The Lord of Shadows Rises

by Terzian, James

The elder replied. “That is not important at the moment. You must keep it safe.”

  Bash bows his head. “I’ll keep this safe at all cost.”

  In the village, a dark portal opens and the Lord of Shadows walks out. Several more portals open and ten black garbed figures appear, their faces obscured by the cloth, each one carrying a sword. “Find the orb and burn this village,” commanded the Evil Lord.

  The ten figures rushed into the village as the Lord of Shadows looks on. A gravelly voice asks, “Why have you come?”

  The Lord of Shadows turns his head. “The protector of the village? I am looking for an artifact and won’t leave without it.”

  Puck brings his staff up. “That power should never have seen the light of day." The old man as points his staff at his enemy. A stream of fire is shot out of the tip of the staff hitting the Lord of Shadows, making him stumble back.

  “So you are a shaman. Your magic means little to me. Let me show true magic,” said the Lord of Shadows as he launched a wind blade from his hands right at the mystic. The old man slams his staff onto the ground and a wall of earth is erected in front of him, blocking the attack. “Not bad, mystic.”

  The old man twirls his staff. “The torrent of the ocean,” he said and water forms above his head. It came crashing down on the Lord of Shadows, sweeping him away. “I call upon thunder of heavens,” he cried, and several bolts of lightning were shot into the wet Lord of Shadows.

  The Lord of Shadows slowly gets up, his armor cracked significantly. “Impossible to damage my armor this badly,” the evil lord said with disbelief. “I shall repay you completely.”

  The old man slams his staff down causing a minor earthquake, making the Lord of Shadows stumble.

  The old man grabs his chest. I thought I had more time, thought the mystic.

  The Lord of Shadows smirks underneath his damaged helmet. “You’re skilled in the mystic arts. However, your body can’t withstand the power of the elements It’s a battle of attrition, old man. All I have to do is survive all of your attacks.”

  The old man let go of his chest. “You might have found my weakness; however, you will not survive this day. I shall put all my will into this attack. Even my life!” the Mystic exclaims as he slams his staff into the ground. Five elements form a circle around the man. “I shall end you now!"

  The five elements cause an explosion of fire, wind, water, lightning, and pieces of the earth. The Lord of Shadows growls in defiance. “No, I will not end.” The attack hits him with a cloud of dust.

  The cloud clears and two bodies were on the ground: the old man devoid of life, and the Lord of Shadows, whose armor has been completely vaporized.

  Lord of Shadows moves a finger and then his hand as he gets to his knees. “I have never been so badly injured.” Black hair had fallen forward, strands getting caught in the bloody cut that crossed from above his left temple to his right cheek. “Arrrgh!!” he shouted in pain. He gets up and sees the old man on the ground, lifeless. He walked over to the body and slammed his fist into the dead body in pure rage.

  He stumbled to the village and found it deserted.

  One of his men appears and kneels. “The orb is not here, Mm lord.”

  “Look for anyone in the vicinity. Someone must know the location of the Orb,” replied the Lord of Shadows.

  In the forest, Bash was running through the foliage. Turning his head he sees ten soldiers closing in on him. Stopping, he draws his metal staff slams it on the ground.

  The figures run towards Bash who swings his staff, sending the first one into a tree. Blocking a sword, he then slams the pommel into the other attacker, killing him.

  Bash finished his pursuers and continued running.

  “So do we have any clue as to where the Orb would be located?” asked Guan as the small Jet flew over Uganda.

  “Unfortunately, we only know the general area; when we get to a city we can search for information,” said Mason.

  “How about the leadership of the country; can we trust them?” asked Guan.

  “We should land in the northeast area and go by foot to the nearest village. We should not get the government involved.”

  “Got that, pilot?” said Mason. “I don’t want to involve the government.”

  “Yes, sir. There is an abandoned airfield from a civil war a decade ago near our location,” said the pilot.

  “Take us down,” said Guan.

  The plan lands in an unmarked airfield, the tires screeching to a halt. The two guardians walk down the ramp and see the crumbled air tower and several cracks on the runway from neglect and decay of time.

  Guan turns to the pilot and says, “Conceal the plane as best you can; we will be back.” He and Mason headed into the forest.

  In the Order’s camp, President Newman said, “We will head to Geneva where the United Nations will be convening.”

  “I will join you,” said Lenora. “The two of us will escort you there.”

  The three got in an old red car that was bought year ago by the order. The paint peeling and had several dents in it. “Not luxurious, but something nicer will paint a nice big target on us,” said Alexander. “Is this fine, Mr. President?”

  “This car will do for now. Does it run?” asked Newman.

  “It will get us to where we need to go,” said Alexander.

  Xxx

  Back at the forest, Guan and Mason made their way through foliage. “We should set up camp for the night,” Mason states.

  “Very well. I will gather firewood. Could you pitch the tent we brought from the plane?” Guan asked and walks away. He gets the wood and comes back and sees two tents up.

  “I will take first watch,” said Mason.

  Guan opens the flap of the tent. “Wake me up in three hours.” Mason sits with his spiked gloves on his hands.

  Mason heard some rustling in the foliage an hour later. “Guan, wake up,” he said, scooting back to the tent.

  “What’s wrong, Mason; an animal?” asked Guan as he sees movement in the forest.

  "Not really sure. There is more than one,” said Mason. Several warriors holding spears and rifles stepped out of the foliage

  “We found the locals,” replied Mason putting his hands in the air. Guan followed his example. Their hands are tied and they were escorted away.

  Guan and Mason get to a small village, and the guards escorted them to a ramshackle building. “Elder, we found these two in the forest near the village,” said one of the warriors.

  A man with dark skin, wearing a traditional, vibrant-colored kanzu walked out. “Thank you. Head back to the gates.”

  The two guards walk back as the young leader pulled out a knife and slashed the bindings on prisoners. “Please take off your blindfolds I am curious as to why two guardians are wondering in the forest.”

  Mason and Guan are surprised at the man’s knowledge of who they were and are instantly on guard. “How do you know of the Order?” asked Guan.

  “The leader before me was a member of the Root of the Rose,” said the elder. “He told me many things. He told me of a threat that he knew was around.”

  “Why not start with the introductions? I am Mason and this is Guan.”

  “My name is Kiwi -like the bird. I am the leader of this village.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Elder Kiwi,” said Guan with a bow.

  “Now on to business. Why have you come into this area?” asked Kiwi.

  “We are looking for an artifact we must retrieve before the evil one finds it,” said Mason.

  “This village does not contain the earth orb,” said Kiwi, surprising them with his knowledge of the orb. “Though I do know where it is.”

  “Can you tell us, Elder?” asked Guan.

  “You are too late; it has been taken already. I sent soldiers to assist but they were ambushed and killed.”

  “Can you tell us the location of the village? We might find some clues,” said Mason.

  Kiwi sighs.
“Thirty miles south of here. I will have some of my men go with you.”

  ***

  In Geneva, President Newman was in front of the Security Council. “We can’t let this madman take anymore countries. If he continues his conquests, who will be left to fight?” he said.

  “We heard of the attack on your country and we are sorry to hear about it,” said the French ambassador.

  The ambassador to United Kingdom stood, “I agree with the president; we must do something. I have reports of Norway being taken, and the Prime Minster blowing up his office to take out some of the enemy army.”

  “We will take a vote. All who want to fight, please raise your hand,” said the Russian President as all of the leader and diplomat raise their hand. “It is decided we shall fight,”

  Xxx

  In a different village, Mason and Guan were looking around the ruins. “This is very depressing,” said Mason.

  A warrior runs up to Guan. “Sir, we found something.” The warrior leads them to a hill top. On the ground is the body of the old man covered by wounds of battle.

  “Who is this?” asked Mason.

  “He was the chief of this tribe. He was a mystic of great skill,” said the warrior with great respect.

  “Looks like he put up quite a fight. There must be some clue as to the orb’s location,” Mason said.

  The two look around and are saddened by the destruction of the village. They went to a small cottage and entered. “This must be the leader’s home." The two look around and see a shrine with incense .“A shrine?” asked Guan.

  They walk outside and see a man by the door, behind him are three warriors knocked out on the ground. “What are you doing here?” asked the man.

  Guan notices a brown orb in the man hand. “I see you have the earth orb,” said Guan.

  The man eyes the two. “Who are you?” he asked again.

  “We are members of the Order of White Rose. Who are you?” asked Guan.

  “My name is Bash, protector of the chief of this village.”

  “We need the orb so it does not fall into the wrong hands,” said Mason.

  “How do I know you are telling the truth? As far as I know, you could be a general of the Lord of Shadows,” said Bash.

  “If we were, we would have just attacked you,” said Guan.

  “I still need proof. There is a ritual duel that determines the pureness of your heart,” said Bash.

  “What are the terms of this duel?” asked Mason.

  “We each place our weapons in a triangle and two of the fighters must enter the middle and do battle without stepping out of the triangle. It must be around a four foot area.”

  The two guardians and Bash put their weapons on the ground, creating a small triangle just enough for two people. “Which one of you will take up this challenge?” asked Bash.

  Guan walks up taking off his robe revealing a white gi. “I shall.” He walked to the middle of the ring.

  "Let us start,” said Bash, going into wrestling stance with Guan going into Shaolin fist. Bash goes for a punch, but it is blocked by Guan, who is pushed back.

  This might be more difficult than I thought Guan said to himself. The limited amount of room to evade will make it harder for the nimble to not get hit.

  Guan throws a kick, but that is blocked by Bash who slammed a fist right into his shoulder. The crack of bone could be heard to all surrounding them. Guan winced from the pain. “Is that all?” taunted Bash.

  Guan, ignoring the pain, sends a kick to Bash, causing him to grunt. Bash tired to punch Guan but is dodged. Guan goes low and sends his foot to Bash’s face hitting him to the edge of the ring. “I see; you could have won when I was still trying to recover,” said Bash as he is left to regain his bearing.

  “It would not have proven a thing to win with such an underhanded tactic,” said Guan.

  “I see you were telling the truth. This was for me to judge your character. I think you can protect this better than I can,” Bash said as he handed him the earth Orb.

  Guan bows. “We can you use your skills to fight the Lord of Shadows. Join us.”

  Bash shakes his head. “I cannot; but send a message when you need an army. I will prepare my tribe for battle."

  “I did not see anyone around,” said Mason.

  “The tribe is in hiding, at the moment. When the time comes, we shall join in the war.”

  The two guardians bow to Bash

  Xxx

  “Did you find the Orb?” asked the Elder.

  “We have it. We better take it to the White Rose Camp,” replied Mason.

  “My scouts reported soldiers from Ugandan military are approaching,” said Kiwi. “I don’t know what they want, so be on guard. I have reason to believe they are in league with the Lord of Shadows. You must leave now with the Orb."

  “Thank you, Elder, for your assistance.” Guan bows and they head out of the village towards the landing strip and their plane.

  The soldiers enter the village an hour after the master left. “What can I do for you, Captain?” asked the Elder.

  “We are looking for two foreign fugitives; have your warriors seen them?” asked a soldier.

  “Yes, my warrior saw them in the southern part of the forest. They were not a threat so we did not pursue them,” said Elder Kiwi.

  The soldier chuckled. “I see," he said turning around “However, I was not born yesterday.” The captain shot the elder in the chest with semi-automatic.

  “I want this whole village arrested and the buildings burned,” said the captain.

  The soldiers surround the warriors and restrain them. As the farmers and families are herded out of their village, the captain said, “If no one tells us where the fugitives are everyone will be executed."

  One of the warrior spits in the captain’s face and says, “You will get nothing out of us.”

  “Perfect; you will be an example for the rest of the rabble,” the captain said and motions a soldier forward. “Kill him.”

  The soldier points his gun and fires. “You monsters,” said a woman only to be backhanded.

  “Firing squad, prepare to fire,” said the captain as the ten soldiers point their guns at the villagers “Fire!”.

  Guan and Mason got to the plane and saw their pilot in the cockpit. “Pilot, let’s go,” said Guan as he and Mason get on board, after a couple minutes the plane flies off.

  Xxx

  The captain was in front of the leader of Uganda “We did not find the fugitives,” said the captain

  “Do we know who was helping them?” asked the leader.

  “Yes, sir, but we executed the traitors,” said the captain.

  The leader growls. “The Lord of Shadow will be very disappointed for your foolish choice,” said the leader as he pulled a pistol and shot the captain in the leg. “I now have to explain why we don’t have a prisoner with the knowledge we seek. Good bye, Captain.” He shot the captain in the chest.

  ***

  Mason and Guan talked in the plane. “We just need to gather the water orb, ,” said Mason.

  The pilot turns his head. “There is a storm up ahead. Should we go around it?”

  “What do your instruments say?” Guan replies.

  “It says the eye is about two miles wide. It’s a good size storm,” said the pilot.

  “What about the wind speed; how fast is it?” asked Mason.

  “It is seventy miles per hour. I suggest we land at the nearest airfield.”

  “What is the closest country?”

  “We are right over Egypt. Cairo is about fifty miles away. We can get there and land before we’re hit by the storm,” said the pilot.

  “Have you contacted air control? We need permission to land,” Guan states.

  “Let me get in touch with them right now,” said the pilot, then radios in. “Requesting to land.”

  “This is Cairo airport, why do you request to land? What is your state of emergency?” asked the control tower
.

  “We need to land before the storm hit us,” said the pilot. “We would like permission to land and refuel.”

  “This is Cairo air control, permission granted. We’ll send a fighter escort,” said the tower.

  “We appreciate it. We will wait for further instructions,” the pilot said with gratitude.

  Xxx

  Musher, the President of Egypt, was looking up the reports of the international alliance. “Mr. President?” said a soldier wearing a beige suit.

  “Go ahead, Colonel,” said Musher

  The colonel saluted. “Sir, air control has authorized the landing of a Jet heading towards a storm in Cairo.”

  “I see. I have a feeling I know who they are,” said the president. “I will meet with them.”

  “I will be more than happy to escort you there,” said the colonel.

  The president stood. “Have men in position just in case, I don’t think there will be a fight, but can’t be too careful.”

  When the plane lands and the two masters walk out and see Musher standing by the ramp. “Mr. President, it’s an honor to meet you,” said Guan as he and Mason bowed.

  Musher gives them an appraising eye. “So you are two more masters I have met previously.”

  “What other masters did you meet, Mr. President?" asked Guan.

  Musher explains. “Master Lenora and Master Alexander at the UN Geneva conference We can get your plane refueled and you can wait out the storm.”

  "Thank you, Mr. President,” said Guan.

  “I will house you in a hotel,” said Musher. “Captain, please give the two masters the tour of the city."

  “As you can see we currently have a fair to remember our previous leaders,” captain tells the masters as they walk through the business district filled with stalls

  Guan sees a child in rags on the street with a cup. “President Musher has been trying to make new jobs to reduce our unemployment but it is hard. This is the homeless section," the captain tells them.

  The boy sees them. “Captain!” He runs up to the soldier.

  “I am sorry, I did not bring anything today,” the soldier says with a sigh. The child put his head down.

  Guan walks up to the boy and reaches into his pocket for some money and hands the boy a fifty. “Get something to eat.”