"So you are the famous taijiya," Tsubasa laughed mockingly. "You are too late to do anything or save anybody. The ritual is already begun. Now, do it boy!"
Shihai was kneeling on the ground with his eyes closed in deep concentration. Energy emanated from his body and burnt ritual markings into the ground. He then began a long ceremonious chant.
"I'll give you the shards," she offered, "so let him go."
Upon reception, he chuckled, "Too bad, even I can't stop the ritual. If it is interrupted, something terrible happen. I can't have you disturbing things here, so it looks like I will have to kill you. But I am most thankful for the shards."
He released a blast of wind from his palm, taking her by surprise and causing her to fall harmlessly to the ground like a feather. He moved quickly, seemingly using the wind to guide him rather than his feet; he moved freely, without tire.
He approached from behind but she was able to reach behind her back and block him with her hidden sword. She felt it connect with something like a blade, yet different.
"That was wind pressure," he answered, without waiting for a question. "You did well to block that attack. Right now my control of the wind is primal, but after the ritual I will be able to complete the first stage and be one step closer to gaining total mastery of the wind! I shall rule the wind!"
"Shihai, you have to stop!" she pleaded. "You already imprisoned your own father! You tried to use the villagers against their will to kill me! Don't endanger this village anymore!"
"It's useless; he can't hear you. He really is a weak boy, but he happens to be talented at wind rituals. It's lucky I found someone like him, and so easy to manipulate too."
"Then, you... he..."
At the clinic, Shihai's father had awoken, as had all the other injured villagers. After the first one who recovered explained everything he could, everyone was glad to see their elder alive and safe, and were eager to learn the truth.
"About a month ago," the elder explained, "an evil man named Tsubasa entered our village. He knew that this is the place where all the winds meet, and he planned to use this village to advance his ambition of becoming ruler of the wind, but he needed my son's talent to do so. My son refused strongly at first, but after I was sent to that dark dungeon, he was forced to follow Tsubasa's orders and seemed to lose a little bit of his strong will with each passing day. Now, we have to stop him from committing any more acts of evil, before it ruins his pure heart!"
"I don't think we need to worry," one of the villagers said suddenly. "I remember now, after the ritual, our orders were as always to retrieve the shikon shard from the youkai. But that time, he gave us an extra command, no, request, to prevent that girl from endangering herself."
"And yet," another villager added, "she saved us all from the youkai. If she went to save Shihai-san, then I'm sure everything will be all right."
"You're right," the elder accepted, "but Tsubasa is a dangerous man. They may still need our help. We must leave at once!"
Byaku felt a rage grow inside her, greater than the rage she felt even for her own father. "You used his own father as a threat," she said with a stinging voice.
"That's right," Tsubasa replied with jolly. "It was a brilliant tactic, wasn't it? Manipulating the wind, manipulating people, they really are the same. Then, shall we continue?"
He formed pieces of the wind into a thin extended wire, and began to flail it like a whip. She found that when she tried to block it, the wire curled around her defences. She was able to dodge the attacks with her quick reflexes, but found herself moving farther from her target, from an offensive position to a defensive, and because they were fighting in an enclosed area, she could now throw hiraikotsu.
Kiara charged, but the wire encircled then restrained her body. Even though Byaku cut through the wire, it reformed soon after and Kiara remained trapped.
"Wind cannot be cut," Tsubasa tingled with an obsessed passion. "Give up!"
Byaku was not shaken, and she noted that he had let down his guard. After digging through her pouch of gear, she selected a talisman charm found usally in a monk's arsenal. She wrapped it around the tip of her sword, then with all of her might she destroyed the wire. It exploded at both ends, but she directed the attack at Tsubasa, to reduce most of Kiara's damage. Before he could recover, Byaku rushed, with hiraikotsu's point aimed at his gut, and drove him mercilessly against the cave wall.
His breathing was short and heavy as he panted, "I didn't expect you to use those, but next time my powers will be complete and you won't be so lucky. I am Tsubasa! I am destined to rule the winds from this village!"
"No, you're wrong," came Shihai's purposeful voice, to Byaku's surprise and Tsubasa's worry. "No one can control the wind, the dark wind."
Shihai was from birth the wind's prodigy. He could perform even the most complicated rituals with ease. Then one day, the village of his childhood was struck by the most terrible of storms. The winds destroyed everything. Almost everyone from the village died. His mother died. His three brothers and two sisters died. One was nearing her marriage day. Shihai watched all of them die. Only he and his father survived; his father, the elder, and he, the prodigy, were given priority. At his new village, every day was spent refining his skills. No time could be spared; he didn't even have time to visit his family's graves. When Tsubasa arrived, he was powerless to protect his father, just like how he was powerless to protect his family. even with all of his skills he was powerless. He was powerless.
"The wind is a monster no man may tame," he said with fatigue. He rose, and the ritual markings disappeared. The cave began to shake and fragments of rock began to fall.
"You fool!" Tsubasa shouted angrily. He punched his face, leaving a red mark, but he made no response and fell to the floor like a broken doll. He raised his fist to hurt him again, but Byaku caught his wrist from behind. He released himself, and immediately began to nurse his poor wrist. "I'm afraid I don't have time to deal with you. Thanks to that fool's incompetence, this village is doomed. I have the shards; enjoy yourself protecting this village while I escape."
The villagers, led by the elder, had reached the elder, but their attention was averted to the darkening sky. The darkness grew from a large shadow, the shadow of a titanic ogre. It had four eyes, four arms, and four wings. The villagers, once intended to aid Shihai and Byaku, shouted: "Daiyoukai! Daiyoukai is attacking! Evacuate the village!"