Warriors of the Way-Pentalogy

by Orlando A. Sanchez

  “This will suffice,” it growled. The rest of the group drew close and unconsciously gave the Rah Ven space, forming a loose semi-circle around it. It sat back on its haunches and for a moment nothing occurred.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Meja under my breath.

  “I think you’re asking the wrong person, Dante,” Meja whispered back.

  After what seemed like five minutes of sitting completely still, the Rah Ven’s eyes glowed, which seemed to activate the symbols on the wall. After all of the symbols were glowing, it let out a growl, more like a rumble that started low and began increasing in volume. It continued the growl/howl until I could see the ground start vibrating. Even with my hands on my ears, the sound was piercing. The only one that seemed unaffected was Sylk. In ten more seconds I was sure my eardrums would burst. That was when I noticed the wall, which had taken on a gelatinous quality. Sylk walked over to it and touched it. The wall raced away from his hand exposing an opening. The Rah Ven walked in first, followed by Sylk. We quickly followed. Past the wall awaited a stark contrast to the desert exterior. Lush grass surrounded the entrance to what only could be described as a keep. The entrance to the keep was a solid wood set of double doors that stood twenty feet high. The keep itself was comprised of huge blocks. There were no windows to speak of but I noticed several arrow loops. The roof of the keep was the true sight. It looked like a giant geodesic dome. The dome was enclosed on four sides by turrets that towered over the dome. Sylk turned to the Rah Ven.

  “Thank you Gatekeeper. Will you wait for us?”

  The Rah Ven sat facing the entrance of the keep. “I shall await your return here. My position does not allow me entrance to the Watch.”

  Sylk nodded. “I understand.”

  “A word, Karashihan. There are several dangers within. The greatest of these lies within each of you.” The Rah Ven ended his last sentence looking at me. A cold sensation gripped my abdomen.

  “Understood,” said Sylk and he made his way to the entrance. The Rah Ven remained so still I wondered if it had reverted to a statue. The only thing that moved was his eyes. As I walked by it, I drew closer to see if it was breathing.

  “Do you have a name?” I whispered more to myself than to the Rah Ven. It turned its head then, with a suddenness, and I could almost swear, a grin.

  “If you return alive, warrior, perhaps you will learn it,” it said as I made my way to the huge double doors.

  DISCOVERY

  AS WE DREW close to the door, I noticed the emblem of the monitors on it. I remembered that the Watches were run and populated by monitors. Sylk, who looked pretty bad at this point, turned to Meja.

  “Monitor, I have done my part, you must now do yours.”

  “What do you mean your part? What about the inner defenses?”

  “They won’t mean anything if we cannot get past this door.”

  He had a point. It seemed that Meja came to the same conclusion and went to inspect the door. I turned back and looked at the Rah Ven, which sat motionless. The scent of fresh cut grass permeated the air and the day felt cool —quite the change from sitting in a desert. Meja drew close to the symbol with a confused look, then she started to look around the doorway.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked. I had never seen her anything less than secure and confident. “The symbol, it’s correct, but the lock is missing there.” She pointed to the symbol and I saw what she meant. It looked as if the lower third of the symbol had been erased.

  “It’s usually close by somewhere nondescript and usually inverted to hide its meaning.”

  I looked around and couldn’t find anything that remotely resembled the emblem.

  “Here!” she exclaimed. I couldn’t see it but I took her word for it. She was crouched on the lower right hand side of the doorway. “Inverted and mirrored, I have never seen this before.”

  “Can you open it?” It was Mara. She had a worried expression on her face. I looked at Sylk and saw why. He looked paler than before, if that was possible. He was no longer sweating but if I looked carefully I could see him trembling slightly. He didn’t look like he would last much longer. I turned to Meja. If he died out here, we had no chance to get to the records, which meant this entire trip was in vain. We had to move fast.

  “Meja—”I began.

  “I’m on it.” She had seen me look at Sylk. “It just means I need to reverse and flip the order of the sequence.”

  “Are you sure? What happens if you’re wrong?”

  I had this image of some failsafe falling into place flash in my head. Something like an extra door or some kind of fence sealing the door.

  She answered without turning to me. “You see the gatekeeper?”

  “Yes, he hasn’t moved from that spot. May as well be a statue.”

  “If I fail, that will be the last thing any of us will ever see. They are the failsafe of the Watch. To this day, no one has ever defeated a Rah Ven, this close to a watch.” Now it was my turn to sweat.

  Meja began to draw symbols in the air. Her hands moved slowly at first and then increased in velocity, until they were a blur. Blue trails followed her fingertips as she outlined the entrance symbol in the air. It seemed to require more than one application as I saw her repeat a sequence several times. I would ask her about that later. After the last sequence, she placed her hand on the emblem of the monitors. A blue glow suffused the emblem momentarily as if being absorbed. Nothing happened. I kept my eyes on the Rah Ven who was slowly disappearing. “No!” I yelled. Everyone was focused on the door as the Rah Ven seemed to evaporate.

  “It’s okay, Dante. If I had failed, I would have been the first attacked,” said Meja with audible relief.

  What sounded like counterweights and a very large locking mechanism began to move and shudder in the wall beside the entrance. Slowly the doors began to open. The stench hit me first. It was horrible—burnt flesh and something else, something rotting. The doors opened more rapidly presenting a view of the interior of the Watch. Inside the entrance was a courtyard, with an obelisk in the center of it. At the apex was a crescent moon with what appeared to be a silver owl in the center. The obelisk stood thirty feet high. Its sides, the ones that I could see, were covered in some brown liquid. As I followed the liquid up, I saw the bodies. Impaled on either end of the crescent moon was a body. The points of the crescent protruded through the abdomen of each.

  “Who could have done such a thing? Why?” The keep doors closed behind us with a slow sigh as if weeping for the victims.

  I was still looking up when I heard a sharp intake of breath from around me.

  “You,” said Meja through gritted teeth.

  Stepping around the obelisk, clad all in black a sai in each hand stood Diana.

  “Yes, me. Their deaths will seem like mercy when I finish with your group,” she said softly, her words carrying in the still courtyard. Around us, from the shadows emerged figures. The Black Lotus.

  “Time to die,” she said as she leapt towards Meja.

  COST

  TIME SEEMED TO stop. I saw Diana leap and wondered how anyone could ever leap so high. The figures around us stood motionless, apparently under orders not to interfere. It felt like time itself was holding its breath. Meja drew her sword just in time to deflect a double sai attack. The deep violet of Diana’s sai vibrated in the air, seeming alive. Meja’s sword flashed with a blue glow.

  “You will not be able to draw another skein, Meja.”

  Meja didn’t answer but circled around her opponent. Kal and Val made a move to enter. Diana looked at them, rooting them where they stood.

  “Explain to them, Meja, how quickly they will cease breathing if they take one more step.”

  Meja looked at them, signaling them to back up. I wondered what she meant when I looked down at the ground around us. What appeared to be a lattice work of violet energy surrounded us. Now I understood what she meant about Meja not being able to draw another skein: we were in the middle of on
e. As I looked around, I saw that we were roughly in a large circle of energy. The figures in black surrounded the circle. We were trapped for the time being. Meja and Diana stood in what seemed to be a clearing, a circle within the circle, which was devoid of the energy lattice. We had walked right into this, like amateurs.

  “This is simple, Meja. You kill me; you may enter the Watch proper. You fail, I kill them all. Either way, you must fight, my dear.”

  “I will not kill you, Diana,” said Meja.

  “Do you really think you even have the skill to face me? Compared to me, you are a neophyte, wet behind the ears. I have forgotten more than you will ever learn.”

  I could see the words stung; Meja’s expression hardened.

  “Very well, Sensei,” whispered Meja. Diana smiled and threw a sai. Meja parried with her sword and deflected it, sending it on a trajectory to her left. The sai kept travelling and then stopped as if on a tether. It slowed and then snapped back into Diana’s hand, barely missing Meja on the way back. As I looked carefully, I saw what appeared to be a filament running from the sai’s handle to each of Diana’s wrist guards. Diana lunged forward, sai in hand. Meja stepped to the side, blocking with her sword. Diana was fast; she almost stabbed Meja with that move. A flurry of attacks followed: lunges, slices, pommel attacks and throughout it all Meja managed to defend against each. Every attack missed her or was blocked and parried by a fraction of an inch.

  “I know what you are doing, girl. And you can’t keep defending forever. Sooner or later, you will tire and I guarantee it will be before I do.” Diana was right. I could see the strain on Meja’s face. Sweat ran freely down her face now.

  “It seems you need incentive. I will provide it.” Diana jumped into a forward roll and came out of it beside Valeria.

  “You were eager to join us before,” she said as she grabbed a handful of Valeria’s hair.

  “This is our fight; she has no part in it. Leave her alone!” said Meja.

  “I disagree, Meja. They all have a part in this fight. Some are more pivotal than others, but all of them important. Take her, for example,” she said as she slid a sai across Valeria’s cheek. Her part is to make you realize your true potential.” With that, she took her sai and buried it into Valeria’s midsection. Valeria crumpled to the floor with a look of pain and surprise on her face. The grass beneath her began to turn crimson as blood rushed out of her wound. It had happened so fast no one reacted for a full second.

  “No!” screamed Kal and Meja in unison. Kal launched herself at Diana, only to be flung back as if smashing into an invisible wall. She hit the ground hard. Meja ran towards Diana, anger transfixing her features.

  “Now you are ready to fight? Good.”

  Diana joined her sai and they merged into a short sword. Meja was attacking, every thrust, cut, had the intention of removing Diana from existence.

  “Your friend, your pupil, is dying, Meja. Is this the best you can do? Have you learned nothing? You cannot defeat me. Especially not in your state.” That was when I felt the shift. The air around Meja shimmered briefly and her face changed. She no longer appeared angry. In fact, she appeared almost – peaceful?

  Diana saw it and a flicker of worry crossed her expression. With each attack, Meja drew closer until their crossed swords were inches from each other’s faces. I felt another shift and looked around; no one else seemed to have noticed it. Meja’s left hand began to glow a deep indigo.

  “You’re right, Sensei. It may appear that I have not learned much,” she said in a soft whisper, “but you were not my only teacher.” Meja placed her palm on Diana’s chest. The indigo from her hand spread across the width of Diana’s chest almost instantly.

  “What? No!” Diana staggered back.

  “You should have left us alone, Diana,” Meja said, sounding almost sad.

  Diana fell to her knees. As she fell, the lattice work around us disappeared. Zen ran to Valeria.

  “What have you done, you bitch!” Diana’s voice sounded strangled as if she couldn’t get enough air.

  “I told you I would not kill you and I will keep my word. That –” she pointed to Diana’s chest, “is a soul siphon.”

  Diana’s eyes opened in fear. “How could you know… you are not skilled enough…” She fell back with her eyes open.

  “I do know and it’s evident I am skilled enough. I told you, you were not my only sensei. You will remain alive but without any power until the siphon has run its course.” Meja looked genuinely sad.

  “How long does a siphon last?” I asked her.

  “It varies. Usually one or two,” she said as she rushed over to Zen.

  I ran behind her. “One or two days, months, hours, what?”

  I did not want to run into Diana anytime soon. I was hoping for years. Actually I was thinking—driving a blade through her right now was not such a bad idea. Preemptive nightmare avoidance.

  Meja was bent over Valeria. I touched her shoulder.

  “How long?” She looked up at me, tears in her eyes.

  “Centuries, Dante. One or two centuries, which is more mercy than she showed Valeria.”

  “No.” I said looking down at Val.

  Zen looked at me and nodded.

  “She’s gone,” he whispered.

  Meja stood and faced the circle of shadows. With steel in her voice, she spoke, “Go and tell your Masters what occurred this day. Tell them that if they want us, they will have to send someone much stronger or come themselves.” The shadows faded into nothingness, leaving us alone. When I turned, Diana’s body was gone as well.

  “Kal, oh no. Zen, tend to her. This will be devastating for her. I fear for her survival,” said Meja.

  I looked over to where Kal lay. I was certain this was going to crush her; she just lost her sister to psycho bitch from hell. But her life was in danger? Meja must have read my face and turned away from Valeria’s body.

  “They were more than twins. They shared a life bond.”

  “Life bond…Their lives were joined?”

  “In a loose sense, no. They did however share a chi bond which allowed them to be conscious of the other anywhere on the planet. They knew how the other felt without needing to express it in words. When that bond is severed, especially violently, the twin that survives is greatly affected. In rare occasions, the bond is so close that the death of one can signal the death of both. That is what we are making sure of in this case – that Kalysta survives.”

  We walked over to Kal’s body, where she lay breathing. Zen was gently bringing her to.

  “Ugh —what the hell. Val! Where is Val? Where is she?” She looked around frantically until her eyes landed on her sister’s body. “Nononononono it can’t be. Val!” She stood up and nearly collapsed. Zen held her steady. “Take me to her.” She looked up at Zen.

  “Kal, are you sure?” Zen said, before he got a chance to look at her face.

  “I said, Take. Me. To. Her.” She was determined to see Val’s body. She knelt beside her sister and took her hand into her own. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t protect you.”

  Tears flowed freely from her eyes. We all stood around Kal paying our last respects to our fallen comrade. I knelt down beside Kal. She stood shakily. I bent down and picked up Val’s body. It was so light, as if life had lent it weight and now lifeless she would float away.

  “Put her here, Dante.” She stood before the monitor’s obelisk. I gently placed her body at the obelisk. I stood back and gave her some space. “I promise you, Valeria, you will not have died in vain,” she whispered softly. After a few moments, she stood with a new resolve on her face.

  “Let’s go, Dante, she is at peace now.”

  We made our way to the entrance of the Watch proper.

  KEEPER

  THE FIRST THING I noticed was the immensity of the Watch. Having never been in a Watch before, I didn’t know if this was the typical design. It felt like being inside a giant cathedral. The ceiling was vaulted and
ornate. Each of the walls depicted murals of large scale battles or vistas that seemed to go on forever. Many of the columns had statues carved into them. The floor was polished to a high gloss. The red marble, at least it resembled marble, was a rich, deep color. Our footsteps echoed in the atrium and I got the impression we weren’t alone. At the end of the atrium was a pair of brass doors that were intricately designed. On each door, the monitor’s emblem was etched in a deep blue, almost black. Sylk walked over to the doors and whispered some words I couldn’t hear, causing the doors to begin to hum. I saw the crescents shift and turn to form a circle with interlocked owls. Looking nothing like the monitor’s emblem, the circle shifted from blue to red, outlined in white.

  “These doors predate monitors by about a hundred years. Beyond this point, touch nothing unless instructed,” Sylk said, his voice raspy. A look of concern crossed Meja’s face. Once we were inside, I could immediately sense the difference. The space was still cavernous but it felt lived in. We entered what appeared to be an antechamber. Around the room were spacious sofas or lounge chairs. In some areas were wooden benches. Sitting on one of the benches was a very old man. He appeared to be at least eighty or ninety years old. In his hands was a large mug of steaming liquid. It reminded me of how long it had been since I had eaten anything beyond our provisions of dried food and water. The old man didn’t look up at us. He sat there with his eyes closed, as if savoring the aroma of the liquid. We drew closer and Sylk stopped before him. After some time the old man sighed, as if interrupting a reverie. He had been perfectly still up to that point. He opened his eyes, which to my surprise were pupil-less. His eyes were a deep blue. There was no discernible difference between what was usually the iris or the white of the eye. Everything was a deep blue. It was unsettling to say the least.

  “Welcome,” the old man said, his voice deep and robust. Sylk bowed as best as he could in his state. We took this as a cue to follow suit. The old man stood slowly as if feeling his years. He looked intently at Sylk as if gauging his words. He wore a simple blue robe that matched the color of his eyes, and in his left hand, he held a simple wooden staff that he used to stand. The staff also served as a walking stick as he stepped closer to Sylk. I could feel the power emanating from him. He placed his mug down on one of the tables and placed one hand on Sylk.