Dragon Pearl
DRAGON PEARL
Chapter One
The Legend
Blazing its eternal might across the land, the sun drifted slowly over Ginger Village, still in the air and out of reach and aiding the farmer's in their crop-making quests, but it's presence was unattended by the usual, tunic-wearing farmers and peasants. Beggars, tree-lodgers, bards, musicians, merchants, traders, and monks had all caroled in the ceremony house of the Grand Palace at the sound of the bell-ringer, Shi Tian Han, a bald man with a vibrant build, a yellowish skin tone and the strange holder of a mysterious "third" eye on his forehead, smashing the silver-dressed bell with a lead gong.
On the first ring came the nobles and honor men, families who aligned their wealth and superiority with that of the Ren family. On the second ring, complimenting the arrival of the nobles, came the scholars and monks who tended to the palace, it's outlying buildings, and the temples held within daily, given honors for allowing the Ren family a public gathering in the monastery. On the third ring, the farmers, the very suppliers of society, and the well-versed merchants, the deliverymen of trade and facts from various other lands, gathered in the lower, backward crowd. Upon the fourth ring, the beggars and commoners were let in, loyal servants and underlings to Lord Ran-Long-Tiao who held no special significance or duty to the king but were treated as rightful guests regardless. And on the last, final fifth ring, the dishonorable merchants and traders were let in from the shutters, locked behind metal gates just outside the fourth circle. Those whom had shamed the Kingdom, the royal family, the monks, or misused resources were seen as even lower than beggars and kept from the true knowledge of the event.
What few guards the monks allowed inside of their holy sanctuary were unarmed, the strongest of all being Captain Mao, the Snare. He was the closest to Lord Tiao, behind the line of orange-cloaked monks. He didn't care for the Shaolin way, Tiao's safety was his only concern. Everything about this "important event", the passing over of some fancy diamond or whatever, it was obviously insecure and dangerous. The walls were made of light, packed sand and stone and the doorways rose up high enough for a fiery missile or a grenade to be thrown in the midst of the crowd. The monks were strong, yet despite their incredible training and skill in the art of Kung Fu they were peaceful and refused to defend themselves in any other method than escape and evasion. To add, they only had 3 men capable in hand-to-hand combat, and that was considering the average thief or assassin had dared to make his move. The rock was sought after by many great leaders and greedy mercenaries. They didn't have enough men to even cover the courtyard...
His eyes slanted toward the man approaching the line of monks, Lord Ran Tiao, dressed in a one-sized, formal upper garment that rolled down to his legs. He wore a red belt with the stylized family symbol of Ran emblazoned on it, vanishing into the crimson fabric as he bowed to the Head Monk, Monk Bei Fu Rui, who courteously lifted and revealed the mystical orb to their audience, all staring at it's majesty. He spoke of the legend, and of the years that the pearl had brought to their village.
"This Dragon Pearl is a treasure in our village. It had been with us 100 years now. It has watched over us, from each generation, and has offered us wisdom and prosperity. And now, I am going to hand it over to our Village Chief, Lord Tiao!" Bei spoke with power unseen in his age group, bowing to the newly-appointed protector of the mythical Dragon Pearl and wealthiest, and strongest, Lord in the village. Tiao nodded, generously cupping his hands and crouching as the Pearl's smooth, clear surface graced his hands kindly.
Applause thundered around him, but it was not the only thunder...
A metallic lightning ran across the sky, five black triangles swopped inward towards the Village center, with each run, a cloud of dirt raised over buildings and people, the shattering of wood, earth, and gravel upraised the audience, the dishonored merchants fortunate enough to, ironically, exit first. The palace became hectic, Village Chief Tiao immediately turned to his wife, Su Ai Xian Tiao, and met her shocked gaze, "Take the children, flee this place."
CARAK-FSRSPROOWSH!!!! ARARRR-BBBBBOOOOOOM!!!
The palace shook as if it were startled by a demonic choir, the walls violently shivered and lost much of the dried staple that held them in one piece, breaking apart and collapsing on unfortunate villagers and people. The monks searched for the source of it but nothing came except for the sound of gunfire, explosions, and massive flames. Tiao, realizing his greatest fear had arrived on the hospitable monk's doorstep, threw his arm across the air to the crowd, "GO! FIND SHELTER, QUICKLY, GO!!!" he cried.
The crowd obeyed. They scattered in every direction, only to be gunned down by unknown forces.
"TIAO!" Su cried, reaching for him to no avail as the next blast pushed her off her feet and her daughter, Jade, as well.
"PROTECT YOURSELF-"
"What about you!?"
"I AM THE VILLAGE CHIEF, I MUST!" he replied hastily, dodging more falling debris as Su grabbed her daughter's arm and snatched her away from the staircase, "I WILL PROTECT THE DRAGON PEARL! NOW GO!!!"
Dust coated the temple floor in a gray fog, and Su and Jade dissappeared into the main hall, retreating with their personal guards. Tiao stared at them, before running in the opposite direction, up the cracked staircase with Monks Gage and Deonte close behind. Their escape route had most surely been overrun if the attackers had already breached the outer walls, the monk's plan of action was to sit and remain, untouched, praying to the heavens for protection or some method of retreat. They entered a large hallway, empty save for a scarce number of stained glass windows, the floor was jet black and had a slick, shiny gloss to it. Before them, ten of the previous monks sat in the center, hands joined and eyes closed, silently muttering chants respondent of their own life-given oaths. Respecting them, and a fair practitioner of the Shaolin martial arts himself, he joined their gathering, welcomed the same as he was into their home.
ooo
Silver-garmented soldiers armed with bold, thick-played assault weapons charged inside the palace, the only thing remaining was the debris and the fallen shapes of the men and women killed in the bombings, let alone the massacre outside. They bolted through the many halls, having already torn apart the courtyard, shooting pictures and portraits for fun, breaking down doors in search of monks and, few times, sparing them as prisoners for interrogation. Finally they entered the chamber where the Chief and the Monks resided, still sitting cross-legged in meditative positions as the soldiers surrounded them, the barrels of their laser-firing artillery rudely shoved in their faces and backs.
From afar, the leftmost wall exploded in a light, purple beam, a pink silhouette emerged from the other side and cooled to a charcoal black figure as he approached them, the claws of his fingers clicked menacingly at his sides as he clapped, amused at the Monks and their arrogant prayers, as if they would do them any good. No sign from the gods unwanted, the silhouette mockingly awaited a lightning bolt or an explosion to befall him as his appearance "phased", a man with dark blue, toad-like skin, brown warts darting his face and his mouth stretched to a disgusting proportion. The sides of his head protruded, long, thick horns, perhaps a part of his ensemble but supported nonetheless by the two wings attached to his temples. Behind him, a woman with dissembler features and cosmetic makeup and a bulky, shades-wearing man with a bazooka ran to his side, weapons lowered as King Horn ordered them to with a gesture.
"I see that you have a Dragon Pearl." he jested, leaping from his position and suddenly, almost instantly, snatching one of the sitting monks by the neck. He tossed him in the air, feet away from the ceiling, and without warning, sent him downward, magic fire immolating him. Then he vanished, reappearing before his soldiers who, although under their helmets wished to back away, stood their ground.
"King Horn." addressed Tiao, stunned by the man's speed, still drawing his own blade, "This pearl is ours. I WON'T let you have it!"
The fish creature backed away, swaying his arm towards the exit as the monks chattered amongst themselves, majorily agreeing upon the words "Protect the chief!" and ganging up around him, and the exposed Dragon Pearl, in a defensive circle. Tiao was almost stunned to see the monks rise up from their prayer to defend him, but whether they would actually apply their training to fighting off the invaders was undeterminable. He tried to maintain his balance as the monks moved quickly, feet stepping unically within each other's, bunched up they were they still managed to move like a systematic machine. Surprisingly, the fishfaced king did not stop them, in fact, he had encouraged them to retreat from the hole from which he had entered.
Their twelve-man party traversed the ruined temple, hasting as soldiers clearly lined up against the broken down walls. Tiao gulped, the grip on his broadsword was pale in comparison to the grip on the Dragon Pearl, the cobalt blue grooves that represented the two, individual stars carved into the pearl's mostly smooth substance. If it weren't indestructible, he would have surely crushed it with the amount of pressure he had instinctively applied for the past few minutes. The lord felt one of the monk's stop, as did they all, and an abrupt thumping sound as one dropped, shot in the chest, orange cloak now bright red.
"Huh?" the monks bellowed. Pink wind bulleted past them, the fishfaced King reappeared in front of them.
He shot forth a hand, fierce blue sharks of electricity ribboned and chained through the wall of monks and killed them all, their bodies fell like dominoes groaning with pain and smoking with horrified, bloodshot eyes. Tiao collapsed, on his rear and trying to crawl away, only to feel the muzzle of a soldier's weapon on his back. He screamed then, the force of ten swords impaled his back as he fell backwards, wallowing and uncontrollable, down the staircase, the swords stabbing through him with each bump. When he reached the bottom, his hand let out a painful snap, still clutching the Dragon Pearl. Tiao's eyes teared, the last think he witnessed was the fishfaced King plucking the magical gemstone from his trembling, bloodied fingers.
"All together..." Horn announced proudly, pulling from seemingly nowhere a second, simillar pearl and holding it up to the light with the new pearl. He spoke with this twisted, curved voice that pulled his words out in long or brief transitions, "...there were originally SEVEN Dragon Pearls. And now I, the viscous KING HORN, now possess TWO of them. Now when I finally gather all the Dragon Pearls, a light...will explode in the middle of HEAVEN. THEN, and only then, shall the magic dragon appear from thy hole in heaven. Aha, that day with which I awaited so long, at last, come to dine in my hall."
With that closing monologue, he departed, signaling all the King's soldiers from the village. Nothing would ever put the palace back together, nothing would ever see the palace STAND against the Horn army ever AGAIN. The fighter plane bombers kilos above would make sure of that...