Ningaya

His clothes were torn and tattered. Dirt smeared both his hands and face. The bottom fringe of his pants were worn. His shoes were full of holes and he clearly had been walking some distance. As they got closer to the gate, Roan was struggling to see this thing as anything other than a person.

It looks exactly like him. Down to the smallest detail. What if it actually is Tada?

Inago called out, “Genna, how long has it been locked in that state?”

The same booming voice that Roan remembered from his admission test responded, “Twenty-three minutes and counting!”

“Gotcha. Thanks Genna!” There was a low hum in response.

Inago turned to Roan, “Okay, time to get to work.” He produced the same knife he always did from under his cloak and handed it to Roan. “Taking down a Ningaya is both simpler than fighting a fellow Magician and more difficult. First, you have to make it drop the act of whomever it’s pretending to be”

“Seems simple enough. What’s hard about that?” Roan unsheathed the long knife.

“It hard because it’ll vehemently assert that it actually is the person that it’s pretending to be. However, once you get it to drop the act, it’ll deploy itself.”

“Deploy?” Roan looked confused but stole a glance at the Tada impersonator.

“Yes, it’s hard to describe but it’s impossible to miss. At that point you can then focus on finding it’s heart. Cut the single lock of hair that is holding the heart in place and it’s defeated. Got it?”

“How is that simple?” Roan’s brow furrowed.

“Because it can’t use magic. They’re designed for close quarters combat. Not much thinking involved here. Now, get in there and get cutting!”

Inago pushed Roan forward until he was only a few feet from the false Tada. His pulse quickened and the only thing that ran through his mind was that final image of Tada waving goodbye. Involuntarily, Roan whispered Tada’s name.

Inago shot a glance at Roan, “That’ll wake it up. Be on your guard.”

The false Tada did, in fact, stir. It blinked twice before locking eyes with Roan.

“R-Roan! It really is you! I’ve been walking for days! I can’t believe I finally found you. Oh, there’s so much to catch up on!” His face had the exact same kind of smile that Roan had seen a thousand times on his friend. It chilled him to the bone.

Is this really, truly a fake Tada?

“You need to get it to drop the act. Persuasion, intimidation, or catching it in a lie. Your call.” Inago said as he kept his distance. His gaze never left the Ningaya once.

“Where have you been all this time? I didn’t think you’d be gone this long.” It began to step forward as it spoke. “Come back with me. Your home is on the estate, not in this place. I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Now grab the comb and let’s get out of here.”

Roan felt an ice cold chill run down his neck. “I never told Tada about the comb.” He whispered in disbelief. It really is a fake.

The facial expression on the Ningaya fell flat and it’s eyes bulged. It’s mouth opened and stretched as a blob of writhing flesh spewed out. The skin that it inhabited slipped to the ground like a cloth. Standing in it’s place was a humanoid figure that stood about four meters tall. It’s muscles were exposed and they rippled with each movement.

“Give me the comb!” A guttural voice bellowed and the Ningaya charged. Roan shifted to the right just as it charged past.

“Great job! Now, look for it’s heart! It’s a usually a black spot that can be seen on it’s exterior!” Inago instructed while his hands vibrated with a casting.

Anger welled up within Roan. This thing impersonated Tada. I’m going to end it.

It skid to a halt after it’s initial charge and just before it turned around Roan spotted a black bruise-like mark on it’s lower back. “I found it! Now what?” He shouted.

“Now, I give you an opening!” Inago clenched his hands into fists and three rings of light appeared above the creature. It immediately fell flat on it’s frontside and was struggling to stand.

“I’ve immobilized it. However, if you go under those rings, you will be too. You’re gonna have to use magic to finish it.”

Roan thought back over the last three months. He had only been able to control one aspect of his casting. He tensed his back muscles and felt himself lift into the air.

Gently and carefully, he floated up above the three rings of light and the struggling creature below. If Inago’s casting is pushing on him with increased gravity then dropping the knife down on the dark spot will have an even greater effect than a simple stab.

“Ah, I see what you’re doing. Good idea but don’t miss!” Inago called as he slowly approached the creature with his fists raised and vibrating.

Roan lined up the knife directly above the heart of the Ningaya and let go. The second it passed the first ring of light it accelerated beyond anything Roan could throw physically. The next two rings only doubled that speed.

There was a sickening squelch as the knife sunk into muscle and sinew. Then, silence. Inago released his casting and the Ningaya lay there frozen. Roan slowly landed next to it. “Ow, my back is already sore. I haven’t mastered that yet.”

The muscles around where the knife hit began to melt away and exposed a still pulsing heart made of stone, flesh, and metal. It was wrapped in a long single black lock of hair. The knife had just barely punctured one chamber of the heart and black sludge bubbled out. Roan picked up the knife.

“Cut that lock and it’s done.” Inago pointed to the thread leading away from the heart. Roan reached down and sliced. The hair moved but remained uncut.

“They don’t cut that easily, same as Mistress Camellia’s hair. You’ll need to…”

“Nullification! I have to nullify it first!” Roan interrupted Inago excitedly. “I was reading in the library trying to find ways to cut the hair of Magicians. There are understandably few works on such a topic. But, I remember reading about how some Magicians can fortify their hair and in order to remove that fortification you need a Metamagic Affinity Magician who can cast nullification.”

Inago smiled ear to ear, “And how do you do that? Did you read that too?”

Roan nodded and reached for the lock of hair with his left hand. He touched his thumb and ring finger around the lock and then rested his pinky and pointer fingers on it gently. Then, he tensed his hand and imagined that he was slowly peeling back the layers of an onion. Eventually, he broke through the layers and the nullification was complete.

He reached down with the knife and slashed. The single lock of black hair was cut. The creature immediately stopped wriggling and fell to pieces made of various metals, woods, bones, and stone sitting in a pool of black sludge.

Inago slapped Roan on the back, “Well done! I didn’t think you had it in you but boy you proved me wrong! You’re casting is still really rough but you…hey! Where are you going?”

Roan had begun walking up the road toward the mansion. “To see Mistress Camellia.”

Inago quickly followed behind, “Why? What’s the rush?”

Roan replied without skipping a beat, “She owes me some answers and I owe her a haircut.”