Price of Blood, part eleven

Muta grumbles as he makes his way across the battlefield, keeping an eye on Hiroshima just behind him.

“Bodies everywhere.” He curses. “How are we supposed to meet with Ishan and the others when we can't even walk a straight line?”

Hiroshima stops and leans on the corpse of a vurlken. Though the healers have done their best, he still needs to get to the monastery as one of his lungs had been speared. He waves off Muta's worried look as he catches his breathe.

“In the general direction of the howling I'm certain. Jingkai and his new allies must be there.”

Muta nods and turns back to walking. He slips on something on the ground and promptly lands on his face. He breathes in sharply as he starts to rise again.

“Hiroshima!” He cries out. “Potion vials! The ones that induced the transformations at the monastery. Look!”

Hiroshima looks to where Muta motions to and gasps. Dozens of little metal vials little the ground with their corks nearby. Hiroshima helps Muta as they begin looking closer at the bodies around them.

“There are few human bodies.” Muta notes. “All of them slain by someone with a sword.”

Hiroshima points at the body of a tsali. “He was killed by the same weapon. Look over there!”

A few steps beyond their location lies a mound of destroyed corpses. Monsters who are dead because their heart was ripped from their bodies in the same fashion that many monks were murdered at the Black Diamond monastery.

“Why would the person who killed or brothers help us in this conflict?” Muta asks, putting voice to the concern in the air.

Hiroshima shrugs. “I don't know. Much of this area was destroyed by the infernal dragon so that the body of the transformed monk may have been destroyed as well. Maybe the monk had to kill his own because no enemy was available.”

Muta shudders as he turns over half a vurlken. Someone had ripped her in half. “We should stay a bit and search to see if we find a monk with wounds to show that he may have transformed and been killed. Otherwise, we may have a risk when we return home if the killer cannot be found here.”

Hiroshima begins turning over bodies to examine their death wounds. “Agreed. Ishan knows we're alive so he won't leave without us.”

Muta nods in agreement and goes back to searching the dead.

**************************

Ishan Goldenfire stands next to the gaping crater that used to be the Jade Hare monastery. The survivors of the monastery, now allied with Tsai Jingkai as Silver Moon monks stand to one side. Surviving Black Diamond monks stand to the other side of him. Ishan watches silently as Mis Shatis and Mentor join the Black Diamond survivors.

Only missing Hiroshima and Muta, he muses. He grimly regards the survivors of the battle. Lines of grief and anger are carved into every face that he sees.

“We're still short two people.” He begins. “But we are on a short time table so we will proceed now.”

Ishan locks eyes with Jingkai, seeking permission to tell his part of the tale. He inhales deeply when Jingkai nods.

“As some of you may know, Sikarin Tsooth had collected a sizable treasure. The locking mechanism was set with a ring that Tsai Beilai had stolen from Sikarin and kept it safe from him. Sikarin had tried to steal the ring back, but had been foiled when Beilai had passed the ring to his son.”

All eyes turn to Tsai Jingkai for a moment before going back to Ishan.

“This failure prompted Sikarin to have his forces attempt to destroy the House of the Jade Hare in retribution. Jingkai gathered the survivors of this culling and struck out at Sikarin by stealing his treasure hoard and using it to rebuild the House of the Jade Hare into something that could never again be destroyed.”

Ishan lets the absurdity of his words hang in the air for a moment. The crater behind him begins to loom impossibly deep as if the spirit of the monastery sought to consume him for failing to stop it's destruction.

“Hidden amongst the gold and the jewels of Sikarin's treasure were several magical relics. Chief amongst these was the Disk of Awakening. We sold these relics to a sorcerer named Mortamir Black. He informed us that should Sikarin gain possession of this disk that the world at large would be endangered by it. I know no more details than that, but Mr. Black is respected the world around as a businessman and as a magician. Sikarin will now be seeking Mr. Black to retake this dangerous relic.”

Xian Shuang clears his throat to draw attention to himself. “So what you are saying is tat we need to help Mortamir Black stop Sikarin Tsooth from getting the disk just like you helped us stop Sikarin Tsooth from killing nearly all of us.”

The color drains from Ishan's face at the contempt in Shuang's voice. He opens his mouth to speak, but instead it is Tsai Jingkai who answers the challenge.

“The Black Diamond monks arrived before the fighting started didn't they? They sent almost every available fighting man and woman to help defend against his army of monsters. No one knew that he had enlisted an infernal dragon or that he could destroy the monastery himself once discovering the truth of his relics location. Did you know he was so powerful? We could have simply fled if you knew this. Did you?”

Xian Shuang looks down at the ground and shakes his head. “No. I did not know.”

“None of us did!” Tsai Jingkai snaps. “He has never revealed such strength before in living memory! We did the best that we could. Now, we have to stop the entire world from looking like this.”

Tsai Jingkai motions to the seemingly bottomless crater. Though Xian Shuang has been looking into its depths, he steps back nervously of something far below. He bows to Ishan, grief cracking across his face as tears roll down his cheeks.

“I am sorry, Ishan Goldenfire.” He sobs. “The pain is just too close to the surface to control.”

Ishan walks over to Shuang and pulls him from his bowing position into a warm embrace.

“We are all full of grief for our fallen brothers.” He soothes. “If there is a time to feel this grief it is now. There is no dishonor in tears for the fallen.”

hint of a smile begins to show. “Thank you, Ishan.”

Ishan grins as he turns away to address the entire crowd again.

“I have a plan. Some of our grievously injured will be returning home to heal. A few of you will stay here. I have people coming to help with the dead, but they need help to be able to pay the highest respects.”

Ishan glances at Jingkai and nods before continuing.

“I will take a few healthy volunteers to go to the Azores to help Mortamir Black. Tsai Jingkai and his Silver Moons will go south to disable a large source f Sikarin Tsooth's power.”

There is a low rumble from Mentor that is cut off when Mis Shatis steps in front of him.

“Mentor says that he knows of an all powerful enough to be of help to us. He and I will leave you and meet you at Black's stronghold.”

Ishan meets her gaze for a long time before she looks away. “You're leaving now?” He asks. “How will you go?”

Mis Shatis looks back at Mentor and swallows hard. “Mentor assures me that we have a way.”

When Shatis looks back at Ishan, her eyes burn with a fierce mixture of emotions. She rushes at Ishan, embracing him and nearly taking him to the ground. She kisses him passionately before burying her face in his shoulder and crying. She lifts her head up so that she breathes into Ishan's ear.

“I love you, Ishan.” She whispers. “Be safe. I will see you again soon.”

As Mis Shatis moves to slip from Ishan's grasp, he pulls her back into another passionate kiss. He moves to be by her ear so he can whisper.

“I love you too, Shatis. Be strong. We will finish Sikarin Tsooth forever. Trust me.”

Ishan slowly allows Mis Shatis to slip away so she can stand by Mentor again. She smiles at Ishan. “I trust you. Farewell.”

Mentor picks Mis Shatis up like a small baby and squats down before leaping high into the air with a shout of a word in a guttural tongue. Ishan watches longingly as the pair vanishes over the horizon. Once he regain himself, he looks over the gathered heroes.

“The clean up detail and transports will be here soon. Use this time to-”

“STOP!”

Everyone turns to the source of the voice. Muta is running to the group with Hiroshima trailing far behind.

“Find Mis Shatis and Mentor!” Muta yells. “We need them detained. Now!”

Ishan holds out restraining hand. “They've already left, Muta. Why?”

In response, Muta draws a sword liberated from a dead naroth. He slashes at Ishan who parried with a flash of steel. With a fierce shout, Ishan pushes Muta back several feet. Ishan settles into an aggressive attack stance, anger playing across his face.

“What is the meaning of this, Muta?” He shouts.

Muta tosses the sword down at Ishan's feet and follows it with a handful of metal vials. A hushed silence falls over the crowd until Ishan finds his voice.

“What? Where did you find all of this?”

Muta points off into the distance, his expression grim. “We found many enemy bodies destroyed as if from someone of near endless strength. We have determined that Mentor had fought there.”

Hiroshima finally joins the group. He leans on a crumbled section of wall and nods encouragingly to Muta as he catches his breath.

“Shatis fought with a sword like this, and at Mentor's side. Many enemies were slain with this blade and with great skill.”

“That does not explain why our allies should be under suspicion.” Ishan growls.

Muta sighs. “I'm getting there, Patience.”

Ishan continues to growl, but bows slightly in respect so Muta can continue.

All around this area are these little metal vials. More than twenty of them at least. For every empty metal vial is an enemy body with no heart. There are no monks killed in this way, but we have several bodies scattered about. They were all killed by the sword that Shatis wielded and with the same skill used to slay our enemies.”

Ishan frowns as he works out the mystery unfolding in front of him. “So you are saying that Mentor is the killer we have sought and that Shatis covered for him by murdering our friends and allies?”

“No.” Muta admits. “I don't know. Shatis could have killed transformed souls as they lost control. They could have fought alongside Mentor and Shatis before their blood lust won out and they had to be destroyed. If so then Mentor and Shatis must answer to why they did not stop the transformation. If it is they who are responsible then they must be stopped! Did they say anything about when they were fighting?”

Ishan looks around him at the gathered monks to see if Shatis had indeed related anything about her part in the fighting. No one stepped forward with anything.

“So then...” Ishan slowly begins. “Either she is using this potion and is a traitor or she stopped several monks from turning on us. Irregardless, she is withholding some vital secret from us.”

Ishan sighs sadly and sheathes his sword. He starts walking in the direction that Muta and Hiroshima came from. He calls out without looking back.

“Muta. You and Hiroshima will return to the Black Diamond monastery. Hiroshima is no condition to fight and I need you to watch to see if Shatis and Mentor arrive. I want them detained if all possible until I return.”

Hiroshima gives a halfhearted nod and Muta bows.

“It will be done.” Muta intones. “What are you doing?”

“I need to find something.” Ishan states.

****************

Not long later, Ishan arrives at the spot where he found Shatis and Mentor. The ground is sunk in where Mentor had impacted from his fall from the infernal dragon. He scans the ground briefly, not wanting to find anything, but knowing better of it.

He's just about to give up and walk away when he sees it. An unopened metal vial. He leans down to pick it up, and rises to see Tsai Jingkai standing before him. Jingkai looks at the metal vial.

“I've been dead so I'm a bit behind.” Jingkai admits. “What is this potion and how does it connect to Mentor and Shatis?”

Ishan looks down at the potion in his hand and explains to Jingkai everything that had occurred while he was gone and about the powers of the potion.

Jingkai remains silent throughout and motions to the metal vial when Ishan is finished speaking.

“You are uncertain if this is the potion that causes the transformations though.”

It was not a question. Ishan's expression is grim as he shakes his head.

“No. I don't know. The last transformation witnessed, the victim drank the potion. Shatis had her hand over Mentor's chest and said a word. I think she was about to open this vial when I called out to her.”

Ishan and Jingkai stare at the metal vial for a long time before Jingkai breaks the silence.

“Do it.”

Ishan looks at Jingkai with a startled look.

“What? It may not be safe.”

Jingkai grins. “It shall be a sorry day when I should fear if my best friend should want to rip my heart from my chest. Do it.”

Ishan grins, but it fades quickly as he places his thumb on the cork of the potion. Thinking back to what he heard before, he utters a single arcane word and open the vial. A black mist billows out of the metal vial and wreathes Ishan in it's darkness, changing to a deep crimson. Immediately, he feels a sudden blood lust rise up within him as he rushes at Jingkai.

Tsai Jingkai blocks Ishan's attempt to rip his heart out with his bare hand. Maddened by blood lust, Ishan drops the metal vial and tries with his other hand. Jingkai blocks this attempt as well, locking his hands with Ishan's in an impromptu test of strength. His knees buckle as Ishan's greater strength forces him down.

“Ishan!” He yells. “Fight it!”

Ishan forces Jingkai to his knees with a savage roar. He flattens Jingkai with a headbutt and kneels by him with his hand over Jingkai's chest where his hand stops.

Jingkai sees the quivering hand and swallows hard. His best friend may be the death of him after all. Slowly the mist dissipates away from his form. Ishan doesn't move, kneeling over Jingkai, his eyes becoming less and less glazed.

“Jingkai?” Ishan asks. Standing up and looking at his palm in amazement. His hand goes from being totally black to it's normal color. “What happened?”

Jingkai instinctively covers his chest with his hand. “You tried to rip my heart out when the black mist covered you and turned red. That hand had changed color as it reached for me.”

Ishan's eyes don't leave his hand, but his heart sinks into unknowable depths. “So then she was about to take his heart using the power of this mist in the vial. Shatis tried to murder Mentor, and yet he left with her in tow.”

Jingkai frowns. “That doesn't make sense. If Mentor knew that she was the killer then why not stop her?”

“No.” Ishan protests. “When many of the murders happened at the monastery, she was with me.”

“Then.” Jingkai continues. “Mentor is the killer and Shatis is covering for him.”

“She will come back, Jingkai.” Ishan growls impatiently. “And we will have answers. All is not what it appears to be. She wants to avenge herself on Sikarin, not do his bidding. You'll see.”

Jingkai reaches out and clasps Ishan by the shoulder. “I hope you're right, Ishan. For your sake as well as us all, I hope you are right. I'm heading back so I'll meet you when you get back.”

Ishan nods, not watching as Jingkai bounds away in wolf form. Instead, he fixes his gaze on the little metal vial whose contents nearly influenced him to murder his best friend. Everything seems to point in the direction of Shatis and Mentor being enemies and not friends.

“I hope I'm right too.” Ishan says to the air.

Ishan draws his sword, and in a flash, cleaves the metal vial in half. He sheathes the sword simply and begins walking back.

******************

Price of Blood, part ten

On the rooftop of the inner keep, the Elder hangs on the side, looking over the battlefield. He holds himself up by his arms, both of his legs having been broken by his desperate leap to safety.

He rejoices as he watches the infernal dragon being brought down. With it's defeat, the fight has gone out of much of Sikarin's forces.

The Elder goes silent when he hears motion behind him. It should be that young monk returning to give report on the keep's evacuation.

“Mishra Tan?”

There's a silence before an answer is said. “Yes, Elder.”

The Elder lets himself down to a sitting position so he can look at the young monk. He grins proudly at the young man.

“It is good that you returned. I trust that everyone is out?”

Mishra Tan nods as he walks to stand next to the Elder. “Yes. Yes, Elder. I sealed all entrances and exits to the inner keep just as you specified.”

The Elder looks horrified at Mishra Tans suddenly cruel expression. “No! I told you to seal the front, but evacuate everyone from the secret exit in the rear of the keep! Everyone could have been killed had we not won the battle! How could you make such an error?”

Mishra Tan snarls, spitting on the Elder. “The outcome of this battle has hardly been decided. The death of a few servants is unimportant compared to the goal f this slaughter!”

“What are you talking about?” The Elder asks, despair finding it's way into his heart. “I don't understand.”

Mishra Tan grabs the Elder by the throat and lifts him into the air. He grows taller and his hair grows, changing from black to silver. The Elder closes his eyes as his throat is being squeezed closed. When he reopens his eyes, it is not Mishra Tan that he sees but Sikarin Tsooth. A low blue glow can be seen from the hand clutching at the Elder and he can feel the flesh of his throat burning.

“You underestimate my power, Elder.” Sikarin glowers. “The result of this battle has never been in question. Only the means.”

The Elder gasps for air and he burns his hands trying to pry open Sikarin's iron grip on his throat. Sikarin cackles cruelly.

“You know it was refreshing to watch such valiant heroes fight to save their home. And it took me back to watch a Goldenfire fight and destroy his enemies. If he only knew the history behind the sword he bears and the origin of his fighting arts. He would not feel as he does now. Still, he resembles his damned ancestor very well. What do you think, Elder?”

When Sikarin only receives a strangled gasp, he loosens his grasp and turns off the blue flame.

“I do not know.” The Elder manages to gasp out. “His parents are in business and are not warriors.”

Sikarin gives the Elder an odd look. “You do not know? I feel the power of the Jade Hare within you though.”

Sikarin regards the Elder for a long time before grinning. “Of course, I had forgotten. The House of the Jade Hare is only a thousand years old. Far too young to know of events that I speak of. You are probably only a smattering of centuries old at best. It matters not since that is not what I seek. Now. Where is the Disk of Awakening?”

“We do not have it.” Blood runs down the Elder's body and down Sikarin's arm and into his robe from the burns on the Elder's neck. Sikarin growls, shaking the Elder and squeezing until his eyes bulge.

“Tell me where my relic is!” Sikarin shouts, his eyes flashing blue with power.

The Elder's expression goes calm, accepting his fate. “I will not tell.”

Sikarin angrily grits his teeth. “Then I will rip it from your mind.”

The top of Sikarin's staff begins to glow a bright blue and the skull within begins laughing. When it stops, thin beams of red energy lance from it's eyes into the Elder's.

That's when the screaming starts.

**********************

Ishan Goldenfire and Tsai Jingkai pull the spine from Hiroshima's shoulder and throw it to the side. Hiroshima slides down the side of the mammoth beast to sit n the ground. Muta rushes to his side to help stem the flow f blood from Hiroshima's wounded shoulder.

Ishan spares a moment to look around for Mis Shatis or Mentor, but stops when a long inhuman scream echoes from the direction of the inner keep. Everyone stops to look to see whats going on as the screaming fades away. What they find is Sikarin Tsooth standing on the edge of the keep, holding up the corpse of the Elder by the throat in his free hand.

Sikarin looks at the scene of carnage below him with a savage triumph.

“You sought to fool me into thinking that my prize was within this stronghold. You wished to defeat me and my army to prevent the truth from being revealed to me.”

Sikarin hefts the Elder's corpse u to ensure that everyone can see him and then drops him over the side of the keep. Jade Hare monks below rush to catch their Elder, weeping at the sight of his burned and broken form.

“My friends, in this you have all failed. My army might be broken, but I have the knowledge that I have come to find. It was foolish of you to sell my hidden treasures. That itself carries a most serious penalty. Then you sold a most precious relic to one of my most ancient of enemies. So you have not only freed my relic at a time when it's power will nearly be ready, but you have sent it to a location that I require of it All that I have to do is go there, slay that aged fool, and accomplish what I have set out to do.”

As monks below attempt to open the gate to the inner keep, Sikarin Tsooth throws his head back and laughs. The top of his staff begins glowing a bright blue and gets brighter and brighter.

“Now as I have told the young Goldenfire. I promised to kill you all. I would hate to renege on that promise. Goodbye.”

The bright blue glow at the head f Sikarin's staff travels down the staff and into the stones of the inner keep. The glow quickly spreads from stone to stone. Sikarin himself vanishes in a flash of blue flame, his laughter echoing across the battlefield. As it becomes clear what is happening, everyone begins running for cover. Minutes later, the whole world becomes a flash of blinding blue as the inner keep explodes.

******************

As his eyesight returns, Ishan takes stock of the setting around him. Where the inner keep was, now sits a deep crater. A few sections of outer wall held up against the blast, but the rest was blown outwards. The roar of crashing stone announces collapsing sections. Smoke rises from burning helicopters and corpses. Bodies of monsters and men lie as far as the eye can see.

Of the Jade Hare monks, he can only see a few left standing. Maybe around a dozen, he counts. Of the Black Diamond monks that came with him, only half are left. He scans the area for Mis Shatis or Mentor, but doesn't see either of them. He sighs as Black Diamond healers make their way through the battlefield, saving those they can and giving a final peace to those they cannot. No monster is spared. The horsemen who had turned against Sikarin at the end were gone with their fallen.

“No matter what he says. A great victory had been won here today.”

Ishan turns to the source of the source of the voice to see Tsai Jingkai walking towards him. He shifts forms as he does so, transforming from wolf-man to merely human. Ishan greets him as a brother, clasping him in a tight hug. Jingkai quickly croaks in pain.

“Ishan. Ribs.”

Ishan grins broadly, releasing Jingkai. “I'm sorry.” He chuckles. “I forgot about your frailty.”

Jingkai growls, shaking his head and pointing to where the Jade Hare monks were gathered by the crater within the blasted walls.

“My family will never recover from this blow struck by Sikarin. Every non-fighting member was in there.” A seething anger underpins Jingkai's every word. Ishan can almost see Sikarin being torn apart in his eyes. He shakes his head with a warm smile.

“I had sent a young monk named Mishra Tan to the keep to evacuate everyone out a rear exit. They are safe.”

Relief floods Jingkai's expression as he yells to the Jade Hare monks, telling them to search for survivors. He runs over to them to explain more.

Ishan begins waling, searching for where Mis Shatis and Mentor are. He stops by where a healer is tending to Hiroshima's wounds. Muta sits down nearby, resting against the gargantuan monster that had spit spheres of spirit from it's back. He looks at the body of a giant vurlken with an odd expression. When he sees Ishan, he shakes his head sadly.

“The vurlken queen. I had thought that these monsters served Sikarin willingly. She revealed before her death that service to Sikarin never involves judgment. I have no regrets for the fighting, but I wish that we could have freed them all from servitude instead of simply killing them.”

Ishan puts his arm around Muta's shoulder with a sigh. “I know how you feel. But you must know, until Sikarin himself is slain that the only freedom for his servants is death.”

Muta is about to respond when Hiroshima groans in loudly in pain as the healer removes a shard of the spine that had impaled his shoulder. Ishan motions to the great beast that dwarfs them all.

“So I was told that it was the two of you that brought this creature down.” Ishan grins as Muta and Hiroshima beam with pride. “That was a feat that I'm certain helped determine the outcome of the entire battle.”

Muta motions to Hiroshima with a grin. “It was his idea. I'm just glad to have survived it.”

“Good thing that you survived.” Ishan chuckles, but suddenly turns serious. “I'm going to keep looking for Shatis and Mentor. There's been no sign of either since the end of the battle.”

Muta's expression becomes sombre as he glances over to where Sikarin Tsooth had stood. “You know she really hates him. Right?”

Ishan glances over to where Muta was looking. “Yes. Yes, she does. Why?”

Muta shudders. “She killed enemies to make her way to get to him before the dragon came out of the ground. We don't rejoice in the actual killing that has to be done. She took pleasure in the killing. She had an insane bloodthirsty grin as she fought.”

Ishan sighs to himself. He had not thought that it would have been good for her to come. That thoughts of vengeance for years of abuse would overcome her. He grins weakly at Muta.

“It was her chance to pay Sikarin back for all he's done to her. I'm sure of we were in such a state that we would do the same. I just wish that I knew where she was.”

*******************

Mis Shatis staggers across the battlefield some distance from everyone else. The body of the infernal dragon gives her cover from casual sight. Tears streak through dirt on her face as she cries incoherently.

She had him! Ishan was fighting Nikantu, the naroth king. All she had to do was clear the distance between them and strike home with her sword! Then that dragon had burst from the ground.

That dragon. She nearly stops when she thinks of the dragon. The Infernal Dragon was not that long ago known as the Celestial Dragon. The machinations of Tehuai Anxiu, the Grand mistress of Red Palm kung fu and Director of Asian Operations for the Warhammer Corporation, transformed the spirit of the dragon with corrupt chi. Her House, the House of the Celestial Dragon was damned. The members who were not transformed are even now being hunted. Her amongst them.

She stops as she arrives at the still smoking form of Mentor. Somehow his mask survived the fires of the Infernal Dragon. She sits down next to him and places her hand over his heart. She pulls back her hand quickly, marveling at the bruise forming in her palm from the shock of his heart beat. So much power still.

Shatis' lip curls into a snarl as she slaps the masked face of Mentor. He doesn't react, still unconscious from the fighting and the fall.

“You said you could help me!” She screams vehemently at Mentor. “You said that it would be all over soon! That my tormentor would be dead by my hands!”

She sobs, pounding on Mentor's chest with her hands. She begins screaming when he doesn't stir to the abuse. She stops when she sees a metal vial fall out of a hidden pocket and onto the ground. She holds her breath for a moment before picking the vial up. Looking at the vial, she can almost imagine the dark mist roiling inside.

“Ebon Mist...” She says in a low voice. “With this I could create Crimson Mist from...”

Her hand hovers over Mentor's heart. She can feel the heart beat even from six inches from over his chest.

“Such power...” She whispers to herself. “I could destroy Him utterly. I could become the new Celestial Dragon and save my House. I could...”

Shatis goes silent as she looks down at the metal vial in her hand. Her other hand hovers over the cork to the vial, shaking nervously. She closes her eyes and breathes slowly as she weighs her choices. She could take Mentor's power and add Ishan to it. Sikarin Tsooth could stand to her power. Her House could be cleansed of it's corruption.

She stops with the word of invocation on her lips She had thought of sacrificing Ishan to complete her power! He loves her, she love him. Right? She stares down at the metal vial in her trembling hand.

“Revenge. Love.” She whispers. “What is the right path?”

Then it becomes clear to her. If she would sacrifice someone she has come to love to become a power to change all of China then it would not be a good change. She would free the Celestial Dragon to damn it to a darer fate. The Red Palm would be destroyed, but it would be replaced by something far more sinister. The Warrior Houses would never be free, many would become extinct. Another lesson then becomes clear to her. Of why when she became a master of Celestial Dragon kung fu of why the spirit of her House never chose to infuse her with it's power. She was never worthy.

She breathes deeply, weighing the choices in her mind as Mentor slowly opens his eyes and looks at her. She sees the understanding and acceptance there.

“Do what you must,” he says weakly. “I cannot stop you now.”

Shatis nods, her choice made. She mouths the word again in anticipation of using it. Mentor slowly. nods.

“Yes.” He instructs. “That is the word.”

Shatis nods again, damning everything in her whole world. She presses her thumb to the cork on the metal vial and opens her mouth to invoke the power when a voice startles her enough to drop the vial.

“Shatis!”

She grabs the vial and stashes it in one of Mentor's many hidden pockets. She stands up and spins around, catching Ishan as he sweeps her up in a warm embrace and passionate kiss.

Shatis stiffens at Ishan's actions, but melts into his arms. The last few agonizing moments and the choices made during that time slip away into a hazy mist. This is someone who can help her gain her vengeance and keep her on the side of the angels.

Once Ishan releases Shatis, he steps back a step with a grin. “I thought you may have been hurt when He summoned the infernal dragon.”

Shatis shakes her head. “I slipped behind the dragon and tried to ambush Sikarin, but he vanished after the summons. I then sought Mentor after he fall – you okay?”

Ishan grins wider as Shatis gives him a curious look. He stops just short of laughing when she frowns.

“Just what's so funny?” She demands.

“You said his name, Shatis.” Ishan explains with a proud grin. “You said Sikarin.”

Shatis looks blankly at Ishan, replaying the last thing she said in her mind. She beams as realization sets in.

“I did. Didn't I?” She admits while embracing Ishan again. “It's taken a long time to become strong enough to confront him, much less say his name.”

When Shatis releases Ishan, he takes a concerned expression while regarding Mentor.

“How is he?” He asks.

Before Shatis answers, a deep rumble comes from Mentor. “Alive.” He says weakly.

E will be gathering near the wall soon to make plans. Some of us will need to go home to heal. Some will help here. Some of us will go to prevent Sikarin from attaining his relic.”

“We will be there.” Mentor intones.

Ishan nods, locking eyes with Mis Shatis for a long moment. Emotions storm across the distance between them before Ishan slowly turns away.

“Good. I'll see you there.”

**********************

Behind the ruined monastery, Tsai Jingkai sniffs the air as he and the Jade Hare monk survivors search for loved ones who escaped the fiery destruction of the inner keep.

Jingkai sniffs along a still standing section of wall, looking for the secret exit that he had incorporated into the construction. As he gets close, the smell of burnt flesh becomes strong. No, he corrects himself. Not simple burnt flesh, but flesh that has seen arcane fire. He smelled it when Sikarin had killed his allies. He swallows hard, tracking the smell down to his secret exit.

The section of wall that's whole is only a few feet to either side of the exit. The body is on the outside of the door that is sealed from the inside with a mystic sigil that still glows blue as Jingkai approaches.

Though his has never met the young monk lying dead at his feet, he is certain of who it is.

“Mishra Tan.” He says simply.

Jingkai looks to where the Jade Hare monks are searching and lets out a long, mournful howl. He falls to his knees by Tan's side as the monks arrive.

“Sikarin Tsooth murdered Mishra Tan and sealed the evacuation route.”

Jingkai doesn't say that this means that everyone inside the keep must therefore be dead, but he doesn't need to say anything else. The monks fall to the ground, their wails of grief joining his own.

Finally, Tsai Jingkai stands and faces the monks with a hard expression.

“There are enough of you left to rebuild once again. There were fewer survivors years ago when Sikarin tried to destroy the Jade Hare in the past.”

Once of the Jade Hare monks stands up and bows slightly. “I'm afraid rebuilding is no longer an option.”

“What?” Jingkai replies, looking shocked and hurt. “I don't understand. You're giving up?”

“No. We are not giving up.” The monk explains. “My name is Xian Shuang and I am the last master of Jade Hare kung fu. When the House was rebuilt, the spirit of the Jade Hare was with them. This is not the case for I can no longer feel the spirit that is the Jade Hare. He has abandoned us in our time of need.”

Jingkai goes pale at the though of the House of the Jade Hare coming to such an end. Everything that he has done to redeem his betraying his father has come to nothing.

“So what will you do now? Where will you go? Another House?”

Xian Shuang shakes his head as he motions his fellow monks to rise. “We will strike back at the one who did this to us. His army is destroyed here. We will hunt down and destroy Sikarin Tsooth.”

The other monks mutter in agreement as Shuang stands, flushed with anger. Slowly, Jingkai begins to grin. This echoes a conversation in another place not long ago.

“This feat was attempted before this army was gathered.” Jingkai patiently explains. “The attempt failed. Sikarin is too strong for a simple attempt on his life. We need power and a plan.”

“We can't do nothing!” Shuang cries out. “How do we attain the power we require? We have trained for years!”

“We can help in that matter.”

Wolf spirits materialize all around the monks, Buthar among them. He prowls around the group, sniffing Xian Shuang.

“There is much potential in these young warriors, L'aeron!” Buthar growls.

“Jade Hare kung fu has made them stronger than I had ever realized.” Jingkai admits. “But why are you interested in helping?”

“Jingkai.” Buthar begins. “You are a master of Jade Hare Kung Fu and Wolf Fang Kung Fu. You are one with L'aeron. All the potential is there for something new. We will join with these warriors, you will train them, and together we will bring about a powerful new House that even the Mistress herself will have cause to worry about.”

Tsai grins at the Mention of the Mistress. The title given to Tehuai Anxiu, the Grand mistress of Red Palm Kung Fu. She brooks no rival House remain outside of her control. The Jade Hare had been left free because of perceived weakness. Still...

“No good enough, my friend. Try again.”

Buthar growls. “The Mistress and her corrupt chi pollutes the very landscape of China! We cannot hunt in many regions because of the monsters that prowl the land! She is ally to the one we have just fought, your jailer! What reason more do we require?”

Tsai Jingkai shakes his head. “None. Vengeance is enough of a reason to begin.”

He turns to Xian Shuang. “Well? You have heard Buthar's proposal. What say you? We can form a new House and fight Sikarin Tsooth. Once strong enough, we can even challenge the Mistress herself. All of China's Warrior Houses could be free.”

Xian Shuang looks to his comrades for their answers, finding his own emotions reflected within. He turns back to Tsai Jingkai and Buthar with a grin of triumph.

“Jingkai. Buthar.” He begins respectfully. “We would be honored to begin this quest. To become something new. If you will have us.”

Buthar growls contentedly. “I have already picked out spirits for this.”

Jingkai's eyes narrow in response. “You had this in mind all along didn't you?”

Buthar says nothing, but his barking laughter says all.

Jingkai begrudgingly chuckles. “Then call these spirits.”

More wolf spirits appear until there is one wolf spirit beside each Jade Hare monk.

“They are already here.” Buthar states simply.

The wolf spirits let out long howls as they enter the forms of the Jade Hare monks. They howl in pain as the wolves devour what weakness that they find and transform the bodies of the monks. Each one in turn transforms into a half-wolf, half-man hybrid form with a silver wolf paw print on their cheek. Jingkai and Buthar look on in pride as they turn back to human forms one by one.

Soon only Xian Shuang is not transformed. Buthar looks to him with a growl.

“And now you...”

Buthar leaps into Xian Shuang's body, bringing a primal scream of pain from the monk as the transformations are much more dramatic. Xian Shuang grows feet taller and broader before transforming into the hybrid wolf form. Instead of a small paw print on his cheek, one large silver paw print covers his heart. He howls to his pack, reveling in their return howl.

“And now we are complete.” Jingkai nods. “Welcome everyone! Welcome to the House of the Silver Moon! We stand upon the threshold for freedom in China and indeed all of Asia. We have but to walk the path.”

Jingkai is answered by drawn out howls from the newly rechristened Silver Moon monks. He smiles as plans how to best strike out at Sikarin Tsooth begin forming in his mind.

   

Price of Blood, part nine

Mis Shatis dances wildly across the battlefield, her sword claiming a dozen enemies within moments. She was not known as the Wyld Storm for nothing. The urge to laugh out loud at the freeing effects of combat threaten to take over her emotions, but a coldness seeps in as she catches sight of more allied corpses. She has murdered six more allies who witnessed the macabre methods that Mentor was employing to dispatch his foes and realizing who the Black Diamond murderer really was.

So she has further isolated herself and Mentor from the rest of the defenders in the hopes that she only has to kill enemies. It has placed them in greater danger, but Shatis steals a glance at Mentor and shudders. Each strike Mentor lands is like a missile, bodies are utterly destroyed. They are transformed into pulpy masses of shattered bones and shredded meat, unrecognizable as the enemies they once were.

Shatis looks again at the bodies of the Black Diamond monks that she has slain. She wonders not for the first time if she has reached the number that will put her over the edge. That will cost her enough of her soul that it will take Ishan away from her regardless of her efforts to keep him.

“Crimson Mist.”

Shatis looks to the source of the voice to find a black robed tsali. One of His champions. Her eyes narrow as she edges his way. He raises a hand and summons into being a silver sword wreathed in blue flames.

“What do you know of such thing?” She demands, killing two naroths in the way.

“Crimson Mist is created in a ritual from the Ebon Mist from Twilight.” The tsali answers with a wide, hungry smile. “The lair of the Seven Shadows is far older than they know.”

The tsali champion looks around Shatis at the lack of allies supporting her and the slain monks. His grin goes even wider. “Your friends have no idea that he uses such dire powers.”

Shatis goes on the attack, slashing and thrusting at the tsali with a furious intensity that forces the tsali into silence while he defends himself. She roars angrily, the sound calling forth the mental image of an angry celestial dragon and batters the tsali champion's sword away. It fades from existence as it flies away from his grasp. He shouts a single word as Shatis slashes and the sword passes harmlessly through his head. Shatis doesn't have the time for shock as he barks another word and a wave of force knocks her back nearly ten feet. She rolls to her knees, sword still in hand. She raises the sword in time to block an overhead strike by the tsali with a new blazing silver sword. He bears down on her, leering in recognition.

“I know who you are! You are Mist Shatis! The one that they call the Wyld Storm! One f the few remaining Celestial Dragon Kung Fu masters as I recall.”

Shatis grits her teeth, trying to hold the tsali at bay. She says nothing as his leering expression takes a turn for the perverse.

“You were the Master's most favorite servant! Help me slay your friend and leave this battle with me. I will not tell your friends of your betrayals in exchange for certain favors...”

The tsali champion licks his lips lustily and laughs.

“Even now you are deliciously tempting. It would be an honor to have something that the master once had.”

Shatis nearly gives in on instinct. It was her fate for years after all, to be the servant of Sikarin. To satisfy his every carnal requirement. Then she steels herself. She is here to gain vengeance or die trying as to not repeat the cycle of abuse.

“Never!” She shouts, shoving the tsali champion back. She rolls back and flips to her feet.

“Mentor!” She calls out. “Help me!”

Mentor turns and strikes the air, though he is thirty feet from the tsali champion. The air ripples as it carries the force of his strike. The ground is torn in a groove and everything in it's path shatters into atoms. The tsali shouts the spell to make himself immaterial, but the force of Mentor's power hits him and scatters him like smoke before a strong wind. This force continues until it strikes a section of the outer wall, shattering a ten foot section like brittle glass. Mis Shatis looks on in awe at Mentor, nearly dropping her sword. Then her expression hardens and she points to His winged general.

“We waste time here.” She commands. “You are ready to take down Nikantu.”

Mentor nods to Shatis, the air around him shimmering with destructive power.

“I am.”

The very action of his speaking shatters the corpses around him.

Shatis looks towards Sikarin Tsooth, a feral grin widening across her expression. Amazed that now she even thought his name after so long. “God. Let's move.”

*****************

Ishan shouts orders to the warrior-monks around him as a section of wall explodes inwards from an unseen force. Creatures from Sikarin's army begin spilling in as Ishan stretches his defenses thin to cover the new gap. As he is about the call the retreat to the inner keep's gate, the enemies pull back. Ishan frowns at the sudden pause in violence when he spots another tsali champion. This one in a flaming red robe.

He leers at Ishan, laughing cruelly. “It ends here, Goldenfire. You and your people will all die.”

Ishan shakes his head and starts towards the champion with his sword. He stops when he hears the distant baying of wolves and snarls at the champion.

“More? Is there no end to your filth?”

The tsali champion's face goes blank for a second before it is replaced by a malicious grin.

“A sledgehammer to kill a housefly. Good fun.”

The tsali speaks a word and flies up into the air a few feet. Red energy pours from his hands and forms into a humanoid form around him. As the glow fades, it is revealed as a giant iron form of the tsali. He speaks another word and a giant red blazing brass sword appears in his hand.

Ishan raises his sword overhead in time to block the giant tsali's attack. Ishan grunts as he's driven to one knee by the strike. The champion laughs overhead.

“You are nothing! I am the most powerful of the Master's servants. None alive can defeat me.”

Ishan taps into inner reserves of strength and shoves the tsali back as he stands up straight. He takes advantage of the tsali's off-balance and cuts at his left leg. He is greeted by a shower of sparks and a trickle of red energy as a small gash is opened up in the tsali's iron leg.

Ishan presses his advantage as the tsali howls in pain. He forces the giant tsali back with mythic strength, landing a few more minor cuts. As the baying of wolves grow louder, the tsali recovers at Ishan's uncertainty. The tsali shouts out a single word the causes a flaming sphere expand out from his blade in a concussive burst, knocking Ishan back at least ten feet. The tsali s on him, sword held high. Ishan glances about, his own sword is nowhere in sight.

Ishan raises a restraining hand and points to the battlefield. “Waait! Look!”

The tsali seems to hesitate, but he looks to where Ishan points and sputters in shock. Spirits in the form of wolves have run into the battle and they shape-change into hybrid wolf-man forms and attack Sikarin's forces. As they attack, the horsemen turn on their allies. The tsali turns back to Ishan and raises his sword to finish Ishan off.

A large wolf-man leaps at the tsali, raking his chest with a single claw swipe that staggers him. Deep gouges are left in the tsali's chest, leaking red energies and blood. The wolf-man tosses Ishan his sword. Before the tsali can recover, Ishan removes his sword hand at the wrist.

The tali looks to his two enemies in a panic. Red energies pour from his wounds and blood from his chest. Ishan sheathes his sword with a grin.

“There is no honor in using weapons on an unarmed foe.”

The tsali champion begins speaking a spell, but Ishan leaps into the air with such a terrible battle cry that the tsali shrieks instead. Ishan palm strikes the damaged chest with enough force that he thrusts his hand out of the tsali's back to reveal a gore-covered hand. Ishan rips his arm back from the tsali and back flips to the ground as the tsali collapses. The metal form around the tsali fades to red energies that dissipate, leaving the tsali on the ground. A great hole of pulped flesh exists where his chest would have been.

Ishan looks at his new ally, extending his hand in thanks. The wolf-man takes it warmly, unusual in his not being a spirit like the others. Recognition sparks as Ishan looks the wolf-man in the eyes.

“Jingkai?” He asks cautiously, not believing his own eyes.

A low growl answers him. “Yes.”

Relief floods Ishan. His friend lives! Except that he has been transformed into his nickname. Into the very representation of the style he left his father's House to learn. The Wolf.

Jingkai shakes his head at the questions he sees forming at Ishan's lips, the light reflecting off of the silver paw print on his cheek. “Later. We will talk later.”

Jingkai rushes headlong into the ranks of the enemies without another word, slashing left and right with his claws. Ishan nods to himself and strides past his allies and into the thick of the enemy ranks. He taps into his reserve of strength and slashes at the air. A wave of deadly force ripples through the air, cutting through scores of enemies on it's way to Ishan and Nikantu. When the wave reaches the dark sorcerer, it breaks apart like a wave against the rocks.

Ishan advances on the sorcerer with his sword in hand and a battle cry on his lips. Sikarin Tsooth does nothing as Ishan swings his sword, impassive in the face of certain danger.

The impassiveness turns into a wide grin as the giant vurlken parries Ishan's strike. He reaches down with one hand and grabs Ishan by the gi, flinging him twenty feet away with ease. Sikarin laughs.

“Meet Nikantu. He is the King of the Vurlken and my general for this army.”

Ishan doesn't hear much of what Sikarin has to say while rolling to his feet and raising his sword in time to parry an overhead strike from Nikantu. The ground beneath Ishan cracks and buckles, but Ishan holds on as Nikantu pounds on him with a sword as big as Ishan himself. Nikantu turns, clubbing Ishan down with his wing.

His voice is a deep bestial growl as he leans down and backhands Ishan.

“No Goldenfire has ever defeated Sikarin Tsooth.”

Nikantu knocks Ishan's sword from his hand and picks him up by the front of his gi. Ishan feels his gorge rising at being so close to the grisly armor of the general. Human bones coated in rotting meat and gristle armor the Nikantu's frame. Ishan manages to pick out a few choice gaps and stalls for time as Nikantu brings him closer.

“What are you talking about?” He asks.

Nikantu shakes his head. “You bear his sword, but do not know of it's origin. You will die in ignorance.”

Nikantu holds Ishan in one hand and swings his sword with the other to behead his victim, but Ishan strikes an opening in the armor. Nikantu drops Ishan, allowing him to grab his sword and slash the general along the ribcage. Sparks fly as Ishan's sword glances off of the bone armor, leaving only a small scratch.

Nikantu parries the next slash and presses Ishan back. While Ishan holds his ground, his entire body is pressed backwards with his feet dragging the ground.

“Give up, Goldenfire.” Nikantu growls. “Death will be quick.”

Ishan grits his teeth, digging his feet in to stop his movement. He digs deep into his reserve of strength and presses Nikantu back a step. He snarls at Nikantu through clenched teeth, pressing the vurlken king back another step.

“Never!”

A series of metallic pings is heard over the din of combat. The sound proves to be a harbinger as Nikantu's sword shatters. He staggers backwards as Ishan's sword carries through the cloud of shrapnel to cleave through as bone in his chest through the armor. Nikantu howls in pain, blood pouring from the wound.

Ishan squats down and leas into the air. Nikantu roars as flames pour from his mouth. The flames part around Ishan's sword, leaving him unharmed. He thrusts his sword home under Nikantu's chin, sending the sword tip through the top of his skull. Ishan holds onto his sword hilt and Nikantu's jaw as he falls backwards to the ground.

Ishan rips his sword from Nikantu and begins advancing on Sikarin Tsooth, who stands impassive in the face of his strongest servant on the field being slain.

“You'll go no further than here, sorcerer.” Ishan threatens with a grim smile.

Sikarin points the head of his staff at Ishan with a short chuckle. Ishan raises his sword and blocks a bolt of blue fire. The flames stick to the sword, changing to red. Ishan strides towards Sikarin, the red blazing sword casting a maniacal bloody light across his face.

“Now, Sikarin. Now you die.”

Sikarin shakes his head, pointing the palm of his free hand towards the ground. The sound of distant thunder fills the air as chaotic streams of black lightning travel from his palm and into the ground. Ishan stops in his tracks, his expression cautious.

“No.” Sikarin states. “Now you all die.”

Ishan is nearly thrown to the ground as everything begins to shake. Sikarin begins laughing maniacally as the ground between them starts to swell.

Ishan steadies himself and launches himself at the moving mound, intending on climbing past it to get at Sikarin. He stops when the mound explodes, sending dirt everywhere. He looks up in awe as a vast oriental dragon with obsidian scales and steel gray belly launches up from the ground and hangs in the air.

“An Infernal Dragon...” Ishan whispers to himself as the dragon rises to nearly two hundred feet above the battlefield. How much more of the dragon that is still in the ground is uncertain. Everywhere, people and monsters scatter as the infernal dragon exhales a great gout of flame that incinerates everything in it's path.

Ishan slashes at the infernal dragon with his blazing sword, but beyond putting out the flames the attacks do nothing but cause sparks to fly. The dragon glances at Ishan and ignores him, sending another blast of fire at the battlefield below.

Ishan looks on, amazed at the single man still standing after the last flame attack. He stands before the infernal dragon, still wreathed in flames. Ishan shouts a name as he recognizes the lone warrior.

“Mentor!”

The infernal dragon lunges quickly, snapping up Mentor in his jaws along with a section of earth. As the dragon straightens, Ishan reaches down into his reserves of strength. He thrusts his sword, burying it to the hilt into the dragon's side.

Ishan rips the sword out and prepares to strike again as corrupted black blood runs from the fresh wound. He falls onto his back, his strength nearly all spent. The infernal dragon rears back to regard Ishan with an angry growl.

Ishan holds his breathe at the infernal dragon slowly inhales, but lets t out in a startled gasp as the dragon buckles from heavy machine gun fire exploding against it's head and neck. He gives a whoop of joy, seeing the Atlas-class transports that dropped him and his brethren return, opening fire on the infernal dragon. Ishan gets to his feet and backs away as it starts raining broken scales, blood, and small chunks of smoking dragon flesh.

The infernal dragon roars in pain, but points it's claws in the direction of the helicopters. Black and purple lightning cackles from the dragon's talons to rip through the transports. The lightning jumps from helicopter to helicopter in a destructive chain that transforms the helicopters into glowing clouds of shrapnel or sends them spiraling down to the ground.

Once the sky is cleared of attackers, the infernal dragon looks down at Ishan again. As the dragon inhales, Ishan can see the flames building in the back of it's throat.

Then as suddenly as it starts, the build up of flame stops. Ishan hears a muffled roar coming from within the dragon's throat, but not from the dragon itself. The dragon's throat quickly expands and explodes outwards in a burst of flame that beheads the beast. At the center of this explosion shouting loudly as he burns is Mentor. He seems to hover in mid-air fr seconds and then begins to fall. Ishan loses sight of him as he rolls to avoid the impact of the infernal dragon's head.

Ishan stands up and grabs the head for support as the rest of the infernal dragon's body slams into the ground. He picks up his sword, gathering the last of his strength. The army of monsters is defeated, but there is one last foe to slay.

Ishan scans where Sikarin Tsooth had stood, but all he finds is Mis Shatis. She looks around, sword in hand, and shouts for Sikarin to make himself shown. He marvels at her new strength, calling for her former master and tormentor by name. He speaks to the open space.

“Where have you fled to, Sikarin Tsooth?”

*****************

The Price of Blood, part eight

Mis Shatis nearly laughs out loud as she dispatches a vurlken with her sword. It is a giant spider with the upper torso of a female human. She screams an elated battle cry that distracts a tsali long enough for her to behead him. She continues her motion into a backspin kick that crushes the skull of another tsali.

She continues with near blinding speed and feats of preternatural agility as the sheer joy of unfettered combat settles upon her. With no worries about the grisly murders that have plagued the Black Diamond and not needing to worry about Mentor's current state of health, she focuses on the one tack at hand that brings her immense joy. Slaying the monsters she had been exiled with for two years on one of His whims. She is also striking back at Him. She doesn't think His name, not wanting to utter it even in her thoughts. She sees Him at the far end of the battlefield. Nikantu stands next to Him as the general of this army. He is a leader of the Naroths, the winged gray humanoids dressed in the bones of their victims. He stands over fifteen feet tall, more than double the size of the others. Still, he is an obstacle that Mentor can help her overcome. She just has to find him.

The massive head of a terpian sails overhead to land close to Him. With such strength to throw the head of a spine-flinging serpent such as the terpian, Shatis muses. Mentor must be near. She looks to the source of the projectile and finds Mentor ripping the torso from a vurlken. He grabs the abdomen of the creature and uses it to crush a deatheye with it. With enemies backing away from her at the moment, she takes the time to watch Mentor fight. Elbows, fists, knees, feet, forehead, and corpses are all used as efficient deadly weapons.

Shatis gives a wild shout and begins working her way to Mentor's position. As she gets to within ten feet of him, her jubilant war whoops become a horrified scream. Mentor palms the head of a tsali with one hand and holds out a stoppered vial in the other. He can't do this! Not now. Not in front of so many of their allies at once! She screams for him to stop, but Mentor pops the cork with his thumb and drops the vial as his form is wreathed in a black mist. Mentor speaks a word and plunges his hand into the tsali's chest and rips out his heart. He drops the corpse, the black mist turning red like a fog of blood in the air and dissolves the heart. This mist is absorbed into Mentor's body. The effects of the potion cleanse him of any battlefield gore and heals many of his wounds.

Mis Shatis gets to Mentor's side as he pops open another vial and rips the heart out of a naroth. She screams again as the crimson mist is absorbed into his body.

“Mentor! No!” She screams. “You must stop this before the mist controls you!”

Mentor wheels around to look at Mis Shatis, blood lust radiating from his eyes like blazing coals. When he speaks, his voice is a deep, booming bass that is free of its previous weakness.

“Power.” He utters. “I become unlimited!”

Mentor grabs a nearby tsali, disrupting the desperate spell on his lips and flings him at the wall. The tsali impacts at terminal velocity, his body shattering into a red smear. He grabs a naroth and pulls out another vial.

“POWER!”

The force of his voice alone shatters the rotted meat and bone armor of the naroth. He pops the cork on the third vial while speaking a word in an arcane tongue. He rips the heart out of the struggling naroth as the black mist around him turns crimson and shouts in ecstasy as the crimson mist fills him with strength.

Mis Shatis swallows hard and looks across the battlefield to where He stands with Nikantu standing next to him. She points to the winged giant.

“Do you have the strength to destroy Nikantu so I can have my vengeance against Him?” Her voice betrays her, dropping to a whisper. Mentor pulls out another vial.

“Allow me to continue and I will...”

Mis Shatis wipes away the sudden appearance of tears running down her cheeks. The joy of battle drains from her as she realizes the possible cost that her vengeance may bring, and yet there is really no other option for her heart. Her voice pains her as she responds to him.

“Do it.”

As Mentor grabs another vurlken and wreathes himself once again in black mist, a woman nearby screams in horror. Shatis looks to the source of the scream to find Bai Mei, the wife of Tu Fusha. The man transformed into a monster and slain by Ishan Goldenfire. She points at Mentor, her face a mask of fear and revulsion.

“He did it. Didn't he?” She shrieks. “He has been murdering our brothers! I bet it was him who caused my husband to transform!”

Mis Shatis holds up a restraining hand. “No! It's not what you think! Mentor only-”

Mentor makes Bai Mei's point by ripping out the heart of the vurlken and absorbing the resulting crimson mist. Shatis sighs as Bai Mei screams again.

“I must warn the others! Ishan will know what to do!”

Shatis moves quickly to get between the horrified girl and the rest of the battlefield, cutting her off from her allies.

“Now Mei.” Shatis warns. “You don't want to do that. I need him!”

Bai Mei looks at Shatis with new eyes of anger and hate. “You knew this didn't you? You brought him to us, knowing that he was a killer! Ishan will have both of your heads for the crimes against the Black Diamond!”

“No!” Shatis cries. “I need Mentor, but I can't lose Ishan! Please! Don't say anything!”

Bai Mei shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. “I have to so that my husband's spirit can rest. You must understand!”

Shatis nods. “I understand.”

Bai Mei looks back at Mentor and shudders as he claims another victim. She starts moving back towards where Ishan was last seen when Shatis move suddenly. She runs Mei through with her sword and pulls her by the front of her gi until the hilt rests against her sternum.

“I'm sorry.” Shatis whispers. “I can't lose Ishan and I need Mentor.”

Shatis pulls the blade from Bai Mei and lets her body fall to the ground. She looks at the blood on the blood on the sword with an expression of anguish and self-loathing.

“What have I done?” She whispers. “Mentor...what have I done?”

*****************

Ishan Goldenfire jumps up and grabs his sword from the ground. He looks around wildly before realizing that the fighting has left him behind. The Jade Hare and the Black Diamond have pressed Sikarin Tsooth's forces beyond the breach and into the open. Ishan grins as he notes that Sikarin's largest monsters have all been destroyed.

Ishan laughs. “Even outnumbered, we will still win the day!”

Ishan moves to join his brothers, but stops when the space behind Sikarin becomes blurred like the dropping of a veil. When it becomes clear again, it is revealed that Sikarin had only committed a quarter of his forces. Ishan doesn't see anymore of the large monsters, but there are many more that begin rushing the field. Black Diamond and Jade Hare warrior-monks begin dying by the dozen as they are overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Ishan rushes to the breach and calls out orders to fall back beyond the wall. He directs monks back up to the wall to man the anti-aircraft guns that begin opening fire as soon as their allies are clear.

Fire blazes up the crumbling walls, incinerating the monks climbing there. Ishan looks to the source of the fire to see a black robed tsali. His demeanor is different as if he were accustomed to authority. His eyes narrow at the sight of Ishan.

“Goldenfire.” He hisses.

“I know. I know.” Ishan snaps, interrupting the pale sorcerer. “You'll get much glory for killing a Goldenfire. Can we get on with me killing you now?”

The tsali spits on the ground with an expression of disgust. “I am a favored champion of Sikarin Tsooth! I have no need for such glory! However, when I slay you and dine upon your flesh...much power must be stored within the genes of the Goldenfire line. I will be most powerful. You see us as we are famished. Our power when our hunger is sated is...wonderful.”

Ishan shakes his head with a rue smile. “You really are stupid then. Aren't you? I'm no different than any other except being I'm the one killing you.”

Ishan brings his sword in a downward arc to split the tsali in two when he speaks a word. With a flash of blue flame, the tsali parries with a burning silver sword.

“No!” He retorts. “You will die. And your friends will die. I am eternal.”

The tsali backs away, but launches into a low slash with his sword. Ishan easily blocks it, but the tsali places a hand on Ishan's chest and speaks a single word. Ishan is tossed back from the point blank lightning bolt, but remains on his feet. He grits his teeth through the pain and brushes away the smoke from his chest.

“Your parlor tricks won't work on me, sorcerer!” Ishan boasts.

The tsali champion's laughter is full of menace. “I don't want to cook the meat. Luscious, powerful meat! My blade will finish you.”

The tsali comes at Ishan, his burning blade leaving trails in the air as he weaves a complex pattern before attacking. Ishan parries each attack, but is slow to respond with the pain in his chest becoming stronger than he realized. The tsali brings his blade to bear against Ishan's pressing him down to one knee. The blue blaze sheathing the sword blisters Ishan's cheek as the tsali presses down. The tsali spits on Ishan's face, laughing as the spittle sizzles into nothing from the mystic heat.

“I will kill you now.” He hisses.

Ishan blocks out the pain and shoves back with all his strength, sending the tsali backwards for twenty feet. His burning blade flies from his hand, fading from existence as it does so.

The tsali leaps to his feet as Ishan stands, calling out a spell that sends a glowing jade shard at Ishan where it sinks into his left shoulder. Ishan charges at the tsali with his sword held high, but it is parried by a resummoned burning silver sword. The tsali sneers as their swords are locked together as once again Ishan's strength starts to drain away.

“You can't defeat me!” He gloats. “You are nothing like the Goldenfire of legend!”

Ishan takes a hand off of the hilt of his sword and curses as he drives a palm strike to the tsali's forehead. The strike possesses enough strength to snap the tsali's neck. As the tsali's body crumples to the ground, his sword and jade shard fade from existence. Ishan sighs in relief as the burning pain in his chest also fades away.

“Only a spell...” He mumbles to himself.

The tide of horrific creatures falter at the slaying of one of Sikarin's tsali champions. Ishan takes advantage of the moment, slaying those around him while rallying his brother warrior-monks.

“To me!” He shouts. “Don't let them past the breach! Protect the keep!”

Ishan is quickly joined by Black Diamond and Jade Hare warrior-monks and the advance of Sikarin's monstrous horde is halted. Still, Ishan feels his spirits drop. They can only hold for a little while longer. He grabs a young Jade Hare warrior-monk.

“We can't hold the breach! Is there a way to evacuate the keep?”

The young monk looks at the keep and shakes his head.

“I don't know!” He cries out. “I just don't know!”

Ishan points to the roof f the keep. “Find your Elder! He leaped to the roof before Sikarin destroyed the gate! He will know how to get your people to safety!”

The monk nods and starts to run before Ishan stops him again. “What's your name, boy?”

The young monk draws himself up a little at being called “boy”, but answers. “Mishra Tan, sir!”

Ishan nods. “Go Mishra Tan and be safe. Everyone inside the inner keep depends on you.”

Mishra Tan gives a short bow and runs towards the inner keep. Ishan doesn't spare him another glance, having gone back to the fighting.

“Stay safe.” He intones before screaming a battle cry and splitting a naroth in half.

***************

Muta ducks behind the massive beast's head as a vurlken passes by. Once the danger is gone, he slips over the neck of the creature and begins trying to pull his hook-shaped daggers free. He curses as the blades don't budge, wedged deep in the monster's flesh. He ducks again as a deatheye floats by.

Muta comes out from cover and grabs the dagger while planting his feet on the beat's neck as to appear as if he were scaling the great creature. He curses loudly as they still won't come free. A feminine clearing of a throat makes him freeze. He looks over his shoulder to see a giant-sized vurlken. She has her arms crossed with a stern expression. Muta waves with a friendly smile.

“I'll get to fighting you in just one moment, miss. My knives seem to be stuck.”

Muta turns back to the daggers, pulling with desperation while listening behind him. From her growling, he muses that she didn't care for his sarcasm. She clears her throat again. Muta turns to look back at her, summoning his courage.

“Yes?” He asks as sweetly as one can when faced with a giant half-woman, half-spider.

She looks down at him with such a stern expression that Muta wonders if he'd been suddenly married in the middle of combat.

“You know I was set to pass you by and spare your life, but since you were so rude to use such language in the presence of not only a woman, but royalty? Your life is forfeit!”

Muta releases the daggers and drops to the ground to stand in front f the vurlken. He nearly laughs, but stops himself. He asks the question on his mind.

“Are you serious? Really? Are we not fighting? You would spare my life except for the fact that I cursed at my dagger that I need to keep myself alive because you are supposed to be killing me. So I ask you again. Are you serious?”

The giant vurlken draws herself up and crosses her arms again under her barely covered, ample bosom in a gesture that threatens to send them violently out into the open.

“I am a woman.” She huffs. “Correct?”

Muta drops his eyes away from the nearly fully revealed bosom and nods. The absurdity of the situation making it seem all the more unreal.

“Yes.” He admits. “At least half of you is.”

“And I am the Queen of the Vurlken!” She adds angrily. “Both of which mean you must act with respect in my presence. Correct?”

Muta shrugs, starting to back towards where his daggers were wedged into the beast's neck. “I suppose you're right. So I should use no foul language and be respectful when I kill you?”

The vurlken queen grins maliciously. “No, but what does it matter to one who is about to die?”

Muta frowns as he backs towards the beast, but stops when he looks down to see a long black spider leg. He spins around to see two more vurlken. The queen laughs.

“My daughters are hungry and you are unarmed. So now, rude human male, you will die.”

As the nearest vurlken reaches for him, a spine from a serpent bursts from her chest. She looks down shocked as she is lifted into the air, ran through the abdomen to chest like a spit. Hiroshima tosses the dying vurlken to the side and grabs the other by the head before she can react and snaps her neck. He pulls the hook-shaped daggers out of the beast's neck with ease and hands them to Muta before dodging out of the way as the vurlken queen thrusts at him with a spine from a serpent.

“My daughters!” She cries out in anguish.

Muta dodges under a thrust and leaps into the air, catching the queen on the armor between her bosoms with his dagger. As he lands on the ground, the dagger splits open her black chitinous armor while leaving a long shallow cut down the center of her belly. She drops the spine, her hands instinctively covering her bared breasts. Hiroshima catches the spine, reverses it, and thrusts it totally into the queen's abdomen. She screams in pain, knocking Hiroshima to the side. She picks up the spine with her daughter's corpse spitted on it and kicks Muta to the side of the beast. She holds the corpse-laden spine over her head, her expression one of frenzied rage and pain.

Just as the spine were to strike home, Hiroshima pushes Muta out of the way and is struck by the spine in the shoulder. The spine goes all the way through, pinning Hiroshima to the side of the beast with the corpse of the vurlken sliding down on top of him. The vurlken queen reaches for Muta with her bare hands to kill him, but realizes that he has gone. She looks around, but stops when she feels searing pains along her abdomen and legs. She peers down below to see Muta darting between her man legs to cut at them and above him to leave long, deep gashes in her abdomen. Muta is coated in spraying dark blood as he continues to do as much damage as he can.

Muta slashes one more time with his daggers, shearing through two rear legs to make his escape as the vurlken queen collapses to the ground. The combination of damage done by Hiroshima and Muta proving to be fatal. Muta steps out of reach as the queen realizes that she will never stand again, her skin color pales quickly as her life blood quickly drains away.

“I'm sorry for being rude.” Muta quietly apologizes. “I'm sorry that it had to end this way. Serving Sikarin Tsooth and his evils was a terrible error of judgment. You should have remained free.”

The vurlken queen slumps as he life slips away from her. She manages to shake her head.

“No.” She counters. “Service to Sikarin almost never involves judgment. You and your people should know that.”

With that she closes her eyes in death. Muta feels a pang of regret as her human half crumples against her black abdomen. The feelings vanish quickly as he rushes to Hiroshima's side. The enemy mill about, regarding the fallen queen before picking easier targets. Muta grabs at the spine and attempts to pull it out, but it doesn't budge. Hiroshima grunts in pain as the weight on the spine is shifted. He grumbles as Muta examines the spine.

“If I had known this would happen I may have left you to be impaled.”

Muta grins as he tugs at the spine. “What and leave me to have all the fun? I know better. Can you move the spine and spider-lady at all?”

Muta turns and draws both daggers as Hiroshima makes an attempt to free himself. Six angry vurlken surround Muta and Hiroshima. He gives a short, sarcastic laugh.

“No pressure, Hiro. You just need to do it now or we become spider chow.”

*********************