The Staff of Kyade Read Free

door slammed shut behind them. They jumped in fright and turned back to look at the door—when they heard the roar of a huge dragon above them.
    'Who are you and why are you here?' A warrior sitting on top of the dragon yelled.
    'We came to see the emperor.' said Shin.
    'What business do you have with the emperor?' the warrior asked disdainfully.
    'We wanted to know if he could help us poor village people out.' replied Kenji.
    'The ruler of this country has no time for meager peasants like you,' said the warrior.
    'We are very sorry that we disturbed you; we will be on our way,' spoke a nervous Kenji.
    'I am afraid that you will not be leaving until the emperor has decreed you are not a threat to the empire.' The warrior motioned to his dragon, 'Kazu, capture them.' Kenji and Shin ran for their lives. Despite the dragon's large size, it was very quick. They dodged the first fire blast and then ran a separate way. The warrior, seeing the staff in Kenji's hand, followed him.
    'Kenji, look out!' Shin yelled. Kenji jumped to the side, just missing the blast of fire from the dragon. The dragon then took a deep inhale to shoot out another fire blast. Kenji was paralyzed with fear. The dragon went to exhale when a flying chair knocked the warrior off the dragon. Shin had thrown a piece of furniture.
    'You'll pay for that!' The warrior said, holding his head. 'Kazu, get him.' The dragon flew towards Shin.
    'No, leave him alone!' Kenji screamed. He ran after the dragon, but with a quick tail swipe, Kenji was knocked back and the dragon continued towards Shin. Kenji quickly ran up the stair case that led to the next floor of the palace. There, he saw a balcony. The dragon was taking another inhale, preparing for another fire blast, when Kenji jumped off the balcony onto the head of the dragon. He covered the dragon's eyes with his hands so the dragon could not see. The dragon went into a wild frenzy. Kazu started to shake and fly around the room, twisting and turning until he knocked Kenji down next to Shin. He had them both cornered and there was nothing they could do.
    'I guess this is it,' Kenji said.
    'I am so sorry, Kenji,' Shin smiled sadly.
    'I am too, but at least I got to make an amazing friend.' Kenji said as he also began to smile. Kenji grabbed Shin's hand and they both closed their eyes in preparation for the fire blast that was coming. The dragon took a deep breath and hurled a huge ball of flames so great that it ignited the entire room. Right as the huge, orange and red flames were about to engulf them, the staff begin to vibrate and glowed once again with a great, bright light.
    'Shin … something's happened.' Kenji said and slowly opened his eyes. Shin opened his eyes to see that the staff had started to glow again. The light was so bright that Kenji, Shin, Kazu and the warrior all were engulfed in the light. When the light finally faded, the dragon and warrior were gone.
    'What happened, Kenji?' asked a confused Shin.
    'The staff … I think the staff protected us,' said a relieved Kenji. Kenji knew what had happened, but he was still a little nervous about revealing everything to Shin.
    'What is going on, Kenji? What is that staff and why does it glow?' Kenji realized that Shin was the only one he could trust. He deserved the truth after everything that they'd been through. So Kenji told Shin everything. He explained about the staff and the legend of the Ujiima and how the warriors who destroyed Kyade had wanted it. The more Kenji talked, the more he realized that the people who attacked Kyade resembled the warrior and the dragon who had just tried to kill them. Kenji did not know why there was such a resemblance, but he prayed that it was merely a coincidence. Even so, he did not share that thought with Shin.
    As they composed themselves, they noticed someone staring at them. A man slowly walked up to them. They didn't know that the man had watched their entire ordeal and was wise to the situation at hand