Sorry that the last chapter wasn't too good, exciting, or long cause I had to rush it. But anyway, the story continues! We're almost done with the single characters, just five more to go (excluding this one). I bet you guys can't wait for the last few chapters.

HHHHH

Chapter 9: Always Fighting By Your Side

There was a battle going on somewhere near the onsen. A loud thud echoed in the night and crashing sounds soon followed after wards. The figure of a giant scorpion shot up to the sky, then the kyonshi of Jun jumped up into the air to meet the scorpion. In the blink of an eye, the scorpion was defeated after Pyron delivered thousands of rapid kicks to the monster. As Pyron and the scorpion fell to the ground, the scorpion seemingly dissolved into white lights.

Pyron spotted a stone on his way down, so he grabbed it and landed on the ground. "Miss Jun, I think this is the stone that we are looking for." Pyron handed it to Jun and she examined it afterwards.

"Yes, it is one of the stones" Jun examined the dark forest green stone. It had a blurred word on it, and it was only legible enough for them to identify that the beginning letter was "D" and the last letter was "T". Pyron gave Jun the talisman, and she put it in her pocket where the rest of the used talismans were place. "So we now have eight talismans, so that means there are ten more stones left."

They were both interrupted when they saw a long tail heading inside the backyard of a random house. Quietly, Pyron snuck up to the backyard in order to make a surprise attack. When he jumped into the backyard, he didn't see the monster anymore, whatever it was. He moved cautiously around the giant backyard that belonged to a house which was fortunately empty at the moment. It was very quiet, not even the chirping of the crickets, the hooting of an owl, or the shrieking of bats could be heard; it was dead quiet.

"Pyron! Behind you!" the awkward silence was interrupted when Jun warned Pyron. He turned around one hundred eighty degrees and saw a slim monster diving towards him. He quickly jumped back and avoided the monster's attack. The darkness did not allow them to see the actual features of the monster; they only thing that they knew is that this monster was silent and swift, making it very deadly.

The enemy disappeared once again in the shadows; the two of them were in high alert once again. The dark surroundings gave the monster the advantage.

"I have an idea!" Jun took a talisman from her pocket and tossed it in the air. The talisman glowed brightly and lit up the whole back yard which was pitch dark just a moment ago. The light shone brightly on the slim monster. It was a giant green cobra with upper and lower limbs and yellow glowing eyes. "It looks like some sort of snake man."

The snake hissed dangerously and moved slickly along the grass, Pyron took fighting stance and readied himself for any attack. "Pyron! Attack now!"

Pyron delivered multiple punches, kicks, and some of his dao dando technique, the barely hit the monster because it kept avoiding the attacks, which was easy for it due to it's long and slim body.

The snake hissed loudly and jumped up the backyard's oak tree. It breathed deeply and blasted a lot of poison needle from its mouth. "Jun!" Pyron saw some of the needles heading towards Jun. She noticed it when it was almost too late, so she just dropped to her knees and covered her eyes. While her eyes were closed, she didn't feel anything. Jun opened her eyes and saw Pyron using himself as a shield to protect her.

The needle rain stopped and the snake hid once again in the shadows. "Jun, are you alright?" he asked her while wincing slightly due to the needles on his back.

"Yes I'm fine, but what about you Pyron?" Jun asked. Pyron reached for his back and pulled out the needles. It hurt a bit, but I don't think the poison in these needles would affect me anyway.

Jun smiled. "I'm glad to hear about that." Both of them suddenly noticed that the snakeman was gone. "Pyron, be careful, I can sense that it's still around." They both stood their ground, waiting for the snake to attack. Jun could hear the hissing, but almost barely. Pyron spotted the snake hidden in a bush, what gave it away was that the very tip of its tail was poking out of the bush.

Realizing that it would be useless to continue hiding, the snake jumped out of the bush a dove straight for Pyron. "Stand back!" The snake and Pyron locked hands and were now attempting to push each other off balance; but the sly snake used its tail to administer extra strength. The force applied on Pyron made him go off balance for awhile.

The snakeman was about to inject a venomous, if not, deadly bite to Pyron; but thanks to his quick reflexes, he avoided a major shoulder injury. He pulled out his nunchucks from behind his back and gave the snakeman numerous blows. It gave the snakeman major injuries, but it still wasn't down.

Tired and angry, the snakeman pulled a new trick by completely disappearing despite the bright light being emitted by the talisman. It could be camouflage or cloaking, so they had to be extra careful.

The snakeman suddenly jumped from behind Pyron and bit him in the back. Jun watched horrified as Pyron yell while the snakeman dug its claws in Pyron's two arms. With all his remaining strength, he rammed the snake into the oak tree. Both of them fell to the ground and went on a very very short hiatus. "Pyron, are you okay?" Jun asked worriedly.

"I think I am, but my upper body feels numb" Pyron said, and without warning, the snakeman stood up and used its very long tail to bind Pyron. The fact that he couldn't feel pain in his upper body was okay, but the pain he felt on his lower half was tremendous due to the powerful constrict of the snakeman. He couldn't break free because he couldn't move half of his body.

"Pyron! Don't worry, I'm coming!" she ran towards the snakeman, she didn't know what she was going to do once she gets there, she just wants to help Pyron break free from the snake's grasp so that he can fight back.

"No Jun, stay back! The monster might try to hurt you too!" Jun stopped running when Pyron warned her. "Just go Jun, I'll handle it from here! I'll distract the snakeman while you find the other remaining stones!"

"…but what about…"

"Don't worry, I'll catch up, just go!"

Jun looked at Pyron trying to wrestle the snake or somehow make it loosen its grip on him. She knew Pyron could handle this monster, but she was slowly loosing confidence because she saw Pyron's energy being slowly drained.

Jun decided that she would help Pyron, whether he likes it or not. "Pyron, hold your breath!" Jun took out a talisman and tossed it to the ground near the snakeman. It emitted smoke, letting the snakeman loosen its grip on Pyron. He held its breath, so he was able to make it out of the smoke screened area of the big backyard.

"Jun?"

"Come on Pyron, you've got to be crazy to make me leave you all alone with that snake!" Jun said. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve, so don't think that I can't fight. Besides, we're a team, and we'll always be side by side." Jun and Pyron smiled at each other.

The smoke screen cleared and the snakeman was covered in smoke. It would now be hard for him to camouflage. "Like I was saying, I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and I think I feel a bit funny because I didn't think about using this earlier." She took another talisman and threw it at the snake. The snake avoided it, but it was not aiming for the monster, but for the oak tree behind it. When the talisman stuck itself to the bark of the oak tree, a sticky web started spurting out of the talisman and to the snakeman.

It was now caught in a sticky web like an insect. Now that it's movement completely stopped, the snakeman was now defenseless. "Care to do the honors Pyron?"

"I'm glad you asked" Pyron charged toward the snakeman to give it its final blow. "Dao Dando Rocket Kick!" With his arms and upper body numb, he used his powerful feet to finish the job. The snakeman turned into tiny white lights and disappeared completely.

"Well, that was a new" Jun said while wiping her forehead. She suddenly felt her pocket warm up, she pulled out the stone and found out that it was emtting some kind of warmth. The word on the stone now became legible, "Reliant". The stone changed from dark forest green to a lighter color and the word changed to "Independent".

"Now we can say that we truly got the stone" Jun said as she and Pyron looked at the stone's new form. A talisman suddenly floated in front of her. "It looks like someone also got another stone." She put the talisman in her pocket and continued her search for the other stones with the help from her very close friend.

Spirit of Fire looked at the expression on Hao's face. While Hao was watching from above, a shadowy figure appeared behind him.

"Hao, are you sure about what you are doing?" the voice sounded very dark and sinister, like it came from the deepest point in the earth.

"Yes I am sure" Hao smiled. "This is getting interesting; I want to give them a little surprise once they get all the seventeen stones."

"What ever you say Hao" the shadowy figure said. "Was it necessary to fake the retrieval of another stone?"

"Yes, because the surprise will start once they gather in the Soul Mata Cemetery."

"I see…"

"I should give you credit for being able to steal a talisman from one of my brother's friends without being detected."

"It was my pleasure."

Hao scanned the city, his brother's friends and some unidentified shamans continued fighting the monsters he unleashed. " Let's just wait a little longer for them to collect the stones; besides, midnight is still hours away, so sit back and enjoy the show."

The shadowy creature was wearing a cloak, the only noticeable feature about it was it's crimson colored eyes which was almost covered by its dark hood.

HHHHH

Who is this "shadowy figure" that Hao's talking to? We'll just have to find out in the later chapters.

It's short again because I had to rush it, sorry…but I hope you guys still enjoy it. So who's next on our list?