit; I have to get back to work." She stepped away again, slipping into the nearest alleyway, and Orbed out, disappearing once more.