The Ordained

Khameleon opens her eyes. She takes a step backwards, feeling sluggish as she pulls herself from a nearby tree. She stares at her arms, inspecting every inch of them. As she looks up, the hole of the tree she emerged from began to seal itself shut. A loud growl spooks the woman. She turns in the direction of the sound only to see a face on the tree in which the sound came from. She falls to her knees, patting the ground below.

"She was right," Khameleon whispered to herself. "I was sure we died from that blast. My skin was…" She looks around. It seemed as if her allies were waiting on her to emerge, though only four of them emerged so far. Khameleon raises herself back to her feet, stumbling toward the group.

"Khameleon," one of them greeted before the others acknowledged her presence.

"The living forest is real," another said ecstatically. "Our race still lives."

"How long have you all been out?" she asked.

"Hours," one responded.

"By my count," one corrected, "it takes a full hour to bring one of us back."

"We don't have another four to spare," Khameleon responded. She curses under her breath before looking out to the rest of the forest. Not far from where they stood were the serene structures of the Order Realm. Khameleon smiled and shook her head. "And it seems she believed so too." Khameleon points the saurians' attention toward the direction of the opening.

"Then we proceed as planned."

Khameleon and her allies left the Living Forest and found themselves roaming around a busy area of the platform. Numerous civilians were still seeking refuge, but their progress was halted by the recent Outworld invasion. However, it seemed that no one was hurt by them, much to Khameleon's surprise. That surprise was no more as they watched numerous Tarkatans being knocked back by Li Mei. The girl kicks the dust off her feet. The Tarkatans remain back as they can't find a way past her. Li Mei shakes her head before trapping the group of Tarkatans as four walls encapsulate them. With a flicker of her hand, she drops the entire area into the depths below. The girl sighs before turning her attention to the group of Saurians.

"Not you too," Li Mei groaned.

"Surprised to see us?" Khameleon taunted.

"I haven't come across your kind in years," Li Mei remarked. "Not since Shang Tsung's assassination. Which begs the question: why do you fight for your oppressors?"

"We do not fight for Outworld," one Saurian said.

"Outworld was not the one responsible for your realm's demise. You know who I'm referring to." Li Mei points to the second platform in the distance above them. Khameleon smiles and covers her face with the base of her hand.

"We've both seen what Shao Kahn has done to us after taking our realms—how he's manipulated us." Khameleon lowers her hand back to her side. "Anomaly told us everything." She stares at her hand. "Even the things we didn't want to hear. It is because of this that we must follow her. We only have one target left to make our dream a reality." Khameleon points to the highest platform in the realm. "And the only way to her is through you."

Khameleon spits an acid projectile toward the girl, but it misses as Li Mei cocks her head to the side. She conjures a purple ball of light into her hands and fires it toward Khameleon. The saurian prepares to dodge the attack, but she finds herself forced into a nearby wall, stopping her in her tracks. She curses before being knocked back by the attack. Li Mei smiles before using her power to force the wall back onto the structure it was originally attached to. The others approach the girl methodically, holding their weapons closely as to keep her from catching them off guard. Li Mei slides her foot back. The saurian directly behind her flinched while the one directly in front skipped forward. With an unnatural backwards rotation, the foot of Li Mei's boot collided with the Saurian's chin before he could stop himself. The Saurian behind her, realizing that he wasn't her initial target, moved in himself. It was a fatal mistake as she released her naginata from her back and kicks the top of the weapon into the Sarian's ribcage. The saurian gargles in pain as he starts choking on his blood. Li Mei pulls her naginata from the Saurian's body, amazed that the acid inside of him didn't melt the weapon. Khameleon spits acid toward the fallen saurian. His body stiffened instantly, and he passed away.

"I'm sorry," Khameleon said. She waved her hands. The other three members stepped away from the girl. With a sharp exhale, Li Mei could see and feel everything around her within a forty foot radius. The presence of five individuals were seen yet…

Li Mei sinks her feet into the ground and leans forward. Simultaneously, she swings her cemented right foot back into the gut of an invisible Reptile, who's cloak disappears. Reptile tries swiping at the girl. He cuts through her armor and scratches her arm. He tries to take another step forward but finds his feet planted into the ground. Li Mei stumbles back away from him holding onto her bloodied arm. Parts of her sleeve and skin melted down as Reptile's acid from his claws seeped through. The girl used her inner chi to seek out the substance, forcing it out of her wounds.

"A second too soon or too late and that could've gone badly for me," she said as she blew on the burning wound on her arm. Reptile tries to leap from the entrapment, but he only causes himself to lean over onto his hands. He pushes himself back up. "You're not breaking out of that concrete," she told him.

"How did you know?" Reptile hissed. Li Mei frowned.

"Your foot steps are a lot harsher these days, as is the tone of your voice?" she responded in concern. "What happened to you, Syzoth?"

"Do you see now why we fight for Anomaly?" Khameleon said.

"I could never understand," she said. "I dreamed of a day that Shao Kahn would fall. A day when Reptile would perish." Li Mei stopped herself before looking at Reptile. It hadn't come to her before, but she noticed he looked a lot different from his time as Outworld's champion. The Saurian resembled that of Earthrealms chameleons. He was larges and had a long tail trailing behind him.

"You do see it," Khameleon said. She notices that the girl is distracted and instructs one of the Locust to strike. One member raises his Katana and swipes it toward the girl. Li Mei glances in his eyes as the blade stops before it lands on her head. The Saurian reminisced on a similar situation from decades ago. Li Mei leans over, grabbing her Naginata before disarming the man. She swings the non-lethal side of the weapon against the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

"I'm not that little girl tossing rocks in the Sun Do village anymore," she said. "I'm a warrior of the Seidan Guard. I won't allow any of you to leave this platform."

End of Chapter 10

(Upcoming—Acabus, The Lord of Order)