A/N: The third entry in the Derek-solo trilogy. Also...Dial of Destiny is out today.
Derek Lowell: Husband on a mission to save his wife.
Niko Lowell: Cousin on a mission to redeem himself.
Sensei: The leader of a group of bounty hunters called the Warriors.
Extended Summary
After finding out that his wife is suffering from a terminal, incurable disease, Derek pulls out all the stops to look for a mythical object that can heal Cassie. He may have struck gold, literally, when he hears that the legendary Golden Fleece from Greek mythology, which possess rejuvenating powers, is real and is somewhere in Asia. He is on a race against time and the bounty hunters hunting him down are the least of his problems when he discovers the existence of a living dragon.
I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.
Alexander the Great
Chapter 1: The Hospital
March 2040
Maui, Hawaii
Cassandra Drake, husband to Derek Lowell and father of Evan Drake, was hacking and coughing up blood. Blood was spilled all over her hospital pillow. She never felt so sick before. The sight of her being sick made her best friend, Derek Lowell, sick, but not literally.
Derek tried to visit Cassie in her hospital bed, but the doctors said that he was prohibited from going into Cassie's room unless he wanted to catch an infection. Every day since he came to the hospital, he was trying to get to visit his wife but the doctors continued to deny him access.
Derek tried to convince them that if she had been contagious, then he and Evan would've been infected a long time ago and her coughing had been happening for the last few months and he and Evan did not share any symptoms. It wasn't until the doctors gave the all-clear that he could go in and visit his wife.
Derek ran inside and the sight of seeing Cassie hooked up to an IV with bloody tissues on the bedside table made his heart drop to his stomach.
"Hey there, Cassie," he smiles at her.
Cassie managed to control her coughing for a short time and smiled at him. "Hey D-Man, you're looking healthy today," she said in a raspy voice.
"Yeah, that's because I have a healthy immune system. The doctor says you've been doing well in fighting this disease. Your parents wanted me to tell you they love you and wish you to get better."
"Thank you, Derek." Cassie coughs.
"What's family for?" Derek shrugs. "Cassie, I promise you, one way, or another, I am going to find some cure for all diseases. I am going to cure you. I will sail to the end of the world to get you a cure," Derek promises, his voice determined. "I will go as far as to find a mythical object to heal you,"
"Derek, you really think you can find a mythical object that can heal?"
Derek smiles. "I just found the Peaches of Immortality, the Confederate gold, and the Staff of Moses and you're doubting me?"
"Derek, you don't have to go all out. If we let nature take its course then I'll be fine."
"But you've been sick for months."
"Her life expectancy has gone down," the doctor came into the room absentmindedly. "I'm afraid that the chances of her recovery are not in her favor."
Derek glared at the doctor. "What?"
"Whatever this infection is, none of us have seen it before. It's been invading her body for a few months, building over time. It's a kind of virus or bacteria that builds up so when it reaches its peak, the patient has little to no chance of recovery." He looks at his clipboard. "Which is odd because we found traces of chimpanzee DNA in it. Our theory is that this disease originated from some monkey or chimp; something closely related to humans."
"Then why haven't I been infected?" Derek asks.
"I would say that you and your child are immune but that doesn't make sense for everyone to be resistant and one person being an exception. My theory is that this disease has to be transmitted from the source in order to infect someone."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, let's say this is a super-fungus infection. If someone were to touch this certain type of fungus, they would be infected with the disease that the fungus carries and experience the worst of the effects as it slowly builds up over time. Now, even though the infected person is coughing in other people's faces and in their vicinity, the disease won't infect them because they didn't contract it from the original source, in this case, the super fungus."
Derek narrows his eyes. "So, you're saying because Cassie came into contact with the original source of the disease, she became infected but..."
"Yep. When you think about it, this is a relatively easy disease to fend off. All we have to do is find the source and kill it."
"Oh my god," Cassie gasps. Lemuria. I remember that when one of the natives died in front of me, blood got in my eyes. Was THAT the source of the infection? It makes sense because I started coughing AFTER I came back from Lemuria.
What have I done? Derek internally cried. The curse of the Confederate gold, I couldn't break it. I cursed Cassie. He clenches his fists. Damn it!
"Cassie," Derek turned to her, "I am so, so sorry. This is my fault, I should've-"
"Don't blame yourself, Derek, this is my fault." She looks down. "I got careless."
"No, I got careless and..." He closes his eyes and winces. "Damn it, I can't believe it." He grabs his hair and hisses in pain. "I promise, Cassie, I will make this up to you. I swear, I swear to god, I will heal you up."
"Derek," Cassie reached out. "Don't kill yourself for me; Evan needs a living parent."
"He needs a father and a mother. I promise, Cassie, I will travel to the ends of the world to make this better."
Cassie coughs once more. "Derek, just be there for Evan. If I die-"
"NO!" Derek yelled. "You are not going to die. I promise; I'll save your life." He looks to the doctor. "How many weeks do you think she has?"
The doctor looked down at the chair. "I give her roughly ten days."
"No," Derek gasps and the dam of tears breaks. "No."
"Derek..." Cassie whispers softly.
"I'm not bringing Evan here until I know for certain you're going to be safe." He turns to the exit. "Cassie, I'm not going to say I love you... until you are all healed up."
"Derek, wait."
And Derek exited the room before leaving the hospital.
Derek had been sitting in his car for the last few hours in a crying state. After pulling up to his home, he stayed in his car and let out all the emotions burst out of him. He sat there in the driver's seat, banging on the wheel and sobbing the life out of him for about twenty minutes (time flies by fast) before resting his head on the wheel. Once he was all cried out, he climbs out of the car and walked into his house. His son was hanging out with his parents for now and Derek had the house to himself.
All alone and surrounded by no one and no interference, Derek pulled out his computer and began checking his email notifications. He had seen Simon and Angie a text message earlier about helping him find rejuvenating objects from various and when they said they found something promising, they said they would send him an email.. He had been waiting anxiously for that email.
Derek couldn't stand this waiting game anymore; he needed something to distract him and beer seemed to do the trick. He only drank a little bit because he wanted to be sober for when the email finally came through but what was supposed to be one sip turned into two and then eventually ten. Pretty soon, Derek was pacing around the living room, an empty beer bottle in his hand and ready to chuck it at the wall if he didn't get a response in time.
He thought he heard the sounds of his notification on his computer before his drunken mind realized it was someone knocking on the door.
Who is knocking on the door at this hour?
He throws the beer bottle at the wall and breaks it. He paces over to the front door and without looking through the peephole, opens the door to find Niko.
"What do you want?!" he snaps at his cousin.
Derek reels back. "Wait, have you been drinking?"
"What does it matter?" He covers his mouth. He said something else but it was mumbled behind his hand. He put his hand down. "Come on in."
Niko nearly gagged but he walked in while avoiding eye contact with Derek and staying a good ten feet away from him. "I finally deciphered that Lemurian text." He looks at the ground. "It took me a while to get my rusty Sumerian back in shape but I finally figured out with that text said."
"What?" Derek sighs.
"Infection." Niko looks down at the ground. "Apparently, that part of Lemuria that hadn't sunk was a quarantine camp for the Lemurians." He clenches his fists. "A disease that originated from the Lemurians became infecting and killed them off one by one. The Lemurians infected with this disease were sent to the island for quarantine and the plan was for them to stay there before they could come up with a cure. But as you saw, the Lemurians were very much still alive, which leads me to come up with a theory: they evolved to become asymptomatic carriers through millions of years of evolution."
"It was the curse," Derek said without emotion. "The Confederate gold curse. Had I never come across that cursed coin, Cassie never would've gotten infected." He sighs and sits down on the couch. "I would cry but I'm too tired to cry." He picks himself up suddenly. "I am a murderer." He grabs Niko's shoulders. "I have murdered my wife. History repeats itself because my father-in-law lost his mother from a young age and Evan is going to lose his mother before he even turns one." He lets go of Niko's shoulders and steps back. "I have to find something to heal Cassie." He ran a hand through his hair in a sloppy manner. "Where can I find something to heal my wife up?"
"It's my fault," Niko claims. "Had I deciphered that tablet sooner rather than later, then maybe, we could've caught it before it built up inside of her.
Derek looked up at the ceiling. "I deserve to go to Hell' I don't deserve to go to Heaven after what I've done." With what his drunken mind can member, he told Niko what the doctors said about Cassie's condition. "Because it is a new disease, there is no immunity nor any existing vaccines. This disease builds up in the body for months before finally attacking its hose." He looked at his hand. "I'm so grateful Evan is not infected but I'd trade placed with Cassie in a heartbeat."
"Me too.." Niko closes his eyes. "I should've deciphered the text sooner."
"I never should've gone on that Confederate gold adventure."
PING!
Derek's computer finally rings through and a notification sound chimes. Nikko went over to the computer and opened up the latest message.
Angie and Simon Vincent found something that may prove that the Golden Fleece exists. When Niko relayed this information to Derek, Derek suddenly sobered up.
"The Golden Fleece..." he slurred. He shook his head. "Greek mythology, huh? Greek mythology isn't real."
Niko narrows his eyes. "Oh, and the Staff of Moses is? Or the Peaches of Immortality and the Philosopher's Stone. And didn't Uncle Nate discover the four labyrinths built by Daedalus and his son?"
"The Golden Fleece," Derek repeated, "legendary fleece or blanket or whatever from Greek mythology that can heal anything." Derek puts his hands on the desk to steady himself. "There's proof that it exists?"
Ever since he got back from his adventure with the Staff of Moses and took Cassie to the hospital, as soon as the thought of her contracting a fatal disease crossed his mind, he had contacted his contacts from all over the globe to look for a rejuvenating mythical object that has the ability to heal anything. He knew that he should've been looking for practical medicine but in their line of work, if objects that can turn humans to gold exist then there's a fairly good chance that something like the Golden Fleece exists.
"The Golden Fleece?" Derek slurred. "Holy hell." He looked at the email but his drunken state couldn't quite read it. "Where do we start?"
Chapter 2: Warriors Coming Out to Play
The Great Wall of China
In the dead of night, when no one cared to even look in their direction, the Sensei was about ready to pounce. Having climbed the Great Wall of China for the first time, she felt like she could soar the world like a bird, flying away to wherever she could go. But flying was for those who only knew honor. Sensei knew virtue but has not yet earned that honor. She looked down at the weapon in her hands and slowly waved it in her face.
Fortune and glory, she told herself. The thrill of being rich AND famous, it's a dream come true for me. She discards the gun. But anyone can become famous by wielding a gun. Now, those who kill with a knife, who complete over one hundred bounty missions, I'll be in high demand. People will want me to go after their enemies. I will slaughter them all if it means I get my fortune and glory.
As Sensei pulled away from the edge overlooking the Great Wall of China, she nearly stumbled into one of her fellow companions behind her.
Ronin put her hands on Sensei's back to keep her from crashing into her while simultaneously catching her and making sure she wasn't going to fall over the edge.
"Thank you," Sensei said. She tugged on her scarf wrapped gently around her delicate neck before turning back over to the edge.
Sensei was a recently-turned 31-year-old Japanese woman of average height with black hair. She dyed it red recently when she took a trip to America but she washed it out as soon as she got back to Japan and then embarked to China for a mission. She had soft skin, despite her rough knuckles and piercing brown eyes that seemed to brighten whenever a man looked in her direction. She kept her hair tied in a ponytail to reduce the risk of her bangs getting caught in her line of vision but she couldn't help but indulge in letting a few stands of hair hang over her forehead.
Ronin was a woman of identical heritage and age but distinguished herself by having a few tattoos on her neck, which consisted of kanji for various meanings of 'Warrior'.
When Sensei went back to the edge, she tucked her gun away before taking out a rag and her trusty knife. She ran the rag ever so softly over the knife and made sure not to leave any marks behind. If there was so much as a speck of dust on the knife or a mark, then she would have to discard the knife.
Ronin rolled her eyes, something she had been doing every five seconds since she was born before she spoke up. "You done playing with your little toy?"
"One thing can never be too clean." She finished cleaning her knife but when she thought she saw a stain on the stainless steel, she went to clean the blade harder. "What do you want?"
"Samurai has found our target."
Sensei halts. "Well then, let's go slit some throats while we're at it. Maybe we can call our contractors."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"Right."
As the two of them walked back to where Samurai was, holding a Japanese man with a bandage over his eye in the closet, Sensei walked up to him and quickly slit his throat. She kept her eyes on the man as he slumped over and fell dead.
She turns to Samurai. "Give me your phone."
The tall and lean half-Chinese, half-Japanese man gives Sensei his phone.
Sensei calls her employer. "Murakami, this is Sensei calling."
A deep voice came back. "My traitor, is he dead?"
"Not yet, but he will be." She took out her gun and handed it to Ronin. Understanding what she wants, she takes the gun and puts a silencer on it before giving it back. "So, I was thinking about this contract and the bounty on your fellow traitor's head. And... well... I just can't accept it."
"What are you talking about? 100 million yen is a lot of money."
"Yeah, but when converted to US dollars, it's a little over $700,000. It's not enough. I want more."
"How much?"
"150."
"150 million yen? That's preposterous! I want that traitor dead and I want him dead now. I can easily find someone else to do the job."
"But we already have him." She took out her own phone. "And by the way, I did some digging. I learned how you've been siphoning money off the accounts of rival yakuza and civilians. I'm also aware of the rule you have with the police. The deal you made with them was that as long as no innocent civilians are injured or killed, then the police will turn a blind eye to most of your works, as long as the people that die are exclusively yakuza. Well, I can easily out this data to your rivals and have them turn again you. They'll all be gunning for you because you have been stealing all of their money and the police will come after you for stealing money off of civilians. The entire police force and four yakuza are all gunning for you, you don't stand a chance." She smiles. "However, I do know a way in which we can all win."
"What's that?"
"If you pay me 150 million yen right now, I'll kill the traitor. In addition, while I was in Shanghai, I've done some digging. Ever since some crime lord was killed in Mongolia eight years ago, there's been a power vacuum. Asian gangsters of all kinds have been trying to fill that void. I did some digging and I had my hacker, Kamikaze, discover where three triads in China store their money. In order to prevent war with each other, the three triads put all their money in one safe as a means of good faith... and collateral. If I have Kamikaze give you everything you needed to hack the account, you can steal all the money you want from these triad guys. If the triads were to ever discover it, they'll assume it was one of the other triads and go to war with them, and boom, you started a war in a country you have no part in and you get a lot of money."
"And did you know that China and Japan use different currencies?"
"Simple, all you have to do is trade. Renminbi for yen, plain and simple." She holds up her phone and opens up an email she's prepared to send. "SO what is it? Are you going to give me my 150 million yen or would you rather go to war?"
After a beat, her employer finally responds. "Damn you and thank you. We have a deal."
"Good." She checks her cell phone and sees that she got a notification. 150 million yen has been transferred into her account. "Thank you." She shoots the corpse with her suppressed pistol, making sure the phone caught the sound of it. "Your target is dead."
She sends a text message to Kamikaze. After five minutes, her employer talks once more.
"I got your message from your suicidal friend."
"Thank you. Glad to do business with you." She hangs up and smiles. "Another job well done."
"Why did you do that?" Ronin asks. "100 million yen was more than enough."
"No, it wasn't, it wasn't enough, it's always not enough." She removes the suppressor after licking her fingertips before discarding it. "I have 150 million yen in my account now."
"And what about us?"
"Don't worry, the deal with you is the same. You, Samurai, and Kamikaze, all get a cut."
"And you get the most, right?"
"Yes."
"Why am I not surprised?'
Sensei narrows her eyes. "If you're not surprised, then why do you continue to work with me?"
"Why do you think?"
"Because I'm the only one who will take you to fame and fortune in the future?" She put her hands on Ronin's shoulder. "If I become rich... when I become rich and famous, I'll be sure to include you guys in my memories. I'll give you guys a legacy and a reputation so you can get good jobs.
"Of course," Ronin clicked her tongue, "it's always about getting us good jobs and reputations while you take all the money."
Sensei smiles. "So?"
"Money is going to get you killed one day. You greedy fragon."
Sensei rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She slowly turned towards Ronin. "Did you just call me... a 'fragon'?"
"No... I said... 'dragon'." She paused between each word, almost as if she needed to find the word.
Sensei laughs once more. "Yeah, I'm sure you did."
XXXX
Two Days Later
Beijing, China
"This is what I love," Sensei spoke to her teammates as she used chopsticks to pick up noodles out of a small box. "This is authentic Chinese food." She took another mouthful of noodles. "None of that Panda Express crap in America. But genuine, true, delightful, tasteful authentic Chinese food."
Sitting down at a table with her three teammates, Sensei finished about half of her noodles before she turned to watch her teammates eat their Chinese food eagerly. "Hoe's the food?"
"Good," Ronin answered.
"Good," Samurai grunted.
She turned to Kamikaze. The young man looked at her with a determined look.
"How's the food, Kami?"
"I am Kamikaze," the young man answered before stabbing a chicken and putting it in his mouth.
"Thank you for the food," Ronin spoke up. "It's so rare for you to go out of your way to buy us food."
"And don't say anything about me not being generous." She looked to her right and saw a child looking at her. She narrowed her eyes before turning back to her noodles. She tried to concentrate on eating but this boy was still looking at her.
What are you looking at, brat?
She spots someone staring at her in the corner of her eye. Of course, the culprit looks away at the very last second but Sensei immediately caught on. She stands up and walks over to the man. Standing over the man sitting at his table, she is accompanied by Kamikaze as they towered over the man. "What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a Japanese woman in China before?"
"I am Kamikaze," Kamikaze said behind her.
"Sorry," the Chinese man said in Japanese. "I've never seen such a beautiful Japanese woman before. Forgive me for staring."
Sensei looks at Kamikaze and grabs his shoulder. She whispers something in his ear. He nods before saying, "I am Kamikaze."
"Yes, you are." She pats his chest before turning back to her table.
Kamikaze subtly snaps a photo of the man before walking back to his table. After running his face through a scanning system he installed on his phone, he discovered that this man had currency out on his head. After doing a double-check, Kamikaze shows Sensei the picture.
"Nice one, Kami, thank you."
"I am Kamizake." He smiled at the end of his sentence.
Sensei grabs the knife placed on their table and carefully cleans it.
"Game?" Samurai grunts once more.
"Yeah," Sensei answers, "big game hunting, Sami."
Ronin finishes her drink. "Don't we ever great a freak?" Her eyes widened. "Break."
Chapter 3: Greeks in Japan
Two Days Ago
Maui, Hawaii
It was a video chat request. Derek, in his slightly sober state, decided to accept it. He cracks his knuckles and looks down into the camera. "Angie, can you hear me?"
Angie appeared on the screen and waved. "Derek, nice to see you again."
"You called me?"
Angie looked at Niko beside Derek. "Oh, nice to see you again, Niko."
"Likewise," the young man waves.
Angie looks back to Derek. "I'm sorry to call you like this but I figured you'd wanted to see what I have for you in person."
"Yes," Derek slurs. "Whatcha got?"
"Okay, so a couple of weeks ago, there was an expedition into Shanghai by some archaeologists overseas. Apparently, they explored this old monastery that had been built in the BCE era and one of them posted some findings on their Twitter account. One of the ancient finds was an old journal but here's the kicker: the old journal had Greek writing on it. When I realized this, I was using some translations online to try and decipher the text. I managed to get one word translated. 'Golden Fleece'."
Derek's eyes widened. "The Golden Fleece? What is a Greek journal about a Greek mythical object doing in a temple in China?"
"I don't know but I managed to upload the photos from the explorer's account on my phone." She pulls out her phone and uses the touchpad. "I just sent you the images."
Derek felt a ping on his phone. Looking through his text messages, he found three photos of an old, gray, and rotted book with barely legible Greek writing on the open pages. "I can't read," he slurred.
Niko grabbed the phone. "Why are there only three pictures uploaded?"
"Because the explorers were prohibited from taking anything from the monastery," Angie answers. "According to the explorer, he only managed to capture the first three pages of the journal and when he tried to take more, Chinese security came in and escorted him out."
"Shit," Derek curses his voice slurring once more. "Bastards. If that thing has even the slightest clue about where the Golden Fleece is, or if it exists, then we should obtain it no matter what."
"Do you have a plan?" Angie asks, her brows raising.
Derek ran a hand through his hair. "If the Golden Fleece is real, we need to find it, ASAP. We need the entire journal in order for us to make any progress."
"But the Chinese won't allow anything to be removed from the monastery without permission."
"I don't care," Derek suddenly snaps. "No goddamn way." He clutches his hair tight. "I'll steal that notebook if I have to... if it means Cassie gets to live."
Post haste, Derek begins looking up plane tickets for the next plane ride to Shanghai. He needed to get there and dast.
"Are you just buying plane tickets just like that?" Niko wondered. "Do you know how expensive plane tickets are?"
"Cassie and I make $90,000 a year; I think I'll be fine spending a little money here and there."
Niko smiles awkwardly. "I barely make $60,000 a year."
"Still a lot of money." Derek finds two plane tickets and he immediately buys them but the plane wasn't to take off for a few days or so.
"Did you get my ticket?" Niko asks, prompting Derek to look at him. "I want to go with you, my mind is made up."
Derek stares at him. "You said..."
"Had I translated that scroll earlier, or not been kidnapped during our Louisiana adventure, then none of this would've happened."
Angie, still on the computer, went wide-eyed. "You were kidnapped?!" She looks at someone offscreen. "Simon, why didn't you tell me-"
Derek turns off the call for the time being before checking his phone. "Niko, I get that you want to help me but I'm about to do some serious shit right about now."
"What do you mean?"
"The Chinese, if they catch me breaking into one of their monasteries and stealing one of their items, even if it is foreign, to begin with, they're going to make me pay."
"I'm aware of that," Niko says carefully, "and I'm still recovering from our little high-speed chase in Italy but if the worst happens, I can handle another high-speed chase in China. China, Italy, what's one more country I'll never visit, eh?"
"Right... history repeats itself in more ways than one."
"Wait," Niko suddenly yelled before lowering his volume. "Derek, I'm with you in going after this journal that mentioned something about the Golden Fleece but... what happens if it turns out to be a dead end?"
"I can't think about that," Derek shook his head, "If I do... then..."
Niko shook his head. "Okay, what let's say we get this journal back. If we... when we find the Golden Fleece and heal Cassie, then what?"
Derek shrugged. "I don't know and at this point, I don't care. Cassie's days are numbered and if this Golden Fleece can save her, I'll take it. As for what happens after we save her... I could care less." He suddenly slams his fist against the wall. "Damn it, why couldn't there be a flight to China today?"
"H-hey," Niko held his hand up, "t-take it easy. We're going to get there in no time and until then, you should focus on something else." He slaps his hands. "If we're going to China, I better catch up on my Chinese and Greek. You should too."
"Sure," Derek whispered. "Sure."
Note to self: as soon as Derek calms down, get him some black coffee to help him sober up.
Two Days Later
Shanghai, China
The plane finally touched down and the Lowell boys stepped out, stretching their limbs from the long-ass flight. Derek stretches and lumbers, letting out a yawn that passed onto Nio beside him. Once they were off the strip, Derek and Niko walked around the airport before they met up with a pair of familiar faces.
Simon and Angie Vincent stood in the middle of the airport, surrounded by civilians, with cardboard signs saying 'Lowell' in perfect English. Derek smiled and approached them. But as he got closer, his smile slowly vanished and was replaced with a frown.
Derek approaches the two Vincents and regards both of them hard, studying them carefully, almost as if he was acting on instinct.
"Derek," Simon began. "Niko, nice to see you both again."
"You too," Niko nodded.
"Angie," Derek said.
"Derek," Angie replies, "I'm sorry about Cassie."
"If we get something out of our mission here then no apologies will be needed." Derek checked his watch. "I don't mean to be an asshole and rush things but we better get a move on."
The Vincents nod before escorting the Lowells to their car in the parking lot. Once everyone was loaded in, Derek sat in the back behind the driver's seat. He looked out the window and rested his chin in his hand. "Where's Tiffany?"
"With the sitter," Angie replies. "She's starting to say more."
"Good, I'm happy for her."
After driving a few miles back to their house, Derek checked his wristwatch. It was still early in the morning back home in Maui so he quickly adjusted his watch for Chinese time. Once that was settled in, Niko looked over at Simon.
"What have you guys been up to?" Niko asks.
"I got a promotion at work," Simon says smugly. "I'm a contractor so it's up to me to make sure my construction guys get plenty of good jobs." He smiles.
"Your sharp tongue will surely get you there."
"It will," Angie reassures him. "He's very skilled with his mouth."
Derek groans. "Don't need that kind of imagery in my head."
"Sorry."
After they arrived at Angie and Simon's place, they immediately went to the kitchen table. After Angie made them some of the finest food served in Shanghai, they got down to business without wasting any more time.
Angie threw a photo of the monastery on Derek's side of the table. "I got you a little something to help you plan out."
Derek looks at the photo. "We're not going to-"
"You are," Simon interrupted before taking a seat beside Angie. "You broke into Mistress's home to look for something so it stands to reason you plan on breaking into this monastery." He puts his hands on the table. "In your situation, I would too. Anyone worth feeling emotions over is worth saving." He looks at Niko. "Right?"
"Yes," Niko nervously answers. "I've had some experience in breaking the law in Italy. And... damn, I can't forget that wonderful experience I had driving that sports car." He grins stupidly. "If only we could get into another car chase like that."
Derek rolls his eyes. "Better get a job as a stunt double in a Fast & Furious movie then."
Tiffany came out of the bedroom and she walked absentmindedly to her mother. "Raisins."
Simon looked at her. "You always want raisins; we ain't go no raisins."
"Raisins," Tiffany repeated. "Want raisins."
"We got Cheetos," Angie suggested.
Tiffany looked at Derek and pointed to him. "Derek. Hi."
Derek waved to her. "Hi, Tiffany."
Simon picked himself up to get Flamin' Hot Cheetos out of the cabinet for his daughter. He grabbed a small pack and handed it to her. "There you go."
"She's adorable," Niko smiled.
"Yeah," Derek agreed.
Simon went into his home office and came back with blueprints. He tossed it on the table. "Here ya go, thieves."
Derek unrolled the blueprints to reveal schematics of some kind. "What's this?"
"The layout of the monastery. We figured that instead of going in blind, you could go in with a plan."
Derek scanned over the schematics before touching the blueprints. He put his finger where the center of the monastery was before looking at Simon. "How did you get this?"
"As a contractor, I know every contractor in Shanghai. All it took was a couple of handshakes and my sharp tongue to get my hands on these blueprints."
"Thank you." Derek took a photo of the blueprints on his phone before Niko did the same thing. "In our line of work, it would be better if we got some equipment with us."
"Like guns?" Simon furrowed his brows. "Plan on shooting up the place? The guards thee are just doing their job; they're innocent. They don't deserve to die."
"I know." Derek leans back in his chair. "I was thinking something more along the lines of-"
"Grappling hooks and climbing pitons?" Angie interrupted. "Familiar tools of the trade?"
Derek looked at her. "Yeah."
"Climbing hooks and pitons are something I have easy access to," Simon claimed. He laced his fingers together. "I know that like your blushing bride, you have the climbing abilities of a monkey. But if there's one thing I know, your dearly beloved cousin isn't."
Niko shook his head. "Nah, I'm more of a non-action guy than anything. But I'm strong enough to pull my own weight. Besides, it's better to have two grappling hooks and pitons than one. Who knows what could happen and what we could lose?"
"Don't worry," Simon reassured, "I can get you the grappling hook and climbing piton by tonight."
"We're leaving tonight as well," Derek told. "We can't afford to wait any longer... we have to get into the monastery ASAP."
"Don't be so reckless," Angie warned. "And while you're at it, please don't try and destroy the monastery; I actually spend two or three hours a week in a monastery."
"Don't worry... I'll try my damned hardest not to destroy the monastery." I'm probably going to break that promise within five minutes if I'm unlucky.
Chapter 4: Old Monastery
With a little over twelve hours passing before the sun went down, Derek and Niko were dropped off near the monastery by Simon and Angie before they drove off. With the night concealing their presence, they had all the time in the world to scope out the places and get a layout of the guards and their schedules.
Derek managed to get the grappling hook and climbing piton from Simon as he promised and he planned on using it to get inside, somehow. Both of the Lowell boys were dressed in black and had their faces concealed with ski masks.
"We definitely look like crooks," Niko whispered as they hid behind a boulder.
Derek looked at him. 'Of course, we do, we're about to rob. If someone came here, dressed in a suit and tuxedo, then that's when you know that the world is ending."
The monastery was located a few miles out of town and near a mountaintop. Due to the minimal amount of buildings surrounding the monastery, the only light that illuminated the place came from the lights the security guards provided, mostly through lanterns and flashlights. The monastery was red and stretched about five hundred feet wide. There were stirs going up and down several stories with several buildings towering over the structure. If what Derek's photo said was true then the secret pathway the explorer took was in the middle building structure behind a wooden door that lead down.
Since they were on a mountain then it was a good thing they brought their grappling equipment with them.
The Lowell boys came up with a plan to watch each other's backs and were sneaking around the monastery and through the guards. To prevent the guards from finding them out, Derek decided that it would be better to knock them out.
If history repeats itself with me and I go the way of Nathan Drake in that Turkish museum, then I'd rather not be put in jail for about three or four months while Cassie is in the hospital. It's better to knock all the guards unconscious and hide their bodies.
Derek snuck up on the first guard and make quick work with him in a rear-naked chokehold. After that, he moved on to the next guard and took him out. The third guard turned around and almost caught him but he threw a hammer fist to his jaw before catching him in a chokehold and rendering him unconscious. The fourth guard had a pebble thrown on the ground at his feet to distract him before Derek punched him as hard as he could in the head, knocking him out.
The last guard spotted Derek and drew his gun before ordering him to put his hands up.
Niko snuck up behind him and put him in a chokehold. Derek rushed the guard before he could react and uppercut him in the jaw, disabling him.
With the guards dealt with, they dragged the five of them to the largest vehicle the guards had, a van, and they hogtied them inside with duct tape they found in the glove compartment.
After locking the guards inside, the Lowell boys moved into the monastery.
"Wow," Niko admired and pointed to the garden surrounded by stones in the center of the monastery. "This place musta been something back in its heyday."
"You're telling me."
Niko looks up to the underside of an archway and tilts his head. "What the hell?" He points upward. "That's not Chinese writing... that's Japanese."
Derek looked up at the archway and saw ancient Japanese Katakana written across the archway. He had to turn around once he realized he was looking at it upside down and deciphered the text in his head.
"Emperor'r Koan's Dragon?" He narrowed his eye. "Emperor Koan?"
"What's a Japanese monastery doing all the way out here in China?"
"I don't know but Emperor Koan, he was an emperor of Japan who lived for a long time... a long time ago in the BC days."
"What does this monastery have to do with some old-ass Japanese emperor?"
Derek shrugs. "I have no clue but we'll find out." He steps forward before stopping. "This monastery in China is of Japanese origin and the notebook left behind is of Greek origin... something is definitely going on here." He points ahead. "Come on, let's find that secret room or hallway or whatever."
XXXX
Tian Chao was running out of options and fast. If he didn't get this wound treated then he was as good as gone. That is if the gunman chasing after him didn't kill him first. He was able to lose them in the darkness a few minutes ago but he feared that with their large numbers, they would easily relocate him once more. He couldn't let that happen so he ran for the closest source of cover, which was a monastery on the mountaintop he hadn't had a chance to visit yet.
As he ran, blood lobbed off of his wound and created a trail behind him. He couldn't stop or stall for too long or do something as simple as kicking the dirt over the blood drops or else he would risk giving his opponents the chance to get him. He had to get out of there and fast.
About five hundred feet back, Sensei took out a rag and cleaned her bloody knife in an OCD-crazed way before looking down at the ground. She used her flashlight to light up a path of freshly-made footprints that lead her to a monastery.
"That walking moneybag is hiding here in the monastery," she told her crew, which consisted of Ronin, Samurai, and Kamikaze, and brought two dozen more. Each one armed up and loaded their weapons as they stormed the monastery.
XXXX
It took them less than ten minutes to find the secret doorway that the schematics told them about and it lead them to a small windowless room that had been cleaned recently. Derek looks around, seeing if he could spot anything out of the ordinary. He turned on his phone's flashlight and shined it on the wall. He aimed the beam across the floor before he noticed a gap in the floor. It wasn't too noticeable a gap and seemed to look like nothing more than a crack in the wooden floor but the gap was slightly wider than the other gaps, which prompted him to get on his knees and run his fingers along the crack.
His strong sense of touch noticed a slight difference in the wood, which made him dig into the ground and try and pull. Much to his shock, the floor raised and revealed a stairway leading down into a cave surrounded by his phone flashlight still in hand, he took the lead by going in first with Niko following him. Once they were down underground, they decided to close the door just in case and once the door was closed, they got a good feel for the environment around them. The tunnel wasn't too narrow and had just enough space for Derek to stretch both of his arms out to their limit if he needed to.
The ground with covered in dirt with footprints that had been left behind just recently, which Derek figured belonged to the explorer and the security guard who escorted him out.
"We got ourselves some breadcrumbs," he told his cousin. "Let's follow them."
Niko stayed close behind him as he asked, "Derek, you're not going to get us trapped down here, are ya?
He shrugs. "Well, as someone who married into the Drake name, it is in my nature to bring about bad luck on ancient ruins. Therefore, there will be bad luck when we walk about."
Niko laughs. 'Let's keep our fingers crossed."
"Yeah, let's."
It didn't take them too long to walk deeper into the tunnel before they came across a junction leading left and right.
"If I had a coin, we would flip on if we should split up," Derek clicks his tongue. "Left or right?"
"Left," Niko answers. "Left has always been my lucky path."
"Of course, who needs luck if you are never right?" He laughs.
Niko rolls his eyes. "Smart ass."
"Don't worry, trapped down here in this tiny cave, you'll bounce off my humor." He turned to the right, which turned out to be a dead end. He rotates to find another dead end in the left ath but this time, there was something else down the other path.
A pedestal with an ancient and rotting book lay stationary and waited patiently.
"This is it!' Derek exclaims and drops the flashlight. The beam danced around the room before landing on the back of Derek's shoes as he reached out and grabbed the book. "This is it," he repeated, a little more enthusiastic this time.
Niko picked up the phone. "Unless you have night vision, I'm pretty sure you're going to need this."
"And I was so looking forward to trying out reading in the dark." He shrugs. "Oh well, there's always next time." He opens to the first blank page. He reads over what he could in the ancient Greek writing and just like in the photo he saw, the journal had matching symbols and calligraphy.
"This is it," he told his cousin. "Niko, this is the Greek book in the Japanese monastery in China."
"Can I read it?" Niko asked. "I read ancient languages and modern day languages and dead languages and sign languages all day long so I can translate passages more smoothly, and faster... I can."
Derek shoves the notebook into his chest. "It's okay." He takes the phone and holds the beam over the notebook. "e knocked out the guards, tied them up, and covered our tracks; we got all day to be claustrophobic in here while reading ancient languages."
"The thrill of the adventure." Niko opens to the second page and begins reading. It takes Niko approximately ninety seconds to read two pages before he flips to the next two pages and even though there weren't a lot of pages, it still felt like it was taking a long time. Derek waited patiently while holding the flashlight for his cousin to read and watched his lips move. He tilted his head when he heard Niko mutter a few words of interest.
"Golden Fleece... Emperor Koan... Alexander the Great... Dragon's Castle... Revive..." His eyes go wide with a gasp. "Oh my god, Derek." He slams the notebook shut and waves it in front of his head. "Do you have any idea what this is?"
Derek stares at him. "A notebook that smells like rotting wood."
"This is a journal written by a warrior of Alexander the Great. A the G."
Derek's eyes widen. "A the G?"
"Exactly." Niko opens the pages and begins scrolling through them. "This is a journal detailing the journey of the Greeks traveling to China and Japan to recover the Golden Fleece. Apparently, the Golden Fleece was indeed a real object." He flips to a page and thrusts his finger on it. "This page details how the fleece managed to keep Emperor Koan alive for so long and how he built an empire so quickly."
"So the Golden Fleece was a real object, somehow, Emperor Koan gets his hands on it and Alexander the Great sends some of his warriors to Japan to get it back but they only make it to China, why?"
"According to this journal, this monastery is called the Dragon's Monastery, which is a monastery dedicated to where Emperor Koan found and resurrected a dragon with the Golden Fleece."
Derek laughs. "Dragons are real? Yeah right."
"Oh, so it's okay for the Golden Fleece to be real but not dragons?" His eyes drop. "On second thought, I'd rather dragons not be alive."
"Preaching to the choir." He gestured to the notebook. "So, tell me more of these juicy details about the Golden Fleece."
"Back home in a place that doesn't make me feel claustrophobic." He holds the journal to his chest.
"Right, I'm sure we can find better lighting back home."
Chapter 5: Bounty
Having sprinted back to where they first entered the cave, they pushed themselves out of the cave and climbed out before sealing the door shut behind them. With not a scratch on them, they pace towards the exit and slide the door open. They stop dead in their tracks.
A man leaking blood like a juice box crawled across the floor before another person stepped on them. This person in black with an ornate mask drew a gun and fired on Tian Chao. The person who did the killing was also talking on the phone.
"Don't worry, Professor, your traitor student is still alive but I was thinking we could negotiate. Maybe..." Her sentence trails off when she spots the Lowell boys.
She drew her gun on them. The Lowell boys leap back into the room and close the door behind them. They went back to the cave entrance and opened it before climbing down inside and closing the hatch behind them.
"Witnesses," Sensei shouted out. "Kill them!"
Ronin, Samurai, and another slid the door open and scoped the place out with their pistols before coming to the conclusion that the Lowell boys escaped. Ronin and Samurai vacate the room while the last bounty hunter stays inside.
Derek pushes the hatch open and uses his climbing piton as a weapon. He stabs the tool in the bounty hunter's eye, making him scream. He snatched the gun out of his hand and quickly headshot him. Niko climbed out of the cave entrance and joined his cousin and they ran into the hallway.
Another bounty hunter pops up from around the corner. Derek saw his outline first and shot him in the head. This bounty hunter had an assault rifle on him. Derek hands Niko the pistol before scavenging the assault rifle and two magazines from the dead bounty hunter.
Derek leads Niko out in the same way they took to get into the monastery. When they were coming upon the entrance, Derek saw the shadow of a bounty hunter on the other side of the sliding door. Without missing a beat, he shot the shadow in the head, which then collapsed. After moving through the sliding door, bullets sink into the wall beside Derek, prompting him to turn in the direction the bullets came from and fire on the assailant. He manages to get in a couple of good shots before he is forced to reload. He slaps another magazine in just in time as the downed bounty hunter drew a gun on him. He killed the bounty hunter.
They finally made it outside of the monastery near the front, where two bounty hunters stood guard. They fired at Derek and Niko as they came into sight. Derek shoves Niko into cover before shooting the first bounty hunter dead and wounding the other. The second bounty hunter holds his gun up and surrenders. He puts the gun down carefully before drawing his gun. A bullet is lodged into his head.
Derek looks at Niko, the barrel of his pistol smoking. "I got your back, man."
A third bounty hunter appeared from behind one of the security vans and fired at Derek. Derek wasted the last of his bullets on the bounty hunter and sent him sprawling to the ground, badly wounded. Derek quickly ran to the wounded bounty hunter to scavenge a magazine or two off of him. The bounty hunter drew a knife to try and stab his opponent before Niko shot him in the head.
Derek grabs three magazines and loads one into the gun before pocketing the other two.
Derek ran for the van that didn't have any security guards tied up in the back. He jumps in the car and quickly hotwires it. As he hotwires it, a bounty hunter sneaks up on him, cracks the window, and attempts to slash his throat. Niko, sitting in the passenger seat, drew his pistol fast and shot the bounty hunter in the shoulder. Derek grabbed the assault rifle and blasted the bounty hunter to hell.
With the car finally starting up, he drives off. Unfortunately, the third security van, which he didn't notice when they first infiltrated, was suddenly filled to the brink with bounty hunters. The van started up and chased after them.
Derek puts the metal to the pedal and tries to shake off the van. He counted at least eight people in the van, two in the front and six in the back. He didn't like his odds and with only two and three-quarter magazines of bullets and three bullets remaining in Niko's gun, the bounty hunters had the advantage of numbers.
In the security van, the person riding in the passenger seat was Kamikaze, the brilliant hacker of the bounty hunters. He grabbed onto his seatbelt and tugged hard to lock it in place and use it as his personal handrail.
The driver was getting a little too excited chasing after the witnesses given the Cheshire grin on his face. Kamikaze didn't pay too much attention to him and looked down at his face. He opened up the app he developed and waited patiently for the right moment.
The car chase did not stay within the limits of the mountaintop. No, whoever was driving the van decided that it would be better to drive into a public place. Kamikaze's van chased after the witnesses' van and into the city. With a lot of people walking out and on the sidewalk and cars on the street, it would make for a difficult chase. But Shanghai was busy this time of the night, which was perfect for what Kamikaze had in mind.
Kamikaze may have been a man with few words, literally, but he was a man with experience, especially when it came to traveling. Just two years ago, when he was traveling with his fiance, he used his trip to China to get familiar with the technology used in China, especially with the city's security system. It took him hours but once he cracked into the system, all he had to do was install a backdoor and presto, he had access to certain things. China did not use a nationwide system so there were very few things in the city that were connected that he could use the backdoor for. One thing that was connected, however, was all the traffic lights.
Kamikaze smiled behind his ornate mask as he looked down at the image on his phone. A red traffic light. He pushed the 'Green' button on the bottom and the traffic light became green.
When Derek saw the traffic light in front of him turn red, even though he swore it had turned green three seconds ago, he knew he was in deep shit. He had the sixth sense to swerve hitting the oncoming traffic but still crashed into a parked car on the curb.
Kamikazi's van fell victim to the faulty traffic lights when a car collided with them. Luckily, unluckily, both vehicles managed to slam on the brakes and keep the damage to the vehicles to a minimum.
The passengers in the back, although shaken and trembling, displayed no visible injuries. They acted like it was nothing and picked up their assault rifles before climbing out the back.
Derek, sore from the crash, quickly climb out of his seat and pushes a dazed Niko out of the passenger door, making the young man accidentally drop his phone on the ground. He could've gone out the driver's door but the driver's side of the van was facing the enemy van so standing behind the passenger side offered them protection.
Trying to be all cool and acting like badasses, the bounty hunters hiding behind their van jumped onto the hood of a crash car and slid across while shooting.
Derek jumped out of cover and fired on the first two bounty hunters to get in range and killed them. He dropped back in cover before blind firing at the van once more.
"There are innocent people here!" Derek shouts. "Why are you trying to kill them?!" A family of three consisting of a mother and two children running for their lives caught his attention. "There are children here." He gets rid of the empty magazine before slapping in the next one. He doesn't blind fire this time and waits patiently for the enemies across to make a mistake.
Two of the bounty hunters came charging for Derek. Derek jumped out and shot them before they knew what hit them. His gun jammed on him and he quickly dives back into cover to unjam it.
Having heard the clicking of Derek's gun, the last two bounty hunters leaped over the van and crashed the car, sliding across and doing more Hollywood-esque stunts, before charging for the Lowells. They noticed too late the speeding car coming from them from the left. The car tore through them and sent the two bounty hunters flying into the sky before they fell back down, landing on the concrete hard and laying motionless.
The car does a hard U-turn, leaving skidmarks behind before it accelerates toward Derek and Niko. It comes to a near-perfect complete stop between the enemy vehicle and the Lowell vehicle before the passenger window is rolled down.
Angie sticks a hand out and gestures for them to get in. 'Stoaways allowed, get in," she told them.
Derek and Niko ran for the car and leaped inside and the second they closed the door, the car took off.
"Holy shit," Niko pants. "That was a rush." He removes his ski mask.
"I'll say," Derek agrees before removing his ski mask. His forehead sweated like an Alaskan man in Hawaii and he cleaned it with the back of his hand. "What gave you two the idea that we might need help?"
"We were watching you," Simon said while keeping his eyes on the road and hands tight around the wheel. "We figured that you'd get into some kind of trouble so we decided to follow you."
"Thank you, much appreciated." He turns the safety on his assault rifle before laying it flat on the ground.
Angie looked over her shoulder at Derek. "First of all, did you get what you came for?"
Niko holds up the journal.
"Okay then, that answers the first question. Now, second of all, who the hell were those guys shooting at you?"
Derek said nothing.
"Mercenaries," Niko answered, "or bounty hunters or assassins." He looks at his cousin. "Derek, remember what woman said? She killed their target and then lied bout him being alive on the phone so she could negotiate. She's a bounty hunter."
"If she's a bounty hunter then why is she going after you?"
"We're witnesses," Derek answers this time. "But I doubt that they'll be able to identify us; we had ski masks on."
"Let's hope not," Simon wished aloud.
"Yeah, now let's get home and find out more about this notebook."
Chapter 6: Sitting Down
"Holy shit," Niko said after reading over the journal for the third time since he woke up in the morning. "Holy, holy, holy shit."
Derek walked up to the table. "Three uses of the word 'holy', must've converted to Christianity."
"No." Niko holds up the journal. "I think I know where the Golden Fleece is."
Derek's eyes widened and he was blindsided when Angie and Simon set down mugs of coffee (and tea for Angie) for the four of them. Once Derek took notice of the coffee cup, he took it up and took a sip. "Please, do tell."
"Okay, so just to recap everything for our guests, Alexander the Great found the Golden Fleece and he was using it to rule Greece but then, an emperor from Japan named Koan managed to steal the Golden Fleece. And if what the stories in this book say is true, during his voyage back to Japan, he found a living Dragon in China and built a monastery to dedicate his find. He took the dragon back with him to Japan to use as his weapon."
"How can a dragon exist?" Simon wondered. "A creature of that size could not exist because of the oxygen levels." He considered something. "Then again, at the very least, the dragon isn't a mythical fantasy creature but a lizard that can breathe fire. I don't understand the function of it but in theory, it could exist, sans the fire, of course."
"They could be real," Angie said, almost hopefully. "If the Lemurians could survive to nowadays, and a giant wolf lost during the Genesis flood, then so can dragons."
"Guys," Derek interrupted, "it's not really relevant. I doubt that dragon is still alive. Anyway, get back to what you were saying, Niko."
Niko cleared his throat. "Oh, anyway. So, this journal was written by a warrior of A the G and it details how he went to Japan in a monastery called the Dragon's Castle to retrieve the Golden Fleece. He failed because of the dragon guarding the place so he retreated back to China and left his journal behind for the next set of warriors but by then, Alexander the Great had already perished." He opens to the page in the very middle. "The last date entry was on 10-10-108."
Derek tilted his head. "What does the 108 stand for? Is that supposed to be the year?"
"Well, we didn't use the BC and AD timing thing until like sometime after the death of Jesus Christ or something so it makes sense they use some kind of calendar different from ours."
Simon stroked his chin. "interesting, finding out a different calendar system before the BC eras are quite a find itself. Now makes me wonder; if it's been 2040 years since the death of Christ or after the command era, then it begs the question. 108 years after what?"
"108 is a sacred number in Buddhism," Angie offers.
"We'll figure it out next time," Derek urged. "So, this warrior left this journal behind for the next set of warriors to go after the Golden Fleece. Does that means he found a location of this Dragon's Castle or something?"
Niko flipped to a page detailing a sketch of a monastery. "You recognize the shape of this peak?" Niko reached for something in his pocket before coming up empty-handed. "What the hell, where's my phone?"
Derek tilted his head and studied the mountain. "Holy shit, that's Mount Fuji."
Niko points to a drawing in the center of the mountain. "That's the monastery. The Golden Fleece is hidden somewhere in that monastery."
Derek narrows his eyes. "Well, that doesn't make much sense. If that is supposed to be guarded by a dragon, or at the very least, house a dragon, why it is so small? If dragons are as big as the stories say, then the dragon should topple over that monastery. I swear, that monastery is too small."
Niko shrugs. "Hey, I just translate what I read in this journal."
"Let's all suspend our disbelief," Angie suggests.
"For Cassie's sake," Simon added.
"Yes." Derek closes his eyes. "But there was a big part of me that was wishing that it wasn't in Japan. I'd rather the dragon's castle be here in China with those faulty traffic lights."
Simon looks up from sipping his coffee. "What did you say? Faulty traffic lights?"
"Yeah," he nods. "When we were running away from those bounty hunters when we came up to an intersection, a traffic light that turned green turned red literally two seconds later, without a yellow warning light, and we nearly crashed."
"Oh," Simon gulps. "Bounty hunters, faulty traffic lights... shit." He puts his mug down. "Well, I think I have a vague idea of who your attackers were. The bounty hunters that were chasing you down were a group called the Warriors."
"The Warriors?" Derek repeated.
"They're Japanese led by a woman who goes by Sensei. One of the members on the international watchlist is a bounty hunter called Kamikaze. He's a black hat hacker who managed to install a backdoor into the system that the traffic lights in Shanghai use. He can control the traffic lights and cause crashes."
Derek groans and rolls his eyes. "Why... why did it have to be Japan and these guys?"
"WHa'ts your beef with Japan?"
Derek twiddled his fingers nervously. "Well... uh... there's kinda a bounty on mine and Cassie's head in Japan." He smiled awkwardly. "A couple of years ago, when we were leaving for the airport, Cassie accidentally crashed... into a yakuza... boss's... car." He looked at them. "I've been telling you guys for years that she's a horrible driver."
"Crap," Niko mutters under his breath. "The only chance at saving Cassie lies in China where there's a bounty on your head and the Warriors have a home-field advantage."
"But our faces were concealed so I doubt they'll come after me."
"You better be right because those Warrior guys were difficult and tough."
Derek nods. "I'll say." He looks at his cousin. "This isn't the point of no return, cuz; you can walk away if you want. I can do this on my own."
"No way, cuz," Niko refuses with hesitation. "I'm going with you to Japan. EOS, end of the story."
"You just love your acronyms, doncha?"
"Yes."
"Okay then. Two is better than one." He looks at Angie and Simon. "What about you two?"
"We're not going," Angie answers.
"Yeah, the stress is bad for the baby."
Derek looked at Angie. "You're..."
"I am." Angie rubs her stomach.
"Congratulations." He looked at Simon. "I'm happy for you."
"I'm happy for me too," Simon chuckles.
After that, arrangements had been made for the Lowell boys to board the next flight to Tokyo. After gathering their stuff, Simon, Angie, and Tiffany all waved the Lowell boys goodbye as their plane took off.
Simon subconsciously rubbed his hand against his wife's stomach and sent his positive energy through to the unborn baby. Knowing that there was a life in her stomach that he helped create made him reach out and stroke his stepdaughter's hair.
"I will make sure my family lives this time," Simon declares to himself.
XXXX
With Sensei
"Give me a headcount," Sensei ordered as the Warriors gathered up the dead bodies and cleaned them up. They disposed of the bodies in a lake.
As Samurai was about to throw a body into the lake, he hesitated. He looked down at the dead body and closed his eyes. Ronin approached him and running a hand through her hair, she drew a cross on the dead bounty hunter's forehead before whispering a silent prayer.
"God?" Samurai asked.
"God," Ronin nods.
"God's good," Samurai added.
"He is."
They threw the body into the lake as peacefully as possible.
"Grieving girlfriend," Samurai pointed out.
"Yes, his girlfriend will be grieving."
Samurai looks at Sensei. "Greedy girl."
Ronin looks at her. "Not greedy, Sami, just... misguided."
Samurai looks at her. "Guide. Get guiding."
"I will guide her back on the 'fath'." Her eyes widened. "Path."
After collecting the guns from their dead comrades, Sensei began loading them in the van that had hogtied security guards inside. Since they were unconscious for the whole night, there was no need to kill them.
After Sensei loaded the last assault rifle into the van, she turned to Kamikaze, who had dried blood on his forehead. "Kami, are you okay?"
"I am Kamikaze."
Sensei took out the rag she used to polish her knife before stopping and pulling out a different rag that had been unused. She wiped the dried blood off of his forehead.
Kamikaze took out a phone that wasn't his. "I am Kamikaze." With a couple of taps of his fingers, he unlocked the phone and opened the phone info.
Niko Lowell? Sensei read. "Who's that?"
"I am Kamikaze." He pulled out his personal phone and scrolled through. "I am Kamikaze." He pulled up the bounty hunter hitlist. "I am Kamikaze."
Sensei sees a contact on Niko's phone as 'Cousin Derek' and a target in Japan as 'Derek Lowell'. Niko Lowell, having a cousin named Derek Lowell... "What's the bounty of Derek Lowell's head?"
"I am Kamikaze." He pulled up the bounty.
"Holy shit! One billion yen alive?" She smiles. "Well, I'm sure we can bulk it up a teeny tiny bit." She looks at the person who put the contract out. "Well, what do you know, our old boss."
She takes out her phone and dials a number. "Why hello, my favorite yakuza boss."
"What is this about, Sensei?"
"Derek Lowell?"
"What?' his voice rose. "Cassie Drake and Derek Lowell are within sight? I want them caught alive so I can teach them some manners for destroying my car."
"He's within sight but I've been thinking about how much I dislike torture." She holds the phone against her shoulder and takes out her knife. She polishes with her usual rag before she smiles. "Well then, I think it's time to negotiate. We had a little incursion with him last night and he took out a lot of our men. He killed them and made us all look like a bunch of amateurs. There are twelve of our men dead and we expect compensation, especially for their families."
"You'll get your compensation. Now, as for Lowell-"
"No, Lowell is going to be extremely difficult to kill, let alone capture. You'll be expecting nothing but disappointment if you're thinking about seeing him alive. So, I've decided that we are going to kill him and then send you his head as a gift."
"What are you getting at?"
"We want more money on Derek's head if you want his head."
"One billion yen is a lot of money."
"Not enough. A man like Lowell is worth at least six billion yen."
"Screw that shit, I'm not paying six billion yet."
"Well then, it looks like Derek is keeping his head. We're going to let him walk... unless you meet our demand. How about... five billion yen."
"Go to hell."
"If you're unwilling to compromise, then you keep your money but only so you can sit in shame." She hangs up.
Kamikaze tilts his head. "I am Kamikaze."
"I am going to retire and sit on a giant pile of cash after we kill Lowell." She smiles. "I can polish my knife all day long and live in peace."
"I am Kamikaze."
She looks at her companion. "Kami, I like you, I like you a lot. And you made this possible by IDing Lowell. You can share my pile of cash to sleep on when this is done."
Kamikaze looked at the ground. He licked his lips nervously before looking at his superior. "I am... Kamikaze?"
She nods. "Yes. You are."
He smiles sheepishly. "I am Kamikaze," he says happily.
Chapter 7: Mountaintop
Mount Fuji, Japan
Not wasting any more time, as soon as Derek and Niko landed, they immediately made plans to travel all the way to Mount Fuji. It wasn't that hard, considering that it was only an hour or so drive from the place they landed using a rental car. Not wanting to waste any more yen they traded those US dollars, and they left the car in a place they knew would be secure at the bottom of the mountain before they climbed Mount Fuji. All the tour guides said that it would take less than a day to climb Mount Fuji so they used that to their advantage. They climbed and climbed and climbed the mountain, mindful of all the loose rocks and potential avalanches that were ready to pounce on them, and kept steady footing.
Once they reached a rest stop Derek sat down on a boulder before looking at his cousin. "Gun laws in Japan are much more strict in Japan," he said, "civilians aren't allowed to carry firearms if my memory serves me."
"Yeah," Niko nods and sighs, catching his breath. "If that journal is accurate, we only got maybe thirty minutes of a climb before we reach the top."
Derek slaps his knees before picking himself up. "Well then, in that case, let's not waste too much time."
"We still have time before Cassie's deadline. Maybe, while we're here, we can maybe... I don't know."
"No," Derek asserted firmly. "We need to find the Dragon's Castle soon and now." He clenches his fists as a thought occurs to him. "If we're having a bad day today, then the active volcano will erupt on us. And whatever ancient ruins we find will be melted away in lava." He tugs on his snow jacket. "All the more reason to get the hell out of here and up to the monastery."
"Right." He pauses. "Wait, what about the Warriors?"
Derek looked at him. "What about them?"
"What if they ambush us when they get back down the mountain? After all, we're on their turf."
"I doubt they'll know where to find us. Besides, they might still be in China, sweeping up after that mess from the night before last. We have a headstart on them. we'll get the Golden Fleece and leave Japan ASAP."
"And what do we do about the Golden Fleece when we're done? I know that our main mission is to heal up Cassie but after the fleece has been retrieved, what do we do about it?"
"We'll worry about it later," he assured his cousin. "I promise, we'll figure it out later."
"Okay, if you say so. In that case, we should get a move on."
Derek took out a flask of water and drank from it, feeling rejuvenated already. "Yes, let's."
The two cousins began climbing up the rest of the mountain.
XXXX
"Get a move on," Sensei ordered, "we're going to be late."
"Sensei," Ronin called out as she was reading off a map. "We got plenty of time before we head to Mount Kuji." She slaps her forehead. "Mount Fuji."
"That money is looking golder and golder by the second," Sensei nearly hisses. "I want all that money." She felt her phone go off. It was her yakuza employer once more. "Ahh... to what do I owe the please, boss?"
"Did you find Lowell?"
"Oh yes, we most certainly did. And our offer still stands but we're ready to talk down. How about four billion yen?"
"That offer is way above asking. Off the table."
"Too bad, that's the only offer being put on the table today. Think about it, you could have Lowell's head in your trophy room by tonight, if only you paid the right price." She hangs up.
"One billion yen is enough," Ronin claimed, "in fact, it is more than-"
"Not enough," Sensei cut off. "No, not until I have more."
"And how much would satisfy you to quit and turn this life around?"
"Don't say quit; say retire. Quitters are for losers."
"Your head's in the clouds, dreaming of fortune and being wealthy. Don't let your ambition cloud your judgment. It could prove to be the 'feath' of you." She rolls her eyes in annoyance. "Death of you."
"I would love nothing more than to die by money." She looks over and sees Kamikaze and Samurai standing over a soccer field. "What are those fools doing?"
"It would appear that they're enjoying a nice game of soccer." She smiled upon seeing Samurai play with the children and kicking the ball around and having a good time.
"They shouldn't get too attached to children," Sensei warned. "Children can drain you of your money," she hissed. "Anyone can have a child but raising them... and making sure that you have enough money for yourself, the stress can cause you to age ten years sooner." She clenched her fists. "But sometimes, it's worth it. But even so, it's better to have too much money than not enough. If you don't have enough money, some suits can come in and take your child away from you after they declare you unfit to raise him. And then you have to pay a huge price to get them out of this orphanage but you would need more money so you can take care of them when they're back in your custody."
Ronin had an awkward look on her face. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
She looks at Samurai, who managed to kick the ball and score.
"Goal!" he exclaimed and excitedly and danced around the children. "Good game," he told the children before gathering his stuff. "Goodbye."
Kamikaze approaches Sensei.
She speaks first. "Did you finish hacking Niko Lowell's phone to trace Derek Lowell's cellphone?"
"I am Kamikaze." He holds his cell phone out to show two red dots on an image of Mount Fuji.
"Good work." Two more minutes and then we can leave and collect our bounty.
XXXX
"We've made it," Derek exclaimed as they reached the ancient monastery. Yes, they managed to avoid any obstacles and anything that might drag on this adventure and headed straight for the monastery without wasting any bullets in the guns they did NOT have. The monastery stood over them, each of the five buildings being red in color that faded over time and forty feet tall. Derek noticed that the wood was rotting and even though nature had not overgrown it, nature had taken its toll on the monastery by how dirty the place looked.
"I told you..." Derek began, "This place is too small to house a dragon. Proof that it is a myth."
"Let's get back on track and look for the entrance."
Looking in the journal Niko kept with him, they found a clue leading to the building in the center of the monastery. Walking inside, they found a mostly vacant room with some kind of symbols on the wall. Derek recognized the symbols as Kanji.
"What do these Kanji mean?"
"The symbols for 'dragon', 'castle', 'fire', and 'gold'," Niko analyzed.
"I know that but what is the point of these symbols? Usually, in my line of work, it involves a trap door or a secret entrance."
"So, we got to do something with the Kanji. Maybe there is something in this journal." He flipped through the pages before he found the four Kanji symbols in the notebook. They were arranged in order from dragon to castle, fire, and gold. "They're arranged in this specific order so what does that mean?"
"We got to do something to the symbols in this order."
"'Fire' and 'gold' kinda stand out from 'dragon' and 'castle' because those are some kind of elements."
"Is that supposed to be a hint?"
Niko flips to the next page. "The answer is here on this page but because the pages are rotted, it's kinda hard to read. But one word I can make out is fire."
"So are we supposed to heat these symbols up?" He laughed at the absurdity of the idea before he realized that the symbols were written on a metal wall. Metal, not wooden walls that monasteries traditionally have. "Holy crap, I think we're supposed to heat the symbols up. My money is on the fire symbol."
"Why the fire symbol?"
"Because the other three kanji refer to items that are already here; fire is the only one absent. I'm just spit-balling but usually, when it comes to these types of puzzles, it's the one symbol that stands out that usually activates whatever secret door. Get me something to light burn the symbol of."
Niko went out of the room and came back with a torch. Derek was about to take his lighter out before realizing he forgot out. Before he could panic, Niko took out a lighter and lit up the torch.
"Good thinking," Derek smiles. "Bringing a lighter like that for these types of occasions."
It's my smoking lighter. "Yeah, always thinking one step ahead."
Niko holds the torch over the fire kanji and watches as it heats up a red color suddenly and nearly backs away but stays.
After five seconds, the Lowell boys heard the sounds of rumbling on the mountain. Derek and Niko raced out of the room and outside to see rock and stone falling down off the mountain before revealing a large cave big enough for a giant to fit through.
"Did you see that?" Derek asks. "The mountain just opened a mouth for us."
"Yeah, I saw that.
Derek gasps. "Oh... crap. Now I get it; the dragon's castle isn't this monastery, the mountain is the dragon's castle."
"Oh..." Niko gasps. "Oh... crap."
"Crap indeed."
Niko points at the cave. "We have to go in there?"
"I reckon I'm going to have to go in there. You're more than welcome to-"
"Not going to happen. I just wish we brought some guns with us."
"You're breaching to the choir with the hoarse singing voice, Nikki." He tugs on his snow jacket. "Well.. let's get a move on shall we. Who knows, maybe we'll find swords and jousting items to help us fend off the dragon."
Taking their first step into the massive cave made them feel like they were ants. The ceiling was about fifty feet above them and there was a path carved out for them that was about forty feet wide. If what the stories said about a dragon's height were true, then it meant that this dragon had more than enough room to maneuver in this cave... and not even their free-running abilities would allow them to outrun the beast.
"Flashlight," Derek said.
"Torch," Niko held up the object.
"We should keep the light source to a minimum."
"And risk falling into a pit or something?"
Derek rolled his eyes. "Or risk attracting a giant frill lizard who had one too many hot Cheetos."
"Good point." Niko looked over his shoulder and realized how far they walked. "Oh my god, I didn't realize we have been walking for too long." The cave entrance was shrinking in size the more they got far and if either one of them held out their hand, the cave entrance would be hidden behind their thumb.
"Oh well, depending on our luck, we might get in our daily cardio for the day if we're being chased by a dragon," Derek jokes.
"Yep."
Chapter 8: The Golden Fleece
The Lowell boys reached a point in the mountain where the entrance had all but vanished from their sight. The suggestion from earlier about using the light to illuminate a path was the only thing they had going for them now. Had they known they were going to be in this situation, then they would've brought night vision goggles. And guns. Derek was in front and to save the battery on his phone, the only phone in their possession since Niko lost his, he took the torch and lead the path. After walking a few feet, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him but he could see light up ahead.
Now motivated, he grabbed Niko's shoulder and told him to go for it. The two Lowell boys jogged for it toward the light. Once they closer and closer to the light, they realized that the light wasn't white in color but a golden color of some kind. They slowed down when they saw the opening where the yellow light was coming from. Derek checks his phone. Still, plenty of battery left so there was no need to use the torch anymore so they extinguished it.
The opening that the light was coming from led the two Lowell boys to a part of the cave that covered the entire floor with gold.
"Gold," Niko gasps. "Oh, my god."
"Holy crap," Derek gasps.
It was just gold on the floor; the gold pile had reached up to Derek's waist on the left side of the cave wall while the gold and treasure on the right side of the wall consisted of rubies, silver, and other kinds of ancient silverware that would be worth millions today.
"Oh my god, look at all this gold," Niko awes. "Ruby." Derek grabs Niko before he could pick up the ruby. "What?"
"Based on my past experience... and from the original Aladdin movie, don't touch anything unless you want to bring the whole place down on top of us. We came here for the Golden Fleece and nothing more." He lets go of Niko. "Maybe once we heal up Cassie, we can come back and collect this gold."
"Okay." He turns to the ruby. "But Omaria likes rubies and I'm sure she'll appreciate that little gem."
Derek tilts his head and furrows his brows. Omaria, huh? Looks like you're getting smitten with our Egyptian friend.
Niko looked ahead and became confused. "Wait, is that a dead end?"
Derek looked ahead and saw nothing but what looked like a wall with diamond patterns running up and down the wall. He tilted his head once more and tried to figure out what kind of wall this dead-end was made of. "Maybe this is the end of the line." Strange, that dead-end wall has diamond patterns running up and down. What does that mean?
"Let's look for the Golden Fleece."
"Right," Niko nods. "Okay, so a fleece is basically a blanket. Maybe it's buried under the pile of gold."
"Yeah, maybe." Derek looked around to find any signs of a blanket but came up empty-handed os far. "Everything here is made of gold, sans the jewelry so it doesn't exactly stand out."
"A golden blanket. Now, where could it be?"
They got down on their hands and knees and began digging through the pile of ancient Japanese gold coins and treasures. As Derek was digging his way through, the sounds of gold clinking against the ground seemed to echo throughout the cave. He thought it was too noisy but despite it, his keen ears picked up on something. "Shh," he ordered his cousin. "Do you hear that?"
Zzzzzzz.
It sounded like the soft hissing sound of air being released from a balloon, only it sounded more garbled and deep, like the purr of a lion. He caught something in the corner of his eye and noticed that the dead-end wall was shaking slightly.
"What's going on?" Niko asked.
Derek's eyes widened. "Shh... shut up," he whisper-shouted. "Quiet."
Niko suddenly goes quiet and looks at the dead-end wall.
Though it was very subtle and hard to see, the dead-end wall was rising up and down ever so slightly and the hissing sound was coming from it. Derek grabbed his cousin and as quietly as possible, whispered into his ear.
"That's not a wall... that's the dragon."
Niko nearly screams had it not been for Derek putting his hand over his mouth. "D-dragon?" his voice muffled.
Derek nods. "Look, the diamond pattern, the way it is moving up and down like your chest does when it's sleeping, and that hissing sound... it sounds like breathing."
The cave was fifty feet tall and forty feet wide and given that the dragon managed to fill up the remaining space where it slept should give people a rough estimate of its height.
Derek carefully removed his hand so his cousin could talk. "Derek, how is it still alive?" he whispered in a very soft voice.
"The Golden Fleece must be keeping it alive. Which means... it must be on the dragon somewhere." And as luck would have it, Derek spotted something near the dragon's sleeping body. Laying up against what he would assume would be its claws was a blanket of some kind that was a deep red color to match the color of the dragon's skin.
"There's the fleece." He clenches his fists. "I hope I'm right."
"There's only one way to be sure if it is the fleece." He looks at his cousin. "Wound yourself."
Derek took out his climbing piton. "Hold onto it. I'm not cutting myself until I'm a good distance away from that giant frill lizard dinosaur."
"Good idea; who knows how strong their sense of smell is."
Niko backed away ever so slowly to give Derek more than enough room to head and begin walking over to the dragon. He took very careful and agonizing slow steps towards the dragon, constantly fearing the worst. He planted his feet as softly and slowly and carefully as dramatically as possible and didn't lift his next foot until five seconds later. He felt like a sloth trying to cross the street with oncoming traffic in either direction.
Little they did know that the Warriors caught up to them and they were exploring the cave, armed to the teeth with guns that lacked any sort of suppressors.
Once Derek got within range of the sleeping dragon, he very carefully touched the fleece laying up against the dragon and felt for it. It felt like the same material gold was made out of, which made him smile slightly. his smile vanished when the soft hissing sound of the sleeping dragon reminded him of this fantastical threat.
Not taking any chances, he very carefully located where the rest of the fleece was to determine its size. It was about the size of any ordinary bedsheet blanket so that made it somewhat difficult to carry, especially if it was made of gold and flimsy.
He carefully grabs the bottom of the Golden Fleece and very carefully, slower than a sloth itself, he removes the entire fleece from under the dragon's claws. He turned back and decided that he would rather pick up the pace so he moved slightly faster to get back to Niko this time.
Strangely, the Golden Fleece felt like gold but the weight of the fleece proved that it wasn't made of gold. Once Derek reunited with Niko, he took a moment to examine the fleece.
The fleece, which had been red upon laying under the dragon, now reverted back to its original golden color. Its size, shape, and look was like a typical fleece with nothing standing out, other than the fact that it was gold. Overall, it was pretty generic in terms of physical appearance compared to the other treasures Derek found over the years.
"Time to test it out."
He held his hand out as Niko took the climbing piton and stabbed it into the back of Derek's hand, drawing blood. Derek winces and snatches his hand back before he quickly puts the fleece over the back of his hand. Then, the strangest thing happened. The golden fleece lit up a bright yellow color and the pain and smell of blood from his hand all but vanished. He removed the fleece and studied his hand.
His wound was gone!
This is it, Derek realized. This is the Golden Fleece... the REAL Golden Fleece. This is how Emperor Koan lived for so long and how Alexander the Great helped rule. Chances are, the material of the fleece isn't actually godlike but rather made from some ancient rejuvenating formula that causes the cells in the body to work fast in healing. If I can get this to Cassie, I can heal her.
Chapter 9: The Dragon
Having what they came here for, it was high time to leave the place and get going. As soon as Niko realized they were about to leave, he spoke up in a whispering tone. "What about the gold?"
"We'll come back for it," Derek suggests, "maybe bring back some heavy firepower to kill the dragon." He looks at the fleece. "Or, if we're lucky, the dragon will die out without the fleece keeping it alive and then we'll come back."
"Okay." Niko began walking forward, using Derek's phone as a flashlight so Derek would have all of his hands free when he carries the fleece out of there. As they got further and further away from the dragon and the gold, they noticed something up ahead. It looked like a flashlight beam bouncing off the wall, which made Niko turn off the light. Derek squints to see if he could get a better visual and spotted someone walking in the dark, waving their flashlight around. Not knowing who it was, they decided to hide rather than chance it.
They took cover near the wall and hid behind a boulder and barely missed the flashlight beam when it came over them. Once the flashlight guy was gone, the Lowell boys moved forward as quietly as possible.
XXXX
"Just to let you know, we have Derek Lowell in sight and we're ready to shoot him in the head," Sensei says into the phone to her yakuza boss.
"Listen here, Sensei, you do not get to haggle me and-"
"Three billion yen," Sensei cuts off, "final offer or we're letting Lowell off the hook."
The yakuza boss growls on the phone before sighing. "Fine. You have yourself a deal. Three billion."
"Thank you." Sensei hangs up the phone and looks over to Kamikaze. "I looks like we finally have our perfect pay range on Lowell. I will admit that it still is not enough but it is something."
"I am Kamikaze."
Sensei turned around to address the three dozen Warriors she brought as backup, all armed to the teeth with assault rifles provided to them by various organizations. "Listen up, ladies and gentlemen, Derek Lowell and Niko Lowell are in that cave, Kamikzae has proven it through tracing Lowell's phone." She grabs Kamikaze's phone and looks at it. "According to this tracker, Derek Lowell is coming out of the cave right now. Once you see him, shoot him on sight; take no risks with this man."
"What's the price on him?" a Warrior asked. "Did I hear three billion yen?"
"You heard correctly. That's twenty-one million US dollars. We can split the money evenly and if you want to retire, retire." She takes out her knife and polishes it. "One final job, one final head and we can be rich." Once the knife was glinting like silver, Sensei smiled and holstered it. "Eyes and ears peeled."
XXXX
"This is so not good," Derek whispers as they travel blindly into the cave. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness and could see the outline of human people walking in the caves who weren't using any flashlights but Derek could make out an outline of a firearm in their hands. They stuck close to the wall, practically melting themselves into it as they traveled along and made a little noise as possible.
We're almost there, he thought as he saw the cave light. Just a hop, skip, and a jump away and we're home free. His foot kicked a pebble forward, alerting the presence of a gunman to his left.
The gunman snapped his gun at Derek and turned on a flashlight. Derek suddenly found himself blinded as the beam landed on his face. He quickly held his hands up.
"I know how this works," Derek drones nonchalantly. "You're going to tell me to put my hands up, I'm going to tell you I have information, and then you're going to tell me-"
Once the gunman turned off the safety, he was about to pull the trigger. Niko threw a rock at the gunman just as he squeezed. Several rounds lodged into the wall behind Derek, the gunshots sounding so loud he felt as if he were deaf for a second. He charges for the gunman but the gunman trips Derek to the ground. Niko picked up a much larger rock this time and hit the gunman over the head this time.
The gunman fell to the ground, bleeding profusely before Derek snatched his pistol out and finished him off with a headshot. "Shit," he groans before picking himself up, keeping the folded-up fleece close to his stomach. "The dragon definitely would've heard that gunshot."
"We need to get out of here." Niko grabs the gunman's gun, which turned out to be a sniper rifle. He salvaged several magazines from him. "I'll cover you."
Deek removes two magazines for the pistol. "I'm putting my faith in you, cuz."
With the entrance in sight, they charged for it. They nearly slowed down before they spotted two more gunmen heading into the cave. Niko stopped to kneel and shot the one in the left. Derek fired three bullets into the one on the right before he fell down. The gunman still tried to fire before Derek shot him in the head. The exit to this grand cave was within sight and only fifty feet away when-
Derek and NIko slowed to a complete halt when they saw that the entrance was covered left to right with gunmen, all with assault rifles. They would run out of ammo before the gunmen ran out of men.
Sensei spotted Derek Lowell. "Fire!"
Niko hid behind a boulder to his left while Derek hid behind a boulder to his right. With most of the gunfire coming in Derek's direction, Niko had a slight advantage. He peeked the sniper rifle out and he began sniping the gunmen one by one.
All those months of training with Aunty Erica really paid off.
His shooting was systematic; aim, fire, reload, no second chances. He had been told by his aunt if he humanizes his enemy, he will hesitate and that will cost him his life. The Warriors were willing to fake surrendering and attack even when wounded; they won't hesitate to kill us if given the chance. They are NOT human beings.
With all the gunfire coming at him, Derek, couldn't really jump up to get a good shot so he had to rely on blind firing. However, luck was on his side when a Warrior rushed him. He blindly fired at the Warrior, hitting him in the knee and making him fall to the ground beside Derek. Derek shoots him in the head before stealing his assault rifle and dragging his body to him. He uses the assault rifle to give himself some space and a chance against the attackers.
We're outnumbered and outgunned? he panicked as he ran out of ammo in his current magazine. He slaps a new magazine in but the thoughts continued to linger. We don't stand a chance; we're going to die. I am so sorry, Cassie. I am so sorry, Evan. I failed as a husband and a father.
ROAR!
Derek's back stiffens his blood runs cold when he heard the sounds. Oh no, we are DEFINITELY going to die.
He turns around to catch the sight of small flickers of light down the cave. He assumed it was gunfire but the unmissable sounds of humans screaming in terror did not escape him, especially when those screams were going off at the top of their lungs before silencing almost immediately. And who could forget the vibrating he could feel under his feet? That vibrating was getting closer and heavier with each passing second. Pretty soon, those vibrations turned into stomping that managed to make some of the Warriors wobble. They ceased fire to look down the cave. Their eyes hadn't adjusted yet to the darkness.
Derek could make out the outline of the dragon coming toward the entrance. The dragon, which was thirty feet in height, was as long as a snake in dragon portions and had red scaly skin and razor-sharp black claws. The eyes were piercing green in color with slits that could paralyze a snake. The snout of the dragon protruded and displayed a set of sharp teeth. Its ears were almost wolf-like and it moved like a human crawling on all fours, charging for them, ready to attack.
Derek gasps and makes a dash for it when all the Warriors decided to focus all their firepower on the monster. Niko ran for it and he managed to move out of the way in time as the dragon reached the end of the cave.
Taking in a deep breath, the dragon huffed before puffing out a storm of fire from its mouth and at the Warriors.
The two dozen Warriors are caught in the blaze and ignited into flames, almost like they were combusting. The screams were drowned out by the intensity at which the heat came at them. Derrek and Niko ran down to the monastery to take cover but they felt their bodies sweat, despite the snow around them.
Derek felt his back suddenly heat up. He looked down to see that some of the Golden Fleece had caught fire.
"No!" he screamed. "NO!" He dove to the ground and he doused the fleece in snow. "No, no, no." He managed to pat the fire out but half of the fleece had been burned to a crisp and he clutched onto the other half desperately.
They made it into one of the monasteries and hid inside. They looked out the window to see that all the Warriors had fallen down to the ground, completely burned alive while the dinosaur suddenly looked tired and fatigued like a human does when they run out of breath during a marathon.
The dragon suddenly collapsed forward on the ground, its head sticking just barely out of the cave and it closed its eyes and causing a massive rumbling that caused the cave entrance to the cave in on itself and cover the rest of the dragon in rocks and boulders.
Derek and Niko stepped outside to get a view of the monster and they thought that the monster was just taking a breather before the dragon suddenly wrinkled up into a frail shell and its skin turned gray.
"What the?" Niko gasped. "What the hell was that?"
"It shriveled up and died," Derek realized. "The only thing that kept that monster alive this entire was the Golden Fleece and now that it's going... it shriveled up and died."
And if that wasn't proof that the monster died, its head fell off like a plastic doll.
"Yep," Niko cringed, "it's dead."
"And so are those gunman."
One of the black and charred bodies suddenly twitched, and then three more of them.
"It had to be a 'fragon'..." They gurgled before they fell over, motionless.
"G...God," the second one sighed before his breath left him.
"I...am...Kami...kaze."
The first one that twitched opened its eyes and looked in Derek's direction. She holds up a burned hand and points at Derek. "You're... dead..." Her eyes rolled in the back of her head before she went motionless completely.
"Are they..." Niko began but couldn't finish.
Derek stepped over them and was very carefully using his sleeve as a glove to feel for any pulse on the Warriors. He found no pulse on the Warriors.
"They're dead, for real."
Derek stands up and looks down at the half-burned Golden Fleece. He looks around for one of the flames in the snow that hadn't gone out yet and he hesitantly put his hand over the flame. Once his palm turned red and started to blister, he pulled his hand back and tested the Golden Fleece on his hand.
His wound was gone. "Thank god," he gasps in excitement. "Oh my god... thank god."
"All that gold," Niko almost whined, "gone. Forever hidden."
Derek looked at the cave-in. "Yeah, that's usually how it goes."
Niko pulls something out. "Well then, it's a good thing I grabbed this."
Derek looks to see the ruby Niko was glossing over earlier in his hand. He laughs. "Good one."
"Thank you." He looks at the ruby. "Omaria is going to like this."
"She will." Derek stands up. "Let's get a move on and get out of here."
"Yeah," Niko agreed. "Let's get out of here."
Chapter 10: Rejuvenation
Maui, Hawaii
"Cassie," Derek made it to the hospital just as closing hours were about to begin. He ran into the hospital room and saw Cassie laying down in the bed.
"Hey, handsome," Cassie smiles. "You're looking handsome."
"I see you've developed a redundant speech pattern in my absence."
"How are you feeling?"
Derek smiled and tilted his head. "Strange, I should be asking you that question."
"Well, my ears are leaking and I can barely breath but aside from that, I can-"
Without wasting another second, Derek reaches into his backpack. He pulls out the half-burned Golden Fleece and lays it down over Cassie's body like a blanket. Cassie just watches with confusion as Derek goes to lock the door.
The Golden Fleece lights up and Cassie winces in pain before sighing softly. "Ouch," she hisses before biting her lower lip. "What's going on?"
In less than thirty seconds, Cassie's color had returned to her and her breathing seemed to come back. So did the energy and liveliness that only Cassie Drake could bring. Once Derek was sure that the Golden Fleece finished its job, evidenced by how the glowing stopped, he headed over to his dear wife and hugged her tightly.
"Cassie," he sobbed into her shoulder, "I missed you. I missed you so much."
Sensing something within her husband, she holds him close to her heart before flinging the fleece off of her. She sits up and realizes that the pain in her back and insides had all but vanished. She stood up out of the hospital bed and looked down at herself.
"Holy... crap!" she smiles. "Derek, what the hell was that?" She jumps a little while flicking her hands. "I feel five years young again."
"The Golden Fleece," Derek answers without hesitation. "That was the Golden Fleece. You have no idea what I've been through these last few days."
"So tell me."
And so Derek told her the story of everything he's been through on this Golden Fleece adventure, from traveling to China, the Dragon's Cradle, the Warriors, Japan, the Dragon's Castle, the Warriors again, and how he came to discover the Golden Fleece's true power.
"Derek..." Cassie whispers, "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me. Truly, I am so grateful for what you've done."
Derek smiled at her. "Thank you."
"What are we going to do with the Golden Fleece?" She looked at the fleece on the ground. "If we make it public, chances are, we'll attract the unwanted attention of enemies."
Derek nods. "And the last thing we want is Overlord to be on our asses once more."
"Right. We shall hide it, somewhere where it can never be found." She looks down at the ground. "But... if Evan were to ever get sick... we should leave it in a place where only the two of us know about."
Derek looks at her. "Does that make us selfish?"
"It does, but if being selfish means our son gets to live in peace then I'll take it."
"Yes," Derek nods firmly, "me too."
"How about the CD Abyss?" she suggests with a smirk.
Derek smirks back at her.
The CD Abyss - the name of an abyss in a region and country known only to Cassie and Derek. A lost canyon they found a long time ago that wasn't too big nor too small to hide their hidden loot. They will put the Golden Fleece there and if Evan gets sick with something, like cancer, then they will go back to the CD Abyss, grab the fleece, and heal their son before hiding the fleece from the world before it falls into the wrong hands.
Two days later, Cassie was officially discharged from the hospital on a clean bill of health with the doctors falling her recovery a miracle. Even the doctor, who was an atheist, was having a hard time trying to comprehend what happened.
The first thing Cassie did as soon as she got out was hold out her hands so her son, Evan, could walk into her arms.
"Bah bah," Evan babbles into his mother's arms.
"How's mommy's little prince doing?" she laughed before picking Evan up and swinging him in the air. "Your mommy isn't leaving you any day now," she promised. "My little prince, I will always be there for you."
While Cassie and Evan were having fun with each other and making each other laugh, Derek elected to head into the bathroom and locked himself in. Once he was sure no one could hear him, he let out all the tears he had been bottling up for over a month.
It's my fault, he sobbed. It's my fault Evan almost lost his mother. That Confederate gold... was cursed. Anyone who touched it, their loved ones died. Cassie and Evan could've died because of me. She WOULD'VE died if not for the Golden Fleece.
"Damn it," he whispers before gripping his hair so hard that it hurt. "What have I done?!"
Maybe it was that time of Lemuria when Cassie got her illness from one of the natives but the logic that the doctor explained about how Cassie was unable to transmit the disease was completely absurd. And not to mention the fact that Cassie only started coughing after he came back from Louisiana during his Confederate gold adventure. Regardless if it was the Lemurians or if it was the gold, Derek couldn't shake this pang of guilt stabbing him in the heart like a knife.
Would Cassie and Evan be better off if I left?
The End of Chapter 16
A/N: That concludes the Derek-solo trilogy arc that began with 'The Confederate Gold'. There will be ONE more Derek-solo trip in the future but it won't be coming anytime soon.
