Feng and Kaiko: Shadows Over Wansen Tai

Act 4

Jin was making his way to the most sacred temple of Wansen Tai, flying, only just making it over the tree tops that adorned his journey.

He should have been able to fly higher and faster than this, however every time he tried a burning sensation came crashing down upon him from above, somewhere in the fake night's sky. It took all his concentration and energy to remain afloat, so he never looked up to see what was causing it.

Trying to navigate uneasily he looked down at his feet constantly, doing his best to zigzag between obstacles he would normally have flown over, casually ignoring the many vacant buildings below, left abandoned as a direct result of his actions.

Having entrusted the defence of the marketplace to his shadow minions, the former villagers and occupants of these buildings, he was flying away from the battle and towards the highest building on the mountainside.

After having endured the myriad lectures given by the different priests when he was growing up, he had heard the many tales of how the village got its prestigious title and by extension became the spiritual headquarters for the entire region. They boasted often, and loudly, how this meant a lot of powerful artefacts had found their residence here, which Jin was now going to take full advantage of.

In the deepest bowels of the oldest of many temples that populated the back of the village, Jin knew he would find the means to deal with the two intruders who had come to take away his kingdom.

He was certain that the empowered shadows would be sufficient to buy him the time he needed, at the very least, to acquire a few choice items with which to even the odds against the intruders. He hated to admit it but these two were stronger than anyone he had ever faced before and he needed to bolster his strength.

With much effort he eventually made it over the wall that surrounded a large garden made entirely of pearly white sand at the centre of which his destination lay. He landed with a large and sluggish thud kicking small amounts of sand around. The large divot where he landed, as well the sand he kicked up in his rough landing, was the only chaos in the otherwise immaculately pristine tranquil sea of almost luminous white that surrounded a small building that seemed to extend into the mountain itself.

He needed a moment to catch his breath during which his wings folded back in on themselves and remerged with the shadowy aura that surrounded him. He walked through the sand, digging his heels in deeply with every step, making his way up to the stone steps that led up unto the wooden terrace floor quickly, then moving towards the sliding paper door which was slightly aglow with diffuse light from within; the only visible entrance to the temple.

He walked forward towards the door, then, without taking his shoes off he threw open the sliding doors with such force that it took one side off its hinge. The small amount of light coming from inside caused Jin to cast a massive shadow over the pearly white sea behind him, making his steps overwhelmingly prominent.

Despite the warm glow implied by the paper door when it was closed, inside was dark and dingy, with only the smallest and subtlest candles intermittently dispersed along the slim seemingly endlessly long prayer hall, populated by two rows of sitting shadows, one on each side. The sitting shadows were, in fact, all monks that had once called these halls their home. Every single one of them had been turned into a shadow puppet by Jin and set to channel energy continuously.

As far as the eye could see the monks were sitting facing the wall across from them, sitting at regular but alternating intervals. They were all in meditation, chanting in hushed harmonies, all slightly alight with a shadowy aura — much like the one currently surrounding Jin — that was visibly consuming them. They looked barely human, more bone than skin, lacking all muscles, no longer in possession of eyes.