Star League 8 Read Online Free Page A

manage a quick strike to his chest with my elbow, but by the time I ready my second attack he’s already disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared halfway across the room.
    â€˜That was very sneaky of you, Asuka,’ he tuts.
    â€˜Sneaking is what ninjas do best.’
    â€˜I’d like to see you sneak past this!’ He raises his hands and a chest of drawers fly towards me. At the last second I leap over the drawers and they smash into a wall.
    I whip out a couple of shuriken and send the first one whizzing towards him. He teleports out of the way, but I already expected that. My eyes flicker to where the smoke starts to materialise, and I throw the other shuriken towards it.
    Vlad sees the shuriken and tries to dodge it, but the spinning blades nick his cheek. He reaches up to touch the thin red line that pools there.
    â€˜Blood,’ he mutters. His face twists into something I’ve only ever seen in nightmares. His eyes turn red and he bares his fangs. He screeches and throws himself towards me so quickly I barely have time to react. Luckily my instincts kick in and I reach for the wooden bo on my back, holding it out to shield myself.
    Vlad smashes into me and knocks me off my feet. My bo splinters with a loud crack and falls to the ground in two pieces. He grins, revealing those horrible pointy fangs.
    â€˜Your weapon is destroyed, ninja. You have been defeated!’
    He stands over me, ready to strike. I know I won’t be able to go for another one of my weapons before he attacks.
    Adrenalin rushes through my body, but it’smixed with another feeling, a strange kind of tingling.
    Vlad gasps. ‘Hey! Where’d you go?’
    I look up at him and wonder if he’s gone blind. After all, I’m right in front of him and there’s no way he could miss me. Unless …
    I wave my hand slowly in front of me. I can feel my hand, but there’s nothing there. I’m invisible!
    I kick out at Vlad’s leg. He doesn’t see it coming, of course, and falls over. I jump to my feet and grab one half of my broken bo. The end is jagged and pointy – exactly what I need to defeat a vampire.
    Before Vlad can get to his feet I raise the jagged end of the bo and point it at his chest. He can’t see me, but I know he can see my brand new wooden stake hovering in front of him.
    â€˜Give me the Shadow Shard or prepare to bite the dust!’ I say.
    Vlad’s eyes narrow, but he slowly reaches up topull the Shadow Shard from his cape. I grab it with my invisible hand and point it towards him.
    â€˜Absorb powers!’

As I plunge through a portal after Zeke I double-check my objectives:
    â€¢ Retrieve Shadow Shard
    â€¢ Kick some Shadow Six butt
    Though not necessarily in that order.
    When I arrive on the other side I scan the terrain. I’m at the peak of one of the highest mountains in the world and a wild storm is raging all around me. Streaks of lightning spark across the sky, and Zeke shrieks with laughter. Fear floods my system as I realise something – I’m made of metal, and if one of those lightning bolts hits me, I’m done for!
    â€˜What’s the matter, robot, afraid you might get your circuits scrambled?’
    I glare at Zeke. ‘Give me your Shadow Shard and I will let you walk away unharmed!’
    He reaches up to touch the Shadow Shard in his metal helmet. ‘You think you can harm me?’ He lifts his hands and a huge lightning bolt crashes down from the sky. I leap to one side just as the bolt crashes into the ground. The spot where I was standing a second ago is nothing more than a smoking crater in the ground. I need to think of some kind of plan, and fast, or my circuits are going to be fried!
    I look around for a weapon but there’s nothing on the mountaintop except a lot of snow, and I do not think a snowball is a suitable weapon.
    Zeke sends more lightning bolts crashing down around my ears. I scan my