"That armor," Ryo murmured. It was a frightening image: grim and haunting like Death itself. He took a cautious step back as it stepped closer, its footsteps strangely silent despite the heavy metal plates covering them.
"Who are you?" Kento barked. The armor seemed unmoved, empty black eye sockets staring back.
"A friend." A true answer to the question had been unexpected, and the warriors jumped at its abruptness. The voice was startling, low and distorted and inhuman, but the tone was still somehow warm, making the statement only stranger. "At least I was when we last met, Kento."
"Huh?" The man clenched his fists around his weapon. "How do you know my name?"
"Show yourself!" Cye demanded, raising his trident.
A tense moment passed. The armor shifted, as if considering his command, and Rowen nocked an arrow in anticipation. It raised the scythe, and all five warriors responded in kind, their weapons prepared to strike. An attack never came; the scythe was instead locked to the armor's back beneath its cloak. Both hands raised up, first in a gesture as if surrendering, then reaching up to clasp the cloak hood and dropping it to its shoulders. Its thumbs coiled under the face mask and drew the helmet up to remove it.
There was a rumbling of confusion and commotion among the men as familiar gold-flecked eyes gazed back at them.
"Iris?" Sage breathed. Her face was stern, her expression unreadable, but there was softness in her eyes as her sight moved across them.
"I knew there was something about you," she said quietly. "The armors."
"You knew?" Ryo's wary eyes fixed on the woman, unsure now if she was friend or foe.
"I could sense them," she admitted, "but I wasn't sure what to think."
"Why didn't you say something?"
"You must understand, you are not the only ones who seek this armor. I had to be sure. There are other bearers who have fallen back into the Dynasty's influence."
"The Dark Warlords," Kento confirmed.
"So you know them, then."
"We've had our dealings with them," Sage replied.
"So we were right," Rowen said. His aim had not faltered, an arrow still fixed on the woman. "The armor was in Muhimura. Why bring us here?"
"I guess you were right in some way, yes. The legend led you to me." Iris looked at the arrow before meeting the Ronin's gaze. "But the heart of the armor is here. It's where I felt safest confronting you, even though I usually stay far from this place."
"What? Why?" Cye's brows furrowed.
"Because it makes her easier to find." A wicked voice came through the trees, its echo absorbed by the forest. The Ronins turned their attention to the darkness seeping through the trees, turning only enough to look around in search of the voice. Ryo turned, but kept his eyes focused on Iris. Did we fall for a trap?
"You are either incredibly bold or incredibly stupid facing me here, Warlord." She spoke with unwavering firmness but made no move to draw her weapon. In fact, she seemed wholly unconcerned with the man's presence. "This is my world, not your world."
"Those are big words for such a little girl."
"And those are brave words for a man hiding in the dark." Her eyes focused in the trees just beyond where Kento stood. "Not very well, either." There was a rustling in the leaves, gentle at first, but within seconds a gusting wind billowed up, seemingly from within the trees themselves. The Ronins struggled to stay on their feet, their efforts quickly thwarted as the wind took them down and dragged them across the soil and closer to Iris. She appeared unaffected, her cloak and braid picking up in the breeze, but feet planted firmly in the moss.
Sage managed to push up to his knees against the gusts, shielding his face from grains of sand swirling around him. He peered over his arm to find that the five of them had been pushed behind Iris, and huddled on the ground across the clearing, a dark, armored form was being dragged from the trees. Just as suddenly as the wind had risen, it died, and the forest grew eerily quiet again. The warriors quickly got to their feet.
Cale pushed up to his hands and knees to get his bearings, finally forcing himself back to his feet. A furious snarl crawled across his lips.
"That is quite a parlor trick," he growled. "I have a few of those myself."
Faint growling crept through the foliage. Yellow, glowing eyes flecked the darkness in the leaves, the low, rumbling snarling closing in around them. The Ronins turned and backed up against the woman, watching as black wolves slinked out from the trees. Cale cackled as the beasts drew nearer, baring sharp, glistening teeth.
Suddenly, the growling stopped. There was a single whine, then a small chorus of pained whimpering. Kento groaned and pressed his fist to his chest.
"What's happening?" he breathed, his knees buckling. The sound of armor clattering sung in harmony with the agonized crying of the black-furred beasts, and soon he realized all his friends were doubling over. Rowen dropped his bow and clasped his arms around his ribcage as he sank to his knees, panting.
Cale dropped to one knee, grasping at his chest. His breaths were sharp and shallow, his lungs burning. He felt as though something was crushing him, pressure pushing in on his ribs from all sides. As he struggled for breath, he could feel his heart pounding, but more alarmingly, how slow each beat came. The world lurched and spun, and black spots littered his vision. He looked up to find the wolves collapsing, their whimpers silencing and bodies unmoving.
"I do not understand," he gasped, "how is this possible?"
"You are darkness," Iris declared, her tone grim, "but I am death."
Ryo gasped desperately for air as the squeezing sensation on his chest dissipated. He looked up to Iris, still standing and still untouched by whatever forces had affected them. His mind whirled. Her attacks seemed to target them just as they did the Warlord and his creatures, the damage undiscriminating. Whose side is she on? He looked down to find she had widened her stance and appeared deliberately positioned to protect them, but his thoughts swirled with uncertainty and suspicion.
"I have had enough of this foolishness!" Cale barked. He pointed the three sharpened claws on his left hand at her, "I have come to reclaim that armor for Master Talpa!" He lunged for her.
The Warlord was lightning fast, but Iris was faster; she unsheathed her scythe and caught him between the claws with its blade, using her leverage to draw him closer and meet his gaze with fierce eyes.
"Talpa will never reclaim this armor," she declared. With a single, jerking motion, she shattered the Warlord's mighty claws, then bunted him away with a flat shove to his chest with the scythe snath. Cale stumbled, clutching his hand to his chest as he coughed a spatter of blood. She took a step back, sweeping the scythe down by her side and fixing her eyes on the man. "Boys, I could use your help right now!"
"Right!" Sage took the initiative and stepped in front of Iris, drawing his sword and raising it above his head. The blade illuminated blue, "Thunderbolt Cut!"
Light and warmth flooded the forest, chasing away the eerie coldness that permeated the trees. Bolts of blinding blue light shot through the shadows, and an agonized scream escaped the Warlord as he was overcome by the attack. An intense blast of heat and light flashed and was gone, and when it faded they found themselves alone again in the clearing.
Ryo took a cautious step toward Iris, blue eyes watching her intensely.
"What was that?" he managed. She turned her head to see he was rubbing gingerly at his chest.
"The armor's powers are devastating, and they don't discriminate," she replied. "All life is in danger in its presence." Her face softened and her shoulders sank. "I'm sorry. But you see now why I couldn't trust your intentions. I can't take chances."
"Yeah," Rowen turned to her, "the Ancient warned us it had the power to destroy the mortal world. But you sure aren't what we expected to find wearing it."
"The Ancient?" Iris's brows furrowed, and she shook her head a bit.
"He's the one who told us how to find you," Cye replied, "or your armor, anyway."
"I don't understand—who—?"
"Come on, we can talk about this later." Sage looked around the trees carefully, "let's get out of here before Talpa decides to send someone else our way."
Iris's armor began glowing, and seconds later faded away, leaving her in underarmor resembling their own in dark shades of grey. The men followed suit, sheathing their weapons before disarming.
The woman noted the path had been marked with twine and smiled a bit. She glanced back to Ryo as if waiting for him to pass, a signal he acknowledged and started off on the trail out of the forest.
"Man, have we got some questions for you," Kento remarked, following on Ryo's heels. Iris laughed as she followed.
"Yeah, I'm sure you do," she replied.
The warriors emerged from the forest, shielding their eyes as the afternoon sun bore down on them. Mia straightened up from her place leaned against the bumper of the van and then hurried toward them. As she approached, she saw the sixth member of their company and stopped in her tracks, her green eyes wide in disbelief. Yuli hopped off the hood of the van and scurried up behind her with White Blaze at his side.
"Iris?" Mia looked the woman up and down, noting the dark subarmor.
"Whoa!" Yuli's eyes widened. "You're a Ronin Warrior?"
"Not quite, my friend," she replied, offering the boy a small, warm smile. White Blaze approached and circled her legs, gently bunting her hand. "Oh, I see. You knew, didn't you?" A rolling chuff responded, and the tiger rubbed his face against her hip.
"Told you your tiger had a crush on the ghost lady," Kento teased, garnering an eyeroll from Wildfire.
"So what do we call you?" Rowen raised his chin. "I'm Rowen of the Strata."
"I'm Sage of the Halo." The blond crossed his arms.
"Cye of the Torrent," came the man's soft voice.
"Kento of Hardrock." He flashed a grin at her, pressing his closed fist into his free palm.
"And I'm Ryo," he gazed at her with fiery concentration, "of the Wildfire."
Her eyes moved across each of their faces in turn before meeting Ryo's. There was an unwavering intensity in their depths, her gaze as fierce as his as she considered their words in silence. Finally, she broke the stillness.
"I'm Iris of the Oblivion."
