by Ryan Kirk
When he had caught his breath and was certain they were safe, Ryuu turned to her. “The bodies are gone.”
Moriko’s eyes widened, and he knew she was thinking the same thoughts he was. He watched as she took the fear and overcame it. She was strong. In some ways stronger than he could ever hope to be. She put her mind to practicalities.
“So, what do we do next?”
Ryuu shrugged. “I don’t know. We need to find answers.”
Moriko asked the question they were both afraid to speak aloud. “Do you think Akira sent them after us?”
Ryuu thought the question over. “I’ve been wondering that, too. I have a hard time believing it. It’s been over two cycles. If he wanted to have killed us, he would have tried something else, something sooner. And besides . . .” He hesitated, knowing how irrational he was going to sound, “I trust him. I don’t think he would break his word.”
Moriko studied his face. “You’ve met him for all of a few moments.”
“Yes, but he was a good man. A hard man, yes, but good.”
“We could always ask him.”
Ryuu laughed at the idea, then thought about it more seriously. “It might not be a bad idea. If he is responsible, we could confront him and finish this for good. If not, he might be interested in knowing about it. If nothing else, if he is innocent, he could point us in the right direction.”
Moriko was skeptical. “You know I was joking, right?” She paused and sighed. “But I don’t have any better ideas, either. He’s the one connection we have to power in the Three Kingdoms, and whatever sent those men has a lot of power.”
They stared at each other, both in disbelief. After two cycles of peace, they’d be leaving the hut, tracking the man who had once ordered them killed. Ryuu felt like he was caught in the Great Cycle, forced to actions he wanted no part of. But he didn’t see another way forward, not if they wanted to stay safe. From Moriko’s look, she was thinking the same.
The matter was settled then. Ryuu didn’t sleep at all that night, listening and using his sense to try to discover any more shadows. But the night was like any other. The next day, as Ryuu watched over Moriko, she asked the other question on both their minds.
“Who were they?”
Ryuu had to shake his head. “I have no idea. And that scares me more than anything.”
Leaving the hut brought back a slew of unpleasant memories for Ryuu. The last time he had left the hut for a long journey, he had lost his master. As he walked side by side with Moriko, he wondered if history was doomed to repeat itself. He desperately hoped it wouldn’t. He missed Shigeru and Takako every day. His grief at their partings would always be a part of him. If he lost Moriko he wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to keep going.
It had been almost a half moon before Moriko had been able to move normally again. Ryuu had taken good care of her. He helped her stretch every night and do what movement she could without reopening her wounds. Her new scars were already fading into her old scars. Soon a casual observer wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Ryuu loved the scars. They were physical reminders of the pain she had endured, and they gave him strength. Sometimes when they were lying together and Moriko was relaxed, he would run his fingers up and down her back, tracing each of them.
He knew every scar was a painful memory, but her battles had made her who she was, the woman Ryuu loved. She had seen more pain than anyone Ryuu had met and had emerged from the flames stronger. He wondered sometimes in the blackness of night if he could show the same courage if it was ever demanded of him. He tried to probe every once in a while, but Moriko would tell him she hadn’t felt courageous. She had just survived.
Ryuu wasn’t so sure. People gave up under less. Something in her had made her keep going, something stronger than a mere survival instinct. She had a spirit he admired, a hidden fierceness he loved.
They walked slowly. Moriko was not yet at full strength, but they had to balance her recovery with their need for knowledge. She could fight if she had to. He would have liked to have waited, but he feared time was something they didn’t have much of. Every instinct in his body told him they were in danger. They had to move.
Fortunately, the journey was not a hard one. Ryuu purchased a cheap horse in the nearby village. He wasn’t a stallion, but he helped them keep a better pace. After they came out of the woods, they transitioned into the rolling plains which led up to the mountain range and the Three Sisters. Ryuu had decided to take a direct route, avoiding any towns or cities. At this time of the season it was likely Akira would be with the armies in the pass. They’d be able to find him without problem.
They were still two days away from the pass when Ryuu sensed a group of tremendous size. It felt like the entire city of New Haven had doubled and moved closer to the Three Sisters. They were confused until they encountered their first groups of scouts. Ryuu and Moriko were dressed in the clothes of peasants. Their swords were hidden on their backs and the soldiers passed by as though they weren’t even present.
They paused as the soldiers rode off.
“A group that size, Akira has to be moving almost all his armies,” Moriko said.
Ryuu nodded his agreement.
As they stood, they could sense the entire mass of humanity moving north. At this distance Ryuu couldn’t focus on individuals, but he could sense the whole. It was as if an earthworm several leagues long was crawling its way forward, contracting and expanding in sections. It felt chaotic at first, but in time Ryuu was able to sense the patterns in the movement. They were beautiful in their own way.
“Do you think they’re retreating? Were they beaten in the Three Sisters?” Moriko’s voice held a hint of disbelief. Everyone knew the Southern Kingdom held the entire pass. To be retreating this far north, to have lost the entire pass in just a moon or two, was almost unthinkable. It had taken Akira’s father almost ten blood-soaked cycles to take the pass from the Azarians.
Ryuu shook his head. “No, a retreat would never be this orderly, especially if they were routed so badly they lost the pass so early in the season.” He paused, thinking. “No, they are marching to war. Why they are heading north is beyond me.”
He thought for a few moments more, but he couldn’t think of any believable reasons why Akira would move so many troops. There were many possibilities, but each seemed less likely than the last.
He looked over and saw Moriko looking seriously at the dust cloud gathering on the horizon. “I suppose we’ll just have to ask him.”
It was a childish joy, but Ryuu couldn’t help but laugh at Akira’s face when he and Moriko walked into the Lord’s tent. Akira had been studying a set of maps in utter concentration. Ryuu and Moriko had made a silent entrance, barely disturbing the tent flap. They had been there a few moments before he noticed them watching him. Akira startled, his hand coming to his sword, a shout on his lips. Then Ryuu saw the recognition on his face, and he let go of his sword.
“I had increased security against this. Are they all right?”
Ryuu laughed. He saw Moriko’s glare, but he enjoyed the feeling of keeping Akira on his toes. It was one of the few exercises in power he allowed himself. Moriko thought it was foolish.
“No, they are fine, doing their usual rounds.”
“Then how did you get in?” Akira looked dubiously at them. Both of them were dressed as soldiers. “You didn’t hurt anyone else, did you?”
“No, their path is just a bit too wide. The uniforms allowed us to get all the way to your perimeter, but there was a slight gap in their coverage. I don’t think anyone but a nightblade would see it.”
Akira nodded. “Why are you here?”
Ryuu’s mood turned serious. “We were attacked, a little over a half moon ago. There were two of them, stronger than anyone I’ve ever faced before. They almost succeeded.”
Akira understood the unspoken accusation. There was a hint of fear in his eyes as he took a slight step back, his hand returning to his sword. Ry
uu narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“I didn’t send anyone after you. It’s been over two cycles and I’ve kept my word. I haven’t even tried to find you with messengers or couriers. I don’t even know if you’re still living in the Southern Kingdom.”
Ryuu and Moriko exchanged glances. Ryuu was waiting for her opinion. He trusted Akira and hadn’t believed it was him in the first place. But Moriko would have her own thoughts. She stared intently at Akira, allowing the weight of the silence to grow in the tent. Ryuu knew she would be probing him with the sense, trying to detect some hint of deception. Akira held his voice. Ryuu respected him for that. The Lord said his piece and was done. Few people could muster that type of courage in front of a nightblade, much less two.
Moriko looked at Ryuu and slightly nodded her head. She thought he was telling the truth. Good.
“I believe you.” Ryuu watched as Akira relaxed. “We were hoping you could help us find out who sent them.”
Akira looked at them helplessly. “I’d be delighted to help if I could, but I don’t know if there is anything I could do. If I can’t find you, I don’t know how anyone else could. Rumors of your existence spread after you killed Orochi, but because you’ve stayed hidden they’ve stayed rumors.”
Ryuu reached under his soldier’s uniform to pull out the items he had retrieved the night of the attack. He handed them to Akira. “Do you recognize any of these?”
Akira turned the objects and insignia over in his hands, settling eventually on a piece of jewelry Ryuu had torn from one of the bodies. It was a leather necklace with what appeared to be a tooth. There was a small inscription near the root. Akira almost fell backwards in surprise. “This can’t be. Where did you get this?”
Ryuu held his silence. He had no use for meaningless questions. He had already said they were attacked.
Akira glanced up at Ryuu, true fear in his eyes. “You need to tell me exactly how you got these. Don’t leave out any detail.”
Ryuu glanced at Moriko, who shrugged and moved to cover the entrance to the tent. They were going to be here a while.
Ryuu told the story, relating to Akira how they had been tracked and hunted in the hut. Ryuu left out any description of the place, making sure not to give any details to Akira he could track them with later. He talked about the attack itself and brought out the sword he had recovered.
As Ryuu finished his story Akira sat down on some of his traveling cushions, dazed. Moriko and Ryuu shared another look of confusion. Whatever had happened, Akira knew something that scared him more than the two nightblades in his own tent. Akira was muttering silently to himself.
Ryuu was losing his patience. If Akira knew what was going on, he needed to share his knowledge.
“Akira, out with it.”
Akira looked up and shook his head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I don’t believe it. Ryuu, either this is the greatest prank ever pulled, or a nightmare is coming true.”
Rage erupted in Ryuu, burning away his self-control. He stepped forward and effortlessly picked Akira off the ground in a single movement. Akira went for his sword but Ryuu slapped his hand away. He brought Akira’s face to his own. “This is not a joke.” He looked at Moriko. “She almost died, and I need answers.”
Akira was shaken, both by the artifacts Ryuu had brought and by his rough handling. Ryuu almost felt a moment of sympathy. As one of the three most powerful people in the world, he probably wasn’t often threatened this way.
“Okay, calm down. I’ll tell you what I know.”
Ryuu released Akira abruptly, and he stumbled backwards.
“When I was young I studied under my father. He believed I had a duty to know not just about the Three Kingdoms, but the world beyond the Three Kingdoms as well. We don’t know much, as we’ve always been isolated by our geography. The only other people we’ve ever had regular contact with are the Azarians, and that has only been in the war in the pass. There has never been a significant amount of trade between the people.”
“Anyway, the items you have there, those are Azarian. But they shouldn’t even exist.”
Ryuu was losing his patience again, but Akira held up his hand. “No, you need to know this.”
“There is a legend in Azaria, a legend very similar to that of the nightblades and dayblades here in the Three Kingdoms. In the Azarian language they are called ‘hunters,’ but everything I ever learned indicated they were nothing more than legend. They don’t exist. Maybe they never did. In over sixty cycles of battles in the pass, we’ve never encountered one, and I never believed they were real.”
“The legends claimed these hunters were warriors beyond the ability of regular mortals. But they were bedtime stories used to scare young Azarians, much like the nightblades are used by our own people.”
“What does this have to do with anything?”
Akira spoke, his voice a carrier for a story he didn’t believe. “Legend has it that when Azarian hunters see their tenth cycle, they are sent away from their village. They go on their first hunt, armed with nothing but their bare hands and a knife. It is the first of their trials. Their prey is a large cat, considered one of the most dangerous animals in Azaria. There is only one way to pass the trial. They must return to their village with the hide of the cat over their shoulder. If they attempt to return without a hide they are killed.”
Ryuu listened to every word, and Akira continued.
“If they pass, they are given a tooth from the cat to keep on their person at all times. It is to give them luck in their future endeavors. It is engraved with an inscription, just like this tooth.”
Ryuu couldn’t hide his disbelief. “It’s a good story, but it’s a long stretch between an Azarian legend and the attack on us. I don’t think I’ve every had any contact with any Azarian.” He looked at Moriko, who shook her head in the negative. She hadn’t had any dealings with Azarians either.
“True, but the sword proves it. This is an Azarian design. I’ve seen hundreds of these on the battlefield. They are wielded by some of the elite Azarian clansmen. It’s a dangerous weapon.”
Ryuu was ready to blow. “But that doesn’t explain anything. You’ve told us nothing but a legend!”
Akira looked at him wryly. “Ten cycles ago I would have said the same thing about you. But here you are. Since you’ve come the world has changed again.”
The truth of the statement stopped Ryuu in his tracks. He had been trained to be open to all possibilities. It was foolish to dismiss something simply because he didn’t believe in it. The facts were laid out in front of him. “Why are you on the move?”
Akira was surprised at the abrupt subject change. “I would have thought you knew. Everyone should know. The Southern Kingdom has been invaded by the Western Kingdom.”
Ryuu couldn’t hide his shock. “That’s impossible.”
Akira almost laughed, managing instead a harsh grunt. “So are you. But here we are, going to the first real war between kingdoms in hundreds of cycles.” He stood and returned to looking at his maps.
Ryuu shared a look with Moriko. She was just as undecided as him. Silence settled in the room, and Ryuu tried to hide his disappointment. He hadn’t thought Akira would be responsible, but he thought by coming here they would have a clear next step. Instead, they had only learned they had been attacked by a mythological being from a land they had never been anywhere near.
Akira turned abruptly and looked at the two of them. “Would you stay here overnight? There is more to the story, and I need to think about it. Can we meet tomorrow night?”
Ryuu nodded. He didn’t have any better ideas.
Akira went to the door of his tent and called for soldiers. Two came in and almost jumped out of their uniforms when they saw Moriko and Ryuu in the tent. Akira calmed them down. “Have no fears. They are two of my best shadows.” There was a hint of mirth in his eyes. “There isn’t anything you could have done to stop them. They need a tent, first ring.” The soldiers
barked their acknowledgment and led the two nightblades to a vacant tent nearby.
Moriko looked at him with worry in her eyes. “Ryuu, what’s happening? It seems like the world is going mad.”
Ryuu shook his head and stared at the ceiling of the tent, wishing she didn’t seem so right.
Ryuu did not sleep well. It was unnatural for him to contain his sense, but when surrounded by so many people there was little else he could do. If he let his mind wander he would be overwhelmed by the information crashing into his mind. But he didn’t trust Akira so completely that he would let his guard down either. Instead, he settled for tossing and turning all night, eventually giving up in favor of meditation.
Moriko didn’t seem to have the same problem. Ryuu didn’t know how she did it. She was every bit as paranoid as he was, but somehow managed to sleep with no problem.
Their tent was spacious enough for Ryuu to practice his forms in the morning. By the time he was finished, Moriko was awake, watching him without a word. He laid down next to her and held her, the two of them together in silence as the sun rose. Ryuu enjoyed the feeling of his skin against hers. He was relaxed, content. It was all he wanted, to live like this forever, next to her.
Their peace was soon disturbed by a nervous messenger. The army was on the move around them and they needed to leave the tent so it could be packed up and transported. Ryuu and Moriko donned their uniforms and joined the movement, lost in the mass of soldiers. It was surreal, to be surrounded by soldiers trained to kill them. As they walked, they spoke, their voices not carrying further than their own ears, trying to understand what was happening around them.
Ryuu tried to explain himself to Moriko. “I trust Akira. He’s got nothing to gain, and he’s clearly got larger problems. I don’t see any reason to doubt what he says. His story is too unbelievable to be a lie.”
“But if it’s true, what can we possibly do? I don’t think hunting mythological creatures is our best plan.”
Ryuu agreed. He didn’t know what to do.