So, the Persona of an assassin. Very good, but as far as I could see, there was nothing I could use immediately in close combat such as I was about to face. “Nothing bigger?” I said. The Persona seemed to answer for itself, guiding my attention toward my upper body.
On a long sash of dark fabric which was hung around my chest and over my shoulder, there were many little star–shaped throwing disks. They were flat, with three bladed points, one on each edge. The Persona gave me the knowledge of not only what they were, but also how to use them. These were Shuriken stars, and with a pass of my hand along the length of the sash I found that three jumped onto my palm with ease.
The Tengu continued to dance about at the edge of the ring they had created, but they did not seem immediately inclined to attack. I stared around at the ring of enemies, my throwing stars poised in my hand, when I heard a thumping noise coming from the direction of the woods. The Tengu stopped their battle cries and looked in the direction of the approaching noise. The thumping got closer, and was accompanied now by the sound of smashing wood, as if something big was breaking through the trees.
Suddenly, a huge troll crashed through the tree cover away off to the right of the shrine. He was three times as high as the Tengu warriors, and he was wearing nothing except a great dirty rag slung around his loins.
He carried a huge stone club, as big as a small tree, with a massive, misshapen head and crude leather strapping wrapped around the base to make a handle. The Tengu all drew away from the troll, opening up a space for him to enter the ring.
As he lumbered past them, he roared gutturally, and all of the smaller creatures replied, jumping up and down and beginning their screeching again. Cara gave a great shout and fired an arrow high up into the air. She had a second one flying through the air before the first had landed. Then the third was flying. The first crashed to the ground amongst the Tengu and exploded with a blast of dirty orange flame and black smoke. The second arrow thudded into the shoulder of the great troll, where it exploded into flame.
The troll roared again and batted at his head and his shoulder with his free hand to put out the flames, but there was something in the fire which made it stick to his hands, and instead of putting it out he unintentionally spread it to other parts of his body. As thick black smoke from the fires on the ground and on the troll spread through the shrine garden, the troll let out a roar of pain and anger.
Glancing around the scene, it was clear that though the troll was bigger, much bigger than the Tengu, it was the smaller creatures who had the greater intelligence. They pushed the infuriated troll forward.
Tormented by the flames which stung his face and burned around his shoulders and chest, the troll charged blindly forward, trailing flames and thick, acrid smoke, and crashed straight into the wall of the shrine building. Flames licked greedily up the wooden structure as it shuddered under his impact. He was entangled with it and flailed around with his giant club, smashing chunks off of the building as he tried to free himself from it.
Behind him, the Tengu all pressed forward, then withdrew like a wave.
"Let's deal with the Tengu while the troll is busy!" I shouted to Cara. She gave me a tight nod.
I flung the handful of three throwing stars. As they left my hand I felt the magic of this Persona rush through me. Instead of being only three deadly sharp Shuriken stars, the projectiles transformed in midair. Three became six, then nine, then twelve. They gained speed, and when they thudded into the faces of the front rank of Tengu, they had multiplied several times over. At least ten of the ugly creatures fell backward screaming, the dark blood squirting from the terrible wounds in their faces.
The troll seemed unaware of what was going on behind him. I flung another three stars, and again they multiplied, bringing down another ten of the Tengu as another volley of arrows from Cara crashed into their ranks, each one making a bigger explosion than the last.
Behind me, I heard the ring of metal on metal as Cara drew her two long knives. For a moment, I considered returning to the Persona of Ironside for the melee, but then the Kitsune Persona reached out and guided my senses toward an ability I had not realized that I had.
I extended my hand. In it, there appeared a short, curved, minimalist blade which I knew instinctively was called a Tanto. Unlike the swords I was used to seeing in Saxe, this blade had no wrist guard, and it was only about as long as my forearm from end to end. It was a stealth weapon, a fast weapon. The battle weapon of the assassin.
I charged the Tengu, and as I did so I used my left hand to fling two more handfuls of the throwing stars into the heaving mass of enemies. They cut a bloody swath through the packed Tengu, who retreated a little way. I leaped into the gap and set about with the Tanto.
Behind me, I heard smashing and bellowing as the troll tried to free himself from the shrine building. A quick slash to left and right dropped one Tengu and then another to the ground. The blade was incredibly sharp, and it sheared through the flesh of my enemies with barely any effort.
I moved to the left, shouldering the dying Tengu into his fellows, where he fell and got entangled in
