The Hellhound's Secret

Samurai's Journey, Part II

Kali scanned her surroundings and smiled lightly. A waterfall descended over the rocks ahead of her, and a litter of fine leaves were scatted on the ground near the shoreline. It looked almost like the entrance they had just left in the future.

"Did it work?" Cam asked. "This all looks the same."

"It worked," said Kali, taking a deep breath.

"How can you tell?"

"I can sense it. Close your eyes, you can feel the difference in the air. The magic gives off a different aura than what I am used to feeling."

Cam glanced at her and smiled at the calmness on her face. He then froze at the sound of clicks approaching from behind. Turning on the spot, Cam took a hesitant step backwards causing Kali to turn around, too.

"Oh. Hello," Kali breathed, reaching out to touch the head of the magnificent black horse. The horse snorted and pressed his head against her palm.

"How did you do that?" the man on top of the horse asked. He was wearing a black ninja gi with red accents, identical to the one that Shane wore during training. "He's normally wary of people."

Kali glanced up and cocked her head to the side. "Believe me when I tell you that this horse and I are going to have a lot of run-ins one day," she said, scratching the horse behind the ears. "Isn't that right, Catastros?"

"Who are you?" the Ninja asked.

"First, answer my question," said Kali. "What year is it?"

The ninja cocked his head to the side. "1973."

Kali glanced back at Cam. "Thirty years," she murmured.

"Why is that an issue?" the Ninja inquired.

"Not an issue, exactly," said Kali, turning back to the Ninja. "More of a concern, at least on my part."

The Ninja shook his head and jumped down from Catastros back. "How did you get here?" he asked. "Not many people stumble across this place by accident."

"Unless they're meant to be here, right?" Kali asked.

The Ninja stared at her through his headgear. It was a little unnerving, but Kali was used to things that unnerved others. "Who are you?" he repeated.

"My name's Kali."

"And him?"

"Cam," Kali answered. "Who are you?"

"That doesn't matter," the Ninja said, shaking his head. "Regardless of whether you're meant to be here or not, no one gets into the academy without the password. Do you know it?"

Kali hesitated and turned to Cam.

"Air, Water, and Earth as one," Cam said, confidently.

"Sorry. Wrong answer," the Ninja said, lunging forward.

Kali turned and held out her hand. She hit the Ninja in the chest and blasted him backwards across the clearing, he remained standing but looked dazed and confused. Shaking his head, he narrowed his eyes at Kali and stepped forward,

"How did you do that?" the Ninja asked. "The only people who have that kind of magic are -"

"The Mystics," said Kali, nodding. "Yeah. I'm aware."

The ninja swept Kali over from head to toe and he folded his arms. "Who are you?" he asked again. But this time Kali knew he meant to know more than just her name.

Kali sighed. "Look, my name is Kali," she said. "But I do go by another. Problem is, she doesn't exist yet. We can't tell you everything, because, trust me, you a) won't believe us or b) we'll be in a lot of trouble. Just trust me when I tell you we wouldn't be here if we weren't in desperate need of help. It seems, we need your help, or you wouldn't have found us."