Interlude: Naki

Day: 9/6/991;Time: 14th hour

Naki had been brooding over the events of the past few days in her cell for a few hours now. Her hatred of Ginkami had not diminished, but she was now able to focus on the future and on how she was to get revenge. Naki was ready to flee her cage and hunt down Ginkami.

But at the present moment, she was being interrogated yet again. General Marko was persistent, but had trouble getting information out of any of the Blades of Malice members. They were true zealots that hated the established order of the world, and wished to bring in anarchy. Most of them were willing to die for their beliefs, especially those that joined at a young age.

The General suggested torture on many occasions, but the prince and others on the council were a bit weak-kneed for such things, preferring a more peaceful approach.

But after two days of failure, they finally gave in and allowed the General to do as he pleased. The end justified the means, which made no difference in the end. The imprisoned did red cloaks rarely screamed and they did not divulge any information about the Blades' plans or anything about the Stones of Ethos. Naki was no exception; Marko's soldiers could not break her.

Some suggested executing her, but the council later decided that she might be a valuable hostage. This was a mistake; hostages meant nothing to the Blades of Malice. Naki was only one pawn among many. The only thing that mattered to the Blades was the end result.

She was tortured for a short while, and escorted back to her cell. Unfortunately, they did not have anyone that could read minds. General Marko and the others would have saved themselves a lot of time if they did.

Naki sat in her cell for a few hours and kept quiet. She had learned how to calm her mind in such situations. It was then that a gray cloaked old-man came by and slipped a piece of paper under the door. He abruptly left afterwards to avoid suspicion. It was her acquaintance from the Golden City Council. Not all high-ranking officials were loyal to their Lords. The Blades had eyes all over Ethos; they knew that knowledge was power.

The blonde-haired woman took the slip of paper and began reading it with her hazel eyes. She had learned everything that she needed to know: Ginkami was on his way to Fire Keep to speak with the queen about the Ruby. Naki was ready to make her move now. She waited until it was dark outside before doing anything.

Naki sat down cross-legged on the cold dungeon floor and began to meditate. The guards took her sword, but that was only because she let them. Her "Minas Katana" was not an ordinary blade. Naki focused her thoughts on the surrounding area and found it. The Katana was located four floors above her in the weapon storage area. It had been confiscated along with many other unique weapons wielded by her allies.

Naki had developed a mental link with this cursed blade forged in the Minas Federation; she could control it from a distance. The katana would obey her; she only needed to speak with it. Her katana began to glow and surround itself with black flames.

The blade slashed through the steel door, and flew outside. Naki began to guide it downstairs. Along the way, the flying black katana encountered a few guards. They posed no problem and were quickly disposed of. Naki could see everything that the blade saw; it was an extension of her mind. After several minutes of wandering, the katana was finally on the bottom floor of the dungeon. As it flew by the various cells, it cut through the steel cell doors and allowed her comrades to escape. Finally, it released Naki as well. She stopped her telekinesis and picked up the black katana.

The Blades of Malice were ready to escape. Naki's blade had freed approximately 70 of her comrades. It was difficult to not attract attention with such a large group.

They tried to sneak out quietly, but it was only a matter of time before they were spotted. Naki and the others were forced to take a more violent approach and killed any guards that they spotted. By the time they escaped the five-floor underground dungeon, the entire city was searching for them.

Naki and the others split up into groups, and fled in different directions. "We'll regroup at the Zil base south of here," said Naki to her men, prior to their departure.

After running for several hours, they spent the night in a safe location within the woods.

In the morning, Naki spoke to one of the 10 men that were with her, "Karl, I need you to summon your hawk. We have tidings for all of our allies."

The young black-haired man only said, "Certainly." and began chanting. A black flame formed in front of him, and he pulled out a cage with a hawk in it. He then pulled out some parchment from the darkness, and ended the spell.

"Thank you, Karl. I have a few letters that I need to write," said Naki.