Welcome to the latest chapter of this epic exclusive YA urban fantasy saga. Feel free to reach out or comment if you like this story. Your feedback is what keeps the magic flowing. If this is your first time finding this story or you’ve missed a couple of episodes then I’d suggest following the link to the index page where you can start reading the entire series for FREE!
Ewan walked round the rock looking for any sign of his father but found nothing. “There’s got to be something,” he said, “he must have been here, why would the message say to meet him here, there’s got to be something.”
The others stood and watched not saying anything. Anna was the first to make a move, she put her arm round Ewan’s shoulders, “We can keep looking, but he’s not here. I don’t think he’s been here at all, maybe he never got the message.”
Ewan sighed, “I know, it’s just…”
The clouds continued to roll in and the distant rumble of thunder could be heard as the sky continued to darken.
Mac was the first to notice the group of hikers approaching them from the far side of the hill, “Maybe we should ask them which is the quickest way back to the car.” He said pointing at the group.
“Are you sure? They seem a little weird to me.” Ewan replied, “I cant put my finger on it but something’s not right here.”
“Is it ‘cause they all look alike and are all dressed exactly the same?” Dylan said. The others looked closely at the rapidly approaching group and noticed that Dylan was right. The group of hikers were not only all identically dressed they looked to be exact copies of one another. It was if the entire group was made up of one single person that had been photocopied a dozen times.
“Well spotted young man, that’s exactly the problem. Well it’s a bit more complicated than that but for now getting out of here before they arrive would be a very good idea.”
The group all turned as one and stood open mouthed at the stranger who was now standing directly behind them.
“You!” Ewan was the first to react, “it’s you, I saw you yesterday morning on my way to school and again in the park, when…” Ewan didn’t want to finish the sentence as he remembered that the stranger had stood by as Mackie and his cronies had attacked him and he could feel himself starting to blush as he remembered being rescued by an old lady and her dog.
The others looked confused.
“Yes Ewan, it was me, I’ve been waiting for the right time to talk to you,” the stranger said.
“Are you some kind of creep following him around, waiting to jump out like that.” Dylan said.
The stranger laughed, “hardly, in fact I’ve been working to ensure Ewan’s safety. I promised my brother I would watch out for him.”
“So why did’t you do anything in the park yesterday?” Ewan asked, the anger rising in his voice.
“You were in no real danger, besides I wanted to see how your training was progressing and how you would stand up to a bully,” the stranger responded.
“What training? My dad won’t let me have any training, he said I need to keep my head down and avoid the bullies and that eventually they’d get fed up and leave me alone.”
The stranger just stood there, looking deeply at Ewan and sighed, “I see, that is unfortunate and I will need to discuss this in more detail with your father later, but first we must hurry.”
The group of hikers had gotten closer and as they approached they began to fan out and it looked like they were heading to surround them.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me where my dad is and what the hell is going on.”
The stranger looked over at the rapidly approaching group and sighed again, “We really don’t have the time for this right now. I don’t where my brother is but I can promise you we will find him and as for what the hell that’s a pretty good start.”
Ewan just stood there open mouthed.
“Yes Ewan, I’m your uncle, my name is Zhou and by your reaction I’m guessing this is the first you’ve heard about me. But I’ve known about you since the day you were born.”
“That photo my dad has back on the wall in his lockup, it was you wasn’t it. There with my mom and dad?”
“Yes, that was the last time I saw my brother. I was so sorry to hear about your mother.”
Ewan nodded, “Was that you, the break in, last night?”
“Yes, like I said I was ensuring your safety, now we really must go before it’s too late.”
“Wait, your name is Zhou, was it you who wrote my dad a letter the other day?”
“Yes and I can explain it all later but for now we really must leave.”
Ewan looked over his shoulder, the group had continued their advance and he could clearly see what Dylan had meant about them all looking the same.
The group consisted of about ten hikers and all but one the spitting image of each other. They were slightly taller than Ewan but they were a lot broader across the shoulders. They all wore matching hiking gear that looked more of an afterthought than regular clothing.
The other member of group stood out as being a fair bit taller and not so broad shouldered and from his demeanour Ewan guessed that he was the leader.
Ewan’s uncle was still trying to move them back towards the path when the leader of the group spoke.
“Hello there, are you lost? Do you need some help?” The man asked, his voice was monotonous and with no discernible accent, almost as if English wasn’t his native tongue.
Zhou was the first to respond. “No, we’re good thank you. We’re just heading back.”
The leader responded, “These hills can be very dangerous, especially in the dark. Why don’t you travel with us?”
“Thanks for the offer but we’ll be okay.” Zhou said.
“I really must insist, far too many tourists fall prey to the wild animals and slippery slopes around here. Besides we could guide you back to your car in Ballachulish.”
At this Ewan piped up, “nobody said anything about a car, and how do you know we came from Ballachulish?”
Zhou moved to stand between Ewan and the leader, “Ewan get behind me, I’ll deal with this.”
Out of the corner of his eye Ewan could see the other hikers slowly moving in to position to surround them.
Zhou stood tall and squared up to the leader of the group. “I don’t know who you are, but I know what you are and I’m guessing therefore that you know who I am.” Zhou paused to let the information sink in. “I am warning you,” he continued “these children are now under my protection and you will let us pass.”
The leader of the hikers laughed, “I am Chang and yes we all know of the younger Wu, the little monkey who lived for so long in the shadow of the Dragon and the Tiger. You have no place here. We have come for the boy and you will not…”
Zhou’s leg shot out and he landed a solid side kick to Chang’s chest that sent him flying back where he landed in a heap. He then snapped back into a low fighting stance and as if out of thin air a six foot staff with metal shod ends appeared in his hands held ready.
Shifting his grip on the staff Zhou spun it once and slid it through his hands, extending it forward so he could use the added reach to keep the rest of the hikers at bay.
“Mac, don’t let them take Ewan, I’ll deal with the rest.” Zhou said.
The group of hikers had now surrounded Ewan and his friends and slowly moved forward as a group with their arms raised.
Zhou stepped forward and planted the far end of the staff in the ground and vaulted between the two closest hikers. He kicked out to the left and the right landing quick strikes to the head of each hiker. The two hikers collapsed and as soon as they hit the ground their bodies exploded in a shower of black sparks, streams of black smoke fading away leaving two dark stains on the ground.
One of the hikers made a grab for Ewan but before he could reach him Mac stepped forward and punched him squarely in the face, the hiker fell back against the Dragon’s Tooth and exploded in the same way.
The remaining hikers paused for a second and then rushed forward as they screamed a deathly wail. Anna grabbed hold of Ewan and Dylan and pulled them close as she sheltered up against the hard rock of the Tooth whilst Mac stood in front of her, fists raised waiting for the next attack.
Zhou spun and cast his staff forward, the end caught one of the hikers under the chin knocking him back before he too exploded into streams of black smoke and sparks. Two more hikers fell from a wide sweeping strike from Zhou’s staff to become dark stains on the ground.
Instinctively Zhou ducked and rolled as a black sword sliced through the air where moments before his head had been. He pushed off from the ground and leapt up with a jumping front kick that pushed his would be assailant far enough back to enable a low sweep with his staff to knock the hiker off his feet to then finally be dispatched by having the metal shod end of Zhou’s staff driven deep into its chest.
Whilst Zhou was dealing with his assailants two of the remaining hikers grabbed hold of Mac, pinning his arms ready for the last one to attack. The last hiker slowly drew a similar black wicked looking blade from his backpack and smiled an evil grin. Mac struggled as the two hikers held him tight, Anna screamed when she saw the blade and pulled Ewan and Dylan closer.
Mac continued to struggle and then tensed against the strike which never came at least not in the manner anyone expected. The hiker holding the blade suddenly exploded in a shower of smoke and sparks as another black sword protruded through his chest from where Zhou had thrown it.
Seeing the distraction Anna grabbed the blade and swung it at the closest hiker who was still holding Mac, he screamed in pain as the blade bit deep into his leg and Anna screamed as she felt the handle of the sword burn her hand. Still struggling Mac managed to free himself from the grip of the hikers and grabbed the last one and slammed him back against the rock ready to fight back only to be surprised when the hiker also exploded in a similar fashion to the others.
Anna dropped the sword and cradled her hand, she could see wisps of smoke rising from her palm and a faint aroma of burning flesh filled her nose.
The hiker that Anna had wounded was crawling away back towards Chang, a thick black goo oozing from the cut on his leg.
Zhou came rushing over to her and grabbed hold of her wrist, “hold still, this will sting but it will stop the burn from getting any worse.” He reached into the satchel that was slung over his shoulder with his other hand and withdrew a small bottle and a piece of cloth. He bit down on the cork stopper and pulled it out, inside was a dark blue liquid that had a faint smell of jasmine. Zhou poured some of the liquid directly on to the burn and the smell of jasmine intensified, Anna screamed again as Zhou unwrapped a field dressing and pressed the gauze pad onto her palm and wrapped the attached bandage around her hand to hold it in place.
By this time Chang had managed to pick himself up and was running away towards the trees, the other hiker still crawling after him. Zhou packed away his things and picked up his staff, “stay here by the Tooth and wait for me, I’ll stop those others before they can call for reinforcements.”
“No, wait, it’s a trap. It’s like what happened to Dragon and Tiger.”
Zhou looked over at Ewan who had just blurted out his warning. “How do you know this?, did your father tell you about that?”
Ewan shook his head.
“No but it’s just like in the story, the one he dreamt about.” Dylan said.
Zhou stood and looked between the two boys, “we shouldn’t let them escape but if what you say is true then we’d be doing just what they want and we’d be in even more trouble.” He rubbed his chin as if deep in thought. “The priority now is to keep you safe and see what we can do to help your father. Let’s get off this mountain and somewhere more secure.”
Ewan nodded and the group stood up. Dylan hesitated for a second and then started to help Anna up but before he could Mac had already bent over and supporting her helped Anna to stand.
Dylan raised his hand as if to ask a question at school, “Mr Zhou?”
“Yes Dylan?”
“What’s with all the exploding? First the dogs then those, those, things, are they really demons like in Ewan’s stories?”
Zhou chuckled, “those things, yes they are demon spawn. Just like Ewan’s stories. I was shocked to see them online like that. It was incredibly foolish of your father to allow Ewan to post them, he must have known they would be seen, and the content, it would have been like drawing an arrow directly to him. Not very smart for a man who wanted to remain hidden.”
Ewan gulped and hung his head, “he didn’t know. I knew it was all my fault, I wish I’d never had those dreams.”
“Ewan listen to me, it’s not your fault, how could you have possibly known. I can promise you when we find your father the last thing he would ever think is that this is your fault. But these dreams, we need to talk more about those and soon.”
Ewan nodded.
Zhou looked back at Dylan and smiled as he could see the look of confusion still on his face, “demon spawn have a real problem with iron, any contact with it can literally cause them to explode. It was explained to me a very long time ago, something about it grounding their energy with the earth and severing their link to the demon realm, the net result is that the elemental chaos energy they’re made of gets literally torn apart taking the demon with it.”
“Cool.”
“Very, at least the first few hundred times you see it, after that it’s just routine.”
“So the ends of your staff are made of iron?” Dylan asked.
“Very observant, yes the ends are capped in iron, and my boots too. Comes in handy when you need to get your point across.” Zhou clicked his heels together and they could hear the dull thud of the heavy boots.
“But what about the one that Mac exploded?”
“I think we can thank the Tooth for that one. This rock must have a very high concentration of iron ore in it. Large quantities of iron ore can disturb the higher elemental forces and cause all sorts of interesting effects, a bit like how a magnet can disturb a compass. Maybe it’s why Lian chose this area, I don’t know. All I do know is that we’ve stayed here far too long and if we were being led in to a trap who ever set it is going to come looking for us very soon.”
The trap is closing around them? Yikes!
😬