Part 8: Room with a View

Mia sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She was normally an early riser, but this morning she had gotten up before even Astarte and Anubis. She hadn’t been able to sleep. All night she tossed and turned, worrying about Uli and his parents. The Armor of Occlusion gave her the ability to see what others tried to hide, and obscure what she didn’t want others to see. Sometimes it even gave her premonitions of danger. It didn’t give her ‘visions’ of the future, exactly. It was more like sensing current trends and patterns and being able to predict the likely outcome. But the last few days she’d been wishing she could have a genuine vision. She so desperately wanted to see exactly what danger was coming so she and the others could be ready. Feelings were sometimes too vague to help. She knew that Uli was headed for trouble. But what kind?

Mia jumped up in frustration and went out onto the deck. She sat down and cleared her mind. “ARMOR OF OCCLUSION!” She unsheathed her shadow katana and held it over her head. “DARK FOG RISE!” A grey mist formed around her, drifting and swirling. As the fog surrounded her, images formed in her mind. She could see the dig site. Pieces of ancient pottery unearthed and neatly catalogued. Then there was a crash, a scream. People were running, terrified. She could see Uli’s mother grabbing his hand and dragging him to a hiding place. Something evil was there…some kind of reptile-creatures. They had green scales and hair. Their beady eyes reminded her of Sekhmet’s. Sekhmet? Was this the evil he went to fight? Another scream reverberated in her head, knocking her out of her meditation. It wasn’t the future. She never saw the future in her meditations. This was happening now, or had very recently happened! She had to get the others! They had to find Uli and his parents before it was too late!

Her cry of alarm woke up the household. Even Zane and Jack who were very sound sleepers were jolted awake. When they went to see what was wrong, they found Mia pacing in the kitchen. She told them what she’d seen.

Astarte put a comforting hand on Mia’s shoulder. “I will go get those who are further away and teleport them back here. You contact those nearby. Zoe?”

“Already on it.” She turned her thoughts to her brother, strengthening their telepathic connection. “Zane. ZANE! Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear—emphasis on the loud. What’s wrong?” He’d known before she even said a word that she was upset about something. That’s why he was already out of bed and getting dressed when she’d “called”.

“Uli and his family are in danger. Probably Sekhmet, too. Come as soon as you can.”

“On my way. I’ll stop and pick up Kento in the city. Sage doesn’t live that far from him so I can stop and get him, too.”

“Ok. Thanks. Mia’s calling Ryo and he’s bringing Rowan. Astarte’s going to pick up Trace and Sai. See you soon.”

“I’ll be there before you know it.” Zane broke communication and headed out the door.

Zoe went to check on Mia. “It’ll be ok. If anyone can get out of a fix it’s Uli. That kid’s too resourceful for his own good. No one will get to him.”

A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of Mia’s mouth. “Yes, but he also has a bad habit of getting into bad fixes in the first place. I got very attached to him when we were helping the Ronins fight Talpa and the evil Dynasty. He’s become like a little brother to me, Zoe. I can’t lose him. I can’t! I’ve lost too much family. And…and I feel like it might be too late already!”

“Don’t talk like that! We’ll find him and save him and kick the butt of whoever tried to mess with our junior Ronin. Got it?”

“Got it.” Mia stood up, shaking off the waves off depression that had been crashing over her ever since her meditations.

***************

At that very moment, in western Asia, at an excavation site deep in an ancient forest, Uli huddled with his mom in the brush. The prickly thorns scraped his skin, but he didn’t even notice. The two of them were trying to still their frantic breathing, afraid that the snake-men would hear them. They were everywhere, looking for the people who had run away. Just before his mom had dragged him to safety, he’d seen one of the creatures grab his dad. His dad had yelped in pain as they took him into one of the makeshift huts. Uli had wanted to run to him, to help, but mom had pulled him along with her. His eyes filled with tears, wondering if his dad were still alive. His mom noticed and silently drew him closer to her side, tears pooling in her own eyes. Uli wished the Ronins were here. They’d take care of these creeps fast and rescue his dad. Everything would be ok if Ryo were here with the others.

Two of the snake-guys were searching near them. Uli and his mom held their breath as they moved closer and closer. One of the creatures struck out with its clawed hand, pulling Uli’s mom out of the bush by the hair. “I have found one of them!”

Uli jumped out of the bush and grabbed at the snake-man. “Let go of my mom, you big, ugly monster!” He bit it on the wrist, drawing blood. It suddenly dropped his mom with a yelp. Uli’s hands and mouth burned where he’d touched the snake-man. He almost threw up from the weird taste in his mouth. His mom took his arm and they turned to run, but it was too late—they were surrounded. One of the snake-men grasped his mom by the throat, holding her off the ground as she gasped for air, trying to scream as his touch burned her. Another snake-man savagely backhanded Uli, knocking him to the ground hard. He felt sick. Everything looked blurry. Ryo! Where are you? He fell unconscious.

***************

Mia’s house was full of people ready to drop everything at a moment’s notice to go help Uli. He’d really grown on everyone. All the Ronins were there—Ryo with White Blaze, Rowen, Sage, Sai, and Kento. All the Sentinels were there, too—Mia, Anubis, Zane and Zoe, Gilgamesh, Trace, and Jack. And although she didn’t wear any Sentinel armor, no gathering would be complete without the ex-Goddess of War, Astarte.

After Mia quickly told everyone what was going on, not a single person hesitated in his or her desire to go. Mia felt her skin crawl with negative vibes, but she tried to keep up a show of bravado. None of them were fooled. They knew Mia too well. Ryo squeezed her hand in understanding. Just that little gesture from him was enough to give her strength. “Everyone ready? Ok. Make a big circle. Astarte, you and Anubis take the middle. Since they’re the only two of us with any teleportational abilities, the rest of us need to focus all our energy on them. They don’t have the strength to take all of us that far on their own. Concentrate. Think about how it feels the moment you release the energy of your sure-kill attack, then channel that to the middle of the circle.” Mia then created a mystical fog barrier around the group to keep all the energy in and together. The Jewel of Life flared crimson around Astarte’s neck. Anubis radiated power. The two of them pictured Uli in their minds, reaching out to his location. Got it! In a flash, all of them disappeared.

When they opened their eyes again, they were deep in a forest. A scream pierced the air. Mia looked around her and had to smile at what she saw—a small army of warriors for the side of good followed that sound. Whoever had caused that person to scream like that was in for some serious hurt.

As the Ronins and Sentinels got closer to where the scream had come from, they began to move more slowly and carefully through the brush, spreading out into small groups for better coverage. Trace, who always seemed to be able to find his way in the forest, scouted ahead with White Blaze. White Blaze sniffed from the ground while Trace climbed various trees to get a better view. His attention was caught by a large group of people marching through the woods, headed for what looked like an encampment or temporary little village. The mysterious group chanted in some strange language as they carried a long golden statue of a snake into the camp area. At first he thought they were wearing strange reptilian armor or clothing. But the more he watched, the more convinced he became that that was their skin. They were lizard men! Trace quickly swung down from the tree and retreated back into woods. White Blaze joined him, looking angry and ready to fight. Trace was pretty sure he’d sniffed out the reptile people and didn’t like what he’d found. The two of them met up with Mia, Zoe, and Ryo.

“I ran across a group of creatures heading towards the direction the scream came from. There’s some kind of camp or makeshift village there—it could be the one we’re looking for. I saw a couple of people tied up, too. They were in pretty bad shape.” He described what he’d seen in as much detail as possible.

Ryo frowned. “Man, we’ve got to get into that village! Zoe, can you let Zane’s group know we’re moving in? We can all meet up on the way. White Blaze. I need you to go find Rowan’s group and lead them to the camp. Can you do that?” White Blaze growled in what Ryo took to be an affirmative, turned and ran off into the woods.

Zoe telepathically reached out to her brother. “Zane? We think we’ve found the place. I’m going to leave my thoughts wide open for you. Just focus on my presence and you’ll be able to find me.”

“No problem.” Zane turned to the others in his group. “Time to head out.” Astarte let out a shrill whistle that sounded almost like one of the native birds. A moment later, the sound was returned.

“Gilgamesh and his group will meet us ahead. They are not far away.”

In minutes Mia’s group had joined up with Rowan’s. Trace and White Blaze led them into the thick brush just outside the village area to wait for the others. They didn’t have to wait long. Gilgamesh’s and Zane’s groups came up behind them only a few minutes later.

Astarte gasped slightly when she saw the hordes of lizard people milling around. “The H’ris.”

Mia whispered to her. “You know who…what these things are?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I thought they had been wiped out millennia ago. They were a very insular race for the most part. They hated humans and tended to stay away from them. But every generation or so they would rise up and attack any human settlements they could find, sacrificing the inhabitants to their serpent god. Judging from the snake statue and prayers, they are preparing for a major celebration. Others from their ancestral lands will be coming to participate.”

Zoe’s eyes were wide. “Celebration?”

“They will torture those humans tied up over there. As you can see, they’ve already begun. They probably have more people waiting in those huts. Then they will sacrifice them all slowly and painfully.”

Mia scowled, her eyes burning with anger. “Then we have to stop them! Uli’s in that village somewhere. I recognize it from my vision. He’s there!”

Ryo took her hand. “And we’ll save him. Don’t worry.”

Astarte turned to everyone. “Do not let them touch your bare skin—their touch can burn if they wish it. And be careful if they get too close. Sometimes they will attempt to spit stinging venom in your face.” Astarte took Gilgamesh, Sage, Sai, Zane, and Kento around to the other side of the camp. When they were in position, she nodded to Zane. Zane telepathically let Zoe know they were ready.