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The Mystic Ring - Part Seven
By: Lady Genrou
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Kiyoshi, cloaked in a black, velvet cape snuck easily past the sleeping guards to where the Mystic Ring was kept, guarded by Zorden, who was sleeping as well. A glowing, purple haze encircled Kiyoshi as he hovered a few feet off the ground and chuckled to himself. "This is far too easy. Surely Mashou has a bigger challenge than this for me," he said out loud as he plucked the ring from it's stand.

"Don't think that I will let you get away that easily, Lord Kiyoshi," came a raspy voice from behind him. Kiyoshi turned and found himself face to face with Zorden.

"You can't stop me now. I have the ring. I'm invincible," Kiyoshi replied simply, smirking.

"You are a fool, Kiyoshi, and I hate fools. Prepare to die!"

With that, Zorden lunged forward with his big, gaping jaws at Kiyoshi, who merely stood there and looked strangely calm. With a flowing gesture, he held up his arm and shot a bolt of power from his palm, sending Zorden crashing into the stone wall of the cave. "Who's the fool now?" Kiyoshi mocked as he sauntered over to the wounded dragon that lay shuddering with pain on the cold ground. "You're pathetic. A creature of your size and power can't even defeat me."

Zorden forced himself to his feet and glared at Kiyoshi. "You're the pathetic one here ... you have to use spells to get rid of me." Zorden sneered.

Kiyoshi's eyes flashed with another bold of deadly energy, but it faded after a moment. "I don't have time to deal with a lowly beast such as yourself. Your insults do not effect me in the least. They only prove just how much weaker you are."

The quick-tempered Zorden let out a furious growl and charged at Kiyoshi, only to stop suddenly and gasp. Zorden then fell to the ground once more, blood trickling from the wound from where he ran right into Kiyoshi's sword. Zorden attempted to speak, but all that was emitted from his throat was a bloody gurgle. Then his eyes closed and his massive head tilted to the side as he died.
*****
"Stop it! Let me go!"

Tasuki lifted his head at the sound of Sadako's screams drawing nearer. The door of his prison room was then opened and Kiyoshi entered followed by two men who held the princess tightly in their clutches. "Sadako!" Tasuki cried, trying again to tug at the chains that held him back in a futile attempt to free himself.

"Genrou! He has my ring! Kiyoshi has the ring!"

Kiyoshi held out his hand and showed Tasuki the glowing ring which was suspended in mid air. "Yes, I have it. And I also have the fire tessen." With that, Kiyoshi reached behind him and drew Tasuki's fan from a harness strapped onto his back. "Now which one to use first is the question here." He chuckled evilly and leveled his gaze on Tasuki. "It would be quite amusing to see you parish by the flame of your own weapon ... but I could practice using the ring's powers as well." He paused for a moment. "Perhaps I shall use both, starting with the ring, then finishing you off with the tessen."

"You damn coward!" Tasuki screamed, his voice raspy from raw fury.

"Silence! You will die now!"

Kiyoshi let out an angry cry and he aimed the ring at Tasuki. The gem began to glow a bright, yellow hue as its energy charged up. Tasuki closed his eyes and braced himself, waiting for the worst, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes in enough time to see the guards on the ground, unconscious, and Kiyoshi holding his face where the rings power had struck him.

"Rekka shien!" Sadako screamed, using Tasuki's tessen to blow Kiyoshi back against the wall while he was dazed. Tasuki blinked a few times, bewildered by everything, wondering maybe if he was in a dream.

Sadako grabbed the keys off one of the guard's belt and ran to Tasuki and unlocked his shackles. "Hurry, Genrou! We have to get out of here!"

Tasuki stood and went over to Kiyoshi and grabbed the ring, then took Sadako by the hand and ran out of the room, pulling her after him. Guards from other posts had all ready started to come to see what all the commotion was and drew their weapons when they saw the two of them trying to escape. "Give me that!" Tasuki exclaimed, taking his tessen from her and turning to face the group of soldiers. "REKKA SHIEN!" The blast of fire blew them all away, clearing their path and allowing them to escape from Kiyoshi's palace.

Tasuki and Sadako didn't stop running even when the palace grounds were out of sight. Tasuki knew that if they slowed down now, it would be easy for Kiyoshi's men to catch up with them. Sadako forced herself to keep up with him. She wasn't used to running, and her legs were growing very tired at a fast rate. She let out a cry of surprise as she felt her foot slip in the soft mound of dirt that formed a fairly steep slope of a hill in the forest ground. Tasuki, who still had a hold on her hand, felt her begin to fall and turned quickly, taking her in his arms, using his own body as a shield to protect her from debris as they tumbled down the face of the hill.

The fall felt like it was in slow motion to Sadako as she clung to Tasuki until they finally rolled to a stop in a puddle of mud at the bottom. She didn't open her eyes for a long moment before realizing that they had stopped and she had survived. Her breath came fast and her body ached from scratched and bumps she had attained, but nothing to serious. She lifted her head, finding herself still in Tasuki's arms, pressed close to his chest. His face had a grimace of pain on it as his breath came fast too. "Genrou?" she called softly. Tasuki opened his eyes and looked to her, a stream of blood trickling down his temple.

"Are you all right?" he asked weakly, reaching up with one hand and brushing a muddy strand of her hair from her scratched face.

"Yes... Thanks to you."

Tasuki smiled lightly and held her close to him, relieved beyond words that she wasn't seriously injured. Sadako's eyes widened a moment in surprise, but then closed as she sighed softly and stayed like that for a long while, comforted by his tender embrace. "Do you still have the ring?" she inquired, breaking the silence. Tasuki finally let her go and rolled on his back for a moment after she sat up, then pulled himself upright as well.

"Sure do," he grinned, holding up his hand and wiggling his little finger. Sadako felt tears of joy sting her eyes and she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him excitedly, taking her turn at doing the surprising with spontaneous embraces.

"Thank you, Genrou! Thank you so much!"

"It was no problem... Now don't get all mushy on me, okay?" His voice was soft as he gently stroked her hair. Sadako pulled back again and smiled brightly up at him.

"I can go home now and help my people!"

"How far is your home from here?" Tasuki asked, getting to his feet with minimal effort, then reaching down and helping her stand too.

"It's past Konan... I still have a long way to go."

"Hold on a second there, sister. Dontcha mean we have a long way to go?"

Sadako was taken aback by his words. "You're going to come with me?"

"Well, of course. No doubt that Kiyoshi guy is goin' to be pretty pissed off when he wake up and I gotta be around to save your butt if he comes after ya, which I'm sure he will. And there's also that Mashou character."

"Genrou... I-I don't know what to say..."

Tasuki smiled and adjusted his harness that his tessen was slung in. "Then just say 'yer a great guy, Genrou,' and let's get the hell outta here."

Sadako couldn't help a soft laugh. "You're a great guy, Genrou."

"That was a pretty smooth move ya did back there at Kiyoshi's; using my tessen that is."

"Well, I've always been curious about how it worked since I first met you. I figured this would be my only chance to ever use it."

Tasuki smirked and shook his head. "You girls are sneaky. Oh, and why didn't that blast from the ring that he shot hit me?"

"As rightful owner of the ring, I can control the power should it be shot by evil. Think of it as a safety feature, I guess."

"Well, thats nifty... Hey, Princess?"

"Yes?" Sadako asked, curious by his sudden tone change.

"I'm sorry about before and how I accused you of lying... I shouldn't have said all those things to ya."

She smile and gently layed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about. It's in the past. Let's just focus on getting me home now, all right?"

Tasuki raised his head and met her gentle gaze. "Yeah... okay. Let's go."