by Ryan Kirk
The last attacker fell to Renzo's blade. Renzo examined himself quickly and saw that one of the warriors had managed a small cut on his arm. He was disappointed in himself, but he pushed it aside as he looked at Tanak. Although he had yet to come to his senses, Tanak seemed otherwise unharmed. Renzo didn't bother asking him if he was fine, but stole out of the camp so he wouldn't be noticed.
13
Like Moriko, the hunter who had captured her seemed to prefer silence over empty conversation. Moriko had hoped for a while that the hunter would have a horse, but that was seeming less and less likely the further they walked. He seemed to be on foot as well. Moriko would have been content with the silence, but she was here to gather information.
“What is your name?”
The hunter turned back and looked at her over his shoulder. He seemed to be deciding whether or not to speak to her. “My name is Kalden.” After a long pause he asked, “What is yours?”
“Moriko.”
She could see him saying her name silently, learning the combination of sounds. She hoped it would start a longer conversation, but Kalden turned around and kept walking, content with the level of discourse. Moriko allowed the silence to continue for a few hundred paces before she decided to try again. “Are you a hunter?”
Kalden didn’t respond for a long time, and Moriko wondered if he was avoiding the question, or if something had been lost in translation.
“I am a goner.”
Moriko frowned. “Goner. What’s a goner?”
He searched for the words. “I am gone from the clan. I am not allowed to return.”
Understanding dawned on Moriko. “You’re an outcast?”
He nodded. “Yes, that is the word.”
“Why?”
He glanced at his arm. “It is a long story.”
With that, Kalden set his shoulders, and Moriko understood the conversation was over. She had hit a sore point and wouldn’t get anything more from him for a while. Even though they’d only exchanged a few words, there was a lot for Moriko to think about. Until she learned more, there was nothing to do but keep following him to see where this journey led.
As the sun set, they settled to make camp for the night. Moriko wasn’t sure how it would work, but Kalden went about setting out his camp gear as if she was a traveling companion and not a prisoner. He seemed to take her word at face value. Moriko set out her own equipment. When they were both done, they sat and ate and watched the sun set. As they ate, they studied each other in silence. Moriko was surprised when it was Kalden who broke the silence.
“You speak little. I thought you would speak more.”
Moriko was startled. It was about the last thing she’d expected to hear.
“Why?”
“Our leader, he says your people speak much but don’t fight much. You seem different. You don’t speak much. I don’t know how much you fight.”
Moriko decided there was an opportunity to break through the ice between them.
“Why didn’t you kill me, back there when you caught me sleeping?”
Kalden was silent for a moment, and Moriko wondered if she’d pushed too hard again. But then he spoke. “With you, I might be able to get back to the clan. They might let me return if I bring you with me.”
“Kalden, why are you an outcast? Does it have something to do with your arm?”
He looked up, searching her face for some sign of deceit. There was none. She was genuinely curious about his arm. Moriko had watched with fascination throughout the day as he had completed tasks one-handed. She realized how much she had taken having two arms for granted. It was clear he hadn’t been trained to survive with one arm, but he still managed to live remarkably well.
“I lost it long ago. My kind, we are special. We are called the demon-kind. Do you know?”
Moriko nodded. “We call your kind hunters.” She assumed they were talking about the same thing.
“It is a good description, although it does not describe how terrified our clans are of us. They say we are not natural. We see things, understand things no one else can. You too, I think, can do this.”
Moriko nodded again. There wasn’t any need to insult his intelligence. She had been using her sense when she was captured. He would have felt it and known immediately the type of person he was dealing with.
“That is news. Our leader says your people don’t have demon-kind. That you have hunted and killed them all.”
Moriko shrugged. “It is mostly true. There are very few of us left.”
“Why do you hunt and kill your strongest people? Here we are feared, but we are not killed by our clans.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Fear, probably. Fear of what they don’t know.”
Kalden thought on her answer for a moment. “When we are young, we are given a test. There is a creature we must hunt, a wild creature that kills many of us. We are to go with only a knife and kill such a creature. If we fail, we are killed by the demon-kind. All demon-kind must be strong, otherwise we are useless.
“I had seen ten suns. Like all demon-kind, I was sent out with my knife. I was proud. Excited. I found one of the creatures, but I was not good enough. It knew I was coming. I did not hide, did not hunt well enough. It attacked and we fought. It bit deep into my arm, but I stabbed it, again and again, until it died. I then took it one handed back to the people.”
Moriko imagined the story. She remembered Akira saying something about the hunt each potential hunter had to take. Sure enough, Kalden wore a necklace with the tooth on it. So it was more than a legend. She admired Kalden then. She knew little about the creature he had killed, but if it was a trial, she assumed it would be dangerous. To make the kill while still bleeding, then drag the creature back home was impressive. It was a strength worthy of a nightblade, or a hunter.
“What happened next?” She didn’t have to feign her curiosity.
“The demon-kind were undecided. It happens, sometimes. The kill is made, but the man is wounded. It happened with me, it has happened with others. After two days, the arm was bad. It was red and big. They took the arm and waited to see if I would live. No more was given. I lived, but I couldn’t be demon-kind, not with only one arm. Because I killed, I wasn’t killed, but I was not demon-kind.”
Moriko was able to fill in the blanks. He had succeeded in his trial, but there wasn’t any place in their culture for weakness, so he couldn’t take part in it either. He occupied some place in the middle. Not an outcast, but not part of society either.
Kalden’s story, rather than answering any questions for her, had piqued her interest for more information. But he seemed to be done telling stories for the day. Maybe he realized he had said too much, given away a bit of information about their society. She knew she wouldn’t get anything out of him for the rest of the night.
As they lay down to rest, Moriko started to worry. Kalden’s story, simple as it was, had touched her. He was a man who had triumphed over adversity, but whose life had been horrible nevertheless. In some ways, it had resembled her own. For the first time, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to kill him if it became necessary.
The next morning, Moriko awoke to Kalden practicing his forms. Moriko was surprised, memories of Ryuu running through her mind. How many mornings had she woken up to watch him practicing his forms? It gave her a weird sense of déjà vu she couldn't quite shake.
Moriko watched Kalden's practice with interest. She had been captured without a fight, so she had never seen his fighting style, and she had never seen the style of a one-armed man. Again, she was impressed by his movements. Although he had not been trained in one-armed combat, he moved with a surprising grace. Moriko was certain she would beat him in a fight, but she was just as certain he would be a dangerous opponent to many of the swordsmen in the Three Kingdoms.
When he was finished, he and Moriko packed up their gear and set out for another day of hiking. Moriko noticed they had turned from their southern course to one h
eading more towards the west. She decided to try her luck with more questions as they walked.
"May I ask where we are going?"
Kalden answered, "We are going to the Gathering.”
It was an answer without any usefulness. "What’s the Gathering?"
Kalden just grinned at her, excitement evident on his face. "You will see."
They hiked for another day and camped another night. Despite her repeated attempts, Moriko was unable to gather any more useful information from her captor. He continued to be content to make the journey largely in silence. Moriko weighed her options. She could escape if she wanted to, but she still hadn't learned anything worth taking back to the Three Kingdoms. Her transportation situation hadn’t improved, either. She didn’t see any other better option than continuing to follow him.
The following day seemed as though it would also be uneventful, until the sun started to set. They had been walking all day without rest. As usual, it passed in silence. Moriko was doing her best to contain her growing frustration. Every step they took was another step further from the Three Kingdoms. The further from home she got, the more she wanted to return. She hadn’t expected she would miss it so much.
As had often been the case on this journey, she saw them far before she sensed them, twin pillars of dust on the horizon. Her first instinct was to hide, but then she remembered she was a prisoner. The patrol was coming from the west, the direction they were heading.
It didn’t take long for the dust to resolve itself into two riders who rode straight for them. Moriko had to admit they didn’t look friendly. She had expected Kalden would be greeted with a little more respect, but it seemed his status as an outcast, even an outcast hunter, didn’t buy him anything in Azarian culture.
The two guards couldn’t have been a more mismatched pair. One was a large bear of a man, the other a small wisp. The large one was in charge, but as Moriko watched the two, she decided it was the small one who was a more dangerous opponent. He was wary and well balanced on his horse.
The big man spoke, his voice thundering even though they were only paces apart. "What do you think you’re doing?"
Kalden set his shoulders. If nothing else, he did not lack for courage. “I bring a prisoner to my clan.”
The big man laughed. “Do you have any idea who she is?”
Kalden looked back at Moriko. “I assume she is a messenger or a scout of some sort.”
The big man laughed again. "I don't know how a one-armed hunter like you managed to capture her, but this woman is one of the ones He wanted killed."
Moriko’s mind raced. Whoever this ‘He’ was, he was the one responsible for sending hunters after her and Ryuu. And somehow he had known Moriko was coming. Her life was in danger.
She watched as understanding dawned in Kalden’s face. His eyes went wide, and Moriko knew she only had moments to act. She had four blades, two knives strapped to each thigh, which Kalden hadn’t found. With one motion, she reached down with both hands and launched two of them at the men on horseback. If they got away a whole search would be launched for her. Her aim with her right hand was true. The blade embedded itself deep into the neck of the big guard, and he began to fall off his horse. Her aim with her left was not as accurate. The knife embedded itself in the left shoulder of the thin man, an injury he seemed to brush aside as he drew his sword. Moriko turned as Kalden drew his blade against her.
Moriko pushed down the fear she felt when she saw that short blade pointed at her once again. The night she and Ryuu were attacked flashed in her mind. There was no need to worry. This battle was hers. Like putting a cloak of shadows back on, she suppressed her presence once again and moved in. Kalden, who had gotten used to her presence, found himself befuddled at the sudden lack of energy emanating from her. He was relying on his own sense and lost track of her. She seized the moment, getting behind him and cutting his throat with one of her remaining blades.
As he dropped, she grabbed her own sword from his belt and drew it, its weight in her hands a welcome reassurance. The thin man looked like he was about to charge, but decided at the last moment it wasn't in his best interest. He turned his horse around, but he didn't have time to escape.
Moriko threw the knife in her hand, already covered in Kalden’s blood. It struck the guard’s neck, and he too fell off his horse.
Moriko surveyed the scene around her. The two guards were dead, and she couldn't care less, but it was different with Kalden. He'd been a hunter, yes, but she couldn't shake the feeling he deserved better. Azarian culture seemed strict and merciless. Yet he’d fought to survive. He didn’t deserve this ending, killed by one who had promised not to harm him.
It was then that all the rage, despair, and frustration boiled to the surface, and Moriko fell to her knees, tears streaming from her eyes. They had almost had peace. For two cycles, they had convinced themselves, but now it was all gone. She didn’t think she would ever lie next to Ryuu again, watching the stars as they slowly turned overhead.
Here she was, in the middle of Azaria, with no way home that she could see. She was more leagues from home than she could count. It was all wrong. She knelt there and wept until there was nothing left.
When she was done, something had changed. She felt colder inside, like all the weakness had been burned from her body, leaving only cold steel behind. She stood up and faced the west. The Gathering was there, and she thought it was time for her to pay it a visit.
14
Tenchi and Ryuu walked together away from the caves where Ryuu had taken his trials. Ryuu was filled with so many questions that he didn’t know where to begin. Tenchi saw his indecision and spoke first, breaking Ryuu’s nervous tension.
“You remind me of him, you know.”
Ryuu glanced at Tenchi. The comment struck a chord with him. He missed his adopted father more than he admitted.
“You’re wiser than he was though.”
Ryuu almost reached for his sword. Shigeru had saved his life in more ways than one. He wouldn’t stand for anyone dishonoring his memory.
Tenchi held up his hand. “I mean no insult. I only knew Shigeru as a young man, and he hadn’t seen much of the world. I believe you have seen and experienced much more than he had at the same age. As a result, you have more wisdom than he did. You hold your tongue when you’re uncertain of what to say. That’s a distinct sign of wisdom, in my experience.”
They walked in silence for a few paces, Ryuu trying to decide which question to ask first. Each thought that ran through his mind seemed more imperative than the last. Tenchi broke his train of thought.
“I apologize for the trials, but it was necessary for us to know. Your performance on the docks was impressive, but you could have been just an extremely talented swordsman. There was no way you could have passed those trials without possessing a well-developed mastery of the sense.” Tenchi grinned. “I should confess, I made the tests harder for you. I wouldn’t have sent Rei in for a regular trial, but I wanted to see the extent of your skills.” He indicated the girl Ryuu had fought in the final chamber.
“Every nightblade has to complete the trials?”
Tenchi nodded. “Yes. For each of us to wear the black, they must pass these trials. I am impressed by your performance, though. Rei’s surprise when you sensed her was a delight to observe.”
Ryuu finally found the voice to start asking questions. “How is it you know so much about me and my skills?”
“Orochi wrote a detailed letter to me. I assume it was just before you and he met for the final time. I was surprised when I received the letter. Orochi, like Shigeru, was not part of our community. Shigeru, as I suspect you know, was under a sentence of death when he escaped. Orochi wasn’t given our blessing, but we couldn’t stop him without killing him, and there are too few of us as it is. I heard from Orochi once after he left but hadn’t heard from him since. His letter arriving out of the blue was quite the occurrence.
“Orochi told me what occurred
between the three of you,” Tenchi continued. “He confessed to killing Shigeru and spoke at length about you. He looked forward to your battle, but indicated there was a chance he wouldn’t survive. But he felt honor-bound to finish the job as he had promised. He mentioned that if he were to fall, he would leave you directions to the island. That was two cycles ago. And now you are here. I assume you managed to defeat Orochi, and that he is dead. I mourn his loss but respect his decisions.”
Ryuu nodded. “He fought honorably to the end, but I didn’t realize it until it was too late.”
“Orochi was, despite his faults, a good man. We mourn the loss of two of our own. It is a tragedy they came to the ends they did. We had all hoped that at the end they would come to peace.”
“I hope they have found it.”
Tenchi stopped and studied Ryuu. “There is one last question I must ask, as your arrival comes at a challenging moment for the island. What is your intent?”
Ryuu had been prepared for this question, but in the presence of the power he was experiencing he hesitated. He had worked up all number of phrases to make his mission seem more palatable to the nightblades of the island, but he felt like Tenchi deserved his full honesty.
“I came for strength, and I came for answers.”
Tenchi looked at him silently, waiting for him to elaborate.
“There is something moving, an energy no one in the Three Kingdoms understands. The Azarians hunt me, though I have done no wrong against them. They possess warriors of strength equal to mine. There are rumors of civil war in Azaria, and war is consuming the Three Kingdoms for the first time in a thousand cycles. The world is changing, and I’m afraid no one is strong enough to withstand its power.”
Tenchi was silent, so Ryuu rushed forward, trying to get all the information in as quickly as he could.