Unseen (First of the Blade Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Disciple Imogen,” he said with a nod. “Does this sculpture intrigue you?”

  She sighed, wishing she didn’t have the issues with Jorend that she did. “I have been told to study the sculpture, to listen to it.”

  He glanced behind her, toward where Master Liu had disappeared. “He asked you to do that?”

  “He said I needed to try to learn something,” she said, but she no longer knew what she was supposed to be learning. She had no idea what Master Liu was trying to teach her.

  “We all must learn something.” He drew himself up, and he tipped his head to her. “I myself have gained mastery of Tree Stands in the Forest.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Mastery of it?”

  “It is a step, a foundation, and everything else builds on it.”

  “I don’t think anything can build on a tree standing in the forest,” she said.

  Jorend scoffed at her. “Because you haven’t been trying to understand the sacred patterns. If you would devote yourself to your studies…”

  She shook her head. “You don’t have to say that when none of the masters are around.”

  “That is not why I am saying it,” he said, glowering.

  “No?” She looked around. “It looks like you’re hoping that one of the master instructors will overhear you so you can impress them.” She knew it was her frustration talking, but she couldn’t help it.

  “You are too concerned about your sword.”

  “That’s the reason we are here.”

  “My reason is to better serve the Leier.”

  “That’s mine as well,” Imogen said. “And I will serve them by continuing to grow and develop with the blade.”

  “You don’t even have a notch.”

  “I don’t need a notch to defeat you,” she said through clenched teeth.

  It was a challenge, and she didn’t even know if he was willing to accept it. Given that she was the challenger, he had every right to deny her, but she also wondered if he might use it as an opportunity to punish her.

  He studied her. “All you want is to prove yourself better than everyone else.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Isn’t that why we study?”

  “Why would that be the reason?”

  “Because that’s what they train us to do.”

  He took a step back and watched her, saying nothing.

  “You are going to deny me my opportunity?” Imogen said.

  “I deny you nothing.”

  She smiled tightly. “Then spar with me, if you aren’t afraid.”

  She knew she shouldn’t push. If a disciple didn’t want to spar, then they didn’t have to. That was one distinction about the sacred temples, and she knew it.

  But he had something she did not, something she wanted more than anything.

  He had proof of progression. A notch.

  He was not only a First of the Blade, but he had demonstrated mastery over one of the sacred patterns. It gave him a rank she had not achieved. Perhaps one she never would.

  She waited, hoping he would spar with her. If she could challenge him and defeat him, maybe that would convince Master Liu that she was worthy. Maybe then she could earn a notch.

  Her hand was ready—all she needed to do was grab a wooden reed. She much preferred the blade, but they were not permitted to spar with their real weapons within the sacred temple. Supposedly, drawing the blood of your fellow disciples was considered sacrilege while trying to master the sacred patterns, so she had not even held her blade in combat in a considerable time. Far too long, if it were up to her.

  As she regarded Jorend, she waited for his confirmation.

  He glanced over to the stone tiger, then at her, tipping his head politely. “I will decline your offer of a challenge, Disciple Imogen. There is no point in accepting it. We are here to learn and to better ourselves, not risk such violence.”

  “There is no risk,” she said.

  He pressed his lips together into a tight frown, and he shook his head. “Again, I will decline your invitation for a sparring session. I would much rather focus my time on the sacred patterns and my mastery of them. That is how I will serve the Leier.” He started to turn, but he hesitated and turned back to her. “I encourage you to find your own way of serving the Leier. Perhaps if you spent as much time dedicated to the sacred patterns as you have fighting with everybody in the temple, you might be able to uncover the truth of your purpose here.”

  With that, he spun and walked away.

  She looked down at the stone tiger. Was Jorend afraid? She didn’t think so, but at the same time, it was almost as if he didn’t want to fight. Had she been too eager?

  Imogen lingered for a moment, and when she finally left, she thought she saw Master Liu watching. But when she turned to check, there was no sign of him.

  She had come to the temple thinking she could learn the sacred patterns and that doing so would help make her a more skilled fighter, but her time here had only distracted her. Now she no longer knew if this was where she needed to be. How much longer was she willing to stay here without learning what she wanted to know?

  The Leier needed her. The fact that the general had passed through the temple suggested that they did, and the offer he’d made her still stood. She was tempted to make that her bond quest. It would be acceptable, honorable. She would leave the temple, choose a path for herself, and serve the Leier.

  She suspected General Derashen would take her in. And at least with him, she wouldn’t be told not to spar.

  Imogen stepped inside her room and closed the door. It felt confining in a way that it had from the moment she’d come here. The space was sparse, with nothing more than a bed and a table, though she needed nothing more than that.

  Still, she felt as if she deserved more, but maybe that was just her own arrogance. That was what Master Liu would tell her, at least.

  She started to question if perhaps he was right.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The air had changed and grew colder the longer they traveled. Imogen had started to feel the wind and was not dressed for it, but she hadn’t expected to travel with the Leier quite as long as this.

  She stood atop a rocky outcrop and looked down the mountain. Snow dotted the landscape, and an occasional scrub still grew, but not many. Her stomach rumbled, and she pulled out her meager supply of dried meat and took a bite.

  A booming laugh came from behind her, and she turned to see General Derashen standing with one hand resting near the hilt of his sword. He swept his gaze around the same way she did.

  “Does something here amuse you?” she asked.

  “Only you, Imogen. Here you are, standing and looking around the vista, and you seem as though you are lost.”

  She shrugged and turned back to the campsite. They had found another flat section of the mountainside where they were able to camp, and Imogen started to question how many more of them they would be able to uncover. Probably enough to keep their camp moving steadily north, but they might reach a point where they would have to go through a pass, which they would not be able to do easily.

  Eventually, they would reach the Koral lands, and Imogen worried about what might happen when they did. She still remained concerned about the swordsman she’d defeated the night before, though now that she had notches on her blade, she didn’t feel quite the same worry she had.

  “I’m not lost,” she said. “I’m recognizing that there is still more of this journey left to go.”

  “Perhaps not as much as you believe.”

  She turned to him. “Was your intention to reach the Koral lands?”

  “The intention was to ensure that any Koral incursion was deflected. That is my responsibility. Then we discovered something else.” The general glanced behind him, toward the captive Koral. “Sorcery. Far more than we had ever seen from them before. The only way they could have that kind of sorcery is if they made an agreement with the Society.”

  “There might be some
other answer,” she said, though it was mostly to herself. She continued looking around her but saw nothing else, and no sign of Timo. Even so, she still worried that he was out there somewhere. And when she encountered him, what would happen? What would she do to her brother?

  What could she do?

  If he was responsible for those stone golem attackers, then she would have to go through them, but then what?

  “You believe it’s all because of these creatures?” General Derashen said, interrupting her thoughts.

  “The Koral haven’t attacked our people for generations,” she said. There was always the threat, but it had never happened in her lifetime, nor that of her parents or grandparents. “Which suggests there was another reason.”

  If the branox were moving, it could be for their own safety. But how far would the branox have pressed into their lands? Benji had made it sound as if the travel was new, but could they have been there longer?

  The general joined her on the rocky outcrop and peered around. “You have not been in our lands for many years, Imogen.”

  She nodded. “I have not.”

  “And you have not seen the way the Koral have chosen to attack.”

  Imogen wondered if that was true or whether it was simply an exaggeration. “It’s not as if I have ignored the world around me.”

  He chuckled, then nodded behind him. “If the rumors I’ve heard have any truth to them, you have, in fact, been quite useful in what you have done.”

  “What rumors have spread?”

  “Those that speak of a powerful, skilled fighter with black hair and a distinctive blade.” His gaze drifted to her sheathed sword. “They speak of the First, and of the knowledge she taught.”

  Imogen tensed, worried what he might say. She should not have taught the patterns to others.

  “They speak of sorcery defeated,” he continued. “They speak of powers that should not have been. And they speak of Imogen.” He looked over to her. “You mentioned you began to see sorcery differently.”

  She bowed. “I have met sorcerers who are not like we’ve been taught to believe,” she said, choosing her words carefully. The general was somebody who had trained his entire life to fight against sorcery, but also against the Koral. He had served the Leier in ways she could scarcely imagine.

  “As have I,” he said.

  She hesitated. “You have?”

  He gave a small smile. “When I was younger, I wanted much the same as you, I suspect. I had a fire in my belly, and I went to the first of the sacred temples thinking I could advance quickly with my blade.”

  She returned his smile, realizing just how close it was to how she had felt. “But you did progress.”

  “Only when I began to realize something. I was given the opportunity to see something beyond. The Leier have had peace for my entire life. It is what I have fought for. I have not instigated any war with the outsiders,” he said firmly. “I have wanted only to maintain the peace. There have been some chiefs who have wanted more than that, and who have longed for fighting, thinking the old ways were an avenue to prestige and honor, but I have seen differently.”

  The general took a deep breath, and he closed his eyes. There was something about his posture that struck her as familiar.

  Tree Stands in the Forest.

  He was using one of the sacred patterns, and not only that, she could feel the energy coming from it. He was a master of the sacred patterns—not just with mastery over the technique but a true master. This was what she had wanted to become all those years ago, what she had wanted when she’d finally left the sacred temple.

  “When I first faced my sacred temple master, I realized how little I knew.” His voice was soft, barely more than a whisper. “I used everything in my experience and everything in my power to defeat him, but he was too skilled. He didn’t even have to do anything to defeat me.” He opened his eyes and turned ever so slightly, disrupting the pattern just enough that the protections offered by Tree Stands in the Forest were lifted, at least so she could feel the barrier ease from him. “I thought I was skilled. I imagine you felt the same.”

  She nodded. “I did.”

  “We are not so dissimilar, Imogen. Perhaps the way we have gotten to this point has not been the same, but our desires for our people are.” He flowed, shifting his hands and moving in a faint pattern—that of Petals on the Wind. The second pattern.

  She smiled to herself, knowing that he was trying to show her something. Did he want her to know that he was a master of the sacred patterns? Or maybe he was meditating, the same way she often meditated to begin her day.

  Facing the branox would require anyone with true mastery, and General Derashen had demonstrated that he had it. He had gone to three of the sacred temples, more than anyone in centuries. He would have incredible knowledge and skill, and the ability to defeat the branox.

  She watched him, noticing the steadiness to his movements.

  “I have been working and trying to learn more and more about my own technique,” he said with a smile. “I am sure that it is similar to you. I demanded that the masters teach me, and I think I impressed them with my ferocity and my devotion to my studies, but I never learned to master any of the sacred patterns at the first temple I visited.”

  “You didn’t?”

  Everyone knew that General Derashen had spent time in three of the five temples. They knew that he was one of the most accomplished swordsmen in recent memory. Even without having thirteen notches on his blade like Master Liu and the other masters of the sacred temples, the general was still widely regarded as one of the most skilled fighters in the Leier homeland.

  “I didn’t learn until I was at the second temple. I spent two years in the first and two years in the second. The patterns they all teach are similar. Perhaps not the same, but similar enough, though the names are different.” He shook his head, and he looked over to Imogen. “But it wasn’t until I reached Master Liu in the last temple that I started to see something else. He told me I was sloppy.”

  Imogen smiled. “I might’ve heard that a time or two.”

  “And he told me I was too rigid. That I was too focused on precision.”

  She nodded. “I might’ve heard that as well.”

  “And how did you feel about it?”

  “I was trained with the traditional patterns, trained to hold on to that precision, to try to understand it, use it, and master it. I trained to become as skilled as I could be.”

  “Indeed,” he said. “The precision was key, wasn’t it?”

  “At the time, I thought it was.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “At the time. And at the time, I believed all I needed was to be the most precise, the fastest, the strongest swordsman.”

  He unsheathed his sword and moved in a blur toward her. Imogen reacted, though not in the way she once would have. She focused instead on Tree Stands in the Forest, pushing the power down from her body and creating a barrier around her.

  General Derashen nodded. “You see? Speed and strength and precision do nothing when faced with a sacred pattern.”

  “A sacred pattern can be defeated. Any magic can be,” she said, her voice dipping as she admitted the truth of the patterns.

  “It can.” He looked behind him to the campsite. “We have trained our people to defeat sorcery. We have trained them to be precise because precision is key to disrupting the patterns that sorcerers make. We have taught them to become as skilled as they can so they can master the power of the patterns and become everything we believe necessary to succeed when faced with a superior opponent.”

  “Sorcerers aren’t necessarily a superior opponent,” she said.

  He shook his head. “That is not the opponent I refer to.”

  She watched him, regarding him for a long moment. “When did you learn that?”

  “I told you I had trained for two years in each of the previous temples—four years altogether, then another year when I went to work with Mast
er Liu. Even that was not enough.” He watched her, and he smiled tightly. “He sent me on a bond quest.”

  Imogen tensed. That Master Liu had sent her on her bond quest was something she had not shared with anybody before. It was too strange, almost unbelievable, that it had been chosen for her. The Leier were supposed to choose their own.

  “He only does it with those he views as having the most potential,” the general said.

  Imogen shook her head. “I didn’t know.”

  “Because you cannot reach what you must if you are bonded. It is only the unbonded who can find the truth.” He smiled, sheathing his sword, and he spread his hands on either side of him. “Or so Master Liu told me.”

  She frowned, thinking back to something Master Liu had said to her all those years ago. “He said his bond quest was to study the sacred patterns.”

  “Perhaps it was.”

  “You don’t believe that?”

  “I believe Master Liu has his own reasons for what he does and what he says. I am not always going to be able to understand it, but I also believe I must do my best to understand, in order to reach that knowledge.” He shrugged. “At the same time, I also questioned whether I could master all thirteen sacred patterns unless I committed myself to that bond quest.”

  “You think the only way he gained the knowledge he did was because of his bond quest?”

  He held her gaze. “Our people don’t fear magic, Imogen Inaratha. We train to withstand it, to prevent it from damaging the world, and we train to use our patterns to protect our people. If I feared magic, I would not be able to confront it.”

  She took a deep breath, and she swept her gaze around. “You intend to push into the Koral lands.”

  “No. I thought you were listening.”

  “But the branox will force their way there.”

  “Perhaps,” he said. “But if we move beyond the borders, then we are the ones inciting war. I cannot have that.”

  “Even if the branox attack and destroy the Koral?”