by Ino Lee
The demon stepped back, turned its head up, and howled. Black shadow started rising from its body and the lo-shur separated from the ninja. Li rushed and thrust his sword into its chest, but its eyes had already cleared and its pupils changed back to its normal hue of red. He chased the shadow form of the demon with his sword, but it floated away to a safe distance.
After drawing first blood, Wong continued to exchange sword strikes. The demonic ninja came at him with ferocity, trying to move in close to gain a tactical advantage of sword over staff. It dodged and lunged, but the Weapons Master parried and backed away. He spun his blades hand over hand in front of him, slicing the ground and kicking up loose bits of gravel. The demon was now in retreat, backpedaling and back-flipping to keep from getting its toes cut off. Its free hand shot forward and cutting stars spewed from its grasp. Wong managed to divert some of the stars by whirling his staff, but the projectiles were too numerous and thrown at too close a distance. He leapt back off his feet and hit the ground to avoid the rest, but one grazed his shoulder.
Immediately the ninja was on top of him. Wong barely managed to hold back a downward hack of its sword with his staff. The ninja grinned and pressed its weapon, but its face went blank when it glanced upward.
Han came down on their position with his war mace cocked. He unloaded on the demon’s face with a ferocious uppercut that sent it flying across the field. It smacked into a tree and crumpled to the ground, motionless.
Seeing its comrades fallen and Zhozang angrily storming back in, Tae’s enemy backed away. It shot one last cold glance at the party, spread its arms, and looked up. Black shadow rose from its body and its eyes turned back to red. The black spirit pulled away from the dark ninja and hovered above its head, gathering in form and shape. It then quickly retreated into the forest and disappeared.
The abandoned ninja now stood alone, seemingly confused as it looked around. It grasped its weapon with both hands as if it would fight, but then abruptly turned and ran.
Han and Wong crept closer to where Tae and Zhozang stood from one side, while Li approached from the other. They stared into the forest where the last ninja fled, unsure of what was next to come.
“At least we got one of them,” Han said.
Li looked more pensive and glanced at Han’s wound.
Han guessed Li’s worry. “It’s nothing. Flesh wound.”
“That was pathetic,” Zhozang muttered, referring to his own performance.
Wong covered up his cut without saying a word. He was angry that a single lo-shur demon had almost gotten the best of him. His concentration was off—there were too many people around him to worry about.
The sense of relief from their victory was minor, cut short by loud shrieking sounds in the distance. Another cry followed from a different location, with several more in rapid succession. The lo-shur ninjas weren’t just trying to intimidate them, they were communicating with each another and coordinating another attack.
The stealth force looked desperately into the forest but could not see the attack coming. They could only hear it. The shrieks intensified and came together, evolving from calls for help to a cacophony of war cries. Though it was hard to count the exact number that hunted them, one thing was certain: it was much more than the first wave and getting closer.
“There are too many of them,” Li said, taking a couple of steps back.
The company began to turn. A shriek burst out closer than the rest.
“Go!” Wong yelled.
They ran. A myriad of howls chased them. They moved as fast as they could in the twilight, through tree and underbrush, uncertain of where they were headed, driven by the screams.
Countless thoughts raced through Wong’s mind. They would not be able to escape the lo-shur once darkness hit. The Koon Gee would catch them, surround them, and kill them. Perhaps if he was alone he might stand a chance, but not with them, and not with Kai. With Kai they would always be the hunted, and always on the run. He needed to be alone, free to run around and pick them off, and free to run away when situation called for it.
His decision was made.
This is how he would meet his end. Not by running and hiding, but by turning and facing them alone, like always. He had been fearful of his death before and it made him weak. Now he would turn and embrace it. There was no other choice.
A familiar light glimmered in his eyes and he stopped in his tracks. He wanted to call out to the others, but couldn’t find the words. He opened his mouth to shout, but only found silence.
Tae noticed him trailing off and stopped.
“Wong?” she called.
He still could not find words. He just stared at her silently. It did not matter, because she could already tell what was on his mind. She had seen that look before. She took a step in his direction.
Wong regained his composure. “You have to keep on running. I can buy you time.”
“Not alone.”
“I can only do this alone,” he said resolutely. “I’ll find my way back to you.”
He turned away.
“Just like that?” she said, understanding his prophecy was about to come to fruition.
“Just like that,” he responded, facing her.
Behind them, the screaming intensified.
“Get Kai out of here,” he said.
Tae hesitated, took a step forward, and thought to follow.
“Tae,” Wong called out, halting her.
She looked up. His face was calm.
“The thing about rock lilies . . . it’s that they’re beautiful and delicate . . . and they bloom despite all the rough and ragged rock around them.”
A scream sounded off to the far right and made her flinch. When she looked back, Wong was gone.
She stared blankly into the forest for a moment, tears nearly welling up in her eyes, and then turned and ran before she lost track of the others. She caught up to them quickly after they noticed her missing and slowed.
“Where’s Wong?” Li asked.
She shook her head. “He’s gone back.”
Li’s head darted back and his eyes opened wide.
“We have to go after him,” Han said.
Li winced. His brother had turned back to face the hunters and stall them; he could not waste his sacrifice by going after him. They had to keep moving forward for Kai.
“No,” he said. “We keep running.”
26
WONG DARTED THROUGH the forest with his staff tucked behind an arm, winding through the trees as neatly and quietly as a cat on the prowl. He headed directly into the cries of the demons, the shrill screams sending chills down his spine.
Blood pulsed in his ears as he considered a plan of attack. The demons were too widely scattered now for him to stop them all. The most he could do was stand in the path of the loudest activity and hope to divert the bulk of the onslaught. It was an odd feeling turning into the chaos, but he preferred it over running away.
He dropped to his knees and stopped. He held the Dragon Arm out before him, parallel to the ground, with both blades fully extended. He closed his eyes.
The screams were almost upon him now. They rang in his ears and filled him with fury. His own mark flashed into his memory now—scars of the past enraging him. He let his mind go free, clearing his thoughts, and regaining balance. Soon the sounds of the enemy faded away—tools used to instill fear and uncertainty—and all that was left was silence. He closed his eyes and saw light—a bright, white, searing radiance.
Giddy from the hunt and their proximity to the mark, the lo-shur ninjas ran as a rabid pack. They could feel the mark’s draw within their reach. Though obscured by monk magic, it was almost tangible. It tempted and excited them.
They let out primal shrieks—in part to terrorize their enemies, in part from the sheer exhilaration of the hunt. In spirit form
the lo-shur were barely alive, without feeling and emotion. They were a cold, calculating, and malevolent presence. But when joined with their minions, they took on the nature of the forms they possessed. Blood coursed through their veins, air passed through their lungs, and sensations flooded their minds. They screamed and ran and hunted, elated to be alive.
They sped through the forest unhindered by the darkness when the foremost ninja stopped. Several of its companions followed suit, taking up its cautionary posture. Their shrieking ceased and silence blanketed the area.
In the clearing ahead knelt the Weapons Master with the Dragon Arm gleaming before him. He was alone, encompassed in a great aura of chi. It blazed and whipped around him like a great fire, spiraling upward in a funnel of power.
The lo-shur would have ordinarily pounced at the opportunity to rid themselves of their hated enemy, but this time they held back. His display of power was staggering, causing them pause despite their overwhelming numbers. They considered their options as the mark, their primary target, pulled away.
Seconds later they charged, screaming.
Although his eyes were closed, Wong could clearly see them coming. He could feel them coming.
Two straight ahead of him, the one on the left more powerful than the one on the right. Two on the wings, one heading toward him and the other running off to the side.
The lo-shur ninjas quickly closed in. They charged as he knelt motionless and gained in excitement the closer they got. When they were close enough to see the lids of his eyes, he opened them.
A silver disc shot from his left hand and metal blades protruded from it midair. It landed deep in the flesh of a tree trunk, barely missing the head of a ninja on the wings. The ninja appeared to be circling around, either to sneak up on him from behind or abandon their confrontation altogether in pursuit of Kai.
The cutting disc got its attention.
“Going somewhere?” Wong said.
The ninja wasted no time and redirected its attack. Two of its comrades were already within reach.
Wong jumped up from his position and held them back, blocking and sidestepping the attacks. He moved effortlessly, almost lackadaisical in his approach, despite the danger. Though he felt he could hold them off all day, the other demons soon arrived to intensify their assault, forcing him to retreat and assess his options. He couldn’t fight them all at once out in the open and knew his only chance was to isolate and take them out individually. A thicker part of the forest was desirable.
Running into the pack, he sliced at the demons in his way and scattered them. He continued toward the denser forest with the lo-shur following closely behind. When he finally thought the conditions were right, he turned. He swept down on an outlying ninja and attacked it ferociously.
The surprised ninja barely dodged his initial attack and backed away, fleeing from the blades of the Dragon Arm. Quickly, the other demons came to its aid and converged. Before they had a chance to surround him, Wong took off again.
He employed this tactic for a time, winding through the trees to confuse them and then trying to pick off an isolated enemy when the opportunity presented itself, but the ninjas adapted quickly. To counter his strategy, they ran in tighter formations so they could close in on him whenever he attacked, and after a while, began to use his forays as a means to synchronize their own attacks.
It was not long before he knew his strategy was failing. Wong had hardly begun to move toward a stray ninja when several others burst through the woods after him. He parried multiple blows before flipping away to the sound of cutting stars whizzing by his head. The action was lightning-quick and the obstacle of a wooded terrain was not enough to deter them. It was time to push the limits of their abilities. Wong looked up and jumped into the treetops. Their new battle would take place above the ground.
He scurried up a tree and jumped from branch to branch, vertically through the foliage. Below he could see the faces of the lo-shur ninjas climbing in pursuit. He stopped halfway up the trunk, ran horizontally across a bough, and sprang onto the next tree.
After hopping several more stops, he turned to examine his pursuers. The lo-shur were now scattered across separate trees, picking different paths to him. Wong smirked. Because they were in the treetops, the lo-shur were unable to group together—only so many ninjas could fit on a limb. This made them vulnerable. He took off again, up and across several boughs, and planned his attack.
He came down on one of the ninjas, knocking it off a tree limb. They landed on separate lower branches, but he jumped back up to the ninja’s level, facing off on a limb thick enough to support their weight. Unable to move laterally, Wong gained an advantage with his staff’s longer reach. The ninja slashed at him, but he blocked and thrust his weapon, catching it in the shoulder.
Another demon landed on the branch behind him. He jabbed back at it with the opposite end of the Dragon Arm, but as soon as he did, the ninja on the other end advanced and attacked. Wong blocked and before the ninja on the far end could attack again, he speared the end of the Dragon Arm deep into the branch between them. The runes on the staff lit and the blade tripled in size. The branch cracked in half, causing the ninja to fall away.
He turned his attention back to his injured foe and tried to finish it off, but reinforcements arrived and chased him away.
Up through the treetops he ran, spinning his blades as he propelled himself higher so that a cloud of debris rained down behind him. The ninjas followed as best as they could, but began to lose sight of him as severed leaves, twigs, and splinters of wood hit their faces.
Wong spotted a heavy bough above him and an idea emerged. The runes on the Dragon Arm glowed hot white again and the blade that had tripled in size lengthened even further. Putting his weight behind a swing, he sliced cleanly through the thick tree bough. Down it fell, promising to take with it whichever demons lay in its path. But despite their impaired vision, the ninjas couldn’t miss such a large falling object. They jumped to the side and watched it harmlessly drop by.
What they did not see was the Weapons Master dropping down behind it.
He caught one of the ninjas by surprise and knocked it off its perch. When they crashed into the branch below, he had impaled it with the large end of his blade—and with blackness still in its eyes.
One down, three to go.
The lo-shur ninjas perched above howled in disgust at the sight of their fallen comrade. Wong glared at them. His eyes glowed menacingly white with fire.
He ran off through the trees again, choosing difficult paths to follow. The ninjas pursued. After a short chase, he circled back, picked a target, and swept down on it.
The ninja was prepared and repelled him, knocking him back off its bough. Wong fell and grabbed onto a thin tree limb, swinging safely to another branch. A second ninja pounced and sliced at him as soon as he landed, but he darted away, climbing higher into the trees.
A third demon came down at him from above, and the two exchanged strikes midair. Wong led with a spear attack, but the demon reached down and knocked it aside. As the two passed each other, Wong managed to pull out a throwing spike and stab it into the ninja’s side. He wanted to drop back down to pursue it, but the other two were already moving up toward him.
He continued high into the treetops.
With the lo-shur demons below, he did not expect to see something move ahead. It was another ninja. He switched trees and spotted more. Numerous figures now riddled the space all around him, but before panic could settle in, he realized they were just ordinary dark ninjas. He stopped to look around, perched atop a branch.
“We have you now, Weapons Master,” snarled a voice in the trees. It was the lo-shur demon that he had just stuck a spike into.
The other demons squatted nearby and stopped advancing too.
“Do you?” Wong replied, eyeing his spike.
The demon
snarled and pulled the bolt from its side, letting it drop. An ordinary dark ninja landed on the bough next to it, and almost immediately, shadow pulled away from the injured demon’s body. It gathered in a cloud before seeping into the ninja standing beside it.
The dark ninja howled at the infusion of lo-shur power. Its eyes turned black, its muscles bulged, and it looked to grow in size. Its mask popped off to reveal a smirking, cackling facade. It stood as a fresh new warrior, mutated, and injury-free.
“Terrific,” Wong said.
He sighed, took a moment, and sprang forward again.
27
LI, TAE, KAI, HAN, and Zhozang continued through the forest, spurred on by sounds of the lo-shur. They ran on pure emotion—a mixture of fear for their lives and worry for Wong. Kai listened for signs of activity and looked up from Han’s backpack after sensing something unusual. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt a great power from afar.
When the sounds diminished, they wondered uncertainly if Wong had stalled the lo-shur.
“Hold on,” Li said. “We can’t keep running without aim. We need direction.”
He chanted a quick incantation and a white ball of light materialized before them. He concentrated for a second longer, and the light shifted direction.
“This way to the temple.”
Looking to the right of it, the orb shifted again. “We run this way, away from the lo-shur but toward the temple as much as possible.”
He was off again, hastening them onward. Because of the growing darkness, he maintained the glowing orb in front of them; it gave them light to travel by as well as a focal point to run to. Though the orb drained him, the minimal sacrifice in energy was worth the gains in travel.
“Can we make it out of the forest?” Tae asked.
“I’m not sure. For now, we must escape the reach of the radiance pools.”
Fresh new sounds could be heard, some uncomfortably close behind. Li quickened their pace by moving the orb faster, but failed to distance them from the growing threat.