Keeper of the Arts

Chapter 3 EVIL TAKES A BREATH In every martial artist's, soldier's, and common fighter's subconscious mind exists a parallel realm known as SymDo. It comes forth when the present-day warrior sits in meditation, or daydreams, or dreams in deep sleep. Martial artists take time out to recall memories of any and all events from other practitioners that they've seen in addition to their own experiences. At such times, the warrior unknowingly fuels the activities of the SymDo realm. Memory workers are known as "Keepers" in this realm, and every martial artist, fighter, and soldier has a personal Keeper who refers to the martial artist as a DoMar. One of the Keeper's numerous jobs is to maintain the memories of that warrior as a computer operator handles a mainframe system. The warrior's fighting skills and training memories are guarded and emulated by the Keeper, who becomes an assistant instructor to the martial artist when he or she is asleep and dreaming. The Keeper utilizes stored memories from other Keepers to enhance the events of his or her DoMar's dream, giving the unconscious feeling of events actually happening. Nerrot was the Master of all Keepers. He had been searching for a new protégé to become the new Master Keeper of SymDo. Only Nerrot had the knowledge to control the mystical powers emanating from this realm. He held the key to the Keepers' existence and oversaw their responsibilities in maintaining their DoMars' memories. The Keepers had to use the assimilated fighting skills to defend against attacks by SymDo's enemy during the past two years. A student and protégé of Nerrot had been chosen to be the next master, but he stumbled upon SymDo's cosmic energy force contained within the sacred Temple of Medulla. This was where Nerrot trained hand picked students to meditate and become teachers to the Keepers. Only a few Keepers referred to each other by their ancient and traditional name, the Oblongatas. This student also found two mystical pendants, which could access SymDo's powers, and without hesitation, he stole one, a butterfly-shaped dream catcher made of willow fibers. The student was discovered by the touch of a fingertip, stripped of his rights as a Keeper, and exiled. No one knew that he had stolen one of the two pendants before he was removed from the Temple. He had been exiled for two and a half years, and he knew he had only six months left to maintain partial control of the pendant. As he fought to gain full knowledge of the powers, he developed a deep and severe animosity toward the five SymDo Temples, swearing vengeance upon them. Destruction of the sacred building in which memories of all warriors of the fighting arts were stored would threaten the existence of Nerrot and his Keepers. The ensuing battle would decide who would be the next Master of all Keepers; the new Master would gain knowledge and control of the mystical pendants. Deep within SymDo, a large, unearthly compound had been erected upon a large plateau. It was surrounded by a twelve-foot-high gated wall of thick, petrified logs that had been sharpened to points and barbed wire that stretched across the top. Twenty-five sentries were positioned strategically in a circular perimeter fifty yards from the walls. Nearby, once-grassy, rolling hills were now blackened terrain. Billowing clouds of black smoke filled the air as if a wildfire had just been extinguished. A dense black forest stood behind the smoky hills in an eerie, devilish tableau. Lanky tree limbs, stripped of leaves, stretched their long, skeletal branches out, hand-like, to snatch at the wind, creating a wolfish cry. A full, yellow moon accepted the howling and instructed the snow-topped mountains to respond with an avalanche. A tidal wave of large, snowy clouds led the charge down the mountain slopes. The compound was a rat-infested haven, populated with people from the worst ghettos in the world. A ten block square radius sectioned off people of Japan, Korea, Brazil, Africa, China, the Philippines, Thailand, and America. Disease and starvation were used to control the weak, and the strong indulged in misguided pleasures of criminal and oppressive nature. A large triplex structure, horrifically displayed as a black castle engulfed in dense fog, was located in the compound's center of despair. The first floor housed fifteen Chinese guards and two hundred black-robed disciples, known as the Wun Tou. They never showed their faces; they were excellent fighters under mental control to guard their master and the castle. The second floor held the master and creator of the castle, Tarag, attired in black silk gei pants. He was a Caucasian man, five-ten, with dark brows and black eyes that accentuated a face filled with anger and revenge. This was the exiled Keeper and former protege of Master Nerrot, banned from the sacred SymDo temples. The third and final floor consisted of living quarters filled with exquisitely designed Asian furniture. Within the second floor's pillared chambers, Tarag's uncontrollable powers were being invoked. Hundreds of images of martial arts instructors and students, past and present, were summoned and individually trapped in clear, perfectly shaped floating balls. Their faces showed confusion and dizziness and balance was lost while Tarag compromised their life energies, standing in the midst of the floating balls. "I must acquire their knowledge and skills before anyone can interfere! I must concentrate. Yes, here they come. Soon, soon, I will control all the powers of SymDo and the Keepers," Tarag declared with a loud, wicked laugh. His arms stretched out to the sides, the Black Panthers' brands prominent on his forearms, as electrical bolts emanated from his hands and entered the balls. The Dream Catcher pendant he had stolen from the Temple of Medulla was roped around his neck. The Butterfly design had changed under the duress of Tarag's hatred into a Panther. Its willow fibers began to glow with a neon-like intensity as black waves returned from the floating balls to the Panther pendant and slowly started to form a black silk gei top at mid-chest. Suddenly, the electrical waves reversed and sped back toward the balls, causing the gei top to vanish from Tarag's body. "No! This cannot be!" he shouted. "I almost had them in my grasp...time is running out. Damn it!" All the people contained within the balls quickly returned to normalcy when each floating ball began to burst like bubbles at a child's birthday party. When the final bubble burst, a Butterfly appeared, hovering before it exploded into colorful trails of stardust and vanished. Tarag's body was nearly drained of energy, forcing him to stagger before he regained his balance. He held his head and drew in long, deep breaths to scream at the top of his lungs. Several Wun Tou disciples rushed through a doorway hung with a black cloth. A Praying Mantis and a Monkey were painted on the cloth. A Chinese guard stepped through the silent crowd, eyes focused on the floor. "Master, we heard you screaming! Is everything okay?" Tarag's screams ended with deep, gasping breaths. Needing more oxygen, he pushed the guard and a disciple out of his way and stormed down to the main floor and outside for fresh air. When he appeared outside, several large vultures quickly took off from the ground and trees. A gray cat froze in her tracks, hair standing on end, as if she had seen a dog or the devil. The cat made her rapid exit with a burst of speed and agility, leaving Tarag alone to scream at the sky. "Damn you, Nerrot! I will not allow you to deny me my destiny! I will destroy you and all your followers before you can find another to take my place!"