Chapter 10.8
A man dressed in black armor cut a vicious path through a knot of Zealot swordsmen. He moved with a fluidity and speed that shocked Katashi. No, not so much speed as anticipation. As if he knows all their training and what moves they will make next, thought Katashi.
As the young sword master moved forward to help his brethren he stumbled. He felt like a man sitting at a table drinking glass after glass of plum wine, thinking he was fine until the moment he tried to stand up. Weak and nauseated, Katashi set his hands on his bent knees and hung his head.
“Calm yourself,” spoke Jaala evenly. “Moving through the portal is difficult, even for those who have done it many times. Wait a few moments and it will pass.”
Katashi raised his head and observed the scene before him while he waited. First he noted the room he was in looked identical to the one they had left. In fact, if the melee before him had not been, he would have assumed the fog somehow hid them from their trailing monstrosity as it pursued down a wrong tunnel. He also noted the cunning warrior before him finish the last of the well-trained Zealots.
The feeling of disconcertion finally left him as the black armored warrior dispatched his last opponent. Katashi drew the obsidian blade of the fire elemental and took up the Crane in the Rolling Surf stance. Blade still drawn the other warrior turned to face him. That’s when Katashi noticed a large white hand emblazoned on the man’s dark chest plate.
