by Ino Lee
The demon seethed, but an unan stuck its head over the railing shortly after and climbed onto the deck with its lanky frame, the discarded mace now in its hand.
Renshu backed up, wary of the new combatant in an ogre mask; fighting a kaigun-shur was challenging enough without having to worry about an unan. A few monkey caws lifted his spirits and soon three magaus joined the nervous standoff.
The kaigun-shur suddenly looked up as if it were listening to something from afar, then called out to the unan. “Take them.”
It shifted to spirit form and floated up through the platform’s rafters.
Renshu bolted at the unan, rattled off a few strikes, then pressed past it, lengthening the Dragon Arm and vaulting to the ceiling. He hooked his staff onto the side of the platform and pulled himself up to the next level, leaving the magaus behind to take on the unan, understanding where the lo-shur was headed.
Xiong, Jaguan, and Aiying fought to the top of the fortress where a singular structure appeared, a vaulted room with windows that offered panoramic views of the surrounding forest. Its double-doors were currently barred shut, an obstacle that would provide little resistance to a sword bearing the power of an Infinity shard.
“Ready?” Xiong said.
Jaguan touched the door. “There are demons inside. Let me make take the requisite adjustments.”
He opened a vial of chi water and drank it.
The Shoukui sliced straight down the middle of the doors and kicked open the barriers to reveal a radiance pool surrounded by four kaigun-shur and a tonkaija. The lone ninja’s metal mask had the form of an ill-defined skull with mesh eyes.
“Greetings, demons,” Xiong said. “This is where Tanjin turns.”
The kaigun-shur did not respond, but charged like a pack of rabid dogs, a pile of black demon flesh converging on them with sharp scintillating metal that caught rays of sunlight pouring through the open doors. The metal blinked with every footstep and shift of the arm, whether from the foible of a dao, cheek of a battle-ax, head of a spear, or prong of a trident.
Jaguan pulsed his weapon and punched them all back at once with a burst of chi energy—a sharp jolt that electrified their dark chi core—though the effects did not last long, being in such close proximity to the radiance pool. The disruption in their attack was all that was needed, however, enabling the Shoukoo to skirt the attack on course for the radiance pool. If he could disable or destroy it, the battle would be over. Standing in his way was the tonkaija, its body of flesh and bones better able to withstand the shock wave. The ninja sported a cudgel with a claw-like tip connected to a chain poised to strike.
Jaguan advanced and tried to overpower it by sheer force, emboldened by his taste of Infinity water, but the ninja was elusive, dodging and withstanding his blows, then wrapping its chain around his staff and pulling him to the ground since he refused to let go. Jaguan rolled then braced against a hack of the cudgel.
“I do not fear your power, Shoukoo,” the tonkaija rasped as it pressed down.
“Then fear my feet,” Jaguan said, thumping back.
He tried to stand up again, but the chain wrapped around his foot and tripped him.
“A monk is my favorite prey,” the tonkaija said. “I’ll throw you off the tower just as I did the other.”
It lashed out again with its chain.
Xiong charged the nearest demon that was jolted by Jaguan’s blast and sliced down as it kneeled on the ground, but the kaigun-shur turned to spirit to pass through the floor before he could get his sword down. The other demons reacted quickly and swarmed as a pack again, forcing him to sidestep a battle-ax chop, then parry rapid thrusts from multiple polearms. Four kaigun-shur were a foolish thing to take straight on. The attacks came fast and Xiong thought to retreat to the outer deck, but an arrow came whistling by his ear to pierce a kaigun-shur’s torso. Smoke spewed from the wound and the kaigun-shur howled in pain, losing its physical form, then dissipating entirely.
Aiying stood in the doorway, her mask removed for better vision. She was hesitant to join the battle, hoping the intense battle conditions would reignite a spark of yang chi within, but knew it was not to be; she had been a vessel of darkness for too long and needed more time to recover, a feeling made certain by the fact that the pool’s dark energy could be felt resonating within her body. So instead of drinking the vial of Infinity water hung around her neck, she used it to douse an arrow, a one-shot chance to help even the odds.
Another lo-shur came up through the decking after she released her arrow, throttling her with a fierce uppercut that knocked her inside. She lost her bow and scrambled, pulling out two long knives and trying to shake the fog from her head, harsh ringing between her ears.
Jaguan rolled away from whips of chain as splinters popped off the floorboards. The claw-end of the cudgel suddenly came flying through the air at his head, which he promptly batted away and returned to its sender.
The tonkaija ducked the claw, but an airborne Shaolin Staff followed, hitting it in the gut and detonating, the ensuing burst sending it flying back.
The Shoukoo retrieved his weapon and fought off a new round of attacks from the kaigun-shur with a trident.
Renshu curiously poked his head through the window and saw Xiong slice a kaigun-shur’s battle-ax in half, then fend off another attack by a dao. He thought to join the fight, but instead focused on the radiance pool on the far side. What a marvelous replacement it would make for the mud pool, he thought. Or better yet, perhaps they could reconstitute the mud pool here with the help of the radiance pool.
The flash of Jaguan’s staff pulled him from thought and back into the battle. He leaned inside the window and spotted an open beam that extended to the rafters. This would be his bridge to the radiance pool, where he would disrupt the claw mark glowing at the bottom to take away the kaigun-shur’s power, and preserve the water for his people.
He slinked high onto the beam and crossed over to an adjoining rafter, making it close to the top before jumping back and howling as if he were diving into the mud pool from a high branch.
A kaigun-shur saw the danger, dropped its dao, and charged, barreling into him midair. The two missed the pool and bounced on the ground as Renshu questioned why he had howled in the first place.
Aiying slashed wildly at the kaigun-shur that had thumped her, wishing she had also doused her knives in Infinity water. The demon was weaponless since it had just come out of spirit form, giving her a small degree of confidence in her weakened state, though it began to wane as she failed to land blows. The kaigun-shur caught a wrist and twisted, causing her to drop a knife and contort her body.
Her head tilted up and she saw orbs of chi energy flying overhead, a byproduct of protective balls rotating in a circular orbit around Jaguan, who fought nearby. She dropped the knife from her free hand and grabbed a hold of the demon’s wrist, placing a foot on its knee for leverage and pulling back, moving the kaigun-shur within range of Jaguan’s destructive force.
An energy ball smashed into the side of its head.
Once freed from her enemy, she ran for the radiance pool, but then a metal skull appeared, the elevated dark ninja standing still, yet somehow in perfect position to cut her off. Though her head still rang, she felt a jolt of energy and attacked it straight on.
The tonkaija stepped back from her spinning roundhouse, blocked two ensuing punches, then grabbed the third strike, twisting the same wrist as the kaigun-shur before it. Aiying contorted again and howled in pain.
“Stupid girl,” the ninja said. “Do you want to reach the pool? I’ll bring you to it.”
It grabbed the back of her neck, dragged her over, and forced her head underwater.
All sounds of the battle went silent as water filled her ears. She struggled, but the demonic ninja held tight. Her arms soon stopped flailing and went limp.
Was this the end?<
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A heartbeat could be heard through the ringing in her ears and she thought she might be delirious. The glow of the lo-shur mark at the bottom of the pool caught her attention and beckoned; it seemed to pulsate. That must be the source of the heartbeat, she reasoned, but why could she hear it?
She then understood with astonishing clarity—the ringing, the heartbeat, the jolt of energy—all were in response to the radiant dark energy feeding her body. Though she could not ingest the vial of temple water because her body had not yet returned to light, it meant that she was still receptive to dark, without the worry of a lo-shur mind controlling her.
There was one thing left to do.
She drank.
When the tonkaija pulled her head back up and looked at her face, it saw pitch black eyes and a wicked grin. A powerful punch hit its gut, then a second. It tried to fight back, but she grabbed its wrist and vengefully twisted, contorting its body, then flying up with a knee. The tonkaija flew back and its mask popped off from the impact.
This was no dark ninja. It was human—a Blood Ninja, no doubt, one whose chi had elevated. She looked in disgust at the traitorous human, but then turned and forged into the pool.
Moments later, all the kaigun-shur in the room lost form and turned to spirits. They fled hastily, fearful of the Infinity weapons and helpless to fight back.
“Yes!” Renshu said, cackling happily as he helped Aiying out of the pool. “I said you would not fail, did I not, Painted Lady?”
Aiying shivered with energy. “Your faith was true.”
She examined the room, which was now empty; even the Blood Ninja was gone. But at least the command post was overtaken, thanks in no small part to her actions. Was this redemption?
Jaguan and Xiong hailed her before Jaguan ran out onto the deck and signaled into the sky, a message to Tengfei and his troops beyond. A couple magaus popped into the room and ran over to Renshu, squawking excitedly at their reunion.
Tiger Lair was in good shape, but there was still work to be done. Aiying walked over to retrieve her fallen bow and quiver.
“What are you doing?” Renshu said.
“Xiong and Jaguan must remain to keep the lo-shur from returning. This fortress must still be overtaken, and I have all this energy still.” She put on her mask. “Will you join me? The Weeping Arrow has unfinished business.”
Renshu grinned. “Let’s go.”
Tiger Lair was soon secured, with more troops arriving from Fox Nest, filling the many tiers of the fortress with ranger bows. Now that they controlled the center of the battlefield, they would systematically regain control of the surrounding guard stations, one by one, starting with the area in between Tiger and Fox Nest. Much of the Koon Gee had already fallen to Tengfei’s forces, while others were in retreat.
Xiong, Jaguan, Aiying, and Renshu reconvened on the deck of the pool room and surveyed the forest.
“How much longer do you think it will be to regain Tanjin?” Jaguan said.
Xiong looked south. “The southern forest within the next hour or two.”
“So soon?”
“The magaus will swarm in conjunction with the rangers. You saw them in the forest. It will not take long. The northern towers will be more difficult, but unless this unan horde arrives, it would not be shocking if we retook Tanjin by nightfall. That should be our goal, at least, while there is daylight. I suspect they’ll retreat across the river before then.”
“Do you think it’s possible?” Aiying said. “The unan horde?”
“Unlikely. Not with the magaus here and the loss of the Lair. Their window has passed.”
“So it is done, then. We’ve regained Tanjin.”
“It seems so. Renshu is already planning alterations to Tiger Lair.”
“Monkey Lair,” Renshu corrected.
Xiong smiled. “As you wish.”
“I would not declare victory just yet,” Jaguan said. “Tanjin was only the first part of our troubles. Hanai is the other. It’s up to Wong now.”
40
THE DOOR CRASHED open and ninjas rushed in, stopping short at the sight of numerous bodies on the floor, as if a giant massacre had occurred. A little girl sat in the middle of the mayhem, playing with her doll, pretending to walk it over the hump of a slumped body.
She noticed them watching and waved the doll’s arm. “Oh hi, ninjas. My name is Mooooji.”
The foremost ninja took a closer look. “What the—”
Behind the door struck Riyon, thumping the closest ninja and taking out another.
The Blood Ninjas scrambled, but legs and arms from the fallen bodies sprang to life, tripping them up and pouncing with weapons. Kai, Hojin, Panyin, and Shadow rose from the pile and replaced themselves with the newcomers.
Riyon rushed out the door. “Hurry.”
They scrambled down the hall, turning into the closest stairwell before moving up once again. Going down was probably still a bad idea because of all the activity below, so their next best chance was to find a new place to hide or exit through the rooftops.
They curled around the corner, hoping to find a quiet space, but this floor was just as busy as the last—this time crawling with Koon Gee. A tonkaija wearing a Kendo mask and flanked by dark ninjas came after them.
“Kai. Hojin,” Riyon barked, summoning them to face the danger.
He twisted gears on the end sections of his staff then banged them together, popping out blades.
The tonkaija came on strong, wielding a jagged two-handed sword. Riyon crossed staff ends and braced against a forceful chop before pivoting and striking back. They struggled back and forth, and he would have been more worried about the ninja’s strength if Ting’s paralytic bolt had not pierced its thigh.
Kai and Hojin thrashed the other ninjas and they moved again down another path, pressured by an even larger crowd of ninjas. The hallway was shallow and they realized a critical mistake had been made: the path abruptly ended. Turning back was not an option since the hallway filled behind them, and they frantically tried a door, but it was locked. There was no time to break it down, having to turn to face their pursuers.
The ninjas held up, met by a wall of blades and the burning glow of Kai’s staff. Nervous energy filled the hall, though the ninjas felt confident in their numbers and the lack of options for their cornered prey.
A sinister voice echoed from behind the pack. “Leave them to me.”
The ninjas stirred.
“I know this man,” the voice continued. “An elder of the Shaolin Temple. Once formidable, but now weak and feeble, a miserable old relic.”
A corridor opened through the bodies and a tonkaija with a visor stepped through.
“An ancient, cranky, downtrodden man.” A greenish gas exploded from a havoc ball in the middle of the ninja crowd. “Smelly, fragile, ugly, and very bad hair.”
“Are you done?” Riyon said.
“Might want to get that door.”
Wong backhanded a perplexed ninja with his gauntlet, while the other ninjas choked and collapsed. Panyin kicked the door open, and they funneled through to an empty training room.
Wong entered last and examined the closed quarters.
“Guard this entrance,” he said to Kai and Hojin.
He walked across the room to investigate an exit on the far side.
“Who is that?” Shadow said as he walked by.
“A friend,” Panyin said.
“Shaolin Demon,” Wong corrected, taking off the tonkaija mask.
He tossed it, then listened at a door. Riyon took position by him.
Wong looked him over. “Where’s the beard?”
“Now is not the time for levity, Wong. The entire building is after us.”
“I still have a few tricks left.”
He peeked out the door and whistled, then cl
osed and locked it.
Riyon looked confused. “What was that for?”
“Ninjas.”
“How many?”
“A lot.”
“Then why did you whistle?” Panyin said.
“When I open this door, we kill everyone.”
Wong put on his fire god mask, then chuckled. Panyin was taken aback, alarmed by his unsettling mask and demeanor.
“We must head to the roof,” Riyon said testily. “Escape to the other buildings from the cable lines and make our way to the Shaolin warriors in the street.”
The doorknob shook.
Wong reached for his fire stick with his Iron Fist. “Stand back.” He flicked a switch and twisted a knob, igniting a thin, dancing flame at the top.
“More ninjas coming this way,” Hojin said, still guarding the other exit.
A ninja came through, forging past the weakening cloud of poison, but Hojin threw a butterfly sword into its chest. Another stumbled behind but was taken down by Kai’s staff.
Wong opened his door and pressed a trigger, spewing an inferno of fire as if it were shot from a dragon’s mouth.
He ran past burning ninjas. “Come on!”
Riyon cleared a few stragglers, putting them out of their misery, while Panyin, Shadow, and Ting followed aghast, unsure of what just happened.
Another band of ninjas came down the hallway. Wong pressed the trigger and cupped his opposite hand, concentrating and gathering the flame into a ball before tossing it forward. He sent two more fireballs into the ninjas. Shenren’s abilities gave him exceptional control over the flame. He raised a hand and the flame mirrored its shape and movement, lifting in the air before slamming down on a tonkaija. He slapped left and right with his fire hand, clearing his way through the assailants, elbowing one and jump kicking another.
An unan saw the danger and tried to run away, but Wong lurched forward and reached down the hallway, wrapping it up and setting the demon fully aflame.