The meeting of Tu-Lang-She

Tu-Lang-She stood before me. My eyes were wide with excitement. I had heard many great things about Tu-Lang, yet this was the first time I had ever had the pleasure of standing before her.

I was in Japan, home to some of the greatest fighters that ever graced this earth. And also home to many mysterious creatures that stalked the lands.

There were rumours of dragons and giant lizards... rumours of giants and cyclops... how much of these rumours were true I did not know. The only monsters that I knew existed were werewolves.

"Edward Johns," said Tu-Lang as she bowed low before me. I bowed in return and stayed down on the floor as was the custom.
"You have travelled very far to reach here," she continued, "for what reason do you seek my counsil?"

I lifted my head and looked into her large dark eyes.

"I wish to be trained," I responded, "trained in the arts that only you can train me in."

"Yes," she said, "in your fight against the haired beasts... I have been following your progress. I knew you would arrive here eventually. How many of the hiared beasts have you killed so far?"

The question embarrassed me. If she knew so much about me then surely she knew the answer to that question.

"I have killed none so far Great One," I admitted. "No matter how hard I try they seem to elude me. They escape, even though I have the means to kill them! Silver... or flame! But alas, I find that neither silver or flame is accurate enough. I need training. Pleas Great One... will you train me?"

Tu-Lang-She walked around me. I did not move from the ground and I made no attempt to speak. I knew that she was judging me. Testing me. I could hear her uttering Japanease words to herself as she walked, almost glided, across the floor around me. Her bare feet hardly touching the ground.
For over half an hour she continued to walk. And I continued to kneel, motionless and still. Until eventually she stopped. She put her hand to my chin and raised my head. She stroked my hair which was dark, thick and long.

"I see great promise in you," she said, "I see that one day you will become the hunter you were born to be. One day even the Lord of the werewolves himself will not be able to stand in your way. You will make your namke in history."

She closed her eyes and stroked my face with her fingertips.

"I see the many places that you will travel," she continued, "I see the many faces you will meet. Your destiny does not lie in these lands... it lies elsewhere... not on land at all but on sea. It lies in places that no man has ever charted. It lies with Kings... tons..."

She stepped back suddenly and shuck her head.

"Unfortunatly I shall not be able to train you," she said.

I was confused. I stood in my confusion and her guards rushed forward. With a simple hand single the guards stopped and she let me stand. All this way I had travelled, all the searching I had done to find her and she refused to train me?

"You are not ready Edward Johns," she said, "leave me now. Your test will come... and if you survive... only then will you be ready for the training."

With many thoughts running through my mind I was led from the palace by Tu-Lang's guards. A test? What test could she speak of? I knew that I had to to find this test that she spoke of and complete it. I would return and be trained by her!

Slowly, and with aching legs, I made my way down the million stairs and back down to the bottom of the mountain...

The arrival of Gon-shoo

Many months I spent on the streets of Tokyo. I had no money to speak of and therefore had to spend my days doing oddjobs for people and sleeping under boxes at night. I felt like my life had spiralled out of control. Everything about me was a mess. I was a nobody. I had left England in the hope to learn from Tu-Lang-She and become a great hunter. Instead I had become a trmap living on the streets, almost begging for food.

I hated my life and on several occasions I did consider ending it. At least then I would be with my wife and daughter.

But the proud man inside me refused to let go. And so I kept on living. I kept on finding a way. Constantly I waited for this test that Tu-Lang-She told me of to arrive. And constantly I was let down for no test showed itself. I wa sbeginning to think that no such test exsisted and Tu-Lang-She was a fake.

A year passed by and Tokyo faced one of the coldest winters on record. Winds strong enough to konk one of ones feet blew constantly and the snow piled up. The sea had almost taken on a life of its own as it roared and crashed against the land. There were rumours in the air that the sea was being controlled by a man.

I was returning to my dwellings one night, a small shed in one of Tokyo's backstreets, when I heard the screaming. I rushed out on the alley and witnessed a crowd of people gathered around the body of a young woman. She had been half eaten. I recognised the bite marks as that of a werewolf! My heart began to beat faster and faster. A wereolf, here! Perhaps THIS was finally the test! However there was something about those bite marks... something that told me thatthis was no ordinary werewolf.

"It is Gon-shoo," said a small Japanease man by my side, "and he has evolved! I witnessed it all!"

"Who is Gon-shoo?" I asked.

"Not who... what," said the man, "Gon-shoo is a lizard monster. One of the ancient ones."

I had heard of the ancient ones. They were giant lizards that were rumoure dto stalk Japan. The man explained to me that Gon-shoo was human in size and had the face of a lizard and the body of a man. Teeth the size of daggers and a tail razor sharp.

"How has he evolved?" I asked.

"It is said that only a few year ago, Gon-shoo fought with another beast," the man told me, "a beast of hair and fangs."

A werewolf! My fist clenched.

The man continued. "Gon-shoo killed the beast but before doing so was bitten by it. Now Gon-shoo has evolved. No longer is he just a lizard. Now he is part lizard... part haired beast!"

So... Gon-shoo is now a werewolf. But no ordinary wererwolf. He is a lizard werewolf.

"Where is Gon-shoo now?" I asked.

The man looked down the long road toa large house at the end. It was an abandoned house that no one had lived in for many years other then tramps and the rats.

This was it! At last my test had arrived, I was sure of it! So, through the bitter cold, I headed towards the old house... ready to face the Gon-shoo werewolf!

To be continued...