Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

War Of Shadows	By : TurtleNinja Category: +S through Z > Samurai Jack Views: 3353 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Jack, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 28
- 29
- 30
Opening my eyes, I found myself standing alone, for what I hoped was the final time, on the astral plane. I did not think I could handle seeing any more cruel deaths once I had met this last Elemental. Asagi's death had nearly been too much for me and I wondered if it was worth seeing them die through their memories, just to activate the Star's power and know what they know.

There were no mists this time, but I still could not sense anyone else just yet. I sighed softly and waited, knowing that the fourth and last of Chimitsu's sisters would arrive soon enough. Then, once she had arrived, I would have the Metal Point in my possession and finally be able to pull myself back to consciousness so I could fight Aku once more.

I was hating him more and more now, the horror of helplessly watching Chimitsu's three sisters die at his hands rekindling the same kind of ferocity within my heart that seeing what had become of my people had when I had gone to fight Aku in the past. So much had happened at his hands and every last death, every ounce of suffering, weighed heavily on my heart, knowing that if I had only destroyed him in the past, this would not be happening now. That if I had destroyed him then instead of foolishly gloating over having him at my mercy, Chimitsu's four sisters would be alive right now.

But there was little I could do about that now, but sit and wait.

Three Elementals had visited me while I slipped in and out of consciousness, a consciousness induced by Ekirei's last spell, a blue orb that had infected me with some sort of illness. An illness that sounded like it killed more often than not, that I would have to do my best to pull myself out of. I did not know how I would do such a thing, but I had no choice in the matter. If I failed to survive this spell, then that was it. Aku would have won.

I closed my eyes and sighed quietly before slowly opening them, looking down at my hands. I knew that I could not die if I wanted to attain my goals and somehow, I felt a little bit better. I could not let myself get overconfident in fighting him because he could easily kill me physically, but I was not about to allow that.

I could feel the determination welling up in me, knowing that I was going to do everything in my power to see to it that I came out of this unconsciousness and regain my strength to fight once more. Yes, I could feel it, burning in my heart and filling my very soul. Still, something held me back and I knew that it was not yet time to return to the fight.

A cool breeze ruffled my hair and kimono from behind, a breeze that usually signaled the arrival of an Elemental. Relief flooded me as I knew that the wait was over and that the final Elemental was here at last. I would finally be able to find the strength to awaken and tell Chimitsu what was causing the Star of the Elements to react like it was.

I turned around and immediately took a step back. I had been expecting a woman in an elaborate kimono, but there she was, standing there with her dark hair twisted up into a bun secured with a single, solitary white chopstick. Instead of the customary kimono, she wore full armor as a male samurai of my time would wear, right down to the daisho.[1]

Her grey eyes were sharp and piercing, moreso than Chimitsu's emerald eyes were, burning right into my very soul as if to judge me worthy of being in her presence. I had known that the last Elemental was of Metal, but I had not been told that she was a samurai warrior like myself. She was quite impressive in appearance, easily matching my height, standing a little taller, actually.

She would have been a little intimidating if I had not known that she was on my side and not a soldier for Aku. When I thought about it, she reminded me of my father, wearing the same sort of stern, stoic expression on her face. A small pang of homesickness, one I had not felt in some time, burned in my chest as I thought about my father, not wanting to fail him by failing to bring my quest to an end.

Slowly, the stern look she wore melted away into a smile, bringing a small amount of relief to my chest.

"Well well. Jack Minamoto." she said, moving forward to hug me.

I blinked a little, surprised at her less-than-formal greeting. She squeezed me tight enough to force the air from my lungs before she released me. I shifted a little, not expecting such a powerful hug to have come from a woman warrior. It was a hug that I would have expected from my father.

"Metal." I said.

"Hirame. The name's Hirame. It's so very good to see you at last."

"And you, too...I think."

She chuckled and stepped back, still holding onto my shoulders as she looked me over, much like my father would have. Her grey eyes were showing kindness now instead of a cold sternness of someone whose property had just been trespassed upon, much to my relief. With a smile, she released me completely.

"You always were strong in spirit, even as a child. Do you remember the dreams you had as a child, Minamoto-san?" she asked.

"Dreams?"

I paused, wondering what she meant before thinking back to when I was a small child, after Aku had come and I had gone on my training. I had strange dreams back then, dreams of a woman in the dress of a samurai warrior, riding on the back of a large white tiger. Now that I thought about it, she looked exactly like this woman.

"You...that was you." I said softly.

"Yes, that was me. I protected you during all those years while you were traveling. I was always there at your side, whether you knew it or not. I didn't want you to ever feel alone."

"Somehow, I never did feel as alone whenever I thought of home."

She chuckled and smiled, seemingly amused at my words.

"That would be because of me. I took it upon me to guide you and watch over you, make sure nothing became of you on your journey." she said.

I promptly sat down, stunned upon hearing this. Not only had she been by my side all those years while I was training, but she had been protecting me as well. Had I even needed protecting when I was so far from Japan and Aku's grasp in those years?

"You...protected me?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Why? If I was so far away from Japan...then Aku could not have followed to where I was going, right?"

She sat down in front of me, removing her swords and setting them down to her right with the handles facing towards her back. She even behaved like a samurai, right down to her posture and the way she carried her blades.

"Actually, no, he could've followed if he'd wanted to." she said.

"What?! Impossible!"

She shook her head and I leaned forward on my knees, balancing on my hands to keep from falling forward face-first into her lap. I had succeeded in completing my training because of the will of the Elementals protecting me from Aku's wrath?

"Not impossible. He had your father and your mother was of little concern to him, but he'd tried to follow you once he'd imprisoned your father. We sensed his intentions and did everything we could to block him because we knew that as your father's heir, you'd be able to finish him. We didn't expect him to send you forward in time like he did." she said.

I sat back on my heels, considering this. If it was true that I would not have completed my training without her help, then I was in her debt. A part of me was deeply honored to have invoked an Elemental's help, while the rest of me wondered if I would ever be able to repay the debt.

"Thank you." I said, still in a bit of shock.

"You're welcome. But now it seems I must ask something of you, dear warrior."

"Anything. I owe you my very life."

Truly, I did owe her my life. She had repeatedly saved it during those twenty years while I had trained around the world, watching over me when I had not known or asked for it or even knew I needed it. My very honor demanded that I did everything in my power to repay her debt, if I ever could.

"You must free us." she said.

"Free you? Are you prisoners?"

"Yes. When Aku killed us, he summoned one of his servants to take our essences and meld them into bodies that have become the Dark Elementals. You have so far only met two of them, Ekirei and your double known as Mad Jack. But there are three others."

"Three? Why not four?"

"Because he failed to take enough of my essence. You'll find out soon enough what I mean."

"And Ekirei and Mad Jack?"

"He failed to kill Chimitsu, but in his attempt to remove her wings nearly three months ago, he snared enough essence to create Ekirei. Mad Jack, on the other hand, he's more complicated. He's a combination of what's left from the last time that you and he fought, the leftovers of that spell Aku used that was broken when you calmed your emotions, and what he managed to get of my essence."

"What?!"

I leaned back on one hand to keep myself from falling over. So that was how it was that he came back as an Elemental, as a mix of a spell that had once held a part of my essence and part of her essence. It sounded so familiar, but how could have Aku done such a thing?

I looked back to her, shifting back into position as I recalled something Chimitsu had said weeks ago after we had first fought him.

"Chimitsu knew. She knew that he was an Elemental and that he was a mix of essences." I said, feeling my heart pounding in my chest.

"Excuse me?"

"When we first fought him. When I woke up in the Highlands, Chimitsu said that Mad Jack "smelled" like you, that she smelled your essence all over him."

"I'm not surprised. An Elemental's essence is unique and no matter how mixed it might be with another's- yours in this case, in the form of Mad Jack- another Elemental will always be able to smell it."

I leaned forward a bit, clenching my hands tightly around the fabric of my kimono, completely stunned that Aku had been able to manage such a thing to bring about my double's existence once more.

"How? How could he have done such a thing?" I asked.

"The spell couldn't survive without your emotions, so he took the last bit of my essence and my dying hatred for him and fused it with the spell to create an Elemental Mad Jack. You have enough Elemental potential in you that the fusion of essences was relatively easy for Aku to accomplish. However, it's nothing that can't easily be undone."

I sat back, still in shock and angry with myself for forgetting what Chimitsu had told me nearly three months ago when he had first attacked. She had known and I had been foolish enough to not think it very significant at the time. Now Hirame was telling me that Aku had stolen their essences in order to create the Dark Elementals when Chimitsu had known months ago.

I looked over towards her, seeing that she had not moved once from where she sat in seiza position in front of me, her eyes no longer stern or happy, but now full of sadness and concern. What I still did not understand was what it all had to do with me and freeing them. How could I free them when they were dead?

"What does this all have to do with my freeing you?" I asked.

"Our essences are trapped in the Dark Elementals. With the exception of Chimitsu, we can't be reborn and the Elemental Circle can't be restored. We need you to destroy these Dark Elementals, free our essences, and set things back on course."

I considered this, sickened at the thought of Chimitsu's sisters trapped in the bodies of the Dark Elementals as mere essence. Anger burned in my chest as I thought about how the Dark Elementals looked like warped versions of Chimitsu's sisters and realized that if their essence was used and warped by Aku, then it was no wonder they looked so much alike, yet so different. I began to understand that they needed me to destroy those warped versions of themselves so they could be freed and things restored because Chimitsu, under Elemental Law, could not do it herself, especially at risk as she was.

Honor demanded that I see this through to the end for two reasons. The first was that Hirame had watched over me as a child and I owed it to her to free her and her dead sisters. The second was that since Chimitsu was unable to free or avenge her sisters, it was up to me to do it in her place. No matter what the risk, I could not, in any way, walk away from what these women had asked of me to do.

"What will become of Chimitsu if she perishes before Ekirei is destroyed?" I asked, realizing that it was possible for her to be killed before our goal was reached.

"Then she, too, will become as trapped as we are. As long as a little of our essence is a part of a Dark Elemental, we will be trapped. The spell used was strong, it binds us tightly to the others. You have already felt the connection between yourself and Mad Jack and Ekirei has one of her own to Chimitsu. If the rest of us were still alive, we, too, would feel a similar connection to the others that hold our essences."

I closed my eyes tightly, bowing my head a little, knowing that there was only one thing left to do now. These four women had momentarily escaped their bonds to the Dark Elementals to give me the knowledge they knew and to activate the powers of the four Elemental Points that were now part of the Star of the Elements for my use. I had seen three deaths and was about to see a fourth whether I liked it or not, these women asking me to avenge their deaths in place of their sister.

I was the only thing standing between Aku, the Dark Elementals, and their freedom back into the Elemental Circle. My sword, the Star of the Elements, the knowledge and memories they had given me were all powerful tools on their own, but like the bow and the arrow, they were all meant to be used together where they were at their strongest power. All were things that Aku had done his best to prevent from falling into my hands, through capture, torture, and murder, only to fail despite his ardent determination to accomplish the opposite.

But, unlike him, I was fighting for someone other than myself and I was determined, now more than ever, to do everything I could to destroy him...or die trying.

"I will not fail you and the others. You have watched over me, protected me, and lent me your power. I will do my best to free you and destroy Aku." I said.

"I know you will. I expect nothing less from a Minamoto."

She sighed a little and then forced a smile, reaching for her blades. I watched as she stood and slipped them back into her obi on the left side, tying the cord to secure them at her hip. Slowly, I stood, seeing a twinge of sadness in those gray eyes beneath the mask of a stoic expression she forced herself to wear upon her face.

"I suppose my time is up now. Please, give me your hands. I'll invoke the power of Metal within you for the Metal Point and then I'll give you my final memories." she said.

"Very well."

She took my hands and held on tightly, stronger than I would have expected a lady to be capable of, focusing until a shimmering silver glow came around them. I shivered violently, suddenly feeling cold, as if I was surrounded by freezing cold metal, but refused to let go. Yet, once again, I could feel more words forming in my mind, my heart, words I did not know, yet seemed familiar all at the same time.

Finally, she looked up at me and slowly released my hands. I let them drop, seeing a distant sadness in her eyes, but she still smiled a bit. It was time for me to see the memories of the last of the four Elementals and return to the fight against Aku.

"I must leave you now, samurai, but remember, I will always be with you, in here." she said, gently pressing her hand to my heart.

I nodded, forcing the emotion down within my heart, setting my face into one of cold determination. Her expression set back into one of sternness and I knew that there was no time for regrets now. We both had to do what we had to do without hesitation and see this through to the very end, no matter what came our way.

"We will meet again, white warrior. When you are withdrawn from my memories, grow strong and well again for yourself and my sister. You both have a long road ahead of you." she said.

Before I could respond, she invoked a second power, sending the silver glow over us both until it enveloped my body completely. I ignored the icy cold this time, wanting to say goodbye, but somehow, I knew that she was already gone. If I ever wanted to see her or any of the other Elementals again, I would have to fulfill my duty and free them.

With this in mind, I sighed quietly, letting the power sweep me away for the fourth and final time.

Opening my eyes, I found myself outside a breathtakingly beautiful traditional Japanese home, surrounded by beautiful gardens, much to my surprise. I walked along a winding stone path up to the house itself, removing my zori before stepping up onto the veranda. I suppose that it could not have hurt if I had left them on, seeing as how I was only a ghost here, but it was simply a force of habit.

The door was closed and I made use of my being a spirit, peeking in to find a large dojo inside, simple and traditional in decor right down to the tatami mats, save for the four white tigers painted so that there was one on each wall. It looked quite similar to the dojos I had trained in while I was in China, only more Japanese.

I carefully stepped in and looked around, finding it empty. Where was Hirame?

I gasped and instinctively reached for my katana as the door behind me slid open and shut with a loud, sudden bang, cursing quietly to myself when I realized that, naturally, it was not there. I turned around in time to see Hirame pass through me in full armor, heading towards the opposite end of the large dojo. She sighed softly as she stood before the motto that read; "There is no honor, only perseverance," and it was then that I noticed a white tiger embroidered on the back of her kimono, peeking out from through her armor.

I watched as she lowered herself into seiza position, removing her katana and setting it down to her left in an unusual manner. The positioning of her blades was a curious one, particularly in terms of samurai etiquette. Normally, a samurai would NEVER sit with their katana on their left, much less with the hilt facing forward for an easy draw.

I had been taught that, in the presence of another, it was a gesture of mistrust and aggression. Instead, it was placed on the right with the hilt facing towards its owner's rear, indicating trust in a position that made it hard to easily draw from, especially if its owner was right handed. I had never known a left handed samurai in my life, but perhaps there were some out there.

After all, I had been taught to fight ambidexterously, as good with my left hand as I was with my right and it was logical that with all her centuries of experience behind her, Hirame would have learned this, too.

Hirame's position would have been potentially threatening had this not been her own home and I had not known that she was expecting Aku's arrival. Of course she was going to have her katana in a position where she could easily draw it to defend from an attack instead of giving him a chance to take her down first. At the rate things had been going, I was certain he was going to be so furious that he was not going to waste time demanding that she hand over the next Point. He was simply going to attack and there was no doubt that Hirame knew it, too.

I walked closer to her, watching her kneel there, knowing that she was patiently waiting for the last few moments of her life to pass. It was almost eerily similar to how Asagi had been moments before her death, calm and meditative. The only difference was, Asagi had not fought her end and it was clear that Hirame, true to her samurai nature, was going to go down fighting.

Suddenly, the door behind us slammed open again and I wheeled around, seeing Aku standing there, his hair back in a topknot this time. Slowly, Hirame rose and stood, picking up her blades and thrusting them into her obi. She turned towards Aku, her gray eyes glittering with a firey vengeance that nearly matched the spark of hatred in Aku's onyx eyes.

"So you have come at last, Aku. Come to kill me as you have killed my three sisters?" she asked.

"Only if you do not hand over the four Points to the Star of the Elements."

"You know that is impossible for me to do."

"And you know that it is impossible to harm me, so why do you even bother to fight and delay the inevitable?"

"I do it because I must."

I suddenly realized that they had fought, all but Asagi, to give the next Elemental time to fuse their piece with the rest of the Star and send it along. Himoto, Chame, they had fought a futile battle with him, simply to keep him from going after the Star as soon as he realized it was no longer in their hands. Asagi, on the other hand, had simply taunted him and baited him into attacking, knowing that it was futile to fight, that he was going to kill her no matter what she did.

A sharp pang of anguish pierced through my very soul as I realized that the three of them had sacrificed themselves so that the Star could reach Chimitsu and then to me. They had fought a futile battle with Aku to the death, all for my sake, for the hope that I would be able to activate the power within the amulet and destroy Aku. The anguish melted into guilt as I sank to the floor on my knees, feeling absolutely sick inside with the revelation of what these four brave women had done or were going to do for the sake of restoring order from chaos.

Hirame knew that she was going to die, but still was going to fight to delay him from reaching Chimitsu before she found me. It was useless for her to fight him, yet she was delaying him just long enough to keep him from going directly to Chimitsu. She had accepted her fate and her hope now lay with her younger sister...and myself.

"Then so be it. I have no problem in destroying you for your insolence." Aku snapped, bringing my attention back to the battle at hand.

Hirame chuckled and drew her katana, facing Aku's much larger bisento. I would never have dared to face such a large polearm with only a katana, knowing that I did not have the skill Hirame did to avoid a quick death from its sharp blade. They charged at each other, slashing at each other repeatedly, sending magical sparks flying about the dojo.

I watched as she pushed back against his bisento, lashing out with a high kick to his chin that knocked him firmly on his backside. If not for the seriousness of the situation, I would have laughed at the sight of Aku literally being knocked onto his backside and by a female warrior, no less. It certainly served him right.

He was not to be underestimated and sprung to his feet like a cat, swinging his bisento around expertly, forcing Hirame to block. Like a true samurai, she indeed blocked, backing up only a few steps before viciously returning the attack. However, I knew that this sort of close combat was not suited to a pair of millennia-old Elementals and that they would soon be fighting all over the dojo.

Soon enough, Hirame lunged forward, blocking his bisento with her katana in her left hand, using her right to reach across and draw her wakizashi, slashing Aku cleanly across the stomach. He roared in pain, stumbling back a few steps as the blood began to trickle from the wound before slowly healing itself. I was impressed by the move, for had he been mortal, the strike would have killed him instantly.

With both blades in hand, Hirame dove in, striking quickly, backing away, parrying, then starting all over again. She was easily a fighting match for Aku, giving him a fair amount of difficulty in defending himself from her repeated attacks. She was relentless, not once letting up on him as she kept going in, striking expertly over and over again.

This little fact did not seem to bother Aku in the least and he parried her as easily as she parried him. Neither of them seemed to break a sweat or even grow tired as the battle wore on, even though I was feeling warm with tension and anticipation as I stood there. I could only watch helplessly as they circled each other carefully before Hirame backed up, then charged at him once more.

Aku blocked this strike as he had the others, but with the bisento occupied, she was able to plunge her wakizashi into his chest where his lungs would be, up to the hilt so that the blade protruded out the other side. The move was similar to what Himoto had done with her sai, but not quite. Aku roared in pain and with a violent sweep of the butt end of his bisento, he sent her crashing to the tatami covered floor, causing me to wince.

He staggered back a few steps, viciously tearing the shorter blade from his chest and taking a few steps back before flinging it back at its owner with deadly accuracy. Hirame rolled out of the way of the incoming blade at the last moment, watching as it sank deep into the floor before pulling herself to her feet. She limped but a little, clearly regenerating as she watched her opponent.

Aku cockily waited for her to heal before lunging at her with his bisento in front of himself. Hirame sprang forward, rolled, and snatched up her wakizashi with amazing speed as the blade of the bisento sank into the floor where she had been only a split second before. She got to her feet and whirled around, flinging the shorter weapon at Aku with such force that I was almost unable to follow its movement through the air.

The blade clipped his shoulder, causing him to stumble, but after that, it sailed through the air, embedding itself in a thick wooden pillar supporting the opposite wall. I stared at the wakizashi buried halfway up the blade in the wood, shocked that she had been able to throw it hard enough to do such a thing. I did not have to even try to pull it out to know that it was stuck too firmly for me to remove it.

Looking back, I saw that Hirame had switched the katana back to her right hand now, twirling the blade expertly in her hands. Aku had regained his balance and charged in, slashing at her wildly, forcing her to dodge and occasionally block. He was as relentless as she was, trying to wear her down so he could finish her off.

I stood frozen in place, watching the battle between the two Elemental warriors, stunned at the level of fighting skill Aku had while in his Elemental form. I had always known that he was a formidable opponent, but it almost terrified me to watch him battle Hirame, knowing that without the Star's power, I did not have a chance against him. Despite twenty years of long, hard, constant training around the world, he had centuries' worth of skill that I could never, in my entire lifetime, match without the help of Chimitsu's sisters and the Star.

One particularly vicious strike came quite close to tearing her arm off at the shoulder, rendering her right hand momentarily useless, the fingers just barely staying closed around the handle of the katana she held. He did not even give her time to recover, sending a palm thrust into her chest with such a violent force that she flew back off her feet and through one of the wooden pillars in the center of the room, shattering it into splinters. I stood there, horrified as she skidded across the tatami a few feet, then came to a halt facedown on the floor.

She lay there in a heap, her katana just inches away from her outstretched left hand as he approached with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. She had landed hard on her right side and seemed down for the count as he stood over her with his bisento in hand. He knew he had won; all he had to do now was strike her down and that would be the end of the Metal Elemental.

"Is that all the Metal Elemental can offer?" he asked cockily, giving her leg a kick.

I gasped and my eyes widened as her wild scream cut the air, followed by Aku's brief grunt of surprise. There were a few seconds of tense silence before I realized that she had picked up her katana and rammed it into his chest with both hands. Aku stood there, partially leaning over her with his bisento raised above his head and half of Hirame's katana buried in his chest between his heart and lungs. An expression of total, utter shock crossed his face as he slowly looked down to see the blade impaling his chest before looking up to see the savage expression on Hirame's lovely features.

Viciously, she tore it out, rolling away as she let him fall before struggling to pull herself to her feet. I could see the pain in her stormy gray eyes as her tired body struggled to regenerate her numerous injuries. She was strong, she was an Elemental, but she was not a healer like Chimitsu and could not regenerate her wounds as easily or as quickly.

Aku pulled himself to his feet and took a moment to regenerate as well before chuckling darkly.

"So you have some new tricks, do you? I will give you credit for that last one. That was quite unexpected." he said.

If I had not seen it myself, I would never have believed that Aku had actually admitted to not seeing an attack coming. She had caught him off guard, pretending to be seriously wounded when she still had enough strength left in her for one final attack on him. Even I would not have been able to predict such a brave and deadly move from her had I been in his place.

Now she was drained and wounded, without much fight left in her. Plenty of spirit, perhaps, but not enough strength to fight him off for much longer. She was doomed and we all three knew it.

Aku straightened as the last of his wounds closed and took a few steps back, holding his bisento at ready.

"You have put up a worthy fight, Hirame, but now playtime is over. I do not have the time left to fool around with you any longer. However, because you have put up such a fight, I will give you a warrior's death, quick and painless." he said.

Hirame snorted at this, her gray eyes darkening at the suggestion.

"You couldn't give me a warrior's death, even if you truly wished to give me one. You're full of empty promises, Aku, and nothing good can ever come of your being in control of this planet." she said.

"So you and your sisters all say. Goodbye, dear Metal Elemental, say hello to your three sisters in Hell."

I tensed as I felt the same dark power surge as I had felt at Asagi's temple in the mountains, knowing that she would be unable to stop it, especially in her weakened state. Once again, the light in the room began to get pulled into the blade of his bisento, which gradually turned darker and darker until it shown like polished onyx. I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest as I knew what was coming. I knew how he was planning to finish her, but I had not anticipated Hirame's final attack...on herself.

"You'll never take me in life or death, Aku." she said, her eyes sparking with a final determination.

She snatched up her katana and spun it around expertly before plunging it almost up to the hilt in her own stomach. Both my and Aku's eyes widened in horror when we realized what she had done, standing frozen in place, unable to react to her final act of defiance. It was just like a fellow samurai to do such a thing, but even I had not anticipated her to take her own life, not when Aku had killed the other three and managed to steal their essences.

I had no idea that an Elemental could take their own lives in seppuku, having only been told that they could not kill each other. Never once had it crossed my mind to think that it was even possible for an Elemental to do such a thing, even if it was the only way Hirame could have escaped Aku's control in death. By taking her own life, her essence would slip right through his fingers and escape into the cycle of death and rebirth.

Slowly, the light in her eyes began to fade and she gave Aku one last triumphant smile before her body toppled over onto the floor, her blood staining the tatami. Aku roared in frustration at being thwarted furiously enough to rattle the thin paper walls before looking down at the fallen Elemental, anger and hatred burning in his eyes. I watched him, part of me feeling sorrow at her death, the rest feeling almost happy that she had managed to get the last laugh, escaping of her own will into death instead of allowing him to take her life.

He stood there for a few moments, his face creased with anger and frustration before I saw a familiar cunning spark in his eyes. Any happiness that I felt at her escape melted away when I saw this. I did not like where this was starting to go.

"Demongo!" he roared.

Instantly, the lithe demon with the blue-fire eyes appeared, his cape wrapped around him. I stared at him in confusion, wondering just what the hell he could be doing here. He paused only to give his master a bow, waiting for orders.

"Don't just stand there, fool! Get her essence! Quickly, before it escapes!"

Without hesitation, he floated over and held up his hands, focusing on Hirame's lifeless form. I could only watch helplessly as the little one drew on what was left of her fleeing lifeforce, pulling in a tiny bit before it was gone completely. He turned and bowed, offering the glowing, smoky orb to Aku, who took it, gloating for a moment before the pair disappeared.

I fell to my knees next to Hirame, hot, angry tears stinging beneath my eyelids as I gently laid a hand on her shoulder. Her spirit had almost escaped had it not been for Demongo's ability to capture essences. So that was how Aku had stolen enough of her essence to reincarnate Mad Jack and how he had created the other Dark Elementals.

Damn him! Damn him for doing this to Chimitsu and her sisters, all because of his insatiable lust for power and his desire to destroy everything and anyone who stood in his way. Young, old, men, women, mortal or Elemental, anyone who dared to stand up to him for the sake of restoring peace and order out of the chaos he had created over the centuries.

He was going to pay. When I woke up and recovered fully, I was going to make him pay for all the needless suffering he had caused in his quest for limitless power. No matter what it took, what he and the Dark Elementals threw at me, what I would have to do, I was not going to stop until I had him on his knees, begging for the mercy he so often denied others.

Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled away from her, realizing that it was time for me to return to the fight. I would finally be able to tell Chimitsu why the Star of the Elements had activated and why I had slipped in and out of consciousness while she was standing right there at my side. Aku was finally going to pay and pay dearly at my hands for his sins.

With one last glance at Hirame's lifeless form on her dojo floor, I was pulled back into my own body and back to consciousness.
--------------- [1]daisho: literally: the long and the short; the pair of samurai swords, consisting of a katana and the shorter wakizashi
- 28
- 29
- 30
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

War Of Shadows