IAN
The asps rattled against the wooden dummy. Hard. The beat was staccato, and had a strange vicious tone to it. The steady Heaven Six count rattled against the wooden dummy as Ian focused on solely the task in front of him trying to block out fatigue and the malevolent presence that came with it. With a twist of his wrist and without missing a single beat the pattern changed to an Earth six followed by a single hand four and then another on his left side. With that Ian switched back to a heaven six with and earth stroke on the third and sixth beat of the pattern. Holding that pattern for a thirty six count he switched to a Earth six with a heaven stroke on third and sixth count. Sweat dripped a crossed his eyes as his body screamed for rest but he ignored it pushing himself harder and harder. 

Suddenly the dummy in front of him seemed to morph into a demon out of myth with horns of shadow and wings of fire. It roared with a mouth full of a broken dreams for teeth and the flames of nightmare in its eyes. Its goat legs terminate in hooves which threw up black fire and green smoke. Ian roared a Kiai and crossed his right foot behind his left foot dropped his stance and unwound his stance to deliver a powerful back handed stroke which obliterated the demons teeth sending the fragments of a thousand screams spiralling into the demons gullet. Ian’s left hand stroke from the outside shattered the bones in the demons right leg. Following through with his full momentum Ian unleashed a spinning heel hook with the full force of Ian’s fear and fury driving it into the vertebrae in the demons neck and through the muscle. The kick removed the demons head in a gout of sickening green fire. The splintering of the wooden dummy brought him back to reality such violence I just wanted a hug! Ian rubbed his eyes.

 It was approaching the seventy-two hour mark, he could feel Koshmar moving restlessly inside his psyche as fatigue closed in on Ian. Focusing again on the dummy he realised it had been utterly destroyed by his final assault. Splintered pieces of its head and leg were scattered around him. FINISH IT! Suddenly the demon surged back up off the ground and in an arrogant fit of pique Ian launched himself into a back flip and executed a flash kick to the demons newly reattached head. There was a loud crash as the dummy was toppled backward smashing to pieces on the ground as Ian landed on a crouch. With his Asps pointed down, Ian used the force of his impact to collapse both of them against the ground. With that Ian replaced the ASPs in the small of his back as he stood. The Gi he wore was far from traditional. While it was black and he sported the black flowing pants the Gi top was sleeveless exposing wiry muscles along the arms. Ian stood slowly and worked the kinks out of his back. With that Ian turned to the table where he had set out his other stuff. A change of clothes was laid out on the table and for a moment Ian couldn’t remember why it was they were his well tailored set and then it dawned on him he was late for the commencement ceremony for the new academic year. “Crap!” With that Ian unstrapped the Asps dropping then to the ground he stripped out of the Gi and ran towards the showers. Now that adrenaline was running through his veins fatigue deserted him and the presence faded into the background. Ian climbed into the shower in his loft and after a hurried scrubbing he scampered back to the table and began dressing in a frenzy. After Ian finished pulling on his dress clothes he strapped the Asps back onto this lower back. After that he contemplated his other weapons for a moment and opted against any of the blades. Ian did however add the Springfield to the holster in the middle of his back between the Asps. 

A decided pause followed this as he eyed Fidrieon where it lay on the table. Ian licked his lips, it was so close to the 72 hour mark, perhaps leaving Fidrieon might help weaken The Nigbhtmare’s rampage. With an exasperated sigh Ian unstrapped the pair of Asps and scooped up Fidrieon, with an expert flourish he spun the flute once on his open palm before sliding it into the holster on his left hip. With that Ian high tailed it towards the academy.

A brisk run later he closed with the Ballroom where by the sound of it the welcoming ceremony had ended. Easing open the door Ian drew Fidrieon with the other hand. Ian picked up the melodies in full swing and with his left hand he brought the flute to his lips and playfully began to add to the melody being shaped. Ian’s strands had an Irish lilt as they snaked there way through the melody being woven by the other students. What the hell, he only had a few hours left before he needed to crash. With that Ian brought his right hand to his flute and with a kick of his heel began to weave his way through the dancers to the beat of the music. Better to enjoy the moment while it lasted. As Ian wound his way through the crowd the meaning of a buddhist Koan involving a man hanging from a cliff by a vine while a tiger stalked on the ledge above and below him suddenly became clear as to why it ended with him picking a strawberry and being happy. Ian smiled and ended a hum and a growl to his notes giving them a dark vibrating tone as he laughed inside. Tonight would be hell but the for the moment, he had picked a strawberry.