Chapter 18

Zed decided to do this on his own. He didn’t need the help of Shen. He would do this himself, and he did it alone before, and he could do it alone again. Zed simply allowed a moment of weakness to overcome him, and it was pathetic, begging for help from Shen like that. It’s not like Shen would change his mind about him anytime soon. Now, he didn’t expect Shen to accept him or forgive him. Zed did, after all, kill his father. Even so, he somewhat missed that former relationship that they once had, though he had to harden his heart. He had to. This was an important mission, one that he would not forsake and fail. He still cared about Akali, as much as she was convinced that he didn’t have any feelings at all.

Zed slipped through the shadows and made his way out of the prison after memorizing the guards’ routines and going when the power inhibitor had a maintenance check. With his newfound freedom, Zed was free to explore the institute as he wished. Though Zed felt as though things were a little too convenient. He expected more resistance, and there was a premonition of something foreboding on the horizon, though Zed tried to shake it off, yet it went chilled into his bones. Something was up, and Zed was determined to find out what happened to Akali.

Before he could make his way into the Institute, Zed felt another presence behind him. Either the Summoners let Shen out or Shen used his own escape method. He was a ninja, after all, and he shared the same training as Zed did. Once like brothers, they mirrored one another’s abilities and talents. They also represented the duplicity of how one ninja strayed from his original path and the other was unwavering and steadfast in his own path.

“Shen,” Zed said, brandishing his blades while Shen uncrossed his twin blades from his back.

“We’re going to settle this once and for all,” Shen said. “One of us may die here. I’m willing to put my life on the line for this.”

“So foolish,” Zed said before he made the first thrust forward and slashed towards Shen’s throat, which he artfully blocked with his twin blades. Sparks clashed from steel on steel, and Zed tried to overwhelm and overpower Shen, to show him that his conviction was wrong. “I should’ve known that you would stand against me and my path all this time. Shen, you thought you were the better mentor for Akali. I would’ve unlocked her true potential, her true power if you haven’t stifled the part of her that makes her strong.”

“You’ve always been overly ambitious, Zed,” Shen said. “Power isn’t the road to everything. Forbidden knowledge isn’t meant to be revealed. What will you do with all that, Zed? When you have the power and the forbidden knowledge that was kept secret for so long? Don’t you see that you’re being manipulated, that your judgment has been clouded?”

“I’ve never been able to think any clearer,” Zed said as he continued to furiously slash and clash blades with Shen. “You’ve always held me back, just like you’re holding back Akali. Such wasted potential.”

Shen momentarily overpowered Zed and then tackled him to the ground when Zed couldn’t find a good position to maneuver his blades. They tumbled down a hill, and Shen landed on top, breathing furiously. It wasn’t from exertion, but unbridled anger.

“Listen, Zed,” Shen said. “I don’t want to do this, but I think that I should eliminate you on the spot. You’re only upsetting the Balance that has been carefully planted in place. You will ruin everything, and everything will go to chaos.”

“I think what you’re really afraid of, Shen,” Zed said. “Is change.”

“I’m not frightened by change,” Shen said, trying to dig his blades into Zed. “You're fighting against forces that are far greater than yourself. There needs to be a more strategic plan in place, something that will actually give us a fighting chance. You’ve always been the one to jump headfirst into danger without considering the consequences. I’ve been planning something for a while, but if you act too hastily, everything I’ve worked up to will be ruined.”

“Don’t you think that you need to fight back?” Zed, said, a surge of anger and conviction souring through him as he shoved Shen off of him and took to overpowering Shen this time, trying to cut into Shen with his blade. “Instead of just letting things stay as they are? I know that something is going on—Shen, you may privy to something, or you may not know the whole story, but you’ve always never wanted to rock the boat or upset the Balance. But it was this forbidden knowledge and power that has brought me where I am, and it’s going to upset the Balance, but it will promote change. That’s what we need in this world. If we’re not brave enough to face it, then we might as well not live.”

“Zed! You do not know what you’re messing with!” Shen said, and with a renewed surge of energy to prove Shen wrong, both of them slashed at the other, finally breaking through one another’s defense. Both narrowly missed the vital areas, though they still managed to cut through their armor and give one another grievous wound.

Both stood up shakily from their positions on the ground and leaped back from one another, before collapsing again, putting enough distance between one another to nurse their wounds. The duel ended in a tie after all…did Shen predict this outcome, or did he just spare Zed’s life? Zed hated the fact that he was spared; though some part of Zed would’ve spared Shen as well, if only because they once shared the bond of brothers previously.

I’m growing soft, Zed thought, before he realized another person came to witness their spectacle. Kennen.