Origin of the 9th

Chapter 8: The Great Sage

The forest continued to rush by as we ran to the east. The sun would rise in a few minutes, so the window of opportunity was slim. I had no idea how far our old settlement was, but we were nearing the edge of the forest, so it couldn't be too far away. The name Apollo slipped from the forefront of my mind as I heard the sounds of footsteps behind us from the direction of the burning settlement.

"Samurai behind us!" Pon called. Surely enough, I could hear the rustling stampede of the Samurai who were pursuing us. There must have been at least 700 of them.

"Ignore them." I said, refusing to look back. "We need all four of us to get into the temple."

"No, four of us will not get into the temple." Kojuo said suddenly. It had been the first time he had spoken since we had returned to the settlement, and his voice seemed hoarse, unnaturally so.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. This was the first time I was hearing of such a thing. From what I had understood, we were all going into the temple together so we could find out what we needed to. "Why not all of us?"

"The requirements are adequate to get one inside, which will be you Lord Moeiw." Kojuo replied. "The rest of us will remain outside to fight the Samurai until your return."

"But why not Pon? My hands are useless, so it would be wasted on me." I protested.

"Moeiw, it's you, it's always been you." Pon said, still looking over his shoulder occasionally. "If the attack just now didn't happen, you would be our next Tenpura. Chiko believed in you when she died, so now before I die, let me believe in you too."

"You aren't going to die here Pon, I promise." I said, determined to keep it this time. Pon wasn't going to die; he was my last remaining family, and even though I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything to keep that promise, I still had to.

"We're here!" Neiko chimed as the rays of the sun began poking through the edge of the woods. The brightening beams of light converged upon that same clearing from which Neiko had once donned her eyepatch. Atop the glistening stump, shone a sparkling building that seemed to grow more solid with each passing moment. It filled the great stump, yet did not clear the heads of the trees as its Samurai counterpart had. Thick mossy vines and decaying shrubs, which I had previously thought were merely part of the forest, coated the mystery that had lived under my nose for seven years. Over it was a lucid barrier that seemed to coat the temple like a veil of cloth.

"I can't believe it was right here this whole time." Neiko marveled as Pon gasped. He tapped her on the shoulder and she seemed to snap back into focus. "Moeiw, hurry and get in! We'll hold them off." She said, whipping out her massive shuriken as Pon and Kojuo drew their blades.

I nodded and dashed forward through the barrier, which splashed against my skin like floating water. The moment it touched me, I felt all the feeling return to my hands as my arms were completely repaired, despite having been maimed by Sarah and her anti-healing magic. "Wow." I muttered as I continued running. If something like this could happen, then this must truly be the dwelling of the Great Spirit. It was our only chance, the only thing left for us to turn to. I burst through the temple doors and looked around.

The inside of the temple was made purely of what looked like pink crystal, polished to such a degree that it felt like a house of mirrors. There was a single transparent screen behind me from which I could see Kojuo, Pon, and Neiko encountering the Samurai. It was one room, extending up a flight of stairs into an altar. And someone was sitting atop that altar.

"Who's there?" I called. Even though I had my arms back, I made sure that I was much more wary. The Great Spirit could potentially want to horde all the world's magic into one place like Sarah. If that were the case, I needed to be extremely cautious.