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by Frost Queen Tomiko [MF] (epub)

  The bold one didn't waste any time taking the keys and getting them to the padlock that hung from the chain that kept the cage door shut. He did a decent job of being quiet about it, at least by clumsy, lumbering human standards.

  Aka moved on, letting him work while he advanced toward the keep. He turned back when he heard a shout- the jailer had spotted the man. Aka was impressed when he saw him react quickly, throwing the keys to the villagers in the next cage and tackling the jailer before he could draw his weapon.

  The fight was on. The villagers were streaming out, picking up anything they could to use as a weapon, throwing rocks and using barrel lids as shields.

  "Get to the walls!" shouted the big one- Aka wondered why he wasn't the mayor- and in a few moments the confusion in the fortress had grown a hundred fold.

  "Ready?"

  Aka snapped around, finding Minoru at his side. He wasn't used to people sneaking up on him, but being a spirit gave Minoru a massive advantage in that area.

  "Yeah, let's go!"

  Minoru turned invisible again. Aka listened for his whistle and followed it. It led him to the threshold of the keep itself. Soldiers were rushing out, and Aka had to be careful to keep aside and wait for a gap to open up. When his chance came he sprinted, barreling full speed into the halls of Ishi-jo.

  There were too many men for him to sneak past, but it didn't matter. He darted through legs and bounced around corners, slipping by the soldiers even as they tried to throw themselves in his way. There was already so much shouting and action that nobody was on alert for him, even as the men behind him yelled for them to catch him.

  A dozen twists and turns, three staircases, and who knows how many soldiers later, and he was bounding down a hallway with a single open door at the end. Something was going on in the room, but it wasn't until Aka flew through the doorway that he got a good look at it.

  There was a woman on the ground, lying on her back with her knees raised. She was naked, which was usually a big deal for humans. She was also tied up, which something they liked doing to each other. One of Akio's soldiers was kneeling over her, poking at her while she made faces at him. He'd hardly failed to notice Aka storming into the room, but like most humans he was slow to move.

  Minoru appeared, pointing to an unassuming jar on a high shelf.

  "I can't get that!" barked Aka, knowing he had little time to figure out anything creative.

  "Hey!" said the soldier, pulling his weapon.

  He was still just getting on his feet, and Aka had barely enough time to skirt around him and clamp his jaws onto his ankle from behind. The soldier yanked it away, stumbling. Minoru appeared in front of him and swung his fist. It would have been harmless if it had hit, but the soldier didn't know that. He fell backwards, hitting the wall. Aka saw his opportunity and used the man as a springboard, leaping high enough to smash against the underside of the shelf.

  The shelf fell, all sorts of junk plummeting to the floor, the jar among it. Aka hoped it would crack when it hit the stone, but he was out of luck. He had to struggle to get his jaws around it as Minoru kept the soldier busy, dodging and jabbing while making sure never to actually make contact.

  Once he had the jar in his grip he hopped up to the window, dropping it to the courtyard far below. He slid back down the wall, unable to hang on long enough to see it hit the ground, and even his ears couldn't hope to pick up the noise of a jar shattering above the din of battle going on outside.

  For a moment he thought that he'd have to go all the way back down and get it, maybe find a villager to smash it for him. He was about to curse himself when a golden glow appeared beneath the window. An orb of light rose into view, and Aka could feel a familiarity in its presence. The orb shot off away from the fortress, curving through the air as it disappeared over the wall.

  Aka turned to face the soldier again. Running would be an option at this point, but it would be pretty disappointing to miss his chance to bite one of Akio's goons in the ass.

  Nǎinai could hear the battle, even as far away from the fortress as she was. It was risky being even this close; if Taiko's plan failed and Lord Akio got wind of the Punnydins' involvement, it would spell their doom. Still, it was too good a chance to pass up, and Taiko had helped them by capturing Kuzuno.

  The kitsune was sitting beside her, still locked in chains. They'd gagged her as well, having quickly grown tired of her plots to get them to free her. Bohai and Niu were with her, keeping an eye on Kuzuno. They waited, not sure what sign they were looking for, hoping that things at the castle didn't go sour.

  One of the many lights at the fortress started moving. It arched over the wall, plunged down the side of the cliff, and raced along the ground toward them. Nǎinai felt a bit of panic strike her, but even if she wanted to flee the approaching orb was coming far too fast. It shot past her and slammed into Kuzuno's chest, instantly sinking inside and vanishing. She gasped, and for a moment there was a golden light in her eyes.

  If there was going to be a sign, that had to be it.

  "Let her go," said Nǎinai, wary but eager to see the plan through.

  Bohai and Niu hesitated, but they unlocked Kuzuno's chains and took the gag out of her mouth. As soon as she was free she shook herself and stretched, showing off her lean, graceful body.

  "Are you back to normal?" asked Nǎinai.

  "I'll let you know after I've had a little while to get my head straight," she said. "Right now, I've got a naughty lord to pay back for stealing part of my soul."

  Kuzuno leaped, and before she hit the ground her body was that of a fox's. She vanished into the night, heading toward Akio's fortress.

  Taiko tried to ease the rope down slowly. Chiyo grunted as she sank, going all the way to the ground. Taiko hurried to get the knots binding her hands loose; they had some time, but not an excess of it.

  "Are you alright?" she asked, having trouble with the ropes.

  Chiyo didn't answer her. She was breathing quickly and deeply, but her head was resting on the floor with her eyes shut. Taiko finally felt the knot come loose and unwound the rope from Chiyo's wrists. Her hands flopped to the ground. She made one attempt to get at her gag, but gave it up, resting instead.

  Taiko put her hand on Chiyo's stomach and made her healing sign, reaching her senses into Chiyo's body. She wasn't injured, at least not in any one major way. Taiko could feel the hundreds of different little wounds, though, from abused joints to battered muscles and skin. She focused and let her magic restore them, hoping it would bring Chiyo back to life.

  Relief came over her face, and her body relaxed. Taiko was amazed at how much tension there had been in it now that she saw it fade away. She still rested, but Taiko's magic couldn't restore someone who was merely exhausted. She let Chiyo recover while she returned to Miyoshi.

  Miyoshi moaned softly, letting Taiko work at getting the ropes off of her. There were a lot more of them on her body. Taiko was astounded by how complex the web around her was, and hoped it wasn't as tight and restrictive as it looked. It took longer than she'd hoped, but she eventually got it loose, and was able to take it apart bit by bit.

  When her arms were free enough she reached up to unstrap her gag. She wasn't much stronger than Chiyo, and Taiko had to help her. She groaned as it came out of her mouth, and from the looks of it moving her jaw afterward wasn't easy. Taiko did her best to heal her, as she'd done to Chiyo, and found her with the same litany of aches and pains.

  As soon as she finished Miyoshi turned and wrapped her arms around Taiko. She found herself strangely embarrassed. This wasn't the first time they'd been naked around each other. They'd played while bathing in the hotsprings before many times, but now there was a hard to pin down new element that she felt when Miyoshi squeezed their bodies together. It wasn't a very strong hug- she was still almost as tired as Chiyo- but it was warm and heartfelt.

  "Taiko!" said Miyoshi. "I can't believe you're here!"

  "What do you mean you can't believe it?" s
aid Taiko. "Of course I'm here, what else did you expect me to do?"

  Her chiding was gentle and she hoped it sounded reassuring.

  "It's been awful, Taiko. They've... they've done things to us. I don't know how to explain it. We've been tied up all this time, and they wouldn't feed us, and beat us and held me underwater and..."

  "Shhh...." said Taiko, giving their hug the firmness that Miyoshi couldn't. She sounded like she was about to break down.

  "We can talk about it later. Right now we need to finish escaping."

  The men were still pounding on the door, but the magic still had plenty of life left in it. Taiko could see that something more wrong than she could have imagined was happening here. She didn't understand it, but she understood what it had done to Chiyo and Miyoshi.

  "Miruku is here," said Chiyo, quietly. She'd gotten her gag out now and was sitting, hugging her knees. "She's in the other room."

  "I'll go see," said Taiko, letting Miyoshi go and standing up.

  She entered the room carefully, still wary of the masked man. Taiko was confused when she saw that there was no way out other than the one she'd come through, and wondered if there was a secret passage. If so, more men might be coming through it soon.

  The room held a bunch of metal cages, all of them empty except for one. Miruku the cat girl was curled up inside, as naked as Chiyo and Miyoshi had been.

  "Miruku?"

  Miruku was slow and cautious to stir, but when she saw that Taiko was there she started shaking and struggling against her ropes.

  "T... Taiko? You're here? Get me out! Please, you have to get me out!"

  Taiko looked around for a key, but didn't see one.

  "Do you know where the key is?"

  "No, but you can magic it open, can't you?"

  She was pleading desperately. Taiko shuddered at the thought of what they all must have gone through.

  "The cage wants to keep you in. My magic will just make it harder to open. Just sit tight. I might have to beat Akio before I can get you out, but I won't leave anyone behind. I promise."

  Miruku put her head against the bars and started sobbing quietly. Taiko hated to leave her, but she had to get moving. There was a pile of clothes on the floor. A lot of it was torn up, but she found Chiyo's clothes and took them to her.

  "Come on. Get dressed. You'll feel better."

  Chiyo took the clothes and hugged them to her chest. She didn't say anything, and she hadn't even untied her feet yet. Taiko wished she had time to talk to her more. She wished she had time to hear everything that happened, for their sake, as much as she dreaded knowing about it. She could see that there was more than physical weariness weighing on them, but she needed to finish saving everyone. She'd promised, after all.

  "Chiyo," she said. "I don't know what they did. I don't know if I could understand it even if you told me. If you can't fight right now, if you're too hurt- I'll understand. And I'll find a way to win all by myself if I have to. I just want to know that you'll be okay. Maybe not right now, but once this is all over, and once everyone is together again- will you be okay?"

  Chiyo looked up into her face. She wiped way the tears that were in her eyes and sniffed once.

  "I'm okay," she said, starting to put her clothes on. "I can be okay for right now."

  "The tore my dress all to shreds," said Miyoshi, picking at the clothes pile.

  "Where's Yumi?" asked Taiko, fearing the answer.

  "They took her to Akio's room," said Miyoshi bitterly. "We need to get up there."

  "We will, but the villagers are fighting in the courtyard right now. They'll need our help too, and if we don't take the courtyard we'll never get out of here with everyone. Don't worry; I'm sure Akio has noticed the commotion by now. We'll probably find him out there."

  Miyoshi walked over to the wall where a robe was hanging on a hook. It looked like the one the masked man had been wearing. It was too big for her, but with a little impromptu tailoring she made it work.

  "I need my staff," said Chiyo. "I don't know what they did with it. It might not even be here in the castle."

  "Can you make her a new one?" asked Taiko, turning to Miyoshi.

  Miyoshi looked around. She narrowed her gaze onto a wooden rod with metal hoops on the end that was lying against the wall. She went to fetch it, along with a knife that was hanging amongst a number of other instruments.

  "Taiko, please get those candles over there and light them. Chiyo, I need your help with what symbols I need to carve."

  Chiyo described the runes while Miyoshi dug them into the wood. She was incredibly fast; Miyoshi had always had a gift for working with her hands, and she filled the rod with Chiyo's markings with blazing speed. When she was done she took the candles and poured the wax all over the staff, then scraped off the excess, leaving only the runes filled.

  "Taiko," asked Miyoshi, "Once the spell on the door wears off, how long do you think it'll take them to get in?"

  "Not long, but it's still a heavy wooden door, even without the magic."

  "Can you cast another spell before they do?"

  "Yeah, easily."

  "Okay. Can this staff- can it want to be magic staff?"

  Taiko knew what she meant. As the spell on the door wore off Taiko danced, pouring her magic into the staff. It wasn't a real magic staff, not like the one that Chiyo had enchanted using special ingredients and complicated rituals, but Miyoshi had made it in that image.

  "Channel, young staff, for as long as you can!"

  Chiyo took the staff, just as the door broke open. Five men were in the doorway when she leveled it at them and shouted. A magic bolt crashed into the lot of them, throwing them against the wall and knocking them out.

  Chiyo leaned on the staff. She was still tired, but the fight was on now, and Taiko could see that enough of her spirit was back to carry them through the night.

  "There's a balcony," said Chiyo. "If we go there, we'll be able to what's going on outside."

  "Right," said Taiko. "Let's go."

  Taiko had to help Chiyo up the stairs. She was still weak, but once in the hallway they made good enough speed. A group of four soldiers appeared, coming around a corner in front of them. They had nowhere to go in the confined space, and with another shout Chiyo knocked the wits out of them.

  They hurried, climbing another staircase as fast as Chiyo could make it. The castle was buzzing, with soldiers running every which way. Everyone seemed too confused to organize a hunt for them, and the small numbers they came upon at a time were easy for Chiyo to blast in their surprise.

  They emerged onto the balcony and immediately pressed themselves against the railing, looking nervously at the battle below. The villagers weren't doing well. They were penned up on a section of the wall, doing their best to keep from being pushed too tightly together, but the soldiers were slowly advancing. Some of them were hurt, and some had been recaptured already

  Taiko saw Haru bravely thrusting a staff at the soldiers, trying to press them back, but he was outnumbered and too few of the villagers had the strength to help him. Worse yet, there were archers lining up now. Any moment they could decide to open up on the villagers, and there was no way for them to defend themselves if that happened.

  "Chiyo," said Taiko. "They need your help."

  Chiyo nodded and pointed her staff.

  "Ha!"

  Magic bolts rained from her staff, and in an instant the tide of the battle turned. The advancing soldiers' formation shattered and the archers ran for cover. Haru led some of the hardier townsfolk in a charge, and soon they were surging along the wall, threatening to throw the soldiers off entirely.

  "Miyoshi," said Taiko. "We're still vulnerable up here. They'll send some men for certain now that they've seen what we're doing."

  "I have an idea," she said. "Just keep a lookout for me, okay?"

  Lord Akio grabbed a solider as he was running by, his equipment and armor tucked under his arm.

  "What's the meani
ng of this?" he demanded.

  "My Lord! The prisoners from the village we raided yesterday have gotten free. They're rioting in the courtyard!"

  "How? Who let them out?"

  "I don't know, my Lord. Captain Teruo just sounded the alarm and sent orders for everyone to respond. I'm expected outside now!"

  Akio shoved him along. Two men ran past him going the other way, deeper into the keep.

  "He went this way!" he heard a man shout from down a hallway.

  He had to take control of this mess, and fast. He walked quickly, making for the exit to the courtyard. As soon as he was outside he could see that things were out of hand. The slaves from the village were running amok, and rather than rounding them up his men were on the defensive. They were even starting to retreat through the gate! Akio climbed onto the wall on the opposite side of the courtyard from the slave pens and ran along the top to take command of the situation.

  "Captain Teruo!" he yelled, seeing the man below, apparently the one directing this debacle. "Have you gone mad? What are you doing?"

  "L...Lord Akio!" he stammered back. "I'm following the orders you just gave."

  "You are mad! I've been inside the keep; I haven't given you any orders like this."

  The captain and his lieutenants shared confused glances.

  "But... you were just here. We all saw you!"

  "It's true, my Lord!" said Ryoichi, one of Captain Teruo's subordinates. "We couldn't make any sense out of the orders either, but you were there on the wall, just a moment ago."

  Lord Akio prided himself on being a strict commander, but he was never wrathful without good cause. His men would never dare engage in this kind of foolishness had they not been duly convinced themselves.

  "Hey, fathead!"

  Akio spun around to find the source of the insult. It was the woman- the one who had escaped yesterday. She was standing at the entrance to the keep, making a rude gesture at him.