“Awasa checked with him first. He gave it the okay. He said some rest before studying gate travel would do you good.”
“So what’s all this about everyone needing to talk?”
Lu Bei lit the other lamps. “Best to wait and catch it in the face, master. Fretting will only make it worse.”
Turesobei got up and adjusted his robe. “I’m fretting already.”
“Not as much as you would be if you knew what I know.”
Footsteps sounded down the hallway. Enashoma swept in, pulling Kurine and Iniru in along with her. Zaiporo moped in behind them and gave Turesobei an apologetic look. Awasa strode in last with a grim and determined expression on her face. Her eyes met Turesobei’s. She gave him a pitying smile and melted into the shadows of the farthest corner.
“Don’t see why I need to be here,” Zaiporo muttered to Enashoma in a desperate voice.
Her jaw tightened. “I’ll tell you when you can leave, Zai.”
“Shoma, what’s going on?” Kurine spotted Turesobei. “Sobei, my love! There you are.” Her nose crinkled and her face twisted into a look of disgust. “I tried to visit you in the Workshop this morning, but the Blood King wouldn’t let me in.”
“I was here…sleeping.”
Iniru was fanning the air in front of her face. “Gods, what is that smell?”
“That would be me,” Turesobei said. “Sorry.”
Awasa slid open the door leading outside to let in fresh air.
“I’ve called you all here,” Enashoma said, “because things are getting out of hand.”
“What things?” Iniru asked quietly.
“I think you know,” Enashoma said.
Iniru and Kurine both nodded ashamedly, as if they’d been scolded by their mothers for stealing a treat.
Enashoma explained how she, Lu Bei and Awasa drugged him and brought him here so he could rest undisturbed.
“Why didn’t you take him to his room and let me know?” Kurine asked. “We could have looked after his every need.”
“We?” Iniru sighed with irritably. “Oh, please. You wouldn’t have let anyone else know.”
Kurine shrugged. “Sobei deserves the best care.”
“Watching him sleep and bringing him food isn’t wizardry. Lu Bei does it all the time.”
“Hey, watch it!” the fetch said. “Leave me out of this!”
“Caring for someone means loving them,” Kurine said, “truly loving them. There’s more to that than fetching food and tea.”
Lu Bei grumbled. “I do a lot more than fetch things.”
“Just what do you mean by that?” Iniru asked Kurine.
“You don’t love him enough. That’s what I mean.”
“I don’t love him enough?” Iniru nearly shouted. “Are you kidding me?”
“You don’t know how to love. All you know is killing people. You’re just an assassin. Turesobei deserves more than that.”
Iniru stormed over and got in Kurine’s face. “I have never killed anyone except in self-defense.”
Kurine didn’t back down. “That’s what you’re trained for though, isn’t it? To kill people when your special book tells you to? Sounds demented to me.”
“I’m not a qengai anymore.”
“So you say. But I don’t believe you.”
“Of course you don’t—because it’s convenient for you.”
“Regardless, Turesobei deserves better and I think he knows it. After all, he’s known you longer and never asked you to marry him.”
Iniru clenched her fists tight. “Take that back—now!”
Enashoma squeezed in between them. “Okay, that’s enough. Break it up.”
They ignored her and muttered curses and threats at one another. Turesobei stood there dumbfounded. Had it been this bad the whole time he was hiding away working? He should probably do something. But he had no idea what. All he could really think, other than, “oh gods,” was that at least Iniru had snapped out of her funk and was no longer cowed by what she’d seen Kurine do in the Shadowland.
Kurine started to throw a punch and Awasa stepped forward.
“Enough!”
Everyone fell silent and stepped back, stunned, as if they’d been slapped in the face. As Awasa retreated back into the shadows, Turesobei noted how her hand relaxed out of a mudra she’d used. She was wielding some impressive power. And the others hadn’t even noticed how she had subtly influenced them.
“Thank you, Awasa,” Enashoma said.
Kurine moved toward Turesobei but Enashoma stepped in her way. Iniru did the same and Lu Bei whipped out in front of her.
“Could the two of you please step back and be civil for a few minutes?” Enashoma asked.
They grumbled and went to opposite sides of the room.
“Turesobei, this is what I meant,” Enashoma said. “Do you see the problems you’ve caused?”
“I didn’t cause this.”
“Oh yes, you did,” Enashoma said. “By not picking one girl, you're encouraging them to fight for you. They’re competitive enough without having to win your affection.”
“Do you really think that would help?” he asked bewildered. Obviously, both Iniru and Kurine were warriors, regardless of training, but he’d had no idea they were actually fighting over him.
Enashoma sighed. “Probably not. But avoiding the situation clearly isn’t working either.”
“If you keep arguing amongst yourselves,” Lu Bei said, “then we’re all doomed. The only way to make it out of this is to work together and support Master Turesobei. He has enough problems trying to please everyone, without the two of you making things worse.”
“He is clueless,” Iniru said.
“And terrible at relationships,” Kurine said.
“Yes, yes I am,” Turesobei said. “And I’m utterly swamped trying to learn a lot of incredibly difficult magic. I do need support. Not this. And no, I can’t make a decision between the two of you. I should, and I want to, but it’s all too much for me right now. And that’s why I’ve been avoiding you both. That’s lame, and I’m a jerk. I admit it.”
They muttered apologies.
“And I had no idea you guys were fighting.”
“Just once or twice,” Kurine said.
Turesobei raised an eyebrow and stared at them.
Iniru shrugged. “Maybe three times.”
“Hah!” Enashoma said. “You two have been bickering constantly and you got into a scuffle during a training session yesterday.”
“The day before that, too,” Zaiporo said.
“Zai!” Iniru said. “That was hardly a scuffle.”
“Don’t get mad at me for telling the truth.” Zaiporo sighed. “But you’re right, I should’ve kept my mouth shut. This has nothing to do with me.”
“It has to do with everyone,” Enashoma said. “We’re all part of this. We need to help Turesobei and support each other. And we need to…to…I don’t know. I just think we’re all in this together and so we have to solve this together.”
“I’m not involved in their sad love triangle,” Zaiporo muttered.
“I don’t see what there is to solve,” Kurine said.
“Me either,” Iniru said, “except for your attitude.”
“Please don’t start arguing again,” Turesobei said. They fell silent and stared at their feet. “Shoma, when did all this bickering start?”
“After the teleport accident. Apparently, you almost dying rekindled Iniru’s love for you.”
Iniru blushed and Kurine rolled her eyes. It was good to see Iniru with some passion in her again, but he couldn’t handle any drama right now.
“This has to stop,” he said. “I can’t be worried about the two of you fighting.”
“You could make a choice,” Iniru said, stepping toward him.
“The right choice,” Kurine said, closing in.
A tap sounded on the door, startling everyone. The panel slid back and Hannya strolled in. Her face twisted
into a puzzled look.
“Am I interrupting something?”
“Yes,” Enashoma said.
“Teenage dramatics?” she asked.
Lu Bei nodded vigorously. “Quite so, madam.”
“We’re trying to sort out some issues, Lady Hannya,” Enashoma said.
“I do hate to interrupt your raging hormone party, but everyone is required in the Training Hall in half an hour, dressed in battle gear and ready to fight. I’ll explain when you get there.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Without another word, they went to their rooms, dressed in their fighting clothes and armor, then assembled in the Training Hall. Motekeru and the hounds joined them. The Blood King strolled in after them, with Lady Hannya in his wake.
Brilliant blue eyes scanned them intensely. “Apprentice, you are to lead your team in a trial combat.” He handed a scroll to Hannya. “I have other matters to attend to, so Hannya will assess your fighting abilities and teamwork. Do not disappoint me.”
What matters did he possibly have to attend to? “Yes, master.”
Hannya scanned them. “I hope you are ready. The consequences of failure could be severe today and deadly in the future.”
“I’ve trained everyone except Turesobei as best as I could,” Iniru said. “But we mostly do one-on-one training, sometimes two-on-two. We’ve only discussed group tactics. It’s kind of hard to practice those without Turesobei.”
“What if Turesobei gets knocked unconscious?” Hannya asked. “What if he needs you to defend him while he casts a spell? What if you must shield him from lesser enemies while he fights those you cannot handle? You need to learn how to fight as a group without him.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Iniru said. “We’ll start working on it.”
“So what exactly are we fighting against today?” Turesobei asked, hoping it wasn’t something deadly.
Hannya tapped a finger against the scroll and grinned deviously. “You are going to battle nakija-kagi summonings, man-sized creatures made of pond scum.”
Everyone frowned in disgust.
“Gross,” Enashoma said.
“The nakija-kagi punch hard and can take quite a few hits before going down,” Hannya said. “But they are not especially deadly. And rest assured, I will prevent them from killing anyone. Motekeru, you are too powerful to take part in this battle, so we will pretend you are engaged against a difficult opponent that only you could take on.”
Motekeru nodded and walked over to stand beside Hannya.
“Turesobei, you cannot unleash the Storm Dragon or cast from spell strips. Nor can you boost anyone’s abilities before the battle starts. Use only standard spells with standard castings.”
“Got it.”
“Enashoma, you will observe with me. See if you can spot any weaknesses in your companions’ attacks and defenses.”
“Why do I have to observe? I’ve been working hard!”
“You have to observe because you will not be going out into the realms to fight guardians.”
Enashoma crossed her arms, huffed and scowled.
“Turesobei, you are the leader,” Hannya said. “Prepare your team.”
Kurine slapped him on the butt and grinned. “Let’s get going, boss.”
Iniru glared at Kurine and almost said something.
Turesobei blushed. “Right.” He cleared his throat. “Before we get started, we should create a chain of command. While I may be the leader, I can’t give orders if I’m casting. I will need one of you to act as captain and guide everyone else once the fighting starts.”
“Not me,” Iniru said. “I’ll always be in the thick of things and I don’t like giving orders.”
Turesobei heard Kurine mutter something about Iniru being bossy; which was ironic, because they both were. Enashoma too. And Awasa. A deep realization about himself lurked within that thought, but he didn’t have time to ponder it.
“I have training in tactical command,” Zaiporo said. “The one good thing about being employed by Awasa’s family was it allowed me to receive officer training. Most zaboko never get that chance. Plus, I’ve been training with the composite bow for the last few weeks, figuring we could use some non-magical ranged attacks. So if I hang back with the bow, I’ll be able to see the flow of the battle. That should make giving orders easier. Then if someone needs help, I can charge in.”
“Excellent,” Turesobei said. “I’ll tell the hounds to obey you so you can use them as reserves. As long as I haven’t evoked the dragon, Lu Bei can serve as a spotter.”
Lu Bei threw punches and fired a few harmless sparks. “Unless I’m blasting baddies left and right!”
Zaiporo suppressed a laugh. “I’ll remember that.”
“If Zaiporo falls, I can take command,” Awasa said. “The Warlock’s instincts might prove useful. He did have to guide eight clones in battle, after all.”
Turesobei was fine with that. Surprisingly, everyone else was too, even Iniru, though she may have been putting aside her feelings to make the best practical choice.
“Arm yourselves,” Zaiporo said.
Turesobei drew Sumada, stared at it for a moment, then held it out toward Iniru. “During most battles I’ll be busy casting spells. Besides, Sumada won’t be as effective in my hands.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded and she took the sword. He chose an ordinary saber from the weapon rack and took a few practice swings. The blade was light and well balanced. Given the quality of everything in the Nexus, it was probably the work of a master craftsman. Kurine selected a round shield and a heavy war hammer that could be used with one hand or two. Zaiporo belted a broadsword in a scabbard to his waist then grabbed a composite bow. Awasa had Fangthorn and didn’t need anything else.
They assembled at one end of the Training Hall and Turesobei instructed the hounds to follow Zaiporo’s orders.
“We’re ready,” Turesobei said.
Hannya opened the scroll and chanted. On the other end of the room, a pool of brown liquid bubbled up from the stone floor and fouled the air with the scents of rotting vegetation and fetid waste. Up from that muck rose three dozen human-like creatures with empty eyes, slack mouths and bodies made of condensed mud and decaying leaves clinging to bone structures made from tangled vines.
Zaiporo shifted to the back. “Turesobei, stay beside me and the hounds.”
Turesobei stepped over to the right of Zaiporo.
“Lu Bei,” Zaiporo said, “go wherever help is needed.”
“Yes sir, sergeant sir!”
“Iniru, take the right flank.”
She nodded and darted over.
“Awasa, left flank.”
She flashed a grin of fangs and sauntered over.
“Kurine, take the center position. If something goes wrong, fall back and defend Turesobei.”
She blew Turesobei a kiss and hefted her hammer. “You got it.”
“Actually, left-of-center would be best,” Turesobei said. “That way I have a clear line of sight for launching spells.”
Kurine nodded and shifted five steps toward Awasa.
Zaiporo had placed their best fighters to each side. But Kurine was far from being a weakling. With Zaiporo, the hounds and Turesobei behind her, the center would be a point of strength. The strategy made good sense. Against the heart stone guardians, they should probably keep Motekeru in the middle with the Storm Dragon soaring overhead, leaving Kurine free to go wherever help was needed.
The nakija-kagi roared, slammed their over-sized fists together and shambled forward.
Zaiporo launched an arrow. The shaft pierced deep into the lead kagi’s chest. The creature yanked the arrow out, tossed it aside and lumbered on. Turesobei selected a spell and chanted. Zaiporo cursed and nocked another arrow while the others braced themselves to meet the kagi charge.
Turesobei unleashed the spell of the flame spout. A spiraling jet of fire whooshed past Kurine, the flames licking within inches of
her side. The spell incinerated three of the muck-demons, leaving only steaming puddles on the floor to show they’d ever existed.
Zaiporo feathered a bolt into the forehead of a nakija-kagi. It collapsed dead. He pumped a fist then drew another arrow.
Iniru sliced an arm from one muck-demon, spun and slashed a second across the gut. She continued her spin back to the first and severed its other arm. She kicked the demon away and engaged the next to reach her.
Awasa used a mudra to slow the creatures nearing her. With Fangthorn, she lopped the head from one and ran another through. Those nearest moved so lethargically that she had plenty of time to hop back and reset for her next assault. With each creature it killed, a brown spark flowed down Fangthorn’s dark blade and Awasa’s strength and speed increased.
Kurine leapt into the front line, and with an overhead smash splatted the head of one muck-demon as if it were nothing more than a melon. Scummy brains sprayed through the air and splattered onto everyone. A kagi surged toward her and she bashed her shield into its face. Without aim, she whirled her hammer around. The glancing blows she struck drove the demons back and she withdrew to her initial position.
Lu Bei dove in and sprayed sparks into the faces of the four nakija-kagi nearest Iniru. The attack didn’t hurt them, but with a dazzling array of sword strokes, Iniru made short work of the momentarily blinded creatures.
Awasa locked a clawed hand around the throat of one demon and with amazing strength, held it thrashing in place while she cut down two others. She released the demon, kicked it away and took its head off with a single slice.
Kurine crushed the kneecap of a demon and when it fell drove her knee into its jaw. The muck-demon’s neck snapped. A huge fist thundered against her shield and she staggered back. Another one swiped at her head. She ducked under the blow and Zaiporo placed an arrow into the attacking demon’s mouth.
Iniru was a blur of motion as she cut low and high, kicked and punched. The demons were easy prey for Sumada’s white-steel blade. But despite her skill and speed, the surge of muck-formed bodies forced her slowly back. She couldn’t cut down the large, relentless demons fast enough. More charged toward her than toward anyone else. Perhaps they sensed the white-steel sword was the greatest threat to them and knew its wielder must be neutralized.
The Blood King’s Apprentice Page 24