I stepped further into the palace mudroom and inhaled sharply as the others followed. The walls were coated in soot and ash from the fire outside. Dust collected heavily on the floor save for the now empty spots where furniture used to be. It was a depressing visual quickly interrupted by the sound of shouting just beyond the sliding door.

"Watch it! Nobody's going to buy it if it's all scuffed up like that."

With less than a moment to think, we jumped to the wall next to the sliding door. It would give us a moment to be hidden, and that's what we needed. Hayato, Anzen, and Sora were on one side. Lee and myself on the other.

The shuffling continued as I tried to formulate a plan, but one came to me as a hand grasped my shoulder. A tired-looking Lee told me what he had foreseen. "Two men trying to move an old wooden chest. You can get the first one without a problem. Make room for Sora after that."

I nodded and waited with my sword drawn. And as Lee had described the sliding door was fumbled open by the back of a samurai's foot. His hands too busy carrying an old chest they must have thought they could run off with and sell.

He backed into the room, his eyes closed in the struggle to carry all the weight his partner in crime put upon them both.

As he struggled he spoke to the unseen other samurai. "Did we have to fill it so much? I feel like-"

Before he could finish his sentence I jumped forward and stabbed him through his exposed torso, just under the armpit and into the heart. As I took the samurai's spot, I saw the other fat and commanding one still holding onto his side of the chest. As he realized what was happening I ducked down to the ground, letting Sora show himself and shoot down the narrow passageway. An easy shot.

We all took a breath as Sora jumped onto the chest and over to the commanding samurai's corpse. He lifted a broken arrow and spoke curtly. "Eight left."

I nodded and sighed. Not as many as I wished he had, but still enough to make do.

The others seemed like they wanted more time to rest, but I still only wished to continue. I may have started to get my head back from fury induced madness. But my blood still pumped red hot, and my determination was still unshakable.

We started down the hall, listening closely as to not be ambushed. No sounds other than our own creaking on the age-old wooden flooring. The thin paper walls surrounding us led to many different rooms. One leading down to the wine cellar, another where we used to grow bonsai trees. All unimportant to us.

It didn't take long for us to reach the end of the hallway and the large recreational area. I had turned it into a dojo once upon a time. When the weather didn't fare well I would instead train in the large padded room. Now all my old equipment had been evacuated and burned, leaving nothing but an empty space with a few different cabinets, tables, and wooden platforms. Each was either too heavy to move or built into the room.

Hayato sighed. "It's a shame seeing such a place all torn apart. I wish I was here to see it before... Everything else happened."

Lee nodded and strayed a small bit to look around the room I turned my gaze from him back to the door ahead of us. "Yeah. I don't know why they have to burn and bar everything like they are. I think th-"

Lee's voice suddenly stopped, bringing my head swinging back to where I last saw him, but he wasn't there.

Anzen looked around curiously. "What the hell?"

Sora looked around and called in a thinly veiled fearing tone. "Lee? Lee?"

Shit. I knew that the Shogun and Doctor had to have powerful ember wielders patrolling the palace, but I didn't think that we could get picked off so easily. My only hope is that wherever Lee went he was still alive. I spoke as I pulled my sword out of its sheath. "Ember wielder. On your toes, all of you."

Hayato drew his katana, Anzen raised his fists and moved his kimono to uncover the dagger at his waist. Sora was a fish out of water with his bow in such a tight space, so I gestured to Anzen, who pulled his secondary dagger strapped to his lower leg and threw it to Sora. Hopefully, that training I gave him with the sword those few months ago would actually pay off.

After we readied ourselves we stood in silence. No one knew what to do or how to find Lee, so we just stood there in hopes that Lee or the ember wielder would come to us. And in a moment, just that happened.

Like out of thin air, a bloody-nosed and beaten Lee materialized with his sword swinging wildly.

On the other side of the room was another man that had materialized. He wore a black hood that covered his whole body. His face was concealed by a completely black kabuki mask. Completely smooth save for the two openings for his eyes. In his hand was a metal bo-staff.

Sora shouted. "Lee, get back!"

Lee muttered to himself as he backed closer to Sora and Hayato at the far side of the room. "Why couldn't I see it..."

Not taking my eyes off of the shroud samurai, I questioned Lee. "What?"

"I couldn't see into the future... I-I don't know why."

Lee recently used his ember. He could have still been too weak to use it again, but whatever the case was, I didn't like whoever this ember wielder was.

As I stared at him, he vanished once more. Invisibility? I pondered if that is why Lee also disappeared. Perhaps he could make himself and one other invisible?

Anzen and I were near each other, so we slowly began to walk closer to each other as Hayato, Sora, and Lee got closer to the corner of the room for safety.

Anzen spoke as he got back-to-back. "The invisible bastard is probably going to go for you or me next. Watch yourself."

As we started moving slowly to the others, the vanishing samurai showed himself once more and outstretched his hand to me while jumping forward. I jumped down, Anzen turned and threw himself backward just in time to dodge whatever this mystery man was trying to do.

The mystery man grasped his staff with both hands as he got closer to Anzen. It seemed that if he couldn't take the leader by surprise, he'd focus the easiest to pick off, which in his mind must have been the one without a sword or some sort of blade drawn.

He swung his staff and Anzen blocked with his arm. I could see his face wince with pain as he did. It was still better than taking the blow to the face, but he wasn't safe being put into the defensive for this situation. Anzen knew that, so he took a step forward to make it more awkward for the staff-wielding samurai to attack. Then, he took a swing.

The mystery man simply leaned back and dodged, bringing his head forwards with all his strength and headbutting Anzen with his wooden mask. Anzen stumbled backward and held onto his nose which had already begun to bleed. Most likely broken.

My senses finally got back to me and my feet started moving forward. He couldn't take both of us. I swung my sword at his back as he stepped closer to Anzen, but the mystery man's reflexes were fast, and his metal staff came up quickly to block my attack. I could already tell by his form this samurai was much more trained than the rest I had encountered, and far more humble than the one with the butterfly sword.

He swung around to hit Anzen, which Anzen was yet again forced to block with his arm.

It looked like Anzen finally realized that a staff beat fists, so he jumped as far back as he could once more. I stabbed at the mystery man, but he jumped out of the way without even glancing my way, still intent on taking Anzen out.

But before the vanishing samurai could reach him, Anzen outstretched his hand. Finally, time to show him we have powers of our own.

A portal materialized below the mystery man's feet, and not even the most skilled samurai had time to react before he fell into the foggy gate. Hayato opened a portal at the ceiling just in front of Anzen. The mystery man fell to his knees just to be kicked in his masked face by Anzen. He fell to his back and was again engulfed in a portal.

This time he emerged in front of me. Anzen was most likely trying to give him to me for a killing blow before he recovered, but the very moment the mystery man emerged from the portal he became invisible. I swung where I thought he would have gone, but my sword felt no resistance.

Again, we were left in uncomfortable silence as we waited to see where he would show himself next.

Anzen muttered, "Damn it.". He searched the old training room as he moved closer to the paper wall leading back to the hallway. "Kenshi, what do you think this-"

My vision of Anzen was obstructed as the black figure emerged and quickly disappeared once more, Anzen vanishing with him.

"Oh no..." I ran to the center of the room with Hayato, who had finally decided to leave the injured Lee with only Sora to protect him.

The paper wall that Anzen was next to suddenly ripped open like someone had been thrown through it. Apparently, people couldn't be affected when he was invisible, but objects could. Like a ghost.

We jumped through the hole and into the other room. It was the old library. An extremely tall and old room. There were dusty cushions piled on the floor and ladders to help reach the higher shelves. Tables and writing utensils were strewn all about as the large windows at the very far side of the room were gathering dust. Although the library was untidy, every book was still intact and all the furniture was still there, which meant that no one had entered this room yet. That also meant one other very important thing. The floor was covered in two decades of dust.

If the mystery man could affect his surroundings then he could most definitely affect the dust on the floor. If we knew where he would be, he would no longer have the element of surprise and we could end this.

Dust flung here and there, shifting with their footwork and nearly fogging the air. Footprints moved deeper into the room. They moved from the floor to the tables, then books started flying through the air. Tables started breaking and finally, the mystery man and Anzen reappeared in the center of the library. Anzen looking worse-for-wear but the mystery man breathing heavily.

Anzen jumped off the table he was atop and limped towards us. "I couldn't use my portals. Lee was right about the ember cancellation."

Hayato grabbed Anzen's arm and threw it over his shoulder. Hayato hesitated but started walking him back to the others as I waved at him to go. "He's fatigued. Good work, Anzen. I've got him from here."

He was able to both block my attacks while fighting Anzen simultaneously, but now we were alone and I had as much swinging room as I needed.

As I stepped closer to the mystery man he raised a finger as he furiously caught his breath. "Hold on. I'll get to you in one second."

I shook my head. Although he was unexpectedly cordial, I wasn't letting my time be wasted. "We do this now."

He sighed. "Fine. And just so you know, nothing personal. I remember you from when you were still out and about being famous and all that. I actually like you, but Nihon's only getting worse and I gotta make my money somehow." He must have been an ember wielder sell-sword rather than a samurai. Somewhat more respectable I supposed.

"We'll see..."

As I got closer to the mystery man, he jumped from the table and over my head, his hand grasped my face as he vaulted over me. Then, as hie touched my face the world changed into a smoky rendition of itself. I questioned as I held my sword tightly. "Why make me invisible when no one else is around?"

He stretched his arms and got into fighting position as he spoke through his mask yet again. "I heard about your ember, and frankly I don't want to deal with that." He wasn't told that I no longer have my ember? If he exhausted himself by using his ember, having him think that he's suppressing mine would be extremely useful. The Doctor and Shogun must have hired him in a hurry. No time to brief him over myself and the others.

The mystery man jumped forward and swung his staff. I blocked but he was fast and another attack came out before I could respond. The staff swept the ground and took me off my feet. I swung to take his legs out as well but I saw that he had already jumped backward instead of taking advantage of my vulnerability. I questioned him since he seemed to be in a talking mood, and on top of that, the more preoccupied I had him the longer I could think of a plan to get past his strange fighting style. "Why not hit me while I'm down?"

"To be honest I'm still just trying to catch my breath. Thought that if I got you down I'd have some time to recuperate. Your friend can really take a beating."

I brushed the dust off my kimono and got ready to continue. "He's stubborn like that."

The mystery man jumped forward again and went to jab me with the end of his bo-staff. I jumped to the side and then back. I kept stepping back as a plan finally formed in my mind.

While still keeping eye contact with the black mask, I grabbed one of the ladders next to the tall bookshelves and threw it. While it landed in front of him, I turned and started to run backward.

The mystery man yelled to me as he quickly jumped over the ladder and followed suit. "Running? Really?"

I grabbed onto one of the bookshelves in the center of the room and swung in a circle. Once I was on the other side of the bookshelf, I pushed it with all the strength I had. The ladder wedged in-between the bookshelf I was pushing and the one in the wall was a lack of forethought on my part, but the bookshelf fell all the same. Books crashed and tumbled loudly as the mystery man groaned. The world went from shadowy back to its regular bleak self. I knew he had to still be alive, but if I had any luck he would be trapped and easy to finish off.

I went back to the edge of the bookshelf and found that he wasn't there. "Made yourself invisible to hide from me?"

The hooded figure reappeared once he was a safe distance from me. "Don't act like collapsing a bookshelf on me isn't also playing dirty."

"I'm just being efficient. I don't have a lot of time."

He raised his staff and got ready. He was seemingly waiting for me to make the first move since his aggressive approach got him in hot water.

I took my opportunity and swung at his off-hand. He was able to block it by twisting his body to the side, but it left him in a vulnerable position, allowing me to stab my katana forward. He was fast and jumped back, but it only opened him further. I continued charging forward and finally, my blade got past his defense. I stabbed him with as much strength as I could muster, but my sword barely sunk into him.

He reached out and jabbed me with his staff, bringing me off of him. Once he had space he reached into his robes and pulled out broken pieces of wood held together with string. Some sort of vest to keep himself from being stabbed? "Damn thing was supposed to last for more than one stab. Oh well. What I get for trusting shady backstreet sellers."

I sighed. This vanishing ember wielder just didn't seem like he wanted to quit. I had a tight schedule and the longer this fight took the more grim things became. I needed to finish him quickly.

Continuing the attack, I jumped forward and swung. His staff hit my sword, and I continued with the tried and true method, letting my sword slide down and gash him in the wrist. I didn't even have to worry about maneuvering past a guard like swords had.

But as I had seen so many times before, the mystery man was quick. He pulled his hand back before I could finish. And, as he pulled one back he thrust the other out, hitting me in the head with the opposite end of the bo-staff.

I stumbled back and tried to regain my balance. A man with any less familiarity with blows to the head would have been rendered unconscious by such a hit. Amaterasu always did say I had a thick skull.

The mystery man's breathing had grown heavy and rasping again. He had a lot of skill with footwork and fighting, but lacked training in meditation and regulation of the breathing. He was all fight, with no experience in the subtler ways a battle was won.

The vanishing samurai finally decided to take his more familiar aggressive style once more as he ran forward. I blocked the first swing, but not the second, or the third, or the fourth. He was expending all his energy in a flurry to end it before he became too exhausted to continue. He was betting that I would die from his attacks before his arms gave out on him and if I didn't do anything that bet would be correct.

My arms were held up trying to minimize damage, but in that, they kept me from seeing my surroundings in their entirety. I needed something to help me, but there was nothing but a toppled shelf, a table, countless books and a surplus of dust.

A surplus of dust...

Once the mystery man was in between his attacks I quickly reached out and grabbed the largest pile of dust atop an empty part of the shelves as I could. The amount of dust was so much it spilled out of my clenched fist. Before the samurai could react, I threw it all directly into his face.

The kabuki mask he wore helped him in some ways, like protecting the dust from entering his mouth even though he was breathing heavily, but damned him in other ways. The dust flew into the eye openings of his mask, bringing the mystery man to reel back and reach into his mask to rub his eyes. I jumped forward to finish him, but he disappeared yet again.

Anzen was right by calling him the invisible bastard.

We had fought so extensively that I could no longer track him by the dust, but all the old paper scattered across the ground aided me.

All was quiet for a brief moment, then a crunch from an old and whithered piece of parchment. I tried not to show that I knew where he was as I inconspicuously moved closer to where I thought he would reappear. I hid my hand clenching ever tighter to my katana.

He was in range, and he thought he had the advantage. As soon as I looked away I heard more paper crumple and saw his black silhouette in my peripheral vision.

I quickly changed direction as he unknowingly jumped into my sword. His lack of patience ended him.

My katana sunk deep into his abdomen this time. No tricks or escapes.

I could see his eyes widen behind the mask as he realized what had happened.

He stumbled backward and fell to the ground. I pulled my sword out as he spoke. "Shit... Well, I guess dying from the legendary first ember wielder isn't the worst way to go. But still... this definitely wasn't worth the pay."

I cleaned the blood off my katana using the bottom of my already blood-soaked kimono. I had killed more men in the hour than I had in seventeen years. That thought lingered in my mind as I responded to the mystery man. "Sorry to hear that."

"Nah. It's my fault for accepting the job... But since I'm no longer trying to kill you, well... I wish you luck and all that."

"I suppose I'll say thank you..." I thought for a moment as I stared at my dying opponent. "I can make it quicker if you'd like."

"No, no. Leave me here. You seem like you have places to be."

"So be it."

With a nod, I left the mercenary to die in peace. Stumbling back to the rest of the beaten and battered group.

Ever forward we go.