Chapter III: The Silent Forest
Sun Shang Xiang had made it off the boat all in one piece, but had stepped into another realm of horror. She could hear the wails of the undead, the rattles of bones and gnashing of sharp fangs. This forest may be silent, but the creatures who inhabit it are sure not.
Shang studied her surroundings to see not only the forest, but the evil castle in which Dracula was currently residing in as well, beyond the distant trees. He was probably watching her every movement. This must be another one of his tests… that bastard. The ghostly ship began to drift away mysteriously, just like the old man's ferry. It was like everything that was left behind was engulfed in an even greater darkness. Suddenly, Shang forgot all about the ship and was now focused on the forest imbued with an evil aura. The villains always seem to be prepared.
The pier held well as Shang walked across it to the other side. Endless waves of water slammed at the pier's wall and the trees swayed in the wind creating that airy sound across her ears. An upheaval of the landscape was now in her eyesight, along with some kind of stone concrete embedded into the dirt, making it look climbable as well. God, this IS a test. Nothing could be this freaking simple… could it?
One by one, Shang grabbed each concrete piece with one hand and then alternated with the other until she made it to the top of the cliff. In her mind, all she could think about was getting to that castle. At the top, her hand brushed against the wet soil and something else. After pulling herself up, she wiped off mud from what looked like a piece of paper. Strange markings were scribbled onto it, somewhat like a child's drawing. This resident… is it a child? If this resident was a child, then Shang definitely had a good reason for being here in this time period. This "kid" might be the next sacrifice for Dracula. I better hurry!
A large emblem on an even bigger door could be seen a little far down the path of the wet Earth. Thunder could also be heard overhead as the skies began its transformation into a storm.
Her leather boots splashed with mud as she ran alongside the path. Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the tall tree next to her; it caught fire and began to fall. She tilted her head upward, gazing at the plummeting log of fire and gasped. Hastily, Shang dove forward head first into a heaping pile of mud as the tree struck the Earth with immense force, behind her. Regardless of how close that was, death was around every corner.
Raindrops splashed at her face, washing the mud away as she rose from the ground. "It's raining?" she thought as she held her hand out to catch a droplet.
The curious warrior stared amongst the door with the crest on it. "How would I get this open?" she said while pushing the door, since there were no handles. "Oh wait… What does this say?"
Beneath the crest were three markings. "What could this mean?" she whispered, "Maybe these are the claw markings of a wolf or some monster… The door was attacked… That's it!"
Shang unsheathed her chakrams and backed away from the door. Then she threw her left ring like a boomerang at the crest as it ricocheted, back into her hand and then she threw her right, as it did the same. Below the crest, two markings glistened a dim red. Even as simple as it looked, Shang threw her left chakram one final time. On impact the markings below malfunctioned. All three markings had gone back to their original clear color; the system had reset itself. Hmm… I guess this is harder than I thought…
"On the third marking, you need to strike the crest with both weapons simultaneously," came a familiar voice.
Shang came to a complete halt as she felt a cold hand rest upon her shoulder. Within her mind, she didn't want to turn around; afraid of what she might see.