Following the chilling success of their first collection, Lady Eckland, Glenn Riley, and new collaborator, Bella Darkwood return to guide you through the shadowy corridors of fear with their second compendium, *Whispers In The Dark 2*. These master...
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Wudang Mountains of Hubei Province in central China, 722 CE during the Tang Dynasty.
The winding mountain path was shrouded in a ghostly mist as the four warriors made their way toward the abandoned temple. Master Huang, wise and seasoned, led the group. Beside him strode Master Lao, young but quite skilled, eagerly gripping the hilt of his broad dao sword. Master Wu followed closely behind, his face etched with quiet determination, a long spear held loosely in one hand. Bringing up the rear was Master Yue, her lithe frame belying her incredible power and speed. A host of blades and throwing spikes glinted from within her robes.
"We draw close," Master Huang said, holding up a hand to halt the group. "I sense a malevolence nearby that chills my aged bones."
"I feel it as well, Sifu," Lao replied with a slight bow. "A brooding darkness, like the mountain itself watches our every move."
Wu shifted the spear strapped across his back and narrowed his eyes. "Whatever evil awaits us, we will face it together."
Yue rested a hand on the hilt of her sword and scanned the swirling mists around them. "And destroy it," she added coldly.
Master Huang nodded. "Let us proceed with care. Our true enemy has yet to reveal itself."
They continued on, weapons at the ready. The crumbling remains of the temple soon emerged through the gloom - collapsing walls and columns wrapped in overgrowth, flanked by two worn stone guardians.
As the four masters passed between the statues, an unnatural groan echoed from deep within the ruins. The sound of splintering timbers and grinding stone carried on the wind.
"It knows we are here," Master Wu said.
"Stand ready!" Master Huang barked, drawing his twin sabers from the sheath across his back. Blue runes etched along the curved blades began to glow.
Rising up from the debris and rubble of the temple, dark silhouettes coalesced into hulking forms - four in total. One was broad and stony, another wired and metallic, the third woven from gnarled branches. The last flickered between states, at times appearing as little more than blackened mist.
Master Yue pulled a trio of spikes from her sleeve and let them fly. But before they found their marks, the lead figure waved its arm and the projectiles halted in midair before clattering harmlessly to the ground.
"Impossible!" Yue gasped.
The entity let out a hollow, mocking laugh. "I am Temudjin!" it roared, the sound seeming to originate from the earth itself. "Lord of the elements. You cannot touch me!"
With blinding speed, it sent the stone guardian lumbering toward the masters. Master Lao met the thing head on, his flashing dao blade ringing against unyielding rock. Master Wu stabbed out with his spear at the wooden sentinel rushing in, but its gnarled body flowed around the point like water. Meanwhile, the metal guardian extended razor claws toward Master Huang with lightning speed, screeching and sparking as it closed in.
