Yuli
grabbed his book bag, flew out the front door of the school and weaved quickly
through the mass of hyperactive kids. It was a Friday and, as usual, everyone was in too much of a hurry to
get away from the building that had imprisoned them for seven hours straight.
This
weekend he would be able to go to Mia's house so that he could visit the
Ronins. Even though they hadn't spoken
much lately he always looked forward to visiting them.
Yuli
made it across the busy parking lot and ducked into an empty alley. He was planning to get home earlier today by
going through an abandoned construction site.
It's almost as though they're missing something, he thought, formulating
theories as to the Ronin's sudden silence. Mia had refused to tell him what was wrong even though he could tell it
was serious. He was constantly afraid
that she would call off his visit due to the conflict.
As
Yuli neared the construction site he could faintly hear talking. Diving behind a pile of cinderblocks he
risked a quick glance ahead of him.
Not
fifty feet away from the pile he crouched behind was a strange man. Standing next to the man was Dais, the
pirate-like eye patch and white hair were unmistakable.
"Are
you Dunados?" Dais asked the other man.
"Yeah,
you're Dais?" Yuli heard the man named Dunados ask. Dais nodded. He briefly
fished around in his pocket and produced his armor orb.
"Talpa
remembers the deal, right?" He asked, uncertainly.
"Oh,
yes, of course he does. You and the
other warlords get half of what we conquer in return for the armor." Dunados
said with a sly, barely visible, malicious, little smile. He reached out and grasped Dais's hand to
take the orb.
Even
from his distance, Yuli could see his hand clench the other's painfully. Dais gasped and tried to pull away.
"Hey!?!?" He cried out in confusion. Dunados tightened his grip even more.
Suddenly,
without warning, light exploded from their joined hands. Dais howled in pain and sank to one
knee. Yuli had to turn his head away from
the blinding flare. He didn't know how
long it was, but the light eventually died away, and he faced the two men once
again.
Dais,
groaning, sank to the ground, while Dunados merely grinned at his triumph.
"Thanks
for the armor." He said, tossing the dark colored orb into the air and catching
it. "Now, to the dungeon with you because we can't be telling any Ronin runts
about this plan. I hope you didn't
really think that Talpa would share even half of his dynasty with failures like
you." Dunados kicked the now unconscious warlord.
Yuli
shifted uneasily and decided that now was a good time to leave. He put his weight on the pile to get to his
feet. Unfortunately, that caused a
block to slide off the top of the pile and land with a thud at his feet.
Dunados
jerked his head toward the sound and clearly saw a child behind a nearby brick
pile. He instantly recognized the boy
as the one Talpa had told him about that hung around the Ronins. The kid had probably seen and heard
everything and he couldn't afford to let him get away.
"Come
here," he said carefully. The child
ran. "Dammit!" Dunados leapt after him.
Yuli
started to run towards his home but was clueless as to why. He seemed to be guided by . . . what had
they called it? His sixth sense.
Dunados
was closing the distance between them quickly. Oh, what he would do to that kid once he got his hands on him. First, though, he would have to take the boy
to Talpa.
Home
was in sight for Yuli as he ran frantically down the street. He knew he was going to make it. But that was before he tripped on an untied
shoelace. He hit the ground and, almost
instantly, felt a strong hand grab him and lift him off the cool cement.
"Hello."
Dunados said. Yuli's heart jumped to
his throat. Was this the end?
"I
wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice called. Dunados didn't recognize the voice but Yuli did.
"Sage!"
He called. Sage stood a couple feet
away in his forest green sub armor.
"Ronin!"
Dunados spat, hatred laced his voice. He dropped Yuli roughly to the ground before turning and facing the
warrior of wisdom.
He
was at a standstill, his mind battling over what to do next. He wanted so much to show this boy what he
could do and kill him on top of that. But there was no way he could don on his new armor, at least, not
yet. Without it he didn't stand a
chance. All Dunados could do was glare
at his opponent as he figured it out.
Sage
decided to be the first one to make a move. He charged at Dunados, his fist pulled back ready to punch his lights
out. But before he could strike,
Dunados quickly ducked awkwardly out of the way. He had never fought the Ronins before but he was surprised at how
easily this warrior had been fooled. This battle didn't look as challenging now as it did before.
Sage
lost his balance and, thinking fast, flipped uneasily in mid air to land
gracefully on his feet.
Dunados
turned to face his adversary once again, a strange fire burning in his
eyes. Talpa would be expecting him back
soon, so this teen would have to be defeated quickly. Using a trick Lorn had taught him, he gathered what magical
ability he had and channeled it toward the youth.
Sage
crossed his arms and put them up to protect his head as a pillar of flame was
thrown at him. It knocked him a good
twenty feet back where he landed heavily. He struggled to his feet and checked his singed sub armor for any real
damage. Sage refused to put on his full
armor against his better judgment. He
didn't want to be defeated by a guy like this, magical abilities or no. A sudden hiss caused him again to focus his
concentration on the battle.
A
short sword had, unexpectedly, appeared in Dunados's hand and he grinned
evilly. Charging, he brandished the
wickedly sharp blade before him.
Sage
ducked as the rapier tried to give him a new haircut. He stepped back as Dunados advanced and took another careless
swing. Over and over this happened
before, Sage, tiring, tackled the new warlord the first chance he got.
Dunados
hit the cement hard and his sword skittered out of reach. He was surprised when Sage didn't hold him
down, but went for the blade instead. He scrabbled clumsily to his feet in an effort to beat him to the
rapier. But he was too late. Sage grabbed the sword and, with uncanny aim
and timing, slashed Dunados right across the chest.
Dunados
fell backwards onto the concrete with a gasp. Acting on the first thing that came into his mind, he retreated to the
Dynasty vowing not to breath a word of his defeat to his master.
Sage
turned to Yuli. "I was coming to tell you that your visit was going to be
canceled. But we need to know what your
little friend was doing. So I don't
suppose you want to come over early this weekend, do you?"
* * * * *