“Did you locate him?” said the shadow.
“Yes, a prime ascendant lives. Just as you predicted,” said Rael.
“With him I can locate the second foci and be one step closer to our goal.”
“Your goal, Master,” said Rael.
“Yes, my goal. Once my work is complete I will grant you release. Until then you must play this ruse a little while longer. I have a question for you. Not too long ago you saved a girl. Young, maybe three or four.”
Rael’s chest tightened and he remained still. “Yes, a child was in the dojo when I dispatched the Fan.” Little Nina. I gave you my word, sensei. A life for a life.
“What became of her?” said the shadow looking at Rael intently.
“I took care of her,” said Rael.
He let the words remain between them. The shadow looked at Rael for a long moment as their eyes locked.
“Nothing and no one will be allowed to deter my purpose. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” said Rael.
With a shift and a twist he took off the suppressor bands and put them to the side and rubbed his forearms.
“This chafes, Master.”
“Once I have the three foci, I will erase the Warriors of the Way and bring a benevolent rule to the planes. They will see that my way is the better way. They will accept it or die,” said the shadow as it drifted into nothingness, leaving Rael alone.
“I’ll choose death,” said Rael.
BOOK 3
THE FALLEN WARRIOR
ONE
HER LITTLE LEGS PUMPED as fast they could. She ran faster than any child should have been able to. Her simple dress was torn and soiled from running through the undergrowth of the forest. Her hair was loose and trailed behind her, whipping about as she turned in sudden changes of direction. Around her neck, a heavy steel collar dug into her skin, leaving red welts as tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked back several times, pausing as if listening to something on the wind. Then she would take off again at a dead run. She could hear them—they were getting closer. She crossed a small river, slid down a ravine and took off running as fast as she could, fear etched on her features.
Twenty seconds later, two figures appeared at the river.
“How did she get free, Hin?” said the first. He crouched down and touched the soil, lifting a pinch of it to his lips and tasting it. Nodding with satisfaction, he looked in the direction the little girl had run. They were dressed in black, tight-fitting gear. They wore masks that covered their faces, leaving only their eyes visible. Strapped to their thighs were short swords in their sheaths.
“I don’t know, Fen,” said Hin. “What I do know is that we have to get her back. Dead or alive.”
“She’s smart for one so young, almost threw me with her last switchback,” said Fen as he crouched, his back turned.
“Can you track her?”
The crouching figure narrowed his eyes and stared into the distance.
“I find it strange, Hin, that you wouldn’t know how she got free,” said Fen. “You know how important these Rah Ven dogs are to us. The young ones bring in the highest price.”
Hin looked away, taking his eyes off Fen and looked across the river.
“Maybe I will ask her after we catch the little dog,” said Fen. “You think she would share?” He sniffed the air. He had her scent locked in again.
“She is Rah Ven. You can’t trust those dogs,” said Hin.
“At least those words I know are true,” said Fen. “Let’s go before it gets light.” He took off running with Hin not far behind.
She was so intent on getting away that she didn’t hear the steps coming toward her. Some instinct warned her and at the last possible moment she veered away from the stranger that stood before her.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” said the stranger.
She stopped and took several steps back. Her deep yellow eyes shone with a feral intensity. She bared her teeth, showing tiny fangs. The stranger put his hands up in a symbol of surrender and slowly reached in his shirt to pull out a pendant. The silver fang glistened in the night. The little girl’s eyes widened in recognition.
“Rah Ven?” she said, sniffing the air.
“Friend,” said the stranger, placing his hand on his chest as he crouched down to her level.
His right arm was covered in silver lines which pulsed with a subdued light. She abruptly turned her head to look behind her, causing the stranger to look up and back from where she had come. His eyes lingered on the collar for several seconds. He recognized the glyphs that would prevent her transformation to canine form etched into the collar.
“Have you had any food?” he said.
He reached into his pack and showed her some meat. She snatched it so fast he barely had time to register the movement. She smelled it for a second before tearing off a piece. She started chewing as the stranger stood.
Placing a hand on his chest once again he looked at the little girl.
“Sylk,” he said pointing to himself. Then he pointed at her.
“Bree,” she said around a mouthful of meat.
She grew still and looked behind her.
“Someone coming, Bree?”
“Night man,” she said and pointed at her collar.
Sylk nodded. “You hide? Over there”—he signaled behind the trees—”you go there.”
She looked at him for a moment and then nodded. She entered a dense copse of small bushes and disappeared from sight. He could still sense her there and he knew her pursuers would find her if they were given enough time. He didn’t plan on giving them that time.
He stood still and waited. Two figures were silently running to his location. He could sense them before they came into view. They slowed when they saw him. They appeared to be two shadows in the night. The Mikai were masters of blending into the darkness.
Fen approached first. Behind him, Hin stood off to the right, his hand lightly resting on one of his swords.
“Peace, traveler. We are looking for my niece, who managed to wander away from our camp. Have you seen her?”
Sylk, who at that moment had been looking away, turned to face Fen.
“No, I’ve been travelling this road all night and I haven’t seen anyone,” he said.
He sensed the attack before it came, his sword materializing in his hand in time to parry Fen even as Hin came around the other side, drawing his swords. Fen stepped back and circled Sylk. Sylk turned keeping both Mikai in view as he palmed a dagger into his off hand.
“You are a poor liar, stranger,” said Fen.
“As are you,” said Sylk. “There is no ‘niece’.”
“He has it,” hissed Hin as he drew close. “Give us the little dog and we will make this fast.”
“What are you going to do with her?” said Sylk. He knew, but he wanted to make sure before ending them.
In response, Fen jumped into the air and disappeared as Hin slid forward, lunging with both swords. It was an attack designed to confuse and distract. On anyone else it may have worked. Sylk saw through the ruse, and realized the real attack came from above. Rushing forward to meet the lunging swords, Sylk threw the dagger at where he thought Fen would be. The grunt of pain let him know he hit his mark. Fen crashed to the ground behind him as he stopped Hin’s frontal attack from cutting him in two.
“What we do with our property is none of your concern,” said Hin as he locked swords with Sylk.
“I disagree,” said Sylk. “It is very much my concern.”
He turned and let Hin continue past him as he slashed at his legs. Hin leaped forward and landed in a roll avoiding the attack. Fen pulled the dagger out of his shoulder and began to advance, drawing his swords.
“You know who we are. You have just made this the last night you draw breath,” said Fen. “Only a fool would face us alone.”
Sylk took several steps back, keeping Fen and Hin in his line of sight.
“You are Mikai,” sa
id Sylk. “The fearsome warriors of the night.”
“You know this and still you stand against us alone?” said Hin. “Have you grown tired of living?”
“I never said I was alone.”
Too late, Fen looked around only to see a sword punch its way through Hin’s chest. The next moment a sword was around his neck as a figure stepped out of camouflage. Hin spasmed on the ground as he drew his last breath. The night air was filled with the metallic scent of blood as Hin died. Sylk took a deep breath before looking at Fen.
“Luna, I need him alive,” said Sylk in a measured tone.
“How old was the Rah Ven you were chasing?” she hissed into Fen’s ear.
“Killing me will solve nothing. Others will come and the little dog will be—,” His words were cut short as Luna dug her blade into his neck, drawing blood. Fen remained immobile.
“Who is overseeing this?” said Sylk. “Who is ordering the capture of Rah Ven young?”
“Do you think the Mikai do this for sport?” answered Fen. “This is done to prevent the Rah Ven from destroying us.”
“Who? Who is leading this?” said Sylk.
“We have heard of you, silver arm. The Mikai have eyes and ears everywhere. You are looking for answers in the wrong places. Go ask your precious Order of Warriors who is behind this. Even the Mikai bend to his will,” said Fen.
“The Warriors?” said Sylk. “Tell me who.”
Fen remained silent, looking into Sylk’s eyes.
“He won’t answer, Sylk. Let me end him,” said Luna.
“There is a way,” said Sylk. “Just hold him still and I can find out.” The lines along his arm began to glow in the night.
Before Sylk could draw closer, Fen bit the inside of his cheek and in moments foam and blood erupted from his mouth, eyes and ears. Luna jumped back, letting him go. His body fell to the ground, rigid, every muscle straining.
“What the hell?” said Luna. She checked herself to make sure none of the blood had fallen on her.
Fen began convulsing and spewing more blood. A few seconds later, the snapping of his bones filled the night air. It was the last effect of the toxin and it broke his body into unnatural angles. He stopped breathing after that.
“That was unexpected,” said Sylk.
“Why did he mention the Warriors of the Way?” said Luna.
“Take Bree and see if you can find where they are holding the others, then return her to her parents. I will meet you at the circle of claws by nightfall.”
“How are the Warriors involved?” said Luna as she managed to get the young Rah Ven girl from her hiding place.
“I don’t know, but I will find out,” said Sylk as he opened a portal.
TWO
IT FELT LIKE A GAPING WOUND was in my chest. Except that it wasn’t my chest, but my entire being. Part of me felt cut off, crippled. Every time I tried to access my chi I felt an endless void within. It threatened to swallow me in an unending nothingness.
Aurora faced me as we entered a healing chamber. She was dressed as usual in a simple white robe, her small frame lost in the garments. Her snow-white hair, pulled back into a bun, gave her a severe, school teacher appearance. The room we were in was empty except for a tré in the center. The dim light cast the room in shadow. She stepped into the three concentric circles and they flared to life, an indication of her power, her connection. Her gray eyes settled on me, rooting me to the spot. Her voice was a caress sheathed in steel.
“A spirit-searing will sever your connection to—well, everything,” she said as she gestured around her. “You will feel adrift, lost. Like this room, you will feel empty. You will despair, filled with an emptiness you cannot describe. You will want to end it all as this emptiness overwhelms and destroys you from within. Life will have no meaning. Is this an accurate description?”
I nodded in agreement, not trusting my voice.
She stood still and took several deep breaths. Assuming a fighting stance, she began to move. It was slow at first, linear and sharp. Then she flowed into an intricate, circular form of movement. It was beauty, grace, and power as she closed the distance. I stood transfixed until the last moment when my brain realized the threat and I tried to react and dodge. I was too late—her palm slammed into my chest and sent me sprawling out of the tré.
“My purpose is to give your life meaning, or to end it,” she said.
I stood up and staggered back into the tré.
“You feel it, don’t you?” she said. “The energy all around you.”
“No,” I lied.
“Try again, warrior. I’m old enough to know when someone is lying to me. Denying it doesn’t make it any less true, Dante. You have to face the loss and embrace it. Then you can work past it,” she said as she assumed a fighting stance again.
“Yes, I feel it. It’s like standing in an electrical field except I can’t access it,” I said.
She nodded. The next second she was on me again. A spear-hand strike aimed for my throat narrowly missed as I leaned back. Off balance, I saw the spear hand transform into a knife hand attack to my inner thigh. I moved my leg out of the way, avoiding the strike. I didn’t see the real attack coming. My world exploded into white-hot pain as she buried a fist into my side, causing me to double over, gasping for breath.
“Being connected to that energy can be an advantage, or it can be a crutch,” she said, stepping back into a relaxed pose. “You were exposed to it too early and without enough training. Your body and mind, instead of utilizing it like a tool became dependent on it,” she said.
“Like an addict,” I gasped.
“Precisely. Now you don’t know how to function without your ‘crutch’, and that inability will get you and those around you, those who depend on you, killed.”
The pain in my side had subsided, and I twisted my body around. I assumed a fighting position, facing her and covering my hurt side.
“How do I make it a tool?”
She leaped in for another attack.
“The fastest way to undo what was done to you is pain.”
She lunged in with a series of fists, peppering my body with lightning-fast strikes. I blocked and avoided several, but found myself overwhelmed.
“You are still reacting,” she said, each word punctuated with a strike. “Stop thinking about what to do and just do.”
She’s too fast. Blows coming in too hard. Can’t think, can’t react, I thought.
I backpedalled out of the tré under the barrage of fists. She turned and walked back to the center.
“This is the only way?” I asked, trying to catch my breath. I was standing at the edge of the tré, reluctant to enter the circle of pain again.
“No, it’s not. The other method I know can reverse the searing but is fatal in a matter of months. This method won’t kill you, but it will feel like it will.”
I entered the tré and felt the energy all around me, just out of reach, taunting me.
She’s right: I’m too dependent on something external, I thought. I entered a fighting stance as she glided over to me. I dodged a fist that would have broken my nose had it connected. It was followed by an elbow that attempted to break my jaw. Closing my guard I countered with a knee to her midsection, which she deftly evaded. She followed up with a kick to my thigh. My leg collapsed under me, unwilling to obey any of my commands to bear weight.
“Warrior, we do not have the luxury of time. I can’t keep the ascendants here forever. Even now the barrier is getting weaker. Once we send them back, Rael will hunt them again. If you can’t access your chi, we can’t create more ascendants. No new ascendants means we are done—we will be in the endgame. It will only be a matter of time until we face Lucius, and you will have outlived your usefulness,” she said.
I limped over the edge of the tré and sat. My robe was damp with sweat and my body hurt everywhere. She stood next to me for a few seconds and then sat on her knees in seiza. She was still for a moment, with her eyes clos
ed. When she opened them again they were glowing. She leaned over and placed her hands on my thigh. A wave of warmth ran though my body and I felt better, the pain gone.
“That was amazing,” I said.
“It’s not enough to have the power to harm—, you must hold the power to heal as well,” she said. “There must be balance. That lesson was never taught to you.”
“I thought Rael was captured?”
“He is being held in the same cell that held you, and yet here you are, free. You met him. He has many more resources at his disposal than you did. How long do you think they will be able to hold him?”
The next thought came with a sick realization.
“Then that means— he wants to be there?”
“Where else will he be able to find out when the ascendants are back? He is in the perfect place to gather information. They think they are holding him. Once the ascendants return it will be a bloodbath, and it will start with the Warriors of the Way,” she said as she stood.
“I have to warn them. He is going to kill them all.”
“They will not listen to you. You are a fallen warrior and your word holds no weight any longer. Even if you tell them the truth, they are too blind to see it,” she said. “The only way to save them is to restore your connection to your chi.”
I stood up beside her.
“I’m ready. Let’s continue,” I said, assuming a fighting stance.
She raised her hand. “No, you’re not. Your body may feel whole but it needs to heal. What I did will accelerate the process, but fighting now will only hinder what we are trying to achieve. We will continue later today,” she said and headed to exit the room. She stopped at the door and spoke, her back to me.
“What Lucius did to you is sever the connection between the spiritual and the physical. The spiritual damage you have is extensive and is best dealt with by someone better equipped than I am. Wait here and sit for a moment. I will send Kenji. He is one of our elders and can help restore your spirit.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Don’t thank me yet. The pain Kenji will bring you will make anything I have done seem like a favor. The day may come when you ask me to end you,” she said, walking away and leaving me alone in the room.
Warriors of the Way-Pentalogy Page 38
