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Kagi'maro's body lay on the diagnostic bed. His skull shattered and blood flowed down his face as raindrops from leaves in a rain forest, covering the blue tattoos of his rank and position in Atlantean society. It was only though great fortune that the Master of Arms of Avalon had been kept alive, given the grave damage that the exploding Zat'Nikatel had caused.
The healer Natal, a middle aged woman of a scant 3,000 years had been the only true healer within range of Avalon at the time of the accident. She stood by Kagi'maro's bedside with a worried expression on her face. "Master of Arms, I know that you can hear me. You've suffered a very bad injury." A hiss of disparagement leaked out through Natal's lips. "I'm sorry to say this, but even with the resources of the best hospital in all of Atlantis I seriously doubt that you can be saved.
Kagi'maro forced himself to consciousness, leaving the dreaming and abandoning the self imposed healing mode. His eye's opened more by the force of his personality than any true control over his body. Try as he might, the weapon master couldn't utter a sound, a fate worse than death for the man that had once been the premier martial artist and teacher in the known worlds.
Natal bent down, close to the injured man. She could only wonder what he was thinking behind the electric green eyes. "You know the options that I have. I can try everything at my disposal to save your life, though I have to warn you, even if I am successful, the best you can hope for," Healer Natal lost her cool professional detachment and it showed in her eye's and in the glistening tear filled eyes, The best you can hope for is a life here in this bed." Natal wiped the blood away, "That's no way for a man like you to live."
The healer training in her reawakened, her face returned to it normally stoic expression. She rose from the bed and strode over to the monitor that showed the injured man's vital signs. In a hushed tone she made her initial report. "The patient, Kagi'maro, suffered severe cranial damage. There are third degree burns covering forty percent of his lower body. The patient is unable to speak, though shows some minor control over non-autonomic functions. The prognosis for this patient's survival is limited, barring a massive improvement in the next twenty four hours. "Merlin," She asked the empty room.
"Yes Healer Natal?"
"Please check the Master of Arm's records, and see if there is a De'morte order in his file."
"I have checked his file closely and there is no such order. In addition, I have scanned all of my stored data on the Master of Arms and find nothing that would allow such a determination to be made. I'm afraid that we have a bit of a conundrum here. I have found two differing beliefs that he has expressed. Kagi'maro is of the faction that believes that the soul may never be destroyed; there for death is merely a passageway to the next form of existence, but his following the Kani'maro discipline, requires him to fight to the very last breath. "I'm afraid that the best I can do is cloud the issue even further healer Natal."
"Damn it," She swore loudly. The inconsistencies left her having to make a choice and either way may violate the patient's beliefs. She decided to err on the side of caution. "Merlin, maintain basic life support. Perhaps the Master of Arms will decide for us."
The healer was too far away to see Kagi'maro's eye's close
*******
Kagi'maro found himself in a very familiar place. The rock garden, bisected by a flowing stream was the place he went to focus his chi. but now he found it incomplete. Patches of nothingness were scattered about the garden. The birds that normally flocked over the cherry blossom trees were nowhere to be seen. Even parts of the brook had splotches of black and white, when before they had been bright vibrant colors. Kagi'maro knew he was dying.
Kagi'maro centered his chi and began the katas that his grandfather had taught him and whose fathers and grandfathers had taught them. His five foot frame coiled, as he started the katas. His arms tightly against his chest and his head bowed, Kagi mentally pictured the routine and then without a conscious thought on his part he exploded into action.
His leg muscles, enhanced by chi, shot him thought the air like a cobra striking its prey. When the jump peaked, he folded at the waist and headed back towards the ground. His fingers tips touched the ground and he rolled over the ground. Back on his feet he drew the katana long sword and struck twice at his invisible foe.
One by one, he practiced every move that he'd ever been taught and the calming effect the practice had showed in the garden. Almost outside of himself, he could hear the birds as if they were just over the treetops and the burbling of the brook filled his hearing.
He ended the workout as he'd begun it. Arms tightly against his chest, elbows bent and his wrists crossed and head bowed. Kagi was centering himself again when the voice of his father echoed through the garden. "You have done well my son. I stand proud of being your father."
"Thank you father, but I know fear. I am to die soon and join you."
"My son, there is no disgrace in knowing fear. The disgrace lays in giving into it and that you have never done." The echo of his father's voice took on a sad tone. "My son, I would be proud to have you join the ancestors and I, for all of eternity, but your paths off a tangent direction. The ancestors know of the battles to come. I can say little, only that your path is destined to flow with the ebbs and tides of our people. Have faith my son, soon enough you will join us, till then, do as you have always done, live your life with honor and help those that need it most."
"Yes Father… Father, what is to become…"
"Shh, he comes my son. Do us all proud."
An artic wind blew through the garden, nearly freezing the brook and Kagi'maro's blood. It took every scintilla of Kagi's training and self control not to shiver. <A short man for one so powerful.>thought Kagi. The Atlantean mage, emanating power like it was aftershave, regally entered the garden as if he owned the place and had every right to be there.
"Kagi'maro," The Rune Master said in a voice that crackled with power seasoned with age.
Kagi'maro stood proud. Truly there was no need for words, the tattoos, the last of their kind on all of earth, on the elf's face said all that needed to be said. <Still, I must be polite. This is what father was trying to tell Me.> "Rune Master, You have come for me?"
"Indeed I have Kagi'maro. I had hoped I would die and my art would be lost before my gift could be used again." A heavy sigh escaped time worn lips, "The time is short and your body is failing. Kagi'maro, your people need you."
"Rune Master, I have a request. If possible, may I be bound to my own sword?"
The mage considered the request carefully. While a mundane weapon would not be as effective, it would still serve as the vessel of the soul. "That is possible," He croaked out. "But you must be aware that there are consequences of that choice. It raises the risk. The transfer may not work at all. There are no guarantees, is that a trade off that you are willing to make, young Kagi'maro?"
Kagi'maro thought about that. "If it fails, so be it, but if it works then I shall always have an old friend at hand."
"Then so shall it be."
Kagi'maro's garden instantly flashed to black, with only a whispered, "Good bye father," Left floating on the wind.
*******
Dalron, the Rune Master marched into the infirmary at Avalon like he owned the place. Indeed, by tradition, the Rune Master went where he wanted, when he wanted, and took whomsoever he choose. So it had been since the days of the five and so it would be till the second Dalron drew his last breath.
"Healer Natal, prepare your patient." The tone of the Rune Master's voice left no room for argument.
Natal bit back her scathing reply. To defy the Rune Master meant to defy everything that Atlantis stood for. The custom of dying to become a Rune weapon was one that had saved countless lives across the galaxy. That didn't mean Natal had to like the order very much. She gave the only answer permitted, "Yes Rune Master.
Dalron wasn't without feeling. He knew how the people felt about him. He could taste their fear every place he went. It was a sacrifice he forced himself to live with. Over the years, he'd learned more about the Rune magic and as the old ones died out, he made the choice that his art would die with him. "Healer Natal, if it's of any comfort, he chose to accept this. We shall begin immediately."
The Rune Master stood over the broken body of Kagi'maro. He began chanting a litany of words that within a short number of days would be lost to all mankind. An ethereal glow, born of the magic and the life force covered Kagi'maro's body. The glow pulse with each passing of every word…
Kagi floated in nothingness. <Is this death?> he questioned. <Where are the ancestors, where is the sudden peace, Where is the knowing all that can be known."
Kagi's questions went unanswered and the next thing that he knew was pain. Fiery burning pain, starting at his toes, it was like being dipped in a volcano alive. Every thing was on fire. His feet, his knees, his chest, his shoulders, and finally his face, then in a burst of pain, it all stopped.
Dalron took the ensouled sword from Kagi's chest and reverently handed it to the new Master of Arms of the Kine'Iende, "This is a brave soul, find him someone worthy to serve."
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