| The 10th Warrior Chapter 7: Ronins 1~Dynasty 0 |
| "Here they come!" shouted Makoto, using the winds to hold her up in the air. Rowen stood below her, unaffected by her winds and Ryo stood a few feet away, holding a tree. Makoto was lowered to the ground and she and Rowen ran over to Ryo. All around them were Dynasty Soldiers. "What are they waiting for?" muttered Rowen under his breath. Makoto could only agree. "Makoto could blow them away with her wind," said Ryo with a grin in her direction. Makoto smirked. "Then who would fight us?" The Dynasty Soldiers parted in their view and a man walked forward, holding two swords. Makoto's eyes narrowed and she pulled out her sword and raised it before her, while at her side, Ryo pulled out his katanas and Rowen his bow and arrows. "Talpa must be out of Warlords if he's sending guys like you out!" shouted Ryo in challenge to the newcomer. "I have more tricks than you know, child," responded the man. "I am General Dara of the Dynasty. My Lord Talpa wants you and your armors. Surrender peacefully..." "And you won't be hurt?" shouted Rowen. "As if we haven't heard that before." Dara smiled, seeming to be glad that that had been their choice. "As you wish!" he shouted. "Dynasty Soldiers! Attack!" "Don't loose sight of each other!" said Ryo quickly as the Dynasty seemed to swam towards them like a hive of bees. Makoto breathed in deeply and met the swords and chains of the enemy. She hadn't realized she'd been separated from the others till a large explosion ripped up into the air from her far left. "Spiral Whirlwind!" Winds were suddenly surrounding her and he sword, and she pointed it at the Dynasty Soldiers. The energy-laced wind tore away from her with terrific power, and smashed into the Dynasty Soldiers. She slowly began to turn, focusing on keeping her sure-kill activated. She continued her rotation till all the soldiers around her were destroyed. "Next!" she called with a mock laugh and watched as another batch took the place of the previous. "It has to be illegal to have this much fun," she joked as she once again used her sure-kill in the previous manner. A new wave surrounded her, much larger than the previous ones and her face grew grave as the soldiers rushed her from all sides. Then, just as it looked like she was in for it, they began to part away from her. A moment later, she saw Dara and Ryo suddenly pushed into her little fighting area. Ryo shoved Dara away with his swords and jumped away, unknowingly landing before Makoto. "Ryo, where's Rowen?" she asked him as she used her sword to blast a soldier away. Ryo started and glanced back. "Makoto! Glad to see you. How you been?" Makoto giggled and then gasped as Ryo suddenly lifted her and leaped into the air. She looked downwards to see the spot they'd inhabited explode in bright light that could have only been from Sage's attack. "SAG..." "It's not him," said Ryo quickly. "Dara's swords are tapped into the guys' powers somehow and he's able to use their attacks." "Where's Rowen?" asked Makoto as he set her down and fought against her back. "I don't know. He was here for a while, and then he took off on a horse!" Makoto didn't miss the sound of anger in Ryo's voice, but before she could say anything, Ryo tensed up. "Ryo, what's wrong?" she asked in fright. Suddenly, he began to scream. She and the army suddenly backed away and Makoto felt her kanji begin to glow on her forehead. ~Hope~ Makoto felt her powers drain from her in alarm and then looked at Ryo, whose armor was glowing. "Armor of Inferno!" he screamed. She covered her eyes as a bright flash erupted and then blinked when the light returned to normal, revealing Ryo in an awesome new armor. White, red, and black decorated the massive armor that hid all but Ryo's rage-filled eyes. She unconsciously moved further away from him and watched as Dara boldly appeared. Two swords appeared in his hands, large, double-bladed katanas that glowed with an unnatural white light. Instinctively, Makoto recognized them as the focus of her powers, mingled with this new armor of Inferno. Makoto was about to shout something to Ryo when something sharp pierced her from behind. She screamed in pain and turned to find a Dynasty Soldier with a broken spear. Her sword swung out and a moment later, its hollow head rolled on the ground. She stumbled for a moment and then fell to her knees as her eyes caught sight of Ryo battling Dara. So, this is how it ends. After everything I've fought for, was her final thought right before she fell face-down, a broken spear shaft embedded in her back though the armor. Makoto's eyes flew open to see Rowen kneeling beside her. She sat up and winced as her head momentarily swam. "Hey, you okay?" asked Ryo, looking at her in concern. "Yeah," said Makoto, slowly rubbing the back of her head. "What happened?" "I beat Dara with the Inferno Armor and the new Soul Swords of Fervor," informed Ryo, not looking too worse for ware. "New swords?" echoed Makoto, having a sudden suspicion. "Yeah. They had more power," said Ryo. "Rowen thinks it had to do with the fact that you gave me power, too." "How'd you know I gave you power?" "You fainted," said Rowen with a smirk. "And a simple spear went through your sub-armor." Makoto blinked slightly and then slwoly managed to get to her feet with a grin. "So, other than beating the ugly guy, what happened while I was out?" "Well, when I saw Rowen run off, whjat he'd been doing was finding the guys," said Ryo, looking slightly ashamed. "He was able to use one of his arrows somehow channel their armors' energies to me." Makoto nodded, her smile faltering. "I guess that can be a good thing. At least we know where the others are now." "Dara is dead, Master Talpa," reported Kayura gravely. "And the swords are destroyed." Talpa didn't say anything, but watched as the three free Ronins walked up to his castle's doors. "Talpa's going to wish he never messed with us," said Makoto angrily. "Yeah, and with Ryo's new attack, Talpa's going down," agreed Rowen. Ryo laughed and the three entered the castle while Talpa began to laugh darkly...TO BE CONTINUED |