The Forbidden Library

by David Alastair Hayden

“Do not be alarmed,” Hannya said. “I am your friend.”

  “Zaiporo,” said Turesobei, “Lady Hannya is going to heal your wound while I tend Kemsu, okay?”

  Zaiporo nodded, trancelike, and then bowed to Hannya. “My lady, thank you.”

  Enashoma bowed quickly too and then darted outside. Motekeru said nothing to Hannya nor showed any special reaction to her. Iniru returned her attention to Kemsu. She had removed his parka and shirt to expose the three wounds that were still oozing blood. The reitsu had stabbed him twice in the stomach and once near the heart. Turesobei knelt beside him.

  “Pierced lung,” Iniru whispered.

  Kemsu shivered. His teeth were chattering. “So cold.”

  Iniru placed a star-stone beside him and tapped it to full strength. “I don’t have time to bandage the wounds. And there’s not much I can do.”

  Hannya said telepathically to Turesobei, “The boy is fading into the Shadowland already. There is nothing you can do for him.”

  “Watch me try,” Turesobei thought back at her.

  “Wait one moment then,” she said.

  She finished the healing spell on Zaiporo. He thanked her profusely then said, “I’ll help Shoma and Motekeru. There’s nothing I can do here but get in the way.”

  Hannya knelt beside Kemsu. “Do you know the spell of blood binding? That would stop the bleeding and aid the healing spell.”

  “I know of it from Chonda Lu’s grimoire, but I can only do Kaiaru spells that involve storm energy, and those only at risk of becoming the dragon.”

  “I will do it then.” Hannya chanted the spell. The bleeding stopped.

  Turesobei then cast the spell of winter healing and put everything he had into it. A white cloud of energy formed over Kemsu’s chest and seeped in. Kemsu’s eyes brightened and his color improved. Turesobei felt relieved. Maybe Kemsu would be okay. Maybe Hannya was wrong.

  Kemsu convulsed and coughed up blood. Not good. The magic hadn’t sealed the wounds inside well enough. There was only so much accelerating natural healing could do when the damage was extensive or when it affected internal organs.

  Turesobei opened his kenja-sight and sighed. The problem wasn’t just the wounds. The reitsu had stolen most of Kemsu’s vital energy, too. Hannya was right. Even if the spell had fixed his wounds, it wouldn’t have been enough.

  “I’m … I’m not going … to make it,” Kemsu said. “Reitsu … took a lot of warmth … why I’m so cold.” He coughed up blood again. His eyes met Turesobei’s. “Not wrong … am I?”

  “This is my fault,” Turesobei said. “All of it. I’m so sorry, Kemsu.”

  “Don’t be,” Kemsu replied. “Had … adventure of a lifetime … if a bit short. We nearly got you … there.”

  “Thank you,” Turesobei said. “I will be eternally grateful.” He sat back with exhaustion and disbelief.

  “Leave us out on … the ice. That’s … our way.” Kurine lay nearby. Kemsu reached out and touched her hand. He strained a smile as tears welled in his eyes. “You will … see to her …”

  “I will,” Turesobei said. “I promise.”

  “Niru, I …” She took his hand. He spasmed and retched up more blood. “Do you think … you and me …”

  She leaned in and kissed his cheek and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and let go. His last breath seeped out. Iniru closed his eyes. She began to sob and Turesobei took her in his arms. What could he say?

  “At least he could smile at the end,” Turesobei said.

  “At least,” she replied numbly.

  “What did you tell him?”

  “A lie.”

  *****

  Hannya healed Iniru and returned to Fangthorn. Motekeru carried both bodies out and placed them on the ice, away from the scene of the carnage. With his claws he etched a big circle in the ice around them and wrote their names beside them, an approximation since the goronku themselves didn’t have writing. Turesobei allowed Hannya to leave the blade. As the Earth Dragon she hovered over them like a shroud. Lu Bei recited an ancient poem honoring fallen heroes and Turesobei asked the Crimson Sun to bless the two goronku. Enashoma spoke the Prayer to the Greater Deities.

  When it was done, Hannya said, “Their spirits have now passed on to the beyond.”

  “You — You can know that?” Iniru said.

  “I am deeply connected to the Shadowland,” Hannya replied.

  “Did they … did they go on to Paradise?” Enashoma asked.

  “That I cannot say. What I do know is that they did not wander the Shadowland aimlessly, and they passed on peacefully. I believe that means they found Paradise or Oblivion. I do not think a peaceful soul goes to Torment.”

  “Thank you,” Iniru said, wiping a tear away.

  They pulled their reduced-to-essentials packs onto their backs and marched, painstakingly because there was no other way to do it, over the slippery ice. Turesobei gave Iniru the white-steel dagger since he had Fangthorn. Lady Hannya walked with them in her human form, carrying a pack for them. They spoke little to one another. Even Lu Bei remained silent, staying in book form. After all the dangers they had knowingly faced, death had struck silent, swift, and unexpected. It seemed unreal and yet far too real at the same time.

  Turesobei had known this was bound to happen eventually, that they would lose one or more of their group, but that didn’t make this any easier and he felt powerless. What if Hannya hadn’t woken him? What if the reitsu had then killed Shoma and Iniru? He tried to block it out of his mind. He could blame himself later for not sending Motekeru out with them or doing another scan. He still had the others to save. And Kurine. He wanted to make certain at least one of the goronku made it through this.

  “Sobei,” Iniru said, “if the yomon catch up to us, can you beat them?”

  “I really don’t want to find out,” Turesobei said.

  “We might not have a choice,” Iniru said.

  “If it comes to it, yes. The yomon didn’t have any way to counter the Storm Dragon before. I could fly above them and rain lightning down on them. I really don’t see how anything could resist that.”

  “You underestimate your enemies,” said Lady Hannya. “The Shogakami imprisoned the yomon here for a reason. The last one hundred and eight out of the thousand that invaded Okoro, the Shogakami could not kill them. Think about that. Nine Shogakami could not beat these yomon. Trickery imprisoned them here. That is all they could do without white steel which was exceedingly rare here in Okoro.”

  It had all but disappeared by the time the baojendari had arrived. Turesobei had been surprised to see Amasan and Tepebono use the arrow in the vision Hannya had shown him.

  “But I destroyed twenty of them!” he said.

  “You caught them off guard,” said Lady Hannya, “but they will be ready for you next time. After a few minutes of exposure, yomon naturally recalibrate to the kenja signatures used near them. Once they are in synch, they are resistant to those signatures. So next time, your lightning will not harm them and neither will Motekeru’s fire burn them. You will have to fight them on the ground, and they will be able to hurt you. It may be impossible for you to hurt them at all.”

  “Good thing I didn’t transform to fight them earlier,” Turesobei said with relief. “I’d be stuck as the Storm Dragon and the rest of you would’ve died.”

  “Comforting,” Zaiporo muttered.

  “What about you, Lady Hannya?” Iniru asked. “Could you destroy the yomon? Are you as strong as the Storm Dragon?”

  Eyes aflame, her voice crackling with power, Hannya rounded on Iniru and yelled madly, “I have always been more powerful than Naruwakiru! Except when she took on the jade heart.”

  Turesobei put a hand on Hannya’s arm. “Iniru doesn’t know about your history with the Storm Dragon. Relax. Focus.”

  Hannya took several deep breaths and then her features began to soften. After a few minutes she spoke again, though she didn’t apologize for the outburst, just as she had
n’t apologized to Turesobei for what she had put him through.

  “The binding limits me in my dragon form because I cannot fully emerge from the sword. Still, as a dragon, I am certain I could beat a fair number of them, but I would not be able to defeat them all or shield the rest of you during the battle. And this Awasa, she has a white-steel sword. Should she attack me with it … and that would be very inconvenient.”

  *****

  As the sun was setting, Hannya said. “We have arrived.”

  “I don’t see anything,” Iniru said. “Just more ice.”

  “The edge of the world and the doorway to the Nexus are a hundred paces ahead.” Hannya crooned out a song. A stone archway matching the Winter Gate appeared. The portal wasn’t active, though. “Our doorway. I just need to open it. But I cannot do that from out here.”

  “Better get to it fast then!” Lu Bei shouted from up above. “Trouble’s arrived.”

  The eighty yomon and Awasa, riding on the back of one of them, appeared on the horizon. Awasa screamed. The yomon charged.

  Hannya shifted into her Earth Dragon form, billowing out into a black cloud the size of a house. She roared into the sky. The yomon slid to a halt. With the Earth Dragon drifting along behind them, Turesobei and his companions ran, as best as they could. When they reached the gate Turesobei cast the spell of the moon mirrors.

  “Careful!” Turesobei said. Step past the pillars and you’ll step into nothingness.”

  Hannya returned to her human form and stood before the gate.

  “What about the yomon?” Zaiporo said. “They won’t be afraid now.”

  “Sorry,” Hannya said. “I cannot do this part in my dragon form.”

  In the distance Awasa shouted, “It was just a trick! Get them!”

  Bellowing war cries, the yomon charged again.

  “Without the Shogakami, I can only open the gate for a few moments,” Lady Hannya warned. Then she began chanting the words of a spell, words that sounded like a form of Ancient Zaboko.

  “Everyone get ready,” Turesobei said, facing the oncoming tide of yomon, Fangthorn at the ready.

  Enashoma hooked her hands under Kurine’s arms, so she could drag her through the portal. That way Motekeru could fight the yomon if he had to.

  “Sobei, we’ve got to get out of here fast,” Iniru warned as the yomon closed to two hundred paces.

  A portal shimmered within the gate … and disappeared. It shimmered again … and disappeared a second time.

  “What’s wrong?” Enashoma asked.

  Hannya shook her head.

  “Do you need help?” Turesobei asked.

  Hannya again shook her head.

  Lu Bei zoomed down and hovered beside Lady Hannya. As she began her chant a third time, Lu Bei spoke the same words in perfect unison with her. His eyes glimmered.

  The gate sparked to life again … and it held.

  “Is it safe?” Turesobei asked.

  Still chanting, Hannya nodded.

  “Everyone, go!” Turesobei yelled.

  Zaiporo grabbed Kurine’s feet and helped Enashoma carry her through. As thudding steps cracked the surface of the ice, Turesobei glanced back. The yomon were nearly on top of them. This was cutting it way too close. The hounds bounded into the portal. Ceasing his chant with a nervous frown, Lu Bei turned into a book. The portal remained live. Turesobei handed the diary to Iniru. “You’ve only got a few more seconds,” she said as she darted through.

  “Can you maintain the portal on the other side?” he asked Hannya. She shook her head no. “Motekeru, go now!”

  “Master —”

  “Go!”

  Motekeru stepped into the portal and disappeared.

  Hannya tapped Turesobei on the arm.

  “Another moment,” he said. “The yomon won’t kill me. Awasa will want to face me herself. So when I say go, we go together.”

  The yomon were so close Turesobei could hear them panting and grunting as they strained to run as fast as possible. Their steps were so heavy that cracks in the ice preceded them.

  “Turesobei!” Awasa cried out. “I won’t let you get away!”

  Sword in hand, Awasa leapt forward off the shoulders of the yomon she rode. She flipped once in the air and came down with a kick. Turesobei dodged aside. As Awasa landed in a crouch, she swung Sumada and sliced through Hannya at the waist.

  Hannya’s form dimmed. Her chant ceased. Screaming, she disappeared back into Fangthorn.

  Chapter 59

  The portal flickered. The yomon were only paces away. Turesobei lowered his shoulder, charged, and tackled Awasa, knocking her through the sputtering gate.

  A blinding light … skin tingling with a million pricks … thoughts scrambled … bright swirls of gold and crimson and emerald … the pinging of a thousand wind chimes … orange blossom and cloves … a lullaby with nonsensical words … pain … laughter … darkness … nothing … they weren’t going to make it … they were being torn apart and spread out into … oblivion …

  Though it was hard to think of anything, Turesobei locked onto his love for his friends and focused his mind on the Nexus, on Fangthorn in his hand, and Awasa tucked against him.

  “Hannya … the Nexus.”

  “I can’t help you,” she replied with a strain in her voice. “Your storm kenja … release it into the pathway to keep the connection alive … or we’ll never make it.”

  For once he didn’t worry about becoming the Storm Dragon. There was no fear because there was other choice. He opened the channel to the Mark of the Storm Dragon all the way and projected the energy outward, as best as he could. He heard himself roar. He felt his body shift into that of the dragon. The darkness vanished. Lightning flashed all around them so that it seemed they were flying through a tunnel in a storm cloud. And he was the Storm Dragon, carrying them through.

  Suddenly all that vanished and Turesobei stumbled onto the other side of the gate, fully human, with Awasa still in his arms. He threw her aside as he crashed onto a flagstone surface.

  Relief spread through him. He wasn’t the Storm Dragon and his friends were already here. They had made it through safely. They had escaped the Ancient Cold and Deep and reached the Nexus of the Realms.

  He glanced behind him. The portal within the matching gate on this side was closed. Half of one yomon had made it through. Blood poured from the severed torso.

  Turesobei stood. They were on a raised, octagonal platform in the middle of an empty courtyard. A temple complex circled the open space. High above burned an orange ball that mimicked the sun. The sky was a faded purple instead of blue, with no trace of clouds. On the edges of the platform stood eight gates, and there was a closed trapdoor in the center.

  Awasa flipped up off the ground and brandished the white-steel blade. Turesobei, Iniru, Zaiporo, the hounds, and Motekeru formed a wide circle around her. Lu Bei popped out and hovered overhead. Enashoma backed far out of the way.

  “Just give up, Awasa,” Iniru said. “You don’t stand a chance.”

  “I am Ninefold Awasa,” she snarled as she touched the amulet on her chest. Eight copies of Awasa, but with blank faces and claws, appeared beside her. “You will die first, filthy k’chasan.”

  The eight copies of Awasa leapt into action, but they didn’t make it far. Iniru flicked her wrist and the reitsu’s white-steel dagger spun through the air and struck the amulet of Barakaros the Warlock.

  With a sharp crack, the iron amulet split in half and fell, clanging, onto the platform. The eight copies vanished and Awasa staggered back with a dumbfounded look on her face. The tip of the dagger had pierced her chest. She pointed Sumada at Iniru.

  “This will end here you —”

  “Hai-yah!” Lu Bei yelled.

  The fetch plunged from up high and drop-kicked Awasa in the back of the neck. She fell unconscious.

  “Darn right this will end here,” Lu Bei said. “I’m sick of running from you, you crazy … mad … whatever you are.“ The
n he sparked her in the face three times for good measure.

  Iniru lunged in and grabbed Sumada. Turesobei sheathed Fangthorn and sighed with relief as Iniru passed Sumada to him. He’d recovered his father’s white-steel sword at last.

  “Keep that thing away from me,” Hannya said telepathically.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “I will recover sufficiently in a few minutes. Sumada disrupted my energies and the tunnel didn’t do much for me either. I helped as much as I could.”

  Iniru pulled the white-steel dagger out of Awasa’s chest.

  “Nice shot,” Zaiporo said.

  “Is she okay?” Turesobei asked.

  Iniru felt Awasa’s pulse. “Her pulse is strong. We’d better tie her up.”

  Motekeru pulled rope from his pack and got to work on it. Turesobei checked Awasa’s wound. It had already sealed and was rapidly healing on its own. Looking at Awasa this close, with her purple eyes, the throbbing veins on her face, her sharpened features, the bruise-colored star on her forehead, her increased height and muscled form — the Warlock’s power had warped Awasa so much that it was hard to believe it was actually her and not some sort of poor demonic copy. How could this be the delicate, insecure, and immature girl he’d once fancied?

  “You stayed to the last second to capture her, didn’t you?” Iniru asked him.

  “Would you expect otherwise from Sobei?” Enashoma asked.

  Iniru kissed him on the cheek. “No, and that’s why we all love him. But —”

  “I nearly got myself killed. I know. It was risky. But I just couldn’t leave her back there. She was my responsibility. I had to try.”

  With Awasa bound and gagged, they all sat down to rest.

  “And what do we do with her now?” Enashoma asked.

  “I’ll figure out something,” Turesobei said.

  “I think we should open the portal and toss her back to the yomon,” Lu Bei said, arms crossed. “But of course, no one ever does what I think is best.”

  “Half of us wouldn’t be here if it was up to you,” Iniru said, half-smiling.