Kire wiped her sweating brow, her left eye stinging a little from the extra discomfort of her sweat. Gods, it was hot, and while she had no problem bearing the weight of her weapons and her armor throughout her journey here, she hadn’t fully accounted for the desert heat. She drank only a mouthful from the waterskin, not wanting to deplete her supply, and instead focused on not losing the trail. The rust-taste of blood, of rotting, bitter things—this was his magic. And the closer she got to the outskirts, near the rubble that had once been part of its protectives, the stronger it stank, left a rank taste in her mouth. 

She stopped, not daring to approach this collapsed wall just yet, observing from a distance. Nothing unusual on the surface—until her eye sighted a desiccated arm. [i]What is that?[/i] The arm was large for a man’s. Was it even a human arm? She wondered if this was a twisted homunculus, or some other beast. Ikegai’s dolls, however, wouldn’t have fashioned a weapon like the one the dead limb still clutched. It looked cruel, unnecessarily so. Did this thing have anything to do with the pillaging of the city? If so, a weapon like that looked to be exactly the kind of killing implement made by a people who delighted in murder and suffering. 

Her fists clenched and unclenched, and she rolled her shoulders before drawing her sword. Her other hand fumbled with her satchel, produced something hidden in a pocket of leather. The gem. It looked inert, dead, the way it did the past several months. The arm, similarly, did not move. “Well, Kay. Only one way to find out.” She stepped closer. 

The rubble moved. Pebbles fell, glancing off the corpse arm. Kire gripped her sword tighter. A faint flicker of red light shone at the center of the gem in her hand. [i]Closer.[/i] A few more steps. The arm twitched. “Don’t be rude, Kay, help him up,” she muttered to herself, stepping close enough for her to disturb the remnants of the wall with her boot. The carnelian gem trembled in her hand, glowing bright red. 

The corpse rose, pushing against the rubble, and Kire jumped back immediately, avoiding the long, cruel blade. “What in all the gods--!” As she had suspected, the body was [i]huge[/i]. The softest parts of its face had rotted away, but it moved its head from side to side as if searching for something, trying to sniff something out. Kire took in the sight: pointed ears, blue-grey skin. She could imagine an army of such creatures sweeping through this city. [i]And Ikegai’s stink is all over this.[/i] Kire waited, watching it. It looked confused, perhaps only operating on the barest of magical energy. Perhaps it didn’t even know she was there. 
Until it swung his head around in her direction. “Well, shit.” 
The thing leaped on unsteady legs towards her, swinging. Kire dove, whirled around to slash its legs and almost got caught by the long blade. It moved awkwardly, erratically, but with a weapon and reach like that, Kire had to be careful.