by Ino Lee
At the outskirts of Shaolin, they took a moment to scan the landscape around Mount Shaolin. Activity picked up. A horn sounded to call in troops. Scouts on horseback patrolling the area with light orbs moved back up the mountain.
“Scouts are being relayed our message,” Li said. “They’ll be sent back out to look for Kai and find tracks.”
Shian sighed. “There is a lot of land.”
“We will have all of Shaolin looking if that is what it takes.”
“I fear we may not find anything till the morning sun.”
“Perhaps.” Li pounded his fist. “I can’t believe we let this happen. Those devils . . . they took him right from our grip, even as we were vigilant.”
“Fear not, Shoukui, we will find him. Did you see a light?”
“No—what light?”
“It caught the corner of my eye for a brief moment, but it was further off than the rest. It is gone now.”
“A wayward scout?”
“I am uncertain. Could it be Kai?”
“How far?”
“In the fields, a mile perhaps.”
“It is worth a look. If we find something we can signal the others.” He started a light orb. “I’ll light the way. You concentrate on directing us there.”
Shian nodded and started off. They rushed down the hill, spurred on by an unspoken hope that Kai was to be found. Li thought about his brother and his abilities, wishing he was with them; the unan would have already been caught. He thought about Grandmaster Gao’s description of how the unan mask stuck to his face and wondered if Wong was having more luck in the Koon Kagi than he was in Shaolin.
The cool night air gave them energy. Shian glanced back at Mount Shaolin and then again at a group of trees in the distance, triangulating the position of the momentary light flash from memory. She aimed slightly east of the location, guessing that Lafay would tract toward the Koon Kagi and so hoped to gain ground on them. Her legs burned as she dug into the earth, propelling them across the flatlands.
“We are close,” she said.
She slowed and spread her arms. Li’s light orb diminished as Shian’s eyes and staff glowed pure white. Li dropped to his knees and concentrated. The earth was still.
“Do you sense anything?” he said. “There are no obstacles in the grasslands, nowhere to hide from our senses, but all I feel is stillness.”
Shian lowered her arms. “Unan are masters of stealth, but they can’t hide completely. I may have something.”
“What do you feel?”
“All around us is devoid of energy, but perhaps there is a ripple ahead. It is difficult to tell. I could be imagining it.”
“Perhaps if we move closer, within range then.”
“Let’s.”
They took off again, chasing uncertainty. A mile passed. Li wondered if they were just wasting time and would be better off searching for tracks closer to Mount Shaolin, but reasoned that others could do it; this was a low-risk, high-reward endeavor.
“Anything yet?” Li asked.
“The same, just a ripple.”
“The unan may be pulling away just as fast as we catch up.”
“How will we know we are on the right path then? I wish Jaguan or others were here to validate my senses.”
“We must try. Lafay is a theater mask. If it is indeed carrying Kai, it will tire. And I have faith in your senses, Shian. You are a warrior of chi fai now.”
Another mile passed.
They slowed from their breakneck pace to catch their breath.
“We are getting far from Shaolin,” Shian said. “How long do we go?”
“We could flare our light orbs and call for horses, but that would alert Lafay if indeed they are here.”
“Perhaps we should have sought horses from the outset.”
“We didn’t know where this would lead us. Horses are also easy to detect if we were to take Kai back by stealth. I grabbed a water flask and some provisions back in the temple. I say we continue this path until we’ve exhausted it.”
“It is your call, Shoukui.”
“Worst case, we return to Shaolin come morning to see if they’ve picked up the trail. We’ll have horses then. Best case—we find Kai.”
They ran again at a more sustainable pace. A steady flow of stars and grass filled their next hour.
“The ripple is more concrete,” Shian said. “I am certain of it. There is a presence.”
“I still sense nothing. Can you feel the demon’s energy?”
“No, something else. Something tangible just now and once before. I think Kai is reaching out.”
“He must be concentrating, trying to sense help.”
“I wonder if he knows we are here.”
“If you can sense him, he knows.”
“I wonder why he doesn’t flash a light orb then?”
“Perhaps he is scared to. Lafay has him. Can you connect with him?”
“No. I can send him a message only if we are within shouting range. Several times that if I know exactly where to direct my energies, but they are still too far.”
“Let’s catch up then.”
“What of Shaolin?”
“This is our best chance, here and now. We may be able to take Kai covertly without harm, especially if you can contact him.”
He stopped and opened his canteen.
“Let’s rest and refresh for a moment, then we run hard.”
“Wait,” Shian said. “I have something that will help us catch up.”
She exposed her chain of chi water.
Li’s face lit up. “Excellent. I had forgotten about that. This will be our key advantage.”
She emptied the vial into the canteen and shook it, then drank. Li followed.
“Refreshing,” Shian said. “How do you feel?”
“Like I never ran.”
She breathed deep. “My senses are heightened. I—”
She shifted and raised her staff, summoning a light orb behind them. The light flashed for a moment then shrank, shrouded by flames of darkness.
“The crow mask—it is here,” Shian warned.
A storm of crows burst through the clash of light.
Li unsheathed his sword and unveiled a crescent moon knife in his weak hand, poached earlier from a temple guard; two steel crescents crossed to give Li a quick and precise weapon with which to guard and attack. He sensed powerful motion to the side, sparked his own orb, and ran to meet it, thankful for his recent taste of Infinity water.
Shian electrified the air with chi and slaughtered crows. She retracted her orb and funneled energy into the gemstone of her staff; the unan would not be able to squelch its light without a disproportionate amount of effort. The silent, chilling crow mask advanced. Shian had never seen such an enemy before and did not know what to expect. Its monk-like powers were probably a good match for hers.
Lau Gong rushed headfirst into Li. It carried two jagged blades that were a cross between long knives and short swords, rattling off several rapid strikes and pulling away, circling Li on all fours like a predatory cat. Li took the attack in stride, happy with the crescent moon’s extra defense.
Shian was shocked to see the tip of her staff engulfed in dark energy. She waved the weapon to shake it off, then flared a light orb with her free hand just in time to see the crow mask flail with its staff. The monk brought hers up to match, then thrust at the demon’s face, illuminating four yellowish eyes. The unan dodged and struck repeatedly. Shian wondered what else it would do, but their battle devolved in what appeared to be a simple staff match rather than a battle of chi.
She thought again about its abilities. Its chi control was great, but did not appear highly offensive except for its use of crows, which were few in number compared to before; most had probably been used to escape
the warriors back in Shaolin. The demon was probably more like a monk animal handler than a warrior, though a specialized one. Its skill with the staff was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. She successfully managed to thump it on the leg and burn it across the chest, but its body was naturally resilient and its skill sufficient to protect its face.
Li waited for Lau Gong to pounce. He knew its strategy: move in close with dual blades, take away the advantage of his sword’s reach, and try to land a hit with speed and veracity. The demon jumped. Li flicked his sword and caught it in the shoulder, but the demon powered through unfazed, coming across his guard knife with one slash, and nearly catching a leg with the other. It backed away and stalked him once more.
“Li,” Shian called out telepathically. “My enemy is a master of crows, but can be overpowered. I do not have the tools that you do.”
Li glanced over and got her point. He abandoned the fight with Lao Gong and rushed toward them.
He relayed advice as he passed her. “It’s fast. Keep away.”
The Shoukui immediately attacked the unan after blowing by Shian, catching it off guard. He chopped his sword against its staff and followed through with an upward swipe of his knife. The demon backtracked but Li kept up with a jumping back-kick and a roundhouse. The unan stumbled and fell. Li unleashed his crescent moon knife and let it fly, but the demon contorted its neck to shift its mask under the projectile. Li wasted no time and slid across the grass on his knees, leveling off his sword in the same motion and slicing the demon’s mask in half.
Lau Gong had hardly begun to attack, kept at bay by Shian’s burning ember, before it saw the fate of its doomed comrade. It dug into its flesh and tossed a projectile at Shian, then turned and ran. Shian swatted aside the object, but it exploded against her staff, a sack filled with powder. She dropped to her knees.
Li rushed to help, but Shian held up her hand.
“Stinging powder,” she warned.
It was almost too late as Li felt his eyes sting before turning away. Shian crawled away from the zone of danger toward Li, who had his canteen out and splashed his eyes. She also rinsed hers sparingly with energy water.
“What a waste,” she said.
“Drink some. Are you injured?”
“No. I just need a moment.”
He looked across the grass, the direction Lau Gong had run.
“What now?” she asked.
“We may have lost the element of surprise. Lau Gong will undoubtedly join Lafay, drawn by Kai’s mark.”
“If I can contact Kai, we may still have an advantage they don’t know about.”
Li nodded. “Yes.”
“We will catch them then. We can more easily follow Lau Gong now.”
Li stowed his knife and sheathed his sword. He took another sip of chi water once Shian had finished, readying for the race ahead.
23
WONG FLARED THE teeth on his gauntlet and slashed a bundle of vines.
“It’s getting swampy.”
“Now we must sneak,” Renshu said. “Their territory has begun.”
The forest here was a dismal shade of gray, barren and haunted. There was movement in the trees as Shiki, the blue-faced captain, scouted the perimeter with three other specially trained warriors—the magau equivalent of human tree rangers. Two monkeys also joined the fold, including the feisty primate Jaguan hypnotized earlier, forming a lean, quick-hitting assault squad. Their plan was for covert infiltration into the dark ninja compound, with a larger backup force ready once they needed it. They set out the previous day from the Tangled Root Forest, camped at night, and split apart from the larger group that morning, which numbered forty-eight.
“Still on board with the plan?” Wong said to Jaguan.
The monk general saw the logic in Wong’s pact with the magaus, but was still wary of trusting them so quickly.
“As long as this magau’s knowledge proves true.”
“Toutoumo,” Wong clarified.
“Yes, Toutoumo.”
“Whatever happens, we had to come this way to get to the Temple of Masks. At least we have some cover within the pack.”
“Toutoumo will be true. Do not doubt,” Renshu said.
“How much further to the camp?” Jaguan asked.
“Just after the noon sun.”
They continued to hike throughout the morning, sticking to the driest paths after facing increasingly swampy lands. Pockets of water sprang up here and there, providing the unan with easy hiding grounds and protection from fire, making them wary.
Jaguan stepped on some oozing unidentifiable object.
“This place is unsettling.”
Past noon, they slowed to a creep and closed in on the dark ninja compound. The denser foliage gave them adequate cover, allowing them to make it to a tree line for a good view of the fortification. Just as Renshu said, the trees were cut away from the perimeter for security, followed by a moat and a towering stakewall of sharpened logs that surrounded the encampment. A drawbridge was the single point of entry. The wood on the fence had weathered and grayed over the years, giving the compound a raw, disheartening look.
Renshu thought of his comrades. “This is it. Training camp of dark ninjas. A magau prison.”
“A dismal place,” Jaguan said. “We will right things.”
Seeking a different perspective, they scaled a tree for a bird’s-eye view, where they could see the top of the largest building.
“That is the place we must go,” Renshu said, pointing. “The magaus are kept inside.”
The dark, formidable beacon was located at the back of the stockade. On it, a wrap-around terrace was bathed in sun and devoid of movement, presenting a possible point of infiltration, but first they had to make it past the moat and stakewall.
Wong analyzed the details of every obstacle. What concerned him the most was the activity inside the moat. Numerous hippogators were being fed by dagwais, seemingly at home in the muck, and upon careful inspection with Jaguan’s magnifying gemstone, an unan with a gator mask could be seen sitting motionless in the mud, partially submerged underwater. The moat seemed to serve the dual purpose of security and swamp grounds for unan.
“No good,” Wong said.
“I did not say it would be easy,” Renshu said.
“The moat itself isn’t the problem. There’s too much activity in it. Let’s circle around to see if there’s a weak spot.”
They carefully descended the tree, circled to a new location, and climbed another. Moving laterally across the treetops was too dangerous because of the eyes in the moat. Fortunately, there were no lookout towers to worry about except above the drawbridge. The ninjas never thought to build more since the compound was relatively secure and the magaus had never launched an attack before. That may have also explained the lack of patrols, though at one point, they came across a crow vulture which Shiki quickly dispatched of with a dart from his blow gun.
They spent an hour surveying the perimeter, but found little in their investigation to be hopeful about.
“To sneak in will be difficult,” Renshu said.
“The west wall is best,” Shiki said.
“Even if we are able to get in over the wall, what is our plan for escape?” Jaguan said. “And if successful, we will have freed captives of your kind to contend with. The exit strategy must be plain.”
Renshu pondered it and thumped his staff. “We must take the drawbridge.”
“This mission becomes more impossible . . . now we must both rescue your friends and overtake the gatehouse to escape. There are but seven warriors.”
“Nine,” Renshu said, pointing at the monkeys.
Jaguan wasn’t sure if he was serious.
“The bridge drops when the sun sets,” Shiki said. “That can be the way out, but then . . . dark ninjas.”
&
nbsp; “We may have ninjas to deal with regardless,” Jaguan said. “The thick cover of this swamp assures it.”
“Day is better,” Renshu said. “So they are not free to move behind the fence.”
“Then we are back to the problem of escape.”
“What would you do at this Shaolin Temple?”
“Mount a full siege. Drop bamboo bridges, send warriors across to take the gatehouse, then drop the drawbridge and send in troops. Otherwise, scale the walls. These fortifications are poor for an army, though we do not have one.”
“There are many more magaus,” Shiki said.
Renshu shook his head. “Too much life for too little.”
They stared silently at the seemingly insurmountable wooden barrier. Wong pondered thoughtfully on his own.
“What holds your tongue?” Renshu finally said to Wong. “Did you not say you were this king ninja and thief?”
“Master ninja and thief.”
“What says this master then?”
“I do have a plan.”
Everyone’s attention piqued.
Wong continued. “We will take the drawbridge. We’ll scale the west wall, and we’ll do it during the day. All we need are nine.”
“How?” Jaguan said.
“First we’ll need a distraction. Some smoke would do.”
“They will be alerted,” Shiki said. “Is this wise?”
Jaguan agreed. “I thought the plan was for covert infiltration?”
“It will still be covert. The smoke must be far away, yet close enough to be seen. They’ll investigate, but not go on full alert since an attacking army of magaus wouldn’t light a campfire to let them know they’re coming.”
“They’ll send a hunting party then?”
“Yes. Hopefully it draws out a few dagwais and an unan or two. I don’t think they’ll send ninjas. And the less daytime eyes there are in the camp, the better, especially unan. We already know there’s a gator and ogre mask in the moat.”
“We’ve taken out Houzon and a few hunting parties recently, so they will be wary,” Jaguan said. “Fire may illicit a stronger response.”
