[Zade]

The two mercenaries continued in their wary dance... circling each other, waiting for either a strike or an opening to make an attack of their own. Zade faced Chain, her arms held loose and ready before her, her powerful frame poised artfully on the balls of her feet. She studied Chain. He stood with his left side towards her, with one arm half-extended in front of him, the other drawn tight in to his waist, where his chain clinked with each step he made. Both hands were open. His fingers were locked in a rigid, slightly curved position that made them ready for blocking, grabbing, or making a ridge-hand strike that could easily break wood or brick. Despite the heavy chain he wore, his steps were light and deliberate. Zade knew the fighting style well. Chain himself had taught it to her when they first met, and she had used it religiously for years. She knew this man and she knew how he fought. She had to stay close to Chain to prevent him from using his weapon. She'd seen him take down armed men twice his size with nothing but that chain and a half-second to use it. But staying close brought dangers of its own. Not only would it prevent her from using her whip, but it would place her within range of Chain's arms. Chain's upper body strength was phenomenal, and he was faster than he looked. One well-thrown punch could put a rapid end to this fight...

[Chain]

Chain was cautious as he watched the woman circle him. It had been a long time since he had fought her. She had undoubtedly improved over the years since he taught her how to fight, but the question was *how much.* He took stock of her weaponry. There was no threat from her whip or the half-dozen daggers she wore on her. The throwing stars might be a problem if he allowed her room to use them, but that wasn't his main concern. He had seen Zade kick down too many doors to risk allowing those boots anywhere near his skull. He had to keep this fight close. He'd play this little game for a while just to see how good she was. Then he'd kill her, but not before torturing her to find out what she knew about December. Probably nothing he didnt' already know... but he had to be thorough.

Their eyes met... each trying to judge when the other would strike... what the other was thinking...

Chain made the first move. Without a word, he tightened his stance and dodged to the left, trying to draw Zade's attention. Zade spun to the right and brought her leg up in a hook-kick the Chain easily avoided. Before her motion was completed his fist shot toward her face. Zade blocked the strike with her bracer-clad forearm, and returned it in kind. Like a well-choreographed dance, they traded a half-dozen blocks and punches, with neither combatant damaging the other.

Chain was impressed. She was both stronger and faster than he remembered. Faster than he was, but not quite as strong.

Let's see if she's gotten any smarter...

They traded another bevy of punches and blocks, then Chain made an unnecessary block that left an opening. Or at least it appeared to. Zade took the bait. She threw a false punch with her left hand, and then drove the heel of her right upward towards Chain's nose. Chain blocked it, then quickly spun and drove his elbow into Zade's midsection, just below the ribs.

[Zade]

"Ungh!"

The pain from the blow radiated through her body. Zade felt all the air leave her lungs, and she backed away to give herself a few seconds.

"First strike to me," taunted Chain. "I'm surprised you fell for that... especially considering that I TAUGHT you that move..."

Zade rushed in. She blocked his first two punches, ducked under his third and then backed away. She started a front-kick with her left leg, but as Chain moved to block it, she gave a short hop and executed the strike with her right. Chain tried to throw himself back out of the way, but the toe of her boot caught the man in the chin. It was a glancing blow, but it opened a deep gash. Blood poured down his neck. Zade stepped back and smiled.

"First blood to me," she said. "Through warming up, now?"

Chain rubbed his injured chin, and then nodded.

They both rushed at each other. Zade went low and executed a sweeping kick at Chain's legs. He leapt over it, moving gingerly even though weighed down by his own weapon. While in the air he launched a kick at Zade's head. She jerked away just in time, and the instant Chain's boots touched the ground, she began driving him back with a series of ridge-hand strikes at his face and neck. None connected, but Chain was clearly hard-pressed to block them all.

[Chain]

Did she just get *faster*? thought Chain. Was she holding back a second ago?

Chain wasted no time contemplating it. Instead, he gathered his strength, spun, and drove a spinning back-fist right through Zade's hasty block. His knuckles caught her on the right temple with what he THOUGHT was enough force to daze her for a second. It didn't. Zade took the blow in stride, not only blocking his next punch but following it with a volley of her own. Chain drove his fist hard into Zade's midsection at the same instant her fist connected with his nose.

Chain felt his nose break, but he knew his injury was less painful and less serious than the one he'd given her.

"Internal injuries," he said as he stepped towards her. "I bet that hurts... but not for long..."

[Zade]

Zade doubled over in pain, both arms wrapped around her stomach. His punch was like being hit in the gut with a sledgehammer. Everything inside her abdomen hurt... and then it stopped.

She saw Chain try to kick her in the face, but Zade grabbed his leg, yanked him forward, and sank a four-inch dagger hilt-deep in his thigh.

"SURPRISE!"

"AARRRH!" Chain backpedaled. His hands were too busy blocking Zade's punches and kicks to pull the blade from his leg. He spun, grabbed his own dagger and slashed at Zade's arm. The blade glanced off of her bracer... as it was intended to do. In the split-second her arm was exposed, Chain grabbed her hand and forced it sharply downward at the wrist.

The joint broke with a satisfying *snap.*

[Chain]

"AAAAH!" Zade snatched her arm out of Chain's powerful grasp, a feat which surprised them both.

"See," said Chain as he pulled Zade's dagger out of his leg. "I TOLD you about those blocks..."

He threw the bloody knife to the ground and readied his own blade. They circled each other once more, Chain was limping and Zade was holding her broken wrist behind her.

[Zade]

"Doesn't matter," she said. "I can STILL beat you with one hand." Pain was shooting up and down her arm. She could feel the muscles of her body tightening as she tried to block it out. She focused her mind on Chain...

He waved his dagger in slow, serpentine motions... but Zade looked past the blade and into his eyes.

"You can't HOPE to beat me," he said. "I taught you everything you know."

"If you believe that then you've lost this fight already."

"Not from what I've seen so far."

"Then I guess that's just red dye running down your leg."

Chain smiled.

"You were aiming for my artery. You missed."

"How do you know I didn't miss on purpose?"

"Because that would make you an even bigger fool than I thought."

She saw the attack coming before Chain's first movement. Chain hopped forward, his dagger moving in a blur of slashes and jabs. Instead of shying away, Zade ducked and wove her way in between the strikes. She swept her good hand past her belt, and another dagger found its way into her grasp. Chain saw it. He jerked his head to one side and altered his attack just as Zade initiated hers. Zade's dagger carved a deep groove along his cheek while Chain's blade slashed across her exposed chest, leaving a red line across both breasts. Zade immediately spun and slashed again; Chain's quick reflexes kept him from loosing his throat. He caught Zade's forearm again, and just as he was about to create a new joint in her upper arm, Zade threw herself on him with all her weight. She brought her forehead down on his already broken nose, stepped back and launched a kick at his exposed groin.

[Chain]

Chain blocked the kick easily.

"Just like a woman..." he said.

"Woman THIS!"

Two throwing stars whizzed through the air. Chain leapt to one side... but the first still caught him in the right shoulder. The second star stuck in the wall behind him... as did the dagger that Zade had thrown while he was in motion. He moved as if to throw himself into a forward roll, but stopped suddenly and swiveled toward Zade. Her third star buried itself in the wooden floor just where Chain WOULD have been. Before she could launch another missile, Chain charged Zade like a rampaging bull.

[Zade]

She recognized the feint, and prepared to kick his head off when he twisted into his REAL attack.

There wasn't one.

He plowed into Zade like a stampeding elephant. Chain caught her by the midsection and his momentum carried her into the wall. Zade felt the back of her head thump painfully against the hard wood. On pure reflex, she brought her knife down toward his exposed back, but Chain spun and deftly snatched the blade out of her hand. Then, before she could move, he stepped back and planted his boot in her stomach.

"UNNGH!"

"You want to play games, little girl... well then, lets play..."

He kicked her again.

Zade swallowed the pain and grabbed for his leg. She never saw the fist coming. Everything spun as Chain rained punches and kicks upon her. Her back was to the wall... there was nowhere to go. She shielded her face and tried to slide to one side.

"Going somewhere?"

Chain grabbed her injured hand and slammed it against the wall. Then he took Zade's own knife and drove it through her palm and into the wood behind it.

The sharp pain washed over Zade's senses, threatening to blank them out entirely. She forced herself to stay conscious. She grabbed a third knife from her belt and slashed at Chain as he kicked her yet again. He grabbed her arm, removed the knife, and pinned her left hand to the wall just as he had done to her right.

"AAAAH!"

"Stay right there," he taunted.

Zade made fists and tried to pull her impaled hands free. She could feel the sharp metal scraping the bones as she worked them loose. Seeing this, Chain grabbed the daggers and drove them deeper into the wall. The pain shot through her like a wildfire. Deep inside her, something dark and primal awakened. It looked out through Zade's eyes and saw its enemy... the bad man... the man who brought pain. As Zade struggled to control the pain and think of a way out, the beast slowly crept to the surface...

"You fought well under the circumstances," Chain continued. "But as I said, there was no way you could have beaten me. Hey... you awake over there?"

He slapped Zade hard across her face. Her sense of helplessness egged him on... so he slapped her again, harder this time.

Zade kicked at him, but Chain grabbed her leg and held it up.

"Let's see... how am I going to break this? What do you think would hurt the most, Zade?"

"Bastarrrd!" she growled. The muscles in her body tightened further. Her skin grew warm, and then uncomfortably hot. "Let me go!"

"Oh, you're in no position to make demands."

Chain looked at Zade as she stood pinned to the wall. Still holding one leg, he reached out and stroked her breasts, smearing his fingers in the blood from the gash he had left there.

"Don't Touch Me!"

Chain chuckled and cupped her breast through her leather armor.

"RRRRRR!"

Zade snatched her right hand free of the wall. Her broken wrist pumped dark agony back up her arm, but it stopped almost instantly as the bones slid back into place.

Zade didn't even notice. She freed her limbs and removed the daggers that had impaled them. The pain of doing so only gave the rising beast more strength.

[Chain]

Chain released Zade's leg and backed away, nodding to himself in silent appreciation of Zade's stamina.

"Still some fight left in you, eh?" he said.

"Should've killed me when you had the chance!"

"Plenty of time for that."

Chain went into a modified fighting stance that put most of his weight on his uninjured leg. He slid his last dagger out of it's sheath on his thigh.

"Come on," he said in a condescending voice.

[Zade]

A deep growl rumbled in her throat. Her field of vision narrowed to include only Chain. She could hear his heart beating in his chest.

She held the daggers tightly in her hands... the wounds they had made had already begun to heal. The flow of blood slowed to a trickle, and then stopped entirely. She advanced on Chain and he circled to her right.

Zade spun and lashed out in a powerful slash, as did Chain.

Dagger met dagger, and both blades snapped in two. Moving on instinct, Zade thrust her dagger it Chain's midsection, where it encountered the chain that was wrapped around his waist.

Frustrated, Zade tossed the clumsy dagger away and reached for Chain's throat with both bloody hands. Chain spun and struck her across the temple with a backfist. He put all of his strength behind the blow and struck as if he were aiming at something on the other side of Zade's head.

The strike could have shattered brick.

Zade stumbled off to one side, then looked up into Chain's eyes. Her full lips peeled away from her sharp, white teeth.

She growled.

"What the Hell?" said Chain.

Zade growled again, this time even louder. She forced the last echoes of pain out of her mind, but bestial rage flooded in to replace it.

She leapt at him again. Chain backed away, but Zade halted in mid-charge. Moving too fast for Chain to react, she swiveled and drove her fist into his face. She followed the punch with another... and another... and another.

[Chain]

Stunned, and with the room spinning around him, Chain couldn't even bring himself to block. He ducked, twisted and tried to throw himself to one side. He was hoping that Zade wouldn't sink a dagger in his exposed back, but what she DID do was completely unexpected.

He felt her incredibly powerful hands grip both his shoulders. He tried to pull away, but suddenly he found himself flying across the room. Zade had grasped him and flung him away like a rag-doll.

He slammed into the wall. Hard.

He opened his eyes and immediately rolled to one side.

*CRACK*

Zade's fist crashed into the wall where his head was. The wall gave way, and her arm sank in up to the elbow.

Chain stepped back and jumped to one side... Zade's foot sped past his ear. She yanked her arm free and rushed him again.

What was she going to do? Punch? Kick? Go for his throat? Chain couldn't tell... Zade wasn't fighting like Zade anymore. Her attacks were erratic, alternating rapidly between animalistic lunges and skillfully executed kicks and punches. But she was even faster and MUCH stronger than before. Chain could hardly keep up with her, and her strength seemed to have doubled or even tripled since he'd pinned her to the wall. Even through his metal arm-bracers, blocking Zade's punches was like slamming his forearms against iron beams.

He thought of ending the fight, but he had to know what was going on... was this just Zade's rage, or was there something more to the beautiful mercenary?

Chain did his best to keep distance between them, but staying away from her proved to be more difficult than he first imagined. She was fast. Chain found himself blocking a rain of incredibly strong kicks and punches at every turn.

He caught a ridge-hand strike to the temple. Dazed, Chain threw himself to the ground and rolled over onto his back. Zade leapt for him, but he planted both boots in her chest and threw her back. He jumped to his feet and immediately ducked to avoid a front snap kick that would have put him down for the count.

Almost in a fit of desperation, Chain grabbed a heavy oak end table and swung it at Zade. She tried to catch it, but Chain's move was too unexpected. The table struck her in the head and spun her completely around. Her yelp of pain was more like that of an injured dog than a woman... but she did not go down.

"What are you MADE of, woman?"

Without waiting for an answer, Chain swung the table again. At the last minute, Zade caught the edge of the furnishing. Chain had to release his end to keep from being thrown off balance, but he regretted it when Zade lifted the table above her and threw it at him.

He ducked, but one of the legs struck a glancing blow to his left shoulder.

It was like being hammered by an angry, mace-wielding giant. Pain shot up and down the left side of his body, and then his arm went numb.

[Zade]

She saw the pain on his face and knew that she had him. Growling with teeth bared, she threw herself at him. Her hands closed around his throat and she bore him down to the ground. She looked into his eyes and got the irresistible urge to sink her teeth into his face.

Yes... yes that was EXACTLY what she was going to do!

Her mouth had already open when something wrapped around her waist yanked her off. Her ears caught the sound of metal clinking against metal, and then the room was spinning. She hit the wall and was on her feet instantly, still with no idea what had happened.

Chain stood.

For an barest instant, Zade thought she saw the chain around his waist move. Had she been in control of herself she would have thought before rushing in again. But she wasn't... the beast was too strong. It had nearly tasted the bad man's flesh and it would NOT go away unsated.

Zade's muscles twitched with unbridled energy. They were so tense that her *bones* hurt. She didn't care. With a growl, she rushed forward for another round of battle.

[Chain]

The feeling was returning to his arm, but unfortunately that feeling was *pain.* He thought again of ending this fight, but he was still no closer to the truth than before. So, when the growling madwoman attacked, he stood his ground.

He threw a kick. She blocked it. When she reached for him, he grabbed one of her arms and spun her around, pinning the limb to her back in what must have been a painful position. He jerked sharply upward on the arm, and felt the shoulder joint pop out of place.

Zade didn't scream... she howled.

Chain pushed her away and watched.

As Zade turned to face him, her dislocated shoulder slid back into place. She stood motionless for the briefest instant, and Chain noticed for the first time that the cut along her chest was gone. No scar... no bleeding... just unmarked skin.

The more serious wounds on her hands were gone as well.

Chain smiled.

"Ahhh, Mr. Sinterbourne's potion surfaces at last."

At the sound of the name 'Sinterbourne,' Zade again threw herself at Chain. This time, however, Chain was a second too slow. She caught hold of his arm and nearly yanked it off of his body. Chain punched her in the side of the head as hard as he could, but the effort just angered her. She retaliated. Her first punch nearly knocked him out. The second, a short jab to the chest, removed every ounce of air from his lungs. Finally, a spinning back-kick sent him literally flying across the room. He hit the wall so hard he felt the wood behind him crack. He didn't bother wondering if he had any internal injuries... he just wondered how BAD they were.

Fighting this monster was suicide. Chain had to end this now. Even as Zade stampeded towards him, the chain around his waist began to move under his mental commands.

[Zade]

There was very little of Zade left now. She knew who she was, and she knew who she was fighting, but everything beyond that was anger and instinct. She felt her bones shifting and twisting in to different positions. Her teeth were too long, her clothes too tight. She was becoming something else, something larger and deadlier than she was even now. She didn't care.

"Chain!" she hissed.

He was standing there stunned. Wounded. Bleeding.

Easy prey.

She made her move... and then two things happened at once.

She saw *something* shoot away from chain's waist towards her. Before her muddled brain could even recognize it, Chain was gone.

No, SHE was gone...

...and still going.

Everything around her became a gray blur as the invisible force carried her *through* the solid wall and out into the street. Faster and faster, she moved.... street after street, block after block. Tornado-force winds assaulted her senses. She opened her mouth to howl in protest, but the air snatched her cries away before they could be heard.

And then it stopped.

Zade was dumped unceremoniously onto the ground.

She rolled and came up in a low crouch.

"You're heavy," said a familiar voice. "Ever consider going on a diet?"

"Blaymorrrrre!!" she growled.

A cloud of bright blue smoke rose from the ground a few feet in front of her. The smoke thickened, and finally coalesced into a man. The stealthy assassin was dressed in a hooded blue cloak that revealed only his boots and the bottom of his black pants. His hands, clad in black leather gloves, were clasped before him. The top of his head was lost in the dark confines of the hood, and the bottom half was wrapped in a blue cloth that matched his robe. His eyes seemed to glow with a light of their own, changing color almost randomly.

"YOU!" spat Zade.

"Leave town for a few days and the whole place goes to hell. You mind telling me what Chain is doing in Montfort?"

"That was MY kill! WHO are YOU to interrferrre!"

"I don't know if you saw what I saw, but you were about to LOSE that fight."

"I'll KILL YOU!" from her crouched position, Zade leapt straight at Blaymore. The cloaked assassin sidestepped the lunge so quickly that he seemed not to have moved at all.

"Must we do this?" said Blaymore. "You're covered with blood. Is it yours?"

He reached out for her, and she snapped at his hand.

"Did you just try to BITE me?" he said in disbelief.

Zade's anger rose higher still. Not only was the bad man taken away from her, but it was done by one even WORSE. The animal within her had no memories of Blaymore, but it fed on Zade's and it knew that Blaymore was the enemy. He had hurt her. He had to die.

"GRRRRRRRRR."

"Growling," said Blaymore. "How cute. Very feminine. Wait here while I go deal Chain."

In the blink of an eye Blaymore was gone.

And so was Zade.

Her anger at Blaymore was too much. It was the grain of sand that tipped the scales and destroyed the delicate balance. Zade's skin thickened. Thick fur began to sprout from her flesh, and her long teeth grew even longer. Her mouth began to elongate... protruding into a canine snout. Her bones and muscles completed the transformation that had begun during the combat with Chain... transforming her from a human mercenary to a raging canine beast. Her bloody clothes ripped at the seams and fell away in tatters.

In seconds, the Zade-wolf stood where Zade once was. She lifted her snout and howled, and then set off in search of her prey.

[Blaymore]

In the blink of an eye, he was back at the inn.

Chain was gone.

"Damn."

The innkeeper and a few patrons were tied up in a corner. Blaymore reached into his cloak and pulled out nothing... or at least is seemed to be nothing. He used the invisible dagger to free the innkeeper and the others. Though he had saved them, they seemed scared to death by him. They wanted to run, but Blaymore had positioned himself between them and the door.

"Where is Chain?" he asked.

"He...H-He's gone. W-when the woman disappeared, the man with the chain just left."

"He couldn't have just left... I would have seen him."

"There were some more men upstairs... he called them. They came down, and then they just vanished."

"A mage." said Blaymore.

"Are... Are they gone? Will they come back?"

"Doubtful. But I'd find somewhere else to be for a few nights."

Blaymore stepped aside, and the frightened people shot past him and out into the night. Blaymore stepped into the common room where the fight had taken place. It was a mess. Blood and broken furniture. Cracked walls. Could two ordinary people do this much damage and still be alive? Blaymore had only come in at the end of the fight, but what he saw... What DID he see? Zade was acting like some kind of savage, and Chain was using some bit of magic that Blaymore had never seen before.

"Interesting." he mumbled. "Very interesting..."

Blaymore's form became fuzzy... less distinct. Soon there was only a cloud of blue smoke that sank into the floor and disappeared...

...

... only to reappear blocks away about a second later.

"Bethsaida?" he called. "Zade are you here?"

He looked around and saw no sign of her.

"Where could she have gone that fa-"

Blaymore looked down and saw a pile of clothes. No... not clothes, armor. Zade's leather armor lay in ripped tatters on the ground. It looked as if it had been torn apart.

He kneeled and examined it more closely. There were a few tufts of fur caught in the seams. Blood was everywhere, but then her armor was bloody when he rescued her. Blaymore couldn't tell if this blood was fresh or not. But then... why would Zade take off her clothes and run around naked?

She wasn't here. Her armor was. There was blood and fur...

...Blood and fur...

Blaymore forced the uneasy feeling out of his gut, only to have it return.

Something had gotten her. While she sat here waiting for him, something had come along and... and...

"...Zade...no... oh, please no..."

It was his fault. He shouldn't have left her here alone. She was acting strangely... probably a head injury or some spell of Chain's, and instead of caring for her he ran off and left her alone.

Just like he always did.

He stared at the blood-soaked leather as if expecting it to suddenly spring to life... along with its owner. But there was no such miracle.

"I wasn't fast enough," he said. "If I had gotten here sooner... If I had just...oh, gods, I wasn't fast enough..."

A hundred memories flooded his mind. All of them Zade. All the times he had hurt her... or let her down... or wasn't there to protect her.

Finally it overwhelmed him

"ZAAAADE!"

The assassin's anguished cry pierced the night. He yelled until his lungs were empty, and then hid his face in his hands.

Somewhere in the city, a beast answered his cry with a melodic howl.

Blaymore's head snapped up.

"I'll find the beast that did this to you, Zade. I'll not rest until that creature's heart lies in a thousand pieces at my feet.

The beast howled again.

"The hunt begins."

Blaymore vanished.

[To Be Continued]