by Dixon, TJ
Peter and the Kuroneko Book 3 of The War of Contractia By T.J. Dixon (part of The Chronicles of Contractia)
Author’s Foreword
Please note that all people, places and events in this story are purely fictional. Any resemblance to any real person, place or event (or anything else) is purely co-incidence. This is the third book in The War of Contractia, which is the first series in The Chronicles of Contractia.
Peter must defeat the most devious of foes to protect his friends, but he cannot do so alone. He will need to rely on a small group of comrades and on the advice of an ally with far more experience than he has. His own talent and power will however still prove vital.
Yu Kii, the former miko (shrine maiden) of the Kuroneko has adjusted to her life in Contractia, but those she left behind must continue their duties. Meanwhile Yu Kii and her classmates will go much further afield than just the academy. As she does so you will learn more about both Yu Kii and Contractia itself.
Prologue (Peter)
This is the last village. We have already been to all the other villages in the Hoshi land. The villagers greet Hinata, but look at the rest of us fearfully. It is a greeting we have become accustomed to. It takes a while to find the right spot but eventually Dairon does find it.
Then Dairon begins to sing. It is a different song in each village but without exception they are all beautiful songs. I just stand there listening and watching. There is nothing I can do to help. As the song continues the ground softens and grass sprouts under our feet and all around us. I am sad when the song finishes but Dairon has again done his job, and a fine job he has done. This once desolate land is now clearly fertile and I have no doubt that it will support a good crop.
“So now the real job begins.” Lucy reminds me.
“I know, but I couldn’t just leave without sorting this out first.” I tell her.
“Healing that girl’s mother and healing the land of the Hoshi has taken a good six days. I hope we still have time to complete our mission.” Lucy says with a sigh.
“We’ll port directly to the Black Isle and from there to Portalis, once we have what we need from the Black Forest.” I assure her.
“Well don’t just stand there then.” Lucy says and lands on my shoulder.
“Take my hand.” I tell Dairon and Hinata who both reach out and touch my only hand. Then I port us and we are back at the town gates of Black Isle. There are lit torches whose flames cast a flickering light upon our surroundings. It feels really spooky and is of course almost deserted. Other than the town guard, Black Isle was evacuated around the same time I lost my left arm.
“Hinata, this is your last chance to change your mind.” I tell her.
“I’m not changing my mind. No matter how dangerous it is, I’m going with you. I won’t rest until that man is dead.” Hinata tells me with the same sad determination and simmering fury as always.
“Then the hunt begins.” I say grimly and lead the way through the gates and into the Black Forest.
Black Forest is named that because of the trees’ black wood, but recently the name has taken on a new meaning. It is the middle of the day but it is pitch black. Sure the trees always provided shade, but this isn’t the natural shade of the trees. This is a darkness brought about by magic. It isn’t elemental magic and neither is it dimensional magic. This is life magic, also known as soul magic and death magic.
Hinata holds out a small stone and pours earth magic into it. It glows with a gentle purple light that reveals our surroundings. The trees around us are obviously dying as their souls are slowly drained by the life magic. We pass countless rotting corpses of both animals and birds. The smell is sickening but Dairon is clearly worst affected.
“That way.” Dairon says with a grimace as he points at our new route. We follow his direction without speaking. Speaking means breathing in more than we need to, so unnecessary words remain unspoken. The further we walk the worse the smell becomes. It takes an hour or so, but it seems like days.
The sight before us makes the walk seem quite pleasant. So this is what a slave farm looks like. Well, at least what it looks like after everyone in it has been slaughtered. It is beyond description and I am very close to vomiting. I am clearly not the only one either. It seems like Dairon only just manages to keep the contents of his stomach inside him.
After my initial horror and disgust I notice something that confuses me. Most of the slave corpses are black. Is it just an effect of the enchantment? It must be, because black people are really rare in Contractia. At the back of my mind though, I wonder whether this is why they are rare. Are they not really all that rare, but instead living as slaves?
“I’m sorry, but you need to sing, or coming here will be pointless.” I tell Dairon.
“I know.” Dairon says and closes his eyes. Then he begins to sing the Song of Release. As he does so I can see the souls of the dead rise into the air. It is indescribable for the opposite reason to before. I can tell just by looking that they are grateful and relieved to finally be released from their hellish prison. As the magic fades the slaves’ skin turns to white, which further confuses me, but now is not the time to be distracted.
The song finishes and the magic is undone. Light returns, and the forest is released from the evil enchantment. It will not be long before the one that cast this magic returns and tries to slay us. Retreat will be impossible. It is victory or death.
Victory through brute force is impossible but I have no doubts. It will be victory. All I need to do is draw the enemy’s attention. The job of actually defeating it is Dairon’s. Unless the battle goes badly there will be nothing for Lucy or Hinata to do.
It isn’t long before the demon appears. It is perhaps thirty foot tall and twenty foot wide. It has leathery yellow and green skin, but from that skin blue flames burn. Its eyes are burning red in the centre and surrounded by darkness that is far darker than simple black. That darkness reminds me of dimensional magic and makes me shiver.
I jump into the air and attack with wind slices. They have to be fairly powerful, or it wouldn’t even notice them thanks to its natural magical shielding. There is no chance of actually harming this demon with wind slices though. I have to maintain a delicate balance of using enough power to draw the demon to me whilst avoiding running out of power. As the demon’s flames strike at me I of course have to focus on dodging too.
It takes about ten minutes for Dairon to finish his song and I am so busy I don’t even notice it until it finishes. Thankfully neither does the demon. Not until Dairon launches his attack that is. Dairon’s powers are focused by the song and using every drop of power within him this is our one and only chance at victory.
Dairon has used a water based attack, but it is not simply water. Dairon has infused water with the power of life. Demons use the power of death to live. This attack uses their natural weakness, but to infuse water with the power of life is no simple task. Most importantly it uses part of the mage’s soul as well as their magical power. Even though it is only a very small piece of Dairon’s soul, unlike using magic which naturally replenishes, it is a permanent price to pay.
In a healthy forest it may have been possible to use a small part of the forest’s soul. This forest is far from healthy though and using its soul would kill it for good. Even with time it may not recover from the attack it has already sustained, but we still don’t want to kill it ourselves. Also if we kill it to defeat our first enemy, how would we kill the rest of the demons?
“I’m sorry Dairon, but we have three more to kill. Are you going to be alright?” I ask.
“Yes, but I will need to recover my power before we hunt the next
enemy.” Dairon says gasping for breath.
Chapter 1 (Multiple)
(Yu Kii)
We meet at the training grounds like usual. Most of the group don’t notice our unseen guards, but they can’t elude my senses. I know why they are there of course. They don’t follow us everywhere so I have privacy when I need it most, but they are never far away. How much they’ll be able to help if David attacks again I don’t know, but I guess if nothing else they can let the Queen know. Lilian and Asuna must also be able to sense our guards, but I don’t think that Helski can.
Lilian teaches us both just like normal, whilst Asuna watches. Then we change elements and Rin helps us with water magic, along with Sherry, Mirai and Tabi. It is a very normal training session, but our training has helped us all improve so much more than lessons alone could have achieved.
As the training ends Rin calls out to everyone. “If I call your name out please remain behind. Wind element; Cherry, Felicity, Galico, Midori, Mirai and Tabi. Fire element; Jenny, Sherry, Rose and Marian. Earth element; Lilian, Yu Kii, Helski and Hermes. Water element; Lily, Asuna, Charlotte, Clara, Yusa. Everyone else please meet here again the day after tomorrow straight after lessons.”
I assume we must have been chosen for tomorrow’s bounty hunts, but it would have been easier to call out everyone who is not on the hunt! I assume Rin must be planning on splitting us up into three or four groups, but there’s no way she’s going to split us into groups of the same element. I wonder who I will be working with and why she called us by element.
“Everyone I called out will be going on tomorrow’s hunt. Does anyone have a problem with that?” Rin asks quite bluntly. She waits a moment but nobody complains. “Good. We’re going to be working in one group. We will be hunting drakes.” Rin says and for a moment there is a stunned silence.
“Drakes?!” Clara protests.
“Yes, drakes. My mother needs some drake skin and blood. There also happens to be a bounty for drake heads at the Drake. It seems the owner wants some decorations for the place. I have to question her taste, but she is willing to pay ten gold per head for up to twenty heads. In other words, each of us can earn ten gold if we can kill twenty drakes.”
“That’s a lot of money.” Yusa says looking very bright eyed.
“That’s a lot of drakes!” Clara says sounding dismayed.
“Are you too scared to go on the hunt?” Rin asks sounding annoyed. Now everyone is looking at Clara.
“No!” Clara protests.
“Everyone meet here tomorrow an hour after dawn.” Rin says and then ports away. Everyone is very quiet for a moment and then they start to port away too. I port back to our room and of course find Rin there already.
“Are drakes that dangerous?” I ask.
“You wouldn’t want to fight one on one, but with twenty of us it should be easy.” Rin says with a shrug.
“So where do we find twenty drakes?” I ask.
“Drake Mountain of course. We fought one of those giant bugs there. The ones that had attacked Utopia Camerona. It’s the best place to hunt drakes.” Rin tells me.
“I remember that mountain.” I say with a nod.
“Anyway don’t worry. Lilian will be leading the earth users tomorrow so all you will need to do is focus on your own magic. Just get some sleep so your power levels are back to full.” Rin says. I feel relieved and take her advice about sleep.
Morning comes and as usual Rin wakes me. Since I started living indoors I have rarely been able to wake on my own before Rin. Back at the Kuroneko Mountains I lived outside just like I did when I first arrived here. Of course I didn’t have anything as luxurious as the tent that the academy gave me. I used to sleep in the icy temple courtyard on the hard stones. At least the stones were flat, but that was the only good thing about that courtyard.
Now though I can’t imagine going back to living like that again. I am used to my soft bed and the warmth of our room. I am used to Rin waking me like this instead of having icy water poured over me if I don’t wake before dawn.
I take my time washing and dressing. Then we have a leisurely breakfast and return to the room for a while. If it had been Peter leading the hunt we’d have had to meet at or just after dawn. An hour after dawn feels so much more comfortable. I feel guilty for thinking like this though, because I know just how worried Rin is about Peter. I am worried too of course, but it isn’t the same.
We meet under the trees and everyone gets there about the same time. With so many of us I had thought somebody would be late. Perhaps everyone was too worried about keeping so many of us waiting, or maybe they were just scared of what Rin would do to them if they were late!
Rin has quite the reputation, but she is never cruel for the sake of it. Sure she has a temper, but it is only because she cares so much about everything. People who don’t care don’t get angry. Rin also puts up an icy front as a facade, because she is too embarrassed to show when she cares. Around close friends that front fades, but even then it is rarely completely gone.
Rin whistles for attention, because everyone is busy talking in their excitement at the thought of fighting drakes. When everyone is listening she starts to speak. “Lilian will lead the earth users. Jenny the flame users. Cherry wind and Lily water. I will lead overall. The plan is to kill the drakes inside their caves. If they leave the cave we may need to chase them into the air or let them escape.
“Believe me when I say that fighting a drake in the air would be suicide, but if we let them escape they will attack us again when they feel the time is right. Most likely when we attack the next drake. That would of course also be bad. So if a drake escapes into the air I will give the signal and we will all port back here.
“The wind users will drain the cave of air to weaken the drake’s flames. Then the water users will seal the cave with ice. The earth users will then collapse the cave onto the drake and attack the drake until it is dead. The fire users will help guide the earth users’ attacks using their fire sense. Each earth user will pair up with a fire user. If a drake leaves the cave, the fire users will protect us against the drake’s flames. Does anyone have any questions? … No, then element leaders choose someone to port your team. Water element will port last. If any element doesn’t have someone who has been to Drake Mountain then let me know.”
It seems everyone in the earth element has been to Drake Mountain before so Lilian gets Hermes to port us. I am glad she didn’t ask me to, because no matter how many times I port it still feels unnatural. Even the other elements still feel a bit unnatural, but thankfully it sounds like I will only be using earth magic today. That is as natural to me as walking or talking. I can’t sense our unseen guards here so I assume they think we’re safe with twenty mages.
I pair up with Sherry. I am grateful, because I know Sherry a lot better than Rose or Marian, and almost as well as Jenny. As we approach a cave Sherry guides my senses, which helps me target the drake inside. I could target it with my earth sense, but a drake is much more aligned to the fire element. I am confident I would still have hit it, but I can understand why Rin suggested we work like this.
I can not only feel, but also see the wind as the air is quickly drained from the cave. Then an ice wall is up and it is my turn. Between us we quickly collapse the cave but something so minor is only a nuisance to the drake. I strike the drake repeatedly with a hundred stone spikes from above. I can feel Lilian’s attacks from below. Hermes and Helski attack from each side but their attacks are weaker.
The drake is angry and hurt, but our attacks are too weak to really injure the drake. It presses forward, burrowing through the collapsed cave and ignoring our attacks. Soon it reaches the ice wall. The drake breathes fire, but without air its flames are too weak to penetrate the ice wall. Once it is clear the wall is holding some of the water mages strike the drake with ice attacks.
After a few minutes of relentless attacks the drake collapses and then after a minute it is dead. It takes another minute to
sever its head. Only now it is dead do I get a chance to really look at it properly. It has very, very thick red scaly metallic armour. No wonder it took so much effort to kill it. It has wings formed of flowing red metal. Now it is dead though, the metal is quickly flowing into the ground. It must have maintained them with magic.
We repeat the same tactic and after an hour or so we have a nice pile of drake heads. Unfortunately we are getting low on power and we only have ten drake heads. I am relieved when Rin calls out, “We’ll hand these heads in and take the bodies to my home. We’ll do the other half of the bounty next week. We should have five gold each from today’s job though, so not bad going for an hour’s work.”
“Are we doing the other ten next week?” Yusa asks eagerly.
“As long as the bounty is still available.” Rin answers with a grin. We all port back whilst Rin and Jenny sort out the bounty and the bodies. Hermes ports our element group again to my relief. A few minutes later Rin hands us five gold each. As she said, it really isn’t bad pay for such a short job. In fact it would still be really good pay even if the job had taken all day. “The rest of the day is yours, but don’t forget to meet up here after lessons tomorrow like normal.”
Rin walks towards me as everyone else says goodbye to each other. They start to port away as Rin reaches me, but I bow to Rin in apology. “I’m sorry, but I have something to take care of. Is that ok?”
“Of course.” Rin says hiding her disappointment well, but I can tell from the way she fiddles with the fingers of her left hand.
“I’m sorry!” I say and bow again.
“Don’t be silly.” Rin says with a kind smile. “So what do you need to take care of?”
“I’m sorry!” I say bowing again.
“You can’t say? Well, never mind. When do you think you’ll be back?”
“I should be back before it gets dark, or just after.” I tell her and Rin frowns.
“Do you need any help?” Rin asks.