“Do we have to do this, Cyan?”, she asks and not for the first time. “You've seen the reports filed by Xian Tsar. You know what grandmother told you.”
“I must see for myself, Zetian”, Cyan snaps, also not for the first time.
The pair reach a landing where a shelter had been dug into the mountain long ago to keep from the stinging wind at least for a time. Tehuai Zetian ducks into the shelter, large enough for twenty people and a fire and crosses her arms. Cyan sees the expression on her face and sighs.
“Look”, Cyan begins, his tone softening. “I cant say. There is something that I must see before I can search for the man who betrayed my family to their deaths.”
Tehuai Zetian remains defiant. “I am your wife! You can tell me anything and I will tell no one else!”
Cyan raises an eyebrow. “Not even grandmother?”
“Not even grandmother!”, she bursts out.
Tehuai Zetian uncrosses her arms and blinks at her own vehemence. “Well...that is...if you don't want her to know.”
“It is important that she doesn't find out.”, Cyan says. “It is a matter of life, death, and rebirth.”
Zetian nods. “I will not tell her. Our wedding vows provide the promise to keep.”
Cyan grins, though the scar in his right cheek make it seem almost a snarl. “Good. I-”
“What is it that you don't want grandmother to know?”
Both Zetian and Cyan turn to face the source of the mocking tone. Two ninja come from out of the darkness. One is the color of death. Blacks, grays, and blues mottle his skin. The other is red-brown with dark red crusts like scabs on the skin. Both carry a Mon of the Japanese symbol for demon. The one that spoke laughs.
“Do not speak of my grandmother in so light a tone!” Zetian warns. “Lesser men have died for such disrespect!”
The ninja bows respectfully though a smirk remains seen in his eyes. “Of course I regret any disrespect done to the Mistress. We from the Order of the Demon owe her much.”
The ninja pulls away his hood to reveal a grin of razor sharp teeth to g with his deathly pallor.
“We have been honored by the deadliest woman in the world. We were given the opportunity to be rid of our rivals, the Phoenix, once and for all.”
Cyan hisses through clenched teeth. “You betrayed my father.”
The gray ninja laughs. “No. You did. Your friend, Xan Xing, did. A force of Celestial Dragon, Demon Ninja, Shocktroopers, and Xian Tsar's Black Guard cannot be stopped by anyone!”
Now the other ninja laughs and gets into an offensive fighting stance. “The Phoenix are now extinct.”
“I still live.” Cyan states simply.
The gray ninja laughs. “You are no Phoenix.”
Before the two can react, Cyan slips through them and hits each behind the left ear with light fingertip strikes. Both ninja drop to the ground as if they were puppets with cut strings.
“No I suppose not,” Cyan admits. “But I am alive so there is yet hope on that.”
Tehuai Zetian watches the dying ninjas with some shock, but quickly recovers. “Cyan? They seemed to think that they knew what it is that you seek. How would a rival clan know this?”
Cyan sighs. “I need to see the destruction with my own eyes. I need to find a relic that is vital to the rebirth of the Phoenix.”
Cyan looks away from Zetian and speaks quietly. “I also need to see if my father has forgiven me and if I am worthy enough to be his heir.”
Zetian hugs Cyan close. “Oh Cyan! I didn't know! How close are we now?”
Cyan looks out of the shelter's entrance as if he can see far beyond. “We are a few hours away from the monastery itself, but we should be able to see down into the valley in a few minutes.”
Smoke rises high from the lower half of the Phoenix monastery. The upper half of the once towering monastery s gone. Dozens f fiery phoenix slowly circle the ruins.
Cyan Komar drops to his knees, letting out an anguished scream. Tehuai Zetian hugs him tight, pressing her head to his shoulder.
“You knew this is what you were going to find.”, she consoles. “Though knowing t and seeing it...such destruction! Your friend is the cause of this? How? Why?”
Cyan pulls away from Zetian and looks to the smoking ruins again. His eyes dart to the phoenix high above as if searching for a particular phoenix.
“It is said that Xan Xing was leading a diplomatic mission that went sour. He brought Xian Tsar and all the other forces involved in to attack once he was guided in. When I find him...nothing will save him from me!”
Cyan turns to leave, but is stopped by Zetian. “You said you needed to find a relic, but why are you leaving?”
Cyan looks at the ground. “The relic was the Phoenix Egg. It was held in the uppermost tower where my father would use it's power to determine who the phoenix went to when the ninja died. Without it's power, the Phoenix will become extinct for I cannot train others in secrets that I do not know.”
“So then the Phoenix are forever gone...”Zetian hugs tight to Cyan, sharing in her husbands grief.
Just then both Zetian and Cyan duck as a phoenix larger than all of the others rises up from below the cliff. Cyan stands straight up, his expression full of awe. Zetian clutches at Cyan in fear for the phoenix is the size of a bull elephant with a terrifying wing span.
“Father...”, Cyan whispers. “It is you. Does the Egg still exist? Can the Phoenix be brought back? Hae you forgiven my betrayal?”
The last question is nearly inaudible to Tehuai Zetian as she holds him tight to Cyan with hot air buffeting them from the wings of the giant phoenix. She wonders at the meaning for she knows of no betrayal in her husbands past.
The phoenix leans in close to Cyan, peering at him with one giant eye and then the other. It squawks loudly at Cyan and flies off to circle around the burning ruins.
Cyan watches as the giant phoenix flies off into the distance. He clenches his hands tight as tears roll down his cheeks and freeze as the cold returns. Blood begins streaming from between his fingers and freeze into small jewels by the time they hit the ground. Tehuai Zetian steps back from Cyan, looking at him with concern and alarm.
“Cyan?”, she asks. “Are you alright?”
“No,” Cyan states, his voice full of suppressed rage. “My family is gone with no way to return them to this world. I will never be alright ever again.”
The blood dripping from Cyan's hands begins to catch fire as the droplets fall to the ground, revealing the Phoenix power buried deep within him as he quivers with rage.
“I will find Xan Xing as Grandmother asks of me. Then I will make him feel the pain of every lost Phoenix. He will suffer like no man has ever suffered!”
****************
Outside on the wall of an ancient monastery, two guards walk on their patrol route.
“Midnight patrols...”, one guard grumbles to the other. “This is the Brotherhood of the Open Heart! We have healers, not warriors. They think that we're a threat?”
The other guard shrugs. “We heal the others when they come. The Warhammer Corporation goons know that even if we don't fight, we are helping provide whole fighters. That's a threat.”
The first guard laughs. “That's like shooting the maid to keep the house dirty. I think- hey!”
The guard stops short as a rock flies past his face. He turns to his partner angry, but shock quickly replaces anger when he sees the hole in his partners head.
Still stunned, he watches silently as his partner falls over the rampart and off the wall. He gathers his wits and looks over the wall for the source of the stone.
A blur of black fabric is his only sign of danger as his own blade is ripped from his sheath and dragged across his throat to silence him.
Cyan Komar pushes the dying guard over the rampart and tosses the knife after him. He's in a black ninja outfit with a sword strapped to his back. He looks beyond the wall to the inner keep where he spots an open window. He unfolds thin cloth from around his legs and zips them to his arms to form flaps. He leaps high into the air and glides silently through the night.
Once Cyan glides through the window, he lands in an ancient dining room. A large stone table with twenty-four stone chairs. A trickle of bright red blood pours from somewhere in the darkness above into a large trough. Twenty four spigots reveal the true purpose of the blood. Cyan frowns at the macabre sight. In a house of healing and medicine. He removes a glowing green stone from inside a pocket.
“Xian Tsar said to throw this into a reservoir of blood to end the threat of the Open Heart. This looks like just such a thing.”
Cyan tosses the stone into the pool of blood where the blood changes into a dark green before lapsing back to red. A green ribbon of light curls around the trickle of blood and into the darkness above where it fades from sight. Cyan shrugs, banishing all curiosity of where the light may have gone. He gets out a cell phone and dials it.
“This is Cyan.”, he says simply. “The mission is done. Where is Xan Xing?”
Cyan nods, listening to the answer. “Uh huh. Yeah. The Living Siege Weapon Guild. He helped defeat the House of the Tiger Claw, and now you will be attacking so he may stay to help the defenders.”
Cyan Komar shrugs. “I guess that's as good as anything. I'll be on my way to join you.”
As Cyan puts the phone away, he hears footsteps leading to the one door in the room. He ducks behind a tapestry where a nook in the wall is. He pokes a hole in the tapestry with a knife to see.
Twenty-four men and women walk into the room and take the seats. They fill the plain brushed iron goblets with blood. One man stands up as they all raise their goblets.
“To the end of another day! Our help has brought several hundred men back into fighting shape to stand against those Warhammer devils and our own foolish police force! Already, several of their forces have been sent packing back to China. It will only be a matter of time before we force them all into the Sea of Japan!”
Goblets clink together as everyone cheers and drink the blood. Little green lights suddenly fly from each of the people and up into the darkness. Everyone is silent as a grumbling begins to fill the darkness above them. The speaker sits down, pale with fright.
“What? What's going on?”
A demonic creature drops onto the table along with a hail of stone and metal. Age dulled purple scales, a long barbed tail, huge wings, horns that curl around like a ram, claw, and fangs. He throws his head back and roars.
“Freedom!!!”
Everyone around the table leap to their feet, chairs flying to the ground behind them. They draw weapons. Swords, daggers, maces, and etc. The monstrosity laughs at them all.
“I am Scaasapiel! I am he who is favored of the Master's servants! Did you think that you could defeat me forever?”
A woman speaks, holding a dagger out in front of her as if it were to protect her. “Your mind was destroyed! You were a mindless body!”
Scaasapiel grins at her. “Yolanda...my mind has been rescued from the ether and trapped in a stone. I have been returned to where I belonged. Now you all have supped from my power for a very long time and there is a price to be paid.”
The woman drops her dagger and holds her hands out in front of her. “Here is your power, demon!”
A stream of flame erupts from her palms to join twenty-three others in covering Scaasapiel in fire. The table beneath the demon's feet begins to glow red, but the demon himself is unfazed. He bellows with laughter.
“My thanks for making this so easy!”
The flames change to a dark red and are reflected back to their sources. Eleven men and women explode, their bodies transforming instantly to ashes in the wind. The rest drop to their knees in agony.
Scaasapiel takes on a serious expression. “To those of you who remain, I require your services. We will be glorious in the service of my Master's Left Hand and the humans he has allied himself with in the Warhammer Corporation. If you refuse? Death. If you are loyal and true...”
A fallen goblet flies up to Scaasapiel's hand. He plunges a talon into his own chest, filling the goblet with glowing red blood.
“ think you will find that this will contain more power than it had ever held before.”
Twelve other goblets rise up to float in mid-air and blood streams from Scaasapiel's ruptured heart to fill them. He releases the goblet in his hand and each float to a survivor.
“Will you serve or perish?” Scaasapiel asks, his eyes shining with cruelty.
As one the thirteen survivors stand and drain their goblets before them. They raise the emptied goblets and cheer.
“Now go!” Scaasapiel commands. “Cleanse this place of all those who will not serve me!”
Scaasapiel watches as his new servants file out of the room, eager for bloodshed. He casually addresses the tapestry where Cyan Komar is hiding.
“Come out little phoenix. My freedom is indebted to you and so you will come to no harm in my monastery.”
Cyan steps from behind the tapestry and regards Scaasapiel with his full sight. The demon chuckles.
“I have seen what had happened to your people, little phoenix. It is sad that you are the last of your kind. Still, they should have known better than to oppose these ingenious Warhammer humans. The Left Hand chose well when he selected these humans to help bring back the Master.”
Cyan's eyes flash angrily as he draws the sword from his back. “Watch your words, demon! I was to help bring you your freedom, not leave you alive. Be respectful of the fallen.”
Scaasapiel laughs harshly. “I just defeated twenty-four vampires who had been empowered by my own dormant blood. What makes you think that I would waste time being respectful to one little phoenix?”
Cyan's eyes narrow and the shadow of a grin crosses his face. “You never face the Phoenix Ninja did you?”
Scaasapiel grunts. “Your ancestors would have been killed if I had.”
In a blink, Cyan is gone from sight. The demon searches around. But does not see where the ninja could have gone. A voice behind him startles him.
“If you had faced the Phoenix, you would have died long ago. We can slay what ordinary weapons cannot.”
Scaasapiel spins around and is run through the belly by Cyan's sword. Scaasapiel screams in pain and rage.
“You hurt me!”, he roars. “No one has ever done such!”
He swipes at Cyan with his claws, but the ninja is already gone.
Scaasapiel spins around to see Cyan perched at the window, sword sheathed at his back again. Cyan waves.
“So long Scaasapiel. I must continue my quest. Remember. Respect the Phoenix or he will bite.”
Scaasapiel hurls a fireball at Cyan, cursing in rage. Cyan leaps from the window, his form outlined by the exploding wall behind him.
“I will find you again, little phoenix!”, Scaasapiel swears. “And when we meet next, the Phoenix will be extinct!”
***********
Outside of the Living Siege Weapon Guild monastery, a man stands in a black sorcerer's robes wit his hood down around his shoulders. He has pale skin with short black hair and a well-trimmed goatee. He shouts orders to the black armored and white armored Shocktroopers around him as they rush into battle against the warriors of the monastery. A few Shocktroopers stop and set up heavy machine gun emplacements to gun down the enemy.
Cyan Komar slips up next to the man unnoticed and looks over at the battlefield. Broken Shocktroopers fly for hundreds of feet from the heavy strikes of the siege warriors. In the center of it all, a bright red flame aura reveals Xan Xing's presence in the battle as he dodges artillery and takes on a score of Shocktroopers at the same time.
“Xian Tsar.”, Cyan begins. “Just cannon fodder? I thought the Celestial Dragon rode with you.”
Xian Tsar glances a Cyan, a look of hatred passes quickly into a cold smile. “Would you turn the Celestial Dragon against one of their own? Besides...my Black Guard are no cannon fodder!”
Cyan just shrugs. “They're out there dying like fodder. Your Black Guard must be used to soft targets like the slave raids and recruiting drives that you normally dirty your hands with.”
Xian Tsar grits his teeth, his eyes darkening with sorcerous power. “Someone casts protective spells on everyone here! These siege warriors are shrugging off all but the most powerful of blows and seemingly immune to smalls arms fire!”
Cyan laughs and starts walking in the direction of Xan Xing. “Two victories for Japan! I'm not sure f you'll still be in my grandmother's good graces after today. You are supposed to sweep these people.”
Xian Tsar opens his mouth, but bites off an angry retort when an Atlas-class transport arrives on the scene. Cyan stops in his tracks, shielding his eyes from the dust being blown about by the mammoth transport. Xian Tsar begins laughing as a dozen fifteen foot tall Shocktroopers exit the transport. They are armed with a heavy machine gun on one forearm and a gigantic battle axe on the other. They have a back back with a mortar launcher over one shoulder. All are painted pitch black like the rest of the Black Guard.
“Meet my equalizer in this battle, Idasu!” Xian Tsar bellow. “The Grenadier-class power armor! Watch them in action and remember why my troops are the best of the black ops!”
Cyan ducks as the Grenadier-class power armor units launch mortars into the sky. They land with explosive force just behind the line of siege warriors holding a defensive line. Xian Tsar laughs sadistically as the protected warriors fall to the destructive power.
“Forward my warriors!” Xian Tsar shouts. “Cleanse these throwback from the face of the Earth!”
Xian Tsar sneers at Cyan, his cold eyes glittering with amusement. “Idasu, you may want to hurry if you want to seize Xan Xing. I would hate for him to perish inadvertently.”
“For your sake as well, sorcerer!” Cyan warns. “And never call me Idasu! That person is gone.”
Xian Tsar laughs as Cyan Komar rushes to where the fiery aura is on the battlefield with a small celestial dragon flying madly about.
“With any luck Cyan will be gone as well as Idasu.” Xian Tsar mutters, watching Cyan Komar dodge explosions.
Siege warriors rush to meet the power armored Black Guard, but are cut down by explosive rounds from the arm-mounted heavy machine gun. Survivors are cloven by a red glowing battle axe in the other hand.
Splattered with blood, the powered Black Guard stop and launch their mortars. Cyan rushes past them, reaching into a pocket and shouts as he leaps high into the air over the bodies of fallen friend and foe alike.
“Xan Xing!”
Cyan throws a handful of throwing stars, each one meeting a mortar round as they streak towards the Celestial Dragon warrior-monk.
Xan Xing is thrown to the ground at the force of so many nearby explosions. He leaps to his feet quickly and takes stock of the situation.
“Hoi Senshi!” Xan Xing shouts loud enough to be heard. “Retreat! Fall back to union point six!”
As Siege warriors start breaking away from the battle and running, Xan Xing redoubles his efforts to keep the enemy back when his eyes meet Cyan's. Confusion clouds his features.
“Cyan? What are you-”
The rest of the question is drowned out as the Black Guardsmen should their way past and open fire with their heavy machine guns. All twelve are intent on killing Xan Xing.
Xan Xing lets out a fierce kiai, his fiery aura expanding around him. Explosions from the destructive machine gun ammo obscure him from view. When Cyan can see him again, Xan Xing flies into action.
Xan Xing leaps high into the air, coming down with a downward pal strike that flattens on guardsman's helmet. A knife hand thrust glides easily through the chest of another, causing his ammo pack on the back to explode.
Cyan rips the sword from his back free, charging into battle. Fate has other plans as a helmet from a powered Black Guardsman, complete with head, flies and strikes him in the side of the head. Cyan falls to the ground as darkness rushes to greet him.
*****************
Cyan Komar sits up, pushing the corpses of several Shocktroopers off of him. He curses as he realizes that the battle is over and that Xan Xing is either gone or dead.
Before Cyan can get up to search for Xan Xing, a red and black orb of light pops into existence by him. If shapes itself into a likeness of Xian Tsar, who grins cruelly at Cyan.
“Thank the Mistress that you managed to survive your ordeal with the Dragon. As you can probably tell, my new power armor squad didn't make it. Xan Xing killed them then performed rear guard while the rest of the siege warriors escaped. Then he took off.”
Cyan spits blood onto a nearby corpse. “If you would have let me do my work instead of trying to be stupid, the Mistress would already have him.”
Xian Tsar just laughs. “Lets not try to play the blame game here, Idasu! I am sending Xan Xing's location to your cell phone. Infiltrate and subdue him. When you have him, send me a signal, and I will come with an army big enough to wipe out the last best chance these fools have to keep us out of Japan. The Mistress will be with me and see to Xan Xing personally.”
Cyan grits his teeth, hearing his cell phone ring. “Xian Tsar. When your usefulness has ended, I will kill you for your disrespect.”
Xian Tsar shakes his head with a sneer. “Idasu, if I has thought that you had any ability to do me any harm, I'd have killed you long ago just to make sure.”
Cyan rips his sword out of a nearby corpse and sheathes it, staring daggers into Xian Tsar's projection.
“Prove to be invaluable to Grandmother, Xian Tsar. I will be finding you when she is finished with you.”
Xian Tsar throws his head back and laughs. “When that day comes, Komar Idasu, I will enjoy killing you. Until then, I will see you soon. Don't keep the Mistress waiting.”
Cyan Komar growls, watching Xian Tsar's projection fade away. He gathers himself to his feet and checks the information sent to his cell phone. He thinks back to his lessons with the Phoenix Ninja thoughtfully.
“He is currently with the Order of the Hidden Blade.” Cyan muses aloud. “As legend has t, there are thirteen swords hidden within their monastery and those swords held the souls of the thirteen demons who served Scaasapiel.”
Cyan scoffs at the idea as he starts walking towards what appears to be a large garage next to the monastery. The siege warriors seemed pretty backwards, but at least they didn't walk everywhere.
Cyan stops. Myth and Legends. It's easy to dismiss the legends of the hidden blade, but not after meeting the demonic creature Scaasapiel himself. He saved thirteen of the vampiric healers too...probably to wield the hidden blades.
Cyan sighs and redoubles his efforts to get to the garage. Xan Xing had better be there so that this can be finished. Then he will just leave Japan to it's fate.
*********************
A large stone meeting room, several men in different colored gis leave the room as one man sits alone at the end of the table. Xan Xing known now by the men leaving the room as the Dragon of Japan. He gazes down at a large map f Japan. Several locations are circled in blue to show defensive emplacements that yet remain. Red circles show where Xian Tsar and his armies have been spotted. Red X's cross out destroyed monasteries.
Xan Xing sighs and gets up from the table. He slowly pushes his chair in. “The Warhammer Corporation s killing Japan's legacy and the Japanese are being influenced to help!”
Xan Xing crosses the room to eave though the door, but it slams shut and leaves him face-t-face with Cyan Komar. Xan Xing grins broadly a the sight of his friend, but that quickly fades to confusion.
“Cyan! I thought that it was you who saved me back at the Living Weapon Siege Guild, but why are you hiding? Battle brothers should be open-”
Xan Xing stops speaking and looks down at his chest. A black dart is buried within the red circle that the celestial dragon springs from. An anguished roar in his mind announces the pain of the spirit now trapped within.
Cyan Komar sneers, the scar lining his cheek enhancing the look. He launches into an all-out offensive, backing Xan Xing up to the table.
“I may have dishonored my family, but that doesn't mean you get to kill them, Xan Xing!” Cyan shouts at his old friend, beside himself in anger.
Xan Xing's eyes go wide. “No! I did not go to Phoenix mountain! I wasn't there when Xian Tsar led the attack to destroy them!”
Cyan misses a fingertip strike to Xan Xing's throat by inches and overextends past his head. Xan Xing starts the motion to palm strike Cyan in the midsection when the ninja curls his fingers and brings his hand back in a quick motion to strike the back of Xan Xing's neck.
Xan Xing's palm strike connects, but it carries no strength as Xan Xing become paralyzed from the neck down. Cyan pushes him onto the table, taking out a cell phone and sending a text message. Within seconds, the monastery rocks with the force of explosions.
“The truth, Xan Xing!” Cyan demands. “I want it! Xian Tsar said you led the peace expedition to the Phoenix Ninja to renew the compact with the Warhammer Corporation.”
Xan Xing opens his mouth to speak, but Cyan cuts him off.
“You knew that you could never defeat the Mistress by yourself and decided to lead a war against her. To that end, the peace accord had to fail. Also, my father would be the one to lead any effort against the Warhammer Corporation so he and his had to die. You sabotaged the peace efforts to destroy the Phoenix Ninja. Then you betrayed the Warhammer Corporation to lead Japan's defense to draw the Mistress out from the dueling place that honor and tradition demands so that you had a chance to kill her.”
Distressed, Xan Xing tries to speak and defend himself, but finds that he cannot speak. Cyan snarls and backhands him, leaving a trickle of blood from the corner of Xan Xing's mouth.
“I thought that you were my friend!” Cyan shouts. “But you are plotting dishonorably against my family. You had my family in the Phoenix Ninja destroyed, and no you plot against my grandmother!”
“Please, Cyan! Please!” Xan Xing cries out as he finds his voice. “You have been deceived! I rode with the Celestial Dragons as they flew to meet with Xian Tsar and his Back Guard, but I jumped out to fight the Ebon Jester! Xian Tsar's intent was never peace! The Demon Ninja helped ambush the Phoenix Ninja in a massive battle to exterminate them before they can be a threat to Anxiu's bloody plans for Japan! The Celestial Dragon tells me that Xian Tsar stole an artifact from your former home to increase his power. An egg...”
Cyan stares silently at his former friend. Shocked at the revelation, but not surprised in the least. Xian Tsar is the kind of slime to lie his way though anything.
“And the plot to kill my grandmother?” Cyan asks simply.
“That much is true.” Xan Xing admits. “I could not defeat her in her place of power and had to try to draw her here to finish our duel. Please...Idasu. You must free me so I can defend this place! The Warhammer Corporation must not lay claim to the swords that lie within this vault!”
Cyan starts an angry response when he remembers the legends of Scaasapiel and his thirteen demonic followers whose souls were transferred into swords. He doesn't get to respond as an elderly woman walks into the room with the air of a state leader.
She looks old enough to have served the Emperors of old, but moves with a deadly grace. She is Tehuai Anxiu, Grandmaster of Red Palm Kung Fu and Director of Asian Operations for the Warhammer Corporation.
“Listen not to traitors, my grandson. He only wishes to turn you against me.”
With blinding speed, Tehuai Anxiu crosses the room and plunges two fingertips in each of Xan Xing's shoulders and thighs. As blood pours from the puncture wounds, it turns from bright red to black. The darkness begins to spread out from the wounds and close in around the circle in Xan Xing's chest as he cries out in pain.
Anxiu pulls the dart out with a faint grin. “We won't be needing this now. My poisons will retain the spirit within you.”
She lightly traces her fingertips around the red circle over Xan Xing's heart and it slowly begins to darken. She grins cruelly at her paralyzed opponent.
“We have a duel to finish. Do we not?” Anxiu chuckles without humor. “The fate of your House hangs in the balance. Correct? I know the very avatar of the Celestial Dragon saved your life when we last fought. I know that it lies within you still, fighting to corruption of my power.”
Cyan Komar avoids Xan Xing's pleading eyes and blocks out his painful screams. Though friend he was, he has betrayed him and destroyed everything close to him. His suffering is justice...or so he tries to convince himself.
Tehuai Anxiu holds her palm over Xan Xing's heart, her palm radiating with darkness.
“With this next strike, you will perish and the Celestial Dragon will become mine forever. You are the agent who has brought corruption to your House at last. Once you were like a son to me, Xan Xing. Now? Goodbye.”
Cyan reaches out t stop Anxiu, but she strikes Xan Xing lightly in the center of the circle with a light palm strike. Xan Xing jerks and is still as his heart stops and explodes. Blood begins to trickle from Xan Xing's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Tehuai Anxiu turns to face Cyan Komar, her expression triumphant. “My grandson? Did you need something from him before his death?”
Cyan Komar stares hard at Xan Xing's still form. His body is slowly being covered b darkness like an ooze just under the skin. He nods solemnly.
“Yes. I need to know where the Phoenix Egg is. If he had taken it then he would have known where it was. This artifact is vital to my past.”
Anxiu watches Cyan for a long time, her expression inscrutable. “You must know that there was a seed of truth in his lies. He led Xian Tsar to the monastery of your family and destroyed them against my orders. Xian Tsar now holds the artifact that you seek.”
Cyan Komar clutches his hands into fists and looks down at the ground, his mind swimming with turbulent emotions.
“What were the orders that he defied?” He manages at last.
Anxiu places a hand on Cyan's shoulder. “He was to negotiate a new treaty so this bloodshed need not to have occurred. He saw the Phoenix Egg and coveted it's power. I no longer require his services, my grandson. If your heart requires it, find him. Kill him if you must and reacquire this artifact. You have my blessing.”
Cyan growls. “I will find him, grandmother. He will suffer as no man has ever suffered before I strike the final blow that will grant him everlasting sleep.”
Tehuai Anxiu grins as Cyan Komar bows deeply and leaves.
“With Xan Xing dead and the demon swords in the hands of Scaasapiel and his inhuman servants, the resistance here is broken. I will no longer need Xian Tsar soon enough. His death will forever hide my hand in the death of Idasu's family.”
She turns to the corpse of Xan Xing, which has turned completely black. She holds her palm over his heart, sending waves of corrupt chi into his dead chest.
“Arise, Infernal Dragon!” She commands.
Xan Xing's eyes snap open and he rises up to float several inches above the table. He stands, hanging in the air, looking at Tehuai Anxiu with dead, unseeing eyes. With a voice that sounds as if it comes from a deep well, he answers.
“Yes, my Mistress.”
Tehuai Anxiu grins. “Tel me. What are the effects of your transformation?”
A black bile pours from Xan Xing's mouth. Once it stops, it speaks again. “Everyone who has gained strength through my spiritual investments will be transformed. They will be corrupted to serve your will. Most of the dragons will also be transformed due to your corruption. Those who did not receive my power will be unaffected.”
Anxiu nods. “Good. Once I free you, inform your House. The uncorrupted must be cleansed so that the House of the Red Palm is never threatened again.”
Xan Xing's corpse bows awkwardly in mid-air. “Yes, my Mistress. It will be done. The Duel of Generation between our Houses s now dead.”
Anxiu waves her hand. “Go.” She commands and Xan Xing's body falls to the ground as if a marionette with its strings cut. A black mist rises from the body and is gone, leaving the fallen form f Xan Xing to turn back to a normal color. Tehuai Anxiu walks from the room, stepping over the corpses of fallen defenders.
“So falls the House of the Celestial Dragon. So rises the House of the Infernal Dragon! And...soon enough I will have Japan in my clutches!”
Tehuai Anxiu walks down the hallway, laughing in triumph. Even the attacking Red Palm warrior-monks find someplace else to be as she passes for none who live stand unafraid of the Mistress of the Red Palm.
Cyan Komar slides out of his hiding spot and walks over to kneel by Xan Xing's fallen form.
“I have made a terrible mistake.” He laments. “I have been tricked into this. I will get the truth from Xian Tsar before I kill him. Then I will spend my life to redeem myself of what has happened here.”
As Cyan Komar slips out of the building unnoticed in the chaos, he knows that in his heart that his grandmother-in-law might have to pay for her sins right along with Xan Tsar. Though in truth, such a quest may not be possible.
****************
Outside of Kyoto, Japan...Cyan Komar walks through the gates of an ancient monastery. The walls are pockmarked with the scars of artillery fire and the gates look as if they had been blown off of their hinges. The warrior-monks who had lived here were called Saint Anger Monks for their ability to turn anger and rage into a destructive weapon to help protect the innocent. Before the age of modern medicine, children were sent here to be helped in controlling their anger. Most went home when this was accomplished. A few stayed on to join the monastery as warrior-monks and master the full powers of their harnessed rage.
Cyan Komar walks past corpses of Shocktroopers, Saint Anger Monks, Celestial Dragons, and Xian Tsar's own Black Guard. Many of the Saint Anger bodies had been blown apart by heavy weapons. Cyan shakes his head sadly.
“Xian Tsar took no chances here. He's only been gone a few hours. The blood on the ground is still fresh. What's that?”
A light from inside the main building of the monastery and the sound of someone working within draws Cyan Komar. He slips inside and sees a member of the Black Guard working on a large contraption in the middle of the room. The Guardsman is large, over seven feet tall and looking to be nearly six hundred pounds. His helmet is by his feet, revealing a large bald head and skin as nearly as dark as the armor he wears. Cyan smiles grimly. He knows this one.
“Captain Gunther Stallington,” he begins sarcastically. “Why would Xian Tsar leave his most foreboding brute behind? Working to fix an alarm clock?”
Gunther turns to face Cyan, his startled expression gives way to cruel laughter.
“I'm here to wipe the Earth of this mess with this explosive device. Everything inside a mile will be turned to ash. Yo may want to consider leaving, Cyan. I'm sure you have other friends you could betray to Xian Tsar to help the Mistress finish resistance here in Japan.”
Cyan's eyes narrow as he regards the Back Guard Captain. “Where is Xian Tsar?”
Gunther smiles broadly. It is a cold, cruel smile. “So you believe Xan Xing's tales? That Xian Tsar destroyed the Order of the Phoenix and stole the Phoenix Egg for his own ends? You know he was lying to save his own miserable life and expected his friend to believe him. Right?”
Cyan Komar slides into a fighting stance, his hand on the hilt of the sword strapped to his back. Gunther's smile vanishes into a look of disdain.
Cyan's expression is cold, calculating. “Tell me where Xian Tsar has gone, Gunther.”
Gunther snarls and rises to a fighting stance of his own. “You would threaten me, little phoenix? I have bested many of your Order's ninja masters with my own skills. I broke your mother's scrawny little neck with my own hands before I ripped her body in half!”
Cyan Komar sets his jaw as his body tenses, ready for a kill. “Tell me. Where is-”
Gunther Stallington waves Cyan off with a harsh laugh. “Yeah! Yeah! Where is Xian Tsar? I know the question. I guess telling you about your mother's death is nothing to you since you did betray her to join the Warhammer Corporation. What about telling you how Xian Tsar murdered your father after defeating him in battle? He was done for when Xian destroyed him like a dried twig.”
Cyan's eyes flash angrily, but he holds his ground. Gunther chuckles, caught up in his game.
“No? What about telling you that before I let your sister finally die by my hands that I had my way with her pretty little body and then shared her with the troops? You should have seen the state of her when I crushed her skull with one hand like over-ripe fruit. She looked like a dirty street whore awaiting execution. To think...she whimpered your name at the end as if you were going to save her.”
Cyan cries out in rage as he draws his sword and slashes at Gunther's chest in a single movement. Gunther laughs as he parries with his own blade, a sword as nearly as nearly tall and wide as Cyan himself. Gunther roughly shoves Cyan back across the room with his sword flying from his hand. Cyan snaps to his feet and grabs his sword from the floor.
“I am Gunther Stallington, Captain of the Black Guard and Phoenix Slayer!” Gunther gloats. “Prepare to join your family.”
Gunther swings at Cyan with his giant sword. Cyan ducks under the blade and slashes at Gunther's leg leg with the intent to lop it off. All he is rewarded with is a shower of sparks and a thick line in the armor. Gunther laughs as Cyan back flips away from another sword swing.
“Congratulations, little phoenix!” Gunther shouts. “You've delivered more damage than any other Phoenix Ninja! Now...hold still and die!”
Cyan stops in his tracks and waits for Gunther to try to slash him in half at the middle. He leaps into the air, lands on the sword, and jumps into a flip off of Gunther's head to land behind him. Cyan quickly slashes at Gunther's back more than a dozen times in a complex pattern.
Gunther cries out in anger and brings his sword down, cleaving into the stone floor as Cyan side-steps the attack. As Gunther rips the sword out of the floor, Cyan drops his own blade and grabs Gunther's for a ride into the air. He lands on the wall and leaps back at Gunther and hits the scarred area on his back with a double palm strike. The damaged section of armor shatters from Cyan's technique. He reaches past the armor to hit a fingertip strike to the spine. He reaches below that point and in a deft move, plucks out a vertebra. Gunther cries out as his legs buckle and he falls onto his back. His sword falls to the side, just out of reach. He looks shocked as blood begins to pool around to wound in his back.
“My legs! I can't feel my legs!” Gunther panics. “What have you done to me? My armor?”
Cyan sheathes his sword and stays out of reach. He holds up the bloody small bone. “I stunned your nervous system and then removed this. You will never walk again.”
Gunther's eyes widen in horror. “No! The bomb is set for thirty minutes! There's no way to stop the timer! Please!”
Cyan just shakes his head. “Tell me where Xian Tsar is and I will help you get out of here.”
“Alright! Alright!” Gunther sobs. “Xian Tsar s regrouping outside of Tokyo before attacking the Crimson Ghost ninja clan outside of Nagasaki.”
As Cyan Komar turns to leave, Gunther reaches for him in desperation. Gunther begs for his life, tears rolling down his face.
“You said you would help me!”
Cyan turns back to regard Gunther with disgust. “I can't carry you. Besides, I'm famous for betrayals. Right? What's one more? You murdered my family, Gunther Stallington. Death is to good for you.”
Thirty minutes and a lot of distance later, Cyan Komar looks on as the Saint Anger Monastery is i.
He clutches his hands into fists.
“You are next, Xian Tsar...”
*******************
In the shadows f Tokyo, Cyan Komar sits on a ledge overlooking the camp of Xian Tsar and his forces. It's a cast of thousands. With his vision keen, Cyan can make out Black Guard, Warrior-Monks of nearly every Warrior House of China, many Shocktroopers, and even some black armored Shocktroopers with the yellow symbol f the sun on their shoulders.
“What is this?” Cyan asks aloud. “The Solar Guard? What is Sebastian Jalabert's honor guard doing here?”
He is not merely musing to himself. A Black Guard scout lies a few feet away, tied up neatly. The Guardsman's helmet is no where in sight and blood trickles from his chin.
“Mr. Jalabert has sent the Solar Guard to help Xian Tsar. He has interests in Japan that he wishes to secure when the Mistress is successful.”
Cyan shrugs and looks back to the camp. Sebastian Jalabert, Director of North American Operations, has his fingers in many pies around the world so it isn't shocking. Still, there is a large section of the camp that is unused. Enough space for...a lot.
Cyan turns the scout so he can see the camp. “Why the empty barracks? There's enough space there to take Xian Tsar's force up to ten times. Why?”
The scout attempts to shrug, but only one shoulder makes it up. “I don't know.”
“You don't know or won't tell me?” Cyan asks, menace in his voice.
When the scout doesn't answer, Cyan Komar rolls backwards from his perch and draws his sword. He stops next to the scout and with a single swipe, he removes a section of armor over the scout's heart. He stands up, sheathing the sword.
“Now tell me,” Cyan demands. “What does Xian Tsar need with all of these soldiers?”
The scout begins whimpering. “If Xian Tsar found out...”
Cyan pulls out a small vial and unstoppers it. He carefully pours out a couple of drops onto the scouts exposed skin. The liquid bubbles and sinks into the flesh. Blood begins to pool up and trickle away. The scout screams in pain. Cyan replaces the vial with another one that mists when opened.
“The first vial was was merely to open the skin.” Cyan explains. “This vial here is a special poison that will force you to tell me what I want to know before killing you. Tell me now and I will release you so you can escape. Xian Tsar will not search for you after I kill him. Now. Do I pour the poison?”
The guard struggles wildly for a moment as if he could escape. Finally, he sighs. “No. I will talk.”
Cyan puts the vial away and grins. “Good. Now tell me why the anticipated increase in soldiers?”
“The Order of the Crimson Ghost is the last of the major defenders. The rest are expected to go into hiding in order to save lives once the Crimson Ghost falls. Then Xian Tsar will secure the majority of Japan's big businesses under the auspice that they helped terrorists thrive. Buy-outs are to follow and the Warhammer Corporation will own Japan and it's world-wide influence will skyrocket.”
Cyan rubs his chin in thought. “Hmm. How many Shocktroopers?”
“Over a hundred thousand, all from the Mistress.” The scout answers. “They are to arrive when Xian Tsar returns from the Crimson Ghost.”
Cyan nods, placing a small disc-shaped object on the scout's bare chest and starts to walk away.
“I don't have much time to prepare then,” he says to himself.
The scout starts to struggle again and shouts at Cyan's back. “Hey! What about me?”
Cyan lifts a remote control high into the air without looking back. “I cannot forgive the Black Guard for destroying my family. Your spirit will at least be free.”
The scout screams for mercy, but Cyan presses a button on the remote that explodes the disk on the scout's bare chest. Red mist sprays into the air from the explosion. Cyan drops the remote and pulls out his cell phone.
“Hey Martin? This is Cyan. I need a favor.”
*********************
The morning's silence is shattered as several thousand tanker trucks roll into the deserted camp f Xian Tsar. More supply trucks follow and within a few short hours, tents are set up and food is cooking. As the victorious force of Xian Tsar returns to camp, they are greeted with fresh grilled food and tanker-sized kegs of booze. A Warhammer official greets Xian Tsar with a short bow.
“The Mistress has sent me to acquire a status report and sends congratulations on your victories. The Shocktroopers will be arriving soon.”
Xian Tsar smiles though it appears as if he's never smiles from mirth or warmth. The cold, harsh lines of his grin appear cut from solid stone. “My warriors are tired from recent battles and I am missing my most valuable captain. Maybe this celebration will give us a chance to recharge and for him to catch up. What's your name?”
“I'm Yusuke San. I'm from Tokyo.”
Xian Tsar nods and motions to the command tent. “I see the promised troops are arriving now. Come. Join me in the command tent. My private stock of wine is there and I can give you my report there.”
Hours later, all of the Shocktroopers had arrived and joined in the celebration. Almost the entire camp s drunk and full of food. Xian Tsar sips at his wine, having finished giving his report.
“What do you think?” Xian Tsar gloats. “Brilliantly done. Right?”
Yusuke San pauses as if listening to a distant sound. “I think that-”
Just then a Black Guardsman staggers into the tent, clutching at his heart. “Help...”
Xian Tsar runs to the collapsing man and checks for a pulse. He stands and stares at the official.
“Dead. How could?” Xian Tsar's eyes narrow in recognition. “You...”
Yusuke San pulls off a realistic rubber mask to reveal Cyan Komar. “Me.”
Xian Tsar snarls. “Poisoning my warriors?” You can't get them all that way!”
Xian and Cyan are nearly thrown to the ground as the armed camp begins exploding all around them. Cyan sneers at Xian Tsar.
“That should handle the rest.”
The color drains from Xian Tsar's face as he realizes what just happened. It quickly goes back to red as Xian Tsar shouts at Cyan.
“My army! You-”
“I need answers before I kill you!” Cyan responds. “You lied to me about Xan Xing. Didn't you? Where is the Phoenix Egg?”
Cyan's hand flies to his sword hilt, but it's too late as black and purple lightning streams from Xian Tsar's fingertips to strike Cyan Komar and send him across the room. Secondary explosions throughout the camp along with the screams of the dying only serve to fuel his anger. He renews his attack, flinging Cyan through a desk.
“You destroy my army and expect answers?” Xian Tsar shouts in a rage. “You think the Mistress will stand for this set back?!”
Cyan tries to sit up and reach for his sword again. Xan Tsar hisses, unleashing another attack. Cyan's hand jerks away from his sword hilt, his body convulsing in agony.
“Of course Xan Xing was innocent, but you know that already.” Xian Tsar grits his teeth, unleashing another attack.
“I will kill you for destroying my army. Just think...me as the slayer of the very last Phoenix Ninja. It will be marvelous!”
Cyan coughs up blood and sits up. He looks at Xian Tsar with pure hatred. “Your army? I think that the Mistress may disagree.”
Xian Tsar stops and appears to be in thought when he notices Cyan is once again going for his sword. He unleashes a lightning attack that turns the desk around Cyan into ash. Cyan crashes to the floor in a daze, twitching from the power being forced through his body.
“This is your final betrayal, Cyan. I will deliver your lifeless form to Tehuai Zetian and comfort her in her time of need. I have delivered Japan to her grandmother! Maybe I will be revered as the grandson-in-law that she always wanted once you are dead. Very dead.”
Cyan grits his teeth, struggling to stand. Blood covers his face like a mask from his injuries. He tries again to go for his sword and is blasted for it. Cyan is lifted from his feet and crashed against a support pillar. He hits the ground with a thud.
Xian Tsar advances on Cyan, a grim smile played across his lips as Cyan makes no effort to go for his sword.
“You joined the Warhammer Corporation in an act that betrayed your father and the entire Order of the Phoenix. You were given training by a Lin Kuei clan and betrayed them to extinction so you could be the only living person to master their unique martial arts. Their grandmaster thought of you as a soon too before you murdered him. Didn't he?”
Xian Tsar streams black and purple lightning at Cyan, who once again tries for his sword.
“You still intend to fight? You know how the peace accord with the monasteries of Japan came about? Your father didn't want to fight Warhammer as he couldn't bear you dying in the crossfire. You know why the treaty was broken? You...”
Cyan sits up with a shocked expression. He doesn't reach for his sword. “How?” His voice is just above a whisper.
“You left the Warhammer Corporation for a time. Sure it was because of your honeymoon and you came right back to us, but even leaving for a single moment allowed us to break the treaty. It allowed the Mistress to send me to destroy your people. Xan Xing tried to stop her, but failed. So you betrayed your father twice.”
Cyan Komar rises to his feet, his expression a mask of fury, tears stream down his face. He places his hand on the hilt of his sword. Xian Tsar laughs.
“You still reach for that? I will tell you what. I'll show you mine if you show me yours. Then you will forever be merged with the steel of your sword.”
As Cyan draws his sword, Xian Tsar parts his sorcerer's robe from over his chest to reveal a diamond the size and shape of an ostrich egg with a flame flickering inside. Xan Tsar stands with his fingers splayed out. Twin streams of flame flow from the egg to his hands with glow with a black and purple aura with red flame swirling in and blending in with the color.”
“Know my power and die, Komar Idasu!”
Black and purple lightning stream towards Cyan, but the spell curves and strikes the sword in his hands. The lightning cackles across the sword and changes into a red flame, washing over Cyan and healing his wounds. Cyan grins, feeling stronger than ever. Xian Tsar looks stunned.
“That sword! No matter. I have more power. This next one leveled the Tower of Thought!”
Xian Tsar draws more power from the Phoenix Egg. A flash of flame and the scream of the phoenix come from the Egg, turning the command tent to ash. He sends his attack at Cyan, but again the sword absorbs the magic and empowers Cyan. Xian Tsar grits his teeth, hissing epithets.
“This next spell can destroy a mountain in theory. You. Will, Die!”
Xian Tsar splays his hands out to draw more power from the Phoenix Egg, but nothing happens. He frowns and tries again. When he tries a third time, he doubles over while screaming in pain.
“My power?” Xan Tsar agonizes. “How?”
Cyan glides into a fighting stance, the sword in one hand on his side.
“This sword is the Talon of the Phoenix. No magic can stand against it. Also...were you fool enough t think that the Warhammer Corporation has not devised a way to disarm your kind? The Seven Shadows of Twilight gave me a toxin to neutralize your power for six hours.”
Xian Tsar growls, drawing twin daggers and getting into a fighting stance of his own. “You will still die, Son of the Phoenix!”
“I am not the Son of the Phoenix.” Cyan smirks. “I am the current Grandmaster of the Phoenix. I decide who the Son is. The Phoenix were destined to die. The Son of the Phoenix is to be sacrificed across the Egg to rebirth the entire Order. I was afraid to die and so I joined the Warhammer Corporation.”
“I will still kil-” Before Xian Tsar can finish speaking, he is run through the heart with the sword. Xian Tsar's face goes white, the daggers slipping from numb fingers.
“No.”
“Welcome to the Order, Son of the Phoenix.”
Cyan Komar rips the sword out of Xian Tsar's chest, splattering blood across the Phoenix Egg. A fiery flash from the Egg transforms Xian Tsar into ashes that scatter as the Egg flies into the sky and explodes. Hundreds of phoenix spring from the fires and fly in all directions.
Cyan sighs, sitting on the ground.
“The Phoenix have been reborn. I am redeemed at last.”
******************
A lone phoenix is flying through the mountains of Japan. It starts to come down from the sky near the blasted ruins of the Phoenix monastery. As it circles the ruins before landing, it's orange red burning feathers begin to fall out and wink out of existence. New feathers of a black and purple flame take their place. Upon landing, the phoenix transforms into a man in a black and purple Phoenix Ninja outfit.
Xian Tsar.
Xian Tsar looks at his hands, amazed to be alive. He jumps back as the ruins transform in a flash of black and purple flame into a new monastery, twisted and dark. His eyes go wider still as the power and knowledge of every single Grandmaster of the Phoenix passes into him. He watches as black and purple phoenix begin returning home. Old Phoenix Ninja. Black Guard recently slain. All part of a new Order of the Phoenix. Ninjas. Sorcerers. Powerful. It begins as a chuckle, but soon Xian Tsar throws his head back and laughs. His voice echoes through the valley.
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