by Ryan Kirk
The situation became worse when Asa saw another man step into the alley. Twin knives glittered in his hands. Their attackers had certainly come prepared for close-quarters combat.
Asa needed to get her arm free, but wasn’t sure how to go about that. She suspected whoever was above was larger than her. No matter how hard she pulled, her arm didn’t budge.
Her sense warned her that she was out of time. The woman sliced again, and this time there was no escape. Asa tried to spin again, but couldn’t get away completely. The cut aimed at her neck ended up cutting through her upper-left torso. Pain seared through her body as blood poured from the wound.
Asa couldn’t play their game. Grimacing against the pain, she grabbed the chain with her left hand, bracing against it as she ran her feet up the wall. Upside down, held in the air only by the chain, she twisted and tried to kick at the woman. She ended up flopping over more than launching a well-executed attack, but it was enough to make the woman back off a few paces. It gave Asa the heartbeat she needed.
Drawing her sword was pointless. Strung up as she was, in such a confined space, she wouldn’t have a chance even with her sense. But her right hand did find its way to a set of three throwing blades hidden at her waist. Asa pulled one in a smooth motion and sent it sailing into the woman. Asa had aimed for the heart, but the attacker’s reflexes were too quick. The woman shifted her weight and the blade sank into her left shoulder. It would hurt, but if the woman was as good as she seemed, it wouldn’t do much more than slow her down a bit.
Asa was reaching down for a second throwing blade when her left arm was heaved up violently. She heard and felt her shoulder dislocate, and she screamed. Whoever was above watching the fight didn’t like what he saw. Asa’s feet left the ground and she started spinning around the chain, kicking helplessly. The moment only lasted for a heartbeat, but it ruined her positioning. Distracted, Asa didn’t find her feet as the chain dropped her back down. She collapsed, apparently catching the man above by surprise.
In that single moment, he must not have expected all her weight. She pulled him off-balance and saw his silhouette as he fell from the roof. His head hit the opposite wall as he fell, the crack audible even below. Asa just managed to roll away as the man crunched into the stones beside her.
Asa didn’t have time to congratulate herself as she was attacked by the woman again. Asa rolled farther, hitting a retreating Mari and almost causing the lady to fall over. There wasn’t enough space to fight, and Asa needed to stand up.
The woman went after Mari’s exposed back, but Asa shifted her weight and kicked out at the assassin, knocking her back a few paces. Asa took the moment to stand up.
The situation could be worse, she supposed. The chain around her wrist was still attached to the man who had fallen, but she had more freedom. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by two people armed for exactly this type of fight.
She took the brief moment of freedom to draw her sword and ensure Mari was still unharmed. So far the lady was fine, but the assassins were approaching from both ends of the alley, and Mari wouldn’t last a moment against either of them. Asa couldn’t let them both close the distance. She needed to isolate and kill, and quickly.
The chain around her wrist complicated matters. She didn’t have time to unwrap it, and it limited her mobility. Besides that, her left arm was as good as useless. But perhaps it could still be a benefit. The other woman didn’t know Asa was still connected to the dead man from above. She might consider the chain a free weapon. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Asa stepped toward the woman with the scar, flinging her left arm as she got close.
The woman reacted, immediately bringing her knives up to block the strike from the chain. When Asa’s arm suddenly jerked to a halt, the chain reaching the end of its limit, the assassin’s eyes went wide.
Asa’s own eyes teared up at the pain, but she didn’t waste the moment. Her right arm snapped around, a single cut that sliced through her opponent’s unguarded neck less than a heartbeat later. The woman’s eyes turned glassy as she collapsed to the ground.
Asa couldn’t celebrate her victory, though. The last man still stood, and Asa assumed he was just as dangerous as the other two. In her condition, he might be good enough to beat her.
The man had seen his partner fall and darted in to kill Mari. The lady was between Asa and the man, blocking her own rescue. Asa turned and ran toward Mari from the other side, leaping off one of the alley walls to pass just over Mari and place herself between the killer and his target.
That was her plan, at least. The chain jerked at her arm, sending her off balance as she was about to land. It twisted her body in midair, sending her spinning uncontrollably.
Asa felt a knife cut into her leg, but the different sensations of pain blurred together as she crashed into the man and the stone walkway. She tasted blood in her mouth, and the entire left side of her body burned. The world spun woozily around her, and she blinked away the disorientation. Beside her, the man groaned. Her crash had taken them both out. That was some small comfort, at least.
Asa pushed herself up with her one good arm. Her short sword lay several paces away, out of reach. Beside her, the man also began to push himself to his feet. She realized just how much danger she was in. Once he stood up, the fight was as good as over.
Asa swept her legs, bringing him back down before he could find his balance. She sensed a knife coming at her but deflected his wrist with her right arm. They rolled for a moment and she found herself on top of him. She kneed him in the chin, snapping his head back.
With an angry roar, he threw her off. Desperate, she rolled and launched herself back at him. His knife hand responded, slicing an angry gash in her already-useless left arm. She threw her right elbow into his face, and the man’s nose gushed blood. She sensed the knife again and was forced to roll over him to avoid it.
Heartbeats passed and Asa lost all sense of control. The match was a flurry of arms and legs, each fighter desperate to survive. Their grunts of effort echoed in the alley and Asa could feel her pulse pounding in her head. Her world was darkness and sharpened steel, her scant attention focused on his blade hand. She stayed alive only because she could sense his attacks moments before he made them. Her defenses weren’t measured, but they kept her alive as the two enemies battered one another.
The struggle was brutal, bloody, and impulsive, Asa always managing to slip away just before the man landed a blow she wouldn’t live through. But the fight was slowing, and she was losing. He was physically stronger, only had to fight one opponent, and all four of his limbs still worked. Asa’s sense wasn’t enough against those advantages. She wasn’t sure she could win.
She sensed the strike coming but didn’t believe it. She moved out of the way just in time to make sure she wasn’t cut, and a knife blade drove deep into the upper part of the man’s right arm.
Mari had joined the fight. She had grabbed one of the knives lying around the alley and waited for opportunity to strike. Asa avoided the wild cut, but the man didn’t. He roared in pain, and for just a moment, Asa found herself left alone without a relentless series of attacks to deal with. It was only a moment, but a moment was all she needed.
The first weapon at hand was the chain, still wrapped around her useless arm. She grabbed it with her right arm, then looped it around the man’s neck and twisted her entire body, bringing the man down to the ground. In terms of sheer strength she was far outmatched, but there were ways around that.
Asa got a full twist in the chain before the man responded, grasping at it with his own hands. Fortunately it was already tight enough he couldn’t get his hands between the chain and his neck. Using the powerful muscles in her legs, Asa pushed herself away from the man as she wrapped the chain around her right hand, too. The agony in her left arm almost caused her to lose consciousness, but she fought against the blackness.
For all the combat she’d seen, Asa had never fought like this. Her head was pounding a
nd she swore she could feel every move the man made through her feet and hands. He was rolling around, flailing uncontrollably. Mari threw herself on top of him, just to help hold him down. Asa wished she would get away, but was grateful for the help. On her own, she wasn’t sure she’d have held on, especially as she lost her own strength.
Life drained out of the man slowly. Even after he stopped moving, Asa held on, afraid he was faking his own death. She didn’t stop pulling until Mari got off the man and came over to her, gently.
“It’s over,” the lady said.
Her heart still threatening to escape from her chest, Asa gingerly unwrapped the chain from her hand and from around her left wrist. Her wrist and hand looked horrible, bruises and cuts already discoloring the bluish skin. Asa didn’t look forward to the healing she would have to undergo if they made it back to the inn.
It felt like it took all night for Mari to get Asa back to her feet. Eventually Asa gathered her weapons, but still, no one had responded from the city watch. Asa didn’t have the ability to even wonder about it. She couldn’t walk without Mari’s support. Instead of guarding Mari, she was now a liability. There was only one reason she didn’t send Mari to the inn on her own.
Asa wasn’t sure if this was the only attack, or only the first of the night.
5
At the very least, thought Koji, tracking an army was an easy task, especially when that army seemed dedicated to leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. In his training, Koji had heard of such practices, used occasionally throughout history, but he never thought the day would come when he’d see such dishonorable conduct in person. Katashi, the lord of House Amari and the commander of the army they pursued, was a man without a shred of honor. This most recent transgression was just one more to add to the list.
Katashi had killed Mari’s brother under a flag of truce, then stuffed Mari into a chest and carried her away, attempting to wrest her house lands away from her through deception. He was also the one who told Mari what Koji had done, poisoning their relationship.
The young lord had given Koji plenty of reasons to detest him. This was another.
Half a league away, Mari’s army marched after Katashi’s. After the siege of Starfall, Katashi’s forces retreated. The combined force of Mari’s soldiers and the nightblades was too much. Mari’s commanders had hoped and speculated that Katashi would retreat all the way back to his house lands. Whether or not that would be the case remained to be seen. So far, Katashi’s forces were headed in the right direction, but Koji didn’t trust the lord to make a full retreat. He was too devious.
Koji wouldn’t even call Katashi’s movement a retreat. This was brutal, purposeful, and calculated. Fields and villages burned, the ground soaked by the blood of Mari’s people. The stores, meager as they were after the relentless winter, were further depleted by Katashi’s men, leaving next to nothing behind. Women were taken and only sometimes returned. The places Katashi’s army visited became living ghost towns.
The place where Koji stood was one.
Smoke had been spotted at first light the day before. Unfortunately, such sights were not infrequent. A field would burn completely in the time it took for Mari’s forces to catch up to Katashi’s. Even after days of hard marching, they were still days behind at best. Towns, villages, and houses burned the longest, embers continuing to transform into flame long after the real damage had already been done.
Fumio had slightly changed the course of his army upon seeing the smoke. The first time, they had followed the path of devastation, thinking there would be something the army could do. The first village put that idea to shame. All the young men had been murdered, leaving behind only the old, the women, and some children. The storerooms were looted and burned. Katashi left the greatest number of mouths to feed with the least possible supply.
There had been no help to offer. Fumio left some food, but it was a token only. He couldn’t spare what little he had if he wanted his men to fight. The dayblades healed some wounds, but the deepest scars weren’t physical, and many of those who had been gravely wounded had died before the force could arrive. For all their strength, the combined forces were hopeless against Katashi’s ruthlessness. The best they could do was send the people toward Stonekeep, promising aid there. The promise felt thin, even to Koji.
The army had left the village, every soldier forced to witness the despair brought upon their people. For the rest of the day Koji had worried that the army would begin to desert come nightfall to better protect their own homes. Fortunately, Fumio had the same concern. That night, he spoke to all the troops, reminding them that if divided, the whole house would suffer the same fate. Somehow, Fumio had turned despair into anger, and the army marched with a vigor that bordered on madness.
The main force didn’t approach villages any more. Everyone knew what the smoke represented, but Fumio believed it better if not everyone was forced to see. All the same, the mood of the troops was somber. At every village, Koji volunteered to lead a party to search for survivors and provide what help they could.
Unfortunately, even Koji could do little. He didn’t have food to spare. He hunted as he could, but most of the game had either perished in the fires or been driven off. Even with his skills there was little to do. He offered what he could and directed them towards Stonekeep. The journey would kill some, but it was the safest place he could think of.
This village was no different. Koji wasn’t even sure it was large enough to be named. The remains of five small houses stood before him, but there were no survivors. Tracking individuals was nearly impossible after the army had been through, so Koji wasn’t sure if everyone had been killed or if some had already left their home for safer places.
He fought down his emotions as he looked at the devastation around him. Doubtless, the houses here had stood for generations, housing family after family as they made their living from the surrounding land. In the course of a single day, all of that history had been destroyed. Lives hadn’t just been taken, they’d been shattered.
Koji saw six corpses from where he stood, and didn’t even want to think about how many more were scattered around. Their flesh was charred, and in one case, the fire had burned so hot only the bones remained. Koji wasn’t even sure what to do with the remains. The fire had been so consuming he wasn’t sure they’d have time to collect firewood for a proper pyre. They’d have to journey too far.
In the end, he decided to leave them as they were. To act would take valuable time, and his responsibility had to be toward the living. Koji hoped they fared better on their next trip through the Great Cycle. By midday a few nightblades had returned from scouting the surrounding area, reporting that they’d found no survivors. There was nothing to do but catch up to the army and avenge the wrongs when they got the chance.
He had killed lords before. He had killed his own master and a king. Each of those lives haunted him, waking him at night and consuming his thoughts during the day. But hopefully, killing Katashi would silence the ghosts of his past.
Koji was eating a small meal of rice and vegetables with a handful of other blades when he got the summons from Fumio. The food wasn’t much, but it was more than many received these days. The arrival of the messenger caused him to frown in confusion. According to Mari’s commands, Koji commanded the contingent of blades that had elected to fight Katashi directly, but there’d been little interaction between the two of them. For now, Koji followed Fumio. He used the blades as volunteers for some tasks, like checking on the villages, but otherwise marched them with the army. So far, in this young campaign, he didn’t know what else to do. Fumio seemed content with the arrangement as well, and the two hadn’t had much need to speak to each other.
There was respect between the two, though. Mari trusted Fumio, so Koji did as well. Likewise, Fumio had made it clear enough that Koji was always welcome in the command tent, but to this point, Koji had seen little need. He didn’t deceive himself with the belief that he wa
s a general. Their lack of interaction made the summons curious, though.
He didn’t let any worry show on his face as he bid the other blades to finish the meal without him. Although the days had been trying, both mentally and physically, spending the evenings with the blades almost made the suffering worth it. Koji eagerly awaited the time each day when the sun set and the camp was made. There was something special about being among those who understood what it meant to be sense-gifted.
Koji left the warmth of their small fire as he followed the messenger to the center of the camp. Fumio was in conference with the other army commanders. Compared to the fire Koji had just left, surrounded by friends, this one felt cold and empty. There were no smiles, and every statement was whispered with harsh authority.
Koji was announced briefly by the messenger. He tried to keep his back straight and his bow formal, but it required his attention. Such formality wasn’t observed in his daily life, but better to make friends than enemies in this circle.
“Koji, I’m glad you were able to come so quickly.” Even his thanks sounded like a command, but Koji had learned that was the nature of Fumio’s personality. He’d been a great commander for almost as long as Koji had been alive.
“How can I be of service, general?”
Fumio drove straight to the point. “I’m not sure if you’ve had word yet, but we’re within two days’ march of Katashi and his force. We just received notice that they’ve turned to the south.”
Fumio had predicted as much. Like Koji, he didn’t expect Katashi to give up the land he’d conquered so easily. “Do we know his purpose?”
Fumio gave a single shake of his head, even that everyday action decisive and quick. “No, and that is only one of my concerns. Our best guess is that Katashi and his generals believe that the terrain to the south will give them potential advantages. They might be right, too.”