Chapter 3:
"Shit!" Dora cursed. She jumped just in time, avoiding the Snake Lord's massive jaws. Two long needle-like fangs dripped venom from the snake's mouth. The giant serpent hissed madly for missing its prey. Turning on a dime, the giant snake lunged again, straight at Dora.
The battle has been going on for too long. Many of Dora's team were wounded, two were dead.
The giant snake snapped at air as Dora jumped to the side, throwing three shurikens at its left eye. One struck home, blinding the eye, while the other two hit elsewhere, making it bleed. Hissing in rage, the snake swung its tail, missing its moving target once again. But the snake reacted quickly, it swung again and charged with its gaping mouth at the same time, catching Dora by surprise.
Summoning the Wind Element was a breeze, as Dora did so to increase her speed to avoid the snake's attack. She ran past the serpent's blind side and threw two of her kunai knives at its head. They pierced the snake's thick scales with ease, but they were not strong enough to kill the Demon.
Damn it! Dora cursed in her head. She reached back to bring out her ninja blade. The snake was outraged, it hissed, it spat, it charged again.
Dora grinned as she prepared to use her sword. But she saw something sneak up on her in the corner of her eye.
Oh sh-
The snake's tail had wrapped around her in a tight grip, squeezing the life out of her. Dora struggled to get out, but it was no use. Her arms were tightly bounded and she lost her grip on her weapon.
"Ha ha ha ha!" the snake laughed in a raspy voice. "Pathetic human. You're going to pay for what you did to my eye!" it roared. It tightened its hold on Dora's body, crushing her until she screamed in pain. The snake laughed in a hissy way, laughing at her torture.
"Hidekeru-sama!"
Flaming shuriken flew into the Demon's good eye, blindng it entirely. "Kssssaawwrr!" the serpent bellowed in rage, and in pain. Blood splattered all over Dora but she didn't care. She escaped the snake's clutches with the help of one of her teammates, Yime Satoshi.
"Let's finish this!" Satoshi said as he brought out his katana blade. Dora nodded, bringing out more shurikens. She planned to combine them with the Wind Element, making them fly with incredible speed. Dora attacked first, throwing her stars that were surrouned with a purple aura; Psynergy. They flew so fast that they went right through the neck of the unsuspected snake. Satoshi finished it off by slicing the serpent's head completely off.
Finally, the snake was finished. Its body and head landed with a sickening thud.
Worn out and tired from the battle and as well from the lack of sleep, Dora slumped to the ground. "Hidekeru-sama! Are you alright?" Satoshi asked in alarm.
Dora waved her hand, indicating that she was alright. "I'm alright Satoshi. And please, just call me Dora," she told the young man for the hundrenth time. He was only a teenager, many would consider him only a kid, but Dora respected him. The boy was mature enough to be called a man. Satoshi rubbed his black gloved hand over his wild sky-blue hair.
"Alright, Dora," Satoshi responded. Dora grinned at him. He was a smart kid, very skilled and very talented in the use of Psynergy. He had excellent control over his powers; a master at combining his Psynergy with his body and with all sorts of weapons to create a deadly combination. Satoshi was only a Genyin, so Dora had to keep an eye out for him. He was the only Genyin on her team, everyone else was a Kuuyin, like her. Why Kallis had assigned him with her team was probably because of his amazing technique; the ability to heal with Psynergy. Healing was a Water Element, and ninjas have no control over that Element.
The main reason for that would be because Satoshi was different. He was never born in Vale. Ten years ago, Dora led her team to the East to eliminate the growing population of Spider Demons. The females laid thousands of eggs each day, and if they continued to breed, there would had been enough of them to wipe out Vale.
So, Dora and her team were sent to kill them all. Killing them wasn't easy; the spiders could spit acid that easily burned through flesh and armour and they could trap them in their sticky webs. Many were wounded in that battle, and luckily, no one died. When Dora was on a search for any surviving spiders, she stumbled upon an unconcious boy, about eight years old. There was no sign of how he got there. The boy was badly hurt and needed medical attention, so Dora had quickly carried him back to Vale.
Sadly, the boy suffered from amnesia. He couldn't remember who he was or how he had gotten here. There was a strict rule in Vale: outsiders were not allowed to enter and if they did, they were executed. But, the boy was only a child. Innocent. Many protested against his execution, and with that, they allowed him to stay. But, he could never leave.
Dora had been given the honour to rename the boy, and so she named him Yime Satoshi. Satoshi didn't mind his new name. "This name will now be mine… My real name is forgotten and so, I am now Yime Satoshi!" the little boy said cheerfully when Dora had announced the news to him. Satoshi lived with her family, even till this day. He was like a little brother she never had, and an older brother to Isaac. The strangest thing about him, was his bright golden eyes. A very odd colour… They seemed to glow like the sun whenever he was happy.
Sometimes, Dora had wondered why he had not been promoted to Kuuyin yet. But after fighting along side him in many battles, she had figured it out. Satoshi was careless in battle; he would charge right in without a stragetic plan on how to defeat the enemies with minor consequences.
He still needed training. And discipline. Dora thought. "How are the others holding up?" she asked him.
Satoshi grinned. "They wiped out that whole group after you led their leader away. Smart move, Hidekeru- err, I mean, Dora," he said, blushing in embarrassment.
"Good. Good. We'll be heading home in no time," she said, smiling. She stuck two fingers into her mouth and whistled. Instantly, all her teammates arrived before her. They all carried the wounded over their shoulders. "We're almost done," she told everyone, raising their spirits. "Their leader has been slain and now we must clean the rest up. How many are wounded?"
"All but six of us," one of them said. It was a young woman by the name of Elli Yuka. She had the bottom half of her face covered in a black shawl, concealing her features. Only her bright blue eyes were visible. Her hair was a up in a messy ponytail.
"We can still go on," one of the injured men had said.
Dora nodded. "No, Satoshi will tend to your wounds as well as the others. All we need to do is scout the area for anymore snakes." She faced Yuka and the rest who were not injured. "The six of you split up and if you find any survivors, kill them. I will go scout that way," she pointed behind her.
"Got it," they all said, then disappeared.
Nodding to Satoshi who nodded back, Dora leapt up into the forest trees. I'll be home soon, Kyle. Isaac. How I miss you both. I'll be home in no time!
Ida Suharu-sensei led the children to the center of the training grounds after the attendance call. All her students were here, which was a good thing. Weapons of all sorts were laid neatly on a red blanket on the dirt ground. She identified each weapon in full detail of how they were used in battle. Swords, shurikens, kunai, knives, axes and so forth. When she got to the bundles of rolled up paper, the children got very curious at how they were used.
"These," she said, holding one up, "Aren't rolled up pieces of paper. They're scrolls. And they're very special scrolls. These are Summon Scrolls."
The children gaped in awe. "Summon Scrolls are used to summon certain creatures into battle. They're very dangerous to fool around with. If you're not strong, you can lose control over the creature and many terrible things could happen!" Suharu-sensei warned. "But we won't go into much detail about them, you won't be able to learn how to use them till you are a Kiruyin."
Garet remembered the many stories his grandfather had told him each night. They were about the battles his great grandfather had fought and survived in. Garet's favourite story was the war in Vale over one hundred years ago. His great grandfather had fought against a massive army of the Fire Clan, who had wanted the power of the Elemental Stars. It was the most bloodiest battle in the history of Vale. Vale had almost been defeated, but a legendary creature was summoned by the Wise One, the magnificent Phoenix. With its flaming wings, the Phoenix wiped out over half the Fire Clan's army, causing them to retreat to whence they came. His great grandfather had seen the legendary beast, and so, he passed down the story to his sons and their sons of its existence.
Garet couldn't help but tell everyone about it. "Will we be able to see the great Phoenix someday?" he asked Suharu-sensei.
Everyone turned to look at him. Suharu raised a brow. "A Phoenix? You mean like that one in those stories?" she asked him.
Garet nodded. "I know it exists! Grandpa told me about it. The great Wise One of that time summoned it into battle over a hundred years ago," Garet explained, blushing at everyone staring at him.
Suharu-sensei scratched her chin. "Hmm. It's very unlikely that we'll ever see one. Once a Summon creature is unsealed from its scroll, the scroll burns away and the creature disappears after unleashing its power," she told him and the others.
"Grandpa says that they come back after awhile…" Garet said.
Suharu-sensei nodded. "That is true. Depending on the creature summoned, the creature will be reborn once again after a few years, or maybe longer. The Phoenix is such a legendary creature that it could take…probably a hundred years for it to be reborn!" she explained.
The children talked amongst themselves about their new topic. "But…" Garet began, waiting for his schoolmates to quiet down. "It has been over a hundred years, do you think it has already been reborn?" he asked.
Suharu-sensei shrugged. "Possibly. The Phoenix is one of the four Legendary Beasts after all. They're tough to find, and they're tough to seal. I know one thing though: we have two of the Legendary Beasts sealed in special scrolls. The Ancient Dragon, and the water guardian, Leviathan." she said, surprising the children. "The scrolls are locked away in the shrine."
"That's awesome!" the children said in awe.
Suharu-sensei nodded. "I know this is all interesting stuff, but we really need to get started on our first lesson," she said.
"But…" Garet raised his hand to speak.
Sighing, Suharu-sensei nodded for him to continue.
"But how did they get sealed into scrolls?" he asked.
"Well," his sensei began, "Forty years ago, Kallis left to search for the Ancient Dragon alone. He knew a hundred years had past since the dragon had been summoned into battle, and so he left in search of it. Many weeks had past, and still, there was no sign of Kallis. Until one rainy day, he returned. Battered, bruised, and bloody, Kallis held out the scroll of the Ancient Dragon."
"Really?" one of the children asked.
Suharu-sensei nodded. "Yup. I saw the whole thing myself," she said. "I know I may look young, but I'm actually forty-nine years old."
Garet raised his hand again, "What about the other one? Did Kallis seal it too?"
She shook her head. "No. Leviathan had never been used for centuries. We had kept it safe with us for many generations," she explained. Then she smirked, "Enough of our history, it's time for Lesson One: Hand-to-hand combat. You'll learn how to defend, avoid, attack, and strike when necessary in a fight. Now, follow me."
She led them into the nearby woods just outside the gates. They stood in an open, grassy area. "This is where you'll train," she told them.
The morning had went by really quickly for everyone. Each of them sparred with another schoolmate. Isaac had chosen Felix to be his partner. Suharu-sensei was teaching them how to defend first. She taught them the proper defending stance. Then they learned how to block punches and kicks with one hand, and how to counter with the other. Felix was the attacker, while Isaac was the defender. Felix kicked, aiming for Isaac's head, but his rival grabbed his foot with his left hand and twisted it to side, making the dark-haired boy lose his balance. Then Isaac used his right hand and palmed Felix in the chest, knocking him down.
Isaac couldn't help but grin at his rival. Felix sprang back up, angry. "Grr… It's my turn, Isaac! Let's do this!" he growled at his smirking foe.
Felix brought his arms forward, ready to block any oncoming attacks. The other boy did so as well. Isaac circled the dark haired boy, keeping his blue eyes set on Felix's dark ones. They both followed each others' movements, until Isaac charged in, blowing a low punch at Felix's stomach. Felix saw the attack and raised his right knee, blocking the punch. Then he elbowed Isaac's back with his right arm, knocking him down.
"Oww…" Isaac groaned. "You were suppose to block with one hand! Not with your leg!" he roared.
Crossing his arms, Felix shrugged. "Bah, so what? I prefer to do it my way," he said. Then something bonked his head… Felix caught it in his hand; it was a pebble.
Suharu-sensei landed beside him, making "tsk"-ing noises. "Felix, Felix, Felix," she said, repeating his name, "You can't ignore orders. I told you to practise blocking with one hand. Now, why haven't you done that?"
Felix grumbled. "I already know how, that's why," he answered sharply.
"Really?" she asked him.
He nodded.
"Then…" She swooped under him and flung him over her shoulder. Felix landed hard on his back. "You didn't know how to defend that, did you?" she teased.
Felix groaned. "That wasn't… fair! I didn't see you coming!" he yelled.
Suharu-sensei waved her finger. "That's to teach you a lesson, boy. Now, get back to practising what I taught you. I want to see how well you do it," she said. Then to Isaac, "You're doing good, kid. Keep it up."
Isaac nodded, grinning at Felix who stood back up. Felix's face was red with anger.
"Alright class," Suharu-sensei called out, gathering the children's attention, "We're going to start on dodging manoeuvres-"
She was cut off by the sound of the shrine bells. "Oh. Looks like it's lunch time. Meet back at the training grounds in one hour. Don't be late!" she told the children, who scurried back home.
Jenna and Garet met up with Felix and Isaac. Jenna and Garet were sparring partners, and it looked like Garet had a rough time. He didn't know how to fight against a girl.
"Let's race back. Whoever's last to the gates is a rotten egg!" Jenna challenged the boys as she took a head start.