by Tj Dixon
“I’m not convinced.” Sakura says.
“Then stay not convinced.” Sor says with a yawn. “Elucia needs to rest so we’ll have to stop here for now.”
“Are you sure it’s not you that needs to rest?” Sakura asks.
“I could use a rest after that last tribe. It was a pain to get to. Elucia needs to rest more though.” Sor says.
“Sor’s right. I do need to rest. The only mana I have right now is what Dairon just gave me.” I admit with a blush as I think about that kiss.
“I’ll accompany you back to your room.” Dairon says.
“Thank you.” I say happily.
“Let me know when you’re ready for your next tribe.” Sor says and then ports away without waiting for a response.
“You can lean on me if you’re still unsteady.” Dairon says. I blush yet again. It is tempting, but too embarrassing.
“I’ll be ok.” I say and take a step forward but the room spins. Stumbling dizzily I almost fall but Dairon catches my right arm and steadies me. “Ok, maybe I should lean on you.”
“Why don’t you just port her?” Sakura asks.
“That might make Elucia dizzier.” Dairon says worriedly.
“I don’t see why it would.” Sakura says dubiously.
“Unnatural magic can disorient you.” Dairon says.
“You were happy using unnatural magic to go a lot further just now.” Sakura says sounding offended.
“Sorry. I’ve been trying not to use that word, but after using it to travel between worlds so many times I forgot not to say it. Elves will probably always see that sort of magic as unnatural and uncomfortable, just like faeries will always be comfortable with it.” Dairon says apologetically.
“Sorry, your majesty. It’s just that I’ll never really understand why elves see our magic like that. I had thought that you were different, because you’ve never spoken about it like that before.” Sakura says sadly.
“Even if I’m not comfortable with it, right now that magic is essential if we are to defeat our enemies and free our people. Your mastery of it is truly something I value.” Dairon says.
“Thank you, your majesty.” Sakura says.
“Let’s take Elucia back to her room now.” Dairon says.
“I still think we should port.” Sakura says.
“I’d prefer to walk.” I say. With Dairon already helping me to stand I’m much more comfortable with the idea of walking arm in arm. In fact that is precisely why I want to walk.
“Then we’ll walk.” Sakura says and lands on Dairon’s right shoulder. I wonder whether Sakura sees the irony of her statement given that she isn’t going to be walking anywhere. Dairon guides me towards the large door and then through it. “It will give me time to think about whether that Envoy really was there the whole time and if so how it hid from me.”
“I don’t want to have to deal with another sneak attack from an Envoy.” I say as we walk down the long corridor towards our room that the Kuroneko lent us. We’re all sharing one room so I don’t need to feel too guilty about having Dairon walk with me like this.
“Hello, good day to you.” A black catman walking the other way says as he approaches us. Odd. The cat people are rarely polite to us. They normally look down on us or act aggressively.
“Hello, good day to you too.” Dairon replies politely.
“Hi, good day.” I say weakly. Sakura seems lost in thought, so I’m not sure she even heard him. She seems really bothered that she may have missed that Envoy.
The catman passes us on Dairon’s right. Distracted by my thoughts I trip on a loose tile just as he is passing. Dairon stops me from falling to the floor but we both end up unbalanced and lurching forwards. As we do so the catman thrusts his hands, claws extended where Dairon’s back was a moment ago. Had we not fallen forwards he would have been impaled, but the claws still scratch his back. Dairon yells in shock and pain, but mostly shock.
My magic is almost exhausted, but I send a weak bolt of lightning at the catman. He shrugs it off and strikes at Dairon again. This time though Dairon has a shield up and easily repels the attack. Dairon sends a bolt of his own lightning at the catman. The catman shields but Dairon’s lightning shatters his shield and fries the catman.
“Are you alright?!” I ask Dairon urgently.
“It’s just a scratch.” Dairon says.
“How dare they attack you, your majesty?” Sakura whispers aghast.
The commotion has attracted a lot of attention, with most of the nearby doors open and cat people standing watching in shock. With a dead catman on the floor beside us this is going to be awkward to explain, especially when we ourselves are in desperate need of an explanation.
Chapter 17 (Ara Kii)
With the Kuroneko and the Sky Lord away for now, it had quietened down a bit. We were tense because of the possibility of attack but it didn’t seem very likely anyone would actually intrude on the temple. After all, the empire had been driven off. Contractia was busy dealing both with the Fallen Angels and the damage that the empire caused. Even if we are attacked there’s still the newbie god around, although I’m not sure how much help she’d be.
Of course most people didn’t entirely trust the Contractians already inside the temple, but I don’t think anybody seriously expected them to betray us. When I heard that the elf had killed one of our monks I wasn’t simply shocked. I couldn’t believe it. There were enough witnesses though, so there’s no denying that it happened.
He allowed himself to be locked up and ordered his companions not to resist. So now the elf, a faery and a human girl are all locked up under constant guard. They claim the monk attacked them but only the Kuroneko can know whether they’re telling the truth. Until she returns they will remain locked up and our other guests under constant watch, but I do wonder whether the faery could fool the guards.
Even us humans loyal to the Kuroneko are under suspicion, but thankfully I’m being guarded by Nico Na during the day. He insisted on watching over me and five of the other human monks. I forget what their names were. There were objections, because he was considered too senior, but when he suggested watching over Yu Kii and Haru Kii at the same time nobody could complain. They are both former miko of the Kuroneko and Yu Kii is the Sky Lord’s miko now. If it was almost anyone other than Nico Na they would need more than one guard even without anyone else being guarded at the same time.
The Kuroneko’s current miko each have a guard and the rest of the human monks not under Nico Na’s guard are being guarded by a couple of the catmen monks. We’re being guarded partly to ensure we don’t betray the Kuroneko but mostly so we aren’t tricked or coerced into doing anything stupid or cowardly. I think Nico Na is more concerned with us being falsely accused of treachery though.
I’m grateful Nico Na chose to trust and help us. I’m especially grateful he has given me a chance to see Haru Kii and Yu Kii again. It wasn’t that long ago that I thought I’d never see them again. Even when I heard that they were at the temple it seemed unlikely that I would have a chance to talk to them. I had hoped that I might see them around the temple at some point, but as followers of different gods we wouldn’t be able to talk just because we wanted to.
Now that we are being guarded by Nico Na we’ll be living in the same room during the day. We have different guards at night and obviously sleep in different rooms but there will be plenty of time together. I don’t know who our night guard will be, but night time should, hopefully, be uneventful.
I look behind me and see the nervous faces of the other human monks. They don’t know Nico Na as well as I do, so to them he’s just an elite black catman. Unlike me they aren’t black either. Instead their skin is the same pale golden tinted colour as Yu Kii and Haru Kii’s skin. Having black skin makes me closer to the Kuroneko than them, so they’re probably used to being treated even worse than I am by most of the cat people. Even as a black human I am used to being treated badly, but I am very conscious of just how
lucky I am to have black skin.
Nico Na knocks on the thick grey wooden door. Behind this door Yu Kii and Haru Kii are waiting. I feel nervous knowing that I’m about to see them both again. I treated them as well as I could, but the circumstances didn’t allow me to treat them as well as I would have liked when they were under my care. I hope they don’t hold any grudges against me.
“Come in!” Yu Kii calls in that gentle voice I haven’t heard in so very long. It fills my heart with warmth to hear her again.
Nico Na pushes the door open and inside I see Yu Kii. Unlike the elegant miko uniform she wore when she served the Kuroneko her clothes now are much simpler, but a bit more revealing. She’s wearing a plain white dress with a red sash just above the waist, but the dress has a slit down the side. She has a white cloth wrapped repeatedly around her waist like a bandage. Her clothes make me wonder what sort of god the Sky Lord is. Maybe it is simply the difference between a clearly male god and the Kuroneko who appears as both male and female. I hope he isn’t treating Yu Kii too badly.
“Ara Kii!” Haru Kii yells happily and appearing from the left of the door in plain white robes she pushes past Nico Na and throws her arms around me. “I’m so happy you’re safe! When you threw me through the portal I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Thank you for saving Haru Kii.” Yu Kii says and bows so deeply that she is almost touching the floor.
“I’m just glad you’re both safe.” I say feeling giddy with relief.
“Can we come in?” Nico Na asks.
“Of course. Haru Kii, let them in.” Yu Kii says, quickly standing up straight again. Nico Na enters the room as Haru Kii reluctantly backs off. I follow them into the room and the other monks follow right behind me.
I look around and see the room is just a very basic grey stone room with enough chairs for all of us and a couple of small round tables. The chairs and tables are made from the same grey wood as the door, so the room itself is very plain. Of course I’m much more interested in Haru Kii and Yu Kii than in the room itself.
“Is it true, about Dairon?” Yu Kii asks.
“Yes. He killed one of our monks and has been imprisoned until the Kuroneko returns.” I answer.
“He wouldn’t just kill someone for no reason though.” Yu Kii protests.
“The Kuroneko will find out the reason when he returns. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the Kuroneko can tell the difference between truth and lies.” I remind Yu Kii.
“I know she can, but Peter and the Kuroneko need Dairon to secure the help of the elves.” Yu Kii tells me.
“I’m not the one who decided this.” I point out.
“As far as we know the elf may be getting his people to help defeat us.” Nico Na says and there are a few nods of agreement from the other monks.
“We can trust Dairon.” Yu Kii says.
“We did trust him and that trust may have killed our comrade.” Nico Na says.
“The Kuroneko and the Sky Lord will be back here soon. If Dairon is innocent he can continue his work when they get back.” I tell Yu Kii.
“I have faith that they’ll be back, but they are conquering an entire hell. That isn’t something that can be done quickly.” Yu Kii tells me.
“For now all we can do is wait patiently and have faith in our gods.” I tell Yu Kii.
“It’s frustrating but for now I suppose there’s no choice. From what Peter told me you’ve all had some very hard times since I last saw you. Could you tell me about it?” Yu Kii asks.
“Sure. There have been some dark days since you were sent to Contractia. There was the invasion of our old temple by the elves, our time under their rule, our escape to Contractia and the goblin’s sneak attack. The worst time was when we lived as the elves’ slaves under the old temple. Even our time waiting to be eaten by the goblins wasn’t as bad as that.” I tell Yu Kii.
“It probably doesn’t help Dairon that you’ve all been mistreated by elves.” Yu Kii says with a sigh. Nico Na glares at her.
“We trusted him until he betrayed us. Even then we were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. We could have just executed him then and there.” Nico Na says angrily but as he finishes the floor shudders.
“What was that?” I ask mostly to myself.
“There’s a human army attacking the temple shield.” Yu Kii answers with a frown.
“How do you know?” Nico Na asks suspiciously.
“I can sense them.” Yu Kii says.
“Through the shield?” Nico Na asks dubiously.
“My senses improved when Peter strengthened my soul.” Yu Kii explains.
“He strengthened your soul? Why would he waste his mana on strengthening a miko when he was about to invade hell?” Nico Na asks.
“That’s not really important right now. They’ve managed to create a gap in the shield and are sending mages through it.” Yu Kii says urgently.
“Already? How did they manage to get past the temple shield so quickly?” Nico Na asks but we can both sense the gap in the shield now, so he can tell Yu Kii is being honest.
“They have three very powerful mages keeping the gap open. It looks like the mayor of Utopia Camerona is one of them. Sor is preventing anyone porting though, so you can still fight them off.” Yu Kii says.
“So Contractia is the enemy this time. Will you fight the Contractians?” Nico Na asks.
“If I need to I will, but Peter told me not to fight unless it’s truly necessary. If I use my mana it will weaken him.” Yu Kii says.
“I don’t see how your mana could make much of a difference to him so far away, but if those were his orders you have no choice but to obey. We will fight. Follow me!” Nico Na calls to us as he charges out of the room.
“Take care.” I tell Yu Kii and Haru Kii. Then I follow the other monks who have already left the room.
“Be careful!” Yu Kii calls to me, but I don’t have time to answer her. I can’t afford to fall behind any more than this. Nico Na is leading us to the closest armoury. It’s almost on the way so it makes sense to arm ourselves. I can sense mages fighting each other near the gap in the shield. We seem to be holding the enemy off for now but we need to get there quickly.
We reach the armoury, throw off our clothes and form spirit armour. Then we each grab a black wooden staff as thick as my leg and as tall as I am. They can be used to break protective magic as well as to block offensive magic. Like any enchanted item there is a limit to its power, but it is much better than fighting unarmed.
Ready for battle now we follow Nico Na’s charge again, this time straight towards the enemy. We aren’t far so it only takes another minute or so to reach the enemy. When we do arrive we find around twenty enemy mages fighting a single green haired faery. She’s floating in the middle of the corridor wearing green cloth around her waist and her chest, showing off a lot of her pale skin.
The sight of such a tiny woman fending off so many enemy mages is quite impressive. Fireballs and lightning bolts constantly pound her shield but there’s no sign of it weakening. Wait, that’s not a faery, that’s a mini human with wings. I can sense humans and the odd catman fighting humans slightly further away too.
“Took you long enough you lazy monks! Now get to work!” The mini woman shouts at us as we stand there in shock.
“Right, yes. Everyone, follow me.” Nico Na says sounding a little off balance still. Then he howls furiously and charges towards the enemy. I follow him with our fellow monks right behind us.
Fireballs and lightning strike us, but we knock them aside with our staffs. Most of the attacks are still aimed at the mini woman. We’ll make the enemy regret taking us so lightly. Our enemy are all women in plain blue robes with the pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes that seem so typical of Contractians.
As Nico Na reaches a Contractian the woman sneers at him and shields. He easily breaks her shield with his staff and then bites through her throat. The other enemy mages look a little pale as the
y see their ally so easily and brutally killed.
I reach an enemy mage a moment later. She looks at me with a mixture of disgust, hatred and fear. I strike with my staff but instead of shielding she creates a wall of stone between us. It rises up from the ground hitting my staff as I try to strike her. The impact sends a painful jolt up my arm to my shoulder. Then stone spears shoot out of the wall at my heart. I jump back and dodge. Then I force my will on the stone and shatter the wall.
As the wall shatters it turns to ice and thousands of ice shards shoot straight at me. I can’t dodge so I’m forced to shield. The ice shards bounce off my shield and then a lightning bolt strikes the shield. I glance to my side and see my fellow human monks fighting the Contractians with no more luck than I’m having. Nico Na on the other hand is surrounded by ten human mages and is fighting desperately just to stay alive.
“Forget about little old me, did you?” The mini woman asks with a chuckle. I turn my head and watch in awestruck terror as a sea of fire fills the corridor. To my surprise and relief it parts as it reaches me, avoiding me but incinerating the mage I was fighting. Even though she was the enemy I can’t help feeling a little sympathy for her as her ashes fall to the ground.
As quickly as the sea of flames arrived it disappears, leaving nothing but ash where the enemy mages had been. None of my allies however have so much as a burn. I look at the mini human and thank the Kuroneko that this woman is on our side.
A howl fills the air and then a dozen catmen come round the corner. They come to a stunned halt and stare at the corridor filled with our enemies’ ash, their allies and the mini woman.
“You’re too late, you lazy monks. I already killed this lot and the shield is back up. They’ll attack again but I doubt it will be in the same place.” The mini woman says.
“Are you the human god?” The lead monk from the newly arrived group of catmen asks.
“No, I’m just little Lucy. An ordinary human.” The mini woman replies.
“I, um, see.” The lead monk says.
“Sor, the human god as you might call her, was busy stopping the enemy porting and helping protect my friends over there.” Lucy says, pointing past us to where our human guests had been fighting the Contractians. “You might want to consider thanking us for keeping you safe whilst you strolled over here.”