*In the forest, Amarti’s team which consisted of him, Morgan, Jin, Nate, and Hibana were surrounded by Eclipses in the form of regular-sized wolves. They were outnumbered but not outmatched. They huddled together to form a circle and watched each other’s back*
(Hibana): Now do you see why I don’t like hiking through the forest?
(Amarti): Don’t worry, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Hibana, you, Morgan and I will take the left. Jin and Nate will take the right.
(Jin): Got it!
(Nate): Understood.
*As everyone prepared themselves, Nate’s phone began to ring playing a plain and standard ringtone*
(Nate): Sorry, that’s me. Hang on.
*As Nate answered his phone, the Eclipses began to attack. Hibana and Amarti were doing alright on their side. Amarti’s blade discs flew around slicing the Eclipses in half while Hibana’s electric yo-yos shocked and cut the Eclipses up as well. Morgan fired icicles to pierce the Eclipses. Jin’s side was struggling as he was the only one fighting while Nate answered his phone*
(Nate): Hello, you’ve reached Nate Dessian of the Black Tortoise Order. Oh, it’s you. Been awhile. How is everything?
*As Nate was talking on the phone an Eclipse was about to pounce on him but was knocked away by Jin who used his hammer on it*
(Nate): Sorry. You’ll have to speak up. I’m in a noisy area. No, I’m currently stuck here.
*Another Eclipse was about to attack Nate from behind but he got saved by Jin again who fired off his hand cannon and shot the Eclipse in the head*
(Nate): Now what’s this about your commander? Oh really? No, not yet. Okay. I’ll be on the lookout. Thank you. Have a good day.
*Nate ends the call just in time to see three Eclipses charging toward him. Taking a deep breath, Nate knocks out the three Eclipses with plain punches in quick succession. The five remaining Eclipses decided to retreat and as they headed off in the opposite direction from the others, three of them were sliced up by invisible wires and the other two were shot in the chest area. As the Eclipses began to disappear, out came Dust and Raika with Hibana’s drone falling behind them. Hibana ran toward them*
(Hibana): I’m so glad you’re okay.
*Raika stepped to the side expecting Hibana to leap onto Dust. Instead, Hibana ran past Dust and hugged her drone all while kissing it*
(Hibana): My baby has returned to its mama.
(Dust): We’re fine too. Just so you know, Hibana.
(Hibana): Obviously. I had no doubt you two would be fine. Raika’s survivor skills are second to none and I’ve known you long enough to know nothing in this forest is a match for you.
(Amarti): So you guys managed to find us.
(Raika): Hard to miss you with all the noise you were making. You know it’s not wise to do that, right? You could attract the wrong attention.
(Amarti): Like the Citizens of the New Sun? So far we’ve been lucky and haven’t run into any of them.
(Nate): Sorry to cut this talk short, but we need to get a move on and find Rika and Zia.
(Jin): Everything alright, Nate?
(Nate): Someone I know is on their way to help us. Unfortunately, they don’t know the full scope of the situation and might mistake our comrades for enemies.
***
*In another part of the forest, Zia falls down a hill following the explosion from the landmine. She slowly gets up still dizzy from the effects of the landmine. As she tries to stop her head from spinning she notices masked individuals heading her way. Once she’s finally able to focus she sees that there are eight masked individuals surrounding her*
(Masked Figure #1): Is this the one?
(Masked Figure #2): Yeah, it’s just like Vincent and Daymon reported. One elf woman. Said to approach her with caution.
(Masked Figure #3): Why? She doesn’t look all that dangerous.
*Reaching into her coat pocket, Zia pulls out an arrow*
(Zia): Fly to your prey.
*Zia throws the arrow toward the nearest masked figure. It begins to glow white and transforms into a tiny serpent dragon made out of light magic with red eyes. Letting out a roar the dragon flies rapidly to the first masked figure clawing away and slashing them up before moving to the next masked figure. The dragon shattered the mask of the second mask figure revealing them to be a female with short blonde hair and red eyes. After finishing the second figure the dragon moves on to the third and fourth figures where it easily defeats them. The fifth and sixth figures attempt to fight back by shooting fireballs at the dragon but it is too fast for them. The two figures soon find themselves swarmed by the dragon and get knocked out. The seventh figure dodges the dragon with a roll but the eighth figure gets attacked in their place. The seventh figure gets ready to fire a clear shot at the dragon but Zia comes in and knocks the fireball away with kukri. She sweeps the leg of the figure causing them to fall backward into the snow. Zia then stomped their chest with her boot and pointed her kukri down toward their face*
(Zia): Congratulations. You get the privilege of answering my questions. And you will speak the truth, or else.
*Zia’s dragon flies up to the face of the masked figure and bares its fangs at them. As Zia was about to speak out came a mysterious figure with their feet on fire. The figure delivered a swift kick to Zia’s abdomen to knock her down. The dragon saw its master get attacked and attempted to retaliate. However, the mysterious figure delivered a flaming axe kick downward to knock the dragon to the ground and caused it to disappear as it reverted back into an arrow. The mysterious figure now stood between Zia and the masked figure. The mysterious figure removed their hood and revealed themselves to be Ember Blaise*
(Ember): Run!
*The masked figure heeding her words, got up and ran away with Zia mad at this turn of events*
(Zia): *Inner Thoughts* A kick made of fire. Another citizen.
(Ember): *Inner Thoughts* A highly skilled fighter. No doubt a hired mercenary *Inner Thoughts End*. So, what’s the big idea picking on such a weak opponent? If you want to fight someone I’d be happy to oblige.
(Zia): I don’t know who you are, but you’ve made the biggest mistake of your life.
*Zia shows off the burnt marks on her coat for Ember to see*
(Zia): This was my favorite coat. It was a gift from Master Amarti. And you burnt it.
*Zia began to remember how happy she was to receive this coat from Amarti. She had eyed the coat many times in the store and was quite surprised when Amarti presented the gift to her*
(Zia): Not even your death will cover these damages.
*Zia charged at Ember and took a swing at her with the kukri. Ember lifted her right leg and blocked the attack with her flaming purple foot *
(Ember): Oi, you beat me to the fun part.
*Ember deflected the kukri and then attempted to kick Zia with her leg. Zia dodged the attack leaning her upper body back and then took a swing at Ember with her other kukri. Ember blocked the attack with a backward cartwheel. Standing on her hands, Ember began spinning around and around attempting to kick Zia who found herself being back into a tree. Acting quickly, Zia put her kukris away and jumped up to grab onto a tree branch. Pulling herself up, Zia summoned her crossbow and fired down at Ember who at this point had stopped spinning and jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit. Zia continued to fire arrows at Ember who dodged all of them with her agility and made it to the tree Zia was in. Running up the tree she made it to Zia and delivered a thrust kick to knock her out of the tree. Zia managed to recover in the air and landed on her feet. Zia once again fired arrows at Ember who had little room to dodge the arrows and barely dodged them. However, one arrow was about to hit Ember right in the face and she had no choice but to grab it with her hand which made her angry*
(Ember): Shit!
*Ember tossed the arrow away and jumped down attempting to stomp Zia but Zia dodged the attack by jumping backward and grabbing the arrow that contained her dragon spirit. Zia poured magic into the arrow and tossed it at Ember where it transformed into the serpent dragon and attempted to slash her. Ember was too slow to get her feet up and was blocked the dragon’s attack with her arms. The dragon slashed her arms breaking her guard and leaving her open for Zia who came charging in with her kukris and swung at Ember who moved out of the way at the last minute avoiding defeat. At first, Ember thought she escaped the attack unharmed but felt blood dripping from her cheek. Ember smiled and wiped the blood off her face*
(Ember): Congratulations. You’re the first person who forced me to use my arms to block an attack, twice.
(Zia): And I would suggest you keep using those arms.
*Speaking Elfan*
*Zia’s kukris disappeared and in their place was a glaive*
(Ember): Hmph. Kukris, crossbow, spirit arrow, and now a glaive. Just how many weapons do you have?
(Zia): As many as I need to defeat those in front of me.
*Zia’s serpent dragon flew up to her and she touched it pouring magic into it and allowing it to grow bigger. The serpent was now five feet long*
(Zia): Now, let us begin.
*Zia and Ember charged at each other where they partake in a series of attacks against each other. Zia’s dragon also entered the fight and it became a two on one scenario for Ember who was holding her own against the two. Zia and Ember blocked, dodged, and hit each other during this encounter hurting each other but neither one yielding to the other. Ember always made sure to keep the scenario to a one-on-one fight. The fire from Ember’s kicks melted the snow around them and left a few burnt marks on Zia’s coat and body. Zia and her dragon left plenty of cuts and bite marks all over Ember’s jacket and body as well. Despite being in pain and breathing heavily, the two ladies couldn’t help but enjoy the fight they were having. Their fight didn’t go unnoticed as it attracted some unwanted guests. Eclipses in the form of deer with antlers appeared. Two of them charged at the two ladies on opposite sides. Ember and Zia saw the Eclipses out of the corner of their eyes and quickly disposed of them. Zia pierced her Eclipse with her glaive while Ember delivered a kick that sent hers flying into the air. These attacks seem to set off the other Eclipses who charged at the two. As Zia’s back was turned to Ember, Ember took a cheap shot and kicked Zia in the back to send her tumbling forward. As an Eclipse was closing in on her, her dragon tackled it from the side and crashed through a tree. This allowed Zia to recover and she destroyed two other Eclipses that were heading her way. More Eclipses appeared and Zia fought the ones that came near her. As she stabbed one Eclipse with her glaive another one was coming from behind. Zia quickly summoned her kukri and stabbed it in the face to kill it. She then threw the kukri at another Eclipse to kill it. Ember was delivering multiple kicks to Eclipses to kill them and was so engrossed in fighting them that she failed to see Zia come up from behind her and deliver a high jump kick. The kick sent Ember flying into a bed of snow as Zia began to fight the Eclipses in her place. Ember emerged from the pile of snow angry*
(Ember): Bitch!
*Ember charged at Zia jumping into the air and began to spin around and around. As fire gathered around her body, Ember was determined to do a cockscrew missile dropkick to Zia. However, she jumped out of the way and Ember instead attacked an Eclipse. After delivering the dropkick, the Eclipse was set ablaze and sent flying backward where it crashed into two other Eclipses and set them ablaze. Ember landed on her feet and saw one Eclipse was about to attack her from the side but Zia did a back roll off of Ember’s back and stabbed the Eclipse to kill it. Ember then shoved Zia out of the way and delivered a flaming spinning heel kick to a nearby Eclipse to destroy it. Zia and Ember then turned their attention back toward each other and attempted to attack each other despite still being surrounded by Eclipses. As the ladies attempted to hit each other they would attack the Eclipses around them whittling down their numbers until there was none left. If anything the Eclipses felt like an annoying distraction as the ladies were mad that their attacks kept missing each other and hitting the targets they didn’t care about. Zia landed the killing blow on the last Eclipse and Ember pounced tackling her to the ground but Zia kicked her off. However, Ember used her hands to grab hold of Zia’s glaive. Ember landed back first onto the ground still maintaining her hold on the glaive. Both ladies flipped over to be on their bellies while still holding onto the glaive. They began to rise to their feet were eying each other down*
(Zia): Xenmu (Return)!
*The glaive vanished catching Ember off guard. Zia took advantage of this and punched Ember to stun her and followed up with a rising knee to the face. With these surprise attacks along with the exhaustion, Zia thought she’d knock her out, but Ember was still standing. She recovered from the attack, grabbed Zia’s right arm, and delivered a kick to the side of Zia’s head. As Zia’s head rang she fought through the pain and pulled Ember by the arm to deliver a forearm shot to her head. Zia delivered two more forearm shots before Ember retaliated with a jumping boot that brought Zia to the ground. Ember attempted to stomp Zia’s face but she blocked the boot and used her light magic to shield her hands from Ember’s fire magic. Tossing the boot to the side Zia rolled away and returned to her feet where she whistled, and the dragon emerged from the collapsed tree. The dragon had returned to its normal size and flew to Zia where it wrapped its body around Zia’s left arm encasing it in a yellowish-white aura of light magic*
(Ember): Okay. Okay!
*Ember stomped the ground with her left foot and purple flames began flying around it*
(Ember): Let’s see what’s stronger. My flames.
(Zia): Or my light.
*The ladies charged at each other knowing that this next attack would decide the winner. They knew that they would both be exhausted and defenseless once this attack was over and easy pickings but they didn’t care. This was a battle of pride to see who was stronger. Damn the consequences of what came after. Just as the two ladies were in striking distance of each other and mere inches away from attacking the other their attacks were caught by a hand. At first, the two ladies were confused and angry by what happened, but then they became shocked to see that the person who stopped their attacks was none other than Nate*
(Amarti): Zia stop!
*Upon hearing Amarti’s voice all of Zia’s fatigue and anger faded away*
(Amarti): Stand down, Zia. She’s not an enemy.
(Nate): The same goes for you, Ember. We’re on the same side here.
(Zia and Ember): Nate/ Master Amarti.
*Once Zia and Ember saw Amarti and Nate they both smiled. Nate let go of both ladies*
(Zia and Ember): Nate/ Master Amarti!
*Ember immediately tackled Nate to the ground hugging him while Zia ran to Amarti and tackled him to the ground all while hugging him as well. Amarti and Nate were shocked by this development but went with it while the others including Rika were watching from the side*
(Zia): Master Amarti! I’m so glad you’re okay!
(Amarti): I see you had your work cut out for you in this fight, Zia.
(Nate): Come on, Ember. People are starting to stare at us.
(Ember): Just a few more seconds. I haven’t seen you in like forever. Let me enjoy this.
(Morgan): Looks like we got here just in time before things got too out of control. Still, this is pretty bad in terms of wreckage.
(Rika): Indeed. I’m sure that Brister’s Nature Preservation Society won’t like this.
(Raika): We won’t say anything if you won’t.
(Jin): Uh guys, I can understand Zia excited to see Amarti but what’s the deal with Nate and Captain Ember?
(Rika): Oh, you didn’t know? They’re dating.
*Jin and Hibana let out a scream that could be heard all throughout the forest*
(Hibana): They’re dating!?
(Dust): That’s right. Despite his looks, Nate is quite the lady killer.
(Jin): Nate, I had no idea you had a girlfriend.
(Nate): I like to keep my personal life private and due to our work lives we don’t get to see each other all that much, but we make it work. Right, honey bunny?
(Ember): You know it, babe.
*Ember kisses Nate’s cheek*
(Ember): Rika, good to see you again. Now, who are the rest of you?
*After a lengthy explanation*
(Ember): *Laughing* I see! I see! So you’re the infamous Shadow Eye I heard so much about.
(Jin): You’ve heard of us?
(Ember): I overheard General Walter and a few higher-ups talk about you. I thought you guys were some urban myth they made up. Didn’t think you guys existed. Let alone had Ryuuji, Morgan and the Ranger of Lightning herself in your group. Speaking of which, where is Ryuuji? I haven’t seen him in years.
(Morgan): Caught by the Citizens of the Sun.
(Ember): What! Has he gone soft over the years?
(Rika): Don’t be too hard on him, they caught us off guard with a sneak attack. What matters now is that we need to find their stronghold and rescue him.
(Ember): Then what are we waiting for? Let’s find those Citizens and get them to talk.
(Zia): You mean the Citizen that you allowed to escape because you were busy fighting me instead of asking who I was and damaging my coat.
(Ember): I’m sorry! How many times do I have to say it? I really thought you were the bad guy. I promise I’ll pay for all the damage to your coat.
(Amarti): Zia, we’re moving on. We need all the help we can get. You know firsthand just how strong she is.
(Zia): Yes, master Amarti. I’ll let it go.
(Amarti): Now as far as the Citizens go the ones we’ve faced so far don’t seem to know anything.
(Hibana): Not even the one we bumped into in the forest knows where the stronghold is.
(Ember): So no leads on the stronghold. What do we do?
(Nate): We find shelter. The sun’s about to set and staying out in the cold would be too dangerous given all the Eclipses in the area.
(Rika): There’s an old abandoned village not too far from here. We can stay there for the night and meet up with the others tomorrow.
(Ember): There’s more of you?
(Morgan): Our second team is currently tracking the train the Citizens used to abduct Ryuuji. Hopefully, they’re having better luck than we are.
(Rika): What’s the status on them?
(Hibana): I can’t say. My drone got destroyed.
Author’s Note: We made it! One hundred chapters of Shadow Eye! Thank you all so much for being on this journey with me. I hope you are enjoying the story so far and continue to support me and this project as we move forward. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. We have an excellent balance of comedy and action. The start with Nate talking on his phone while everyone else fought, was actually inspired by Men In Black when Kay was talking to the alien while Jay was getting manhandled in the background. Funny scene in my opinion. We then move on to the meat of the chapter, the fight between Zia and Ember. So far Ember is one of my favorite characters, and I wanted to show off her skills in this volume. What better way to do that than by having her take on one of the strongest members of Shadow Eye? The case of a misunderstanding was the perfect opportunity for these two to fight. Originally, I was going to have Jade face her, but the Zia match-up provided more opportunities to show off their magic and was a better plot for the misunderstanding—Zia’s magic vs Ember’s strength. Shockingly, the two were still holding back against each other, and had the fighting continued and grown more serious than the whole area would have been destroyed. The twist of Nate and Ember dating was inspired by my favorite couple from Justice League Unlimited, Huntress and The Question. I really did love their chemistry with each other and I think Nate and Ember make a cute couple. He allows Ember to slow down and can handle her eccentric personality. I look forward to exploring their relationship more down the line. Thanks for reading everyone and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.