The Flames of Dragons
Page 11
“It traveled under the sea floor to get here,” Faro replied. He pointed down. “I felt it. I knew you were coming before you landed. It wasn’t hard to pick you out, the only person on that ship who looked like she didn’t belong on the water. Then, when you were so excited by my mention of Mizuchi, I knew for certain what you were and why you’d come.”
He paused and loosed a long sigh. “Are you going to kill me?”
She nodded. “It’s Shogun Melwar’s command.”
The Tacumsahen Maantec looked at her with those endless black pools he had for eyes. “You don’t have to follow him, you know,” he said. “You could be like me. The only bowing I do anymore is for show.” He made one of his mock bows for emphasis. “I’m free. I can live in Tacumsah, and nobody cares. I walk across the water from island to island, and instead of fearing my magic, the people love it. Just because I call myself a showman! That’s how I live. You can live that way too.”
To run away and leave it all behind . . . if only Hana could do that. Shogun Melwar would never allow it.
Memories of her blood pouring out of her filled Hana’s mind. She had fought the shogun once. She knew the outcome of doing so again.
“I’m sorry, Faro,” she said. “I wish this could have ended differently.”
Faro shrugged. “Too bad.” He grinned and slid back into his fake accent. “I was hopin’ you’d change your mind, ya, and we’d make love under de stars all night long.”
Hana flushed. It was time to end this. She sent magic through her feet into the beach. Sand rose up around Faro and engulfed him. Hana then ordered it to contract. It would crush Faro to death.
The sand constricted, and a pool of liquid dripped out the bottom of it. Hana released her spell and stepped forward to claim Faro’s Ryokaiten.
They were almost the last steps she took. Even as she knelt, the water at her feet erupted in a torrent. It knocked her to the ground, and while she spluttered amid the sand, Faro reappeared. His hand clutched his Ryokaiten, but the weapon had changed. A tendril of water twelve feet long extended from it.
Faro swung his arm, and the water rushed forward. It struck Hana’s hardened skin with a sharp thwack!
The blow didn’t pierce her armor, but it still stunned Hana. The water had acted like a whip.
“I hope you didn’t expect an easy kill,” Faro said in his clear voice. “I may be a showman, but I save my best tricks for when it counts.”
The water around Faro’s Ryokaiten shifted. It changed into a bow. Faro drew back his Ryokaiten handle, and an arrow of water appeared. It shot toward Hana as fast as any normal arrow.
She didn’t even flinch as the water struck her. Her hardened skin absorbed the shot without trouble.
Still, the water’s force surprised Hana. The Forest Dragon Knight had shot arrows at her outside Hiabi, and they’d just snapped. These liquid arrows pushed against her armor as though trying to drill into it.
Hana rose. She reached out over the water and called to a dozen stones of various sizes from pebbles to fist-sized cobbles. They floated in the air for a moment, and then they launched themselves at Faro.
The Tacumsahen stood still. The rocks struck him and passed through his body without pause. Drops of water flecked the sand, but Faro was unharmed.
A stab of fear ripped through Hana. She’d seen a spell like this before. Shogun Melwar had used it the day he’d nearly killed her.
Hana forced away her panic. Faro wasn’t the only one with a strong defense. Unlike Shogun Melwar, Faro had yet to penetrate even Hana’s basic hardened skin armor, and she could add extra layers of stone if necessary.
The Tacumsahen charged, and his Ryokaiten changed shape again. This time it formed a gigantic sword as big as Balear’s Auryozaki. Faro swung, and the water crashed into Hana. Its force was the strongest the Tacumsahen had yet inflicted, but it was weaker than the Forest Dragon Knight’s tree from outside Hiabi. He’d need to do better than that.
Faro leapt back. He seemed to study Hana. She smiled. This outcome happened to most opponents who fought her. Nothing about Hana’s appearance suggested that she had armor, yet the enemy’s techniques couldn’t wound her. The Forest Dragon Knight had grasped the situation quickly enough; Hana wondered if Faro would be as fast.
“I don’t want to kill you, Hana,” Faro said. “Please leave this island. Go back to Lodia.”
Hana blinked twice. So far Faro’s attacks had proven useless against her. Why was he acting like the battle was over, and that he’d won?
He must be bluffing. “That’s sporting of you,” she said, “but you know I can’t return in failure to Shogun Melwar.”
“Then you’ll die on the next blow.”
Hana saw red. Faro was just mocking her. He didn’t have anything that could breach her armor. She was invincible against all but the shogun. That was why she had no choice but to serve him.
She raised her arms, and a column of sand engulfed Faro. A second later, though, he stepped through it. “There’s a lot of space between grains of sand,” he said, “plenty for water to pass through.”
Faro pointed the Zuryokaiten’s tip at Hana. “I’m sorry.”
Hana never had time to dodge. The knucklebone-sized ball of water shot out of Faro’s weapon with a speed that surpassed even Rondel Thara’s attacks. It struck Hana on the tip of her right shoulder and sliced through her hardened skin like it didn’t exist.
Hana cried out and gripped the wound with her left hand. She felt light-headed. Since she’d become the Stone Dragon Knight, no one but Shogun Melwar had made her bleed. Who was this man to injure her? A low-class street urchin had no place wielding this much power.
“I should have killed you,” Faro said. “If I’d aimed that shot at your head or your heart, you’d be dead now. Put water under enough pressure, and it’ll drill through anything, even rock.”
Hana gritted her teeth. What was she supposed to do? Faro could kill her any time he wanted with that attack. She would have no warning. One second she would be alive, and the next she would be dead.
Maybe that was for the best. If she died here, Shogun Melwar wouldn’t get Faro’s Ryokaiten. He needed it for his invasion to succeed. Maybe dying on this beach was the best way to thwart the shogun’s plan.
But no. If she died, her master would send someone else. He would keep sending people until one of them succeeded. Perhaps he would even come himself. Faro couldn’t defeat the shogun. Whether Hana lived or died, the result would be the same. Shogun Melwar would win.
“What do you say, Hana? Stop this. Don’t make me kill you. You’re better than that. You’re better than Melwar.”
Hana shook her head and smiled sadly. “No,” she said,” I’m not.” She looked at Faro. “That’s why you have to die.”
With all the magic she could summon, Hana raised four stone walls around Faro. She had called them from deep in the ground, far below the beach. They slammed together and formed a cube prison. A fifth slab floated up and formed a ceiling, while another met the bottom to create the floor. Hana joined the six sides together so there weren’t any cracks. Faro couldn’t change into water and drip his way out of this cell.
He might still be able to cut through it though. Faro had said water could drill through rock.
Hana wouldn’t give him the chance. She knelt and pressed her palms into the sand. The prison responded and sank into the ground. Hana let it drop deeper and deeper, as far as she could make it go without losing control of it. It was half a mile below the surface when she decided it had reached the limit of her ability.
She would give Faro a week down there. Hana didn’t know how long he could stay in water form, but every second he couldn’t, he would be using up the small amount of air in the cube. A week was more than enough. After that she’d haul the cube back up and take the Ryokaiten.
Hana sighed and fell back on the wet sand. It clung to her. She hated it. Despite her exhaustion, she forced herself to her feet. She le
ft the beach to find an inn.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
What Makes Her Happy
Minawë brushed her palm against a tree in her path. All afternoon, she’d been getting a feeling of déjà vu. Every patch of Aokigahara was different, yet after five weeks of travel, they also started to feel the same.
At least, that’s what Minawë had thought until this afternoon. Now the forest really did feel the same, as though she’d been here before.
Her touch on the tree confirmed it. The voices here were definitely ones she’d heard in the past.
Lyubo descended from the trees. The pair of them had taken on the group’s scouting duties. It was a solitary job for the most part, and Minawë found herself waiting for the moments that brought them together.
“Something wrong?” Lyubo asked. “You seem distracted.”
“This place feels familiar somehow,” Minawë said.
“I would think so. Come into the canopy, and I’ll show you. You can’t see it from down here.”
They leapfrogged up a series of rising limbs until they were halfway up one of the trees. Lyubo pointed to the east. “See it now?”
She did. In the distance the forest ended. A thin, black line cut through it. Nothing lived within the blank space.
Minawë shuddered. “That’s where I fought the Oni Fire Dragon Knight, the spot where Mother and I almost died.”
“And all of us with you,” Lyubo said. “If you hadn’t been here, that Oni would have wrapped that dead zone around Sorengaral. He would have trapped us, then burned us to death. You saved us all that day.”
Minawë peered through the wide, flat leaves. She could just make out the mound of vines that had crushed and killed the Fire Dragon Knight. She’d been so angry back then. She’d wanted to protect Rondel and the Kodamas, but she’d also wanted revenge for what the Oni had already done.
“The sun’s setting,” Lyubo said. “It’s too bad. With a few more hours, we might have reached Sorengaral today. I’m certain we’ll arrive tomorrow, though.”
Minawë tried to keep her reaction passive, yet she couldn’t help but clutch her hand to her chest. Sorengaral, her people’s home in Aokigahara. What would she do when she reached it?
“Let’s head back,” Lyubo said. “The others will be excited to know how close we are.”
They returned and met up with Narunë, Rondel, and the rest of the troop. Rondel argued that they should keep going, but Narunë silenced her with a wave.
“Traveling the forest at night is dangerous,” he said. “We do it only in great need. Sorengaral will wait until morning.”
Rondel huffed and pouted, but she didn’t press the point. She sulked as the rest of them set up camp and collected firewood.
Lyubo sat next to Minawë through dinner. He joked a lot, and Minawë smiled to see him in such good spirits.
She understood his mirth. He was a day from home. Coming home always made you happy. It was the place you belonged.
Without a word, Minawë stood and walked away from the fire. She felt the others’ eyes on her, but she paid them no mind. She needed a few minutes alone.
She wouldn’t get them. She’d barely wandered from camp when Lyubo called, “Minawë, hold on!”
“I’m sorry, Lyubo,” she said. “I know I shouldn’t go off by myself after dark.”
Lyubo shook his head. “It’s all right. I know these woods well, so even if you got lost, I could find you.” He gave her a lopsided grin.
Minawë didn’t return the expression. “Could you?” she asked. “These woods are familiar to me too, but I feel more lost now than ever.”
The male Kodama thought for a moment. “Minawë, I just realized there’s a place nearby I know you’ll like. Can I show it to you? It might cheer you up.”
Minawë shrugged. “Sure. Lead the way.”
They hiked through the jungle, heading west from camp. In spite of the almost total darkness, Lyubo walked with confidence. He seemed to know the way by feel as well as by sight.
He stopped at a solid mass of timber. Minawë looked up, but it was like staring at a palisade.
“What is this?” she asked.
“The only way in is up,” Lyubo said. “We have to climb.”
He set to work on one of the trunks, wrapping his arms and legs around it as best he could. With his Kodaman strength, he slowly made his way up the tree.
Minawë cocked an eyebrow. Lyubo’s method worked, but it was embarrassing and difficult. She transformed into a squirrel and shimmied up a neighboring trunk, winking at Lyubo as she passed him.
“Hey, no fair!” Lyubo called.
A hundred feet up, the tree trunks at last narrowed enough that Minawë could slip between two of them. She skittered down the other side and waited for Lyubo to catch up. When he arrived, Minawë returned to her Kodaman form and looked around.
She whistled. They were in a glade in the rainforest, hemmed in by a tight ring of trees. The opening was perhaps seventy feet across, and only a soft undergrowth of ferns filled the space. The canopies of the encircling trees formed a roof over their heads.
“I discovered this place while scouting long ago,” Lyubo said. “Ever since, it’s been a place I come to for guidance. What do you think?”
Minawë was in awe. “It’s beautiful. How did it get here?”
“All the trees in the ring are the same,” Lyubo pointed out. “I think there used to be a massive tree here that broke off in a storm and decayed. The trees around us are its children, growing off the remains of its base.”
“It must have been immense,” Minawë said, “maybe as big as the Heart of Ziorsecth.”
Lyubo shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I never saw the Heart before I joined the war.”
Minawë looked at him. The Kodama’s silver eyes sparkled in the filtered moonlight.
Then Minawë realized they sparkled because they were wet. She reached a hand up and touched his cheek. “Why are you crying?”
Lyubo loosed a breath. “I dashed off to war so young I never understood what we were fighting for. Now I’m trapped here by Saito’s curse. I won’t ever see the Heart.”
“The Heart’s gone,” Minawë said. “Feng destroyed it.”
“It’ll regrow eventually, but even if I live another thousand years, I won’t see it.”
“You will,” Minawë promised, though she had no idea how. “I had the curse removed. If it could happen to me, it can happen to you. We’ll find a way.”
Lyubo smiled. “Thank you, but I’m all right. I’ve always regretted that I left Ziorsecth so young, but these past few weeks with you, I’ve let those feelings go. I found something else I want to protect, something real: you.”
Minawë blushed. “You told me yourself you can’t protect me. You aren’t a Dragon Knight.”
“That isn’t what I mean. I’ve spent enough time with you to see the pain you’re feeling. I can’t stop Rondel or fight any wars, but I want to be there for you. I want to give you a place you feel secure, a place you can call home.”
Home. Minawë shivered even though the jungle was still warm from the day’s heat. When she’d first come to Aokigahara, she’d wondered if it might someday be home to her. Back then she’d dismissed the notion in favor of pursuing Iren, but now . . .
The Oni’s scorched path from earlier in the evening came back to her. If she hadn’t been here, all the Aokigaharan Kodamas would have died.
Then another image flashed before her eyes. Iren and Rondel battled across the fields outside Hiabi, their blades crashing together. Iren would have died if Minawë hadn’t intervened.
Minawë wiped her eyes. She didn’t know when she’d started crying, but now she couldn’t stop.
“No matter what I choose, people I care about will die,” she said. “I can’t be everywhere. I’m not all-powerful.”
Lyubo hugged her. His grip was firm and warm. She let her head rest against his chest, and his thudding heart slowed her sobs.
Minawë’s eyes whipped up to Lyubo’s. It was on a night not so unlike this one that Iren had walked away from her. He didn’t want her to interfere. Neither did Rondel. If she kept following the old Maantec, no matter what happened, she would only find more pain.
There was no happiness in pursuing those two. Revenge couldn’t make you happy. It couldn’t make anyone happy.
But here, here there was something that could make her happy. Minawë studied Lyubo’s face, his wild yet gentle eyes.
She raised herself up and kissed him.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Balear’s Strategy
Dirio climbed to the top of Kataile’s stairs and stepped onto the plateau above the city. Sparse pines dotted the area, but most of the space was open. Even here, a quarter-mile from the outer ledge, Dirio could see all the way to the plateau’s border.
He could also see the object of his search. Balear Platarch sat on the plateau’s northeast corner with another man. They were pointing in multiple directions and talking intensely.
Dirio walked up to them. “Hey, did you forget about practice?” he asked. “I had to direct the officers myself, and they weren’t happy about it.”
Balear looked up, and so did the other man. Dirio recognized him as Riac, the veteran Balear had selected as his second-in-command.
“Sorry,” Balear said. “This was more important.”
“What could be more important than training your soldiers?”
“Figuring out how we’re going to use them.”
That got Dirio’s attention. Up to now, they’d focused on the basics: how to fight with a spear, how to move in formation, and how to order your men so they actually listened. Dirio had never given thought to how that training might be applied in battle. Balear obviously had.