The Fire Spirits

Kouzai walked up to the temple, no humans had set foot in here since his Grandfather Lee and his Grandmother Phantom, as well as the other Warriors of the Elements, he could remember the story....this was where his Phantom and Lee started to bond a little better, it's also where she contracted the cursed seal of Chan. Kouzai shook his head and as he was about to enter the temple, noticed an old friend "Hey Tekara!!" he shouted.

Tekara's dark eyes fell on her friend and she couldn't shake her feeling of mirth. She hadn't expected to meet Kouzai here, but the young man was always doing something dangerous; she wasn't altogether surprised.

She stepped up to him, the weight up her weapons hardly bothering her as she descended the long stone steps. "What brings you here?" she asked. "Me? I've come to investigate it."

"I've come here to talk to the Fire Spirits" said Kouzai "Why dont we go together?"

Fire Spirits? This intrigued Tekara. Her mind, thirsty for knowledge, reflected in eagerness in her voice. "Of course, someone has to save you if you get into any trouble," Tekara told him, though most likely it'd be the other way around. She didn't admit this, however, and fell into step beside him.

"How are things?" she wondered, slowly ascending the temple's worn steps once more.

"Good....hmm, I'm surprised there aren't more traps" said Kouzai.

"You mean those?" Tekara asked. "I'd already climbed a bit of the way before you showed up. Nasty things, those traps, took me by surprise. But I'd destroyed them, or at least deactivated them, until about..." she paused. It was around the twentieth step leading to the gaping, albeit forboding mouth of the temple. "... here."

She smiled. "Watch your step, My Lord."

"Hmm..." said Kouzai as he looked at the dark and forboding temple "Looks welcoming enough....lets go" Kouzai walked down a long halway, he wasn't sure where he was going, but it couldnt be that hard to find the spirits.

Tekara's eyes flitted about, searching for any sign of danger, but the gloom was appalling. The further the two went, the harder it was for the sunlight to reach them. Tekara wasn't particularly worried, Kouzai seemed to know what he was doing.

The two seemed to've been walking for a few long minutes. Silent minutes; didn't want to disturb anything or anyone, when they emerged into a wide, circular chamber. Corridors opened out all around the chamber, some leading to more steps. Some just gaping out, moving on the same level. Some descending into a black basement.

In the center of the chamber sat a tall, golden artifact. Tekara wasn't altogether sure why it was there, but the prospect of where they were supposed to go baffled her to no end.

"Um, you lead the way?" she asked.

Kouzai closed his eyes "Should be here somehwere, let's go left" he said.

The girl followed Kouzai, eyes wide and attentive. A strange older musked the air, causing her to wrinkle her nose. "What is that?" Tekara wondered, pursing her lips as the tart odor made her head reel. She paused, eyes darting about the slender corridor. Almost feeling as if the walls were pressing on either side of her.

Through the darkness, she could make out a shadowy, hulking figure. A demon! she thout. "Kouzai!" she warned, drawing her sword just as the beast leapt to attack.