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In Fox Glove Valley, everything was peaceful as night approached. As the sun started to set the citizens of the valley started heading home finished with the days work. On the northern edge of the valley two children were playing outside their house waiting for their father to return home from the fields. “Yukana, Koji,” their mother called from the kitchen window, “Go get washed up, your father will be home soon and dinner is almost ready.”
“Race you to the well,” Koji said to his sister jumping up and running toward the well next to their house.
Yukana grabbed the flowers that she was picking for her father and rushed after her brother. When she finally reached the well Koji was already there pulling up the bucket. “Getting slow I see,” He said smiling.
“I’ll get you tomorrow,” Yukana promised with a grin putting her flowers down and helping Koji hoist the bucket onto the rim.
They washed their hands and faces with the cool water then whipped themselves dry on their clothes. Yukana picked her flowers up and brushed off the dirt as Koji lowered the bucket back down into the well. Suddenly a flock of crows shot screeching overhead startling the children and causing Koji to let go of the rope. The bucket crashed to the bottom of the well as the birds disappeared over the trees.
“Careful, you could break the rope,” Yukana said still recovering from shock.
“Well I didn’t,” Koji snapped still a bit shaken.
A dog began barking in the distance and the horses in the barn next-door were making a ruckus. A deer grazing on the hillside pricked up its ears and dashed off into the forest as more birds flew off into the distance, calling out to each other fearfully. Then everything went silent as a breeze swept through the valley.
Yukana clutched her flowers close and tugged on her brother’s sleeve. “Come on Koji, let’s go inside. Momma’s probably waiting for us…” She said nervously.
“Alright,” Koji said staring off into the distance but not moving an inch. Something didn’t seem right to him though he couldn’t put his finger on it. What could they be running from? He wondered as he gazed at the sky watching the birds fly away.
Yukana gazed at her brother curiously then turned to go inside. A distant bang made her stop and turn. She stared in fright as the sky ripped open and a giant fireball shot out of the heavens towards the valley center. “Yukana!” Koji cried running to his sister and covering her for protection.
The flowers slipped from her hand and fell shedding petals as they hit the grass burning at the edges from the heat. Then in a flash of blinding light and an explosion that could be heard for miles, everything was gone.

The leader of the village of Rowan, Lady Mizuno, put aside a pile of paperwork and sighed glancing out the window at the setting sun. She stood up from her desk and opened the glass doors in her office and stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the village she held so dear to her. She took a deep breath and leaned against the wire railing closing her eyes enjoying the cool breeze of the coming night.
But a distant bang caused her to look to the sky. Suddenly off to the south a giant explosion of dark fire erupted above the trees of the forest surrounding the village. A strong wind swept through the trees as the fire faded and a dark cloud of black smoke lingered in its place. Lady Mizuno stood frozen to the spot staring at the black cloud in disbelief and shock.
One of the Lady’s assistants burst into the room and rushed over to her. “My Lady, did you see the explosion, what should we do?” She asked in a panic.
“Send The Black Samurai to Fox Glove Valley, have them report straight back to me and tell no one of what they find,” She said still staring at the smoke beyond the trees.
The assistant bowed and rushed out of the room to find the eight Black Samurai, Lady Mizuno’s most trusted spies.

After receiving orders from Lady Mizuno’s assistant the Black Samurai gathered their weapons and prepared for there journey to Fox Glove. Then concealing themselves in the shadow the eight masked figures set off moving swiftly through the forest towards the valley not saying a word, afraid of what might await them when they got there.
A few minutes later they arrived at their destination and, to their horror, found that the entire valley had been destroyed and was nothing but a giant crater. The beautiful flowers that the valley had gotten its name from had turned to ash and crumbled to dust. Nothing was left standing and the chances of finding any survivors were extremely slim. The leader of the group stepped forward peering at something at the center of the destruction. “Tamajo, what is it?” Noto asked.
Tamajo didn’t respond staring at ruins but one by one they all started to see it, something blue in the very center of the destruction. They headed down the side of the crater not taking their eyes off the glowing object.
When they were within five yards of it Tamajo gave them a silent signal and they surrounded the object moving in slowly and readying their weapons.
They stopped two yards away and Tamajo motioned Noto forward and she continued on, trying to distinguish what the object was. As she moved closer she could make out a glowing figure crouched down over another figure.
As she took another step the figure started to move. Noto backed away a few steps as everyone drew their weapons. A boy slowly rose, revealing what he had been covering. It was a girl with long blue hair in a ripped blue and black dress. She seemed to be unconscious because her eyes were closed and the boy had to hold her up. The boy’s eyes shifted and stared straight at Noto freezing her to the spot.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Tamajo asked sternly.
The boy didn’t answer still staring at Noto. She began to shiver as his icy eyes stared deep into hers, rooting her to the spot.
“Answer me!” Tamajo ordered but the boy still didn’t respond.
Noto’s grip on her sword loosened against her will. She struggled to hold it up but it slipped from her hands as images flashed through her head. Corpses soaked with blood and ripped to sheds, terrifying demons and bloodthirsty vampires, flames and destruction everywhere. Tamajo looked over at her and seeing the expression on her face, knew that something was wrong.
“Noto!” Tamajo’s voice shouted in her ears. Snapping back to reality Noto pulled out a dagger and threw it at the boy, desperate to get the images out of her head. It ripped straight through his body, pierced his lung and buried itself into the ground three feet away.
The girl’s eyes opened as the boy choked and fell to the ground. She turned and knelt down beside him placing her hand gently over his wound. The blue light around them slowly started to fade as the girl helped the boy sit up and he leaned against her heavily for support.
Noto staggered backwards frightened by what she had seen, but another black samurai caught her before she fell. All eyes stayed fixed on the girl and the dying boy.
The boy tried to reach up and touch the girl’s face but was too weak. She took his hand and put it on her cheek as tears fell from her eyes. He took long staggered breaths as he leaned against her and tried to smile at her but was unable. His hand slipped out of hers as the light faded from his eyes.
No one moved as a gust of wind swept through the ashen crater. Suddenly the boy’s body faded and disappeared into shimmering specks of light. All was silent as the girl sat on the ground alone surrounded by black samurai.
She stood up and glared at Noto with hatred as her eyes flashed and turned blood red. The wind built up and started swirling around her, kicking up ash. She turned her eyes to the heavens and released her wrath upon them as the red sun set behind the horizon and darkness fell.
White birds perched in a tree near the forest’s edge flew off screeching in panic as screams shattered the silence of the night.