I don't own Ronin Warriors. All OCs are mine.

Chapter 22

With the cover of the darkness around them, the three warriors crept through the city as they made their way to the outskirts of the castle. The closer they got, the more they saw the entrance that Rowen was talking about. Sage glanced back at Kento and Rowen, directing them to one of the buildings. They hurried inside and climbed a few stairs until they got to a height to inspect both the entrance and the area surrounding it.

A large, black column hovered in the center of the buildings surrounding it. The column levitated just inches from the ground and it spun slowly. It reminded the warriors of a tornado, but the structure didn't move from its current location nor was it windy. Sage surveyed the area around the column, taking note of soldiers patrolling the surroundings but never leaving sight of the column.

"Guards," he mumbled.

Rowen nodded. "I see at least ten, but there may be more hiding in some of the buildings." He trained his eyes upwards, trying to see if there were any in said buildings.

"Sephiran is better at keeping security than Talpa."

"He was more of an ambush type," agreed Kento. He turned to look at Sage. "Now what? Do we go back and tell the others?"

"No. We have to see how they get in. That thing is not touching the ground so how do they get in and out?"

Just as Sage voiced his concern, a group of soldiers marched into the area and towards the column. One by one, they each stood underneath the opening of it and were sucked up into it to be carried towards the castle.

"Now we know how it works," commented Kento, backing away from the windows, "Let's head back."

Sage turned away from the scene to glare at Kento. "We're not leaving after one occurrence. We need to keep surveying the area and looking for weak spots in their defenses."

"But if we could sneak in somehow without getting caught, then we would be in the clear."

"We don't know how their defenses are once we get into the castle. We could get captured right when we get in. We have to see how they are out here and then check in with the others with what they've learned from Mika."

Kento crossed his arms over his chest, bringing his gaze down to the ground. "What do you guys think about her?" When no one spoke, he raised his head back up to look at them. "I mean, can we really trust her again after what happened? One time is bad enough but twice?"

"She's punishing herself already," added Rowen. "She's apologized to us so many times. Plus, haven't you seen the crushing look she has on her face when she does."

Sage released a sigh, nodding to what Rowen said. "I think she really didn't have any idea what was going on." Kento opened his mouth to reply but Sage cut him off. "I mean, put yourself in her shoes. She is brought back from the dead by a person she doesn't know and is told the people she aligned herself with are in danger."

"Wouldn't she at least have questioned them about their ways? Or how they went about to try and split the group apart?"

This brought Sage and Rowen to think about Kento's question. Rowen glanced out the window and noticed that someone had come out of the column and his eyes widen. "Is that…"

Sage and Kento walked back over to the window and looked at what Rowen was looking at.

Asami dropped onto the street, her eyes scanning the area around her. The soldiers stopped to stare at her for a moment before going back to surveillance. She slowly started to walk away from the column, keeping her eyes set on the path ahead. She didn't make eye contact with any of the soldiers nor did she look back. If she showed any suspicion to the soldiers, they might start following her. Asami was just about a few ways from escaping into the buildings when she heard footsteps coming up behind her. A hand clamped down on her shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

Asami quickly turned, hand raised towards the person behind her and her palm lit up with a bright light. She launched it at the person behind her and a scream of pain was heard. She felt the hand lift of her shoulder and she started running. She could still hear the person screaming and quickly looked behind her to see Naga with his hands over his eyes, his face raised to the sky. Asami saw the soldiers gathering around him and turned her attention back in front of her.

"Get her you imbeciles!"

Asami heard the soldiers running after her and she picked up her pace, running as fast as she could to get away from the hoard following her. Then, a group of soldiers blocked her path which made her stop in her tracks. She surveyed the area around her and then heard a chuckle. Turning around, she saw Naga stepping through the crowd of soldiers, still rubbing his eyes from the earlier attack. "Very clever. If we weren't alerted of your disappearance, we would never have realized you escaped."

"I had to get away," Asami answered. "You think I would have continued to stay at a place I didn't believe in?"

Naga sneered at her. "You don't get to make the decisions, lady. You will come back and do whatever Lord Sephiran demands of you."

Asami stood her ground. "I would rather die than go back to that place of suffering."

"Have it your way." Naga took out his katanas, his sneer turning into an evil grin. "I am going to enjoy this."

An arrow pierced the ground between Naga and Asami. Naga glanced up to see Sage, Kento, and Rowen standing on a patio of a building beside them. Kalana growled menacingly at the group and Rowen had another arrow locked on them. "Move and I fire," warned Rowen.

Naga laughed at him. "I'm not afraid of you, boy. Besides, you're not of my concern now. This woman," he pointed at Asami, "disobeyed my Master and she needs to come back and face her punishment."

"She's coming with us," Sage declared, brandishing his nodaci.

"Come and get her then. I'm not afraid to get a little blood on my hands. Actually, let's play a little game. Whoever gets to the woman first wins." Naga crouched. "Go!"

Right as Naga took off towards Asami, Rowen released his arrow as Sage and Kento jumped down to fight the army.

"Now this is more like it," Kento commented, taking out his naginata. He blocked Naga from going any further as Sage stood in front of Asami.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

"Yes," Asami answered, nodding her head. "Thank you."
"Don't thank us yet," said Rowen, landing behind her. He knocked another arrow into his bow and aimed it at the soldiers. "We still have to get out of here." He pulled the arrow back. "Arrow Shock Wave!" He released the arrow and the energy around it transformed into a comet. It destroyed a large portion of the soldiers, making Naga glare at the Ronin. He turned to the remaining soldiers. "What are you standing around for?! Get them!"

The army responded by charging towards the Ronins with Kento and Sage fighting them off and Rowen standing next to Asami, defending her for anyone that got near. Naga tried to sneak around to capture Asami, but Sage stood in his way.

"Get out of my way!" Naga charged at Sage, but Sage blocked his attack.

"You're not getting past us," Sage declared, pushing Naga back. He flashed his nodaci at Naga, almost daring the general to try again. Naga grit his teeth, thinking of a way to get past him.

"Iron Rock Crusher!" Naga watched as Kento launched his sure-kill at the soldiers, and then fought off the small clump of soldiers left.

"It's over Naga. Give up."

Suddenly, a horn was blown, and a smile slowly spread across Naga's face. Rowen looked across the way to see a lone soldier blowing into his horn. He shot another arrow at him, killing it before the soldier could sound another alarm.

"You're too late. I'll have reinforcements here soon enough and you'll all be prisoners."

Sage turned around to face Rowen. "Get her to safety."

Rowen nodded and started leading Asami to safety. Naga watched them go, snarling as he swung his katanas around. "You're not going anywhere. Poison Storm!" He sent the sure-kill towards Rowen and Asami, the latter of whom saw the attack coming. "Look out!" She pushed Rowen out of the way which put her in the direct line of the attack. She screamed as the attack struck her and poison seeped through her wounds. She landed a few feet away from Rowen as the warriors gazed at her in horror. Her body twitched and Asami struggled to get up, ultimately deciding to stay down.

Naga's laughter rang through the air, swinging his swords to prepare for another attack. Before he could launch it, Sage raised his nodaci and it started to glow, filling the area with bright light. Naga shut his eyes, thinking it was another attempt to blind him, when he heard, "Thunder Bolt Cut!" He opened his eyes to see a powerful beam of light heading straight towards him. He didn't have enough time to move out of the way as he took the full force of the attack. He was flown back a few feet as his screams rang out over the roar of Sage's attack.

When he was gone, the three warriors hurried over to Asami to check on her. Sage laid a hand on her, a light green glow surrounding her body. Asami felt the pain slowly leave her body, but when the glow disappeared, she could still feel pain as she moved to get up. She felt unsteady on her feet and Sage steadied her, noticing her slight sway.

"We'll take you to Iris. She'll see what she can do to help you."

Asami nodded as Kalana came up next to her, letting the woman get on her back so she didn't have to walk.

Kento suddenly heard marching in the distance and turned around, his eyes widening. "Guys, we got company." Sage and Rowen turned around to see an army marching forward with Fuzen in the lead.

"Let's go." Sage took off with the others following behind him.

Fuzen saw them running and started to run after but stopped when he realized it would be a futile effort. He cursed under his breath and turned around back to his army, where two soldiers were helping Naga up.

"Get off me!" He snapped, shrugging away their help and then looked at Fuzen. He pointed at Fuzen, his hand shaking from the anger within his body. "That boy…and that woman will pay dearly."

"You'll get your chance, but I'm sure Master Sephiran will want to punish his wife instead of you."

Naga muttered under his breath making Fuzen roll his eyes. "Are you that upset about not punishing the woman?"

"No, I'm worried."

Fuzen raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because he's not going to be happy that we let the woman get away." Naga walked back to the castle with Fuzen and the rest of the army following suit.