Storm Phase Series: Books 1-3

by Hayden, David Alastair

  “I am ready for anything now, master,” Motekeru said.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  As they rode back toward the canyon, bitterly cold winds battered them. Wild sonoke and demon-beasts chased them, but they managed to avoid getting attacked. On one afternoon, with Lu Bei as a high-flying spotter, they hunted a pack of kotooto beasts: blubbery, blue-furred creatures with five legs, antenna, and non-functional wings. Turesobei hated wasting valuable time, but if they didn’t replenish their food stores, they would starve. Of course, the raw kotooto meat from their two kills smelled like a chamber pot and made him contemplate starvation. Surely, rotting sonoke meat would taste better. After a few bites, they vowed to dump the kotooto meat as soon as they found better tasting game.

  When they reached the edge of the canyon, they didn’t ride down into it. Instead, Turesobei led them to a spot that, by Iniru’s estimation, was roughly located above the eidakami-ga’s cavern. Turesobei knelt on the ice and activated his kenja-sight. Traces of forest, earth, and fire energy seeped up from the ground around him. Focusing, he tapped his internal kenja and boosted his kenja-sight. Deep in the ground beneath him, below the layer of snow and ice and below the permafrost, stretched a network of roots pulsing with viridian forest kenja. The roots here were thin. Crawling on the ice, he followed them inward until he reached a mass of entangled roots and kenja so bright he had to dim his kenja-sight.

  “This is it,” Turesobei announced. “Directly below me lies the root-cluster of Satsupan’s tree.”

  “His heart?” Iniru asked.

  “Based on my reading of the currents, the heart itself is locked within the tree’s root ball, which is buried deep within to keep it safe. It would take a lot of time and effort to reach it.”

  “So we can’t kill him?” Kemsu asked.

  Turesobei shrugged. “We might be able to, if we damaged enough roots and left them exposed to the cold, but that would take weeks, months, maybe years. And his knobs would live on after him, for as long as the sun stone remained.”

  “Motekeru could eat the sun stone and take away his light source,” Kemsu said. “He couldn’t survive without it.”

  “Too much energy,” Motekeru replied. “I would melt. Doubt I could even hold it.”

  Turesobei nodded. “Satsupan wasn’t bluffing. That is a shard of the sun itself.”

  “So what do we do?” Iniru asked.

  “We cause him enough pain that he’ll agree to our demands,” Turesobei said. “We’ll have to dig down far enough to expose some of the dense root mass. Motekeru, I’ll need you to do that. Sorry, but I never learned the spell of the shoveling ghost.”

  “My pleasure,” Motekeru said. “Tell me where to start.”

  Turesobei pointed, and Motekeru immediately plunged his clawed hands into the ice, cutting out blocks as if building a snow house.

  “What, you don’t have all the spells memorized?” Kemsu said, testily.

  “It’s harder than you think,” Turesobei said.

  Kemsu shrugged. “Just seems like you usually have a spell to do everything for you.”

  “Learning a complicated spell is like memorizing an epic poem with several thousand lines,” Lu Bei explained. “And there are many more things than that which go into it.” Lu Bei crossed his arms and stared at Kemsu. “Now, would you like to continue being snarky about stuff that can save your life?”

  Kemsu looked down at his feet. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t you think Satsupan’s going to notice when you start tearing through his smaller roots near the top?” Iniru asked.

  “I’m counting on it,” Turesobei replied. “I need him to already know we mean business when we get there. Motekeru, I will need you to do a lot of damage to the roots when we begin bargaining with him.”

  “Not a problem.” Motekeru bent his head back to the sky and belched out a blast of crackling flames.

  Everyone, Turesobei included, stumbled back in awe. Lu Bei yipped and clapped and danced with glee.

  “Since when could you do that?!” Turesobei said.

  “Yeah, that would’ve been useful against the Twelve,” Iniru added.

  “I was built to do it,” Motekeru replied, “but I can only manage it when I’m at full strength with a surplus of fire within me. It runs out if I don’t eat, and I had not eaten in a very long time. The nozakami’s heart held a lot of power. I think I could probably take out several yomon now.”

  “Good to know.” Turesobei patted him on the back. “I’m going to link you to me with a simple signal spell that uses two responses: stop and go. When we start to bargain with Satsupan, I will signal you to do some serious damage to get his attention.”

  “Can you make the signal go that far, through earth and rock?” Motekeru asked.

  “Bound as we are by the kavaru, I think so. It’s an air kenja spell, so I shouldn’t have much trouble here, and I’m keeping it simple with just two responses.”

  After two hours of digging, Motekeru reached a knot of thick roots. “If I keep ripping, I’m betting he’s really going to start to feel it.”

  “That’s deep enough, then,” Turesobei said. “Expand the hole across to expose more of the roots to the cold air.”

  “You can’t make Satsupan feel too desperate,” Iniru cautioned. “If he thinks he’s going to die, he’ll lash out and kill us for revenge.”

  That should’ve occurred to Turesobei, but it hadn’t. “We’ll have to play it carefully, then. It’s all we’ve got.”

  * * *

  The big knob, rocking side-to-side nervously, and dozens of small knobs met them at the start of the cave and escorted them to the cavern — this time without chanting. Instead, the little knobs chittered amongst themselves. Once in the cavern, the knobs led them to the shoreline and massed around them, waiting. Satsupan was nowhere to be seen.

  As soon as Turesobei dismounted, Enashoma nearly tackled him. Kurine was a step behind her, and she lifted him into a deep, rib-crushing hug. Turesobei retreated, looked them over, and saw no sign of injuries. Satsupan had kept his word about healing them.

  “Told you I’d be back,” Turesobei said. “You okay?”

  “Peachy,” Shoma replied. “Better than Satsupan.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  “Until this morning he was a lot of taunting and bluster,” Narbenu said, thumping Kemsu on the shoulder approvingly.

  Kurine smiled at him and hugged him again. “About time,” she said. “I was getting bored listening to the tree prattle on about himself hour after hour.”

  Turesobei had to admit he was happy to see Kurine. She always cheered him up, but then she also made him uncomfortable. Of course, all girls made him uncomfortable. Kurine planted a big kiss on his lips. He could feel Iniru’s gaze burning holes in his back, so he squirmed out of the embrace as fast as possible.

  Satsupan emerged and walked slowly and carefully down a branch, as if afraid he might miss a step. The muscles in his face trembled as he restrained himself from showing any expression.

  “So, you have returned,” he said pompously, but with a tremor in his voice.

  Turesobei reached into his pack, pulled out the now-inert nozakami statue, and tossed it onto the shore. “Brought it back, just like you asked. Our agreement is fulfilled. Though I don’t think you were entirely honest with me …”

  Satsupan’s eyes flared in shock as he looked at the statue, then his eyes narrowed. “How dare you! What happened to Utotsu?! Why can’t I visit her in the dreamtime?”

  “Oh, that,” Turesobei replied. “You can’t visit with her because Motekeru ate her heart. Sorry, you only said to bring the statue. I know, a technicality, but you did fail to mention that she was going to eat us.”

  “How dare you, mortal!” Satsupan marched toward them, and the knobs closed in, chattering angrily. “Kaiaru dog, I am going to enjoy killing you. Slowly. You will suffer for years.”

  Turesobei shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think so. How are yo
u feeling, by the way? Under that anger … you look a little bit afraid. Something the matter with … oh, I don’t know, your roots, maybe?”

  “How dare you?!”

  “Master dares,” Lu Bei replied. “You should ask yourself, where is Motekeru? What is he up to? Is he, perhaps, directly above you, digging into your roots, exposing them to the cold?”

  “You would never,” Satsupan hissed.

  “But I would,” Turesobei replied. “In fact, you know that I have already. Would you like for me to order Motekeru to do a little more digging … a little more clawing?”

  Satsupan grew long wooden claws out from his fingertips. “I will crush you before the machine man does enough damage to harm me.”

  Turesobei smiled and snapped his fingers, activating the spell to signal Motekeru. Satsupan collapsed, screaming and grabbing at his body. Turesobei sent the stop signal, and stood over Satsupan.

  “On my signal, he will attack your roots again with claws and flame. And if I die, he will know immediately, and he will dig, slash, and burn until you are no more. Are we clear?”

  “Even if your machine could kill me, my knobs would destroy you all.”

  “I realize that,” Turesobei said. “That’s why I returned here for my friends instead of killing you first. I figured we could work something out. You let us go, and Motekeru won’t keep hurting you.”

  Satsupan lunged at Turesobei. Before he could reach him, the two amber hounds pounced onto Satsupan and knocked him off course. As he started to get back up, Turesobei clicked his fingers. Satsupan started writhing on the ground again as Motekeru burned his roots. The knobs hesitated, not knowing what to do.

  “Everyone, mount up,” Turesobei said. “Start moving toward the entrance. Push through the knobs if you must.”

  Turesobei walked backward behind his friends as they shoved through the knobs toward the entrance to the cave. He clicked his fingers again to make Motekeru stop. Satsupan lay gasping for air. The anger was gone from him … for the moment. The big knob rallied the horde, and they started rushing in. Iniru and the others began to fight them off.

  Turesobei yelled with his fingers above his head. “Back off or your master suffers and dies!”

  Some of the knobs backed off, but others did not. With Lu Bei and the hounds shielding him, Turesobei cast the spell of the sun-fire globe, drawing on the sun stone’s power. A giant, glowing orb appeared in the top of the cavern. While the orb crackled and flamed, it couldn’t burn anything. It merely gave off light. It was nothing more than an impressive bluff, or so he hoped. Half the knobs backed away in fear, but that still wasn’t enough.

  “Call them off or die, Satsupan!”

  “Your word?” Satsupan yelled.

  “My word!” Turesobei returned.

  Satsupan ordered the knobs to stand down, but many of them disobeyed him. With dozens chasing them, Turesobei leapt up onto the mount behind Zaiporo, and they raced out through the tunnel, outpacing the knobs. When they reached the outside and the endless ice and deep drifts of recently fallen snow, the knobs slowed as they began to slip and tire. They couldn’t handle the cold, nor walk well on the ice.

  Once the last of the knobs quit chasing them, Turesobei and his companions stopped to catch their breath. Luckily, no one had gotten any serious injuries fighting off the knobs this time. Turesobei stared back toward the tunnels, deep in thought.

  “Going to get rid of him, master?” Lu Bei asked.

  Turesobei sighed. “No, I can’t go back on my word.”

  “He could kill more people,” Zaiporo said.

  “True,” Turesobei replied, “but I don’t think many people wander into this canyon anymore. He’s suffered, that’ll have to be enough.”

  As Kemsu and Narbenu nodded, approving of his honor in keeping his word, Kurine beamed at him with pride.

  “Let’s get as far away from here as fast as we can,” Iniru said. “Those knobs are determined. They may keep coming.”

  As they rode toward the blind with the shortcut path leading up out of the canyon, a strange feeling struck Turesobei — a disturbance in the kenja currents. He turned and looked to his left. His heart plunged into his stomach, and bile rose into his throat.

  On the edge of the sloping side of the canyon, the side they had slid down in the snowstorm, stood a long line of yomon. Eighty-eight of them, he suspected. At their center, scantily clad in ripped traveling clothes — blood-smeared — taller — filled out with hips and breasts and corded muscle — a pentagram on her forehead — was Awasa. She stood with one hip cocked and her head turned almost coyly to the side. The familiar pose made her new form look even more twisted and monstrous.

  Her purple eyes locked onto him. He thought he saw a grin. Then she pointed Sumada toward them and bellowed, “Charge!”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Awasa ran madly down the slope, somehow managing not to fall and slide down. The yomon poured down behind her.

  “Oh gods!” Enashoma cried out. “That’s not —”

  “It’s her,” Lu Bei said. He had the sharpest eyes out of all of them.

  “We’ve got to get out of here and fast,” Iniru said.

  Turesobei opened his kenja-sight and peered up at Awasa; he had to see. “The blood … she’s painted herself with the blood of the Winter Child. That’s why she’s safe from the cold.”

  “Sobei,” Iniru urged. “We have to get out of here. Now!”

  “Right.” He took a deep breath. “When I give the signal, ride hard for the blind. I’m going to cover us.”

  He chanted the spell of the fog cloud. Normally, it would cover only a small area at best, but the spell used air and water kenja, the two most abundant energies in the Ancient Cold and Deep, and he planned on putting everything he had into it.

  “Hurry,” Shoma urged.

  The yomon and Awasa were halfway down into the canyon when he finished chanting the long spell. Almost instantly, a mist rose from the ground and clouds fell from the sky, filling the canyon with a fog so thick that Turesobei couldn’t even see the tail end of the sonoke he was riding.

  “I can’t see anything,” Kemsu said. “How’s this supposed to help us?”

  Turesobei spoke a command, and a bubble within the fog cloud formed around them so that they could see each other and just ahead of themselves.

  “Ride to the blind,” he said.

  “Master, what if the yomon or Awasa can follow our trail magically?” Lu Bei asked.

  “Do you think they can?”

  “I’m not sure. I would assume that Awasa’s powers are similar to those of Barakaros the Warlock. I’m certain that he could’ve tracked us. Of course, you have stirred up a lot of energy here, and she hasn’t had time to get used to her powers — or had any magical training for that matter.”

  “We’ll just have to ride and hope she can’t,” Turesobei said. “It’s the only choice we’ve got.”

  “You say that a lot,” Kemsu said.

  “That’s how I live my life,” Turesobei replied. “I never seem to have any good options. I just work with what fate gives me.”

  “They could physically track us once the fog clears,” Iniru said.

  “The fog will last in the canyon for days, maybe weeks.”

  “It’s not going to spread, is it?” Narbenu asked.

  “I localized it as best as I could,” Turesobei said. “If it spreads, it will do so slowly. We should be able to stay well ahead of it. Meanwhile, they can flail around blindly and take the long way out of the canyon.”

  “I hope they run into the cave and face all those angry knobs and what’s left of Satsupan,” Zaiporo said. “That would be justice.”

  As they rode up the blind, a frustrated, shrieking howl pierced the fog and echoed through the canyon. Turesobei knew the voice behind it.

  “Sounds like we’ve thwarted them for now, master,” Lu Bei said.

  Kurine pulled alongside Turesobei and stared at him. “So that �
�� that was …”

  “My other betrothed,” he replied dully.

  As they rode, Turesobei stared blindly into the distance and thought of the time he’d run into Awasa with his shirt stuck over his head. That was the day Lu Bei had come to him. He thought of the tea they’d had with their mothers before the note from Iniru had changed their lives. He thought of the dance he’d offered to take her to — a dance he would’ve attended. Without that note, she would still be the same old Awasa: not the good person she had started to become and not the nightmare she was now. But even without that note, the Deadly Twelve would have come after him, and Awasa would probably be dead. Although that would be a better fate than being turned into what she was now.

  When they reached Motekeru an hour later, he was meditating near the destruction he’d wrought. He nodded tersely, and then climbed into the saddle of his mount. But they didn’t go on immediately. They gave their mounts a few minutes to rest, since they’d be riding them nonstop for the rest of the day and part of the night.

  “You okay?” Iniru asked.

  Turesobei shrugged. “It’s my fault.”

  “It is, but what’s done is done. I’m sorry it happened.”

  “The trip was making her a better person. She was trying so hard. She’d turned the corner.”

  “She really had,” Shoma said. “She was becoming almost tolerable. She worked so hard to earn Sobei’s respect and now …”

  “The magic has brought out all the worst in her,” Turesobei said. “If not for all those yomon, I’d do anything I could to help her, though I’m not sure what I actually could do.”

  “I haven’t seen many things like this before,” Lu Bei said, solemnly, “obviously, but my experience and instincts tell me there’s probably no way to cure her of this.”