by Ryan Kirk
Ryuu was shocked. It had been surprising enough when he had discovered Akira was in league with a nightblade, but to know each lord was advised by a nightblade was almost too much to handle. It was information that would send the Three Kingdoms into uprising if it became public. All because of his master. He stopped to consider the man he’d thought of as a father in a new light.
Rei asked the most important question. "So what do we do?"
Tenchi frowned. "I've been thinking, considering what I would do if Shika's theory was true. I don't like it, but I believe we need to assassinate Renzo."
Ryuu heard the intake of breath from around the room. Rei spoke first. "You'd order the death of a nightblade?"
Tenchi looked as though he’d just lost a loved one. It was hard to meet his gaze. "If I need to in order to protect this island and the people, yes, I would."
Shika laughed. "Are you forgetting Renzo is the best sword this island has? You've always said you were stronger, but no one alive has seen you fight. Are you going to take him on yourself?"
Tenchi smiled. "There’s not been one worth drawing a blade against. But, you're right. He was the best sword. My plan was to send Ryuu. I believe he's stronger than Renzo."
Shika took in Ryuu at a glance. "I won't deny he's good. But you think he's that good?"
"I hope so."
Ryuu was getting frustrated. It was annoying to be talked about as if he wasn't even present. He had opinions too, and he refused to be part of the politics on the island. He had come here to learn how to protect himself and Moriko, not become an assassin. When Akira had offered him the position, he had refused, and he didn't see any reason his answer should change just because it was Tenchi who was asking. "What if I don't want to kill him?"
Tenchi fixed him with a stare. "Then you give up your only hope of bringing peace to the Three Kingdoms."
Ryuu was angry, starting to see red in the corners of his vision. How dare Tenchi try to pin peace in the Three Kingdoms on an assassination! Takako had been right in what she said just before she was killed. Violence only led to more violence.
Tenchi looked around the faces of the room and sighed. "This is what it means to lead this island. Think on that, if any of you want the job. If you can come up with another idea, bring it to me. Take a few days and think it over, but I don’t see any other path forward.”
23
It had been over two moons since Moriko left the comfort and relative security of the Three Kingdoms. She had probably seen more of Azaria than any living citizen of the Three Kingdoms. And now she was coming home, only now she was at the tail of an advancing army. Not quite the homecoming she’d been hoping for, but she was traveling north, and that was a small comfort. She’d have to take action soon, but was worried what the consequences would be.
They had been traveling for five days now. After the Gathering broke, all the clans had started to head north together. It would be the largest invasion force the Three Kingdoms had ever seen. She had to get ahead of them and warn Toro as soon as she could, but she still didn’t know why she and Ryuu had been attacked by hunters, or even how they’d been found. Until she had more information, she didn’t want to leave. And their leader knew where she was now. She wasn’t sure she’d have a chance to escape.
After the hunters met with Dorjee, Moriko had worried she’d be taken by them. But they had left, and Dorjee hadn’t been pleased. Their conversation afterwards, in Dorjee’s tent, had been tense.
“You did not tell me you were demon-kind.” His whole attitude towards her had become cold.
“What does it matter who I am?”
“I never would have let you come into the clan if I had known.”
“You let me in because you saw strength and a chance for peace, no matter how slim. None of that has changed.”
“He will never listen to your proposal!”
“Who is He? I’ve been with you for over a moon now, and still I know nothing about your people. You march to war against my land, but I don’t know why.” Moriko’s frustration was getting the better of her. “All I want is to meet with your leader and speak with him. Why can’t this happen?”
Dorjee was about to retort, but it was Lobsang who spoke up, his deep, calm voice easing some of the tension in the room.
“This clan wishes for peace. When you came, we hoped there would be a chance. But events have come too far, and if you are demon-kind, there is no chance for peace. Dorjee won’t admit it, because he’s a stubborn man, but he cares for you and doesn’t want to see you come to harm.”
Moriko glanced from one to the other. Lobsang was telling the truth of it. “I have nothing to fear from your leader.”
Lobsang shook his head, sadly. “I know you were holding back when we fought, and I would have fallen to you otherwise, but your best is far less than His. You’ve never seen a fighter like Him.”
“I’ve seen strong fighters.”
“If you’d seen one like Him, you’d fear Him.” He turned to Dorjee. “Sir?”
Dorjee nodded and spoke softly, the anger gone from his voice, replaced by sorrow. “There is some I can tell you, some which will help you understand.”
He gestured for Moriko to sit down.
“The People have never had a ruler, not like you in the Three Kingdoms. Each clan is led as they see fit, and at the Gathering each summer, councils of the leaders get together to make any decisions that must be made. It has been this way for as long as our stories go back. But last summer, it all changed when He came.”
“He has no name. None of his kind do. You call them hunters in your language, and you are more right than you know. They have always been a breed apart. They are important, called on in times of crisis. The demon-kind can gather food where none can be found. They can fight off enemies our own clans cannot. But they never lead. They are servants to the clans, set apart. But He has other plans.
“You have heard times are tough. Times have always been tough, but game is disappearing. There is no longer enough food in this land to feed us. The demon-kind are called on more and more often to feed clans. Many of us have worried for many cycles, but there is little we can do.
“Last summer He came forward and told us He was taking charge, that He had a plan to save the clans. He said He was the ruler and we must do as He said. Those who disagreed with Him at that first campfire were killed by his own sword. Some clans rebelled, but they were wiped off the face of the planet, man, woman, and child. He leads the demon-kind, and the demon-kind are the strongest of us all. It is that strength that draws us to Him.”
“This spring the last of the rebelling clans was wiped out. Here, at the Gathering we just left, He told us His plan. We march north to take over a new land, a land where the people have gone soft, have forgotten how to fight. We have always sent our young men to the pass to build their strength, but He means to take over your land and make it our own.”
Moriko understood, everything falling into place.
“He will kill you, as soon as He meets you. But it is out of our hands. His scouts have found you, and He will summon you when He is ready.”
For a while, Moriko thought the summons might never come. Dorjee said she should be grateful for every day of life. She contemplated escape, but somehow He knew she had been on her way south. Perhaps escape was out of the question. She worried she would bring retribution down on the Red Hawks, but she was more worried she wouldn’t be able to get away at all. So she spent her days with the clan on the move. Dorjee had no wish to be part of the hostilities, so they were near the end of the column.
Moriko was amazed by how much ground they covered every day. The clans moved fast. Every day they covered between seven and ten leagues. She didn’t know much of anything about marching large groups, but she had never imagined they’d be able to cover so much ground. They were making much better time than she’d made alone on foot. At this rate, they’d be at the Three Sisters before the pass closed up for the winter.
Five days passed, and no summons came. Dorjee had been kind enough to lend her a horse, and Lobsang took her under his wing. He taught her how to ride better, and after five days, riding had almost become pleasurable to her. Almost.
On the evening of the sixth day, the summons came. Moriko suppressed her fear. She had been rehearsing for this moment for a long time. They were to come to His campfire when the moon was high.
As the sun began to set, Moriko joined the Red Hawks for their evening meal. They all gathered around a campfire and ate as the men and women told stories. Moriko still didn’t understand a word they were saying, but she did understand the look of contentment on the faces of everyone around her. It seemed such a striking contrast to the reason she was here. This was home for these people, and they had shared it with her. She was grateful.
The sun went down and the moon started to rise. As it approached its zenith, Dorjee came to her and escorted her further forward along the column. Almost immediately, Moriko noticed a difference in the camps as she went deeper in. Other clans were not as content as the Red Hawks. Many clans sat around cooking fires silently, and Moriko sensed a deep tension among the people. The closer they got to their destination, the greater the difference seemed to be.
Dorjee confirmed her suspicions. “Be aware, there is much tension among the People. My clan is happy, but we have distanced ourselves from the events that surround us. There is no love lost between my clan and the demon-kind. Walk gently for both of us.”
Moriko nodded.
It wasn’t hard to pick out their destination. The fire there burned much larger than anywhere else in camp, and Moriko glanced away to keep up some of her night vision. There was a large circle gathered there, all men. Moriko wondered momentarily if it had been a mistake to send her instead of Ryuu. The Azarians were less patriarchal than the Three Kingdoms, but it was still clear men ruled here.
She pushed the thoughts aside as they entered the circle. Moriko glanced around as she became the center of attention. Before her arrival, quiet conversation had filtered through the night, but now many silent eyes were on her. She took in all the information she could. The men here were all very strong, and she saw everyone’s body was covered with the scars that signified a life full of battle. Here they all wore the tooth. She was surrounded by hunters. There were more of them than she could have imagined.
Moriko didn’t have any difficulty identifying the leader. He sat on a low bench, the same as any other man, but there was something about him. He drew power into himself, and Moriko could sense him much more strongly than any of the other men in the circle. She had never felt such strength. Even the Abbot of Perseverance would have quailed under this power. There was no doubt he was the leader, and her suspicion was confirmed when Dorjee addressed him, in Moriko’s language for her benefit.
“My lord, I bring one who would see you.”
The leader looked at both of them and replied in the same language. “Dorjee, why do you bring a woman into my circle? If I wanted a whore, I would have taken one of your wives!”
Moriko could sense the tension building in the Red Hawk chief, but he suppressed it as the hunters around them laughed. “You have summoned her, my lord, and she has come. She is a warrior from the kingdoms above.”
The man stood up and laughed. “She may be a warrior by your standards, but to use the word in this circle is a disgrace. I should have your head.”
Dorjee bowed low. “I do as you request, my lord.”
It pained Moriko to see such a great leader humbled before a bully, but the hunter’s attention was now on her.
“So you are the one I sent my men to kill. I don’t see how they failed. The one you travel with must be very strong.”
Moriko suppressed her anger. She found the cold steel inside her and embraced it. She looked directly at the leader and said nothing.
The challenge was clear, and the leader nodded his appreciation. “Dorjee says you are a messenger, so what is your message?”
Moriko had lived with the lie so long, it rolled smoothly off her tongue. “My lord wishes for peace between our great kingdoms and asks for your intentions.”
The man laughed again, and Moriko could see on his face the incredible disdain he had for the Southern Kingdom and for her. “It figures they would send a woman. They are tired of their men dying under our blades!”
There was another round of laughter after the comment, but Moriko felt nothing. She studied the leader. Something about him wasn’t right. She didn’t sense him in quite the same way she sensed everyone else. He stepped forward, and his grace and strength were apparent.
“You ask what my intentions are? My intentions are simple. I am going to conquer your lands and make all of you slaves. You are weak and you disgust me.”
Moriko felt like she needed to retort before this became a campaign speech. “There is much strength in the Southern Kingdom, and if you attack, all Three Kingdoms will join against you.”
The leader waved his hand dismissively. “You were once a strong people, many, many cycles ago. But no more. You have hunted and killed all your strongest warriors, and now your lands are weak, filled with people who have no concept of the power they can no longer access. Any society that makes its strongest warriors its greatest enemy deserves death at my hands.”
Moriko understood with a start the man was talking about the nightblades. The Azarians knew that all the nightblades in the Three Kingdoms had been killed. The next connection was obvious: They had to have spies in the Three Kingdoms. This had been planned.
“Who are you?”
The leader glared at her. “I am nameless, like all my brethren. Our identity is unimportant. What is important is our will to serve the People.”
The silence felt ominous. “Is that to be your message to my lord then?”
Nameless gave her an icy stare. “I think your body on a stake at the front of our column will be enough message.” He raised his voice so that all could hear. “Tomorrow there shall be an execution!”
Moriko’s blood went cold as the cheers went up all around her.
24
Ryuu had been on the island for far longer than he’d planned. It had been foolish to think he could make the trip as quickly as he had first believed. He could spend his entire life here learning more about the sense and the powers it granted.
He was angry. Angry at Tenchi and Shika for their politics, angry at fate for always threatening to take away everything he loved. His only desire since the day he’d killed Orochi had been to live in peace, to be undisturbed. He ached for the beauty of a day spent in the garden, pulling weeds. It shouldn’t be this hard. He was falling in love with the island just as it seemed to be falling apart.
Every day he spent here, he wanted to spend another. It pained him that politics were slowly ripping the island in two, there was so much here that he loved. More than anything, he felt comfortable here. He felt like this was a place where he could find peace. It made it that much more difficult when his dreams were shattered by hunters and politics.
Ryuu had never considered how much tension he and Moriko lived under every day in the Three Kingdoms. He would have said most of their days were normal, but here on the island he realized how wrong he had been. In the Three Kingdoms, there was always the knowledge pressing on their thoughts that if they were to be themselves, to show their skills and talents in public, they would be hunted like criminals. Ryuu hadn’t spent much time being hunted in his life, but the knowledge had always been there, an undercurrent of fear that scarred every daily action.
He hadn’t realized it until he came here. On the island, he was a nightblade, and nobody cared. He couldn’t get over how beautiful that lack of fear could be.
Beyond that, he was in a position where he was respected. He wasn’t sure he was as important to the island as Tenchi believed, but he did feel like he was somebody here. He was now the top swordsman he knew of. Every day he was under the perso
nal tutelage of Tenchi, the most knowledgeable man on the island. He didn’t let his position get to his head, but he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride at what he had accomplished. If Moriko were here, he thought they could throw off all the concerns of the world.
And all of it was being destroyed by the events to the south. Every night after training was over, he returned to his hut and continued his training alone. He practiced flowing into the sense, increasing the power and speed of every strike. After he was physically exhausted he trained mentally, extending his sense throughout the Three Kingdoms. His progress was slow, but continual.
Ryuu could sense the Three Kingdoms at war. He felt the Northern Kingdom, massing its armies against the borders, prepared for whatever might happen next. He could sense the Southern Kingdom driven backwards a step at a time and knew that unless something changed, the Southern Kingdom wouldn’t last the summer. Then he pushed further south, into Azaria, to check on Moriko. She was still among the Azarians, in the heart of it all, but now they were moving north, all of them. She was indistinct among the masses—only Ryuu’s familiarity with her allowed him to sense her at all. From what he could sense, she was fine, but worry gnawed away at his confidence.
After checking on the war and on Moriko, Ryuu laid awake and considered all the developments until he fell asleep. He thought about Tenchi’s proposal and his anger grew. The old man had no right to ask him to assassinate another nightblade. Yes, there were thousands on the island, but in Ryuu’s mind, they were still in danger, and he didn’t want to kill another nightblade if he could help it. He’d rather not kill at all.