Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ In The Shadow Of War ❯ Eternity ( Chapter 2 )

In The Shadow Of War

 

Chapter Two: Eternity

By: Demon Priestess Saturn

 

“No it can't be true. It can't be. Rowen where are you? I know that you wouldn't hurt me. Rowen… Please tell me what's wrong? Where are you?” Sage found himself running on a path. It was a dark path; everything was dead around him. He knew Rowen was here somewhere but he wasn't sure where. Then Sage noticed a lake, but it was not a normal lake, normally the water would be as blue as crystal but this lake was not. Instead this lake was as red as blood. When Sage reached the end of the path that's when he found his friend. A few feet in front of him was Rowen. He was upright against a red panel. His arms and legs were bound with black shadow ropes. Sage noticed that Rowen was unconscious and at Rowen's feet Sage could see ice around his ankles. “Rowen!” Sage called out to him. Rowen however didn't move and Sage began to worry. Stepping forward Sage started running, he was going to try and reach his friend. As soon as Sage came within range of Rowen he quickly found himself surrounded by humanoid like shadows with sharp claws. They wouldn't let him get too close to his friend. Sage sneered and tried to call his armor, however it didn't come. Then Sage remembered he lost his armor. Sage didn't know what to do, could he possibly stand a chance against these shadow demons without his armor? He got his answer when a group of the demons disappeared and jumped him from behind. One kicked him in the back. While another slammed both of it's claws deep into his skin. Sage screamed out and from his wound blood flowed freely. With all the shadow demons; all Sage could think about was that this was the end and he was going to die. Then he thought about Rowen as another demon pinned him to the ground. “Rowen I'm sorry I couldn't save you.” Sage said out loud as the demon raised its right claw and swung down striking his throat.

 

“SAGE!” He heard his friends voice scream out to him but it was too late. A sharp pain ran up Sage's chest and he awoke on the couch. It was dark and the throbbing pain in his chest seemed to get worst. Sage sat up and moaned at the pain in his chest. Taking a moment he let his eyes adjust to the dim light. He looked around and realized fairly quickly that he was on the living room couch. Finding the clock he read the time, it was eleven-o-clock at night. His throat felt really dry and he was sweating profoundly. He managed to get himself to his feet but almost lost his balance when he stood. He really wasn't feeling well and he wanted anything to make the pain in his chest go away. He went into the kitchen to try and find some medicine and maybe some food. When he walked in the kitchen he clicked on the light. Blinding him for only a moment he looked around for something appetizing to his aching body. After rustling around a few minutes he found a package of instant soup. Smiling to himself he grabbed a pot from the cabinet and filled it with water. He placed it on the stove a turned it on. Then he decided while he was waiting for it to boil he was going into the bathroom to find a painkiller. Walking into the downstairs bathroom he found himself disappointed. There was none of the strong painkillers in the medicine cabinet. Grumbling to himself he went to the upstairs bathroom. He checked the medicine cabinet in there and found what he was looking for, but when he went to grab one of the plastic cups he accidentally dropped it on the floor. The cup banged loudly against the floor and Sage jumped slightly at the noise.

 

“Great… Now I'm clumsy.” Sage muttered picking up the cup and returned it to the sink to fill it with water. He quickly drunk down the pills and went back downstairs. Reentering the kitchen he realized the water in the pot was boiling. Continuing with his soup making he added the soup to his boiling water and walked over to the drawer and pulled out a fork. He used the fork to stir his soup and he watched it as it boiled, loosing himself in his thoughts. Hearing a noise he turned his head and looked in the doorway. He expected to find one of the guys standing there but to his surprise no one was there. Shrugging he finished cooking his soup. Reaching into the cabinet Sage picked up a bowl and he went to set it down on the counter.

 

“Sage?” Someone said from the doorway causing Sage to jump and he dropped the bowl to the kitchen floor. The bowl broke when it hit the floor. Sage was obviously startled. He turned his head to see Ryo in the doorway.

“Don't do that…” Sage snapped quietly.

“Sorry.” Ryo replied. Sage grabbed the broom and stared cleaning up the broken pieces of the bowl. “Are you okay?” Ryo asked with a look of concern in his face.

“I'm hungry and in pain if that answers your question.” Sage replied as he set the broom aside and grabbed another bowl. The blonde then carefully poured his soup into the bowl and took the bowl over to the kitchen table.

“I'm sorry I scared you but I thought a burglar was in the house.” Ryo replied as he sat at the table across from Sage.

“Sorry I guess I was kinda clumsy upstairs.” Sage replied quietly.

“It's okay I wasn't asleep anyway.” Ryo replied.

“Why not?” Sage looked at him.

“I can't. My mind is too full to go to sleep. Plus I was worried about you.”

“Oh.”

“Sage you're up.” A tired British voice came from the kitchen doorway.

“Did I wake you too Cye? I'm sorry I was in so much pain I didn't realize what I was doing.” Sage apologized. Cye yawn and waved his hand.

“It's okay.” He replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Terrible.” Sage took a spoonful of the soup.

“Well I didn't expect you to feel good.” Cye sat at the table. “You've been out for three days.”

“Really? No wonder I'm hungry.”

“Yeah and you had a fever too.” Cye finished.

“You want to tell us what happened?” Ryo asked in a worried tone.

“Yeah Kento thinks Rowen beat you up.” Cye looked at Sage. Sage's expression changed as he suddenly remembered why he was in pain. Sage stared at his bowl suddenly.

“Yeah it was Rowen.” Sage muttered.

“I was hoping it wasn't.” Ryo replied with a sigh.

“It was Rowen but at the same time it wasn't… I really don't want to explain it right now.” Sage replied.

“You don't have to. Tell us later.” Ryo replied with a relieved smile.

“I wonder why he would suddenly do that?” Cye replied deep in thought.

“Where's Kento?” Sage asked.

“He's in bed nothing wakes him up.” Cye replied.

“Take that back. I'm up. But I don't want to be. The only reason I came down here was to see if Sage was okay. I see that he is.” Kento replied as he entered the kitchen.

“Oh…never mind.” Cye said calmly. Silence went between the boys. All of them were starting to feel the strain of the week. Sage rubbed his head and yawned a little. The others looked at him with questioning looks on their faces.

“You're still tired?” Ryo asked and looked strangely at him.

“Yeah. I don't know why but I do.” Sage replied. “Maybe my bodies just too weak and needs more rest. I don't know.”

“You know Rowen was extremely tired for the past two weeks and he couldn't explain it.” Kento pointed out.

“I don't know about you guys but it is too late for me to be up. I think we should talk about this more tomorrow when were fully awake. Maybe we'll actually get some sleep tonight.” Cye yawned and came to the realization Sage just wasn't ready to talk about it. “I'm going back to bed.”

“Okay. Goodnight.” Kento replied.

“Night Cye.” Ryo said quietly.

“Night.” Sage muttered.

“Good night you guys.” Cye replied and went back upstairs.

“I agree with Cye I'm going to hit the sack too. You coming Ryo?” Kento finally realized why Cye wandered off so quickly. They were all worried about Sage and wanted to know what happened but Sage wasn't ready and he wanted to leave it at that.

“In a minute.” Ryo replied

“Okay.” Kento replied with a slight smile and also returned upstairs.

“Are you sure you're okay?” Ryo looked back at Sage. Ryo was still very concerned and he figured the other two were as well but he wanted to be sure things were okay.

“I'm fine. I'll go back to bed in a little while. I promise I wont wake you guys.” Sage replied.

“Are you sure you don't want me to stay up with you?” Ryo asked in concerned as he stood.

“No I'll be fine.” Sage looked down at the empty bowl.

“What's wrong?” Ryo questioned. Sage looked at him and his eyes saddened.

“I'll tell you later.” Sage replied. “Go get some sleep. You need it.”

“Okay but if you want to talk you know where to find me.” Ryo said and he turned to leave. Sage smiled slightly as his friend disappeared around the corner.

“Don't worry about me Ryo…I'll be…” Sage muttered to himself as he began to cry. Sage laid his head in his arms on the table. He was thinking about Rowen and about losing his armor. He didn't know how he would tell the others. He also didn't know what to do. But he did know one thing and it was going to be a long night.

 

Hours went by and at two in the morning Ryo once again got up out of his bed. However their was a difference, he was dressed in a red long sleeve shirt and blue jeans pants. He opened his door slowly and peeked out into the dark hallway. Seeing not even a light from downstairs he made his way out the door. Walking across the hall he went over to Cye and Kento's room. Cracking the door he peeked in to see if they were sleeping. Cye had his back to the door and Kento was snoring loudly. This indicated only one thing to the boy that they were in fact still asleep. Ryo slowly shut the door again so not to awaken the two boys. Then Ryo peeked in Sage and Rowen's room to make sure Sage wasn't in there. Satisfied that no one had seen him from upstairs he made his way downstairs. It was dark down there as well but just in case Ryo looked around for Sage. When Ryo found Sage he was back asleep on the couch. He assumed the reason Sage was still sleeping on the couch was because he couldn't bear to be in his room. Either that or he simply fell back asleep on the couch. This was the perfect situation for Ryo cos he knew with Sage on the couch he could easily sneak out the door without worrying about Sage hearing him. Ryo left the living room and snuck into the kitchen. He reached the front door without incident; opening the door he crept out into the night.

 

Ryo took off deep into the forest behind the manor. He was determined that he was going to find Rowen and put a stop to the madness. He didn't know why Rowen would attack Sage and almost kill him. But he did know Rowen had to be stopped even if it meant killing him. Ryo stopped when he reached the edge of the nearby lake. Pausing for a moment he looked out at the lake to see if he could see anything. Breathing in the nice cool air he turned and continued on his way down the beach. He wasn't sure where he would find Rowen but he was sure he was getting closer. Perhaps a bit too close as Ryo found out when he ran around the bend. Two shadows had leapt out of the tree and landed on either side of him. Ryo glanced at both the demons and figured out fast that he was going to have to battle these demons in order for them to get out of his way. Ryo stood ready but he soon found out he wasn't ready. Before he could even blink the demons had quickly jumped him. Swinging their two claws hastily at him Ryo found it hard to dodge them. He kept from being hit for about ten minutes when another one struck him from behind. Ryo screamed and as he fell to his knees he felt the claw dig into his back. Then the arm pulled back fast causing another sharp pain in his back. He screamed out again as he heard a snapping noise. That's when Ryo realized the demon had purposely broke off it claws in his back. With Ryo on the ground there numbers quickly increased. That's when Ryo of Wildfire realized he was surrounded. The shadows swung again hoping to land a final blow but Ryo dodged each of their attempts. Then the one that struck him in the back seemed to be giving the orders. That one must be the leader. Ryo thought to himself letting himself get distracted enough so another shadow hit him. Ryo fell to the ground and winced at the pain in his back.

 

“Shit.” Ryo replied as he forced himself up. Looking up at the leader of the demons it held its hand up as if to give the final blow. Just as it swung it claws down an arrow scrapped the top of its hand. Ryo however didn't see the arrow he had closed his eyes awaiting the expected deadly attack. When it didn't come the boy of Wildfire opened his eyes.

 

“Enough!” Ryo heard a familiar deep voice. Ryo quickly looked in the direction of the voice and spotted someone in the tree. The shadows quickly retreated to the brush but stayed as if waiting for something. Whoever this person was Ryo was glad they came or at least he thought he was. However when Ryo was about to thank the person he was hesitant. “This ones mine.” The person said again. That was when Ryo knew he wasn't out of danger yet but the worst part was when this mystery person came into the light. Ryo gasped as he saw a familiar shaped dark armor. The faceplate was down over the person's face but Ryo knew who he was dealing with the boys sad eyes gave it away. But for some reason his eyes were a little different. They had an eerie icy look to them and they almost appeared to glow in the dark. “So Wildfire we finally meet.”

 

“What are you talking about Rowen?! You already know me!” Ryo yelled and narrowed his eyes.

“Perhaps. But I am not here to just chat. I am here to make a deal with you.” Rowen replied with no emotion in his voice.

“And what would that be you traitor?” Ryo glared. Rowen smiled smugly.

“That you join me in my quest. There is a certain someone I have to get rid of.” Rowen said sharply.

“And who would that be?” Ryo replied without changing the snappy tone in his voice.

“I can tell you more if you agree to join me it will be much easier that way.” Rowen began. “You do hold the Inferno armor and that is what I need. So are you going to give me your armor as an initiation or are we going to play hard ball?”

“What did you suddenly become the incarnation of Talpa?” Ryo said sarcastically.

“I guess your going to do it Sage's way. That's a shame. Oh well either way I get you're armor.” Rowen pulled his bow.

“What?” Ryo was confused for a moment.

“I guess you'll have to suffer his fate but just to be fair I'll let you transform as I let him.” Rowen grabbed an arrow and waited.

“Alright if you think you can beat my armor that's fine with me.” Ryo grinned he was sure he was going to win against Rowen. He pulled his red marble from his pocket. Then he felt his back sting again reminding him that he was already injured. He ignored it because he knew that Rowen's armor was still weaker than his. And he figured he could easily beat his friend. “ARMOR OF WILDFIRE DOU GI!” He shouted. Rowen smiled, this was exactly what he wanted. Ryo finished his transformation and quickly pulled his swords he wasn't wasting anytime. Jumping in the air he slammed the to hilts of the swords together. Raising them high in the air he hoped this would stop Rowen's rampage. “FLARE UP NOW!” Ryo swung the swords down suddenly trying to hit Rowen with his attack. Rowen anticipated the move and easily dodged it. The only thing Ryo's attack did was catch the forest on fire and lit up the fighting area. Which of course Ryo thought was a good idea because then he would be able to see Rowen. Rowen however was nowhere in sight. Ryo looked around and then finally looked up to see the warrior of Strata.

 

“I expected you to do better than that Wildfire. I thought you were the leader after all. ARROW SHOCK WAVE!” Rowen let his arrow fly but something was different the arrow had its traditional blue light but at the same time it had green lightning around it. Ryo jumped back and let the arrow hit the ground but as it hit the ground it exploded. Ryo screamed as the green color lightning surrounded him and electrocuted him. Ryo fell to the ground and coughed up some blood. Something was really wrong and he began to feel he had made a serious mistake. He looked up at Rowen and realized what would normally be the white part of his sub armor was a light green color. This was confusing to Ryo he still hadn't figured out what was going on. Instead he pushed himself up and got ready to continue the fight.

 

“Bring it on!” Ryo yelled.

“Are you sure? You could just surrender and your death will be less painful. Don't be as stupid as Sage.” Rowen taunted.

“Sage was smart not to surrender to you.” Ryo snapped.

“Yes but it cost him his young life not to mention a great deal of pain.” Rowen implied.

“Yeah and I bet you didn't even give him the chance to join you.” Ryo leapt at Rowen suddenly. Rowen however blocked Ryo swords with his bow.

“You're right you know I didn't give him the chance I was having to much fun killing him.” Rowen replied and pushed Ryo back.

“Yeah well what if he's not dead. What if he survived?” Ryo swung his sword at Rowen's side.

“He didn't.” Rowen said as he blocked the sword with his bow.

“Yeah but what if he had?” Ryo took his other sword and tried to hit Rowen's head. Rowen grabbed Ryo's arm before the sword came within range of hitting him.

“What are you talking about?” Rowen frowned and was now trying to figure out if Sage had survived the attack.

“Just asking a simple…Whoa!” Ryo said and was suddenly tripped by Rowen. Ryo landed hard on his back. Ryo screamed out in pain and then he laid there on his back.

“You're just buying your time so your friends can get here.” Rowen stood over him with an emotionless look on his face. But Ryo noticed something out of place, tears were falling from Rowen's eyes but there was no emotion behind it. For a moment Ryo thought maybe it was the real Rowen crying. Then Ryo began to wonder who he was talking too. In a pained voice Ryo looked strangely at Rowen and decided to ask.

 

“Who are you?” Ryo replied weakly and the evil smile came to Rowen's face.

“Well I'm amazed you figured it out before your dead friend did. Congratulations.” Rowen said smugly.

“You didn't answer my question. Where is Rowen and who are you?” Ryo repeated himself. Rowen grabbed Ryo and lifted him in the air by his neck. Pulling Ryo closer Rowen's eyes met with Ryo's tiger-eyes.

“Rowen is here he's just not in control of his body right now. I am Elveria and he is my prisoner.” Rowen grinned.

“He's trying to stop you I can tell.” Ryo said weakly. Rowen frowned.

“He's trying but is failing. I am in control now and because you had to be so nosy about the whereabouts of your lost friend I can't possibly let you live to tell your other friends.” Rowen glared.

“You already made mistake number one and two. Do you really want to make mistake number three?” Ryo asked hoping that the others had realized he was missing by now.

 

“I have made no mistakes. I have left no evidence and no witnesses.” Rowen replied. Then Ryo began to feel strange Rowen's arm had begun to glow a soft red. Ryo watched as his armor began to glow and loose it's color. However there was nothing he could do he was hurt too badly to do anything. He realized that the claw in his back when he landed on his back had slammed deeper into his skin and had hit his spine. His spine wasn't broken but he was now paralyzed. Rowen's arm stopped glowing and Ryo's armor disappeared. It was only then did he realize why Rowen was so strong and why he saw lightning. Rowen had stolen Sage's armor and was using it against them and now Rowen had taken his own armor and was even stronger then before. Ryo noticed that Rowen's armor had changed again now it looked like it had fire on the tips of the shoulder covers.

 

“Three down two to go.” Rowen replied. “Goodbye Ryo it was nice to have this sad but short fight.” Rowen picked up one of Ryo's swords and stabbed him through the stomach. Ryo felt the pain and was too shocked to scream instead he looked at Rowen's eyes and for brief second he thought he saw Rowen scream out but Elvira had far too much control. Instead some more tears fell from Rowen sad eyes and then that was it. Rowen threw Ryo into a near by tree and picked up the other sword. Ryo was just about to pass out when he saw Rowen bust the swords in two. Ryo's mind drifted back and he remembered that Kento said he had found Sage's sword broken in two. Rowen had done the breaking and it was all over. The last thing Ryo remembered thinking was about his friends. His body felt really cold and he felt that he was slipping away deeper into the darkness.

 

End Chapter Two