Rowen came to the house about twenty minutes after Mia had called him. He was frowning deeply, trying to think of any possible solution to their dilemma. So far there wasn’t a solution that he could think of. He wondered why he or the other Ronins hadn’t felt Sage being attacked. It didn’t make any sense. And why had it happened? Talpa was destroyed, there hadn’t been any new enemies trying to take over the world. So what did this new enemy want? And just who was their new enemy?

He had no answer to that question. He made it to Mia’s house and went inside. He saw Sage resting on the couch with his head down, and Mia sitting across from him. It was silent, and Ryo, Cye, and Kento, nor the two girls were anywhere to be seen. He figured they hadn’t made it there yet.

Mia was the first to notice him. “Rowen.”

Sage looked up at Rowen. He didn’t smile nor greet him happily. “Rowen, glad you could make it.”

“Sage, are you all right?” Rowen asked in concern as he sat beside his best friend.

“I’m fine, just shaken up a bit,” Sage admitted.

“Did you see what or who attacked you?” Rowen asked.

Sage shook his head. “No. Whatever it was, was quick. And I have a feeling it’ll be back.”

Rowen frowned deeply. This was just great, he thought. What could they do against an enemy they couldn’t even see?

For a while no one said anything. Mia decided to make some hot tea and went into the kitchen, leaving the two Ronins by themselves in the living room. Neither one said anything. Both of them had several thoughts of concern, fear, and anticipation of what may be coming their way. They knew it was only a matter of time before they would once again call upon their armors and have to fight again. But just what were they fighting for?

Unbeknownst to them, a shrouded dark figure watched them through the window. It really had no form at all, though it appeared to be a human, but not quite human, and definitely not animal. Its red and yellow eyes studied the two boys with such intensity it was amazing how they did not feel it. Its eyes shifted toward Rowen and it let out a cruel smile, and then suddenly it vanished without a trace.

Mia returned about ten minutes later, carrying a tray with three mugs of fresh hot tea on it. She handed Rowen and Sage each a cup, then set the tray on the coffee table and sat down before she took her own cup.

“Thank you, Mia,” Sage said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Rowen echoed.

“You’re welcome, guys,” Mia replied.

All was silence again. They all wanted to talk, but no one had anything to say at the moment. So they remained quiet, sipping their tea, and waiting for the others to arrive.

Ryo had finally made it to the beach where Cye, Kento, Firestorm, and Star had gone this morning. There were some people out today, picnicking, swimming, or just trying to catch a sun tan, or chasing their toddler who decided it was the perfect time to get away from daddy and mommy. He shook his thick black hair out of his eyes and hurried through the crowd. White Blaze had hidden himself carefully in the forest behind the beach, and watched as his young charge searched for his friends.

Ryo made it to the water’s edge and held his hand above his eyes to shield off the sunlight that blocked his view. He peered closely at the swimmers, searching each face. If he knew better, then Cye was swimming out as far as he could go out, and probably managed to get the others to join him in the deep end as well.

He finally spotted them.. Cye was surfing, and Kento, Star, and Firestorm were all relaxing in the water..

He immediately ran out into the water, ignoring the sudden coldness that overwhelmed him. When he got to the knee deep part, he cupped his mouth and shouted for them. At first they didn’t hear him, but after two more shouts, they finally heard him.

“Hey, isn’t that Ryo?” Firestorm asked.

“Yeah, what’s he doing out here?” Kento asked.

“Let’s go see,” Cye said as he began to paddle his way toward Ryo. The others followed and soon they were where Ryo was.

“Hey, Ryo, what’s up?” Cye asked.

“You guys have to come home now,” Ryo said as he turned and headed out of the water. They followed him, confusion on their faces.

“What? Why?” Kento asked.

“What’s going on?” Star wanted to know.

“I’ll explain when we leave this area. There’s too many people here,” Ryo told them.

All of them left the beach area and headed back for manor. White Blaze had joined them, and it was only when there was no other human activity did Ryo tell them what was going on. All of them were shocked, and angry that Sage had been attacked, and like the other Ronins, not one of them could guess who or what the attacker was.

When they finally reached the manor, they saw Mia, Rowen, and Sage just finishing up their tea. “Good, Rowen made it here.”

Rowen nodded. “I’ve been here for about twenty minutes. Sage and Mia told me everything.”

Ryo nodded, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

“Question,” Firestorm said. “Do you think whatever attacked Sage will attack again?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Sage said.

“Which is why we all need to be on guard,” Ryo said. “This new enemy of ours is not to be taken lightly. We don’t know what it can do, or where it even came from.”

“It would help if we could at least see what it looked like,” Kento grumbled.

“Which is why we need to find out,” Rowen said.

“I’ve already searched through grandfather’s files on it,” Mia spoke up. “He didn’t have much on it except that two new Ronins would be helping us defeat it.”

“So who are the two new Ronins?” Star asked.

“We don’t know,” Mia answered. “The files didn’t say anything else. Which is strange in a way.”

“Why do you say that?” Rowen asked.

“Because grandfather always puts down the enemy and the names of the Ronin armors. This time he didn’t.”

“Mia,” Cye said, “maybe your grandfather wanted you to figure this one out on your own this time?”

Mia thought about it, and nodded after a few minutes. “That’s possible, Cye. Grandfather always did have a way of doing things unexpectedly.”

“So, now what do we do?” Kento asked as he crossed his arms. He wasn’t the type that enjoyed waiting around for something to happen.

“Our best bet is to wait for now,” Ryo said as he closed his eyes and then reopened them.

“Man,” Kento sighed heavily.

“Kento, chill out,” Sage said. “We all know you don’t like to be patient, but you have no choice now. None of us do. There’s not much we can do. All we can do is stay on guard and be prepared for when we’re attacked again.”

Kento grumbled a bit, but nodded.

Later that night as Rowen slept in bed, and his mother sat up in her room going over her journal notes, a black smoky mist entered through the crack under Rowen’s door. It paused, looking toward the lump filled bed, and a cruel smile stretched across it. It floated over to the boy and then suddenly it wrapped itself around his throat, choking him.

Rowen awoke with a start and struggled as violently as he could. His lungs burned to be relieved and he was certain his face was turning red. The strange mist only tightened more and more around his neck, cutting into his skin it seemed, watching cruelly as it suffocated his victim.

Rowen’s heart pounded in his chest, he tried to call out for help, but it didn’t seem to do any good. He could barely concentrate on anything, but being able to breathe again. And then his eyes started to close, he began to feel extremely lightheaded and dizzy. Was this the end?

Rowen was beginning to go limp and his breathing had lessened even more, he could barely make sense of anything anymore, and he could hardly hear the laughter of the cruel voice taunting his ears, and he was unaware of his own kanji flaring to life on his forehead as he slipped into oblivion.

But the shadowy figure did. It screamed a bloodcurdling scream and shielded its eyes, backing away from the unconscious boy. It glared at Rowen, and then vanished from the room, hissing as it did so.

Rowen’s kanji flickered for a few minutes before it faded away. Air began to get inside his lungs once again, causing a painful reaction in his diaphragm. His eyes slowly opened, and he took in another breath, wincing as he did so.

After getting his air back, he slowly sat up. He had to contact the others. What ever attacked him would probably come back. Somehow he didn’t feel safe anymore. He got up and dressed as quickly as he could. He made sure he had his orb, and then left his bedroom, and walked down the hall, making his way to the kitchen. The time on the microwave told him it was after midnight. His mother was asleep in her room and he didn’t wish to wake her. Nor did he wish to worry her. He wrote a note to her, telling her where he was going, then slipped on his shoes and his jacket and left through the apartment.

It was raining outsize, a slight drizzle. He was glad his jacket had a hood on it. He put it over his head, and jogged down the street, hoping he could make it to Mia’s soon before it really poured.

He crossed several streets, passing through the city. Here the nightly raid was out, which consisted of hookers and gangs. Rowen sighed heavily. He just had to come this way didn’t he? Yet, he had little choice. It was the quickest way to Mia’s house. He passed a couple of prostitutes who purred at him, asking if he was looking for a good time. He ignored them and continued to run on by. He rounded a corner and came face to face with a group of five large punks, all who were at least two feet taller than he was. Their hair was spiked up, and differently colored, they wore chains around their neck, and carried sharp daggers. Their appearance was menacing.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here,” said the first one. His orange hair was spiked up, going in different directions, a large earring was attached to his left eyebrow, he wore a dark leather jacket, which Rowen guessed was probably stolen.

“I don’t want any trouble,” Rowen said, getting into a defensive mode. He had handled the Dynasty, he could handle these punks.

“Well, that’s too bad,” said another one, dressed much like the first, except his hair was green, and he wore a ring in his nose. “Because we’re looking for trouble, and you’ve run into the wrong place at the right time.”

They suddenly attacked him. Rowen backed flipped out of the way, and summoned his subarmor. This surprised them, however they did not back down. “Get the freak!” They attacked him as one force.

Rowen smirked and ducked down from one blow, kicking into one of the punk’s, the one with the purple hair, sending him doubling over. He then flipped the first punk over his shoulder, and did his famous flying kick, causing the orange haired punk to groan in pain.

One of them took out their dagger and slashed it across Rowen’s arms. His eyes widen when he saw the material glow for an instant, and then faded, leaving the material to become as if it had never been touched by the weapon. “What the?!”

“Naughty, naughty,” Rowen said, and then did a roundhouse kick to him. The punk went flying backward into a set of trash cans.

After a few minutes, Rowen stood looking around at his handy work. All five were on the ground, groaning in pain. “I warned you I didn’t want any trouble,” he said, and then headed off down the street.

The rain was starting to pour a little more heavier now, and he jogged through it. He was glad his subarmor was keeping him warm and for the most part dry. Though he could still catch a cold in this weather. He had to get to Mia’s as soon as he could.

Wait, what was that? He peered a head of him, squinting his eyes. Something was coming toward him at a rapid speed. He prepared himself for the defensive. It got closer and closer, and then just as it was about five feet away from him, he sighed in relief. “White Blaze.”

The large white tiger came to a stop at his side, and then turned around, while facing him. Rowen understood. He quickly climbed onto the tiger’s back and held on. “Okay, White Blaze, let’s go.”

The tiger leapt forward, and ran down the street, heading back to Mia’s.

Rowen sighed in relief. This sure beat walking or running.

A mysterious figure sat upon a dark throne made up with tormented souls in a vast and cold place. It could not be seen, except for its red eyes and the white slits within them. They glowed with a new meaning, and the shadowy figure kneeling before it, trembled.

“I grow tired of waiting for you to complete your mission for me, Yata,” it said.

“I apologize, my liege,” the figure trembled. “I came close to killing the boy!”

Silence reigned in the room for a few minutes, and Yata believed that he would not be punished. Then suddenly a terrifying bolt of electricity struck him, sending him crashing to the floor and curling up. His leathery hide shown in the lighting of the attack, his gnarled face scrunched up with pain. He let out a cry of pain, smoke coming out between his jaws as he did so.

“I am tired of waiting!” the figure roared from the throne. “I want him dead! His soul is to be mine, and mine alone.” A pale hand suddenly grabbed Yata from the floor and brought him to his face. “Do you understand that, Yata?!”

Yata trembled, unable to look his master in the eye. “Yes.. yes, sire.”

He was dropped rudely on the floor. “I will give you one last chance. Go and destroy the boy, and his friends. I want nothing to stop you. Should you fail, and I will seal you back in that pathetic domain from whence you came.”

Yata gulped and was quick to bow. “Yes, master.”

“Now be gone!”

Yata bowed once again, and then vanished, leaving the mysterious figure alone to plan.

Rowen had made it to Mia’s now, and he was wrapped up in a blanket, sitting on the couch. Star had made him a hot cup of tea, and now they were all surrounding him, having heard his recount of the attack earlier.

“Sounds like this being is getting desperate,” Sage said with a frown.

“We can’t let this being scare us off,” Ryo said, clenching his fists. “As Ronin Warriors, we will work together as a team and defeat it!”

“It would help if you knew what it was though,” Firestorm said as she crossed her arms.

“How the heck are we going to find out, when we can’t even see it?” Kento demanded.

“How should I know?” Firestorm shrugged. “I’m not a genius.”

Rowen sipped his drink and lowered the cup to the coffee table. “I may have an idea?”

“Rowen?” Mia said softly as she stared at him.

“What is it, Rowen?” Cye asked.

“Obviously this is a creature of darkness of some sort,” Rowen continued. “Why is that we can never see it? Sage, is not dark in the woods?”

Sage nodded. “Yes, when the sun is not hitting through the trees directly.”

“And I was attacked at night,” Rowen continued.

“So you’re saying that, this creature gains its powers from the darkness?” Star asked.

Rowen nodded. “Yes, and I think I have a plan to draw it out.”

“Then enlighten us, Rowen,” Ryo said.

Rowen nodded and brought them all close to them. He whispered his plan to them as carefully as he could. Everyone knew what they had to do. They separated, and then allowed themselves to relax. They weren’t expecting the creature to come back so soon, and it would give them time to prepare.

Sage and Ryo headed off one way to prepare for their part. Star and Kento headed off another way to get their part ready, Cye and Mia headed off another way to work on theirs, and Mia and Rowen stayed in the living room, with White Blaze laying innocuously before the fireplace. Once everything was in order and prepared for, they stayed in their spots. Now all they had to do was wait. And Rowen prayed it would be enough.