They saw the smoke first, then heard the screams. Their tranquil walk turned into a hurried sprint,
then into a desperate run.
The village was being attacked, houses burned, they could hear wails in the distance, sulfur was burning their throats. The temple was already blazing.
As they passed through the cemetery, just before the village gates. They encountered two fiends. Demons, with silky ink-black skin, long razor-like claws, carrying katana. It looked like they had been desecrating the cemetery.
Rage filled Ryu. fast as lighting, he ran ahead; unsheathing his Dragon Sword.
In a singular motion, he leaped into the air and dashed to the other side of where the fiends were standing. Flicking blood off his sword, he sheathed it as the fiend's heads toppled from their shoulders.
They stood paralyzed for a moment, then they crumpled to the ground. Inky black blood squirting from bloody stumps.
Around where the fiend blood had splashed, the grass was turning brown and surrounding plants and flowers were beginning to wilt.
"I've never seen fiend blood do that before," Momiji said, catching up to Ryu.
"We need to hurry." He said. "You circle around the village, save anyone you can. See if you can find Omitsu. Meet me at the temple once you've gotten everyone out safely."
"Yes, Master," Momiji said as she headed towards the surrounding village.
Ryu looked darkly at the dying plants, the head-stones were starting to corrode. He then began to run towards the village gates.
Reaching the gates, Ryu could sense fiends beyond. He could also sense some sort of power coming from the direction of the temple. It was faint, but it seemed like something he had felt once before, and that put him on edge.
He drew his sword and pushed through.
He stepped out on to a wide-open bridge that would lead up to the temple. He didn't immediately see any fiends. But he could still sense their presence.
He dashed across the bridge, still not encountering any demons. More strangely not encountering any villagers either. This section of the village appeared to be untouched.
He ran past the gates and up the set of stairs, reaching a small building that was ablaze. He darted past, through a walkway on the side that leads out into a courtyard. He could sense more and more fiends. He could sense them all around him.
The courtyard was blazing and in the middle was a small group of fiends; no more than half a dozen.
He narrowed his eyes. "There should be more than this pathetic group of demons." he thought to himself.
Concentrating his ki. He summoned a fireball, launching it at the group of fiends.
The fireball hit one demon, incinerating it on the spot. Blasting the others away.
They started making hideous wailing sounds as they rushed towards him.
He quickly dismembered the remaining fiends and then headed towards a door located on the opposite side of the courtyard.
Through the door, he headed up the long, steep, set of stone stairs.
The watchtowers were on fire. Some had been toppled over. Corrosion marks could be found on the support beams, the surrounding plant life dead. But oddly still, He couldn't find any bodies lying around. Or any sign that there way any type of a fight.
It was as if everyone had disappeared.
"Master, Ryu," Momiji said in a hushed voice, dropping down next to him.
"Did you find anyone?"
"No." She said slightly choked. "Except for a few fiends ravaging everything they could find; I could find no villagers left alive."
"Did you find Omitsu?"
"No."
"Good, then she probably got as many people out as she could. They know in the case of an incident like this the Mugen Tenshin clan will offer refuge." He said as he started back up the stairs.
"But Ryu, I didn't see any sign of the clan's ninja either," Momiji said following behind. "No bodies, nothing; And the fiends that I did find were extremely weak. How could this have happened?"
He gave no answer and they continued up the mountain.
Dusk was just beginning when they reached the top.
As the two ninjas reached the gate just before the temple entrance, Ryu stopped.
There was a dark and not completely unfamiliar presence coming from the courtyard. He could sense the same power he had felt earlier. an ancient power was radiating from the other side. And he felt like he had sensed the power once before. And he was starting to remember where.
Several months ago, when he had defeated the Archfiend Vazdah, he had traveled down into the underworld. This power reminded him of that place.
This power, he had felt it emitting from the deepest part of that place. He had originally taken it for the place itself. But now... now he felt the same power coming from inside the gate.
"Ryu?" Momiji asked.
"Let's go." He said, pushing the gates open.
Walking into the courtyard, he didn't immediately see anyone. Then he spotted a figure dressed in a simple black cloak. They were standing in front of the burning temple. There was no one else in the courtyard.
"Good evening," The hooded figure said, still watching the temple burn.
"Who are you and what do you want?" He said as the two approached the figure.
Upon closer inspection, he realized the figures cloak was made of what could only be described as darkness. Pure glittering black, there was something misty swirling around in the fabric.
No matter how hard he looked at it, it didn't seem real. Like there was nothing there, but at the same time, it was there all the same.
The figure gave a light humorless laugh and turned around to face the ninja.
It was a pretty young girl, she didn't look older than 16. With sharp facial features, her irises were black. Inky black hair fell around her shoulders. And she was holding a long jagged dagger with a thin glowing purple line running along the edge.
"Subdue them." The girl said.
The two ninjas readied their weapons.
Fiends melted out from the darkness on either side of the girl and attacked.
They started melting out from everywhere. at first, there were a few, then there were a dozen, then there was a couple of dozen, they kept appearing until they were completely surrounded.
The more the ninja cut down, the more fiends appeared,
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryu saw a fiend holding the same jagged dagger that the girl had been holding. The demon was headed straight for Momiji, Her back was turned fending off a horde of fiends.
In an instant, he teleported next to Momiji. Standing back to back with her.
As the fiend thrust the blade forward, he used his own sword to deflect the blow-off to one side.
The blade cut a long thin line across his bicep. He then sliced downward severing the fiend's arm from its body. He sliced again upward cutting through it's underarm to its neck.
Immediately he sank to one knee. He felt light-headed and everything was spinning.
"Ryu!" He heard Momiji shouting, but it was foggy. Like she was talking on the other side of a window.
They were surrounded by fiends.
He could see Momiji was still fighting off fiends. Using ninpo arts to incinerate them, trying to keep the ever-growing mob of demons back.
She was standing next to him, Dragon Naginata in hand, keeping the waves of demons back.
Reaching down, she placed one hand along the cut left by the jagged dagger.
Murmuring something, a jolt went through Ryu's body and his head began to clear and he started to think straight again.
He got to his feet, gathering his ki. He summoned flaming phoenixes to encase a protective circle around him and Momiji.
"We need to get out of here." He shouted in her ear.
"But Ryu, the village..." Momiji shouted back. Her face was covered in soot and sweat from the fight.
Not waiting for her to finish the sentence, he grabbed her arm and they vanished in a swirl of wind.
They appeared standing in the middle of the wide-open bridge that connected the village to the temple.
Ryu stumbled slightly but caught himself before Momiji could notice.
"This isn't where I intended to teleport us to." He thought. He had meant to take them well outside the village.
"Ryu, are you alright..."
"We need to hurry," He said, not letting her finish once again.
He began to run towards the gates and out of the village. Momiji running along behind him.
The sun had set and the moon was out, illuminating the forest. They kept running well into the night.
He had intended to take them to the Mugen Tenshin clan, but his mind started clouding again. Everything becoming foggy. His senses dulled. He was slowing down. Momiji appeared under his arm helping support his weight.
They kept running until he blacked out.