The Arising

Chapter 26

Cye was getting a bad feeling. He had no idea what exactly was going on, but something told him Ryo was much worse than before. Looking down at his leader, he could see that Ryo was no longer suffering from chest pain, but there was something else there. But what exactly? The man called Akura had said that Ryo would be all right, but Cye could sense Ryo’s aura was growing darker. There must have been a reason for it. Studying Ryo’s sleeping face he noticed the contorting of it. The Ronin of Wildfire was making growls within his throat and his eyebrows arched and narrowed. He was beginning to pant even more as if he were a greyhound just done with a race.

“Guys! Something’s wrong with Ryo!” Cye’s alarmed voice caused the others to stop in their tracks and they looked back.

“Again?” Kento said in disbelief. “I thought Akura healed him!”

“So did I!” Firestorm exclaimed as she managed to use Kento’s distraction to release herself. Standing on the ground now, she came closer to Ryo who was starting to thrash in Cye’s arms. The Ronin of Torrent had no choice but to put him down.

“What is going on with him?” Star desperately wondered. “He looks worse than before!”

“I don’t know,” Cye said softly as he watched Ryo helplessly. “But I do know there was something about that Akura I did not trust.”

Firestorm bent down toward Ryo and began to sniff him. Curling her lip in disgust she reeled back from him. “You had a right to be suspicious, Cye. Ryo’s got demon hands written all over him.”

“You can actually smell that?” Kento said with his eyebrows raised.

Firestorm nodded. “Yeah, any dragon can smell demon scent. It’s one of the best things about having a sense of smell greater than normal humans.”

“So what do we do?” Star demanded. “We can’t leave Ryo here, but who knows what will become of him or even us if we take him with us!”

“We’re not leaving Ryo behind!” Kento roared.

Star flinched slightly, but she did not show that Kento had frightened her. Wringing her hands she looked nervously about, wondering the consequences and wondering how on earth they would manage.

“We’re not leaving Ryo behind,” Cye stated firmly as well. He was trying to think of what they could do, but so far nothing came to his mind. If only he had Rowen’s intellect, then perhaps he would discover some loophole in this mess.

“Then let’s just take him with us! Whatever’s wrong with him, Kayura can fix it,” Kento stated with authority as he moved forward to pick up Ryo. However, the moment his hands reached toward Wildfire, a hand reached out and knocked it away. Kento yelped in surprise and discovered with alarm the blood on the back of his hand.

Cye’s eyes widened with shock as he could not believe his eyes. This had to be a nightmare. Looking more closely, he could see the long sharp claws jutting from where Ryo’s short nails used to be.

Star immediately sought to find something to bind Kento’s injury as more blood seemed to pour from it. Finding a pistachio plant, she tore the leaves off the stem and somehow managed to bind them over the injuries. Kento smiled gratefully at her, and she smiled back, but their attention was taken away from them.

Slowly climbing to his feet and growling and snarling was Ryo. His tiger blue eyes had swirls of flames within them, but his body was grotesquely transforming. The light of the moon shone on Ryo, slightly blinding the eyes of the others. None of them had ever known the moon to be so bright.

Their eyes widened to see Ryo’s arms shortening slightly, but growing more thick. His legs began to bend outward, shortening as well, and growing thick at the same time. His neck widened and his torso and ribs began to expand outward and suck in more. He went down on all fours, his forearms slightly raised higher than the hind legs. His head began to narrow back and a short wide muzzle grew upon his face. His eyes widened slightly, becoming almond shaped with the irises as slits.

Large rounded ears appeared on either side of his head and black whiskers appeared from either side of his muzzle. A tail of long thick spikes came forth and at once thick white fur with black spots and patches grew all over him. A mighty roar from the mouth sent the Ronins tumbling back.

Kayura raced through the woods as quickly as the Armor of Cruelty would carry her. Moments upon leaving, White Blaze had ran from behind the cabin, determined to go with her, but she had firmly forbidden. “White Blaze,” she had said, “you must stay and protect Mia and Halo. Danger lurks about, and you’re the only one capable.” Thankfully, the tiger had obeyed and Kayura continued dodging through the woods, allowing the armor to guide her.

The light of the moon to continue to shine forth its brightness and she pondered the reason. Something was brewing and she did not appreciate it one bit. She did not wish to say she was frightened, but she did anticipate something dreadful. Then hearing the roar she turned her head. Too late! Something large and powerful struck her down. Its heavy weight bore against her, driving her to the ground. Sharp claws dug through the armor, emitting a cry of pain from her.

She raised her arms and crossed them in self defense as her eyes beheld a wolf like creature. She could tell it wasn’t a werewolf, because the anatomy was slightly different. Its neck was too short and thick, its frame was too wide, and its forelegs and hind legs were evenly matched, though one pair was more muscular.. Its snout did resemble that of a wolf’s, but two blue eyes glared down at her. Werewolves were known to have golden or yellow eyes. Sometimes they had green eyes.

Her eyes took on a look of recognition. “Rowen?!” she gasped in surprised. The beast snarled at her, then suddenly propelled itself off her. It leapt through several trees and bounded away into the darkness of the woods. Kayura painfully got to her feet and took off after him. “Rowen! Wait! Rowen!” But all that returned her desperate cries was a fierce growl, and then silence.

Kayura did not waste any time. Her decision had been made. Running as fast as she could, she begged the armor to guide her to Rowen. For wherever Rowen was heading, the Ronins were sure to be at the end of the trail. She could only hope she was not too late.

Brushing past several trees and plants she could sense she was getting closer. The scent of the Ronin armors was causing her own to react and she felt compelled to quicken her speed. Upon doing so, she came to a clearing and soon looking above a hill, she could see silhouettes, four human looking ones, and an oddly shaped one. Then looking more closely, she could see the same creature who had attacked her. It was running up the hill, snarling dangerously, its tail stuck straight out, guiding him upward. “Rowen!”

She summoned more of Cruelty’s power and sped toward the hill. She knew it would be dangerous, but she would have to tackle Rowen if she wanted to save him and the others. She was gaining on him and he must have known. For he had suddenly increased his speed and was nearly at the edge of the hill. Soon he would be over it. Kayura bit her lip and then decided to take a chance. If her calculations were precise she would be able to tackle him and give the Ronins more time to fight against the second creature.

Crouching down, she hesitated a moment, then suddenly sprang directly into the air. Leaping to a staggering height of twenty feet, she somersaulted forward in the air several times, coming down at a fast rate of speed. Within seconds of her jump, she quickly landed upon Rowen and tackled him to the ground.

Rowen roared and arched his back several times, desperate to buck her off. She clung fiercely to his thick fur as she attempted to wrestle him down to the ground. This caught the attention of the Ronins. More shock came about and darkness seemed to settle all around them. Now there were two dangerous creatures, Ryo who about ready to attack, and another strange one that Kayura was desperately fighting.

“Kayura!” Kento yelled.

Kayura dared not look up. “It’s Rowen!” she called back, using her own strength and the strength of the Cruelty Armor to fight against Rowen. She had to admit this new form made him so much stronger.

“Say what?!”

The Ronins were in disbelief once again, but looking back at Ryo they knew it was true. This had been a set up. Not only did Leokoni turn their captured friend into a beast, but he had done the same thing to Ryo.

Kento balled his hand into a fist and growled lowly and dangerously. “He’ll pay! That bastard will pay for this!”

“But what can we do about it?!” Firestorm cried out. Her heart was thumping with fear, something she’d rather not admit. Sweat beaded down her face and she tried her best to look inconspicuous.

“I wish I knew!” Kayura yelled back as she continued to fight. “But without the antidote I can do nothing!”

“But we can’t let them stay like this!” Cye cried out. Time was running out, and Ryo looked all too eager to attack them. For he was slowly going around circles, snapping and growling at them.

“And we won’t!” Kayura replied. Suddenly, Rowen flopped down and then began to roll over. Knowing this was a cunning trick to make her release him, she held on and bore the pain as he rolled over on top of her.

Furious his plan had not worked, Rowen roughly shook himself. Kayura flopped about like a stubborn leaf, but still clung on. She was determined to keep trying to reach him.

“Rowen! Remember who you are! This isn’t you! You’re our friend! You must see that we care about you!”

The only reply she got was a roar.

Cye was trying the same thing with Ryo, hoping Ryo would recognize him and the others. “Ryo, it’s us! Your friends! Don’t you recognize us? Please, Ryo, you have to remember! The Ronin Warriors!”

But words reached upon deaf ears. Ryo roared again and once again they were blown backward. Kento came to a stop and dusted himself off, his expression none too happy. “Now I know how a rag doll feels.”

“That’s it!” Firestorm yelled in rage. “I’ve had it!” Dark clouds suddenly overcame the sky and her aura began to glow brightly.

“Firestorm, you mustn’t!” Star begged. “You can’t attack them!”

“But they’ll kill us!” Firestorm argued. “They must be stopped!”

“NO! Star yelled back with determination. “There’s another way! I know there is!”

Time was running out as they knew. The moon continued to shine forth its rays, always on Ryo. Cye began to notice something. Each time the moon was at its brightest, Ryo looked ready to pounce. However when a dark cloud overlapped the moon, he backed off, seemingly confused at what he was to do. Could the moon be controlling Ryo in ways they knew not?

Firestorm had managed to calm herself down, and her dragon transformation did not happen. She clenched and unclenched her fists, slowly allowing her anger and fear to calm down. The dark clouds began to dissolve away.

Then without warning, the light of the full moon bathed Ryo in the brightness of its light. With a mighty roar he suddenly sprang forward and attacked Kento again. Kento yelled in surprise and began to thrash violently. Using his arm he managed to keep Ryo from biting into his face. He could feel the fangs biting through his subarmor and he gritted his teeth in pain.

Cye tackled Ryo from behind, hoping to distract him. But just as he suddenly leapt upon him, Ryo’s tail reacted much like that of a porcupine. Several sharp spikes released and Cye quickly released his hold and managed to side flip out of the way. New spikes grew in place of the old ones, only this time they were larger.

Star desperately looked for something strong and sturdy to knock Ryo off Kento, but her eyes found nothing useful. Would they have to call forth their full armors and attack with their surekills? She silently begged that would not need to happen, but she was slowly beginning to see there was no other choice. With Rowen fighting viciously against Kayura and with Kento struggling desperately against Ryo there seemed to be no hope. Could this really be the end?

Mia felt relaxed, more than she did before. Sage laid there on the cot, sound asleep and she busied herself with a fashion magazine. Normally she would be typing away at her computer, but with Rowen’s sudden abduction and their flight to find Kayura, she hadn’t the time to take her laptop. Still she worried about the Ronins and Kayura. She knew they could handle themselves, but anything could go wrong.

Her attention was taken away by sounds of moaning and thrashing. She looked over toward Sage and frowned. ‘Could he be having another nightmare?’ she wondered. She was about to go toward him to try and sooth him, but suddenly gasped in shock as Sage abruptly opened his eyes once again. Without saying a word he quickly jumped off the cot and started for the door. Mia immediately went after him. “Sage, where are you going? Get back in bed!”

Sage stopped for a moment and looked back at her with a small smile. “I’m sorry, Mia, but I must go! The Ronins are in danger and I’ll be damned if I don’t do anything about it!”

Mia bit her lip, but knew any argument she had would quickly be silenced. Without another word, Sage of Halo threw open the door and raced out.

Mia made her mind up then. No way was she staying behind. “White Blaze!”

The tiger came quickly and she swung herself over his back. “Follow Sage, White Blaze!”

The tiger sprang forward out the door, following quickly after Sage’s scent as Mia held on. She had no idea what help she could offer, but perhaps something would come to her mind. She only hoped she would not be causing more harm than good.