>        Stepping back, she looked at him critically. Then drawing the
>scimitar, she let it fly in a backwards arc that hit the thief whom she
knew
>was coming with the flat of her blade, directly in the ribs.  Turning
around,
>she hit him over the head with it then let it drop to the ground.
>
>        "Well done.", remarked an impressed sounding voice behind her.
>Raising the curved blade, she looked to see whether it was another thief.



He stood looking her over with a half-smile.  In the dim light she could see
only his dark brown hair and dark eyes.  He had a large scar that began at
his forhead and ended at his cheekbone.  Dressed in a uniform shade of
black, it was hard to make out any of his other features.

"Well done indeed."  He smiled at her again and held up a very peculiar
knife.  It was crescent shaped and the blade was completely black.  The
leather handle had been dyed black as well, and it looked as if there was a
gemstone embedded in the side.  It glittered as he twirled it in the half
light.

His smile faded, and before Samika could react, he launched the blade at
her.  End over end it flew, and she stared at it as though it were coming
toward her in slow motion.  She thought to herself that it would be a good
idea to move out of the way, but her muscles would not respond.  It wasn't
fear that gripped her, but a fascination with the scintillating darkness
that was approaching.  Closer and closer it came.  She could feel the rush
of air as it approached her face...

...And curved downward, embedding itself between the eyes of the thief
laying before her.  There was a chuckle, dark as the blade itself, from the
man.  "This was a test, you see.  And he failed.  He got caught."  The man
approached her, but stopped as Samika lithely dropped to the ground and
picked up the scimitar.   His smile matched hers, and as he held up his
hands, it was replaced by a mocking look of sadness.  "You wouldn't hurt an
unarmed man, would you?"

"Unarmed?  Why do I find that hard to believe? Hmm.. could it be the blade
top peeking out from your boot?  Or what about the handle from your belt?
Or could it have been the oddly hard edge of your shoulder line?"  She was
begining the enjoy the repoirte; the feeling of adrenaline began to heighten
the moment.

"Ahh... perceptive as well as beautiful.  Oh, the music we could make
together."  His face turned hard.  His mouth straightened into a thin line,
and his eyes narrowed to slits.  For the first time this evening she began
to feel fear.

*Fern, Fern!* Her dragon companion could feel the panic in her mind as she
called.

*I'm coming, my rider... I'm coming!*

His outstretched hand turned, and reached toward her.  She backed up,
holding the scimitar defensively in front of her.  She could hear the man
begin to hum, a strange and sad tune.  After a few moments he looked up at
the stars, and brought his hands up above his head.  For an instant, Samika
felt  vulnerable, and small before him.

>From behind him, Samika could see two orbs glowing, and a stream of smoke.
The orbs moved toward the two humans, and out of the shadows.  She gasped as
she saw that they were not orbs, but the eyes of a dragon; a type of dragon
that she had never seen before.  It was jet black, with golden lines along
its snout.  The smoke came from its breath, and dispersed in the cool
evening air.

The most curious aspect of the beast was that it had no wings.  Its body was
tubular.  It did have legs, however, ending in long vicious claws.  One claw
was missing from a front leg.  The man seemed not to notice the approach of
the beast behind it.  He stretched his hands in Samika's direction again and
continued to hum a single note which grew in intensity.

The thief's body jerked twice.  Blood splattered outward in a random spray.
With a wet sliding sound, the black, crescent blade flew from between the
thief's eyes and darted toward the man's outstretched hand.  With unnatural
speed, the blade returned to the man's hand, and the humming stopped.  His
eyes opened and his smile returned.

>From overhead, Fern's great bulk blocked the dim moonlight, casting shadows
upon the figures. The fear that gripped Samika subsided, and was replaced
with a growing sense of foreboding.   "I am disappointed with tonight's
testing.  No matter," he shrugged, "there will always be others.  Be warned,
though, my dear, as it did with Ismene, the night has come for Jasra... and
with it, the darkness."

Spiraling downward, Fern landed directly behind Samika and spread her wings
wide.  She hissed lowly, and her tail flashed in the direction of the black
dragon.  There was a rush of air, and the black dragon was up, hovering
above the ground.  Fern prepared to launch herself in its direction if it
chose to attack.  As quickly as the dragon raised itself into the air, it
plummeted into the earth, leaving a hole that quickly filled with dirt and
turf.  Laughing, the man stepped back into the shadows, and Samika could
tell that he had disappeared, even though she could not see where he had
gone.

She lowered the scimitar and turned toward Fern.  "That," she said to the
blue green dragon beside her, "was definitely bizarre.  What did he mean by
'the darkness'?  And who is Ismene?"  She patted the dragon's great neck,
taking comfort in its warmness.  "Let's get back to the warren.  Perhaps
someone else knows what's going on around here."   She climbed atop the
riding harness on Fern's back, and they lifted flying silently, lost in
thought, back to the dragon's cavern of the warren.


>From between the thief's cold eyes, a black patch appeared.  It was a hard
substance, and it easily covered the body.  Slowly, but thoroughly, the
black crystal traveled throughout the corpse.  As it encased more of the
body, it grew faster and faster, until there was only an jet black, obsidian
husk where once there had been a thief.  With nothing left to feed on, the
crystal shattered, breaking into tiny shards... and finally dust, which the
wind made short work of.
__________________
namaste,
Justin Plank
Peren and Sheava; Jasra  Warren
Dr. Devon Ashke-Avron;  USS Discovery