The crew of the Black Dragon’s Foot crowded around the galley table while confetti comets drifted past the windows. On the table sat a little cake shaped like a karate belt—white icing, bright red stripe.
Alfie stood on a chair, cheeks pink with pride. The new belt was tied around his gi, and it felt… different. Warm, almost alive, like it hummed along with his heartbeat.
“Speech! Speech!” Nutters chanted, banging a spoon on a mug.
Alfie grinned. “Thanks, team. Today I earned my red belt. Kicks, blocks, punches—self-defence—Shizuki Ich, Ni, San. I couldn’t have done it without you lot.”
“Correction,” Blip Blop buzzed, twinkling with party lights. “Statistical likelihood increased by 47% thanks to you, Alfie.”
McDonalds the inflatable crocodile bounced off a seat and booped Alfie’s elbow. “And now we eat cake and do celebratory belly-flops!”
Captain Skull Fire rapped his knuckles on the table. “A toast, then—To the Red Belt!”
Everyone cheered.
The ship dimmed for party mode. And that’s when Alfie’s belt flared—a deep ember red—and etched along its length, just for a second, was the shape of a dragon twisting in firelight.
The lights flickered back to normal. The room fell quiet.
“Uh…” Eoin edged closer, visor sliding down like a gamer ready for a boss fight. “Did your belt just… breathe?”
Before anyone could answer, the galley door hissed open and Brooke and Luke stepped in—no longer cloaked in glitches, but in simple travel jackets with bright, honest eyes.
“We brought cake forks,” Brooke said, holding up a pack of sparkly cutlery.
“And something else,” Luke added softly. He laid a palm-sized prism on the table. Inside the crystal, a soft red glow swirled like sunrise. “We’ve been tracking a signal since the Tournament. It’s pulsing from… your belt.”
The prism flared in answer to Alfie’s knot. The red stripe warmed, then whooshed into a swirl of light that lifted Alfie gently off his chair.
“Uh, guys?” he said, half thrilled, half wobbly.
The room blurred. The hum of engines faded. And Alfie found himself standing alone on a stone platform floating in starry darkness. Above him coiled a dragon made of lantern-fire—scarlet scales, golden whiskers, eyes like twin suns at dawn.
“I am Emberwing,” the dragon said, voice like a drum and a lullaby together. “Guardian of the Red. You have earned the belt, young warrior. Now you must learn what it awakens.”
Alfie bowed, heart tap-dancing in his chest. “Yes, Emberwing.”
“Across the heavens,” Emberwing continued, “lie the Samurai Star Blades—Fire, Water, and Shadow. They keep balance between courage, calm, and cleverness. But a Hidden Hand seeks them too.”
The darkness trembled. For a heartbeat, Alfie saw silhouettes—figures in midnight armor, faces masked, eyes like ice.
“The Space Ninja Clan,” Emberwing said, and an ember of worry curled at the edge of his voice. “They hunger for the blades to leash spirits like me. You must find the blades first—and learn to weave your kata with flame.”
Alfie’s fingers curled into fists, not from anger, but from steadiness. “Where do I start?”
Emberwing tapped the air with the tip of his tail. Three sparks burst and drifted, settling into constellations: a volcano crowned with starlight, a waterfall pouring into the sky, and a moonlit dojo with doors that opened inward and outward at once.
“Three trials,” Emberwing said. “And one more truth: power without kindness burns the hand that holds it. Guard both your flame and your friends.”
The dragon’s whiskers brushed Alfie’s shoulder—warm, proud—and the platform dissolved like dandelion seeds.
Alfie stumbled back into the galley to a chorus of gasps and clattering forks.
“What did you see?” Penny asked, purple braid fizzing like static.
“Are we getting a dragon pet?” Laragh added, already measuring floor space with her hands.
Alfie straightened, eyes bright. “His name is Emberwing. He’s real. He wants us to find the Samurai Star Blades before the Space Ninja Clan does. Three trials—Fire, Water, Shadow.”
Charlie lifted his Zelda compass. Its needle spun, then locked, glowing a fierce ember red. “It’s pointing to a volcanic system in the Ember Quadrant. That’ll be the Fire Blade.”
J.J. punched the air, wooden sword clacking against his shin. “Adventure time!”
Brooke slid the prism back to him. “We’re with you,” she said. “We made a mess before. We’d like to help clean it up.”
Luke nodded. “Also, we brought snacks. Redemption is hungry work.”
Captain Skull Fire slapped the wall comm. “Bridge! Plot a course for the Ember Quadrant. Penny, Laragh—rig the heat shields. Eoin, you and Blip Blop check our scanners for stealth signatures. Ninjas like to hide in the boring bits.”
Eoin flicked his visor down. “On it. If any sneaky pixels blink, I’ll tag ’em.”
The ship thrummed to full burn, starlines stretching like pulled toffee. Alfie’s belt warmed again, but softer now, like a purring cat. He swore he heard Emberwing hum with the engines.
Hours—maybe minutes—later, the volcano world rose into view: a black pearl laced with glowing rivers of magma, plumes of golden ash curling into space.
“Landing site ahead,” Blip Blop announced. “Also: unidentified thermal ghosts on the ridge.”
“Ninjas,” Charlie said quietly.
The landing struts kissed obsidian. Heat shimmered. The crew filed down the ramp into wind that smelled like lightning and cinnamon toast burnt on the edges.
At the caldera’s rim stood three stone gates carved with kanji and stars. In the center, a pedestal waited—empty, save for a faint brand in the rock shaped like a sword hilt.
Alfie stepped forward. The red belt glowed—and whooom—a ring of fire lifted from the pedestal, coalescing into the silhouette of a blade… almost there, almost real—
A whisper snapped the air.
Figures unfolded from the heat-haze: cloaks that drank the light, masks like midnight, boots silent on glass. Space Ninjas. A dozen… then two… then the leader, robes edged with obsidian, a crescent of onyx on their brow.
Their voice was a breeze through knives. “The flame wakes. Hand over the key, little warrior.”
Skull Fire’s sockets flared. “We’re fresh out of handing things over.”
Eoin’s visor pinged targets, dots blooming red. “Marked.”
Brooke and Luke unholstered twin glitch lanterns, their light bending to reveal tripwires of illusion strung like spider silk across the rocks.
Charlie’s compass blazed, turning the ash to map-lines. “There—weak points in the cliff. We can funnel them.”
Penny and Laragh wound their braids like ropes. J.J. raised his sword. McDonalds inflated a heroic 12% larger.
Alfie planted his feet on the living stone. His breath slowed. Shizuki Ich: balance and beginning. Shizuki Ni: flow and guard. Shizuki San: strike with purpose. Emberwing’s warmth curled around his ribs like a promise.
The leader held out a hand. “Last chance.”
Alfie smiled. Not cocky—certain.
“Then here’s ours,” he said. “Come and take it.”
The first ninja moved.
The ring of fire around the hilt shivered.
And from somewhere deep—deeper than the volcano, deeper than space—Emberwing drew breath.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Next up: Chapter Two – The Samurai Star Blades (Trial of Fire).