| Lord Sato, Chieftain of the Snake Clan, had watched the Tiger Clan
slowly gaining in its fight for dominance. Already the Dragon Clan
had been forced to relinquish much of their hard earned lands to the
powerful forces of Lord Reni; bolstering the arrogant leader even more.
At first Lord Sato could not understand how a powerful clan such as
Lord Yudi’s, could be so easily defeated. In every battle, it seemed
as if Lord Reni knew exactly what Lord Yudi would do and already had
a counter for it. It appeared as if Reni knew every one of Yudi’s moves
before he even made it.
This had caused some alarm, not only in the Dragon Clan
but in the Snake Clan as well. How would it be possible to
fight such a shrewd adversary? Already the power drunk, Lord
Reni, had turned his ever consuming lust for domination toward
the lands controlled by the Snake.
When Lord Sato had learned of Lord Yudi’s daughter’s disappearance,
he knew the missing puzzle piece to Lord Reni’s success
would be with her. There had been rumors that Yudi’s daughter
had ran away to join with Qing, one of the Tiger Clans
best swordsmen. However, Sato knew the history of Qing
and knew it was not for love that he would be after Yudi’s
daughter. Realizing that there would be much to gain he
sent his assassins, some of the most silent and skillful
Masters in the art of stealth, to locate MauLi and bring
her to him.
Lord Sato knew that if Lord Yudi had only lost the battles
due to the grief brought on by that of his missing daughter.
He knew from experience how much fight was left in the
old Dragon Chieftain, and it was foolish of Lord Reni to
underestimate him.
MauLi had been found staying with a rogue clan in a remote
are of Bamboo Crane Woods. Not only had she been taken
in by the clan, she had managed to convince them to train
her in the fighting techniques they possessed, and to their
amazement had turned into a very adept pupil. By the time
Feng, the Snake Clan’s master trainer of the double blade,
had found her, she had astonishingly succeeded in defending
herself from him. Something Feng could not believe was
possible. After reluctantly reporting this to Lord Sato,
Feng was sent again, this time with a letter of invitation.
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