Mystery of the Soul
Ch 15

"You're going to have to go through us if you want them." Cye warned her dangerously as he backed Rowen up.

Nubia flipped back from her attack and narrowed her eyes towards them with her weapon ready. "You're making a big mistake standing in my way, now move."

"No. We're not moving." Rowen shot back drawing an arrow back as he took aim.

"Foolish humans, neither of you understand what I have to do." Nubia replied in an annoyed manner.

"Shen and Jia Li told us to be on guard if anything came through, especially demons like yourself." Cye informed her as he kept his eyes on the bounty hunter.

Nubia blinked in slight confusion. "Wait a minute, you said Shen and Jia Li?"

Rowen and Cye frowned slightly as they glanced at each other and then back at her. "Yea, so what about it?"

"That's who I'm after. What? You thought I was coming for your two friends that are trying to defeat the Dark Harpy in the spirit nexus?" Nubia asked as she slid her weapon back into the sheath.

The two ronins sheathed their weapons too, but kept a weary eye on their visitor. "Wait a minute, why are you after them?" Cye asked as he was still unsure.

"Because they're the ones that stole the pearl of life to begin with." Nubia replied in a matter of fact type of tone.

"Hold up, how can you be sure you have the right ones?" Rowen asked as he was getting close to being lost.

"Because I've been chasing them for centuries. Then about ten years ago, I lost them, but when they finally made their presence here, I locked on and followed them. I was too late though. Since they jumped into the bodies of your friends." Nubia started to explain to them.

"Then you know you can't take them back. They're keeping Kento's and Kaye's bodies ready for when they defeat Dark Harpy and come back to us." Cye objected.

Nubia narrowed her eyes and shook her head in slight disappointment as she walked over towards them. "I thought as much." "You are not making sense what so ever. What do you mean, you thought as much?" Rowen asked as he hurried over.

The bounty hunter sighed as she looked at Rowen and Cye. "That's how Shen and Jia Li have been surviving all this time."

"You're being too vague. Tell us what you know." Cye said as he was starting to feel a bit anxious.

"See, yes, they are in the forms of a phoenix and a dragon that's how they travel through time and dimensions. They weren't cursed or anything like that, but they did hear stories about a particular pearl of life. So they decided to try and steal it from the temple it was being displayed at. The only problem, when they did get to the peal. Somehow it split in half and flew in opposite directions. I found one half of it about ten years ago." Nubia explained as she pulled it out from where she was hiding it.

"Hold on, they told us a completely different story." Rowen objected as he filled her in on what they were told.

Nubia frowned deeply and shook her head. "Your friends that went after the second half are in extreme danger."

"I wouldn't worry about Ryo and Sage. They can take care of themselves, and they will come back in time." Cye said in a matter of fact tone.

"I hope for their sakes you're right." Nubia replied as she looked over Kento and Kaye. "Because if they don't, then when that portal closes there will be no way your friends will be able to get back to their bodies, and your world as you know it will cease to exist. Is there some way that you could reach your friends and tell them what's going on?"

"Yea there is, but I just hope that we're not too far from each other to do so." Rowen replied with a slight frown.

"If you need another way to get in contact with them, then I can help you with that, just as long as they're still in range of the other half of this pearl." Nubia offered as she clutched it.

"Thanks, we might have to take you up on your offer." Cye replied with a nod.

"Ryo, would you stop fooling around and put that dragon's eye back already?" Sage called over as he ducked from the bucking dragon.

"Sage, does it look like I'm fooling around? I'm trying to put it back." Ryo called back in slight annoyance as he moved further up towards the head.

Sage watched in anticipation as Ryo was within reaching distance of returning the jewel or in this case, the dragon's eye back.

'Come on Ryo, you're just about got it. Just a bit further.' the bearer of Wildfire encouraged mentally, as he finally got the eye back into the dragon.

The beast roared so loud that the walls shook. The dragon soared a bit higher and then flipped back making Ryo fall into a mound of treasure.

"Ryo!" Sage exclaimed as he rushed over towards him. "Hey, are you all right?"

"Yea Sage, I'm fine, a little sore but ok." Ryo replied as he was trying to reassure him while standing.

"So now what?" Sage asked with a slight frown.

Before Ryo could think of an answer, the same dragon that had its eye returned to it, roared again and the other dragons that are free were starting to fuse into the main beast. The dragon kept on growing and growing, if it continued, then the beast would bring down the entire place.

The two ronins quickly got into fighting position. Their eyes keeping steady upon the huge dragon. Their hearts beating hard in their chests, breathing a little quicker than normal. Neither of them flinching, standing firm and ready to pounce in a moment's notice. But what happened next the two ronins were definitely not expecting to happen.

Just as they were about to attack, the last dragon fused and then the shaking stopped. Dead silence fell upon the entire place. The dragon slowly opened its eyes and started to look down towards them.