Journeys Through SpaceTime

Honor Destroyed by Unknown Dark Forces

...Dameon province

The rain was coming down hard as the group of shadows silently ran through the forest on this pitch-dark night. Dressed in black from head-to-toe, these shadow warriors were extremely agile and flexible as they scurried through the thick forest terrain. With eyesight abilities matching the nocturnal animals that roamed the forest at night, the surrounding area was lit up for these warriors almost as if it were dusk instead of the middle of the night.

The original objective for each of these special combatants was to remain invisible to their fellow clansman and to subdue their enemy as quickly as possible. Along with an array of various special tools to allow each one almost supernatural ability, each of these warriors had a special blow-dart gun equipped with darts soaked in pinar sap. Taken from the pinaris tree, the sap had the ability to render a full grown adult unconscious if it entered the bloodstream. In essence, each loser in this game of hide and seek would be knocked out from the special sap.

Little did any of these shadow warriors know what was soon in store for each one of them. As shadow warriors went, Tazon was a notch above the rest of his fellow clansman. The rest of this elite community of warriors knew they would have to subdue Tazon first to have any chance of winning this game of stealth. An elaborate plan had been developed by the other clansman to trap Tazon and defeat him before he could use his amazing abilities to take out his opponents. Secretly, they had applied a special die to the back of Tazon's black garment that could only be seen at night as a slight glow. Along with the special dye, each of the other warriors would signal each other through pre-rehearsed flute sounds that imitated the sound of the koyato monkeys that roamed the forest at night.

Meditating the afternoon before the competition began that night, Tazon saw the vision of a red-faced demon with piercing black eyes and horns protruding from its forehead. "There is a plot against you tonight. You must be aware of your fellow clansman. Prepare for an attack from all of them at the same time." Coming out of the meditation, Tazon nodded to himself as he began to devise his own plan for that night.

Once the clan leader signaled the start of the exercise, Tazon quickly sprinted away from the rest of his fellow shadow warriors and into the dark forest. After about two miles, he found the perfect Toroshian tree for his plan. He found a muddied shallow close to the tree and quickly dug out the mud with his torrus wedge to create a shallow grave-size hole. With the pit complete, Tazon ascended the tall Toroshian tree with the skill of a koyato monkey. At the top of the tree, Tazon spotted his fellow clansman coming towards the area he had staged for his attack. Good, the clues I left have been found, Tazon thought as he watched the other warriors approach his position.

As flute sounds rang out through the forest, Tazon could see the others begin to circle in on his position. When the group was almost at the tree, he quickly slid down and jumped into the muddy hole. Covering himself with the dugout mud, he left only a small hole for his face. The rain was still coming down as Tazon closed his eyes to meditate on his next move once the prey were all in position. While in this meditative state, Tazon could also sense the presence and position of all his fellow clansman as they came in closer to where he lay buried in the mud.

Once all his fellow warriors had surrounded him, Tazon jumped out of the muddy trap and began the sequence of moves he had rehearsed in his mind. Time slowed down in his mind as he pulled out his dart gun and began to systematically shoot each of his prey with the pinar sap tipped darts. Before any of the others knew what had happened, they all felt the sting of the darts in their flesh. The powerful sap worked quickly in the bloodstream to render each target unconscious before they could even counter his attack.

A short while later, Tazon strolled into base camp and went straight to the clan leader. "The plan failed. You will find them all under a tall Toroshian tree approximately two miles to the west."