"Where are they?" I asked pacing back and forth.
"They'll be here."said Kira assuringly.
"I'm gonna ask The Lord what's up." I said, unable to keep in my anxiety.
I walked out of the room and ascended the steps to The Lord's tower.
I knocked. The door opened.
"Why Leo! Come in!" said the Lord.
I came in and the Lord was already sitting down at his desk.
"My Lord, the sensei's aren't back yet. What's taking them?" I asked bowing.
"A scout delivered a message saying they were captured." Said The Lord.
"Well what are we waiting for?"I asked.
"Well the thing is it's crawling with Shadows. Shadow's are as powerful as a master ninja. They absorb souls after they kill them making them stronger. That's why your uncle is so strong because he's slaughtered many. Will you take this challenge?" asked The Lord.
"Yes." I replied.
"Take everyone that's older than twelve. God speed." Said The Lord.
I turned and walked towards the door.
"Oh, Leo I almost forgot."said the Lord.
The lord walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out a book. The shelf slid away revealing a sword. It was beautiful.
It had a leather handle and gleamed in the light. The Lord pulled it out of the stand and got the sheath.
"Kneel." said The Lord.
I kneeled down before him.
"This sword was destined to be yours. I bestow upon you Remembrance." Said The Lord.
The Lord sheathed it. I rose up and took Remembrance, hanging it on my back.
"Now go and vanquish evil!"
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I collected as many kids as possible and set off. We summoned up our creatures. My Phoenix stood before me.
I climbed on and flew up into the sky. It didn't take too long. We were in the valley of demons as the sun set.
I looked into the sky. I would save the Masters.
"Leo!"
I looked to see to black dragons. They seemed to be made of smoke. Controlling them were two Shadows. They flew on some sort of creature. I twisted under a dragon and dodged the second. Suddenly they snapped at the children.
One dragon came down. I flew at it. It opened it's mouth. Hundreds of tentacles shot out. I pulled out Remembrance.
I hacked at the tentacles while The Phoenix breathed fire. A tentacle smashed into me, knocking me off. I spiraled through the air,helpless. My Phoenix flew into the dragon's mouth and exploded. A fist of orange flame punched out of the dragon and it burst into black smoke.
But I was still falling.
Suddenly,a bird flew under me. I crashed down on it and bounced off. I grabbed it's huge body. Where were it's wings? They were just a blue blur. It was a humming bird. Kira held out a hand. I grabbed it and was pulled up.
"Where to?' asked Kira
"A Shadow." I said.
"Alrighty."
We flew at a Shadow. He saw us and cut through the air.
Kira threw several kunai. They hit the beast's chest and it dove to the side. I jumped off the hummingbird and brought my sword down. It plunged into the creature's belly. How? It spun in it's dive. It just turned right side up.
I hung there. I took out a kunai and stabbed it in the side. I pulled out the sword and stabbed it farther up than my knife. I climbed the leathery beast. I looked up to see a Shadow swing his black sword down. I ducked. The Shadow than swung his sword, tip down. I let go of my kunai and swung to my sword. The Shadow's sword sunk into the beast's side. The beast veered to the right, crashing into the canyon's wall. I grabbed hold of the Shadow's sword, while pulling out Remembrance, and swung up, slamming my knee into the shadow's head.
The Shadow fell as I clambered up. The Shadow was holding on to his blood covered sword. I stabbed him in the collar bone. With a cry, the Shadow let go and fell into the black abyss of the canyon. The beast shook trying to throw me off. I looked up to see Shikinara and his bear crash into the other Shadow, instantly killing the Shadow and the beast. The bear fell through the sky and was lost. Honu's white tiger flew down and caught Shikinara.
I held onto the struggling beast.
Suddenly a snake struck it's fangs into the monster. On the snake was Shongi. I jumped onto the snake and it let go of the monster and snapped back onto the canyon.
"Thanks." I said.
"No prob."said Shongi.
The cave was coming up.
We came in and fell into a pond. We clambered up onto the bank.
Something wasn't right. A black dragon was fighting the rest of our garrison.
"C'mon!" I yelled.
The summoned animals raced to the cave.
Most got in and dismissed their animals. The black dragon was still battling with Heni. Heni's wolf smashed into tne mouth of the cave and Heni was thrown into the pond. The dragon was racing up. The wolf howled just as the dragon got partly in. The cave entrance caved in, crushing both creatures, and blocking off the exit.
"Well at least they are invincible and can come back." said Honu.
Heni sank into the pond. I dove in and got him. He was unconscious. I pulled him up onto the bank.
"CPR anyone?" I asked.
Rin came out of the crowd of kids and performed CPR. Heni coughed out water. Rin smiled and kissed him on the cheek without even saying a word. we sat there open mouthed.
"Well Heni's alive. Now we have to save the sensei's, destroy the gate of darkness, and battle the most feared villain in all of the land. Any questions?"
Silence among the crowd.
"Then let's go." I declared.
We went into a tunnel that was in front of us. It was musty and smelt like dust and decay.
Torches threw a soft glow into the room. The tunnel had many rusty metal doors that were basically drilled in without any hinges. I was extremely tired from leaping off animals but adrenaline was pumping through my body.
My heart was beating out of my chest. The group was amazingly quiet, except for little scuffs here and there. We were going into the heart of a madman's lair with barely any experience hoping to win a battle that's summing up to be unfair. Then there was a scream.
We all jumped almost in unison. A kid smashed into a torch and it fell to the ground with a clang.
"What was that?" said a Shadow.
Without answering,one walked towards our direction. Kira and I hugged the wall and scooted towards the coming man. The man came around the corner. I shoved my blade through his chest. Kira jumped out and threw a dozen kunai knives. The other Shadow saw the throwing knives but was too late. One knife dug into his skull and he slumped back against the wall, There was another scream. It was the same one from the sound of it.
We went in it's direction. A wooden door shielded us from what we were about to see.
I looked at Heni and he nodded. He had charged up an orb of energy. I kicked pen the door and rolled as Heni's projectile flew over my head. The orb of energy had hit it's target. A Shadow flew across the room and smashed into the rock wall with a crunch. A man was chained to a wall bleeding. Two 12 year olds rushed out and yelled,"Sensei!"
Honu broke off the chains and the three hugged.
"Where are the rest of them?" I asked the man.
"Through that door." said the man,pointing.
We all moved towards the door. Shikinara shouldered it open.
Three Shadows were guarding the room and jumped in surprise. Shongi took out a sword and stabbed the first Shadow. Rin threw herself at the second only to be thrown aside. Shikinara blocked his slash but was thrown through a barred cell. Neji leaped at him,knife in hand. Neji kicked at him. The Shadow grabbed his foot and swung him to the side.As Neji flew towards the wall, he stabbed the Shadow right in his trap. (Located between the shoulder and neck.) Blood spurted from the wound and he collapsed.
"Lightning Strike!" I yelled.
The last Shadow stared as I held a ball of lightning in my hand.
I charged at him. He swung his sword at me. I ducked and leaped up in the air,bringing the lightning down on his head. The room exploded into a brilliant blue light,throwing the Shadow across the room. I landed,pleased with my work.I looked around at all the sensei's staring at me. They respect me now.
"Get them out of here!"
