Balance
I sat in the clearing, legs crossed in the meditative position and hands curled in a relaxed position and resting on my knees. My golden eyes were closed, and a light wind ruffled my snowy hair. My heart was calm beneath my golden kimono, and my sword rested across my lap.
"Aiaha, Mononoke, woan le sezayi karaguan miheyanu ashaia. Ke gesezui ceregara." Come, Mononoke, let your debts be settled with me. I am alone and waiting. I kept chanting and repeating this phrase over and over again in an ancient language only known to those of my world. The words flowed from my tongue and were carried on the whisper of the winds.
The sword on my lap stirred, the dragon's maw stretching in anticipation as a series of colored lights circled. The lights were invisible to the naked eye, but to my inner eye they shone like multicolored beacons. There were twelve of them that had been drawn not only to my chanting but to my very aura. Keeping my outer eyes closed – they would do me no good in the upcoming battle as these Mononoke were all powerful enough to have an insubstantial form – I stood. I extended my left arm in front of me, holding my dragon sword horizontally in front of me. A collective hiss resounded from the Mononoke at the sight of this. I slowly took my stance, waiting and breathing deeply.
"You know nothing of our purpose here; we are unavenged. It is just for us to take from those that which they took from us!" their collective voice cried out. "Leave us be, and we will return to our world after the balance has been restored." Their deceptive words spoke to the doubts in my head about what it would be like to go back to the other world and live in peace. But deep, deep down, I knew that I could never give up; the balance could only be restored not through my defeat, but through my victory.
"The balance was disrupted when you crossed into this world; the righting of the balance will only come when we are all locked away in the afterlife. Leave this world alone." I spoke with the courage that thrummed deep inside me. I spoke of what I knew was right, and as the warrior against the Mononoke, I would always fight for what was right. However, my answer brought displeasure to the spirits; they began circling with a greater frenzy, their hissing increasing in volume and the lights blending in color.
And with the speed of lightning, they attacked, swirling in an arc around to my right side where it would be more difficult for me to defend against their attacks. I whirled in the opposite direction, bringing my sword to the left in a slashing motion. My sword connected with two of the glowing orbs, and they exploded into a thousand particles of color. The dragon on the sword's head opened its maw to its fullest extent in order to channel the defeated spirits back to the afterlife. The remaining spirits scattered before rushing me from all directions. I took a deep breath before leaping into the air and somersaulting over the ones at my back, being sure to slash them with my sword as I came down from the air. I landed heavily before spinning again to strike the ones still coming at me.
Spinning into a more complex series of moves that would give me a more offensive edge and put the spirits on the defensive, I whirled and crouched and flowed through the midst of the spirits, pushing them farther and farther away from the center of the clearing and out towards the edges. One of the spirits managed to brush against my sword arm, and an angry red gash opened in my bronze skin. I groaned at the pain as blood began sheeting off of my arm and onto my hand, making the sword slip in my grasp. I scowled and switched to my right hand before re-assuming the offensive. With a new urgency I rushed the remaining five spirits, blocking out the throbbing of my left forearm and concentrating on eliminating the Mononoke.
With a final slash of my sword, it was over.
My eyes remained closed, and I expanded the limits of my inner eye to search for any remaining auras. Stretching my sight as far as it would go, I found that I was alone; I had defeated the Mononoke. Finally opening my eyes, I looked down at the sword still in my right hand; the dragon's maw was opened greedily, devouring the thousands of glowing particles that were the remnants of the Mononoke I had defeated. Then I looked at my left arm and hissed at the sight that greeted me. The Mononoke that had gotten past my guard had sliced not only the skin but severed the muscle, though not down to the bone. The gash snaked across the top half of my forearm, perpendicular to the bone. The edges were turning green as the Mononoke's poison seeped into the cut. My nostrils flared at the metallic smell of my blood.
Reaching into my waistband, I pulled out a crystal vial, popping the cork with my teeth and drinking the golden contents. I gasped as the liquid seared my esophagus, the heat spreading quickly from my core out to my extremities. I threw my head back in a silent howl and my hair stood on end. The heat finally targeted my left forearm, and I shuddered as I felt the muscle knit back together and new skin form over the wound. When my wound had been healed, the heat left me as suddenly as it had come upon me, and I collapsed to the ground, feeling suddenly cold. Shaking, I looked at the vial again and watched as the golden liquid replicated itself to refill the vial. Capping the vial and slipping it back into my waistband, I stood up and retrieved my sword. I checked again with my inner eye that I could no longer sense any Mononoke within my vicinity – my inner eye could reach over one hundred kilometers – I was now free to focus on what had been intriguing me since I first met him: the little boy in blue.
So now we will be travelling back to the boy our golden warrior met in chapter 2...please R&R!