Spider's Bite
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Kai Mow watched in the shadows as Latrodect's little empire fell a second time. He shook his head as he watched Latrodect try to escape from the youngest of the three Shaolin priests. He knew that Latrodect would fail, and this time, there would be no escape from that failure. Kai Mow had tried to warn him, even before the Chinatown debacle, that going up against the priests would be his downfall. Latrodect, though, would not listen, and now he was dead, crushed under the foot of the young Shaolin priest whom he sought to destroy.
Kai Mow thought about how Latrodect came to be part of the Black Widow sect. Latrodect came to the sect when his was sixteen years old, already too old by the sects rules to be trained. He claimed to be of the blood of the black widow, the branch that had broken off from the order centuries before and resettled in France. Only very few were of the blood and only those who knew its full secrets were of the highest order.
Kai Mow had also been very young, just barely out of his teens with a shot of black hair prematurely streaked with white. It was said that he was destined to rule the sect one day. But Kai Mow would have to wait. The Masters brought the young blond haired stranger and tested him. He indeed had the blood, but he lacked some of the skill required to know the sects full secrets. He would have to be trained. Kai Mow was skeptical that the young blond would ever reach that stage.
During the time of testing, it was learned that a Shaolin temple existed in Northern California. Part of their test was to lure one of its members into a trap so the sect could once again show their strength and announce to others they had returned. Everything was going according to their plan. A Shaolin priest came looking for that child and fell into the nets. The sect waited for his death, but the priest did not die. Then another came, a young boy of about ten or twelve years old. The sect learned that he was the son of the Shaolin priest. That was when everything went wrong.
When the sect returned to their main nest, Latrodect boasted that he had succeeded in stealing from the Shaolin something that would be his downfall. The Masters had not listened then, Their numbers had been weakened. But it was Latrodect who continued to say that the Shaolin would be defeated and at his hands and so kept the sect from disappearing into obscurity. And when the time came, the sect would rise again.
It was years before the sect ever tried again, this time following Latrodect's plans and a new form of Spider Venom. Latrodect, however did not get a chance to test that venom. Learning that there was a Shaolin priest in Chinatown that could be an obstacle against the sects plans, Latrodect arranged to have him kidnapped and drugged, but not with the Spider's Venom. Learning that it was the very same Shaolin that he had stolen from 20 years before made Latrodect cocky. He allowed his personal feelings to interfere. Kai Mow warned him but his warnings fell on deaf ears. And so, Latrodect lost and barely escaped from Caine with his life.
And here they were again, defeated by the Shaolin, not just by Caine, but Caine's son and father; a development that no one foresaw. Kai Mow shrunk and changed. No one would notice one more spider. It would be up to him to inform the sect regarding Latrodect's failure, and this new development. Kai Mow paused just long enough to allow much of the activity to pass over him as he slipped deeper into the shadows and through a small crack in the wall. There will be another time, and this time, they would not have to wait 20 years.
Continues with Part 1
Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2002.
This story cannot be reprinted or sold in any other form without strict permission from
the author. It is being distributed here solely for your enjoyment.
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