In the time of darkness and demons roamed through the night and heroes were unknown comes an unbelievable story…

          Deep running footsteps echoed through a forest. A chase was happening on a cold, dark night. As a full moon blasted rays of light upon the trees, a figure emerged from the depths of the forest. He came to a jolting halt, near the edge of a cliff. It was overlooking a raging river. The figure looked around at the sky, out of breath. The figure was covered in a black uniform from head to toe. Only the eyes were visible to the cold air. It was a male Ninja. He was covered in fresh blood.

            Ninjas were warriors of ancient Japan and were hired assassins that killed for money and survival. Their methods of executing their victims were many. From poisoned Ninja Stars, darts, spikes or using the Katana blade were many ways of causing death. The Katana blade was a light sword that was always sharp. It could cut cans in half with one stroke. It was an excellent weapon for combat. It was strapped to their backs in a silver sheath. All the hidden weapons like Ninja stars were hidden underneath their uniform in various spots. Women Ninjas were unique in their own way. Many had great speed and balance. Some were even made leaders. Each Ninja warrior, once done years and years of training, would stay with the group. If any tried to leave it, they were executed. The Ninjas felt their existence should stay secret and were afraid that if even one Ninja left, their existence would be in jeopardy.

            The Ninja had only one true enemy and a war broke out between them. This enemy was named Samurai. The Samurai were honorable warriors that wore light white clothes and never covered their identity. Their weapons were only Katana blades and a few hidden weapons under their uniform. Some warriors used two blades at once and no hidden weapons.

            A Ninja hideout was very hard to pinpoint for a full force attack. It was usually well hidden in a forest, cave or in some form of cover. The Samurai were very easy to locate. In a small village with lots of open area. They trained outside always during the day and took refugee inside their long houses or dojos. Everything was made by their own hands. The houses were made from bamboo and wood.

An attack on the village wouldn’t be too smart since it is an open area and guards are hidden everywhere.

            One thing that both the Ninja and the Samurai did have in common was fighting spirit. Each warrior had his or her own skills and abilities that made them unique in their own way. Each remained together in their group, but each had his or her own destiny.

For the Samurai, once the individual has been trained enough and is ready, a choice is made. To stay with the group or go out on his or her own. Most stay but some leave to seek other goals.

The war between them went on for years and years until one dark night something changed the twenty-year war…

A battle broke out between a group of Ninjas and Samurai. It was in an open field. The battle lasted for two hours. Many of the top warriors on both sides fought bravely and died honorably. As the moon stared down from the sky, three Ninjas and four Samurai were left from fifty warriors. They all stood in a circle of slain warriors surrounded by tall grass. Blood covered the battlefield and the remaining survivors. The group of warriors walked around in a small circle, all eyes locked on their targets. Finally after five minutes of walking in a circle like a showdown, attacks lashed out. Within seconds, two Ninjas were decapitated and three Samurai were slain. Now it was one on one. Just as the two were ready to do battle, a gust of powerful wind blew the two apart. Both warriors were thrown ten feet from each other. As they crashed to the blood covered ground, a figure came sweeping downward, out of the moon’s bright haze. The figure was dressed in a black cloak with a hood covering its face. The figure landed in the middle of the battlefield. The Ninja flipped to his feet, as did the Samurai. They both gazed at the figure with their swords grasped tightly. Covered in blood, sweat and gasping for air, the two warriors watched the figure raise its arms. A beam of bright blue light shot out of the hands. It blinded the two warriors. A sound of rumbling and an eerie high-pitched yell came from the blue rays. The beam covered the entire area. The figure or the two warriors weren’t visible even from the sky. Then the beam cut off after a few seconds. The figure lowered his arms as the two warriors each blinked their eyes to regain sight. What they saw was unexplainable. All the slain bodies of their comrades were gone. Only pools of blood remained.

            The Samurai shouted, “Who are you?”

            The figure turned to face the Samurai and slowly pulled back its hood. The Samurai gasped as the lowered hood revealed a vampire. An undead creature that he thought only existed through stories. The vampire had a dark gray, pale skin tone with black as night eyes and claws the size of a toothpick started to grow out from its hands. The vampire vanished from the sight of both warriors.

Meanwhile, the Ninja was trying to get a grip on himself. His sword was still grasped tightly, but it shook in his hand briefly. The Samurai clutched his weapon in his hands, rolling his eyes around, looking for the demon. After a few seconds, a rustle of grass muttered from behind him.

            The Ninja heard the vampire’s voice slither, “Blood!”

            The samurai wasn't fast enough to react. The creature sliced the warrior’s head off with one swift stroke. The Ninja sheathed his Katana and took off towards a forest.

            He ran through the forest in a panic. For the first time in his life, fear ran through his veins. The blood on his uniform began to stink. He knew the smell could attract the demon if it was after him. The Ninja stopped running and listened for any sounds. A sound of flowing water came from the West of him. He took off and raced towards it. While he headed for the water sound, footsteps started emanating from behind him.

            The cliff was very high and rocky. The Ninja was staring at the moonlit sky.

            Footsteps were heading for him. The Ninja looked around the area. The cliff surface extended about thirty feet out until the edge. He thought for a minute, then unsheathed his sword. After a few seconds, the vampire came out from the dark forest. A smile covered in blood was pasted on its foul face.

            The vampire swung his right claw at the Ninja, but he avoided it by dodging. Another swipe came from the demon, but this time it was the left claw. Again, the Ninja avoided it. Just seconds after the Ninja avoided the second claw attack, the vampire gave the warrior a left roundhouse kick to the face. The Ninja fell backwards onto his right side. His jaw felt broken. He ignored the pain, as with his training to avoid pain helped him in many situations. The warrior flipped to his feet. Blood ran down his mask from both sides of his mouth.

            Just as the vampire charged at the Ninja for an assault, the Ninja drove his Katana into the chest of the demon just missing its heart and flipped him over his shoulders. The vampire was taken by surprise as he flew over the edge of the cliff. The demon managed to grab onto the ledge of the cliff.

            With the Katana still through his chest, the vampire started to pull himself up. The Ninja waited for the demon to get halfway up, then tore the sword from his chest and grabbed the vampire by the neck with his left hand. The vampire just snickered as his black eyes gazed upon the Ninja.

            He released his grasp on the monster. As the ninja let go, the vampire realized he was in deep trouble. Almost in slow motion, the vampire's head turned to face the water below him.

            Screams of terror echoed from the cliff as he fell into the water below. Just as the freezing water touched his skin, it began to melt. Screams of pain and spews of blood filled the raging water as the vampire’s flesh melted off his bones. After a few seconds, a smoking skeleton floated down the river. The blood dissolved in the water behind it.

            The Ninja felt the pain of his jaw and was exhausted. He picked up his Katana blade from the ground, wiped the blood off its surface and sheathed it. The tired warrior walked back into the darkness of the forest to find a spot to rest for a while.

            Three years after the incident, he went into hiding. He hid where no human would enter. A forest known as: Natas. This forest was filled with creatures of chaos and death. Many brave souls entered this forest because of cocky courage, then vanished. He trained only during the day to avoid the demons roaming the forest. He knew how to hide and keep safe. The day brought enough light through the trees to see everything. He still wore a Ninja outfit.

            The Ninja’s name was Loong.

            A few powers he had gained from training non-stop.

            First power gained was the skill to heal himself over a short period of time. A power almost magical. The biggest drawback was he actually needed one full hour of meditation. Hiding was easy, healing took a while to finish. This skill could only heal any non-lethal wounds. A lethal wound like a stab through the heart or slices to the neck needed medical attention and couldn’t be healed at all. This skill helped him heal his jaw properly.

            The second skill was faster speed to attack and defend. Thus, Loong could keep up with any demon or enemy’s speed. It didn’t matter what speed was presented. He could match it. However, he couldn’t be faster or slower than the enemy. He had to learn his enemy’s movements and adapt. This only took a few seconds in battle.

            The third and final skill he gained was a power gain when an enemy overwhelmed him. This skill gave him the ability to take on creatures that were the same size and had much more muscle. With this skill, he could match the enemy’s strength. It was almost like his speed skill, except this dealt with matching strength. The drawback to this skill was he couldn’t match strength with larger enemies like dragons and so forth. Then again he wouldn’t be that stupid to take on a dragon knowing it would slaughter him.

Loong was a powerful warrior, but mostly kept in hiding. He met one friend since he went into hiding. It was a woman. Her name was Urai. She was a warrior in hiding too. She also wore a Ninja outfit, but it was red. She had a katana blade strapped to her back.

Urai used to belong to another Ninja clan until the day she tried to escape the group. This was almost a huge mistake as she nearly lost her life. A battle broke out between her and the leader of the group. She wanted to escape because her group began killing at random and even spilled children’s blood. This act was a sign of a Ninja group gone evil. This evil happened upon the group while Urai and another Ninja were on a mission for unknown reasons. When Urai and the other Ninja returned to the group, all the Ninja’s were on the ground like they all had been knocked out. There was no blood spilled to suggest a battle had taken place. A strange occurrence, but it was ignored.

            As the next month went by, she began to see changes in her clan members’ behavior. They went out at night, two or even three times, and attacked villages, towns, even castles. This was not the code of the Ninja at all. The leader killed the Ninja that was with Urai the night of her mission. Decapitated for being a traitor. He never did any wrong action. He was the only sane one besides Urai left in the group at the time. After witnessing the death, Urai tried to sneak away from the group two days after. She was stopped by ten Ninjas with evil in their eyes. The battle lasted only seconds as she killed them all. The leader sucker kicked her from behind after she killed the last Ninja. She ignored the slight pain and took on her leader.

            The leader clutched his blade in his hands and just laughed in an evil, ghoulish tone.

            Urai struck her leader in the left shoulder blade. This seemed to not effect him. For the next five minutes, their blades clashed and sparks flew. Eventually Urai saw a horde of Ninjas heading for her to most likely cause harm. She bought herself some time by kicking her leader in the stomach, knocking him on his back. She ran like the wind. The Ninjas gave chase, but never caught up. Urai made it to the forest she now hides with Loong in.

            She trains by herself, away from Loong to keep her distance. Urai had become attracted to Loong after one year, but kept her feelings to herself. Their bond was strong. It made them even more powerful as a team. Both waited in the forest until it was time to move on.

Vampires were on the rise around the whole country. They struck violently and quickly vanquished all but one group of Ninjas and Samurais that joined forces. A sight unseen, but true. They were spread out all over the place. All of them were now assassins. Secret identities covered up each member as they blended in with the people in different towns. Once important information was heard, an attack was planed. Everyone wore the black ninja uniforms now. The night was the only time attacks were made. The vampires were easier to spot. Vampire lairs were almost impossible to locate. The missions of death consisted of five or six attackers. Enough to take one down. Vampires were very hard to kill because of their strength, speed, and powers. Many died at their hands.

            Each vampire belonged to a group. Each vampire was separated into wild and warrior vampire groups.

Wild groups were vampires that only ate and ate and were very violent and uncontrollable. They didn’t have much of a brain and 90% never had a clear thought enter their skull. Because they were undead, the brain was mush and it was like having zombies around. They tore human flesh apart like a zombie to get to the blood. Very untamed creatures indeed.

Warrior vampire groups consisted of smart and agile fighters. The group ate, but didn’t tear their victim to shreds. They only bit the neck and left a drained body behind. Their fighting skills were like knights. Slashes, cut, stab and destroy. Some vampires carried weapons like axes and broadswords. Those were the only forms of weapons used. Most had some form of martial art learned from generations of vampires.

Head vampire leaders had control of their own groups. They are without a doubt the hardest to kill from all of them. They knew magic spells. Their strength is immense and they fight hard and never give up, ever. The only good news is that leader vampires don’t show their face too often. Only if they see it fit. They stay hidden, even from their own kind. There were many leaders that hide in the shadows of the night. They fed, but very secretly.

            In order to kill the vampires, there were certain things that had to be done. For one thing, the vampire’s heart is his life. All the blood that the foul beast drank went through its veins and directly to the heart. All the powers come from the heart and the blood they consumed. If anything destroys it, the vampire dies. Any weapon made of pure wood or steel could be used to spike the heart. Any other weapon was useless. The katana blade used by assassins was always used to attack the demons. Because of its steel surface, it made a great weapon. Once the heart was pierced, the vampire would collapse and remain dead even if the weapon was removed.

            Water was very deadly to all vampires. It’s a pure and natural element of earth and can destroy those undead monsters. Water is like fire to vampires. If a drop of water hits their pale skin, it burns. If a bucket of water hits the skin, it starts to melt it. If more than a wave of water smashes into them, it melts and destroys the whole body. They disintegrate.

            The sun can make any vampire burn and explode into fragments of flesh. Again, because the sun is a natural element of earth, it can kill the demons. The vampires must sleep during the day and can only come out at night. Their lairs are almost impossible to find because they are very well hidden. If one were discovered, the smart idea would be to leave it alone. The lairs have twenty undead vermin inside them and it is dark, so sun can’t get in.

            Things that were useless against the vampires were crosses and garlic. Holy water was not used as much but it did burn vampires, but usually the supply was never enough to melt them. Lava or a dragon’s breath could also work, however this form of death was rare.

            Loong was training hard as expected during the day. He was practicing sword techniques when a noise broke his concentration. A sound of galloping was echoing from the north of the forest. It was getting closer and closer as the seconds past by. Loong quickly shot up the nearest tree and hid perched on a branch like a bird. He waited for the object to pass.

            “Whoa!” a voice shouted as the sound of a horse stopped right below the tree where Loong was.

            It was a man.

A blanket sheltered his head as he looked back once and jumped off. Loong had a top view of the man’s skull and the back of the horse. He noticed on the saddle was dry blood. It was aged by a few hours.

            Another sound came from where the man emerged. It was a gust of wind that blew the man down onto his back. The man, still in sight, quickly rose to his feet and gazed around the area. Loong had only a view of the area below him and couldn’t see beyond that. The branches blocked everything off. He would have to give his position away in order to see more.

            The man became uneasy and shouted, “Show yourself, Sarm! I know you’re following me!”

            The man pulled out a small dagger from his pants. The dagger looked bent into a curve. It was an odd shape for a small weapon like that. Its silver surface shined in the very limited light throughout the forest.

            “Fool! You know nothing!” another voice echoed from just below Loong.

            A figure came into the view of Loong. It was also a man, but he wore a black cloak with a hood that covered his whole body. The man turned to face this figure.

            The man pointed his dagger at the figure and asked, “You demon!”

            The man went to stab the figure known as Sarm.

            Sarm blocked the attempt and kicked the man in the stomach making him drop the dagger. The man collapsed to his knees.

            The man grimaced in pain, “Damn…. You!”

            Sarm picked up the man by the neck, as his blanket blew off. Loong now saw the man’s face.

            The man had a large scar that started at the top of his right cheek and ended at the right part of the chin. The scar just missed his bright green eyes. Dirt covered the man’s marine-cut black hair.

Loong suddenly recognized him. He was Loong’s mission partner for many years before that fateful war day. He thought he was dead along with the others. His name was Jubuli. His Ninja skills were incredible even for Loong to watch.

 His first skill was the ability to charge energy through any weapon he had, no matter how small, and deliver a powerful blow to any enemy.

            His second skill was jumping to high heights with speed. He could jump from tree to tree or rock to rock within seconds. This made avoiding projectiles easy.

For some reason this time, Jubuli didn’t look fast as he used to.

            “You traitor! You tried to steal from me!” Sarm uttered.

            Loong knew anymore delay and Jubilee would die.

            Jubilee coughed, “Y…you’ll die. All… of…you!”

            Sarm threw Jubilee by the neck behind him and laughed. Jubilee crashed into the ground out of Loong’s sight.

            Just as Sarm turned to face the fallen Ninja, Loong jumped from his hiding spot onto the horse’s saddle and then jumped from the saddle into Sarm, knocking him onto his stomach. Loong fell on his back, but quickly rose to his feet and unsheathed his sword.

            “Ugh!” Sarm bellowed, as he tasted dirt.

            Loong flipped to Jubilee. He helped him to his feet.

            “Who are you?” Jubilee asked while getting some air back into his lungs.

            Loong whispered, “Not now!”

            He pushed Jubilee to the side.

            Sarm rose to his feet and pulled his back his hood to reveal an aged vampire. This took Loong by surprise because vampires can’t come out during the day.

Sarm pulled a large blade out from under his cloak and growled, “Another pig to slay!”

            Loong and Sarm walked around in circle, waiting for any sign of movement of attack. They were only four feet from each other. Jubilee backed off from the two.

            After a few seconds, Sarm ran at Loong with his sword up in a striking position. Loong, who already had his sword ready, took a defensive stance. Both their weapons clashed in a series of sparks as both blades connected.

            Sarm slashed at Loong’s head as it was blocked. Loong pushed Sarm back as he began to gain strength that matched his opponent. Sarm swung his blade at Loong’s knees as he jumped over it. Loong gave Sarm a roundhouse kick to the face as he fell backwards. He then waited for Sarm’s next move.

            “You worm!” Sarm growled as he jumped in the air and landed behind Loong.

            Just as he landed, Loong gave him a back-kick to the left his left side. This made Sarm lose his balance and fall sideways to his left. Loong then flipped away from the fallen enemy and landed about five feet from him. Sarm stumbled to his feet, in pain.

            Both their eyes filled with anger as they met. Both charged at one another. Their blades clashed as sparks flew in all directions. Loong’s back faced his enemy’s. Sarm went to backstab Loong. Loong just avoided the attack by a few inches as he spun his sword around into Sarm’s neck. Black blood spewed from the cut.

            Sarm screamed in pain, “Aaaaaa…!”

            Loong ripped his sword from the neck and stabbed the demon through the heart. Sarm’s eyes filled with dark blood as he dropped into a clump. Loong pulled his weapon from the undead creature and had one last look at the motionless body. He then wiped the blood off his weapon and sheathed it.

            Jubilee watched the whole battle unfold from a kneeling crouch. He looked injured somewhat. He was clutching his stomach.

            Loong walked over to him and stopped by his left side.

            Jubilee stood up and caught his breath and asked again, “Who are you?”

            Loong removed his mask.

            Jubilee became stunned, as he knew whom it was that just saved him.

            Loong’s brown eyes glowed in the forest light. His black hair was in a ponytail knot. His mouth turned from a long frown into a small smirk.

            “I…I can’t believe this! Loong! I thought the war took your life!” Jubilee blurted out.

            Loong smiled and answered, “The war took many lives, except mine. I was lucky to escape with just a broken jaw. Anyway, that was years ago. I thought you were killed in the war, but you stand here before me, alive! How can this be?”

            “I wasn’t involved in that war. I was the one left behind to guard our hideout in case any Samurai attacked it. Three vampires attacked it instead and I was forced to defend myself against those demons of the night. I fought them for a long time.” Jubilee explained.

            Loong wondered, “How did you escape?”

            “Luck.” Jubilee answered.

            Loong was suspicious about Jubilee’s explanation. It sounded strange. He kept Urai a secret because his suspicions were very high. Going along with his story would be a wise choice for now to see if it was true.

            Loong put his mask back on and made it tight and muttered, “I must go. Take care of yourself.”

            Jubilee nodded as he watched Loong take to the trees and disappear from sight. Jubilee walked over to the Sarm’s fallen corpse and searched it. He extracted a gold medallion from his cloak. He wasn’t grabbing his stomach, like there wasn’t any pain at all.

            The medallion sparkled in brightness as Jubilee smiled, “Yes!”

            He walked over to the horse that had stood still all this time. Jubilee stuffed the treasure underneath the saddle. It was jammed under very firmly so that it was impossible to fall out.

Then he got on the horse and muttered, “Fool. You just helped me as I predicted. You have no idea you just killed your kind!”

            He pulled on the horse’s straps as the horse shot off towards the south and out of sight leaving a dead body and his fallen blanket behind.

Urai was resting on top of a branch after a hefty workout. Sweat rolled down her mask and in between her breasts. The workout lasted few hours. She had removed her red mask.

            Her long brown hair had fallen onto both of her shoulders. Urai’s brown eyes shinned in the forest’s light reflecting off the ground. Her thin face fit the mask perfectly. Her hands wiped the sweat from her face as she sighed with a deep exhale of breath.

            A sound came from the tree next to her. It was Loong.

            “Finished your workout already? I figured you would take all day to finish.” Urai smirked.

            Loong calmly said; “I just met an old ghost and killed a vampire. I thought vampires vaporized in sunlight.”

            “You fought a vampire during daybreak! Why didn’t you get me?” Urai shouted.

Loong sighed sarcastically, “I had no time to come for you!”

“A vampire during the day. That’s not possible. We must find answers." Urai said calmly.

            Loong stated, “We must find some information. An investigation is in order. I must go to the group with this information. Maybe they know already, but I feel it is information needed to be given to them. Also I am very suspicious of the ghost from my past I just ran into. He’s an old friend I thought was killed by vampires. I acted like I didn’t know what happened just to see if he made up another story. He didn’t, but to escape from vampires is a hard task. I’m very lucky to escape from one myself…twice. This man is named Jubilee and…”

            Urai interrupted, “Jubilee! I knew a man with that same name. He was on one of my missions when I still was with my group before I escaped.”

            Loong cocked his left eye and asked, “Is he a wanted man?”

            “Yes.” Urai answered.

            “What did he do?” Loong questioned.

            Urai lowered her head and answered, “It was he who killed my father! That butcher fought my father to the death." Visions of two men battling rattled in her mind. "My father was protecting me. Jubilee was after a medallion. This medallion had some sort of power that if used correctly could either kill vampires or in the wrong hands could give the user powers beyond imagination." The vision continued. "Anyway the battle between my father and that killer lasted a while until Jubilee cut my father down." The vision ended as a flashback of her father being sliced in the heart took place. "He tried to get me but I fought him off. The battle didn’t last long as he escaped from me. I don’t know what made him think we had it.”

            Loong asked, “Who had this treasure?”

            “I don’t know.” Urai answered.

            “What if…” Loong began to talk as he stopped and took off back the way he came.

            Urai put her mask back on and followed.

            Both warriors scurried back to the Sarm’s fallen body. As soon as Loong landed on the ground from the trees, he saw Sarm’s body had been disturbed. He scampered over to it and searched it. Urai landed just as the search began.

            Loong huffed, “This demon must have had it when I left Jubilee. That must mean he has it.”

            "You fought a large vampire?" Urai thought to herself, and smiled underneath her mask.

            He pounded his right fist into the ground with anger and growled, “I shouldn’t have left him here, by himself! Stupid move!”

            Urai looked around towards the dirt ground and sighed, “It’s alright. Mistakes happen. Did he have a horse? If so, then we follow the trail.”

            Loong rose from his knees to stare at the ground. Both Ninjas gazed at the ground and saw a horse trail heading towards the south. Since Ninjas were excellent trackers, following a trail was easy.

            “Let’s go!” Urai ordered.

            Both warriors took off towards the sunlit south edge of the forest.