Two; Sparks

It was early morning in Thailand. The sun had yet to rise, and the skies were dark. The perfect time for Takumi to meet with his contact. He was flying through the sky, riding on the back of his shoggoth. The shoggoth, Jierge, resembled a large, hairless stallion, with skin colored in a purple and green hue. A pair of bat-like wings sprouted from its back, carrying it through the sky. Where its tail should have been were a series of long, whip-like tendrils, and several smaller tendrils sprouted from its flank and shoulders. A long, red blade sprouted from its head, and there were two long, think tentacles where its ears should have been. It was these tentacles that Takumi held on to to secure himself in place.
Takumi was a tall man, in his late twenties. His hair was pitch black and flowed down to his waist, and he was dressed in a black robe, with a black shirt and pants underneath it. His face was smooth and oval shaped, the only blemish being a couple scars on his lip.
His black eyes scanned the ground bellow him. He was safely hidden by the clouds, but he could still see the passing lights bellow him. He gazed down at the intersection of the town he was supposed to be meeting in, and saw a blinking red light. The signal that the coast was clear down there.
"Oriru," he said to Jierge. The shoggoth immediately dropped down, landing in the street. Takumi looked to see the small group of people waiting for them. One of them was holding up a staff with a bright red jewel at one end, which was flashing light. It was almost as long as the man was tall, and why he didn't just use a colored flashlight was a question Takumi decided could wait.
"S̄wạs̄dī!" the man with the staff said.
"Excuse me?" Takumi said, not understanding.
"I said 'hello'," the man said. "Really, Mr. Tachibana, if you're going to visit a foreign country, you should at learn the basic introductions."
"My apologies," Takumi said. "So you're the one who called me?"
"Yes," the man said.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, San," Takumi said. "You have it?"
"Yes," San said. "It's in the lair here. We had to keep it hidden. You understand, right?"
"Of course," Takumi said.
"Follow me," the man said, gesturing to a small house nearby.
San's men went inside, with San behind them. San stopped before entering, and looked back at Takumi. Takumi had lightly tugged at one of the tentacles on Jierge's head, and the shoggoth had leaned down a bit so that Takumi could whisper something to it.
"Are you coming?" San asked.
"Yes," Takumi said.
Takumi and San entered the house, with Jierge close behind them.  The foyer was decently sized, with the four men from outside having plenty of room to lounge around as they entered. One of the men looked at the horse-like creature and asked a question to San in Thai. San responded quickly.
"What was that about?" Takumi asked, unable to understand them.
"He was just wondering why we brought your shoggoth inside," San said. "I assume its to keep passerby from seeing it while we're in here?"
"It's a he," Takumi said. "And yes, that's pretty much it."
"I see," San said. "He'll have to wait here. He won't fit in the stairway to the basement."
"Basement?" Takumi asked.
"That's where it's hidden," San said. "I'll take you. My men will watch your shoggoth while we go."
"Fine by me," Takumi said.
Takumi and San went to the stairway going down to the basement. Before descending down beneath the floor, San turned to his men and said "Pt̩ibạti Mạn."
Takumi and San continued down the stairs. They were now in a dimly lit room, where two other men were waiting. there was nothing else in the room.
"So let me guess," Takumi said, coming to a halt. "It's not here. You lied to me to draw me into a trap. You don't really have the Necronomicon."
"What makes you think that?" San asked.
"The fact that you just told your men to kill my shoggoth," Takumi said. San stepped back in alarm. "I don't speak your language," Takumi continued. "But I learned the few phrases that would tip me off if you intended to betray me. And honestly, they'd be doing me a favor."
"Excuse me?" San asked.
"All shoggoth eventually betray their masters," Takumi said. "In the improbable chance that they do manage to kill Jierge, they'd just be saving me the trouble of doing it myself later."
San let out a sigh before saying "Ying!"
The two men in the room quickly drew pistols. Takumi reacted by throwing his arms up to shield his face, but the men aimed for his chest instead. They each shot a bullet, and Takumi fell to the ground, unmoving. The men approached him hesitantly, but in an instant he had rolled over and drawn a pair of pistols. Before they could react, he shot them both in the foreheads. He rolled onto his front again and lifted himself to his feet. The bullets, though having drawn blood, were still embedded in Takumi's robe.
"Did you really think I didn't see that coming?" Takumi said. "You're dumber than I thought. So what's this about?"
"Three months ago, you gunned down my sister in Mongolia while on your crazy search for the Book Of The Dead," San said bitterly.
"So this is revenge, huh?" Takumi said. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Caezurgo!" San yelled, and he drew a large amount of cosmic energy into his body. It was channeled into his staff, and was released as a bolt of freezing snow.
"Bierto Malus!" Takumi said, placing his guns together. A bolt of red lightning exploded from them both, colliding with San's ice blast and neutralizing it. Takumi had done the same as San. He had drawn cosmic energy into his body, then channeled it into his guns, while stating the incantation, in order to convert it into a different form of energy.
"Those guns are focuses?" San asked.
"Not very strong ones," Takumi replied. "But when used together, they're just as effective as that staff of yours."
"You haven't seen what this staff can do yet," San said. "Gierze!"
San gripped his staff at the top, near the jewel, while the rest of it changed form into an excessively long flamberge. He swung the sword with surprising speed, and Takumi barely dodged it. San swung again, cleaving one of Takumi's guns in two.
"Shit!" Takumi said. He needed both of them to cast his lightning spell. With one gone, he was limited in what spells he could cast. He quickly took aim and shouted "Visercho!"
A small ball of fire shot from the barrel of his gun, but San ducked before it hit and slashed at Takumi, slicing his shoulder. Takumi dropped his remaining gun as he clutched at his new wound, and San took his chance.
"Gazalos!" he said, and a wave of energy flowed from the sword. Takumi's gun became encased in ice on the ground.
"That thing can still serve as a focus in its sword form?" Takumi asked.
"It loses some power, but yes," San said. Now die!"
He swung again, and Takumi quickly drew a dagger from inside his robe to block with. It was a long knife, with a turquoise gem embedded in its handle. Takumi was able to block a few of San's sword strikes, but he failed to defend against the rising knee that collided with his solar plexus. San immediately followed by striking Takumi's jaw with his free hand. Takumi spun around and dropped to his knees. With his back to San, he stabbed his knife into the ground and drew an identical one from his robe before turning back to the fight.
Takumi charged in, stabbing wildly, going on the offensive.
"Yes!" San said, as his adrenaline took a hold of him. "Fight me with all you have! I want to enjoy this!"
"If that's the case, then how's this!?" Takumi yelled, drawing a third knife in his free hand and continuing his assault.
San swung his sword with both hands, knocking Takumi back a bit, then delivered a kick to one of Takumi's earlier bullet wounds. Takumi fell down again, a few feet to the left of the dagger he had stabbed into the ground earlier. San stood above him, knees spread apart in a fighting stance.
"Finished already?" San asked.
"Don't gloat so soon," Takumi hissed.
He quickly stabbed his other two knives into the ground, then ninja rolled between San's legs. He spun around quickly, still on his knees, and drew two more daggers, which he stabbed into the ground as well, forming a circle with the other three.
"Settra!" Takumi said.
The daggers became connected to each other by a large, five-pointed star with a circle, instantly engraved into the ground, and glowing with a cyan light. San was standing in the center, with Takumi kneeling on the outside.
"Gariento!" Takumi said, and San suddenly collapsed, unable to support his own weight.
"What is this!?" San demanded.
"A pentagram seal," Takumi said. "These daggers are all focuses. You should have paid attention while I was putting them in place. Now that they're connected this way, I can channel cosmic power through them all simultaneously, effecting the area within the seal. Right now, I've used a gravity spell. Next, comes something worse."
Panic instantly gripped San. "Please! Don't do this!" he begged.
"Fakku anata," Takumi said, then followed up with "Bierto Malus!"
The circle's color shifted to bright red, and lightning engulfed San's body, reducing him to ash.
"Nisettra," Takumi said, and the circle vanished. He picked up the sword on the ground and muttered "Gierze." It returned to its staff form. "I think I'll keep this," Takumi said to the pile of ashes at his feet. "Since you don't seem to have what I came here for."
"Oh, he didn't have the book, but I know who does!" said a delighted voice. Takumi turned to a man standing it the corner, dressed in a long sleeved, button up shirt, and brown slacks. His short black hair was combed nicely, and his eyes were a very deep shade of green.
"Who the hell are you!?" Takumi demanded.
Suddenly, the man was behind him, with his face right by Takumi's ear.
"I am like you," he whispered. "A former cultist of Cthulhu."
"Gierze!" Takumi shouted, swinging around and slashing his staff as it transformed.
But the man was at the foot of the stairs now, standing with his arms outstretched, as if wanting a hug.
"The Necronomicon is in Tokyo, in the hands of the Silver Wolves," he said, before disappearing entirely.
"Wait!" Takumi yelled. "Get back here! Who the fuck are you!"
The mans voice resounded through the air, laughing gleefully.
"My name is Drahoslav!" his voice rang. "And we will soon meet again, Takumi Tachibana!"
The voice faded. Takumi clearly wouldn't get any more answers, so he did what he could. He packed up his daggers and ascended the stairs. As he walked into the foyer, he saw the sight of Jierge munching on the carcasses of the men who had been in there before. But it was a sight Takumi was entirely used to by now. He walked to the door, ignoring the carnage around him.
"Kuru," Takumi said to Jierge.
The shoggoth let out a loud neigh, which Takumi perceived as "Where are we going next?" Takumi paused for a moment, thinking of the words Drahoslav had said to him.
"Hōmu," Takumi replied.

Kzed report 14

The Leader has demonstrated some magic today. It was unique. He conjured fire from no where, and used it to blast through an oak tree.
According to him, the magic is performed by drawing the energy of the cosmos into ones body, then releasing it. However, a focus is needed in order to cast certain spells. The focus allows a sorcerer to convert cosmic energy into other energies. Fire, lightning, gravity, kinetic force... the possibilities with it are practically endless.
The focus he uses is a sword made of steel that was altered by one of the great old ones. I don't fully understand the nature of focuses, but the Leader says I will learn of it later.
He had promised to secure me my own focus some day, but I have a lot of learning to do before then. I'm going to give my all to my research. I wish to prove myself to him.