Vampire Ronin: I just knew I had to pull together a surprise ending to this particular chapter. Apparently, I succeeded. That was the most intense ending to a chapter I have ever written. It took me a while to decide what letters/words to list as the heartbeat. I'd say this worked nicely. Keep reading and reviewing. Thanks!

jrzgrl02: Thank you, thank you! *takes a bow* I had way too much writing this chapter. Glad to hear you're getting into the story with the warlord and Tala. I'm working on like chapter 9 for that right now. I go back and go over the chapters I've already written to make any changes I think necessary before posting. Keep on reading and I'll keep on posting! Thanks for the reviews.

collegegal: Oooh! I feel your pain. I would probably have more computer problems if it wasn't for my low-tech skills and my techy daddy. Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. And here is the next chapter! Thanks.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The ronins didn't take the time to admire the beautiful scenery that was the Nether Realm. Cooper was running full force across the grass and through puddles. They were doing everything they could just to keep up with him.

Something doesn't feel right, they all thought.

Cooper had been walking up until a few moments ago when he had suddenly broken out into a run. The white canine threw his head back and let out a long howl that sent chills up their spines. It wasn't long before they came to a large building where Cooper darted into an open doorway without a door.

They darted down several different winding hallways before they came to a ledge. It was overlooking a large room with a large circle full of weird markings in the center. There were books scattered about the floor. Cooper barked before leaping down from the dangerous height and landed safely. He bolted towards the center of the circle where a body lay on the ground.

"Oh my God!" Rowen gasped.

"What?" Kento asked, straining his eyes to see from that distance.

Sage gasped as he came to the same realization as Rowen.

"It's Emily."

/…/

Tom sat up on his hospital bed clutching his chest over his heart. Elizabeth Ann who was reading next to the bed sat up and put her hand on Tom's arm. The Interpreter moved away from the window and started signing once Elizabeth Ann spoke.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth Ann asked.

Tom surprised her by speaking instead of signing.

"It's Emily. Something's happened to Emily," he cried softly.

Elizabeth Ann put a hand on his shoulder. "No. No, she's okay, Tom."

Tom shrugged her hand off and shook his head violently, nearly dislodging the IV in his arm.

"No. Everything's not okay. Something has happened to Emily," Tom said, before dropping his head.

Both Elizabeth Ann and the Interpreter were astonished when tears slipped down the man's cheeks. The blonde reached forward to hug Tom tightly. He was obviously very distressed over the absence of his roommate and best friend.

As soon as Emily returns, he'll see that everything is fine, Elizabeth Ann thought.

/…/

The phone just kept ringing and ringing. After enough rings, the voicemail would cut on again. Mrs. Date hung up the phone with a great sigh. To her surprise, Grandfather Date entered the kitchen. Well, it was a surprise given the late hour it was.

"What are you doing up?" she asked.

"I should ask you the same question," he said while preparing himself a pot of tea.

Mrs. Date released a big sigh again as she sat down at the kitchen table. She explained that something had suddenly awoken her. After she had risen from bed, she had called all her children. It was like a feeling; a feeling that something was wrong.

"Yayoi and Satsuki both answered, but I can't reach Sage or Emily," Mrs. Date confessed.

Grandfather Date made an hmm sound as he poured two cups of tea. He handed her one of the cups before sitting down at the table.

"Well, that's not like either of them. You can always reach Sage and it's daytime in the States so Emily should be up and about," Grandfather Date said, stating the obvious.

Mrs. Date smiled sadly. That's why she had called around to different places for Sage after having called his cell phone. Plus, when calling Emily, she called her cell phone, the apartment phone, and the Admissions Office.

"I'm sure they're fine," he added.

Mrs. Date shook her head.

"A mother always knows. I don't know what it is, but something is wrong with my boy and my little girl," she said.

He reached his hand out to pat her gently on the back of her hand.

"You have raised those two to be strong individuals. Whatever it is, I'm sure they will overcome it," Grandfather Date reassured her.

"I know. I only wish that I could know right now that they're safe."

/…/

Lucille blinked her eyes open. She knew without even looking that Samuel was not in bed. The other side felt cold as if he had never even lain down for the night. She sat up in the large hotel bed and glanced around for her husband.

Her gaze found his figure sitting by the window sill. The laptop was open on the desk beside him with an empty email opened on the screen. She rose from the bed and pulled a robe on. She tied it as she walked over to him.

"Samuel? We have to be up in a few hours to catch our flight. Why aren't you resting, dear?" Lucille asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Samuel reached up to cover his wife's hand with his own.

"I can't fall asleep, dear. There's just this feeling I have that something's wrong," Samuel answered.

Lucille frowned. She quietly asked him if there had been anything wrong with his dinner that night. Samuel shook his head.

"No. It's not that, dear. I feel fine. I have a feeling something is off. It's like when my mother fell at home that one time," Samuel explained.

Lucille remembered. She walked back over to the bed stand sitting next to the bed and picked up Samuel's cell phone. She returned to her husband's side and handed him the phone.

"Give her a call and see how she's doing. She'll understand," Lucille said.

Samuel nodded gently. Even as he flipped through the contacts to his parents' home number, the college counselor couldn't help but shake the feeling off. What if the problem wasn't with his adoptive parents?

/…/

Due to their having donned their subarmor already, the ronins were able to jump down to the ground floor without hurting themselves. They stopped only for a second to make sure there was no danger around the area where Emily was before dashing to her side. Cooper was low to the ground and was nudging Emily gently on the shoulder.

Sage gently moved the canine aside as he and Rowen rolled Emily onto her back. Sage gently yet firmly shook his sister while calling her name.

"Emily? Emily, can you hear me? Open your eyes."

Ryo, Cye and Kento stood nearby, watching with grief stricken faces. Rowen placed a hand on Emily's forehead and used two fingers on his other hand to lift her chin. He put his cheek close to her mouth. He checked three things: one, he looked to see if her chest was rising and falling; two, he listened for breathing; and three, he felt for breath against his cheek.

"She's not breathing," Rowen said.

Sage and Rowen immediately started performing CPR. Sage placed the heel of his hand in the center of his sister's chest, placing his other hand on top and interlocking his fingers. He sat up on his knees and kept his arms straight as he began the chest compressions. He counted the numbers quietly under his breath.

When he reached thirty, Sage stopped. Rowen pinched Emily's nose firmly, took a deep breath, and sealed his lips around her mouth. He blew into her mouth once, twice. Her chest rose with each breath. Kento grabbed onto Cye's arm and held it tightly, causing his best friend to wince.

In the middle of the second set of compressions, there was a large explosion that shook the building. Sage remained focused on his task but Rowen looked up at the others. He motioned with his head for them to check it out. The three ronins ran off to inspect the sound.

Sage finished the compressions and Rowen gave Emily two breaths. Sage started the compressions again. Rowen looked at his best friend. There was no way of telling how long ago Emily had stopped breathing. If it was three to four minutes, there could be possible brain damage. If it was more than four minutes, it was a real possibility that they wouldn't be able to revive her.

"Sage?" Rowen murmured.

"Don't say it, Ro," Sage told him, even as he continued the compressions.

He had gone through the training with him. Sage knew the statistics and possibility of survival. Cooper began to whine and lay down beside Sage. As Sage was finishing the compressions, Cooper glanced down to see the markings on the ground. He knew exactly what the markings were.

Cooper scrambled to his feet and ran over to one of the walls where the markings were carved in. The canine threw his head back and howled. However, Cooper hit a tone so high neither human could hear him. The markings lit up with a wave of blue-green light spreading slowly down the wall.

Different markings, glowing a dark red, appeared all over Cooper's white fur as he followed the light. It traveled across the floor and surrounded the area where the two ronins were. Rowen finished the second breath and pulled his head up. As Sage started the compressions for what felt like the hundredth time, he and Rowen both noticed the glowing markings.

There were four circles on the outer circle of the large circle in the center. The light in those circles glowed orange and sprung upward into the air like a geyser. To their immense surprise, four ghost-like figures in orange light were standing in the circles.

Rowen stood up while Sage hovered over his sister's still body. The four figures were three men and a woman. They were dressed in old garments and had markings on their arms and faces similar to Emily's Shadow markings. Rowen's mind quickly assessed all the information; the building, the markings, the strange beings, the markings on Cooper, etc.

"Are you Shadows?" Rowen asked.

The woman smiled as did the men.

"We were once Shadows. We are Felicity, Caemon, Maverick, and Turrell [1]. We passed on before the half-child there was born. We are now nothing but spirits," the woman answered.

The man across from her spoke, causing their heads to turn back around towards him.

"We have been guiding the half-child. Speaking to her as much as we can. She is one of the last ones of our kind," the man, Caemon, told them.

"Can you help her?" Rowen asked.

Sage looked around at them with hope in his eyes. One of the other men, standing out to the right of the woman, let out a huff.

"It is not our place to change what has already happened," he said roughly.

Sage was on his feet in a matter of seconds, his eyes flashing angrily. The man, Turrell, tilted his head in a challenging manner. He and Sage both knew there was nothing Sage could do to him.

"That's my sister! If you can help her, then do it!" Sage exclaimed.

Rowen had never seen this side of his best friend before. He normally didn't allow his emotions to show so openly. Turrell threw his head back and barked out a single laugh.

"I do not have to do anything. The half-child is of no blood relation to you. What right do you have to claim her as such?" the spirit sneered.

Cooper sat next to the spirit of the woman. He was watching the whole exchange between the spirits and ronins.

"We may not be related by blood, but she will always be my sister. I was there for every memory, every nightmare, every good and bad thing that has happened in Emily's life. I'm not going to abandon her. I will not let her die." Sage's eyes practically glowed. "And no one is going to stop me."

Turrell raised his eyebrows in interest. A thought came to Rowen and he voiced it. After all, who knew how long the spirits would remain with them?

"You said Emily was one of only a few. If you can help and you allow her to die, then your race is just one step closer to dying out. Is that really what you want?" Rowen asked.

Sage knew Rowen had a great point. Surely, the Shadows couldn't argue with that logic! The remaining male spirit, Maverick, frowned before speaking.

"It is true we have the power to help the half-child. She fell to Death's gate here. Had she fallen anywhere else, there would be no helping her. But because she is a half-child and this is a Shadow temple, we can help," he explained.

Sage and Rowen shared relieved smiles. However, the woman interrupted their happiness.

"Reviving her shall not be easy. It is something that has not been done in over a millennium," Felicity cautioned.

"But you can do it?" Rowen questioned.

The woman nodded solemnly.

"We can. However, I must caution you. Your sister," the woman turned from Sage to Rowen, "and your fiancée will not be the same. The damage has already been done."

Sage and Rowen shared a look. They spoke silently through their armor link before coming to an agreement. Sage turned his gaze back to the woman spirit.

"Please save her."

Felicity nodded while reaching her hand out to pat Cooper on the head. He bobbed his head down in time of her pats.

"Very well. It will take some time for us to revive her, Halo. You and Strata must go rejoin your friends. There is a very dark presence here. You must join them before they encounter this presence. The Inferno armor will be put to its greatest test and the Wildfire bearer will need all the help he can get," Felicity warned.

"What about Emily?" Sage demanded in a calm tone.

Caemon answered him.

"Go. We will take care of the young half-child. Go to your friends, ronin."

Sage and Rowen took one last look down at Emily before reluctantly leaving the circle. They quickly caught up with their fellow ronins who were standing in the center of the temple. They reacted at the sight of them.

"Where's Emily?" Cye asked, worried.

"We don't have time to explain. We'll tell you later," Sage replied.

"Somethin's here and we're going to need the Inferno," Rowen added.

The other three ronins frowned in confusion. Suddenly the temple shook violently and the ronins called their armors on instinct. A tall, dark figure appeared in the doorway.

"What's that?!" Kento yelled.

"Trouble."

/…/

Felicity instructed Cooper to stand outside of the circle.

"You have done your part, wolf," Felicity told him.

Cooper sat down right next to the outer line of the circle. He had made a silent promise to the two ronins that he would stay with his human. Turrell once again voiced his opinion on changing "what has already been done." In response, Cooper drew his upper lip back and growled.

Caemon chuckled.

"Obviously the half-child's companion disagrees, Turrell," Caemon said.

Turrell made a face at the canine.

"We must hurry if we are to help the half-child," Maverick stated.

Caemon grew more serious as he straightened up.

"Then let us begin."

The glowing blue-green light of the circle shifted to a mixed orange-yellow. The men closed their eyes as Felicity crossed the circle to stand over Emily in the center. She waved a hand over Emily's body. Emily's necklace slipped out from under her shirt and floated in midair above her.

"It is fortunate the Dark Warlords brought you to our temple. However, it is unfortunate their leader discovered a loophole in the power of the armors and used our temple to their advantage," Felicity said.

The three men began chanting in what sounded like a very old language. Cooper kept his gaze solely on Emily. A sea wave of orange and yellow covered Emily like a blanket. A small dot of red-orange appeared over the center of her body. It started to slowly pulsate like a heartbeat.

Slowly, it began to emit a soft beep similar to a heart monitor. Cooper watched as Felicity knelt by Emily's side and waved her arms over her still body.

"Power of the Spirits. Power of the Shadows. Come forth to answer our call."

The room grew dark around them except for the glowing circle in the center. Dark figures in the form of shadows appeared all around the outer circle. It caused Cooper to grow a tad nervous yet he remained where he was.

"We call upon the spirits. A half-child is in need of the help of the ancestors. The balance of life is at hand and the half-child can tilt the scales back into an even balance." Felicity stood up straight. "The half-child must be saved."

The dark shadows nodded in agreement. Each shadow blew outward as if trying to whistle. Wisps of thin, black smoke flew to the center of the circle where Emily lay. Her mouth was just barely open, allowing for the trails of smoke to blow into her mouth. After the last trail of smoke disappeared within Emily, she suddenly let out a loud gasp of breath.

She opened her eyes with a second, larger gasp of breath. All she could see was a bright orange light. It was blinding yet she could make out figures around her. She slowly rose to her feet as though someone else were in control of her body. Blinking, Emily realized she was standing in the center of the circle.

"W-Wh…W-What happened?" Emily asked.

"You died."

Emily looked around her at the glowing figures. Her eyes shifted to the one man who had spoken just now. Turrell chuckled at the clear confusion written across her face.

"Excuse me? I think I may have misheard you," Emily apologized.

Turrell shook his head.

"No, half-child. You heard me just fine. Only just a moment ago, you lay dead where you stand now," Turrell said.

Suddenly, it all came back to her. The warlords capturing her and bringing her to the Nether Realm; falling through the ancient bridge; healing Dais; the temple.

"How?" Emily asked.

Caemon spoke up this time.

"The warriors who once served the great evil known as Talpa brought you here. Their leader found an old tome that spoke of a great power that could be obtained using five of the nine armors. They brought you here and forced you to use one of the powers of the armor power you possess," he explained.

Emily remembered. She felt like a significant piece of a puzzle was missing. She had used Halo's power to sense where they had been.

The Shadows had to have been telling me not to use Halo's power, Emily thought.

"What is this great power?" Emily asked.

"An armor equal in power to the Inferno," Felicity answered.

Emily's grew large as they continued giving her the new information. The spirits referred to it as the Dark Inferno. They told her it would be difficult to stop but not impossible. Maverick explained what had to be done.

"Thank you for your help, but I have to go," Emily said, crossing the circle to where Cooper was.

"Half-child!"

She stopped dead and looked over her shoulder at Felicity.

"I must impart on the seriousness of what has happened. True, we were able to bring you back from Death's gate, but it comes at a high price."

Emily turned to listen to the ancestor's wise words.

/…/

Small fires were everywhere. The flames were an unusual black color but they burned all the same.

Kento dove out of the way and over a fallen pillar where he knelt down next to the others. Ryo was locked in battle up high with the mysterious figure. To their bewilderment, White Blaze had appeared a few minutes ago with the Soul Swords of Fervor. The blades were greatly aiding Ryo in his fight.

"Where the Hell did this guy come from?" Kento asked.

After the ronins had given their power to Ryo to form the Inferno, they had reverted back to their subarmors. The armored foe had stunned them by not attacking until after Ryo had donned the Inferno. It seemed as if battling Ryo was what he had wanted. He had obviously laid in wait for them.

"I don't know but this can't be good," Cye answered him.

Cye leaned against the pillar with bruise ribs, a half-closed eye, and a twisted ankle. Kento allowed his best friend to lean on him while Sage looked him over. Rowen peeked over the pillar to glance up where their friend was fighting hard.

"I'm more concerned about what this guy can do if the Inferno can't beat him. It looks like they're evenly matched," Rowen added.

"That's because they are."

Their heads whipped around to face the hallway they had come from. Standing a few feet into the room from that hall stood Cooper and a very much alive Emily. Sage was on her in a flash, holding her in a tight hug.

"I thought I lost you," he murmured.

Emily let out a dry chuckle. "I did, too."

After a few seconds and an extra squeeze, Sage released his sister. Rowen stepped up next, enveloping his love in a warm hug. They shared a small kiss before Rowen stepped back and allowed the other two ronins to hug Emily. When they separated, Cye leaned heavily against Kento to stay upright.

"What happened?" Kento asked.

"Long story. I'll tell you after this is all over," Emily answered.

"You can bet on that," Sage added.

Their heads all shot up when a loud bang echoed from the ceiling. Kento repeated his earlier question. Emily frowned before speaking.

"He's not just a guy. It's four guys rolled into one," Emily growled.

They all snapped their heads down to regard Emily. She slowly dropped her head to look at all of them. Rowen frowned.

"Are you saying that…uh…warrior is the…warlords?" Rowen asked, slowly.

Emily nodded. Kento's mouth dropped open while Cye's eyes shot open to large proportions. Sage placed his hand on Emily's shoulder.

"Explain," was all Sage said.

"They found an ancient spell of some sort in a book. It used their four armors and the power of one of your armors from me to create that armor. It merged the four of them while the armor was created. The armor is the Dark Inferno."

Now that they thought about it, upon first glance of the dark colored armor, it did bare an identical resemblance to the Inferno. The only difference was that it was dark colored whereas the Inferno was light colored. Sage was about to ask how she knew this when she told him about the spirits.

"The Shadows told me. Ryo isn't exactly going to be evenly matched with them. Each of the warlords are powerful in their own right, but power mad when combined. But if we can't stop them here, they're going to return to the Mortal Realm and the world as we know it will cease to exist," Emily explained.

The seriousness of their situation sunk in deep.

"What can we do? We can't armor back up with Ryo using the Inferno," Cye pointed out.

"The spirits helped me with that. We have to reverse the spell and separate the armors," Emily explained.

"I'm assuming you have a plan," Sage said.

"Yeah. But none of you are going to like it."

/…/

Their swords clashed loudly together, the sound echoing across the ceiling. Ryo fell backwards and crossed the soul swords in front of him.

"What's the matter, ronin? Too much for you?" the warrior asked.

Ryo thought the voice of the warrior sounded off. It reminded him of Blackheart from the movie Ghost Rider after he possessed the one thousand souls. It was a combined, scary sounding voice that gave him the absolute creeps.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Ryo demanded.

"We are Legion." Wow! There's an original idea. "And we want you and the other ronins dead."

Oh, like that's anything new, Ryo sarcastically thought.

Suddenly, darkness washed over him and he couldn't see anything. When it disappeared, he was standing down on the ground floor behind a pillar. He was surprised to find a smiling Emily standing in front of him. Not questioning what the frick had just happened, Ryo quietly put his blades aside and pulled Emily into an embrace.

"Sorry about that. I had to shift you through the Shadows. We got a plan to take care of them," Emily explained.

Ryo's eyebrows shot up.

"Them?"

Emily quickly whispered into Ryo's ear, catching him up as much as possible. It would only be a matter of time before they figured out where Ryo had disappeared to. When she was done, Ryo leaned back with a low whistle.

"That's suicide," he murmured.

"Yeah, well, I already died once," Emily chuckled.

Ryo pointed a finger at her with a serious look on his face. "Not funny, Emily."

Emily tilted her head with a lopsided smile.

"Sage didn't think it was funny, either."

Meanwhile, the combined warlord jumped down and landed on the floor with a thud that shook the Earth. His eyes scanned every inch of the room with no success. It had been alarming to see the very shadows and darkness around them whisk the ronin whelp away.

"Come out and fight, Wildfire! Afraid to face your Fate?" the warlords taunted.

"I've been facing Fate since the beginning of the damn school year."

The powerful warrior turned around in surprise to see Emily leaning back against a pillar with her arms crossed over her chest. She pushed off and uncrossed her arms as she walked further out into the open.

"I mean it has been one thing after another this year. My brother drops the mother of all bombshells on me and the three biggest pains in my ass come waltzing back into my life. And with a fourth, to boot!" Emily said

Legion's eyes were already a deep red, but they flared up at the sight of the girl.

"You're dead. We killed you. The ritual stopped your heart," the warlords snarled.

Despite the creeps that horrid voice gave her, Emily smirked and winked. They were so focused on her they didn't notice the four ronins disappearing down the hallway towards the ritual room.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," Emily said.

Legion smirked and let out an evil, deep chuckle that strongly reminded Emily of Cale.

"You have been a bigger pest than the ronins, little light. I will enjoy killing you myself."

Yep. Definitely Cale. That was what Emily had been hoping for. Four beings in one body were not meant to work harmoniously.

The warlord's attention was then turned to Emily's slight left. Cooper was now walking out into the open. Emily smiled when she looked towards her canine companion.

"It's about time you met my new friend. After all, he is a native of the Nether Realm. Warlords, meet Cooper. Cooper, warlords," Emily introduced.

Cooper growled as he crouched low to the ground on his approach.

"Daemon spiritum lupus. You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Emily?" the warlords said, now much calmer than just a moment ago.

That caused Emily to raise an eyebrow until she thought over his words. She came to the conclusion that the warlord at the forefront of the creepy voice was now Dais. He was the only one of the four that called her by name.

"Naturally. How about one more?" Emily asked.

From behind her back, she revealed a bow and raised an arrow up to it. She watched the warlord's eyes flash again.

"Foolish girl. What can a mere arrow do to me?" the warlord, possibly Sekhmet now, told her.

Emily simply raised an eyebrow before raising the bow and arrow all the way up. She launched the arrow without warning to which he easily dodged by jumping backwards. Big mistake.

"FLARE UP NOW!"

A large swirl of fire shot forward in a spiral, hitting the four-in-one warlord in his side. The warlords drew their swords after having dropped them into their sheaths along their back. Now Legion was surrounded by Emily, Cooper and Ryo. Emily now held a softball-sized ball of fire in her hand.

"Give me back Halo's power," Emily demanded.

The warlord flashed a smug smile. This led Emily to believe it was Anubis now who was in control.

"Come and take it back," he told her in a daring tone of voice.

"Gladly," Emily growled.

Emily threw the fireball up into the air above him, causing his eyes to follow the path. Cooper leapt at the warlord and caught his armored wrist in his super-canine jaws. He clamped down through the armor, forcing the hand to release the katana. His back paws scooted the blade across the floor to Emily who used her foot to flip it expertly up in the air to her hand.

Cooper disappeared into thin air as the warlord sliced through his middle with the katana in his other hand. Ryo immediately bounded into battle with the warlord and Cooper reappeared at his side to fight, too. With the warlords' complete focus on fighting Ryo and Cooper, Emily was able to start the first part of the plan.

Emily spun the sword around before sinking it straight down into the hard concrete. From her knelt down position, Emily gripped the katana tightly and began focusing. She called forth the power of the Shadows, allowing for her markings to quietly glow on her arms. The markings continued down her arms to her hands, following down her fingertips to the katana. The Shadow markings painted themselves down the blade, glowing a soft green-blue.

Just a moment longer, guys. I need to make sure the power seeps into the blade, Emily thought.

Even with only one katana, the warlords were able to put up a good fight against the two. Emily watched in horror as an illusion washed over Cooper. Ryo, thinking Cooper an enemy, swung his attack around. This allowed the warlords to hit him hard in the back. Ryo went flying across the air and into a wall where he collapsed painfully to the ground.

The markings seeped into the blade, finishing what Emily had started. She withdrew the blade from the ground and focused hard on Cooper. Within seconds, she disabled the illusion. However, at the same time, she lost sight of the super-powered Legion. Angry at the warlords for the deception, Cooper growled and disappeared after them.

Oh, screwball! That isn't good, Emily thought.

The plan rested on her not losing sight of the warlords. The eighteen year old blonde carefully looked around. She couldn't sense their presence without Halo's power which did not mean good things for her. All of a sudden, she froze up.

"You're behind me, aren't you?"

The arm holding the enemy katana was twisted painfully behind her back. It forced her to release her hold on the blade. Her other arm came up protectively to prevent a katana from slicing across her throat from behind.

"Trapped now, little light. What ever will you do?" the familiar voice of Cale hissed in her ear.

Emily smirked when she felt a soft breeze against her leg.

"Forgot about Cooper already, Cale?"

The hold on her arm was immediately released as Cooper pulled the bearer of the Dark Inferno off of Emily. She rushed to Ryo's side where he was having difficulty climbing to his feet.

"You were right. They're a lot stronger than I thought," Ryo said.

"It's okay. The Shadow ancestors assured me this would work. The others should be in place now and I finished the first part with their katana. Can you make it back to the ritual room?" Emily asked.

Ryo nodded, even as he stumbled to his feet. White Blaze appeared at his side, thus allowing him to sheath the Soul Swords of Fervor. He called away the Inferno to appear before Emily in white subarmor. White Blaze's armor disappeared and he turned half-light, half-dark.

"Come on," Ryo said, reaching out for Emily's arm.

Emily surprised him by stepping back and out of his reach. He frowned and reached out again. She surprised him again by slapping the back of his hand away from her.

"What's going on with you? We have to go. Cooper can't hold them off forever," Ryo said, glancing over Emily's shoulder at the scene behind her.

"I know that, but you and White Blaze are going back without me. Cooper and I will be able to lead them back to the ritual room more easily if you're back there ahead of us. It's me they want," Emily told him.

Ryo managed to jump forward and grasp Emily by the shoulders before she could move backwards again.

"It's you they want to kill. And they already managed to do that once," Ryo hissed at her.

Emily brought her arms to clap him on the shoulders in return.

"Rowen and Sage didn't like this part of the plan, either. We can have debates on my sanity later. Go," Emily told him.

Ryo reluctantly left with White Blaze, leaving Emily alone with Cooper to fend for herself. Emily whispered a prayer under her breath. She knew she was going to need to if she was about to take on a super-powered, armored up, nutcase combination of four. She turned around and whistled long and high. Cooper instantly jumped back, disappearing and reappearing by Emily's side.

The warlords eyes were glowing a deep red with rage as they turned back towards Emily.

"Screwball," Emily mumbled before ducking.

She twirled around, dodged, and ducked under the katanas. Their rage was starting to cloud their vision, allowing for Emily to avoid injury. She managed to do a backflip away from them, but wasn't anticipating the dagger. She let out a short cry when the dagger made its mark and dug into her shoulder.

Emily fell to the ground with her hand holding the dagger and her shoulder to prevent the fall from doing more damage.

"THUNDER FLAME STRIKE!"

Emily froze up as she watched in horror. The two katanas were brought together at the hilt then spun in a spiral in front of the warlords. This caused a fire storm with lightning bolts sparking through it. The fire and lightning storm formed a large raven that shot outwards towards its target.

Cooper had been running to Emily's aid when the surekill took him off guard. It struck him hard in the side and sent him flailing across the floor with a large yelp. He landed hard against the fallen pillar with a loud whine.

Emily stared at the injured canine. He now had second degree burns along his back side. He was bleeding and it looked like one of his back legs was twisted. Cooper let out a pained whine.

"Cooper!"

END OF CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

[1] Note: I gave the Shadows simple names to save confusion from saying "this guy," "that guy," etc.

What's going to happen to Cooper? Was this part of Emily's plan? What are the Ronin Warriors doing while all this is happening? Many, many questions and no answers yet.