~~~~
Chapter 6 ~~~~
By:
Cat Paws
In
another part of the palace, the Ronin Warriors were not doing so well. The
super natural opponent were becoming too much for the warriors. With every blow
the Ronins struck, their target would grow stronger by absorbing the energy. It
seemed they were no longer a challenge for the element warriors.
Kayura
was the first to fall. The lightning creature was electrifying. It would use
the staff as a conductor and shocked her with every blow it landed. The last
one caused her to collapse. Lightning raised its staff, looking at her with its
expressionless face, to finish her off. She closed her eyes, preparing for the
final blow.
She
opened her eyes in time to see lightning go up in a spark of gold. Her eyes
searched for her savior and found him on the ground, half conscious. Rowen had
been clubbed on the head by the bow of the air being. In his moment of
distraction to save Kayura, Rowen left himself open for an attack. Air savored
the chance and took it to bring the end of Rowen. It aimed its golden bow and
arrow.
A
blade of fire slashed through air, consuming it in a ball of flame. Kayura
rushed to Rowen's side, who was by now somewhat recovered from the head bash.
Ryo stood looking at his friend where air had once been but was no longer.
Rowen's eyes focused on a fiery figure behind Ryo but could not react in time
to warn him. All he could do was point.
Ryo
whirled around as the fire being slashed out at him with no mercy. He blocked
in anticipation of the strike, calmness coming over him. He was not worried
that this could be a painful injury, one that might kill him. He smiled as a
fierce sizzling sound came from fire, followed by steam. It washed over the
room, completely whiting out the chamber, then swirled away.
When
the fog cleared, before Ryo stood Cye with a similar, relieved smile on his
face. Cye had been able to take the water being down with the move he had first
tried on Rowen. He then had the leverage needed to knock water into fire. The
reaction between them was enough to eliminate both of the beings. There was now
only one of the element warriors left to deal with, earth.
Kento
and the earth creature were fighting a somewhat equal match, though Kento was
growing tired. It is clear that the excitement of battle had always appealed to
Kento. However, this match was becoming
too much for him alone. Seeing this, Kayura charged up whatever power was left
in the ancient's staff and used it to turn earth to dust.
They took a moment to regroup before any
thing was spoken. Breathing heavily, Cye broke the silence. "Some one went
through an awful lot of trouble to keep us here, fighting those things."
"Right.
We've got to find Sage and get to the bottom of this," said Ryo. He and
the others soon raced out of the chamber, Ryo in the lead. Some how they knew
where to find the fifth Ronin in the maze of chambers and halls.
************
The
figure stepped into the light, revealing himself and his impressive armor. The
armor was elaborately decorated, with a glistening black and gold for its
color. One of the more significant symbols on the armor was a stylized
lightning bolt. Another was a flute surrounded by thorns. They were the symbols
of his children.
The
wearer of the armor was quit interesting as well. He was tall, fairly well
built, with skin that resembled scales. His hair was white and layered like a
ridge down a dragon's back. His face was human, yet there were dragon-like
features to it. His eyes were violet with flick of green. He smiled to reveal
fang-like teeth, as his son's eyes grew wide. Should one remove the green from
the eyes of the Demon, they would see that they strongly resembled Sage's
violet eyes.
"At
last, both of my children together. Now I will finally have the power I need to
purify this world and the next of the toxic creatures that scurry about its
surface."
"What
are you talking about?" asked Sage.
"I
thought that was kind of apparent by now, my boy. After all you did come to me
on your own, well with a little help from me, of course. "Seeing the
questioning expression on Sage's face, he said, "You haven't figured it
out yet? Such a shame. Hojin, perhaps you should enlighten him."
She
rose to her feet and raised her armored arm. "I'm sorry...," she
whispered as she hit him full force with the back of her hand. He caught his
balance before he could fall to his knees. He looked at her with a hand on his
face. "You fool! Will you not bow down to your new master?!" she said
in a forceful, angry tone. "Or would you rather I beat you into
submission?" Her eyes were full of rage as they glared into him.
What's
going on here? One minute, she's trying to be nice, the next, she's my raging
enemy. Helios has a strong hold over her. A plan began to unfold in his
head. One that would involve whatever trust there was between him and this
sister.
"
Well, what is it going to be?" She cut into his thoughts. He stared at
her, searching for a connection or something that had to be between them that
must have been between them.
Fight
him, not me. We are not enemies. He's controlling you. Don't let him do it.
I
have no choice.
Yes
you do.
Helios
watched them. The hold he had over his daughter was being challenged. He raised
an eyebrow. Do I detect a traitor? He thought. He could not hear their
silent communication but he knew something was happening. He also knew that
both his children were strong warriors. Together, they might be enough to delay
his plans.
In
pure rage and hatred, Hojin turned and attack the demon. He raised a hand and
sent a massive shock wave into her. " Ahhhhhhhh!!!!" she screamed in
pain. Sage could do nothing but watch as she was sent flying into a wall.
When
the smoke cleared, the demon showed his true form, a great black serpent. He
stood like a man, but had long claws and spines along his back, arms, and legs.
His tail wiped around and twitched back and forth.
"Armor
of Halo! Toa Chi!" Sage called on his mystical, green armor of light. He
looked at his sister, steam coming from her burned body. Hojin?
Brother,
help me, please.
Join
with me.
I
can't.
Yes,
you can.
I'm
afraid.
Don't
be. Trust me, I'll never leave you, sister. Silence fell upon them as their minds became one and took residence in
Sage's body. Together, as one, they would have the power to bring down the
lunatic that stood before them and free Hojin for good.
Sage
turned from his fallen sister to face his father. He stood there with a
gruesomely large smile spread across his face. His eyes were no longer human,
they never were. For the first time in his life, Sage saw what his father was;
a monster. An inhuman, unfeeling, hideous monster, and this scared him. Somewhere,
deep inside his own mind was the fear that he, himself might be like this
monster. That he could be as cruel and heartless as this thing before him.
Don't
doubt yourself. You are not like him. You never will be. That is why you will
defeat him.
No,
we will defeat him, together.
"Do
you dare to challenge me, Sage?" snarled the demon.
"
how do you know my name? This has to end, monster!"
"Now,
now. That is no way to speak to your father, Sage."
"You
are not my father," he said through gritted teeth. He was becoming annoyed
with the demon.
"I'm
sorry to hear that you feel that way. However, you are every bit my son. There
is no escape from your destiny."
"Noooo!!"
In rage, Sage flew into the air and slashed out with his no-dachi at the best. He
sliced through its arm and temporarily stunned it with a roundhouse kick to the
stomach. He was about to attack again, but was stopped by the limb that had
been sliced off. It had grown back with amazing speed.
Sage's
sword fell from his hand, lost and forgotten, as the demon tightened its grip
around his neck. It brought him close to its face, the stench of its breath
intoxicating. It squeezed a little tighter and growled, " That was good,
but you must be better." With that, the demon slammed Sage into the
ground, causing the tiles and cement to crack and shatter.
The
demon released the iron grip it had on Sage's throat and replaced it with that
of its foot. Its claws laced themselves around his body, intent on crushing
him. "You disappointed me, Sage. I expected more from you. Then again, you
are half mortal." The demon began the process of crushing him under its
foot. "We could have been so good together. Pity you will have to die
now."
Not
yet... thought Sage. His armor was cracking and he could feel his insides
becoming squished. Despite the pain that was intensifying, he focused the
combined energies. He managed to wriggle free his dagger. "Raahhh!!"
The pain sliced through his body, causing him to lose his concentration.
Brother!
Don't give up now!
I....can't....do
this...
You
have to. Out of pure adrenaline,
Sage ripped through the sole of the demon's foot. It howled out of surprise and
pain, and pulled back. This action gave Sage the chance he needed. He rolled
out from under its foot and towards his blade. On shaky legs, he stood poised
for action, his body becoming numb to the pain.
The
beast recovered quickly. "Now that is more like it!" It produced its
own no-dachi and through it sent a beam of energy at Sage. He dodged, and made
his own attack. The calm, logical Sage was no longer in control. Only his rage
shone through as the battle intensified.
They
each gave and received many blows, none of which seemed to phase the demon, all
of whom showed on Sage. With a massive blow with its no-dachi, Helios almost
annihilated the chamber in which all was taking place.
Sage
managed to avoid the full force of the attack and took this as an opportunity
to unleash his own sure kill attack. Drawing upon the strength he had left and
speaking the incantation "Thunderbolt Cut!" he aimed to slice off the
demon's head. The demon, still stunned from its own attack, was almost
completely unguarded. He had a clean, clear shot and took it.
He
landed on one bent knee, blade extended. He remained that way as the demon's
head fell and landed face up. He remained that way as a smile spread across the
head and turn to stone, as the body had done. He was frozen more out of shock
than triumph. What had he just done?
Hojin
began to untangle herself from their mental connection and move back into her
own body now that things had calmed down. She maintained a connection to Sage,
though was more concentrated on healing her own body. The earlier shock wave
had caused some considerable damage. She focused her energies, making her body
glow a white light. The more serious burns were healing.
She
sat up and moved her head and other limbs, making sure that she was alive. She
was sore and stiff, but other than some scratches and burns, she was fine.
" Well, that was interesting."
"Spare
me your sarcasm."
"Sorry.
How are you holding up?" She turned and looked at him. His no-dachi was
jammed into the ground next to him. He removed his helmet, his hair falling in
its usual place over his right eye, and hung his head out of disgust. He looked
like a crumbled warrior who had just lost a battle. The reality of what
happened had not completely sunken in yet. He was still shaken from the ordeal.
Hojin
stood and walked to his side. Silently, she knelt beside him and gently placed
a hand on his shoulder, concern on her face. He looked at her and gave a weak
smile. It was clear that he was exhausted, the battle had taken a lot out of
him. There was a stream of dried blood coming from his left eye and his cheek
was swollen. "How do YOU feel?" he asked.
"I'm
free! Thank you, my brother." She held him in a warm embrace. Relief and
joy washed over both, though it came from one source. Sage kept off his
feelings of worry from spreading to his sister. She had been through enough and
did not need another burden.
This
was not over; he could feel it.