The Blade of Rahzi’s Naginata looked like a giant scimitar. It was the way the broad blade swept back into a crescent shaped curve, terminating abruptly about three-quarters of the way to fulfilling the moon shaped motif, then dropping halfway back inline parallel to the shaft, and finally sweeping back along the crescent path towards its base. It was one piece, the meter long blade connecting seamlessly to the rod, which was half again its length. Where the planes of the rod and blade should meet, the rod continued to taper down the surface on either side, sculpting itself into flames which engulfed the tail end of the emerging celestial dragon. The form of the flames were in compliment to each other, in parallel, rolling around each side of the dragon as if it were whole. This exquisite detail made it seem as if the dragon was a living creature which had been frozen in metal as it flew threw the sky. The substance of the weapons construction resembled iron, though it did not carry as such. Since it was essentially from another world, it held properties much different than earthly iron, it was stronger and much lighter than it appeared it should be. The shaft was partially bound in white bindings, in contrast to the dark metal underneath, forming a diamond like pattern suited to Rahzi’s preferred grip. At the end of the shaft, the rod formed a bulb about the size of a baseball, with a hole through the center from which a large ring hung. This ring was the only piece of metal that was not directly attached. However, it was seamless, as if it had been carved out around the bulb which it had once been a part of. Rahzi was very much in love with his weapon, which represented the totality of his will and spirit. When he held it he felt peace, a type of perfect meditation began once he engaged in the dance of combat with his beloved partner. He had named her Anata Shesha, the endless dragon… and soon she would feast on her first demon.

As Rahzi readied himself to face the demon, he’d reflected on his lessons about possessions. He knew that it could be dangerous to the host to attack a demon while attached, but he didn’t have the skill to drive it out properly. He also knew that the host’s best chance to survive possession was strongest within the first 12 hours. But he knew he could not get anyone, more qualified, here before then. He had two choices that might save the girl, which is how he saw her to be since she was in the infancy of her existence. He could kill her, or try to cut away the demon from around her soul. Humans were fragile, and their lives fleeting, it would be easy to kill her forcing the demon to abandon the body. This would leave her soul mostly intact as long as he didn’t give the demon time to devour it. In addition, the demon would be easier to dispatch without a living human soul to draw strength from. It might even go for the soul, leaving itself exposed to Rahzi’s attacks, like a fish to bait. But if he wanted to save her life he would have to hurry in finishing off the demon. This was a risk, but the other way was too dangerous he’d decided, since they would in essence be playing a game of tug of war with her soul if he tried to cut it away. Each strike that failed to execute the demon would cause it to dig in deeper, consuming a little more of her essence each time. At least this way, if she died she could still move on as she had chose to be in life. Rahzi had seen his share of empty souls wandering the other world in search of purpose, and had always wandered if they had really been saved from a worse fate. But he knew in truth, they had been saved only as a consequence of saving future victims from the beasts which had claimed and fed on them.

The demon had taken hold and lunged towards Rahzi, the eyes of the girl began to burn with a red glow which poured from her like venom. Rahzi leaped back, but he had gazed to long. Somehow the venom began to form in his eyes and was even now burning its way into his mind. He was in the hallway now, he could feel the wall behind him, but he could hardly see. His eyes seemed as if they were on fire, and he could feel it spreading as if it was actually crawling through the endless depths of his mind. Reapers were trained to place a great deal of open space between their conscious mind and the world around them. It was called Empty Mind, and it was like seeing the world from a great distance. Detachment was perhaps the word humans might assign it, in a clumsy effort to define and understand the practice… but that would be a vulgar mischaracterization. Still, he had been foolish to allow himself to be drawn to the glow as he had, especially knowing the demon was skilled in possession. All Reapers had been warned not to stare into the eyes of a demon, but this had been the first time Rahzi ever laid eyes on a demon, and it was like telling a child not to stare into the sun. And now he stood with his back to the wall, his eyes unwilling to focus on his prey, and he knew the only way to stop it from reaching into his mind was to defeat the demon. Still, he needed to save the girl, to prove something to himself, to achieve a true victory.

He began to see a way forwards, a plan coming into form. Perhaps this was the best place for him, the demon was in a human body, its movements would be limited by the hallway… predictable.