The Lord of Shadows Rises (8 page)

“Why are you in charge of a gang, and why are you forcing the townsfolk to give you money?” Alexander demanded.

The teen bowed his head. “It’s just a farce to keep the suspicion off us. We have been hunted by the Lord of Shadows’ minions, and from the two hundred students that were at the temple, only seventy are still with me now, and the number is getting smaller.”

“I see. By acting like a bandit, you are basically trying to fool the Lord of Shadows into thinking you were all wiped out, because monks are usually peaceful and try to avoid conflict,” surmised Mason.

The monk nodded his head. “That is the gist of it,” he confirmed.

“So what now?” asked Alexander.

“Simple. I must join you and leave someone else in charge of this group,” Guan said.

“Jun!” he shouted, and a young woman of Asian descent with black hair walked out and knelt before him.

“What is it, Sifu?” asked the young woman.

“I have to leave now to help the order. You are in charge of this group. Try to lay low, and hopefully remain safe.”

The young woman continued to kneel. “Yes, Sifu.”

“When the time comes, I might call on you and the others to fight. For now, try to gather more soldiers, as discreetly as possible,” said Guan.

The young woman bowed her head. “Of course.”

***

In the temple in Norway, the four generals were decked out in full armor. Kevin’s armor was green with spikes on his wrist, symbolizing the wind’s sharpness.

Kyral had black armor that blended into the shadows. The armor, symbolizing the cunning of a ninja, had holsters for his kunai and shuriken. On his back he carried a short blade.

Vladimir wore a dark brown armor with many layers to symbolize the strength and the protection of the hard earth.

Finally, Shun Xian wore a dark-blue leather armor to symbolize water. Highlighting the way she moved fluidly like a stream or river.

Behind the generals stood two thousand soldiers, equipped with old, yet functional, weapons: staffs, swords, pikes, arrows, and daggers.

The Lord of Shadows spoke, “It is time to begin. I have contacted my proxies in several countries and have told them to begin their mobilization. Kevin, you are going to take five hundred soldiers and head to Laos and attack Vietnam and Indochina.”

“Shun Xian, you will take another five hundred and head to Uzbekistan to help with the mobilization. Take out the weak countries that broke away from Russia.”

“Vladimir, I want you to head to Zambia and conquer the smaller countries in Africa. And finally, Kyral, you must go to the Congo. Take control of your surrounding areas. Dismissed!” the Voice commanded.

***

The rest of the week went by without incident, and Lenora returned to the stall and collected the weapon from Bain Yu. It was a bo staff constructed of lightweight but hard metal. In the middle of the shaft was a small button, used to extend a sharp blade from one end of the staff.

Fully-armed, the four headed south in search of the final pupil. Resting at a small inn, they planned how to stop the Lord of Shadows.

“So, you have the last key in your possession, but the evil one has the rest,” Guan said grimly, getting clarification.

Alexander nodded his head. “I have kept it on me all this time.”

“It’s strange that the Lord of Shadows only attempted to have it retrieved once,” Lenora said.

“I can only think of two reasons why this would be so,” said Mason, as he leant back against the wall.

Guan, who was sitting in a lotus position, nodded. “I have a theory as well, but first let us hear yours. Mason.”

Mason cleared his throat. “I think that they want us all together in one place so they can get rid of us in one movement, or The Lord of Shadows is laying low so he doesn’t alert the world’s powers to their plans.”

Guan closed his eyes. “Those were my theories as well, but they could also be biding their time because they don’t have the manpower for a world search or conquest yet,” he said, adding to the list of possible reasons.

“Now, what should we do?” asked Alexander.

“We need to continue to gather allies for this battle,” Guan said. “The Lord’s army will not be small.”

Consulting his medallion, Alexander confirmed that the journey ahead was to the south, and the four headed out. They took the train to South Korea, and after a few days on the train they disembarked in Seoul and headed to a nearby hotel.

The next morning, Alexander’s medallion led the group to a forest, and in turn to the site of a temple. Approaching the entrance the group discovered a mound of dirt with what appeared to be a tombstone on it. “This must be it,” stated Mason, seeing his own medallion glow brighter.

Guan looked at the makeshift tombstone. “It is unmarked.”

The four entered the temple and looked around. “Who are you?” questioned a voice.

The group all looked around, trying to find where the voice was projecting from. “I will ask again: who are you?”

The medallions, in unison, glowed behind them. “Are you a disciple of a Guardian?” asked Alexander.

“How do you know about that?” replied the voice.

“We are disciples of the Guardians as well,” said Guan as the four took out their medallions to prove their claim.

A red-haired teen, with hardened eyes walked out. “What are you doing here?” he scowled.

Alexander stepped forward to speak for the group. “We need your help to fight the Lord of Shadows.”

“You wasted your time. Leave,” he said, before turning his back on the four masters.

Lenora stepped forward. “At least hear us out,” she pleaded.

“I have no interest in this war. Let me be at peace,” he said.

“If you don’t help, there won’t be peace only darkness,” Mason responded.

“Leave. I will not ask again,” said the teen as he drew his sword and pointed it at the four warriors.

Guan walked toward the teen. “Tell me, did your master die also?”

“Yes. Now leave,” growled the teen.

“We have all lost someone precious. It is how we cope with this loss that determines our path,” the monk sympathized.

“If you don’t leave, I will force you out,” the teen repeated as he got in a guard position with his curved sword held out before him.

The four turned and left the grieving boy alone in the temple. After they had exited the boy dropped to his knees and tears started to flow down his cheeks.
I am a coward and I can’t help them
, thought Yuan.

“So what now?” asked Alexander, as they came back out into the sunlight.

“Let’s head to the next town and think of a plan,” said Mason. “Whoever he is, we need him.”

The masters headed to a small town nearby and found a couple of rooms at an inn where they could clean up and work on how they were going to persuade this strong-willed teen to join them.

Back at the temple, the teen still sat on the ground.
I can’t involve myself in this battle,
he thought.

“Why not?” replied a familiar female voice.

“Mistress Wu?” he asked, getting up and looking around. Unable to believe what he had heard.

“You need to help them, and you need to stop blaming yourself for my death. Yuan, it is not your fault.”

“I should not have left you!” he shouted out, trying to convince himself.

“Foolish student; it was my choice to fight and to make sure you lived.”

He looked down at his medallion. “What magic is this?” Yuan asked, angry at this perceived trickery.

“This is no trick, my student.”

“What do you mean?” asked Yuan.

“As you know, I am the only master to have used chi energy to its fullest. I have imparted some of my own into this medallion to give you one last message."

“Help the others fight the darkness,” implored Wu’s voice.

“I can’t. I don’t want to lose anyone else,” said Yuan.

“Then you have failed already by giving up.”

Yuan put his head down in shame.

“Help them. I knew the risks of ordering you away from the battle and have accepted it. You have not. Help them as my last wish, my student,” said the spirit of Yuan’s former master.

“Yes, Mistress,” He got up and went to his master’s headstone to pray one last time before heading into town.

Chapter 11: Order of the White rose

The four disciples sat in a room where they watched the television. The local newscaster informed the group, “Breaking news: War. Several third world countries have formed an alliance and have taken over neighboring countries. No one knows why these countries have suddenly declared war, but the world’s powers refuse to step in, calling it a regional conflict,” said the reporter.

Guan closed his eyes. “That is mistake number one for the world powers. It will haunt them later."

“I did not think they would move so fast or so soon,” said Alexander.

“What was that?” Alexander said when they heard screaming in the street. He rushed to the window and saw cloaked figures killing the townsfolk below.

Guan joined him. “We will have to fight our way out and get what is left of the town to safety.”

They rushed out of the hotel and saw around fifty men, one of them about ready to kill a child.

“No!” shouted Mason as he ran at the attacker, knocking the man to the ground.

“The targets are here,” stated one of the cloaked figures as they surrounded the masters and charged.

Lenora kicked one back with her knee, as Alexander dodged one attacker before he drove through another with his sword. Guan moved between enemies hitting pressure points as Mason dodged and landed his own blows.

The sheer number of attackers meant they started to back up to the entrance of the town, protecting what was left of the citizens as they tried to flee. Lenora took out her staff and knocked a few attackers out as Mason used his spiked gloves with some degree of success.

No sooner than they had overpowered the first fifty, more attackers started to come in. “They are using waves of attackers to wear us down!” the monk said as he struck one of them between the eyes, killing him, before roundhouse-kicking another coming in from behind.

The warriors began to tire under wave after wave of attacks. As the soldiers of darkness advanced on the group, an arrow flew into one of soldiers, before a hailstorm of arrows followed. The dark-cloaked leader looked up as a man wearing a cloak with the symbol of the White Rose on the chest appeared on the hillside above, followed by another until the hill was filled with members.

“You will not stop the shadow!” the dark-cloaked leader shouted as he and his army charged the hilltop, hoping to kill some of the White Rose reinforcements in a futile gesture.

“Attack!” was shouted by one of the White Rose members as the order attacked the army of darkness.

In the ten minutes that followed, the shadow army was wiped out, staining the town and hillside with their blood.

One of the members walked up and bowed. “I’m glad we made in time.” The man lowered his hood, revealing himself to be Bain.

“Thanks for the help,” said Guan as the rest bowed to their savior.

“We have to get back to the hideout. We can’t talk here,” urged another member, keen for their conversation not to be overheard.

Alexander remembered the voice, “You’re Captain Hathaway of the ship that took me across the Atlantic.” The man lowered his hood, confirming Alexander’s suspicions.

“It has been a while, Alexander,” the captain said as further members revealed themselves to be the crew of Hathaway while others were townspeople of Hefei.

“We must leave now before more show up,” urged Bain.

“That will be for the best,” Mason agreed.

Alexander looked around, suddenly panicked. “No! My bag with the key is gone. They must have gotten it during the fight!” cried Alexander.

“The Lord of Shadows can now be resurrected,” said Mason, worry etched on his face.

***

At the temple, a cloaked figure walked to the pedestal and placed the final key in its slot. “It is time for your resurrection, my Lord.”

The eyes of the statue glowed, and it broke apart, revealing a black-armored, demonic-looking being with a metal mask. On his back was a massive jagged sword. He looked at his minion. “Your usefulness is over. I thank you for your services. I will take your life force to get the rest of my strength back. Know that you have served me well.” He stabbed the solider through the chest with his sword. The dark lord’s eyes glowed red. “Now for my final conquest,” he said as an orb of black energy was shot from his hand to the sky, spreading darkness around the world.

***

Kira looked up and closed her eyes.
So he has done it. I have got find a way to stop my former master
, she thought with bitter hatred.

***

On the road from the temple, Yuan’s medallion exploded into shards. “No! It is too late!” he cried as he rushed to the Order of the White Rose’s camp.