At the same time in China, Nathan lay on the ground. Beads of sweat dripped down the side of his face, “I can’t do it!” he said, defeated. Akarui and Yami had dropped to the ground beside him.

“Don’t believe the lies you tell yourself” Poi said, sitting on a fallen tree next to him. “You can. And I know you will.”

“What do you mean?” Nathan asked sitting up.

“Nothing is impossible young one,” she said with a knowing smile. “Especially with those swords…”

“I could think of a few things that are impossible,” Nathan replied sarcastically.

“Buy why waste the energy thinking of something that may, or may not be impossible, when you could use that same mind effort to think about the thing that you already deemed as impossible, and make it possible?” Poi suggested.

Nathan had a confused look on his face, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“It is possible to spend more time trying to find an excuse to not do something, than it would have taken you to actually do the thing that you were trying to excuse yourself from in the first place,” Poi said thoughtfully.

“I’m not making excuses. I am just saying, that I don’t think this is one of those things that is possible,” Nathan slowly stood to his feet as he spoke.

“That’s only your mind saying that. And that is only because you have not come across this problem before and do not have a straight forward answer for it. When David killed Goliath, did he sit around saying ‘He’s too big, I can’t do it’? No. He prayed, and using only his slingshot, took down one of the greatest men of the philistine army,” Poi said victoriously.

“So you’re saying… I just need to… Pray?” Nathan said unsure of what she was getting at. “Look, I don’t believe that talking to an imaginary man in the sky is going to help control a sword.”

“That’s only because you believe he is imaginary,” Poi said, jumping up from the rock. “But you should treat the being that allowed the creation of that sword with a little more respect,” she finished, pointing at Akarui, “I think that’s enough training for today anyway.”

Poi left Nathan standing in amongst the trees outside her hut. He kicked a small rock and muttered to himself, “As if talking to myself could help with any of this.”

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“Hello boy,” a strange whisper echoed throughout the trees.

Nathan spun around, “Who’s there!” he demanded, unable to hide the shake in his voice.

“You don’t know me. But I have been watching you,” the voice sounded like the wind blowing through the trees, making Nathan think he was hearing things.

“W…who are you?” he stammered out, turning around to see where the voice came from.

“No need to be frightened. I have just come to talk,” the voice grew in clarity as it spoke.

“Then why don’t you show yourself?” Nathan said, growing in confidence.

“All in good time,” the voice responded.

“Why are you here?” Nathan demanded, placing his hands on Yami and Akarui.

There was silence as a tall man, dressed fully in black, walked out of the woods. He wore the same black cloak as Nathan, a large hood covered his face from view.

“There is no need for those,” he said, pointing at the swords “I am not here to fight you.”

“Then why have you been following me?” Nathan asked as the strange man got closer.

“To make sure I could trust you,” the figure said.

“What do you mean trust me? And how long have you been following me?” Nathan narrowed his eyes at the man.

Poi’s voice sounded from the cabin, “What are you waiting for, Divine Saint?”

Nathan spun around to see her exit the hut.

“I was just talking to…” Nathan spun back around as he was talking to find the man had vanished.

“So you will talk to yourself, but you don’t believe in prayer, you are a strange one,” Poi said with a chuckle, “Come on, I have made some tea.”

Later on as they sat down to enjoy dinner, Nathan initiated the conversation, “Poi, how long have you been in China for?”

“About three years I would say,” she replied.

“Do you think people are watching you here?” Nathan asked, glimpsing out the small window.

“Oh I know so. I can’t go anywhere without them knowing,” she said with a knowing smile.

“Why are you so calm about that?” he asked, sitting down on a small wooden chair.

“They are only observing. So I make my life as boring as possible,” Poi rose to her feet and stirred a pot on the stove as she spoke, “And they only watch me because I am related to the ‘Terrorist’ Hyung.”

“But what if they tried to kidnap you to get at him?” Nathan asked, watching her stir the pot.

“They will at some point. That I am sure of,” Poi leaned down close, whispered in a low tone, “But young Poi isn’t so silly, I have been watching them also. Learning and waiting. I can see the darkness in their hearts… I know they only seek to do evil. That is why I am here. It is not to hide from them, but to learn about them.”

“But what are they?” Nathan whispered back to not break the atmosphere.

“I call them the Ghosts of the Woods. But I still don’t know what they want or who they really are, or how many of them there are. All I know is that they are up to no good,” she stepped away from him and got the remaining dinner ready.

There is no such thing as ghosts… Nathan thought to himself as he gazed out the small window into the woods, There must be a logical explanation for what I just saw…

“Eat your dinner boy. Then get some sleep, we have some training in the morning,” Poi said, shutting the curtain.

As the curtain slid across, Nathan was sure that just for a second, he saw some glowing yellow eyes staring in at them.