Ryo, Cye, Kento, Mia, Firestorm, and Star ran as fast as they could toward the cabin. The three Ronins were in their subarmor, and Ryo was in the lead, followed by Cye, then by Kento, then by Star, and after her was Firestorm and Mia. In no time at all they had made it to the cabin and got into the door. Sage immediately looked up at them.

“Sage!” Ryo said. “Is he okay?”

Sage frowned as he made himself stand up, supporting himself on the bed frame. “He doesn’t remember being attacked at all, Ryo. It’s like his memory of that was erased somehow.”

Mia frowned. “I wish we knew more about this new enemy,” she said as she watched Ryo head over to Rowen to check on him, while Cye and Kento helped supported Sage. “My grandfather’s files don’t have anything on him.”

“Well, we do know it contains information about the new Ronins, so maybe we’re missing a keyword or something?” Ryo suggested as he lifted Rowen into his arms. The bearer of Strata did not awake at all.

Firestorm blinked in confusion. She could have sworn that there were only the five of them. Who else was a Ronin Warrior? She rubbed her temples. This was so confusing anymore. She looked at them. “I thought you five were the only ones.”

“So did we,” Cye said as he and Kento helped Sage toward the door of the cabin. “Turns out there’s two more we’re searching for.”

Firestorm whistled. “And no luck on finding them either?”

“Not a zilch,” Kento said.

“Guys, let’s get Rowen and Sage back to the house now,” Ryo said, and proceeded to carry Rowen out the door.

Sage was helped through it with Cye’s and Kento’s help, as Star and Firestorm followed close behind. Mia was the last one out along with White Blaze. The auburn hair woman was pretty silent now. At times she wished she had the power to destroy evil. If she could, her friends would never suffer. But it wasn’t up to her to save the mortal world. She had not been chosen. All she could do was aid them however she could, and hope that would be enough.

Back at the house Rowen and Sage were placed in their beds to rest. Rowen had never awakened, and Sage after staring at his friend for a moment, had quickly fallen asleep. Kento had offered to stay up here with them to watch over them, but Ryo had told him no.

“I know you’d like to, Kento, but I’d feel much better if I take the first watch,” Ryo said.

Kento thought about it. It was best not to argue he figured. Rowen and Sage needed their rest, and Ryo was practically quick on his feet. If the jerk did show up for Rowen, Ryo could handle it. He nodded. “Alright man, but I want next watch.”

Ryo nodded in agreement and closed the door behind him. He sat down on a chair near Rowen’s study desk, and stayed that way, vigilantly watching his two friends like a falcon. There was no way he would let anyone hurt his friends. Not if he could help it.

As Ryo sat there, guarding them, he marveled at how close Rowen and Sage were. He had no idea just how close, but knowing you had a friend in the same manner as a loving brother was magnificent. At times, Ryo envied the two and their closeness. But for now, he would continue to watch over them, until the time came for Kento to take over.

Kento had returned to his bedroom and laid on his bed. There was a magazine about Sumo Wrestling opened on his bed. At any other time he would have been quite engrossed in it. But today, he could not concentrate on it.

He sighed and fumbled with a page, but it did not seem to want to turn over. He glanced from his magazine to the clock. His eyes narrowed. Ryo could be so stubborn at times. Kento did not see why he couldn’t take first watch over Rowen and Sage. Though, he knew this wasn’t the time to argue about it, and he had agreed to take the second watch. But he didn’t know if he could be patient enough to wait. He was worried about Rowen, knowing there was a demon after him, and perhaps Sage too. The question on his mind was how were they to stop this demon, especially when they didn’t even know who the demon was?

He wondered if Sage would be able to find out. Sage had the gift of foresight, or at least Kento assumed he did. There were times the bearer of Hardrock had seen Sage warn them of something ahead of time, and his warnings had always proven his gift. Then again, hadn’t Sage seen the demon? If so, perhaps the bearer of Halo would tell them.

Kento peered down at his magazine again and forced himself to read three sentences. He looked at the clock again and sighed heavily. Three hours seemed so far away.

Mia sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the television. A game show was on, but she could have cared less about it. She was more concerned about Rowen. Come to think of it, why did she even have the television on? She sighed heavily and thought about shutting it off. She continued to sit there, however; her eyes fixed upon the screen, her mind elsewhere.

How did it happen? When she had first met Rowen, he had never let on that anything was wrong. Then one day, she had caught him stumbling toward the house with a large bruise between the eyes. She had been the only one home at the time, the only one who could treat him at the time. He had not told her the truth, and she had been shocked to discover the truth from Sage. Now Rowen was again in danger. But why?

Mia shifted slightly. The demon had appeared to both Sage and Rowen in their bedroom, having forced them to escape to the cabin with the help of White Blaze. She wanted to do something. She wanted to find out who this demon was and how to effectively stop him.

She suddenly grabbed the remote control and clicked the television off and stood up. She was going to find out whatever she could about this demon. She went to her computer room and turned the computer on. When it warmed up, she began to check every hidden file folder, every document, every drive in her computer with secret pass codes and with permission keys. Little did she know Star had seen her go into the room and had followed her. When she did realize Star was behind her, she smiled. Star was so caring, it was only natural she would want to see if Mia could find anything to help Rowen. And Mia knew Star had a love for Rowen.

Mia sighed after an hour. So far none held any information that she was looking for. Star stood behind her, watching her, wanting to help. For some reason, the white haired girl believed she knew where to search for the new enemy. How she knew she didn’t know. Something in her heart was telling her to where to look, but she couldn’t say anything yet. Perhaps Mia would discover on her own.

Mia sighed, trying to keep her frustration down to a minimum. She knew getting upset would no do them no good, and she needed to keep a level head. But that was nearly impossible, she decided. Any other time her grandfather would keep important files on a disk and she’d always be able to locate them. She even tried deciphering quite a few of them, and now they laid on the corner of her desk, already checked through.

“Mia, do you think maybe your grandfather might have put it within a riddle of some kind?” Star suddenly asked.

Mia blinked and turned her head to stare at the teen. Her eyes seemed to gaze faraway for a moment. Star watched her steadily as she awaited her answer.

Mia looked shocked as she began digging into the drawers of her desk, tossing out papers and other important looking documents onto her desk.. When she had enough on there, she began to search through each one, perhaps hoping beyond hope there were riddles her grandfather had written down. Star helped her out, but so far nothing seemed to match with what they were seeking. By now, Mia was near tears.

Star frowned and patted the older girl’s shoulder. “Come on, Mia, don’t be so hard on yourself.. We’ll figure this out. I’ve heard from the others you are really good at finding out information. Don’t get discouraged like this. You can do this.”

Mia’s tears ran down her cheeks. She wanted so much to believe her, but right now it was impossible. She knew that Rowen’s life was in danger, and she felt there was nothing she could do at all to help him, or the others.. How was she going to live this down if anything happened to them while she just sat here, searching endlessly?

Yata knew better than to ask his master if everything had gone according to plan. The moment his master had returned, the room began to smell extremely sweet like the aroma of a rose garden. That was when you knew he was extremely irritated at having failed at something. So, the small demon kept to himself and away from his master as far as possible. He was hoping he would not be blamed for this; but then again that seemed unlikely.

As of now, his master was punching furiously at the cavern like walls, shouting obscenities and curses. His rage increased with each pummel, and he began to make holes within the walls of the room.

Yata watched from around the corner, his eyes wide with fear.. Deep in the back of his mind he was pleading silently he would not be picked upon.

The master stopped suddenly as he rested his palms against a part of the wall which had no holes in it.. His muscles flexed menacingly and his eyes were bulging; he was taking deep breaths one at a time to calm himself.. It was a hard process for him to go through and often it took him lots of energy to do so. When at last he had calmed down, the room had become the same pewter smell it had always been. Finally he turned and sat down in his throne.

“I am tired of the antics of these Ronin Warriors.. I know there is a way to stop them, but the fate against me tonight has been decided. I will capture Rowen of the Strata, and the other Ronin Warriors, and even the two new ones which have not yet been found, will never see him alive.. I will take his soul and do what I please with it.”

Yata kept silent as he listened. Was it possible that his master would succeed? He didn’t know, but he had a feeling things would become more complicated sooner than anyone would ever expect.

It was Kento’s turn now. Ryo was feeling exhausted, having watched Rowen and Sage for six hours straight. Kento sat down on the same chair that Ryo had sat in, and kept his Game Boy Advance in his hands, while glancing toward his fellow Ronins every few minutes. No evil scum was getting in here while he was guarding. So far neither Rowen nor Sage had awakened, and nobody thought they would for the rest of the night. They needed all the rest they could get, and hopefully by tomorrow they would be fully healed.

There were a few times when Sage turned over in his sleep, and Kento thought he would wake up, but the bearer of Halo slept on. So far Rowen remained in the same position he had been put in when he had been placed in his bed earlier.

About six hours later, Cye took his turn, allowing Kento to head to bed. Like Kento’s watch, Cye didn’t encounter any opposition, and things were relatively peaceful. And he was hoping they would stay that way. At the moment he was the only one awake within the house. When his turn was over, he would allow White Blaze to guard the two. He sighed deeply. All of this stress was going to make them all go crazy, especially Rowen.

Sage’s eyes began fluttering and his hand clenched a bit as a soft moan escaped through his lips. Cye heard it clearly though and sat up a bit, closely watching him. For a moment Sage didn’t move at all, and Cye believed he fell asleep once again. Then Sage moved again.

“Sage?”

Sage opened his eyes and looked toward him. The first thing he asked was, “How’s Rowen?”

Cye smiled gently. “Rowen’s asleep in his bed. He’ll be all right, thanks to you.”

Sage nodded and sat up a bit, putting a hand to his head. There was still some cobwebs in it, and he needed time to clear it. So far it seemed as if that evil demon hadn’t attacked, and Rowen was resting peacefully. He looked toward Cye again. “How long have I been sleeping?”

“At least a half day,” Cye replied.

Sage’s eyes widened with surprise. “That long? I’ve never slept that long!”

“I know,” Cye agreed. “But you needed it, and so does Rowen. I don’t expect him to wake up before this night’s over.”

Sage turned his head and looked over at the clock. It was now 1:30 in the morning. Everyone was already sleeping now. He felt wide awake though. Cye looked like he was ready to drop at any moment now.

“Cye, why don’t you go ahead and go to bed?” Sage suggested. “I feel a lot better now, and I can watch Rowen.”

“Are you sure?” Cye asked. “I was going to have White Blaze…”

“No, I’m sure,” Sage replied firmly.

Cye hesitated, then with a reluctant nod of his head, stood up, and left the room.

Sage threw back his blanket and climbed off his bed. He needed to check on Rowen as his concern would not go away for him. He walked over to his friend’s bed and gently pulled the cover away from Rowen’s face. Rowen appeared to be sleeping peacefully. He couldn’t be sure though. He placed his hand on Rowen’s forehead and concentrated. For a few minutes he could feel nothing, but then he noticed that Rowen was halfway toward a peaceful sleep, while the other half was being pulled toward a nightmare of some kind.. Sage bit his lip. He did not like this one bit.. Rowen wasn’t exactly strong at the moment, and it was strongly possible that he would plunge into a horrific nightmare. Sage knew he had to do something soon.

He stood there for several moments, trying to think. He had to be careful of what choice he made to save Rowen from this, because if he did the wrong thing, Rowen could be in immortal danger. There was one chance he had, but it was a high risk, and he couldn’t do it without the other Ronins. He didn’t want to leave Rowen though, so he hoped the other Ronins weren’t in a deep sleep.

He concentrated as hard as he could. For a moment he was unaware of the link being opened, until he heard a half groggy voice speaking through his mind.

‘Sage, what’s wrong?’ It was Ryo.

Ryo pushed the door opened and walked into the bedroom with Cye and Kento. The three of them joined Sage around Rowen’s bed.

Already knowing what they had to do, the four Ronins stood with their arms extended, reaching out toward Rowen and each one gently grasping a limb. At this point the bearer of Strata began thrashing about, causing his bed to shake.

This commotion caused Mia to awaken down the hall and she rushed right where she heard the noise coming from. Stepping into the room, she witnessed them getting ready to perform what looked like a type of ceremony.

“What in the world is going on here?” she asked.

“Rowen’s in trouble,” Cye told her..

“Shh!” Sage ordered.. “Let’s hurry and do this!”

Mia grew quiet as she watched them. She had no idea why this was happening, or for what reason, but she knew Rowen’s suffering had to end and soon..

Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Cye were now glowing their respective armor’s colors. Their concentration began to increase…

Someone else came into the room. It was Star. She had been in a deep sleep when she felt something extraordinary happening. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but one look from Mia told her it was best to remain silent, and allow the Ronins to solve this problem.

Their kanjis began to shine on their foreheads, with each mind and soul reaching out to Rowen, it didn’t take long for their kanjis to glow even more brilliantly, more than they ever done so before. At the same time Mia noticed that the kanji of hope was burning on Star’s forehead. She put a hand to her mouth, but didn’t dare to say anything for fearing of breaking the Ronins’ concentration.

Star herself did not seem to noticed this; she continued to watch Rowen, hoping whatever the Ronins were doing would save him.

Sage grit his teeth as he felt his power go into Rowen’s subconscious mind. Soon enough the other Ronins’ powers arrived. Deep within the chasm, they were able to see Rowen’s memories, his thoughts on his family and friends, of past events, and on the other side, the nightmare that was slowly creeping about and spreading forward, overtaking the good memories. They could hear crying and begging for mercy. The sound of evil laughter filled the air, and cruel whispering, ‘You’re worthless, you’re nothing to your friends, they hate you, you’re not loved,’ was heard repeating itself over and over again within Rowen’s mind. Outside in the real world, Rowen’s body continued to thrash about. The Ronins gripped him tighter, doing their best to hold him down. None of this was easy as Rowen could be quite strong when he wasn’t thinking about it.

Again and again they continued to pour their kanjis out.. Soon whispers came, but it was their own voices that filled Rowen’s mind.

Five, not four bursts of light struck out at the dark force. Loud screams were heard as each burst of light broke into the shadow, breaking it up and sending it retreating.

Rowen’s thrashing began to die down slowly, before stopping altogether.

Sage wanted to make sure the dark force was gone entirely, before letting go. He did a quick scan with his Second Sight, viewing everything over in Rowen’s mind. All he could see were Rowen’s memories on his friends, his home, the fight with Talpa.. Memories that would never take Rowen down with them. These were the memories that had to say. The Bearer of Halo sighed in relief, and then one by one the Ronins began to leave Rowen’s mind.

Mia hurried over to them. “Is he okay now?”

Sage collapsed into a chair, feeling exhausted. “He’s fine now.”

“What I don’t understand,” Cye said as he looked back at Rowen, “is who sent that shadowy figure to Rowen’s mind?”

“We don’t know, Cye,” Ryo said as he shook his head. “I’m confused about something else.. There were suppose to be only four kinds of virtuous kanjis. But there was a fifth one, and it wasn’t Rowen’s.”

“So then who was it?” Kento asked.

Mia looked over at Star who was now by Rowen’s bedside. She thought about telling them what she had seen, but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

It was then that the Ronins noticed Star standing by Rowen’s bedside. When had she come in?

Mia approached them. “Are you sure Rowen is going to be all right?”

“I hope so,” Sage said as he stood up. “I don’t know why that evil jerk is after him, or who or what he even is, but this has to stop. I’m not sure Rowen can take much more of this.”

“So why are we standing around like ducks?” Kento demanded. “We should be out there stopping this jerk!”

Ryo rubbed his head, but he had to agree with Kento. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand there himself, watching as Rowen suffered and fought against whoever was after him. As far as they knew this enemy, the main one, gave no name, and his face had never been seen.. It was as if he were a dark shadow. How was that possible though? Was this an evil spirit? It couldn’t have been a ghost, right? Right?

The shadowy figure stood far out in the backyard of the manor, floating silently in mid-air, watching Ryo through the window. So, this Ronin was beginning to believe he was a ghost. What a lot of laughs. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage and fool them all.

Just then he felt something coming from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and his lips curled into a snarl. From twenty miles away, he could see the huge wings of a gigantic black dragon coming toward him. He did not need the irritation of encountering a dragon at the moment. He had other things on his mind at the moment. In a blink of an eye he vanished, along with his plans.