Consciousness slowly seeped back into Rowen as he let out a whimper of pain. He did not want to be brought back where he had to face pain, but something was causing him to wake up. He tried to keep from it, but it was too much. He let out a moan as he was forced to open his eyes.

He was rather disappointed to find out that he was once again in the same room that he had first been brought to upon his capture. The only difference was his father was not there with him. And Rowen didn’t care. For he had no desire to face his father either.

He looked down at his chains and thought about escaping, but then a sudden memory came back to him. His torture had been most excruciating and he did not wish to endure it the second time.

He closed his eyes and winced. Agony took hold of his body and he felt that he could cry. Normally, he barely ever cried, having been used to beatings before, but this was the first time that he felt despair. It took hold of him and held him tightly within its grasp and he felt he could not escape. Where were his friends? Why hadn’t they come? Had they forgotten about him? The tears ran down his cheeks and he bit back a sob. He wanted to believe they were on their way, but a vicious thought told him to stop dreaming. They would never come.

And then a coughing sound made him open his eyes again. Frowning he stared at the same demon who had captured him.

Yata had risked being punished, but he had to see this Ronin. For he wanted to see whether or not that he was dead, and something told him there was more to this boy than meets the eye. “So you’re not dead after all.”

Rowen frowned deeply and then spoke, weakly. “Dead?” A cough came from him and his body spasm with pain as he did.

Yata came forward a bit. “Yes,” he said with a nod of his gnarled head. “I came here earlier and could have sworn you were dead. But look at you, awake, but yet weak.”

“I would rather be dead, than face torture here,” Rowen said, weakly.

“Ha!” the demon retorted. “No chance of that. Leokoni will keep you from dying. If he thinks you are near death, he himself will use herbs to heal you so that you do not leave this life. When he wishes you to die, he himself will kill you with one blow.”

Rowen frowned. A part of him wanted to shout at for the demon master to do it, but another part weakly protested that he keep on living. But why should he? It was clear that all his life he was meant to suffer. He just couldn’t take anymore.

Yata continued to watch him. He himself was feeling rather giddy right now, and so could not help tormenting the young boy. He knew that Rowen was struggling not to cry, but he would see to that. He would watch the boy wail with misery until he succumbed to the fact that he would remain there, alone and wretched.

“You may as well give up. You won’t die any time soon. You do know your friends have given up on you, so why not admit defeat?” Yata asked him.

Rowen bit back a choked sob as he turned his head to avoid facing him anymore. But strong hands brought his head back around again and he yelped.

“Oh, did that hurt?” Yata laughed at him as he let go of Rowen’s head. “How silly of me. I did not know my touching you would cause you more pain. Shall we try it again?”

Rowen managed to glare at him. “You are just like Leokoni!”

Yata’s eyes flared suddenly and he swiped his claws against the left side of Rowen’s face. Rowen cried out as he heard the little demon scream at him in rage.

“I am nothing like my master! Don’t ever say that again!”

Rowen stared at him and wondered if he had hit a weak spot. For clearly Yata was indeed loyal, but there was something else that he could not quite put his finger on. What was it though? He could see a strange burning within the demon’s eyes and wondered about it. Was Yata actually against his own master?

Yata stood there as he glared at the boy. He wanted to rip the boy to shreds, but feared his master’s rebuke. He had no wish to be killed himself, for death for a demon like him would be more painful than the boy himself dying. With a snort of disgust he turned and left the room, before he decided to do something regretful.

Rowen sighed slightly in relief. He had somehow sensed that the demon was struggling against himself and feared for the worst. He had truly believed the demon may attack him with more force and had felt his heart beating against his chest in terror. Now he could concentrate on letting his body heal as his mind wandered back to his friends.

Where were they? he wondered to himself. What were they doing? What thoughts were going through their minds? He could remember the time when he and Ryo went into the Dynasty to rescue their friends who had been captured and recalled at how long it took just the two of them to rescue Sage, Kento, and Cye. Would it take that long for all of them to rescue him? He hoped not, for a part of him did know how long he could withstand.

A face suddenly entered into his mind and he focused on it. He stared at the image of Sage and felt a tightness in his chest. Wondering what that meant, he kept his eyes closed as he tried to deal with the pain. It was a new kind of pain, one he could feel mentally, but not physically. And the more he thought about Sage, the more the pain could be felt. And then it clicked. Sage was dying and if something was not done, then he would be forever lost.

A choked cry came from Rowen’s throat. His friend could not die and leave him here alone! For Sage was like an older brother to him. One that loved him and helped him in his times of need. Even when he was picked on in school or had just escaped his beating dad during those times of physical abuse, Sage was there. And now, more than anything, Rowen wanted to be there for Sage. And then it occurred to him. Perhaps this was why the Ronins had not come. For surely, they wanted to save Sage’s life, and then once that was done, they would indeed come from him at last.

And then fatigue began to slowly seep within him again. He tried to fight it off, but he was too drained. So at last giving into the exhaustion, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

White Blaze was crouched down, snarling as the hairs on the back of his neck rose up. His claws were stretched out ready to rip and shred the moment he launched himself in to attack. He could smell the rancid breath of these demons, feel their vibrating power flowing through their muscular figures and knew that these evil spirits would be no easy task to defeat. Their yellow, crimson, and green eyes bore no reflection, but he knew they could clearly see their prey behind him and it would not be long. He snarled in warning.

Mia crouched in fear, clinging to the back of White Blaze. Her green eyes were widened and she could barely speak or even make her limbs move so she could run. But running would not stop these creatures of evil. For they were quite fast and would be upon her in less than a nanosecond. It would be useless to even try.

One demon suddenly moved forward, swinging his large sword over his head and then bringing it down in a fiery flash. White Blaze intercepted, knocking the demon backward into his comrades. He roared in anger and then leapt to attack.

“White Blaze!” Mia screamed as she watched in terror. It was six large demons versus one mystical tiger. She wasn’t sure how long White Blaze could keep up the battle, but she feared at any time now, the tiger would be killed.

The tiger was slashing and clawing at demonic flesh and flipping over other attackers. Twice he had been stabbed with swords, and once he had bitten off the hand of one demon. He flipped away from the demons and landed on the ground. His legs were buckling and he felt weak. The tiger knew he could not take much more of this. The need to get Mia to safety was imminent.

Kayura had finally managed to stabilize Sage and felt she could finally relax. It had been a hard task getting his fever out of the danger zone, and then constantly wiping his nose of the blood that dripped from time to time. But now as she relaxed there on the floor, she had this sudden impulse that something was dreadfully wrong. She thought it might have been the Ronins, but after meditating on them for a time, felt that it was someone else. Could it have been Rowen? She bit her lip and shook her head in answer to herself. No.

She looked at the staff as she suddenly heard its clanging. It was in an upright position and glowing as the rings on it danced about, bringing forth that familiar sound as they hit the staff and one another. She frowned suddenly as an image came to mind. Mia. She glanced immediately back at Sage and bit her bottom lip. She could not leave him unprotected, but she couldn’t leave Mia and White Blaze alone. Something dreadful might happen to one or both of them.

She had an idea suddenly. It was risky, but at least if it would work Sage would have protection from any demons until she returned. She concentrated on the staff’s powers and it floated outward. A strange sensation came into the air and soon a bright light fared from it, encasing the Ronin of Halo in a protective cocoon. The moment Sage was protected, Kayura transformed into the armor of Cruelty and took her kurisama. With one last look at Sage, she hurried out the door.

Mia screamed in horror when one demon suddenly came slashing his blade at White Blaze. The tiger tried to avoid it by doing a back flip in the air, but another demon intercepted him with a strike of his own blade, cutting a diagonal wound across the tiger’s back. White Blaze roared with pain and then collapsed to the ground.

The demons turned to Mia and suddenly as she laid on the ground crouching in fear, they came at her suddenly. She shielded her face and turned her head away as another scream came out of her throat. The demons’ swords were raised high in the air. They could smell the fear on her. This was the moment to strike. One demon began to bring his sword down when suddenly chains flew out of nowhere and wrapped around his lithe body, pulling him back so fast he felt dizzy from the effect.

The other demons turned their heads immediately. Kayura was standing there, glaring at them all with such ferocity. They leapt to attack like lions on a wildebeest. She flipped backward in a graceful move, then swung her kurisama outward again. The clawed end of it struck against the face of one demon, knocking it backward. Another one attacked her from behind, but she quickly dodged with a leap to the left, then gave it a sidekick to the abdomen. The demon hissed in in pain as it recoiled back. She quickly raised the sharp end of her kurisama and quickly made a slicing motion against its forehead.

There was a strange guttural sound as the demon faded away. The other demons were not about to give up, and they quickly came at her with talons bared to strike. She spun, she hacked, she leapt. It was tedious work and twice she felt the sharp blows of their talons against her right forearm and her left side. She winced in pain as she did a back flip to avoid having her head cut off.

Mia watched as her eyes widened to see Kayura take a blow from behind. She tried to cry out to her, but no sounds would come to her mouth. Instinctively she shut her eyes and turned her head away, expecting to hear the sound of a flashing blade slicing through the air.

There was the sound of slicing rippling through the air, but she did not hear Kayura’s scream. Instead she heard this high pitch wailing. Curious, she opened her eyes and turned her head to see a demon standing in mid attack with the sharp sickle stuck between his eyes. The demon hissed once and then vanished.

Mia was stunned. There were now less demons than there had been before. Where there had been about twelve there was now only four. Kayura’s eyes were flashing wildly and she was prepared for more onslaught. And then Mia heard her call that sure kill which she used to fear when she had first met the Ronin Warriors.

“Quake With Fear!”

The attack immediately went out, the chains stretching underground for miles until finally popping through the ground, and wrapping themselves around the demons. The earth trembled as the chains tightened themselves against the demons’ thick leathery bodies. Their cries of torture echoed through the little forest, and then suddenly with flaring streaks of lights bursting outward, they suddenly vanished.

Kayura’s armor vanished and she immediately headed to Mia and to White Blaze. “Are you all right, Mia?” she asked.

Mia nodded her head, but she was trembling as she pointed at the tiger. “White Blaze is hurt. We need to get him back to the cabin.”

Kayura turned and both women walked over to the unconscious tiger. Combining their strength they were able to drag the tiger to the safety of the cabin.