The Forbidden Library

by David Alastair Hayden

  Lu Bei’s speech wasn’t really necessary. Turesobei had already explained it to them all that morning. Having never been here before, it clearly unnerved them, though they were putting on brave faces. It should unnerve them. He’d been here through astral projection several times along with Grandfather Kahenan, and in the nightmare with Awasa, but being here physically was another matter altogether. It felt terrible, like half his life had been sucked out of him.

  “So this … this is where people go when they die?” Kemsu asked.

  “They pass through the deeper layers,” Lady Hannya explained. “But they do not stay long, a few moments maybe, though some linger. Most souls quickly head on to Paradise or Oblivion or Torment. Do not think too much on it. I find it is best that way. We are only in the first layer of the Shadowland. It gets less pleasant and more dangerous the farther in you go. You should get moving.”

  As they rode, they tried talking to one another to calm their nerves, but that failed. Their voices were weak and silence dominated the Shadowland. Even Lu Bei’s chatter trailed off eventually. Turesobei worried about Kurine because she was closest to death, but the stasis was still preserving her.

  After an hour riding top speed, Zaiporo said, “I really don’t see the point in going back … to the real world I mean. It’s fine here. I thought it was bad at first, but it’s really not. You get used to all the gray.”

  Enashoma sighed. “We could ride toward Paradise, you and I.”

  It was the sort of statement that might have made Zaiporo dance with glee any other time. Instead his response was flat. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  “I’d be okay with Oblivion,” Narbenu said.

  Kemsu began to stray out of the line, heading toward some random spot in the distance.

  “Oblivion, Paradise … all that sounds like too much trouble,” Iniru said. “I’d be happy if we just stopped and took a nap.”

  “It’s time to go, master,” Motekeru said.

  Turesobei snapped out of the near trancelike state he’d fallen into and noticed his disinterested mount was slithering along at half-speed.

  “Oh, right. Lady Hannya …”

  Adding in his own power, to the point it nearly knocked him out, he helped Hannya tug them back into reality. He was a little disturbed that she’d been willing to keep them here longer but he didn’t say anything about it.

  With what seemed like a crack of thunder, they returned to the real world. Even the Glass Sea had a vibrance and life to it that was breathtaking. The snow and ice sparkled a thousand shades of pink and white under the crimson sun. The sky was many shades of deep blue and purple overhead. The sonoke snorted and sped up, playfully racing one another.

  Narbenu took in a deep breath and exhaled a laugh of relief. “Really gives you an appreciation of life, don’t it?”

  “That it does,” Turesobei said.

  “No difference to me,” Motekeru said. “But the hounds didn’t like it.” The hounds had, indeed, whimpered throughout their Shadowland journey.

  “I can’t believe I wanted to stay,” Enashoma said.

  “Worry not, fair lady,” Lu Bei said. “It was the Shadowland tempting you. We all would have fallen to it eventually.”

  “Even you?” Zaiporo said.

  “Even me, though I would not have died. I would have wandered the Shadowland for ages until I turned into a demon.”

  “He is not joking,” said Hannya. “That is what happens to those who never pass on.”

  *****

  As sunset approached, Turesobei stopped them.

  “Let’s go ahead and make camp.”

  “Shouldn’t we keep riding a few more hours under the moon mirrors?” Iniru said. “Avida is rising. That ought to help. And the sea is free of obstructions.”

  “Another hour of riding and my simulacrum ritual will start fading because we’ll be too far away from the amulet. Once we are out of range, Awasa will know and they will pursue us. So we might as well get a good night of sleep before the magic fades out.”

  “Oh, that makes sense then,” Iniru replied. “Assuming it worked and it fooled her.”

  Turesobei closed his eyes and concentrated. “I can’t feel her pursuing us, so I assume so.”

  “You’re that connected to her?” Iniru said, with a hint of worry in her voice. “I knew she could track you, but I didn’t know you could sense her.”

  “It’s not a strong connection. I wouldn’t want to rely on it.”

  Motekeru began cutting blocks out of the ice, and the others stacked the blocks to build a giant snowhouse. Narbenu was back to his old insistence on separate snowhouses, but Turesobei had talked him back into a single snowhouse with blankets hung down the middle.

  “If you end up in my world,” Turesobei told him, “at least your moral standards won’t be a problem.”

  Narbenu laughed. “Assuming people accept how we look different?”

  “You’re not that different from Iniru,” Turesobei replied.

  “The Chonda will accept you well enough because of Turesobei,” Zaiporo replied, “but I don’t think you’d feel at home or particularly welcome. I’m heading to Zangaiden. Hopefully Shoma will go there with me. But I’m not sure how well you’d fit in even there.”

  Zaiporo glanced toward Enashoma, but she said nothing and pretended to be too busy to notice.

  “You’d probably do best among my people,” Iniru said. “The k’chasa would accept you. The city of Dogo Daiyen in the far west would definitely welcome you, too. But something tells me a city of a million people would be overwhelming for you.”

  “A million people?” Kemsu shook his head. “I find it hard to imagine your world. Leagues and leagues of trees and fields. Millions of people crammed into one location. Even ten thousand in one spot would amaze me. It sounds wondrous. And …”

  “A bit frightening,” Narbenu added.

  Turesobei cast the spell of sensing presences to make his regular check before they turned in. As he scanned he picked up something, but only for a moment. It had seemed almost human, but it was gone. His brow furrowed in concentration, he knelt and placed his palms on the ice.

  “What is it, master?” Lu Bei whispered.

  Even after doubling the spell’s energy, he couldn’t sense anything. Turesobei shook his head. “Nothing. I thought for a moment that I had picked something up but it’s gone now, if it was ever there at all.”

  “The yomon?” Iniru asked.

  “Definitely not one of them,” he replied.

  “A reitsu?” Lu Bei said. “We haven’t seen them in a while.”

  “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure they gave up after the blizzard in the canyon. Haven’t detected one since. Don’t think they’d have kept after us on the sea or waited outside the library. I’m not sure what it was. A beast of some sort … or maybe just a mistake. The spell’s not perfect. Hannya, did you sense anything?”

  She replied telepathically, “I’m not sensing anything powerful or demonic.”

  “Probably nothing then,” Turesobei said. “But I’ll check again before I go to sleep, just to be safe.”

  With the snowhouse finished and the sonoke resting in the trench, they went inside. As the others tapped a couple of star-stones to life, Turesobei removed the sheathed dark-steel sword from his back and placed it onto his blanket so he could keep it beside him.

  The others glanced at the blade, nervously. None of them had asked him anything about it. Probably they wanted to but were terrified. He was carrying around a sword containing the legendary Earth Dragon Hannya. In a way, this was the most ridiculous thing he had ever experienced.

  “Why are you smiling?” Zaiporo asked.

  Turesobei touched the ruby kavaru in the sword’s hilt. “The Earth Dragon. Amazing, huh? Would you like to meet her?”

  “I’m good,” Zaiporo said. “No offense to you, my lady.”

  Turesobei could feel a vibration in the blade that he thought was laughter.
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  *****

  Over the next three days they rode until the mounts couldn’t go any longer. Late on the third night, as they set up camp, Hannya spoke to Turesobei.

  “You are getting close. Not even a whole day’s ride left. You should make it there by midmorning.”

  Turesobei relayed the news to the others.

  “Good, because our food supply’s nearly gone,” said Narbenu. “Hope we can find food in this Nexus we’re going to.”

  There was little game out on the ice and they didn’t have time to hunt, and they certainly didn’t have enough time to dig holes ten feet deep through the ice for fishing.

  Turesobei stood gazing south, back toward the Forbidden Library. “I can feel Awasa getting close. She is not far away now.”

  “I can see her, too,” Hannya said telepathically.

  “Do we need to keep moving?” Iniru said.

  “Mounts have got to have some rest now or we’ll kill them within an hour or two,” Narbenu said.

  Turesobei frowned. “I think we have enough of a lead. We’ll get up early as we can and head out.”

  *****

  Turesobei woke. The snowhouse was barely lit. Kemsu was pulling on his parka and his overboots.

  “Narbenu went outside to get the mounts ready,” Kemsu whispered. “Thought I’d go help him. I couldn’t sleep either. And I do need to repair a strap on one of the saddles.”

  “Worried about leaving your world?”

  “Yeah,” Kemsu whispered. “Narbenu and I both are, but we’ll be all right. Just want to keep busy so I don’t think about it too much, you know.”

  Turesobei yawned and tried to pry his eyes open. “You need me to help?”

  “No, you rest. You’ve got about another hour before the sky starts to lighten. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”

  “I’ll send Motekeru out with you.”

  Kemsu drew a hanging blanket back, revealing Motekeru in the corner on the girl’s side cradling Kurine with Enashoma and the hounds curled up against him. Since he’d eaten the vine spirit’s heart, Motekeru’s body generated more heat than anyone else’s by far. Without a blanket under him, he would melt the ice overnight.

  “I don’t want to disturb them.”

  Drifting off, Turesobei nodded in understanding.

  He slept until Hannya, in her human form, appeared to him within a dream and yelled, “Turesobei, awake now!”

  Chapter 57

  Hannya’s shout thundered through his brain.

  Turesobei snapped awake.

  A tall, slender form shot toward him. A dagger flashed in the wan light of a star-stone — white steel!

  “Twist left!” Hannya warned.

  Turesobei wrenched his body to the left. The white-steel dagger missed his heart and sliced across his ribs. He grabbed the hilt of Fangthorn.

  “The other way!” Hannya said.

  Turesobei twisted back to the right. The second strike also missed his heart but stabbed deep into his shoulder. The assailant didn’t draw the blade out. Instead she twisted the blade and grabbed him by the neck with her free hand.

  Warmth drained out of him.

  His eyes locked onto the face of his opponent.

  “Lady Umora,” he gasped.

  An orange paint that reeked of decay was smeared onto her face and body.

  “Took me weeks to track you down,” she sneered. “Figured out a way to stay hidden from your magic using togokagi egg yolks. And whatever spell you used to trick the yomon at the library, it didn’t work on me.”

  His companions woke. Motekeru and Iniru launched into action, but another yolk-painted reitsu dove into the snowhouse and intercepted them. For the agile reitsu fighting in the close confines of the snowhouse wasn’t a hindrance, but Motekeru was limited since he couldn’t even stand straight up except in the center of the room.

  Turesobei thought about opening the connection to the storm mark, to kill Umora in the way he’d killed her brother, but he was groggy, wounded, and unprepared. He wasn’t sure he could keep the storm energy in check this time.

  “Unleash your dragon energy on me, if you dare,” Lady Umora said, sensing his thoughts. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve got nothing left to live for. You can kill me easily enough, but I’ve already had my revenge. I’ve made sure the yomon will catch up to you.”

  He was losing vital warmth rapidly. Had to … be another … way.

  Hannya whispered telepathically, “Let me out. I can take care of her.”

  “Hannya,” he said. “Strike.”

  Shadows poured from the blade and wrapped around Umora who released her grip on Turesobei and stumbled back, screaming. Umora swung the white-steel dagger and cut through the shadows, piercing a fiery vein. Hannya screeched and drew away. Staggering, Lady Umora smiled and brandished the white-steel dagger.

  It was the last thing she ever did.

  Motekeru’s claws ripped through the Umora’s neck and her head bounced across the floor, trailing blood on the ice.

  Zaiporo, Iniru, Lu Bei, and the hounds had cornered the other reitsu who was fighting like mad. Iniru and Zaiporo had both been wounded several times. Shoma was backed into a corner, unable to do anything to help. The hounds were shielding her and seemed to be looking for a way they could dart in to help, but there just wasn’t enough space. Hannya’s flaming eyes opened within the shadow. She zipped over Iniru’s head and, like a viper, struck the reitsu, swallowing him whole. When she peeled away moments later, the reitsu was cold and silent. Still, Motekeru cut the reitsu’s throat for good measure.

  “Kemsu and Narbenu,” Turesobei said, placing his palm over the wound in his shoulder to stop the bleeding. “They were getting the mounts ready.”

  Lu Bei zipped outside, followed by Motekeru and Iniru.

  Zaiporo clutched his arm. Blood seeped out from between his fingers. “I’ll stay here with the hounds and guard Shoma and Kurine. Be careful.”

  “You okay?”

  “I’ll bind his wound,” Shoma said. “What about you?”

  Turesobei pulled his palm away. Blood was flowing freely through all the layers of fur. He looked at his ribs but didn’t see any blood yet. “I can manage.”

  Turesobei could endure the pain. He was getting used to it, and this wasn’t as bad as the mark the Keeper of Scrolls had burned into his chest.

  Fangthorn in hand, Turesobei crawled, slowly, out through the entrance, with Hannya flowing after him. No other reitsu were in sight. Lu Bei flew up and circled around as Motekeru and Iniru leapt down into the trench where they kept the mounts. Hannya spread out from the sword into her full shadow form.

  “I will keep a look out as well,” she said. “And do my best to intimidate any further attackers.”

  Turesobei rushed over to the edge and looked down.

  “Oh no.” He fell to his knees. “This — This can’t be.”

  Chapter 58

  Narbenu … Blood flowed from his throat and pooled on the ice. His head was bent back at an awkward angle and his eyes were as cold and lifeless as the Glass Sea. Kemsu lay nearby. Bloodstains were spreading on his parka in three different places. A deep blue bruise stained his neck, rising up onto his cheeks.

  “Niru,” Kemsu gasped hoarsely as she took his hand. “Reitsu … ambushed us … out of … nowhere.”

  “Rest,” she told him.

  “Narbenu … threw himself in front … to save me.” He winced in pain. “Kurine …”

  “Everyone else is okay,” she said. “Just a few cuts is all.”

  “Let’s get him inside,” Turesobei said.

  Motekeru lifted Kemsu and carried him into the snowhouse. Iniru held Kemsu’s hand as they went.

  Only then did the full weight of what had happened register for Turesobei. A deep pool of blood filled the other end of the trench. The reitsu had slit the throats of the sonoke, all of them. That’s why Lady Umora had been certain of her revenge. With no mounts there was no way to outrace the yomon.


  Turesobei marshaled his emotions. He had to keep calm and lead everyone, and he had to heal Kemsu. “Lu Bei?”

  “I don’t see anything, master, but I’ll keep circling.”

  Palm placed against his shoulder, he moved toward the snowhouse. But Hannya took on her human form and stopped him.

  “Why are you blocking me?”

  “You are wounded,” she replied. “You cannot heal him while you are injured and losing so much blood yourself.” She drew his hand away. “Will you allow me this time?”

  Turesobei nodded. “Do it fast.”

  With her hand hovering over the wound, Hannya chanted the spell of summer healing. The casting was perfect. The warmth flowed into the wounds and into his bones. The wound sealed over and the pain dulled. It would take some time to recover fully from the wounds since they hadn’t taken the time to bind or clean them first, but he could function and that was all he cared about now.

  “First spell I have cast in an age,” she said, proudly. “I think it went well.”

  “Perfect. When we get inside, could you heal Zaiporo for me … and Iniru?”

  “Of course.”

  Turesobei crawled inside. Shoma met him at the entrance.

  “Sobei … Narbenu?”

  Turesobei shook his head.

  She put her hand to her mouth and stifled a sob. He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Shoma, be strong and brave. We have much to do. I need you and Motekeru to go outside and get the gear off the sonoke. Only the essentials.”

  Shoma shook her head in confusion. “Why — Why would we need to … Oh no.”

  Turesobei nodded. “Get only what we can carry on foot.”

  Enashoma took a step toward the entrance and then stopped, her eyes wide. She gasped and stumbled backward. Zaiporo almost screamed and Iniru flinched. Turesobei turned and relaxed. He forgot that they hadn’t seen Lady Hannya in her human form, with her fangs and claws, her black skin and vermillion hair, and the ghost of a ruby kavaru at her navel, visible through her gossamer dress.