Chapter 86

Difina and Jimison appeared on opposite sides of the balcony. They both stopped as they watched three males fall unconscious before Kimon.

“So,” the last male said, “you are far better than we thought. Too bad you’ll soon be dead.”

A slight smile came to Kimon’s lips, “Oh, I think you are gravely mistaken. Though, I will show you the error of your ways.”

“You will learn the power of a second level master, these” he indicated the other three. “They were nothing.”

Kimon smiled slightly, then vanished. There were immediately the sounds of heavy hits, then a few thuds. A moment later, both appeared. The Delcron’s clothes ripped apart, plus he was slightly panting.

Kimon could only shake his head. Damn, this male was as slow as the others.

“So, I can see, like the last I faced, your upper masters aren’t well trained,” Kimon said, a slight smile on his face.

“You are no better than a pompous amateur,” the male in ragged clothing said.

Kimon only shook his head, “I shall end this, I am not even breaking a sweat.”

Kimon vanished, appearing on the other side of the second level master. Kimon stood there a moment then turned to watch the male as he crashed to the floor. Kimon held up a hand as a good number of Delcron guards came from the opening of the balcony.

Again, Kimon vanished, a moment later he reappeared, the Delcron assassin tied in a most peculiar way. Each finger was tied apart from each other. The arms were tied crossed, not touching.

“I will give him to you after I am through with him,” Kimon said as many frowned.

“I will die before I talk,” the assassin said.

“This I know, though I am not interested in talking.” The male looked into Kimon’s eyes then shuddered.

Less than an hour later, Kimon was in a room with both the third and second level masters.

“First, I will tell you that for me? Neither of you have any skill. Also, the male that you were after is my student as well as the princess. At the moment, they are well beyond your students. I have heard of your clan. If they wish to declare war upon me and my clan, I will not leave many alive,” Kimon said.

“Ha! You may have taken me. You will not fare as well against the next we send,” the second master said.

Kimon smirked, “I hope they are better than you, I felt I was against a novice.”

“Oh, you will feel the fury of those that have taught me,” the second master sneered.

Kimon walked out, heading toward the training room. A slight pressure in the air alerted him to a presence.

“No need to hide, I know you are here, show your face,” Kimon said.

A strike came from his left that he easily deflected. The second and third strikes just as easy. Kimon nodded then vanished, the sounds of a resounding hand to hand battle was heard.

A loud hit could be heard as a male Delcon was flying backwards towards the wall. Kimon appeared in front of him as soon as he hit the wall, landing another hit, it square in the chest.

“For as skilled as your clan is supposed to be? Even you, as a first master, are barely skilled,” Kimon said.

The Delcron male’s eyes were wide as he tried to strike Kimon, only to be pounded more into the wall. “Your style is familiar, much like the Grand Master’s. Your moves mirror his almost exactly,” the male said as he passed out.

Kimon ripped the male out of the wall, tying the man up. Kimon thought of what he’d said. After trussing up the first master, Kimon walked back to his room.

Kimon then knelt to activate a holo-graph machine. A few moments later, a holo-graph of Isamu Sakuta shimmered into sight.

“Exalted leader of the Jitaku council, I am afraid that I bear tragic news. I have fought the third, second and first masters of the Rilcon order, as they call themselves. Their art is far below an initiate of a few years,” Kimon said.

“Not to be unexpected,” Isamu said, then was concerned at the look on Kimon’s face. “I take it something else has you concerned?”

“It was something that the first master I defeated said. He said: Your style is familiar, much like the Grand Master’s. Your moves mirror his almost exactly. I remember reading in our history. About the banished master, who used his art to learn the dark arts,” Kimon said.

Isamu was quiet for a few moments as he himself was remembering the old legend. A moment later he nodded, “it is as you remember. This occurred over two hundred years ago. The master was re-named Jaakuna mono. As I remember, he ended many students’ lives.”

Kimon was also deep in thought, “wasn’t my great-great-great grandfather the one to defeat him?” Kimon asked.

“Both yours and mine, at that time they were only clan leaders,” Isamu said. “Both our clans have been close for even longer.” Isamu then reached over to pull a belt of Kimon’s clan. “I have, conferred with Oni, plus all have seen your battle.” Isamu touched the side of the belt it immediately changing color. “As the leader of the Jitaku council, plus advisement from your clan, you are now passed to a high clan leader.”

Kimon’s mouth hung open as the belt vanished, then appeared in his arms. Kimon immediately bowed to the floor, “I am honored to receive this, I will do all to further the honor that has been bestowed upon me.”

Isamu nodded, this should have happened years ago, though, as Kimon had said, his honor had to be restored. With that done, plus the three students he now had, it was a good thing to honor him as a master.

“It is hoped that the business at hand can conclude soon, this pending joining needs to happen. I am sure that you are as anxious to be with Oni, as I know she longs to be with you,” Isamu said.

“Yes, it has been far too long for the both of us,” Kimon said as he bowed.

“We trust that you will take care of the last shame of Jitaku. Your skill has passed far beyond what we thought it was. As we have all agreed, there are only thirty that might defeat you, myself included. Hunt well, we know you will restore the full honor of Jitaku,” Isamu said as he bowed, then the connection disconnected.

Kimon thought for a few minutes as he went through the legend. Arising he left, first he needed to advance his students before another attack occurred. He was almost to the training room when his com. went off.

“This is Colonel Kimon,” he said.

“My mate, I am almost there. I have brought your first student as well as his intended with her ship. We should be docked soon. I have missed you, my mate to be,” Oni said.

“As I have missed you, I await you,” Kimon said as he redirected his path.

Emperor Kandra watched space roll and boil as a strange sleek craft emerged from trans-warp.

“This is courier one of Jitaku asking permission to dock,” a male voice said. “We are carrying the mate to be of master Kimon and his first student.”

Kandra nodded as the crew gave the permission, then watched as the impressive little ship rapidly advanced, then docked. Even more impressive was the very large ship that exited right behind it. That ship needed no permission.

Kimon was at the hatch when it opened, “greetings my soon to be mate, Greeson,” Kimon said.

“You said they are almost to the second level. Are they still in control?” Oni asked.

“I believe they are; I need them further if they are to survive the next few weeks,” Kimon said.

Oni was about to speak further when she noticed the belt that Kimon wore. “So, the clan and the council have approved your pass to high clan leader. It is a proud day that you are recognized for what you are.”

“I just hope that I no longer bring dishonor as I did before. I do believe that these three students will further the honor of Jitaku,” Kimon said.

As the three moved off, a shadowy figure watched them. The grand master needed to be told about the potential danger. The figure could see that two of them moved with a grace that only a master had. The other one moved almost like a master, though not quite.

An hour later, the male appeared within the secret training headquarters of the Rilcon order. They were well hidden on the Delcron world.

A bow to what appeared to be a human, drew the grand masters attention. “Speak.”

“Another appeared today, she appears to move like the male. There was another, though they moved well, they appeared to be a well advanced student,” The shadowy male said.

“I have heard that the male’s moves mirror my own. It appears that I will have to take care of these new threats,” the Grand Master said. “Did you hear where they were from?”

“Yes, Grand Master, I heard the male mention a place called Jitaku,” the male said.

The slight jerking reaction the Grand Master had, was not lost on the shadowy male.

“So,” the nearly human Grand Master said, “It appears the old clan of my ancestors has finally reached us. This will take all of the clan to make it through. Gather all of the first four levels of masters’. Also, all the full masters, it will take all of us in order to survive.”

“Surely, the old clan isn’t better than our clan,” the male asked.

The Grand Master sighed, “we are just coming into our own. We have already lost several third and second level masters. We have also lost one of our first level masters. The reports I have say that they were defeated by the male. Reports also say that his skill is on par with my own. It will be I who will have to face him.”

The shadowy male was shocked at this, an unprecedented event. “If he is that dangerous, we full masters should face him.”

“No, this has to do with clan honor, plus if I am lost, the full masters must carry on,” the Grand Master said.

The shadowy male only nodded then bowed, this he thought might be the end of the clan. Leaving the room, the shadowy male made his way deeper into the clan building. He had to notify the rest of the clan of the peril that they were now facing.

He entered the largest and deepest room, seeing well over five thousand clan members. Walking to the front, he took his place beside the other two masters. When the time came, he walked to the raised dais.

The master then relayed all that the grand master had told him. He did his best not to smile as the multitude there roared in anger. Good, he thought we may go down, we will take some of them with us.

Emperor Kandra had already set about quelling the rest of the rebellion on the homeworld. He estimated that well over sixty-five percent of the rebels were imprisoned or dead.

He then turned to observe another readout from the capital. Good the Capital was now clear, giving another five percent of home world back to him.

A look out the view screen showed the impressive three imperial ships that were stationary near his fleet. The appearance of the third ship had actually help quell a lot of the unrest. Well, that and his daughter’s partial speech.

He shook his head after hearing the anger of the people at his brother’s people. The people had started to turn in a great many of the traitors, they felt, had tried to kill his daughter, the princess. Even worse, they were doublely angered that the hero of the Delcron people had been also targeted. Releasing a sigh, Kandra thought they both just needed to get better, though, they were damn fast now.

Kandra shook his head as he went through even more reports about what was left of the rebels. Opening a com. he started to direct more troops to areas that still held a great many of the rebels.

An hour later, Kimon, plus a female and another male entered the bridge. They were closely followed by his daughter and her mate to be.

There were more than a few hisses and growls from the bridge crew. Kandra immediately cleared his throat, which brought immediate silence.