Mount. Hokugen, an infamous mountain set on a local island on the right side of New Eden. It houses four dormant volcanic cones that are set on the four corners of the mountains base. The island which holds Mount Hokugen has been vacant since it's last eruption 250 years ago. Rumors has it that the mountain has been a nesting ground for fiends and creatures alike.Koji and his party had ordered a ferry to take them to the island of Mt. Hokugen where the Fire Dragon was said to reside. In the midst of their travel, Yasmin decided to take this opportunity to do some self reflecting. She placed herself at the left of the ferry with her arms resting against the rails and her curly hair flowing with the wind. She stared at the water below as her thoughts were set on Titus, her former lover.
Her reasoning for gaining the Dragon Claws was to bring him back but deep down within her she started to feel a bit guilty. She knew the feelings she had for Koji had increased steadfastly as the days go by but couldn't determined where or when these feelings were originated. She let out a deep sigh while resting her cheek against her arm, her eyes, still fixed on the wavy waters below. Her eyes had widen suddenly as she started to see an image of Koji appearing on the water.She instantly began shaking her head slightly while questioning herself as to why, why can she not stop thinking about him. Her thoughts was suddenly grasped away as she heard the voice of Koji who instantly made her heart stop in it's place. Chills ran down her spine as a red flush line instantly appeared upon her face.
"Yasmin?" Koji said softly while tilting his head to the right. "Is everything alright?"
"Koji! What...what are you doing here?" Yasmin questioned while turning to face Koji with a nervous smile.
"I just came to check up on you, then I heard you talking..." Koji replied while approaching the hand rails "who can you not stop thinking about?"
Shit he heard me! Yasmin began scratching the back of her head slightly with her left hand while waving her right hand before her in a frantic manner "It's nothing, it's no one, hey you shouldn't be eavesdropping anyways I'm you're teacher you know!"
"Ah, wait I didn't mean to...it's just..." Koji turned to lean his back against the handrails while he rested his arms up on them. "I was just worried is all, I know you have went through a lot in the past and I know you must miss him..."
"Miss him..." Yasmin stated with a blank stare.
"Yeah..." Koji responded briefly while casting his gaze to the left of him. A soft blush line spreading rapidly across the bridge of his nose.
Yasmin began to wonder who exactly Koji was referring to until it finally clicked within her. She let out a slight gasp at that realization and immediately released a slight chuckle.
"Hey what's so funny?" Koji asked, embarrassed even more now than before.
"Oh it's nothing its just..." Yasmin traced the right strand of her hair back behind her ear while ushering a soft smile towards Koji "you're kinda sweet when you want to be."
"Well anyways I know how it feels to lose someone you truly care for, if you ever want to talk about it or talk about how you feel, I'm here."
"How about this, after we defeat this dragon and get the Dragon Claw I'll tell you all about how I feel..." Yasmin stated while flicking her finger against Koji's forehead causing the young boy to let out a slight groan of annoyance.
"We're finally approaching the island you two, you should come see this," said Vincent suddenly, grasping both Koji and Yasmin's attention. The two followed Vincent and met with Zack at the front of the ferry. They saw the massive mountain standing before them with the dormant volcanic cones set as if they were the corners of castle walls.
Once the ferry had reached land, the four warriors had made their way off the midsize boat and asked for the ferryman to remain there till they returned. Yasmin had led the way into the tropical forest that stood before them with Koji beside her and the remaining two, Vincent and Zack, following steadily behind.
"This dragon must be a sneaky one to have kept himself hidden on this island for so long," said Zack while staring up at the massive structure that was set before them.
"Either way it's going down without a question, that Dragon Claw is as good as ours," Vincent commented while shoving his hands deep inside his pockets.
"You sound confident enough, how many dragons have you slain before this one?" Yasmin asked while glancing back at the two warriors.
"Uh well you see actually..." Vincent stammered.
"Not a single one," Zack stated firmly causing Vincent to stare down at his younger brother.
"Wait what, you can't be serious..." said Yasmin. She shifted her gaze towards Koji who remained quiet throughout the whole discussion "and you Koji?"
"Besides the one at Sobal Bend City, this would be my first one," said Koji firmly with a determined look on his face.
"Give me a break here," said Yasmin while letting out a slight sigh "I guess it can't be helped, just try not to do anything reckless and don't get yourselves killed,"
"Oh you don't have to worry about that, we can take of ourselves," Vincent assured with his right thumb sticking up.
"Yeah just because it's our first time fighting a dragon doesn't mean it's our first time fighting in general," Zack chimed in.
"Right, if you say so," Yasmin said softly while reverting her attention back to the path before her. Just before they had reached the base of the mountain, Yasmin had sensed the presence of something watching them from the bushes. She stretched out her right hand before Koji, halting him in his steps as she began scanning the area.
"Yasmin what's going on?" Koji asked in a curious manner.
"Yeah why we stopped?" Vincent questioned.
"Be quiet and ready yourselves, we're surrounded..." Yasmin stated firmly with a stern look in her eye.
"Damn already...looks like they know we are here," said Zack while unsheathing his blade. He too, began scanning the area around him while placing his back against his brothers.
"Heh, well then what are you waiting for, come out and show yourselves dammit!" Vincent roared with clenched fists.
"Idiot..." Koji stated with narrow eyes.
"Why is your friend so obnoxious?" Yasmin asked.
"That's just his character," Koji responded with a slight shrug of his shoulders. Suddenly the ground started shaking ferociously beneath them causing slight cracks to form within the earth.The four warriors tried to hold their ground as the quake continued. Koji had casted his gaze towards the epicenter of where the cracks were coming from. Out of the darkness and flames, a massive hand made out of molten rock had stretched outward, grasping onto the land in an effort to lift itself up from the cracks of the earth.
"Oh shit! I take back what I said," Vincent shouted with a nervous look swelling within his face.
"What the hell is that thing?" Zack asked, placing his blade before him and entering into his stance.
"It's definitely a fiend, perhaps the Fire Dragon's defense against intruders," said Yasmin. Electricity began to rise within her as she too entered her stance and prepared herself for battle.
"Kunasta," Koji stated. He cast his right hand aside, beckoning forth his loyal blade to appear within his hand in shimmering light. He proceeded in spinning the blade around his hand then grasped tightly unto the handle before entering his stance with his blade held out before him. More fiends with the appearance of tigers had appeared out of the bushes as the fiends that were coming up from the ground slowly started to make their stand before the group of warriors. The creatures took on a humanoid form with no facial features. They stood to be around 2 meters tall and had let out some kind of hellish groan from within the center core of their bodies.
"Looks like they got us trapped, how do you guys wanna handle this?" Vincent asked while unsheathing his Ancient Blade and allowing it to rest against his right shoulder.
"Yasmin and I will handle the molten lava fiends, you take care of the fiends behind us," Koji stated.
"Normally I would find something to disagree with you on, but I believe your decision this time makes a lot of sense," Vincent replied with a smirk.
"Let's go Vincent," said Zack.
"Right," Vincent replied.
The two rushed the tiger fiends head on with Zack leaping in the air to performing an arching slash from his blade, hacking down the two fiends that stood in his way. He cast his gaze to the right to see an oncoming fiend pouncing towards him. He could hear the battle cry being unleashed from deep within his brother's lungs as Vincent plunged his blade straight through the neck of the beast, piercing the flesh and allowing the black blood to gurgle forth and spew outward.
Vincent withdrew his blade and proceeded in slashing another oncoming fiend that tried to spring on a surprise attack from behind. The beast's jaw was instantly separated from the rest of his body as Vincent slashed through the creature with ease.
"Let's go!" Vincent cried, encouraging his brother to join in. Zack rushed the next group of fiends with a crafty smirk upon his face. He swung hard at an oncoming fiend, cutting it down to size upon impact. The sound of metal ripping through flesh echoed throughout the forest as Zack and Vincent continued their onslaught. Koji took a slight glance behind him and couldn't help but usher a small smirk.
"It looks like they're having fun," said Koji.
"Don't worry we are about to have our share of fun next!" Yasmin stated, she rushed the fiends in intense speed, lighting enshrouding her body in the midst of her charge. She appeared before the first set of fiend with a severe kick to the neck of the fiend in front, severing it's head from off it's body. She then proceeded in shoving her right hand straight through the next fiend's chest cavity, grasping the core and crushing it instantly.
The remaining fiend in the group turned it's right arm into a scythe like blade then charged towards Yasmin who had her back towards it. She shifted her gaze back and instantly saw Koji intervening in the attempted strike from the beast. The Kunasta metal hummed slightly as it collided with the fiend's blade then proceeded in hacking off the creature's arm. Koji watched as the beast faltered back slightly, it's body moving in a grotesque manner as another arm replaced the one that was lost.
Cracks started to form into a mouth on the creatures head and with it came a high pitch shrill that made both Koji and Yasmin clenched their teeth slightly. The fiend lashed out both arms unto Koji who quickly retaliated with another hefty swing from his Kunasta , deflecting the strike while Yasmin charged from behind. The stream of lightning that followed her paralyzed the fiend slightly as she rushed passed it.
She quickly altered her course by skidding her feet against the ground and charged forward once more with her fist stretched backward.
"Koji get out of the way!" She cried as she thrust her right fist forward and unleashed a massive lighting strike that instantly disintegrated the fiend upon impact.
"Jesus there's no end to this," said Vincent with clenched teeth.
"Koji, you and Yasmin should go, we got this," said Zack.
"Wait we do?" Vincent questioned with a slightly raised right eyebrow.
"You sure?" Koji asked while glancing back at his fellow comrade.
"Yes, the two of you need to conserve your strength for the dragon, especially you Yasmin," Zack replied briefly.
"Relying on me to take down the big guy eh? Piece of cake," said Yasmin in a confident tone.
"Fine, you two catch up when you can," said Koji. The two brothers gave a thumbs up towards Koji who responded with a thumbs up of his own.
"We'll clear a path, hurry up and go!" Vincent roared. His Ancient Blade had unleashed it's second blade from out of the hilt. Vincent spun the blade around his body as he charged towards the group of fiends that blocked the entrance into Mount Hokugen. It didn't take long before the air was left nothing but a mist of darkness and blood. "Go now! Vincent ordered. The two rushed through the path Vincent had created and entered the mountain with one goal in mind, to obtain the Dragon Claw.
Meanwhile
Deep inside Mount Hokugen, the Legendary Fire Dragon, Eikon, resides in his throne room with the edge of his cheek resting against his right fist which was set on the armrest of his chair. He knew the ones that had been searching for him had finally arrived and was waiting patiently for them to reach his domain. Set beside his throne was a dark blade that had rigid edges and unrecognizable markings on its steel.
A dark mist had suddenly appeared inside the throne room as a man dressed in a black coat appeared from within the darkness. His face was masked by the hood of his coat and his body held an medium build frame. The only thing that could been seen was the devilish grin that he shone unto EIkon.
"Eikon, it's been a while..." the man stated calmly.
"Master..." Eikon commented briefly, his eyes focused on his the man who stood before him.