Exaltation
...Apparently I wrote up Dari's Exaltation and forgot about it at some point. This is it.
--
The sun was setting.
Nexus took on a red tint with only half of that celestial body peeking over the horizon--not that one particular citizen seemed to notice. He slowly made his way down the street, intent on a sheaf of papers in one hand, the other rubbing absently at the back of his neck.
“First age devices that cloak any wearer so that he or she appears as the Emissary...I hadn’t considered that possibility,” Ladarius mumbled. “I’m going to have to brush up on that topic.”
The investigator’s body moved in a mindless routine as he reached his ramshackle apartment, unlocking the door, entering, shutting and locking it again. Finally, he lit a candle so that he could resume reading.
That was when the assassin slipped a knife between Dari’s ribs.
“Right, the Civilities. ‘Mind your own business and don’t complicate other people’s lives unnecessarily.’ It’s really only the tone of the whole set, though, not the letter,” Ladarius said. Or tried to say. The assassin was pulling the knife back out, and Dari’s observation sounded like more of a wheeze, followed by a bloody cough.
He was dismayed to note that he was getting blood on his documents. He propped himself up against a wall and scrubbed numbly at the red blotches. He noted the assassin stepping up to him again, raising the dagger for another strike. Questions flitted through the investigator’s head.
Who are you? How much were you paid? Were you sent by Hsiung, the Guild, the Council, or the Emissary itself? Why did you choose to use a dagger? Why stab me when you could have slit my throat?
Dari’s mouth worked, but his voice failed. The assassin’s blade began to descend.
The room flooded with light as a keen-eyed hawk manifested itself between the two, flickering claws of twilight essence intercepting the blow and turning it aside. Dari finally found he could draw a full breath, though he was dizzy from blood loss.
Absolute calm settled over the man newly Exalted by the Unconquered Sun. Dari reached for his walking stick, and with a pair of precisely calculated swings, swept the legs from under the assailant and smashed his knife hand.
Ladarius peered down at the assassin, still in the grips of inhuman self-control. Finally, he squatted next to the man, suddenly certain that he would know whether anything he said was a lie. Dari addressed him as a teacher would speak to an unruly student that had finally been shown his place.
“How many friends do you have with you, and what is the best way to slip past them?”
--
The sun was setting.
Nexus took on a red tint with only half of that celestial body peeking over the horizon--not that one particular citizen seemed to notice. He slowly made his way down the street, intent on a sheaf of papers in one hand, the other rubbing absently at the back of his neck.
“First age devices that cloak any wearer so that he or she appears as the Emissary...I hadn’t considered that possibility,” Ladarius mumbled. “I’m going to have to brush up on that topic.”
The investigator’s body moved in a mindless routine as he reached his ramshackle apartment, unlocking the door, entering, shutting and locking it again. Finally, he lit a candle so that he could resume reading.
That was when the assassin slipped a knife between Dari’s ribs.
“Right, the Civilities. ‘Mind your own business and don’t complicate other people’s lives unnecessarily.’ It’s really only the tone of the whole set, though, not the letter,” Ladarius said. Or tried to say. The assassin was pulling the knife back out, and Dari’s observation sounded like more of a wheeze, followed by a bloody cough.
He was dismayed to note that he was getting blood on his documents. He propped himself up against a wall and scrubbed numbly at the red blotches. He noted the assassin stepping up to him again, raising the dagger for another strike. Questions flitted through the investigator’s head.
Who are you? How much were you paid? Were you sent by Hsiung, the Guild, the Council, or the Emissary itself? Why did you choose to use a dagger? Why stab me when you could have slit my throat?
Dari’s mouth worked, but his voice failed. The assassin’s blade began to descend.
The room flooded with light as a keen-eyed hawk manifested itself between the two, flickering claws of twilight essence intercepting the blow and turning it aside. Dari finally found he could draw a full breath, though he was dizzy from blood loss.
Absolute calm settled over the man newly Exalted by the Unconquered Sun. Dari reached for his walking stick, and with a pair of precisely calculated swings, swept the legs from under the assailant and smashed his knife hand.
Ladarius peered down at the assassin, still in the grips of inhuman self-control. Finally, he squatted next to the man, suddenly certain that he would know whether anything he said was a lie. Dari addressed him as a teacher would speak to an unruly student that had finally been shown his place.
“How many friends do you have with you, and what is the best way to slip past them?”