Nehi'nihil

I had fallen asleep in the boat while waiting for Spyro and Reena to return. I awoke, however, in an unusually well-padded cargo-hold, and I was covered with a blanket. I blinked until I was fully awake and lifted the hatch of the cargo hold to see Moneybags standing at the front of the boat, making a deal with someone who I didn't recognize. I  was fairly certain that he was a worshipper judging from his stark white sleeves. His hood was down, showing me a middle-aged face that was far too wrinkled than it should have been. Much of what they were saying was incomprehensible to me, however. Must have been the padding.

The worshipper handed Moneybags two bags of equal size (but larger than a standard lunch), and then left. I fully lifted the hatch to the cargo hold and stepped out of it then, catching Moneybags's attention. "What was that about?"

"Food. You go to all the trouble of making sure everyone else on this boat is well fed, but not poor old Moneybags . . .. Perish the thought you do something nice for the bear who lent you his boat!"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I brought lunch back for you . . . You're not that big. You shouldn't be eating any more than the dragons do, in any case."

"You don't know much about bears, do you?" Moneybags spoke, and I shrugged — they were considered one of Sakhmet's special creatures, but other than that, I knew very little. "Well, then you would know that while dragons are designed to develop a flame so they can be warm-blooded without eating all the time, bears DO eat all the time. Needless to say, that 'lunch' you provided was the bare minimum for a snack." 

"Are you calling me a bad hostess?" I glared at him. "Wait . . . those are MY rings!"

"You mean they were- er, I know they're your rings. It's just that they're very pretty rings; they're very pretty gold rings, and they must be quite an investment to you. I'm just holding onto them for safekeeping." The bear explained, but I didn't accept his word at face value.

I stepped closer, towering just slightly over him. "I appreciate the thought, but would you please give me my—"

"We've got the spring!"

Both of us looked up to see Spyro triumphantly holding the spring in one hand, hopping up into the boat. Reena walked over to the engine block to install the spring, while Spyro climbed into the boat and stretched. "Where's the other spring located?"

"It's a small piece we need — but that tiny spring's absence is still enough to make a large difference in the boat's balance. Unless my memory fails me, there's a monastery at "Arid Castle" where they make the parts to finance their continuing operation. We should be able to pick the piece up very easily from there."

"To Arid Castle, then. And I'll be taking my rings with me, Moneybags." I spoke coolly, snatching the rings off of his belt and fluttering towards the portal. Reena led the way, while Spyro and Sparx flew behind me.

Naven

I sat at my desk for roughly a half-hour, still tending some to my wounds and trying to piece all bits of the puzzle together. I let the signature-searching program run for about ten minutes, pinpointing the locations of the two dragons. The one that was in Draco Reaches hadn't moved very much, while the one I spotted earlier in Floating Atoll was now a considerable distance away in Arid Castle. 

That point had to be Spyro — only he could move so quickly when he went 'exploring'. I bookmarked the signature, commanded the program to record his progressive movement into a time-lapse image, and minimized it out of the way. I would check back in a few hours or so to follow his progress.

"There must be something I'm missing . . . but what? Hyksos clearly is a force to be reckoned with, but my interview with this realm's Spyro turned up nothing. Cairo could make more sense of it than I could, but she's unreachable for obvious reasons." I stared at an authorization slip for a few moments. "Who was that character she mentioned earlier that had the iconized wand? Nehi, Nedi, Noohi . . .  Neli sounds like a nice name, but that can't be right." I swiveled in my chair once. "Well, it couldn't hurt to do a name search on the database."

I brought up the name database, clicked again to reach the 'N' folder, and clicked again for 'Female'. I typed in 'Nehi' first to search and see if any names came up, and only one entry did. Smiling to myself for remembering so well, I clicked on it to bring up her profile. 

"No recorded crimes, Status: Single, Height: 6'2", Weight: 135 . . . I'm surprised Cairo would even talk to that beanpole." I glanced at the photo provided in the profile. "Well, it doesn't show underneath the loose-fitting clothing, so that might explain it." 

A look of concern crossed my eyes when I scrolled down the page. " 'Comments: Converted to Tahlaism; all records before 5032, including date of birth, medical history, and criminal history are unavailable in this database and may or may not be available in the archives of the Principality of Floating Atoll.' That's only six years ago, so the information could still be very important. It also says here she has a brother listed in the archives. Maybe he's the link I need."

I went and looked up his profile as well. "Excellent! He's on the police force . . . another convert, but his records gap can't be too bad if he's working for us. Maybe I can arrange to portal over to his station and check him for any leads." I looked up his station for today, and quickly assembled a portal to the airport security office. 

When I appeared, Nola'Nihil blinked and stood at attention from behind his desk. "Sir, I have performed entirely according to protocol today and do not warrant a-"

"No need to turn defensive, Officer Nihil. This is for an investigation of my own and has nothing to do with your performance." I sat down in front of his desk. "It's simply that there have been a string of incidents which your sister has been connected to, and . . ." With that,  I proceeded to explain the situation in as much detail as I could muster without wasting too much of his or my time.

Nola nodded at this. "Would you be interested to learn she was also involved on the receiving end of a sniper attempt?"

"What? HOW?" My eyes widened.

"Someone was aiming for her off of one of the rooftops. I brought in a few suspects, but Nehi couldn't positively identify any of them, and you know I can only hold suspects for so long."

"Granted, that. Did you at least get some photographs of the suspects?"

"As always. Take a look for yourself. Have you seen one of them before?" Nola'Nihil pulled out the photographs of the five suspects. I winced as I glanced at two suspects. Nola noted this. "The Dragon and the Marian? I thought they were suspicious as well . . ."

"They're not wanted for anything. I just recognized them, that's all." I covered my tracks some. Had Nola known that he apprehended one of Cairo's 'sisters' who was delivering that dragon,  I would have been required to dispose of him — Cairo usually preferred recruiting to killing, but there would be no way she'd allow recruitment of a snow faerie, even if he wasn't a Sakhi.

I hurriedly went to glance at the other three, and froze at the picture of the masked suspect in the black nenes headdress. "Yes . . . That's the one . . .."

"Nehi noticed him from the others as well. Could you explain a bit about him?"

My hand slammed down on the desk. "You, of ALL people, should be able to recognize this as a Sakhi disciple!"

Nola'Nihil's eyes narrowed. "You automatically assume that just because I'm from Floating Atoll I would know every minute detail about Sakhmet?" I paled, but was too off-set to respond. "I WOULD have known this was a Sakhi disciple if I hadn't converted before I officially 'came of age'." He muttered slightly, "Probably would've become another disciple, too . . ."

"I suppose that's as much proof as I need. When did the incident happen?"

"Only 0810. It's 1532 now, so it's past the holding limit for suspects without a warrant." Nola replied. I did the general math in my head — this realm's Spyro was arrested at 0600, the incident happened at roughly 0800, at 0915 Cairo realized we had arrested the wrong dragon . . . and at 0945 we spotted Spyro's realm signature at Floating Atoll. I was still trying to work out the logic in my head when Nola distracted me. "Sir? Are you uncomfortable?"

"Oh, it's nothing . . . Say, Officer Nihil, how would you like to go on a special undercover assignment tonight?"

He put the papers back. "What sort of assignment?"

"Well, it's quite classified . . . I can't tell you unless you're certain you want to do this . . ."

Reena

We already appeared within the stone complex of Arid Castle, watching the monks in the courtyard below practicing their casting drills. There were mostly faeries among the ranks, but there were also some Marians and a few Dragons. Arid Castle wasn't a very common monastery for dragons, despite its proximity to Crystal Chasm.

One of the wizened faerie monks flew up to greet us. "Welcome to the home, fair citizens of the Shadow Lands! Wishing to join our esteemed ranks, perhaps?"

"Out of Realm." Spyro Prime replied quickly, not wanting to get involved.

I followed suit. "Married."

Nehi'Nihil paled slightly. "Er . . . eligible, but not interested at the moment?"

The monk walked over to Nehi, eyeing her rings. "I'm certain that we can convince you to at least be interested . . ."

"The only thing I'm interested in right now is fixing a boat. We need a spring to fix the balance."

"The supply store is on your left. However, Madame, I would like you to follow me." The monk walked past us, pulling Nehi behind him by the ear, leaving the two of us to go and fetch the part on our own.

We walked down the hall, stopping at the supply store for the boat parts, and after glancing down two or three rows of shelves, I found the small steel 30-wind spring — exactly the size I needed to fix the balance of the ship. I paid the cashier, and walked out of the store.

Spyro Prime shook his head some. "That was TOO easy. There has to be a catch."

"I doubt it — we got what we came for. They didn't ransom the item like that jerk at Cloud Market did, We weren't diverted from getting the item like we were with Djari and Candace at Crystal Chasm, we certainly weren't gambling with our lives like we were at Floating Atoll  . . . but You're right. There must be a catch — now what is it?"

Sparx glanced at me. "I wonder what the monk did with Nehi?"

A cacophony of cheers erupted from the courtyard. We froze. "You don't think they would- "

"These are monks!" I hissed. "I know they haven't tortured 'infidels' since the Schism roughly 2000 years ago, but you never know how they might react to a 'potential' member . . . especially since they probably mistook her for a Sahki!"

We ran around the courtyard's upper hall, looking for a way to get to the lower arena. After running around for a few minutes, Spyro Prime decided to take the easy route and jump the railing of the hall, landing in the stands. I jumped as well, but I had a more graceful landing. "Now where is she?"

FWOOSH!

"There she is!" Spyro Prime pointed out a blue-clad figure on the field. "Not to sure what those rings she has are for, but she's giving those monks a run for their money!"

"You must be kidding! Monks are supposed to be some of the best soldiers in the Tors — a rigid exercise regimen coupled with Tahlaist war-magic is an incredible combination." I glanced out at Nehi'nihil again, watching her launch an impressive flock of doves to scare off some of the monks. How was it possible for her to harness such power? Such a stunning show of abilities was unheard of  . . ..

He gave me an eyebrow. "If monks are so good, why isn't Shadow one of them?"

"You don't send off an only child to be a-"

THWACK!

"Come on! COME ON! You really think that a bunch of little flyweight punks can take me down?" Nehi catcalled from the field, glaring down at the monk she just knocked towards our seating. "NEXT!"

Cairo

I collapsed, trying desperately to break the bonds of the phantasmal rope. My left leg was now in intense pain from the bullet wound, but I did not have enough time to try and remove the bullet so I could stop the pain. If I attempted to heal without removing it, it might cause even worse damage. I tried to kneel on my good leg, but I hit the icon shield like it was a wall.

The Disciple of Anubis manipulated the leash enough to bring me to the ground again, after which he tied my hands in front of me. "You walk in front, Silver-Dagger . . . I don't trust you to follow."

"Likewise, Disciple." I winced as I tried to stand on my good leg, failing again. "And I'd rather ride — I can't heal myself enough to stand, let alone walk if I am tied like this. What size bullet did you use, a .45?"

"A .44 with full metal jacket, actually. You're still walking."

My leg sent another surge of pain through me, keeping me from lashing out at him any further. "I just told you, I can't walk! You would have had to hit me with a blank to still expect me to walk!"

"Tell it to someone who cares." He snapped, signaling the horse to walk through the icon shield. He mounted it from the right, and yanked on the phantasmal rope leash, waiting for me to go ahead enough for him to follow. After a few minutes of cursing I grudgingly crawled ahead of him on my elbows, dragging the rest of me behind. He followed behind at a stiff, halting trot.

Halfway to the temple,  He passed a worshipper walking towards the perimeter and leading another horse, a young mare with white stocking marks. "Stop, worshipper. There is no need to replace steeds at the outpost this time." The worshipper bowed his head slightly. "Mount the prisoner onto that horse. Make sure her restraints are tied to the horn of the saddle." He grabbed the reins of the mare. "Much appreciated, worshipper; this prisoner was moving far too slowly." With that, he galloped towards the temple again, the mare following at his side.

He dismounted from the right and grabbed me from behind to pull me off the horse. I whimpered, slightly shocked, but he still carried me in his arms like a sack of barley and took me to a corner on the outside of the temple, where he hung me from a nearby pole by my hand restraints. "Hyksos will be here soon enough;  he will enjoy having your cooperation in breaking the curse tonight. Once it is done, we will have no need to cower and fear before the shadow of Tahla, and these lands will fall to Hyksos . . .."

"A wistful dream of yours, I'm sure." I replied to him. "Unfortunately for you, I have no intentions or desire to help you in any shape or form whatsoever. While I don't doubt you'll have a little fun at my expense, you won't have my cooperation."

The disciple grinned, poking at my bullet wound and causing a fresh surge of pain to writhe through my body. "You'll pay for this insurrection, Silver-Dagger. I'll wait for Hyksos to decide just how you'll pay."

Hyksos stood at twice the size of any normal horse in his current state, and walked around the pole to inspect my situation further. The disciple grinned at him, even while his belly-lodged eyes were staring at me maniacally. "An excellent job of restraining her, wasn't it?"

I wouldn't go so far as to say that, Disciple. A fine job, certainly, but incomplete.

The giant, rippling black stallion pawed the ground a few times, revealing a hole dug into the ground covered with an iron grate. A plate-sized hoof lifted the latch, opening the grate to reveal that the hole was reinforced by brick walls, turned black by soot and age. I couldn't tell how deep into the ground that hole went. The disciple peered inside of it as well. "It's one of the older cooking pits. What about it?"

It wasn't used just to cook food in the old days. Gag Silver-Dagger, and then lower her inside.

"You're not suggesting that we burn her alive, are you?" The Disciple if Anubis glanced up at Hyksos. "No, no, of course you wouldn't. Burning is far too noble a way for her to die. Very well, then." He pulled a handkerchief from his outfit and gagged me with it, taking care to keep my hair from getting tangled in it (even if only so he could pull on it and cause more pain). He unhooked my restraints from the pole, and unceremoniously dropped me into the pit.

WHUMP!

I howled, but my words were swallowed in the gag, translating only into a low moan of pain. Both Hyksos and the disciple grinned at me, even though I could barely see it through the grate. The hole was only six feet deep, which was better than I had expected, but still deep for my height. The width of the pit was four feet by four feet — maybe I could brace against a wall to stand, but I was going to have a bitch of a time trying to reach the latch and free myself.

I glanced up as I noticed the disciple's hands outstretched, ring-hoops glowing . . . what was he going to do now, make it rain inside the pit to drown me? I watched through the gritty grate again as he cast his spell, and a nude figure formed in front of him. It was hard to identify what the figure was until it spoke. "What is your request, master?"

"Nothing yet. Wait by the pole for orders." The disciple ordered. I tried to remove my gag, but found that it was made of a silky fabric which was hard to grip, especially with my thumbs and wrists tied, palms facing each other.

He'd made an illusion of me, the pervert! What he was going to use it for, I had no idea. He also made a few mistakes in designing the illusion as well, and gagged as I was, I couldn't correct him.

I tried to relax, hoping it would help me squirm out of my current restraints. All I could do now was sit in this dirty, forsaken hole and wait.

"If I Worked for Insomniac...", "Spyro Prime", "Dragon's Jubilee" and all other related works are ™ Rachel 'Jekkal' Keslensky, 2000. "Spyro the Dragon", "Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage", and "Spyro: Year of the Dragon" are © Vivendi-Universal, Inc. This site is affiliated with Insomniac Games, Inc.