Chapter 3

Happy, Happy, Growing Fire

Arcturus's tower could indeed be seen from the town, and following sleepless night in a rather unclean bed, Cogidubnus began his trek with all deliberate speed. Not that he was afraid of roaches and spiders, but they made poor company in bed.

The journey was largely uneventful. Being a port town, the roads leading to and from Huad were decently patrolled, and the wilderness surrounding it was largely uninhabited. Cog wasn't too incredibly worried anyway. He didn't carry his blade for show, after all.

He'd found the first town a few days after setting out from the city. The people seemed nice enough folk, although they treated him with perhaps a little more suspicion than he would have liked. Still, he only had to mention Arcturus's name, and they pointed him in the right direction, as well as providing him food and drink in exchange for his coin.

When he complained about having to pay, considering he was saving their village and all, they merely smiled politely and complained of hard times

Still, they let him buy some food. Cog decided to label it a victory.

* * *

The next leg of his journey was little more difficult than the first, although he still ran into no real troubles. The smoke Arcturus had spoken of was easily visible during the day, and Cog had ample time to rest during the night. He could hear various things moving around him in the brush, but he paid them little attention. He knew he didn't smell like prey. Being a were did have some advantages. He smelled wrong, and animals tended to avoid him because of that. Not that he was complaining. More than one pack of wolves had passed him by during the night.

The end of his journey came rather quickly, however. As he neared the smoke, the trees and foliage gradually grew thinner and thinner, and he very soon he found himself merely walking through fields rather than a forest. From there, the source of the smoke was apparent.

Right in the middle of the field was a very large column of fire. And, sitting right in the center of the fire was a spear, planted tip-first into the ground. The faint outline of runes could be seen behind the curtain of flame, and fire licked from the arcane lines to the haft of the spear and back. Not very far from it was a large tent.

Cog grinned. Finally, he thought. Days and weeks of endless boredom, discomfort, and irritation, but the goal was finally in front of him. Kill this poor bastard, and the book would be his. The secret that Chiba had discovered would be his. The Wolf would be his.

He would be free.

* * *

He reached into his pocket, and removed the houndstooth that Arcturus had given him. The trinket was ice cold still, despite his body heat, and Cog rolled it about in his hand for a few moments. He had no idea how the damn thing was supposed to help him. He peered at it for a long while, pressing on it in different ways, but to no avail. The thing merely sat like a lump of ice in his hand. He looked at the thing with a bit of irritation, and simply let it sit in his palm. Perhaps it was self-activating.

The roar of the fire masked his steps nicely, and Cog approached the tent softly, walking slowly. He took care to stay away from the burning pillar of fire, though he could barely feel the heat from that bonfire. He shrugged, and stopped next to the edge of the tent. Bending forward, he put his ear to the canvas, listening.

He grimaced. The fire that masked his steps also served to mask whatever else might be in there. If anyone was indeed in there. His face skewed, and he took a step back, sliding the sword from his scabbard.

He may not be able to pinpoint a target, but it wasn't like he was dealing with a very large space. Bringing his sword to one side and setting it level with his hips, he moved one leg backward and adjusted his hips to the side. The effect was something like cocking a gun. Taking a breath, he straightened his whole body forward and swung, his entire body propelling the sword forward. It cut through the tent about as easily as it had the air before it, the cloth slicing neatly instead of ripping, not even slowing down at the poles supporting the canvas. The wind that seemed to eternally blow about there flipped the cloth into the air and carried it away, revealing a rather untidy sleeping area and a few bits of used camping gear. Cog cursed and pursed his lips, and returned his sword to his sheath in the blink of an eye. He'd just have to go find him now, then. He turned to begin his search.

The next instant, he felt a sudden draft blow opposite the wind, and he dove forward. He had barely thrown himself forward, when a massive explosion ripped up the ground behind him, flipping and propelling him over and onto his back. Bits of dirt and half-melted rocks pelted him as he rolled to one knee.

Standing and grinning before him was a mountain of a man, clad in full plate stained black, and carrying a small animal in one hand. Nothing about him indicated how he might have caused the explosion, excepting for a bit of smoke curling up from one hand. A golden salamander decorated the breastplate of his armor, and his blue eyes stood out in sharp contrast to his soot-blackened face.

He dropped the animal. "I was usin' that tent, ya know."

* * *

Cog snarled and lunged forward, rising off one knee and propelling himself at the armored figure. The armored man's grin faded, and he took a step back. Too late. Cog's particular style of swordsmanship, Iai, was in large part an art of anti-assassination, and emphasized speed more than anything else. This also made it very handy as an assassination art.

Cog covered the small distance almost instantly, and he drew his sword and struck in a single, fluid motion, his sword a flashing, silver blur. The glittering line was aimed at the unarmored head, in an attempt to possibly blind or maim before a killing blow could be struck. It would have worked, too, but Cog had no idea what he was dealing with.

An instant before his sword struck, the ground again erupted before him in a shower of debris and fire. It threw Cog into the air and backwards, and he hit the ground with a large thunk as yet more rocks and dirt fell on him. He heard the armored man call out to him.

"Hey, now, we've only just met!" the armored man said. Cog rose, his adversary still grinning, both of his hands now curling with smoke. "God's but yer fast." he said, cracking his neck with one gauntleted fist. "Don't see too many who hit like that, now, not for a few decades..." he murmured, shaking himself a bit before stomping forward.

Cog kept his face stoic. The armored man's grin faded a little bit, and he raised his hand. "You'll understand that I'm taking a little offense, what with you tryin' to kill me and all."

He lowered his arms to his side, his voice losing it's mirth. "You've got about...oh, twenty seconds to get out. I'll not be saying it again."

Cog nodded to the man, standing up straight, as though he was about to leave. The man relaxed his guard for an instant, and Cog lept forward again, grabbing the hilt of his blade, but stopping just short of the man and throwing himself back. As expected, a gout of flame erupted in front of him. Cog hadn't really quite expected the source, however.

The black-clad man wasn't using anything clever, really, just his fists. He certainly didn't look like a mage, but the swirling flames in his hands indicated otherwise. He was simply throwing the fire from himself, in the form of very large, exploding balls. Cog's face soured - this didn't really bode very well for him. He preferred to take mages and the like out from the safety of right behind them, with a clean swipe to the head, before they knew what was going on.

Cog thumbed the little tooth Arcturus had given him. Despite the rather oppressive heat created by the pillar of fire, it was still ice-cold. He rubbed it a moment, not quite sure how to use the thing, and simply held it in front of him. The armored man raised an eyebrow and brought his other hand up.

The armored man wasn't wasting any time. The hand was already swirling with fire, and it took only an effort of will to send it flying for the Iaidoka. Cog had no time to react - by sheer luck, the little tooth was the first thing to contact the flames before they exploded.

He was launched back again, but was untouched by the fire - the flames simply slid off him. As he slammed into the ground, he winced as a rock bit into his back. He was really getting tired of being knocked down. A little behind the ringing in his ears, he could hear the booming laughter of his opponent.

"Doggy has a few tricks! Not that a little frost magic'll help ye much, but eh." He laughed. Cog stumbled to his feet, the little tooth in his hands still cold. "The name is Giles. I make it a point to introduce myself to opponents who last longer than twenty seconds. Save's me a lot of time, understand." the armored man said, sliding up to the column of fire.

He grinned toothliy, and stuck his hand into the roiling inferno. The salamander on his chest glowed brightly as he reached. The fire did not touch Giles, his arm leaving a trail as it burned upwards.

His hand closed around the spear in the middle, twisting and then breaking the spear up out of the ground. The column of fire instantly faded, and as Giles swung the spear in front of him the head began to glow a bright, hot orange. A slight hiss could be heard, and a little blood trickled off its tip.

"A course, yer twenty seconds is up now, so I'll not be saying it was nice meeting you." he said, suddenly flipping the spear into a ready position at his side, almost dragging along the ground as he charged at Cog, fires beginning to swirl in his other hand...