Chapter V

Falcons

This is Aoi. Zhou Liu is coming along very well with her training, and Kori has been getting letters but she won't tell me anything about them. She was nice enough to let us stay at her home, however. I feel like she's trying to get me to go somewhere, but she won't say it directly to me. It started when she got those letters. Maybe they're connected.

I've started this journal, in hopes maybe some day if I do something great, my line will have some glory...

It was daylight outside of the Black Fang's headquarters. There were three people, one was in his twenties, the other two were probably twelve and fourteen.

The fourteen year old was quite muscular for his age. His hair was light and changing blonde by the constant sun. In his hands was a medium spear. He wore a tan vest and baggy red pants, and was about 5'9. He was the second son of Kuan Rong, named Kuan Jin.

The other was twelve years old. He was 5'6 and held a medium spear. He was mildly muscular, had black hair and brown eyes. He was the third and last son of Rong, and he was Kuan Shi.

The man in his twenties was 6'2. On the ground behind him was a two-pronged spear, and it was very sharp. But in his hands was a blunt sword. He was brother to Kuan Rong, named Kuan Ce.

"Attack!" said Ce.

Kuan Jin ran forward and in his course he spun around and uppercut Ce hard with his spear. Ce rolled to the right and spun, hitting Jin in the side. Shi was in the air and dropped down towards Ce quickly. Ce back rolled and when Shi landed on his feet, Ce thrust his blade forward. Shi used the pole of his spear and banged the blade away. Spun and slashed at Ce's ribs. Ce quickly thrust his sword into the attack and hit it away, went forward and behind Shi, then put the blade to the back of Shi's neck quickly.

"Good, but you need to work a hell of a lot harder…" said Ce. "Jin! You may as well be the next God of War, and I know you'll be a great fighter, but you're not guarding!"

Jin bowed in regret.

"I'm sorry, sir." said Jin.

"Well I'm in a good mood right now, but next time will be push-ups until sundown." said Ce. He turned and saw Shang running to him.

"Hex Wolf's been looking around for you; you and Rong didn't show up for the officer call-up. Seemed pretty ticked off." said Shang.

Kuan Rong was sitting down, watching Ce's training. He stood and looked at Shang.

"To hell with Hex Wofl! The decrepit goat doesn't own us!" said Kuan Rong.

"Hey, take that up with him!" said Shang, worried. It was very rare for any Kuan to show a hint of fear, but even someone as formidable as Shang was afraid of Kuan Rong.

"Rong…calm down. Hex Wolf is no threat." said Ce. "He'd sooner cut our throats with that hunk of dung he calls a sword, than have any possible deed to our lives…"

Rong took a glance at Ce with narrowed eyes. Ce's expression, however, remained stale and unmoved. They stared for a few seconds before Rong turned away. Rong gave a small glare, but he wasn't looking at anyone.

"Hey, how about we strike a town? We haven't seen any action in a while!" said Shang.

Kuan Rong, despite his deadly, but true, reputation, was against pointless bloodshed. He merely walked away towards the castle.

"How about you, Ce?" asked Shang.

"Apparently, I'm training the kids." said Ce.

"They can come, too! Come on!" said Shang. But Ce rejected. But, still bored, Shang decided to go alone. He left to his room and lifted his sheathed broadsword and strapped it to his back. He took up his hand gauntlet-blades and attached them to his waist-sash.

After calling a hundred horseman to his side, he marched towards the Liao province. Rumor has it that Dangun Jin's forces had been pressed back by a small militia. His black hair waved in the wind as he rode his horse to the area.

Few days later, Aoi and Kori were sitting atop a green hill over viewing a city named Liaoxiang. The city was small and mildly poor compared to the other cities in the province. But it was a joyful village with lively plant-life. In front of it there was a meadow that often attracted small hunt during spring. Aoi and Kori had been silent for the past ten minutes. Aoi was in deep thought and hadn't noticed, but Kori was beginning to worry to herself that she was boring him. But what she didn't notice was that she was staring at him for the past four minutes. She blinked and looked forward, fiddling with her fingers.

A moment went by before Aoi snapped back to reality. He looked at Kori who returned his gaze, but it lasted only a second before they turned away.

"So Aoi, w—" Kori was interrupted almost immediately by a large explosion. Aoi turned to see Liaozhou under attack by a cavalry.

"Come on!" said Aoi. He grabbed his weapons and charged down the hill, Kori close behind. But when they made it into the castle, most houses were under siege. Aoi gasped to see civilians being beheaded during retreat. One woman was shot down by arrow and had twirled quickly to fall next to Aoi's feet. Aoi raised his bow and fired an arrow that shot down the assailant of the woman.

Kori took up a spear on the floor nearby a dead villager. As she saw a horseman charging Aoi she ran in front and the horseman redirected himself towards her. He raised his sword to kill her but she stabbed his stomach and impaled him off of the horse, then grabbed his fallen sword.

Aoi crouched lightly and pulled an arrow from his quiver, which was quickly inserted into the neck of a nearby horseman. He saw another approaching that he would be unable to shoot in time. He dropped his bow and waited for the mounted spearman. As the spear dropped to Aoi's head, he strafed to the left and pulled as hard as he could on the spear to the floor, and he brought the soldier down. Aoi wasted no time in "dropping" an arrow into the heart of the bandit. Aoi noticed the same armor on the soldier as the previous attacks, but as he looked around he hadn't seen Dangun Jin anywhere.

Bandits never travel without their leader...these can't b---

Aoi's thoughts were immediately interrupted by a sudden shout from Kori, and apparently for a good reason when he saw a horse no more than eight feet from his skull.

"Move!" shouted Kori.

He just barely shot out of the way and managed to stop his bow from being trampled by the heavy hooves of the steed. Aoi slapped his bow around his arm and slapped the horseman's spear away from his neck. He stood and shot the horse, which fell and thrashed it's rider.

Kori managed to hack a lesser bandit down from his horse. But she looked up to see two heavy horse units charging her with pikes. Another seemed to be charging from behind them. She readied her sword and just as the two units were close to her, they broke apart and circled her. The third horseman appeared and leaped towards her. She panicked, screaming and darted to the side.

Aoi heard her scream and turned, his eyes widened like none before. He saw a flash and winced in…what was it? He couldn't tell, but his heart felt like it was lifted and snapped in two…as if getting shot by Dangun Jin would ease the pain. He heard the loud crash as one of the horseman crashed into Kori's ribs very harshly, just as she was falling back from her dodge of the third horseman. Kori's body flew two yards and rolled harshly on the ground.

Aoi's new feeling of heartbreak had flickered into intense anger within seconds. He put up his bow and pulled four arrows back, and fired them all straight at the horseman who'd leaped at her. Two bounced off of his armor, one missed, and the last pierced his neck and brought it down. Aoi wasted no time lifting a dead militia's wooden spear. He charged into the circling horsemen and timed himself well. He ran past the first and his hand grabbed a horse's saddle. He propelled himself up and thrust the spear through the unit's neck and pressed him off of the horse with ease. He dropped to the ground and was pressed in momentum, trying to grasp balance. His left hand fell to his left-hand side of the waste, whereby he unsheathed his sword up-side down. He leaped forward and spun around, and cut up. His blade managed to slit the last horseman's horse's throat. The horse nearly crashed on Aoi in death, however the soldier once atop of it lived. He dropped his pike and took out a traditional Chinese sword.

This was an average melee weapon used in the Chinese warfare tradition. However, the frequency of it's use had become scarce since the rule of Han, and the broad sword would often replace it.

The traditional Chinese sword had red tassels upon the bottom of it's golden hilt. It had a hand-guard, which connected the hilt to the blade. The blade was not very sharp, aside from it's point at the end., and parts of the blade. It was very flexible, often used to beat the faces of it's opponent, and reach over shields. Aoi looked at his opponent's Black Fang armor. This one's was more bulk, as were the other dead horsemen's armor. They wore rather heavy helmets, but apparently were weak towards the neck.

Aoi charged furiously, as did the soldier. They made a hard clash but it ended quickly. The soldier gained momentum on Aoi and smacked his blade forward. Aoi hacked up high towards his right to hit it away, but it spun around Aoi's sword and smacked him across the face, giving a taste of light steel. Aoi spun around and backed away, holding his jaw. He let go of it and stretched his mouth, then put his blade forward. Quickly, Aoi unsheathed another arrow from his large quiver and charged with his sword firmly in his right hand.

The unit hacked his sword furiously at Aoi's approach, but Aoi hopped back and dodged, then swung down with his sword at the unit's head. The unit dodged quickly but Aoi spun around the arrow and backhand-stabbed it into the unit's neck. The wound made was a deep one, and his enemy's sword fell with another press. Aoi tore the arrow out of the soldier and put it back in his quiver. He looked up and noticed most of the bandits had already pressed into the city.

Aoi turned to see Kori on the floor…she hadn't moved since her fall, and Aoi's mood quickly again turned to heartbreak. He ran to her and kneeled down immediately. She was bruised heavily on her arms, and a few cuts on her leg. Aoi wasn't sure if she had broken any ribs or not, but it seemed likely as she coughed some blood. Damn! thought Aoi, as he punched the rocky ground. Aoi didn't want to move her, for fear of causing further damage. He couldn't leave her alone, but he couldn't let the rest of the villagers be wiped out. His mind struggled in confusion, and he couldn't decide.

But his confusion was broken with a swift turn, as he lifted his bow and fired an arrow at an approaching horseman. The horseman was without armor, and had hand gauntlet-swords equipped. The horseman easily slapped away the arrow and continued a charge. Aoi glanced back at Kori and noticed she was just behind him. He looked back at the warrior and ran forward, dropping his bow and lifting his broad sword again. As they closed in he darted rightward. The horseman stopped and dismounted. He walked slowly towards Aoi and stopped, eyeing him.

"You! You're the one who pushed back Dangun Jin!" said Kuan Shang. He cackled and laughed for a minute before he stopped. "I am Kuan Shang! Hear the name of your killer!"

Aoi glared in intimidation. The grip of his hilt tightened, and he charged furiously at him. Kuan Shang had small hilt-less blades at on his forearms and on the legging below his knee. Uncomfortable as they may be, they were strong against sword attacks and weren't heavy.

Aoi's sword flew nimbly towards the stomach of Shang, but he drifted to the side. Aoi's blade twisted so that the sharp part was facing Shang. Aoi gained ground and quickly hacked at Shang's open stomach. The cut would have been deep enough to injure an organ. But Shang threw himself forward and crouched leaving his right arm bent upward, his gauntlets blocking the sword. Aoi backed away, but received a mildly deep blow to the stomach from Shang's other gauntlet. Aoi was pissed, and ignored the cut with ease. With both hands on his sword's hilt he pressed forward his blade in a quick and hard stab. Shang arched to the right as the blade passed his face, and as Shang rose he brought up his left hand and made a hard back-handed slap to the face. Aoi felt a cold taste of steel from the gauntlet…another blow.

Aoi backed and glared, and spat some blood.

"You toy!" shouted the furious Aoi. "Vermin, fight me!"

"Watch your words, boy." said Shang in a threatening tone. "I'd of cut your throat if you were but a day older…"

Aoi's glare hardened.

"Leave this city, fight another day. You cannot fight with such meager skill." said Shang. "Come, I know your better than this! Dangun Jin is no easy target to press off…perhaps your distracted by your woman."

Aoi unleashed a charge out of pure anger. Aoi's sword twisted and turned rapidly and hacked immediately at Shang's hip. Shang smacked the sword away and slashed at Aoi's neck. Aoi ducked but was given a nice old knee to the chin. Aoi fell back and hit the ground, but lifted his sword as he rose to his feet. Shang could only laugh in pity at Aoi's loss of concentration.

Shang's gauntlets detached and fell to the dirt.

"I'll play on your level, boy." said Shang.

Shang got in a fighting stance. Aoi glared once more and charged. He spun his sword around and hacked up at Shang, who moved to Aoi's right. Aoi spun around leftward and made a swift hack at Shang's torso. Shang grabbed Aoi's arm and pulled him inward, then made a hard back-pivot kick to his stomach. Aoi was forced into a bend down. Shang pulled back his palm and slammed it into Aoi's forehead. Aoi was forced back, almost falling. Shang quickly pressed forward and grabbed Aoi's collar, then ran forward and thrust him through a window. Aoi broke through the building and hit the floor hard.

Aoi's eyes opened, he could still hear the cries of dying villagers. His sword was on the floor in front of him, it carried a small current of a dark aura.

Arise, Aoi! You sully my honor; better I'd never met you!

Lu Ying's voice burned his mind. Aoi had a trickle of blood coming from his forehead, and a few arm bruises. He leaned against the wall, knowing Shang was waiting for him. His breath was both quiet and heavy. He pulled his sword to him, and stared into it's image plated on it's blade.

You call yourself a man! Pathetic! Leaving a woman to die, at that! I'd rather of left you to the wolves!

Aoi's emotions shut down. Lu Ying's incentive voice would never leave until he'd fought. Aoi stood and his sword was ready. He moved out from the room and a small, yet continuous aura wove itself around the tip of his sword. Kuan Shang hadn't moved from the spot he was in after his last attack…he merely waited.

Aoi glanced at Kori, and back at Shang.

"So it is the woman." said Shang, breaking a smirk. "You're not going to be able to hold onto all your friends...harm is inevitable to come to them. Sooner or later, they'll all betray you."

Aoi charged and made a hard swing to Shang's right. Shang lifted the blade attatched to his wrist and blocked the blow, and the blade almost cracked. Aoi had dropped his sword just after impact and made a hard punch across Shang's face, then instantly brought up a punch to the stomach. Aoi made a high sweep and smacked Shang's face with his foot, and as he swept around he brought up his sword and hacked it at Shang's neck. Shang caught his guard and leaped away, then launched a jump kick at Aoi. Aoi hit his leg away with the front of his sword and turned, watching Shang pass. As Shang was closing in towards the floor, Aoi brought his sword back and made a swift stab to the back. Shang smacked it away with his left wrist's blade, and leg-swiped Aoi. Aoi jumped back and shouted as he swung hard at the Kuan. Shang back rolled and unsheathed the broad sword attached to his back. Shang's teeth gritted; this kid was getting annoying.

"Maybe next time I won't hold back!" said Shang, gritting his teeth.

Aoi hid his heavy breath. Immediately he sprinted Shang. Within radius of the Kuan, he had lightly sped into a jump and came down fast with a swift hack at Shang. With the slash Aoi's grip on the sword was tight, and he used his left hand to pull the bottom of the hilt for a hard slash. Shang jumped back immediately from reflex, and the blade almost sifted his nose. Shang's sword was pulled back and, as if a spring, shot quickly at Aoi. Aoi brought the sword close to his stomach and the end pointed straight up. Shang's sword collided with Aoi's, and Aoi let it slide to the right. Aoi made a quick, short slash in a full circle. His sword cut Shang's hip. Shang retaliated with a spin and an upward hack, cutting a small gash up Aoi's chest. Shang followed with a duck and leg sweep, and, unbalanced, Aoi fell with ease. Shang moved to stand when Aoi made a hard kick to his fore-leg, bringing him down to a knee. Aoi backrolled and readied for another round. Shang stood once more and shook out his leg.

The surroundings built up in flames, the city was being pummeled with torches and fire arrows. Shang smirked and lowered his sword.

"Best to get your woman out of here while you can, boy." said Shang.

Aoi glared, breathing heavily. Shang could only laugh at his expense without a care towards Aoi or Kori.

"Kuan Shang...remember the name." said Shang. "Heed this, boy...the next time I even see you lift a blade, I will see to it that the very same is the one that slits your pathetic throat!"

Aoi was furious enough to charge, but his thoguhts broke when a large burning pillar fell to the ground, bringing up a wave of smoke. As it cleared, Shang was gone. The army had left the city to level and become nothing more the ruinous rubble. Aoi wasted no time putting his sword to sheathe and recovering his bow. He slapped them onto his back and slowly lifted Kori. The air was thinning, and there were no exits. Aoi's heart was shivering in fear. He frantically looked for exit, almost running back and forth in pace.

Explosions were heard in far background of the city. Even a tear fell from Aoi's eye. He lowered and set Kori on the ground and covered her head and ribs with his body.

He meagarly waited for his own death, only hoping one of them could survive, unlikely though it was. But suddenly, branches of wall fell, and just as they did Envy found and busted his way through the ash and smoke.

Aoi was amazed...not only had his idiot of a horse come to his rescue...but he distinctly remembered tying Envy to a post. There would be no way the horse could've gotten out. Aoi looked up and saw a black figure. It was almost completely shrouded by the smokescreen, but it was human. The silhouette wore what seemed to be robes and light armor with a traditional chinese blade on its back. The smoke had faded for just a second across the head. The face was covered by a veil of heavy black and gray silk , but let out its hair. It had a masculine figure, and must have been relatively elderly due to his hair being long and gray. His robes covered all but his chest armor and below the upper half of his shins. His hand raised and revealed a fan made of large bird feathers. The figure nodded at Aoi and raised his fan, and a few falcons had flown by. As the smokescreen built up, the silhouette slowly faded and had disappeared. Aoi blinked and stared for few seconds, but quickly mounted him and Kori onto Envy and rushed out of the village.

Aoi slowed his horse and made an easy pace to Liaozhong. But the silhouette hadn't left his mind. The falcons, the fan...the familiarity...it filled his mind in confusion. An answer crossed his mind.

No...it isn't him.

Aoi's eyes drifted to Kori. He stared at her painfully seeing her wounds.

"I can't protect you...can I..." whispered Aoi. He held onto Kori tightly and kicked Envy, speeding towards his home. He got there within an hour and immediately lay Kori down. Zhou Liu was sleeping with her practice sword, Aoi assumed she had been practicing all day.

Kori was still breathing, and that was good enough for Aoi. He applied as much first aid as he knew how and sat, reflecting.

Those couldn't have been bandits, and neither was Dangun Jin. Their armor was the same, and they were too skilled...how long would I be able to hold Liao before she fell? My home...Kori...Liu...I have to do something. But how? And I've only won one of three encounters with this army. And I was lucky Dangun Jin didn't burn down and annihilate the city...why did he leave and not the other? And who really was the cloaked man? It couldn't be...no. But whoever it was he saved my ass. I just hope will be Kori alright....

Few days later,Shang's army finally arrived at the Black Fang's headquarters with victory. Shang dismounted and walked to Dangun Jin, who was leaning on a tree.

He stood straight across from Dangun Jin, no more than five feet away. They said no words, and Shang broke a smirk. Shang turned and slowly begun walking away.

"You should have seen him struggle." said Shang.

Dangun Jin glared, his hand resting on a chain which connected to his sword, currently resting near the tree's trunk. His grip tightened. Kuan Ce lay his hand on Dangun Jin's shoulder, and Jin looked back at him and Ce shook his head. Jin's grip on the chain released and the metal tapped on the floor.

Shang walked into Hex Wolf's room, and gave a smile. However, the smile was not returned, but Hex Wolf acknowledged it with a glare.

"Tell me...when did I allow ANY attacks on Liao!" begun Hex Wolf.

"Oh, sorry. Were we supposed to ask?" said Shang with sarcastic innocence.

"And you executed incendiary fire upon a Liao city! Bastard! I've released order that no Liao city is to be burnt. The province is too important to crush yet!"

"Watch what you say..." said Shang. "Besides, you'll be happy to know that the militia threat has been annihilated. Kid almost put up a half-decent fight, but he's ash and bone now."

Shang cackled but Hex Wolf showed no change in any emotion, only fueled provocation.

"One more unauthorized attack and your head will meet level with your feet." said Hex Wolf.

Shang's hand moved to his gauntlet, but two elite guards grasped hold of their spears, and he dropped his hand.

"Just remember...nobody controls the Kuan...especially an old dog." said Shang as he left the chamber.

Two weeks had passed by, fortunately with no more attacks upon the Liao. Kori was healing miraculously. Any normal person would not be able to whisper yet. Kori, however, was almost able to walk. With a staff supporting her, she could walk a few steps around the bed with Aoi ready to help her. Zhou Liu would often keep Kori company while Aoi hunted.

"There's nothing more I can do." said a doctor, about to leave.

"Can you try? Call anybody else? Anyone?" asked Aoi.

"Kid, I'm the last medic in the village...I can't do anything more that hasn't been done."

With that the medic left. Aoi looked through the open wall to Kori.

Never again...never will this happen to you...I will protect you all, thought Aoi. Aoi's vision turned to his sword and bow, then back at Kori and Zhou Liu. I will protect you...