Part 10: Weathering the Storm

They appeared some distance away from the temple and its training yard. From the maps Anubis made, they knew there were four ways to get in—the underground tunnels, the main gate, the river, and the trees. They decide to split up into groups. Ryo, White Blaze, Mia, Anubis, and Jack headed for the entrance that would take them into the underground tunnels. Zane, Zoe, and Sai started walking down to the river. Gilgamesh, Rowen, and Kento made their way to the rocky outcroppings near the main gate. They were going to wait there for fifteen minutes until everyone else could have a chance to get inside before they blasted open the gate. And finally Trace, Sage, and Astarte headed for the forested path.

As they entered the tunnels, Ryo lit a torch. Mia had no trouble seeing in the dark so she scouted ahead. White Blaze and Ryo walked next to Jack, guarding him. Anubis took the rear. Everything seemed quiet. Suddenly, Ryo heard the sounds of fighting ahead. He and the others rushed in Mia’s direction.

Mia moved so silently and effortlessly in the dark that she was able to sneak up on a group of ninjas and take them out before they even knew what happened. But more of them rushed towards her. She had the advantage of being able to see in complete darkness, but she was alone and no longer had surprise on her side. She sliced the air with her shadow katana, unseen in the dark. Her shurikens hit their marks without a sound. Mia managed to dispatch two more when she saw Ryo coming towards her out of the corner of her eye.

“Mia! Get behind me!” Mia back-flipped through the darkness until she was behind him. “FLARE UP NOW!” Ryo blasted the ninjas with flames. But for every one that fell, two more seemed to take its place.

Anubis began spinning his scythe, building energy as the ninjas charged them. “CHAOS FURY!” The very darkness around them seemed to shimmer like a mirage. Chaos power blasted from his scythe, pushing and pulling at the ninjas, stretching and compressing them. Then they suddenly, silently blew apart into a million tiny, indistinguishable fragments.

Mia looked ahead to see that all the ninjas were gone. They’d been guarding a narrow stairway. Light streamed down in through the opening. They’d found their way in.

Zane, Zoe, and Sai swam underwater through the frigid, mountain river. Zane and Zoe liked the cold and Sai was in his element. It had been a good idea for everyone to split up according to abilities. They knew from Anubis’s map that around the next bend was a sort of guard station for keeping out unwanted visitors by river. They got out of the water—Sai and Zoe on one side, Zane on the other. They crept through the bushy areas until they were in sight of the outpost. Zane signaled he was ready.

Sai jumped out. “SUPER WAVE SMASHER!” He blasted a huge torrent of water at the ninja guard station. Zoe borrowed enough juice from Zane to freeze Sai’s wave attacks as soon as they washed over the ninjas. Many of them were frozen in place, bodies twisted in surprise.

Zane took advantage of the commotion to take out a handful of ninjas on the other side of the river. His ice spears flew out of nowhere, taking several of them down. He caught one with the ground-freeze attack—he stuck a spear in the ground and it froze everything in a straight path towards his intended target then leaped up to encase it in a block of ice. Steam filled the air as he blocked a blow from one of the ninja’s electrified katanas.

Sai joined the fight with his trident. Zoe surprised the guys by forming a sabre out of ice.

They finished off the last few ninjas and stopped for a minute to catch their breath. Zane was still amazed at Zoe’s sabre. “I guess we know who got the creative genes. You know you’re going to have to show me that trick. I don’t want to get left behind.”

Zoe pretended like she was thinking about it hard. “Well…I don’t know. I can’t give away all my secrets, now can I?”

Zane gave her a mischievous smile. “I’ll find out sooner or later, anyway.”

“I know. But it doesn’t change the fact that I did it first.”

The three of them got back in the water and stayed low. When they got to the wall of the compound, they held their breath and swam under.

Trace, Sage, and Astarte weaved their way through the dense little forest. Astarte could blend in very well in lots of different environments. Trace, in a previous life, had grown up in the woods, so he could move quietly through them. Sage was in his best stealth mode, too—eyes darting around, ears tuned to every sound. Something small in the bushes drew his attention.

Sage approached a frightened rabbit, soothing it with his calming voice. Trace envied him his easy rapport with wild creatures--an ability Trace once possessed. He had roamed great forests long ago, living and communicating with the other animals. But when he learned the ways of man, they no longer accepted him and would run when he approached. He could only hear the voices of the plants now, and then only those physically close to him. They would warn him of danger, but not until he was practically on top of it.

Astarte put a comforting hand on his shoulder. She knew he was hurting. He put his hand on hers, a look of thanks in his eyes.

Sage was waving at them. “What are you guys waiting for? It’s this way.”

Their slow but steady hide-and-advance technique got them to the Gozhe entrance without having to fight anyone in the woods. There were nine ninjas on guard at the gate.

“RAGE OF THE WILD!” Trace tapped the ground with his staff. Great roots silently slithered up from the ground to quickly ensnare four of them. Trace vaulted with his telescoping pole up onto the wall to take out one who was about to signal the rest of the camp.

Sage couldn’t risk using his “Thunder Bolt Cut.” It was too flashy and noisy and they were trying to sneak in. He unsheathed his sword. The two ninjas rushed him, but he blocked their thrusts with his huge no-datchi. Their lightning katanas fizzled when they struck his blade. Sage figured it was because his weapon possessed similar, lightning-like powers. He kicked one of the ninjas away while keeping the other one at bay. He traded attacks with the one, but he could see the other rushing him from the side. He jerked back his arm and smashed the pommel-end of his no-datchi into his face. The ninja fell to the ground, unconscious. With a quick slice up, he chopped the surprised other ninja’s katana in half. On the down-strike, Sage cut off the hand holding the weapon. Sage then elbowed him in the chin. The ninjas went down hard and didn’t get up again.

With inhuman agility, Astarte flipped over to two of the ninjas. She blocked a strike by one of them who wielded a lightning katana. Sparks flew as their blades met. Her father, a sky god, had made the sword for her. Nothing sky-born like lightning could damage it. The Jewel of Life glowed brightly around her neck. With one hand she wildly swung her sword to force the ninja back. She jumped over him, spiraling through the air. With her free hand she blasted a hole through the other ninja with a red beam of laser-like energy. As she came down she sliced the ninja, her blade cutting off his head, neatly and without a sound.

The three of them stealthily made for the gate. They exchanged a worried glance. Shouldn’t there have been more guards?

Kento, Gilgamesh, and Rowen waited hidden by the main gate. It was time to strike.

“SONIC SHOUT! HEEEEEEAAAAAA!”

“IRON ROCK CRUSHER!” Kento and Gilgamesh blasted the front gate, demolishing the entire wall on that side as well.

“ARROW SHOCK WAVE!” Rowen started rapid-fire shooting the ninjas climbing over the rubble. He took out two guard towers and several advancing fighters.

Kento used his “Crusher” to blast a group of them before they even got out of the compound.

Gilgamesh was a hard-core warrior and preferred to fight close up when he had the chance. He rushed the charging troops, yelling like a madman. He had both of his giant battle-axes drawn and began swinging them wildly, chopping down anyone in his way. When they overwhelmed him by sheer force of numbers, he used his “Sonic Shout” to knock them in all directions. Then he would charge again, blocking and slicing.

Kento looked at Rowen. “I’m glad he’s on our side!”

“You and me both, man.” Rowen let loose a couple more blasts while Kento rocked the bad guys with his earth-ripping power.

Rowen looked up to see Ryo, White Blaze, Anubis, Mia, and Jack fighting their way through the compound. Then he saw Trace, Sage, and Astarte coming from the other direction. A blast of water and ice let him know Zane, Zoe, and Sai had made it, too.