The Living Sword

by Pemry Janes

  Regaining his breath, he turned to Chizuho. “Don't bother struggling, I made sure to pack the earth around you tight. They'll have to dig you out.”

  “No!” the san roared. “I refuse to be beaten by an animal. The san are superior, and I will prove it!”

  His eyes blazed with power now. Eurik could feel the heat from where he was. The ground around Chizuho started to crack and steam as what little water was there boiled away. The san's mouth opened, perhaps in triumph, or perhaps he had noticed the same thing Eurik now saw.

  Light spilled from his mouth, his eyes, followed by wisps of smoke. A pillar of flame shot up into the sky, dying out as swiftly as it had appeared leaving behind the charred remains of Chizuho.

  'Path of the Sun brings great power, but also great danger. You can't turn to stone by taking in Earth chiri, you can't drown from Water chiri. Only Fire has that danger. That's why most san learn that Way last.'

  Those thoughts meandered through Eurik's mind as he stared at the remains of his opponent. He'd declared he would kill Eurik, had tried to kill him, but Eurik himself hadn't been ready to respond in kind. Yet there Chizuho laid, dead.

  Turning away, ignoring the growing approval of the crowd, Eurik walked back to Misthell.

  ***

  Leraine got up, rearranging her weapons. “Let's go.”

  “Oh, saw something you liked?” her teacher teased.

  “I'm more worried about what he knows. Judging from the sword he carries, he might be Puma. If he returns to them and teaches what he knows ... You know as well as I do that the Truce has been fraying as of late. People no longer view the Linesans as a threat; grievances have been festering. We need to know who he is, and if he is a threat to our tribe.”

  “Always so serious, Fangling,” Irelith sighed as she got up as well. She slid her long blade, which had lain across her knees while they'd been watching the fights, back into place at her side. “But you have a point.”

  Irelith the Viper lead the way through the crowd of Linesans who had no intention of leaving yet. 'This is going to take forever.'

  Chapter 5

  The hunt begins

  It turned out not to take forever, but the sun still hung too low in the sky for Leraine's taste by the time they finally stood outside the arena. It was getting darker already among the tall buildings of this city.

  Trailing the outcast proved a frustrating undertaking. He stood out enough that people remembered seeing him, but finding Linesans willing to talk to them was hard. This obstacle meant that while they didn't lose his scent, they weren't really gaining on him either. They'd crossed one arm of the Endria already and twilight was setting in, when Leraine spotted him.

  The crowds thinned as they came up to him. She noticed he carried the blade on his back and had to shake her head at that amateur move. 'He can't be clan-trained, or he put it there to reassure these people that he wouldn't be drawing his blade in the city.'

  A closer look at the markings on the blade nearly stopped her in her tracks. 'Those are Snake runes, and Puma's. How did he get a blade that has both?'

  Leraine got an even bigger shock when the sword opened its eye and looked right back at her. “Looks like you got fans,” the blade remarked.

  ***

  Turning around to see what Misthell was talking about, two women dressed quite differently from anybody else he'd seen today confronted him. Trousers, soft leather boots, and some sort of vest underneath a steel cuirass. And both had a skin tone more like his own than anybody else Eurik had ever met.

  The older one, carrying a single slender blade at her left hip, had graying hair and a scar that ran up her cheek and ended at the corner of her right eye. Most of her hair was short, except on the left side where it had been twisted into a long braid that contained several colorful beads and a little ivory snake.

  The younger woman, who had one sword on her right and a long dagger on her left, also wore bracers. Her nose was a little crooked and her bright, green eyes stared at him intently.

  “Can I help you?” Eurik tried. He really hoped they weren't muggers or anything; he was still recovering from the earlier fight. Next to him, Dak was inching back.

  It earned his guide a dismissive glance from the younger one of the pair. “Yes. This is Viper. I am Broken Fang.” Her Linesan was a little stilted, like she had to think about the words. “Where did you get that sword?” One silver tooth flashed every time she opened her mouth.

  “Good evening, I'm Eurik,” he said and gave them a small bow. For some reason Broken Fang was taken aback by the courtesy. “As for the sword...” Eurik was reluctant to share personal information with random strangers, but he had no desire to antagonize them either. “I inherited from my parents.”

  “And who were they?” Viper asked. Her gaze was intense; it felt like he was under the attention of his sesin again.

  It finally occurred to Eurik that they were Mochedan, the same people as his parents. 'Could Viper have known them?'

  Before he could ask, someone else entered the conversation. “Yeah, who were they?”

  The voice had come from over his shoulder, so Eurik half-turned to see who had asked. The speaker turned out to be a pale man, with slicked-back hair, wearing a buff coat.

  “It's not that I actually care, you know,” the man explained. “It's just that my employer might.”

  From his left now came the sound of steel sliding out of its scabbard. “Blooddrinker,” the younger woman hissed.

  At hearing that word, Eurik tensed as well. Quickly, he connected with the Earth chiri underneath his feet. He now noticed that even as people cleared the street, others started to gather around them. “You're a Blood Lord?” he asked.

  The man seemed unfazed by the accusation. “Good eye. Heh, this meeting is getting unpleasant quick, so before you try to run me through, why don't you let me conclude my business?” He didn't wait for their answer. “My employer wants the sword. How much?”

  Eurik blinked. “What?”

  Rolling his yellow eyes the Blood Lord explained, “You have a living sword. My boss wants one. Do I need to talk slower?”

  “No need, and the sword is not for sale.”

  “Yeah, you tell him,” Misthell chimed in. “But just for curiosity sake, how much are we talking here?”

  “Misthell,” Eurik sighed.

  “What?” the blade exclaimed. “I simply want to know how valuable I am. There's nothing wrong with a healthy dose of vanity.”

  “One,” the Blood Lord answered.

  “One solar?” Misthell asked wearily.

  “One life,” he corrected the blade. “His life. Time to earn your keep, boys!”

  Everybody moved at once. The men surrounding them had pulled out knifes and clubs, which they were brandishing as they closed in. One of them was very close to Broken Fang, a fatal mistake. Her blade and dagger already in hand, she whirled about slicing off the man's hand before burying her dagger in his chest.

  Dak had pulled out a small knife as well as he ran for an alleyway guarded by only two men. He slipped by one, swiped at the other, and was gone. 'Can't blame him, he didn't sign up for this.'

  But Eurik had paid too much attention to what was going on around him. One moment the Blood Lord had stood at least eight paces away, the next he'd drawn two curved short swords and was almost upon him—only to dance away when a silver streak arced up in front of Eurik.

  “Don't stand there. Fight!” Viper told him as she advanced up the Blood Lord.

  “Right.” Throwing out his arm he sent a shockwave through the street knocking several of the attackers off their feet. Two of them, however, managed to jump over it. Both were holding clubs and now used them.

  The wood splintered as it came into contact with his reinforced arms. Surprised, they reacted too late when Eurik buried his right fist in one of them before using that one to knock the other about. Dropping his impromptu, and now groaning, weapon, he proceeded to take out the ones regai
ning their footing. He shrugged off their blows, and their knives glanced off of him, so he made short work of them.

  Broken Fang had no more problem than he'd had, though her opponents would never recover as they were bleeding out on the street. That left the Blood Lord.

  ***

  With her left arm Leraine locked the Linesan's right, creating the opening she needed. His sneer turned to astonishment as her sword slid in and up. Now propping up a dead man, she pulled her blade out before letting him go.

  Breathing a little harder, she turned to where her teacher still fought the blooddrinker. Her blade was a blur, as befitting the fighter who carried the name Viper. Its slender length danced in her hands, never letting up.

  “This is great!” the blooddrinker crowed with a grin plastered across his face. He was matching Irelith's speed, but was only defending. A cut across his cheek, already scabbed over, showed he hadn't come through the fight unscathed.

  He pulled back, and Irelith didn't follow. Leraine now noticed her teacher breathed a lot harder than her student was. “Name's Rik, what's yours?”

  “I am Viper.”

  “Of course you are.” His eyes scanned his surroundings. “Oh, that's just great. Didn't even last five minutes,” the blooddrinker grouched. “And they had the balls to call themselves professionals. Hah!” His grin faded. “Guess I'll have to cut this short. Too bad.”

  He literally flew at Irelith, completely evading the pillar of stone that shot up where he'd stood. Leraine blinked and the blooddrinker no longer faced her teacher, but stalked towards Eurik. Frozen, she watched Irelith fall to the ground. “No,” she whispered in her mother tongue.

  ***

  “And you're supposed to have defeated that san,” the Blood Lord said. “Must say, not impressed.”

  'Don't worry, don't fear. Just do,' Eurik reminded himself as he flapped his hands to generate Wind chiri. Only fire, sunlight, silver, and a magical weapon like Misthell could kill a Blood Lord. He didn't trust himself to use the living sword effectively against Rik, and that left hurting him.

  “Ha, shaking in your boots, I see.” Rik twirled his blades. “Feh.”

  Pain screamed through him as the two chiris were forced into one body. But Eurik had expected it this time, he'd been ready for it. He moved. Rik was already reacting, bringing his swords together to cut him into pieces, but it was too late.

  His first palm-thrust Eurik aimed for the Blood Lord's right shoulder. A spike of Earth chiri slammed through his enemy, splintering every bone it came into contact with. Rik stumbled back, and Eurik's second attack mostly missed, only snapping a rib or two.

  “Damnit!” Somehow, the Blood Lord still managed to keep a hold of his weapon even though his right arm hung uselessly at his side. “That hurt!”

  He knew he needed to move, that he had to attack now, but he couldn't hold on to the Wind chiri. It evaporated, his legs threatened to buckle.

  Rik raised his good arm, then stopped and tilted his head as if listening for something.

  A trumpet sounded, not far away. And through the Earth chiri Eurik could feel many feet running towards them. The city watch had noticed the fight.

  Rik had come to the same conclusion. “Kill ya next time,” the Blood Lord vowed before shooting straight up into the sky. He vanished between the rooftops, ducking the last rays of the setting sun.

  Broken Fang passed him by and knelt beside her companion. Viper lay there with empty eyes, her throat coated in blood. “Leave,” Broken Fang ordered.

  “What?”

  She looked up, her eyes bright even in the evening's gloom. “I don't want you here. And you don't want to be here,” Broken Fang bit out. “I am considered nobility because of who my mother is. You are nobody to them. They will lock you up, and that is not where you want to be when that blooddrinker comes at you again. Leave,” she repeated before turning her attention to her fallen friend. “Leave us.”

  “Better do what she says,” Misthell advised.

  Clenching his fists, Eurik started to walk. Then run.

  ***

  Somehow, Eurik had found his way back to the Charging Anauceros. He'd declined dinner, had foregone the bath he'd been looking forward to not so long ago, and had headed straight for his bed. But sleep came slowly.

  So when he woke up the next morning feeling miserable, it wasn't just the bruises and overstretched muscles that were the cause. He rose up from the hay and made his way down to where he'd secured his belongings.

  'Chizuho mentioned something about people wanting me dead. It could be the same someone that sent the Blood Lord after me. I'm going to be safe from him for the next few days, until he heals, but that doesn't stop Rik's employer from sending someone else. I can't stay here, and I can't lead them to Patheos.'

  But he wasn't going to leave the city right away. First, came breakfast and meeting Rolan. Hopefully, the man could give him some indication as to where he should take his search. And even if that weren't the case, Rolan could pass along Eurik's explanation as to why he couldn't make use of Patheos' hospitality after all.

  Outside the inn, it seemed that Linese had already woken up. 'Or never sleeps,' Eurik thought as he recalled the incessant rattling of cartwheels last night. That was one aspect of the city he would be glad to escape from.

  Entering the inn proper, he found quite a few people already enjoying breakfast. Rolan Ilad was there as well, though his table was empty of food and drink. The wiry Linesan waved him over. “Rough night?” he asked Eurik as the latter sat down in the chair across from him. “I hope you don't mind that I already ordered for the both of us.”

  “Rough day,” he corrected. “People have been trying to kill me all day.”

  Rolan smiled and shook his head. “I know the city can seem overwhelming for newcomers, but it isn't that bad.”

  “I am not jesting. I fought in the Yellow Arena.”

  “You fought the plant-man? That was you? Wait, I thought you grew up among them?”

  “I did, that's why I went there. I wanted to—” Eurik stopped and sighed. In hindsight, he couldn't really say what he was thinking. “I thought it would be like a sparring match, but Chizuho got paid to kill me. And after the sun set, I was approached by a Blood Lord. He wanted Misthell.”

  And a lot of people had died as a result. In one day, he'd seen more people die than he'd ever seen in all the years he had lived on the island.

  “You're serious.”

  Eurik nodded. “I hope you can tell Patheos why I have to leave. I do not wish to repay his kindness by bringing this trouble to his home. I'll be leaving Linese today, though I hope you can give me some indication as to what direction I should go.”

  Rolan frowned in puzzlement for a moment. “Ah, you mean if I have found something regarding your parents.” He fished a piece of paper out of the leather bag that sat beside his chair. “I can't be sure, of course. Not every ship is insured, there's always a few that prefer to take their chances, but we keep track as best we can.”

  Ilad folded the paper open on the table. “However, I think I found something. The time you specified happened to coincide with the tail end of a surge of pirate attacks. There was a pretty big convoy coming up from Volsom that got ambushed. Several ships were lost. They'd been blown off course and wound up a lot closer to San than they needed to be to get to Linese,” Rolan explained.

  “I wrote their names down.” He looked up at Eurik. “You can read, right?” At his nod, Rolan slid the note over to him. “Of course, it's been seventeen years since those ships were lost. Finding people who might remember what passengers they had is going to be hard.”

  Eurik gave Rolan a grateful smile. “That's alright. Even if I can't find such witnesses, this tells me something about where they were going and where they were coming from. Thank you.”

  Rolan answered his smile and raised his hands up. “As I said, when the head of the family asks, what can we do but say yes? And don't forget, you're buying
me breakfast. And you've been very generous,” he added as a steaming plate was set before him.

  “Well, you make it hard not to be,” Eurik joked.

  ***

  It was noticeably cooler inside the long gateway, though it was also more crowded as people on foot and on horseback navigated the steady stream of chariots, carriages, and carts filing in and out of the city. The sound echoing off the walls and ceiling threatened to overwhelm Eurik.

  Emerging out of that tunnel and into the sun he had to sigh in relief. But there was no opportunity for him to stop and enjoy it as traffic pushed him along.

  For a while, Eurik let it until enough people had turned off the broad road he was on; only then did he step off the paved avenue to consider his destination.

  Reviewing the maps he'd studied back on the island in his mind, Eurik once more pondered which route to take. Or more accurate, what destination to go for. The lands of the Mochedan were about two weeks away, and a lot closer than Volsom. But those lands were vast and finding people who might have known his parents would be difficult, and there had been Patheos' warning.

  Volsom lay far to the south and would take more than a month to reach, probably two. Finding clues there might be no easier, but it was sort of on the way to Vanha forest. His parents probably learned how to make Misthell from the Immortal, though he might not wish to see Eurik, and it was far from the lands of the Mochedan.

  And then there was the matter of the people that were after his sword. Eurik supposed he could have gone back to the Ichiru and ask for protection. Return home and tell Zasashi he wasn't ready to face the world. It was tempting.

  'No, the only way is forward. I will go home when I am ready, not before.' He turned his attention back to question of which way to go. 'I'll have to follow this road all the way to Buce before I can cross the Endria again. Might as well wait with my decision until I'm there.' Nodding to himself, he spared a glance for the monuments that lined both sides of the road for as far as the eye could see. He could only see a few duplicates, but all contained writing of a similar meaning. Here lies such and such, who did this and that. Remember me. Graves, thousands and thousands of graves, and this wasn't the only road so adorned.