“Everything else in this place has tried to kill me, so forgive me but I wasn’t expecting to find a prankster among the thorns,” Raegith said, noticing that he was completely naked under the covers of the bed. He also noticed that it was measurably colder inside the room than it should have been if they were still in the same swamp. “I wasn’t expecting to find anyone at all out here.”
“If you weren’t expecting to find anyone out here, then why in the hell are you looking for this Noriko person here? How did you survive this long if you’re that stupid?”
“That’s not what I meant. I am looking for someone here, but I wasn’t expecting to find someone who wasn’t that someone.”
“You think the Junrei’sha are the only ones that make the lands beyond the southern border their home? Is that what all your kind think these days?”
“My kind…? Wait, I never told you that I was looking for the Junrei’sha.”
“You didn’t have to,” the person said. “Who else would you be looking for this far south? No one comes here unless they are looking for salvation, but the Junies don’t care about anyone but themselves. Why else would they sit atop their mountain and watch their would-be disciples perish and be consumed by this forest and do nothing for them? Here I am, helping whomever I find for very little in return, and yet I am sought by no one and called a witch by all.”
“The Junrei’sha are on a mountain?” Raegith asked, thinking of the story Thorin told him. “He was right there and he didn’t even know it.”
“They are and I can’t imagine they have not heard you down here, screaming to the night. They won’t be journeying down here to get you, though. No, you have to go to them.”
“If they are close, could you please point out the way for me? I would be most grateful.”
“I’m sure you would, and I am pleased just to have a visitor of your… liveliness. If the correct direction is all you ask, then I will give it to you in the morning, after you’ve rested.”
Raegith was about to thank the robed figure, but the wording of that last sentence troubled him. “You say if a direction is all I ask, then all I have to do is rest here for the night?”
“Of course,” the figure said.
“What if I asked for more than just a direction? Can you take me to the Junrei’sha?”
“I can take you to their front gate as easily as breathing. It will still require you to stay the night here, only you won’t be getting any rest.”
“I see,” Raegith said, remembering his lack of clothes. “Okay, before I agree to this, I need you to pull back that robe…”
“This isn’t a negotiation. You’re either willing to pay any price to reach the Junies tomorrow or you’re just willing to take another chance in the forest with nothing more than a pointed finger.”
“I’m not the guy to turn away a girl based off of her looks, but the thing is… if you’re not a girl, this decision is going to need some thought…” Raegith said.
“I am a female… that’s all you’re getting.”
“Okay, I can handle that, then. You have a deal.”
“I could be really, really old,” the robed figure said. “Are you sure you don’t want to think about it? The chances that I’m going to be some hideous new race you’ve never seen before is pretty high.”
“I don’t care,” Raegith said, yanking the blanket off of him and spinning up on his knees before her. “What’cha got, six arms? Three breasts? Fifty eyes? Whip that thing off and get over here; I’m ready!”
“Okay, brace yourself!”
The robe flew off and Raegith immediately wondered if he had made a huge mistake. The figure before him was a Lokai, but unlike any that he had ever seen in the Citadel or anywhere else in the Greimere. Her skin was bone white and heavily scarred in neat, criss-crossed patterns all over. She had the soft, curvaceous build of a noble Rathgar, but the sharp facial features and elongated ears of the Lokai. Her head was completely bald and her lips were black, as were her eyelids and when she looked at him he saw that her eyes were solid red, like clear orbs filled with blood. All over her body were silver rings and rods pierced through her skin. Silky, black ribbon was woven between the piercings along her legs and arms, up the front of her stomach and neck, like the cords of a corset and tied in bows at the top.
Aside from the robe and ribbon, she was completely nude and Raegith wondered if she could even wear normal clothes with such bold accessories stitched into her flesh.
“So, would-be Junie… do you regret your decision now?” she asked with a devious grin, revealing gleaming, flat teeth.
“I’m thinking… how do I put this? I’m wondering what the hell you are,” Raegith replied. “Those solid eyes of yours… are you a Stone Seer?”
“I don’t know what that is,” she said, walking closer. “Some call me a witch; some call me a ghost… others call me immortal. My name is Izanami. I used to be Lokai, as did all of my coven, but they are all gone now and only I remain. Our religion is an old and unwelcome one among the slaves north of here.
“It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had a victim here who wasn’t screaming by now. I see I’m going to have to work to get my screams from you.”
“Lady, I’m not the one who’s going to be screaming before the night is through,” Raegith said, reaching up and pulling her down onto the pallet.
A few hours later, they both lay on the distraught pallet, naked and breathing heavily. Raegith had claw marks over his body and the witch’s ribbons were untied and loose.
“I should be asking just what you are,” she panted, rolling over and nestling her head in his arm. “I can honestly say I was not expecting such… vigor. Most men turn away in fright, but you seemed excited by my image.”
“I’ve been with stranger beings,” Raegith said. “If I’ve satisfied you, I’d like to have some bit of rest before we walk up the mountain tomorrow and I find Noriko.”
“Twenty years since the last man made it this far into the bogs without dying and he barely lasted an hour before I had broken his mind. There’s no way I’m letting you go before our time is through.”
Raegith groaned as she threw her leg over him and mounted his waist.
By the time morning had come, Raegith was completely drained and could not even rise from the bed at dawn. Izanami let him sleep for a few hours before waking him and feeding him a gruel that, although horrible in taste, helped rejuvenate him. Then she fitted him with new clothes, but would not explain how she had boots, pants and a tunic that fit him just lying about in a closet somewhere. The way she bragged about burning through men, he did not feel like asking.
“Follow me and take my hand each time I extend it to you,” she said.
He stretched his legs and arms and then followed her out the door.
The bog smelled as wretched as it looked and Raegith marveled at how little of it he remembered from his fevered state. Everything was damp and soggy and the mushrooms blocked out most of the light with their enormous caps high above. The two of them walked onward, picking their way through the pools of fetid water and moss. Izanami seemed at home there, choosing their path with no apparent effort and Raegith let his mind wander as he let his guide do the thinking. He almost did not see her hand reach back.
“Hurry!” she griped, shaking her hand at him.
Raegith reached out and grabbed her hand and in the next instant they were somewhere else entirely.
“Dragons of hell… what just happened?” Raegith asked, dropping to his knees from the dizziness that claimed him.
“I jumped us,” Izanami said. “I don’t like wasting magic if I don’t have to, but some parts are just easier to jump than walk. Steady your stomach, Grass-hair, we’ll be doing this a lot once we reach the mountain. I don’t climb.”
She was right about the jumping and Raegith was grateful for it once they reached the mountain. It was high and steep, driving high past the clouds like a sharp tooth biting the sky. Iza
nami extended her hand backwards to Raegith and he took it.
They were on the mountain. She had jumped them up to the first decent ledge and Raegith was experiencing the dizziness again, only not as bad. She did not stop. She kept a hold on his hand and jumped them again after only a few seconds break. Raegith wanted to protest, but he could not get the words out for fear of purging his stomach.
Izanami jumped them four more times before taking an extended break. She sat back against the rock and laughed as Raegith wobbled and toppled. He shook his head and realized they were already high enough for the air to get lighter. His chest was burning already.
He got to his knees and steadied himself. He needed to meditate and focus on his breathing.
“What are you doing, weirdo?” Izanami asked.
“Getting my breathing under control.”
“Oh, I can give you something for that. I just forgot because I was so busy listening to you whimper each time we jumped. Let me get it for you.”
“That’s not necessary. This is practice I need in order to make it among the Junrei’sha; it makes me stronger to be able to control my own body.”
“That’s a stupid way of looking at things,” Izanami replied. “If there is a potion or elixir I can take to rid myself of pain or fix something, I take it. I would be foolish not to.”
“And what happens when you are dependent on those potions? What do you do when they are no longer available?”
“Then I make more, of course. The Junrei’sha will make you do things the hard way, you know? There isn’t anything you need that I can’t give you, Grass-hair, and I will ask a much less demanding price.”
Raegith looked back over at Izanami. Something had been nagging at him for a while now and with the way she spoke, he was completely uneasy. “Doing the hard work, pushing oneself… it makes you stronger.”
“It makes you dumber,” Izanami replied. “You want strength? I have it in a bottle. You want speed? I have it too. You want to lose all the pain in your body? I have that in abundance and it’s all so easy; just as easy as jumping up this mountain.”
“I would prefer to have my strength independent of a potion, not to fail me the first time I run out,” Raegith said. “I’ll pay the hard price for my power and I’ll be leaving you now.”
“What?” Izanami asked, getting to her feet quickly. “What do you mean? There is still much further to go.”
“I’ll climb it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I can jump you all the way there and then you can see this precious Noriko chick you’re so hard for.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Izanami, but if this journey is a test of my worthiness, every quick step I take with you is proof I am not worthy of the power I seek. This is not about you; I just don’t need your help.”
“Fine, you idiot,” she hissed. “You’ve paid for a full trip up the mountain. It’s no loss of mine if you want to cut yourself short. Thanks for the fuck.”
In the next moment she was gone and he was alone with the roaring wind. He smiled as he thought of condemning himself to more hardship, just as he did a week ago when he first descended into the bog.
Raegith focused on breathing, getting his lungs back under his control and then ventured out onto the ledge. He looked up and sighed. Maybe I could have let her jump me past this part, at least.
He shook his head and cleared the doubts in his mind. He had come this far now, farther than even Thorin. He would continue up the mountain by his own will and earn his place among the Junrei’sha.
It was another two days on the mountain before he reached the golden rope. His stomach was empty and his mouth was dry, but he was alive and moving. It was cold beyond belief without his parka and winter gear and some of the blackness had begun to form on his skin. On the day he expected to reach the top, he was amazed when each peak turned out to be another landing below a taller peak.
Just before dusk, he reached a forty-foot cliff face with a golden rope hanging down to the bottom.
He tested the rope and it seemed very secure and sturdy. Then he brushed it aside and began to climb the wall with his fingers and feet. It was difficult and twice he slipped and nearly plunged to the bottom, but he held on, promising himself to rest no matter how disastrous it might prove to his skin and health, once he reached the top.
As he pulled himself over the top of the ledge, he saw movement. He flinched, worried that it was another large, predatory cat, and almost launched himself backward off of the face. It was Noriko.
“What are you doing, you maniac?” she asked, laughing as soon as he recognized her. She reached her hand down and grabbed him by the collar. “Didn’t you see the rope there?”
“I thought it was another test,” he stammered, his jaw clattering with the cold. “Something else to fool me into taking the easy road.”
“No, the mountain is enough of a test, we think. The Golden Rope is there as a symbol of the end of your journey. You’re the only one… everyone takes the rope! I’m inclined to make you go back down in order to climb it.”
“No, fuck that! Come on,” Raegith pleaded.
“The important thing is that you’re here now,” she said, reaching down and pulling him to his feet. “Come, let’s get you warm. I’m so glad you came.”
Raegith was led away from the ledge, through the snow and past a rock wall.
On the other side of the wall was an oasis of green grass and bountiful trees, lined with colorful fruit and vibrant leaves. It was brighter and somehow warmer; open fields and ancient buildings that he would not have thought possible in such a place. He looked up and shielded his eyes from the sun for the first time in years.
“How is this possible?” he asked, dropping to his knees and spilling tears onto the ground below him.
“This is where the Path leads, Raegith,” Noriko said. “This is where you have been called to. Here you will be healed, body and soul. Here you will be nurtured, educated and enlightened. Here you will finally find peace.”
Chapter 43
Hitomi stood over the unconscious Lokai male in the middle of the field and wiped the blood from her knuckles on her pants.
“So… anyone else want to tell me what they really think of these morning exercises?” she yelled at the men and woman in formation before her. The exhausted group was silent except for those trying to catch their breath.
“Three months… the entire cold season; that’s how long we’ve been doing this and yet some of you still want to be asses. Hey, that’s fine! I’m open to suggestions on how to run this brigade… from anyone who can beat me.”
Hitomi had been reluctant to take on the job of militia commander. She was a warrior, not a leader; but then so were the other Helcats that had stayed behind when Raegith departed for the east. Indie was not smart enough to put together a militia and Kimura was busy learning the Shadow Dancing skills of Kensei’s Nagas. Meanwhile there were over a dozen Lokai, including most of the prison survivors, who begged Hitomi to train them like a Helcat.
When the elders from Haruka village offered to pay her and put her up in one of their nicer houses, she finally broke down and accepted responsibility for the first Lokai Militia in the west.
She took Naoko, Indie and Magda with her to be her assistants. Although not officially proven Helcats, Magda and Naoko both had skills that Hitomi found useful enough to promote them above the others.
What had at first been only a way of passing time and making some coin became a passion. It had taken her entire life to awaken the bloodlust inside of her; to find a reason for being. Had Helkree and Grass-hair not plucked her from the torments of the guards and fighters inside the Pit she would be dead; but it was so much more than survival. She could have lived anywhere and still be dead inside. Being tested, learning the way of violence and feeling the thrill of physically overwhelming someone in combat were the gifts she received as a Helcat. They were the gifts she intended to give every young Lokai who asked for th
em.
The only armor and weapons available were what had been left behind by the ousted guard, none of which fit the Lokai or even the handful of Rathgar youths. The village had a small forge and Magda and Indie got to work. They had time to reshape the armor and create more suitable weapons; Hitomi was not eager to start training the recruits on weapons. First, they needed to be tempered, just as she had been in the Pit.
For months the recruits ran. They ran when they woke up and after each meal and before dropping onto pallets on the ground in front of the skeleton of their future barracks. When they were not running, they were sparring each other and Hitomi personally beat them if they ever lost discipline. It was not the intensity that Helkree had put her and her sisters through in the Pit; the young recruits could not handle something like that, but it was tough and several were kicked out of training before they ever picked up a weapon.
“You little shits have come a long way. You’re not fainting during the runs anymore; you’re not bleeding all over the place from a single punch anymore. You’re turning into fighters… but you’re still not ready. None of you could hold your own against an armored guard, but I bet anything you could fucking outrun them!”
The recruits were not allowed to laugh, even if any of them had found her humorous. She continued.
“If you don’t have stamina; if you’re exhausted after one fight, then you’re expendable grunts. I have no need for warriors who can only give me one fight. We do not have the numbers for that bullshit. Every single one of you will be expected to outlast our enemy. Until then, you don’t have any business with armor or weapons.”
Hitomi turned to Magda, who was standing behind her. “Take ‘em into town for their meal, then take them to the forge for drills. Naoko and I are training together this morning. Bring ‘em back when the sun is high.”
“Understood,” the Rathgar replied. She turned towards the recruits. “Someone pick this dumbass up and carry him. We’re marching into town. Follow me.”
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