[b]12.[/b]

Jade Fist took in a few breaths through his mask as his senses began to return to him. He fluttered his eyes open, scanning the wooden room he was sealed within. Out of the corner of his vision he caught a silhouette seated beside a desk with a dim lantern on it.

“Awake?” She asked, with a tone indicating she wasn’t going to wait for an answer. “Good.” Her voice was soft, but it had the slightest vibration to it.

The elf seated himself upon the wooden floor with crossed legs, keeping his vision on the woman, whose figure slowly came into view. He was ready to get up and get physical with her… except his wrists and ankles were bound. Not by any shackles, no… by that same putrid sludge that adorned those walking corpses.

“If you’re wondering, I didn’t look under your mask.” She said, “I am one to respect the privacy of the living.”

“But not the dead.” Jade Fist said to her.

The woman smiled. She leaned forward, allowing the light from the lantern to encompass more of her body. She definitely wasn’t human, although “demon” probably wouldn’t be the right way to describe her either. Her skin was pale. [i]Dead[/i] pale. Her face was gaunt with a few blemishes and veins creeping around, her lips were darkened, her nose was flat, and the areas around her eyes were dark and wrinkled. Her eyes themselves were pitch black with what seemed a faint, glowing yellow iris. Her dark hair messily cascaded from her scalp down one side of her face, with a hint of grey amidst the strands. Her dress was… ornate, to put it best. A flaring collar made from some form of woven flesh, most likely human. Her shoulders were adorned with decorations that evoked wings of some form, one bright and one dark. Her gown too evoked a form of duality, one side black with gold designs and the other grey with black designs. She certainly had some form of “life and death” theme going on with her outfit.

“I have a feeling you’re the right one.” She said, folding her soft and spindly fingers together.

“The right one… for what?” Jade Fist replied.

“Hmm… you should know, I’m a fan of cryptic speeches and riddles, but… you poor dear, you’ve been hard at work lately. I’ll make it simple for you. An associate of mine believes you are the Sage of Earth. And she requested that I bring you to her. She needed an expert to track down such a master criminal as yourself.”

The elf seemed a bit relieved, and at the same time, very aggravated. “That’s…” He muttered, “Not what I was expecting.”

“I can imagine.” The woman said, “Constantly working, freeing slaves who rich, noble humans and demons paid greatly for on a regular basis? You would certainly have angered too many people to still be at large by now… but it is as I believe. You’re simply too skilled to get caught.”

At this point, the elf simply wanted his questions answered. So he started by saying, “Where is this boat going?”

“Tenebra. We’ll be docking close by to the University of Sages, where you shall be escorted to upon arrival.”

“What makes you think I’m the Sage of Earth?”

“The Jade Fist? An enigmatic elven vigilante who fights slavery with the power to crush his foes between boulders? I’m not surprised you were the logical choice. The Headmaster appears to have more faith in you than I do, however. But we’ll see whether or not she’s right.”

“And what happens if I’m not?”

“Then you may take this ship back to Tellus and forget this ever happened. No harm, no foul.”

“And the slaves… this ship was supposed to be full of them.”

“All a clever rumor that I had planted amongst Lucerna months ago. Drawing you out. Waiting for the opportune moment to catch you. Don’t worry, those men you left at the pier were real slavers, not actors. They only thought they were moving illegal items, however. There were never any slaves in this boat.”

This woman knew what she was doing. Jade Fist was… impressed, to put it lightly. More annoyed than anything, but still impressed. He sighed, and then bothered to ask, “Just who are you, exactly?”

“Sicini del Mortha. The third.” The woman replied, “Demon. Noble. Necromancer.”

That explained the undead minions.

Suddenly, a rather loud roar was heard from outside the door, further within the ship. Jade Fist turned his head and said, “What was that?”

Sicini sighed. “Apologies…” She said, “My… companion, is hungry. I should tend to him before he begins feasting on the [i]real[/i] crewmen.” She stood up and walked over to the door and opened it, passing by the elf. “I suppose you’re hungry as well. I’ll have someone bring you some food momentarily. For now, you just relax in here until we reach Tenebra.”

“As your prisoner?” Jade Fist replied, not bothering to look directly at her.

Sicini smirked. “Guest in binds sounds much more poetic, don’t you think?” She said, before shutting the door, leaving the elf alone.

Jade Fist slowly retracted his head, and thought. About everything. About this whole situation. He never felt any inclination that he was the Sage of Earth. And if he was… he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be.

He’d find out in Tenebra, he supposed.