The Forbidden Library

by David Alastair Hayden

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “Don’t be,” she purred. “Ah … finally … the pain’s stopped. It’s just cold now.” She leaned forward, took his head into her hands, and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. He squirmed, feeling overly self-conscious. Kemsu was right there.

  She rolled off and shook her head. “Feeling a bit dizzy.”

  “It’s the spell,” Turesobei lamented. “As the cold spreads you start to relax and become groggy, maybe even a bit disoriented for someone exhausted already.”

  “Well … that just stinks,” she replied.

  Turesobei, despite his excitement, was relieved. This wasn’t the time for … He didn’t know what it wasn’t the time for, just that it wasn’t.

  Iniru spotted Kemsu who was fidgeting and looking highly uncomfortable and highly disgruntled.

  “Aw, poor, poor Kemsu,” Iniru cooed. She leaned over and patted his face. “Don’t be jealous.”

  Kemsu shifted and tried to look away. “I — I — I’m not.”

  “Yes you are.” She scooted up and kissed him on the lips.

  She lingered!

  Turesobei’s heart thundered. His head throbbed. Time slowed to a standstill. What — What in Torment was that?

  Iniru ruffled Kemsu’s hair. “That better?”

  “I — I mean … um …” Kemsu couldn’t think of anything to say.

  Turesobei wanted to shout at Kemsu. Maybe hit him. And Iniru … he wanted to tell her that she might lose out to Kurine, that he might choose her instead because that would … make her jealous? Would that even work? Or would she just get incredibly mad at him for being mean? He didn’t understand what was going on and dealing with Iniru … It was like casting a dangerous spell that he could never understand.

  Iniru smiled, self-satisfied, grabbed up the blanket and snuggled up with her back against Kemsu. She motioned to Turesobei. “Come on, scoot over. Don’t let all the body heat go to waste.”

  She held out her arms and he snuggled into her embrace. He started to say something, anything, but she put a finger to his lips and shook her head. Then she fell asleep instantly, snoring or purring — it was hard to tell. Turesobei craned his head back and shared a brief, incredibly awkward look with Kemsu.

  Turesobei was so incredibly tired. He wanted to sleep. But his head swam with confusion and his heart pounded. He stared, open-eyed into the darkness. She had kissed Kemsu. Why? Because of his engagement to Kurine? Because she liked Kemsu, too? The k’chasans did have weird rules about marriages with multiple partners. He’d read a little about it, and Iniru had tried to explain it to him. It never sank in. He just could never wrap his head around it

  It was very late when exhaustion finally overtook him.

  *****

  They ate breakfast at noon and pretended everything was normal. Or at least he and Kemsu pretended everything was normal.

  “I’m going out to hunt,” Kemsu said. “I won’t go far.”

  Turesobei cast the spell of sensing presences. “I’m picking up some small creatures not far off to the east. No sign of the reitsu. Is it too much to hope the wraiths stumbled into the knobs?”

  “You coming with me, Iniru?” Kemsu asked.

  Iniru patted her ribs. “I should probably avoid doing anything unnecessary today.”

  “Right,” Kemsu replied. He hovered, reluctant to leave, then finally stepped out.

  Motekeru followed him outside to check on the sonoke and keep watch out in case Kemsu ran into trouble.

  “What was that?” Turesobei said to Iniru now that they were alone.

  “What was what?” Iniru asked.

  “Last night.”

  “Oh, that. It was nothing.”

  “It was a lot more than nothing,” Turesobei said. “It was most definitely … well … something.”

  Iniru kissed a finger and touched it to his nose. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”

  “I’ve been flustered all night! I don’t get it. Do you like Kemsu?”

  “Don’t you?”

  “Not really. He’s okay. I mean …”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “No, I don’t, or I wouldn’t ask you.”

  “You do know, and you’re having fun at my expense, and I’m tired of it.” He stood, but she grabbed his hand and tugged him back down.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “That wasn't okay with you?”

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  “Well, it wasn’t okay with me when you kissed Kurine. Twice. It was just twice, right?”

  “Well … it was … three times … I think.”

  “You think?” she asked. “You think? I’m really not sure that you do. If you can kiss other girls while you’re in love with me and then betroth yourself to them, then I get to kiss any boys I like. That’s only fair, don’t you think?”

  “I guess — Wait, no, it’s not fair. I just want to be with you and I didn’t intend all that with Kurine. It’s not my fault. I mean, the second kiss … and the third … sure, those were my fault. I was stupid.”

  “Yep, you are. But you do like her.”

  “She’s okay,” he replied.

  “I’m not clueless, Sobei. Whether you admit to it or not, you like Kurine … a lot. Maybe not as much as you like me, but a lot.”

  “I’d walk into Torment for you.”

  “I know that. But if you want this to be about just you and me, well you should have said so.”

  “I would, but we haven’t really had time to talk about us. I don’t even know what our relationship is.”

  “We’re just friends,” she said sadly. “We are nothing more than that, Sobei.”

  “You don’t love me?!”

  “Oh, of course I do. Why else would I be jealous of Kurine? I come from a culture that would accept you having two girlfriends, and I still don’t like it because I want only you.”

  “I think of you as my girlfriend.”

  “That’s great, really. But just don’t get any grand ideas. Remember after the Storm Dragon’s Heart, how you and I just couldn’t be together no matter what? I thought you understood. Your people would never accept me. And my culture is very different from yours. If you’re going back home, we’re never going to be a proper couple. No matter how much we love one another. And this thing with Kurine, I know it won’t last either if you return to Ekaran. It will end just like it did with me.”

  "I risked everything for you, Iniru."

  “Do you really think that would change anything when you got back? That suddenly you'd be able to say, hey everyone, guess what, I've decided I'm going to marry the k'chasan qengai after all and we'll live together happily ever after and I won't have an aristocratic baojendari wife and you will all just have to deal with it?”

  “I could make them change,” he said, half-heartedly.

  “No you couldn’t. If anything it will be worse when you get back. They won’t ever take their eyes off you and you’ll be forced into a marriage. Look, I just figured we’d have a bit of fun until you got back. I never expected Kurine and the betrothal. But it is what it is and we know what will happen when we return. I figure we just keeping loving one another and let’s just have fun whenever we can and not worry about having any rules. You like Kurine. That's fine. Just say so. And I think Kemsu is cute and he's fun. Nothing special. But that's okay, too.”

  “But that’s not what I want, Niru.”

  “You can’t have what you want. You don’t even really know what you want. And even if you figured it out, it wouldn’t last.”

  Kemsu returned, shaking his head. “Whatever you detected, Turesobei, it was gone by the time I got out there. We’ll have to stick to rations. One good thing, though. The snow has nearly stopped falling.”

  Chapter 31

  Five days later, under a languid, crimson sun, Turesobei, Iniru, Kemsu, and Motekeru stood outside the entrance to the cave Satsupan’s direction
s had led them to. The stone door blocking the cave entrance was engraved with strange markings that none of them could read. It seemed more of a tomb than a nozakami’s cave. The hill the entrance led into was a small, solitary rise amidst miles of flat plain.

  Despite terrible screeching noises echoing across the ice during the last several days and nights, they had avoided nasty encounters with beasts or demons, but only because Turesobei used his magic to detect where the kagi were so they could steer them around them.

  Lu Bei fluttered down from having scouted above. “This little mountain may have been here for centuries, but I don’t think it’s natural.”

  “So you think it is a tomb then?” Iniru asked.

  Turesobei shrugged. “Perhaps. Could also have been a shrine. This is a dangerous world. The worshipers may have shut it off to protect their goddess.”

  Turesobei knelt in front of the door, opened his kenja-sight. Strong earth and plant kenja flowed up to the cave door but went no further. He cast the spell of sensing presences.

  “We’ve got four kagi, not that far within. One is a lot closer to us than the others, but it’s not right inside the door. I’d say forty paces within. These are pretty nasty beasts, judging by the strength of their signatures.” He stood. “Let’s prepare ourselves.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Iniru said.

  “Without spell strips, it’s pretty hard to cast spells fast enough to do much good. Especially here. The air magic is so strong that I have to be careful using it while fire kenja is poor and earth kenja is diminished. And I need to avoid anything resembling storm kenja, for obvious reasons. So I’d like to use all my magical efforts before we go in. I’m going to place some spells on you, Iniru. They will feel … tingly. You might find them uncomfortable, like your skin is burning. Most people do. I’ve grown used to it. Barely even notice. You’re tough. I think you can handle it just fine. Once the magic is active, it won’t last long. So we need to push forward quickly, but carefully.”

  Turesobei stepped up to Iniru and cast low-powered, short-lived versions of the spell of the strength of three men and the spell of prodigious leaping on her.

  She took in a deep breath and stumbled back. “Yikes. Skin is burning … all over. Like a bad rash. I can manage it, though. Just a surprise.”

  “Pick up Motekeru,” Turesobei said.

  Reluctantly, she grabbed the machine man by the waist and lifted him, only straining a little. “Wow!” She flexed her muscles. “This is awesome.”

  “Try a few jumps. Be careful.”

  Iniru leapt ten feet straight up with a cautious jump. On the next, she pushed it and reached twenty. Her next leap took her only five feet up.

  “What gives?” Iniru said.

  “Weak version. I wanted you to get a feel for it.”

  “That was the weak one? So, will the regular version sting more? Because that felt like I’d fallen into an ant bed without bothering to get up.”

  “Yeah … sorry. You must be sensitive. Maybe because you’re k’chasan. When I put the big one on you, the magic will remain dormant for up to a quarter hour, if we’re lucky. I will activate it when we need it.”

  “So why haven’t you let me do that before?! You have fun spells and we’ve never even used them!”

  “Never had a chance, really.”

  “On the trip back from Wakaro,” she suggested.

  “I guess so. Enashoma got mad at me in Sooku because I had never let her levitate before, so —”

  “You could make me levitate?!” she said, flustered. “I just assumed that was all stuff that only you could do.”

  “It’s a lot easier to cast spells on myself and they last longer, but yeah. Like I told Shoma, I never thought about magic being something that could be fun. It was just another thing I did, like you would do a fighting maneuver, you know. It wasn’t fun when I did my first levitation spell because it was so much work. I was exhausted and Grandfather was scolding me for not having done it just right. And if I ever tried to play while under a spell I got punished.”

  Iniru sighed. “I can understand that … I guess. But if we get out of all this alive and ever have some quiet peaceful time, you’re going to cast spells on us and we’re going to have fun with magic for a change.”

  “You’re on,” he said. “Though … peaceful time? What is that?”

  They all looked at one another, and surprisingly it was Motekeru who laughed first. A rumbling, clanking bellow that Turesobei could feel as much as hear. Lu Bei rolled on the ice, cackling, and then everyone laughed until Turesobei cried tears. Not that it was that funny, but they were so stressed and were always in danger to the point where it was ridiculous.

  Turesobei put his hands on Iniru’s shoulders. “You ready?”

  She took a few deep breaths then nodded. He cast the spells on her again, stumbling afterward from the huge drain it took to put them on someone else and then place them into stasis.

  “You’ll feel when they wear off,” he said.

  She clutched her arms close to her and fell to her knees. Her eyes clenched tight, she breathed and muttered a mantra.

  “What about me?” Kemsu asked.

  “Sorry,” Turesobei replied. “Takes too much energy for me to boost everyone without using spell strips.” Kemsu scowled. “Iniru is our best fighter so she should be the best equipped. And I’ve got to save some energy for the spells I’m about to cast and hold for myself, and for anything unexpected that might come up.”

  Turesobei summoned the moon mirrors then cast the spell of compelling obedience and laced it with the spell of calming beasts and then he put the linked spells into stasis. The draw on his internal kenja was enough to send a sharp pain through his gut, but the pain abated. He was going to need a lot of rest if he survived this. Otherwise, it was like holding and remembering a string of thirty numbers in his head. As long as he kept it there without letting any part of it out of his memory, he’d be fine.

  Iniru stood. “I’m ready. Sobei, what about your obscuration spell?”

  “Won’t help against a spirit creature,” he replied. “Everyone ready? Good. Motekeru, would you please do the honor?”

  Chapter 32

  Motekeru pushed the door open, stepped forward, and hunkered down, ready to be charged by an enemy. Nothing came. Turesobei sent the moon mirrors ahead but dimmed them so that they could see what was ahead while not being as likely to alert anyone that they were coming. Motekeru eased forward. Lu Bei landed on his shoulders and peered around his bronze head. His batwings were poised so he could take flight in an instant. Spear held ready, Iniru crept along the wall, almost even with Motekeru. Kemsu followed along the other side. Turesobei hung back behind them, keeping the layered spell held in his mind.

  A beast roared and barreled around a bend in the cave tunnel. It was massive, like a fat denekon, but with moldy blue skin and giant horns. Motekeru charged, lowered his shoulder, and struck it head-on. The beast knocked Motekeru down and ran over him. Lu Bei blasted it in the face and darted past it. The creature didn’t even seem to notice the blast. Kemsu stabbed at it with his spear but missed. Iniru struck it hard in the flank. Her spearpoint went only a few inches in. The beast kept charging and the spear snapped off at the end.

  The beast lowered its horns to strike Turesobei.

  Turesobei didn’t move. He unleashed the twined spells of compelling obedience and beast calming. He put everything he could afford to give into them. The beast skidded to a halt, kicking up dust and ice in the cave. Its horns stopped an inch from Turesobei’s chest. He drew in a deep breath but maintained eye contact with the kagi. He was lucky that the spell of compelling obedience depended largely on air energy or he would never have managed that.

  Maintaining eye contact, he stepped sideways and went around the creature. The creature rotated to maintain their eye contact.

  “Everyone okay?” Turesobei asked.

  Motekeru groaned as Iniru helped him up. “Motekeru�
��s got some new dents,” Iniru said, “but he’s alive.”

  “I’ve gone through worse,” Motekeru said, his voice fainter than normal. He flexed. “I don’t seem to be compromised in any way.”

  “Let’s keep going,” Turesobei said. “And be careful, there’s at least three more nasties ahead and they may be worse than this one.”

  “You sure you’ve got him under control, master” Lu Bei asked.

  Turesobei handed his spear to Iniru. “As sure as I can be.”

  The others advanced as before, but Turesobei walked backward. He held his hand up. “Stay,” he told the creature. It did as he commanded. They rounded a corner and he lost eye contact with it. He paused, worried, but the creature didn’t follow. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  The tunnel opened into a domed room, large by any normal standards, but not nearly so large as Satsupan’s cavern. The room gleamed as if illuminated by Avida and was bright enough that it drowned out the moon mirrors. Turesobei let them go to reduce the drain on his kenja. Like with the eidakami-ga’s cavern, this place had a pool in the center, and the light was coming up from the bottom of the pool. Along the ceiling hung thick tangles of moon-blossom vines heavy in white blooms. Their scent was cloying and aggressive, as if they were invading Turesobei’s nostrils.

  A statue of a beautiful female nozakami-ga stood at the edge of the pool. Sapphires gleamed in the eyes of the statue.

  Something was wrong here.

  “I don’t see the other beasts,” Lu Bei said circling through the cavern. “You sure you detected more, master?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Kemsu reached toward the statue.

  “Wait!” Turesobei said, but too late.

  Kemsu’s fingertips touched the statue and he instantly collapsed, unconscious … or worse.

  Strands of webbing, like that from the sea spider demons Turesobei had fought on the way to Wakaro, shot out from amongst the vines. Two sets of webbing from two different beasts. The webs engulfed Motekeru, one set tangling his legs and the other locking his arms against his side.