by Travis Bughi
“Emily, are you listening? You and Takeo can live. Both of you!”
She looked at him, watched him shudder under her gaze, and then took measured steps towards him.
“Emily, stop! Emily!” he yelled as she grabbed a fistful of his hair.
There was a loud thud and then a bang against the wooden doors. The voices sounded closer and louder. The screams stopped. Emily twisted Katsu around and forced him to his knees.
“I’ll leave Lucifan alone.” Katsu began to cry. “I swear, I swear! It’s yours! You don’t have to do this! I’ll keep to Juatwa. I’ll let Takeo go, too. I’ll make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams! What do you want? Just tell me what you want!”
“Have the courage to die with some dignity,” Emily said and put the dagger to his throat.
The double doors burst open, flying back so hard they slammed the outer walls and half closed again. Takeo came stumbling into the room and collapsed, blood soaking his clothing, head, and hands from the countless cuts covering his body. Behind him, a throng of samurai came forward, their katanas drawn and pointed at Takeo’s body. Through their legs, Emily saw a pile of dead littering the floor.
Emily thought Takeo dead at first, and her heart cracked. Then he breathed, though very subtly, and reached out one hand to claw at the floor. The closest samurai saw it, too, and raised his sword to strike Takeo down.
“Stop!” Katsu screamed.
The samurai froze and looked up at his lord. Emily recognized the man who’d first called to them back on the battlefield, the one whom Fudo had refused to trust.
“Let him live!” Katsu yelled. “Grab him, but let him live!”
The samurai grabbed Takeo and yanked him up by the hair. Takeo gave a feeble cry but seemed too weak to protest. When a katana touched his throat, Takeo cracked open one blood-covered eye and focused on her.
“Kill him,” he mumbled, spitting blood.
The tower shuddered as another hail of boulders rocked the castle. The torches shook and flickered, and one fell free of its holder to clatter on the ground. Through the windows that faced the fortress, she saw several of the wooden towers engulfed in flames, like false suns. Below them, a new battlefield had risen with dark shadows fighting as far as the eye could see.
“Listen to me, Emily.” Katsu was breathing fast. “I’ll honor our deal. You remember the deal? You let me live, and I’ll let him live. I swear it. I will honor it. See the sennin? I do not lie. Takeo will live.”
The fortress shook again, and Emily glanced to the other side of the room, through the broken window and out toward the ocean. Her glance revealed the warm glow of torches floating on the dark water—tons of them scattered all about—and in their glow she saw a forest of ships. There must have been a hundred of them, some of which supported tall, wooden structures that were being loaded with rocks.
Emily glanced the opposite way again, out toward the fortress’ entrance, and saw more torches heralding an army as it poured through open gates. The drawbridge had never been raised, and Katsu’s men were being butchered in the courtyard by a flood of samurai in green.
The Old Woman, Emily thought. She outsmarted them all.
“Did you hear me, Emily?” Katsu asked. “I said he’ll live.”
“My lord,” the samurai holding Takeo said, “we don’t have much time.”
“Emily!” Katsu shouted.
“I heard you!” Emily jerked his hair and looked back to him. “I’m thinking!”
The sennin tapped its cane. It was still sitting in the corner, completely unmoved by everything around it, and a look of something like contentedness touched its old, wrinkled lips.
But it was right. She had been lying. Her decision was already made. There had been a time when her duty to Quartus had outweighed all other decisions in her life. She’d left the safety of her family—even put them in danger—killed those who stood in her way, and left a handsome knight dumbfounded on the docks of Lucifan. Her feelings then had been strong, yet now they were stronger, and her decision was made. She would betray Quartus before she would Takeo.
“You’ll sell him into slavery?” she asked.
“To orcs in Khaz Mal.” Katsu nodded as much as he could with Emily’s dagger at his throat.
“If I find you’ve lied, I’ll send the colossus straight to you,” Emily warned.
“What? What are you talking about? That wasn’t part of the deal! You’re going to die here.”
The sennin tapped his cane, and Emily jerked the shogun’s hair again, making the man whimper.
“Just remember what I said,” she said through gritted teeth. “And, Takeo, you remember what I said, too.”
His one good eye fluttered closed, and he gave a faint nod. Emily glanced around the room and assessed her situation. It was desperate.
“Alright, let our lord go,” the samurai holding Takeo said.
Emily took the knife off of Katsu’s throat and tapped her vest, making sure the letters were secure. The samurai leaned forward, but she jerked Katsu’s hair, and they froze again. She scanned the room once more and plotted her escape.
One bow. One window. She released Katsu and bolted.
The samurai shouted and charged after her with katanas raised, but she knew they wouldn’t reach her in time. She sheathed the dagger with one hand and grabbed up Heliena’s treantwood bow with the other. Her heels almost slipped on the blood-soaked stone, but they found purchase as she dashed toward the broken window leading out to the sea. The samurai stopped their screaming and chasing as she dove out into the open air.
Below her, three stories down, the dark water awaited her.
Chapter 33
Emily kicked and flailed all the way down. Her dagger came loose during the fall and spiraled off out of sight. She gripped her bow, brought it to her chest, and hugged it as tightly as possible as the water came to her.
Hitting the water felt like being slammed by a minotaur. It rocked her core, jostled her jaw, and stung her limbs. The pain was even more excruciating on her back, and she cried out uncontrollably—a reaction she instantly regretted as seawater came flooding into her mouth.
She spat and coughed, gasping a mixture of water and air into her lungs before she started sinking beneath the waves. Her feet kicked, her hands clawed, but she couldn’t swim. She’d never learned. Only her will to live gave her the strength to try harder than she ever had before. Her hands broke through the surface, and with a mighty kick, so did her face. She gasped for another gulp of air, swallowing yet more ocean water, and then fell under the waves again. Her heart was racing.
But somehow, the bow was making it easier to reach the surface. She gave another pull, using the hand with the bow, and her face broke the surface again. Her lungs expanded, and a memory floated to her mind.
All you have to do is float, Takeo whispered to her. All you have to do is keep calm.
She went under again as a wave crashed over her. The water swallowed her, and all was dark. Still, she knew which way was up, and after several kicks and pulls, her face broke the surface again. Her legs were tiring, and her arms were stiffening.
Lie on your back, put your arms and legs out, and breathe deep, he whispered.
She obeyed. Her chest rose, and her ears dipped, dropping below the water and shutting out the sounds of war. She heard herself coughing and sputtering up water, and that blotted out the beat of her heart as it thundered in her chest. Her eyes opened to the night sky, and her nose stuck out into the open air. All the sound around her faded, and she forced the coughing to stop. Calmness was control, and she would maintain control. She continued to breathe even as a hailstorm of burning boulders sailed soundlessly overhead, brightening the sky for one glorious moment before they crashed into the fortress’ walls.
Just close your eyes and breathe. So long as you’re breathing, you’ll float.
So she breathed. Waves crashed over her, but she did not care. Some water leaked into her nose and burned he
r throat, but she did not care. She breathed and kept calm, letting her fear manifest only in the hand that gripped the bow. It held tightly, and she closed her eyes.
All around her was chaos. Lady Xuan was slaughtering Katsu’s battle-weary army with everything she had at her disposal. Orange light danced across her closed eyes as the wooden parts of the fortress burned brightly. Occasionally, even over the muffled sound of the water, there rose a distant scream so loud and painful that it made her teeth clench. Somewhere out there, Katsu was making his escape with what samurai remained to him, dragging Takeo’s beaten body along with him. How the shogun could get away, Emily did not know. However, those who remained would certainly become the Old Woman’s prisoners, just like the survivors of Lord Jiro’s massacre.
As terrible as it sounded, Emily hoped Katsu would escape. She remembered Lei’s conversation before he’d died. He’d said that Lady Xuan had paid for Takeo’s death and that she might still pay for his corpse. If Katsu were caught, Takeo might be executed, and she didn’t want to think about that.
So she breathed and floated and told Quartus that she was sorry. He had kept her alive to save Lucifan, and that required Katsu’s death, but she had only succeeded in slaying Heliena. It pained her that the thought of exacting her revenge brought only grief. She should be happy. She should be thrilled. Instead, she was swallowing hard and praying to the heavens, asking Quartus for forgiveness because her revenge had come before his sacrifice.
He gave his life to me, and this was my thanks.
Another wave crashed over her, and she sneezed out the saltwater that burned her nostrils. She almost went under again, but a swift kick and push and her chest was floating again, air returning to her lungs. She would remain calm, just like Takeo had taught her.
Remain calm and never let go of your weapon.
Her mind took hold of that calmness, and it infected her thoughts. She remembered that Lady Xuan had just destroyed Katsu and that the shogun was no longer a threat. Lucifan was safe, surely? It should be, shouldn’t it? Why wasn’t that thought comforting? She should be ecstatic right now, smiling at Katsu’s defeat, knowing that Lucifan would not fall to his murderous intentions. However, just like with her feelings over Heliena’s death, the looming dread would not be shaken. Try as she might to stifle such thoughts, she knew that her duty was not over.
And then the reason came to mind: Sir Mark O’Conner.
The ocean might have been cool, but Emily’s blood ran hot at the thought of him. The old knight had trampled her more often than once. He’d accused her of lying just to hide his own dark intentions, sacrificed his own child to a life among werewolves, and taken part in the plot to rid the world of angels. Emily hated to admit it, but O’Conner was worse than Heliena ever was, and he was in charge of Lucifan. He ruled the city as a vampire and would do so for all eternity unless he was stopped.
There was a time long ago when Quartus had plagued her mind with a dream. She’d been traveling in Angor with Heliena, unaware of her inevitable betrayal. Quartus had tried to use the dream to warn her about unseen enemies, and Emily had not caught on until it was too late. It seemed that still held true today because, after Heliena, O’Conner had fooled her. There was also Lei, but he was trivial in comparison to O’Conner. That old knight had outlived all his competition, including Count Drowin, the angels, and Lord Katsu, without ever lifting a finger. One enemy had done in another, and Emily had taken care of the others. He likely thought himself safe. He likely thought all his enemies were dead. If so, he was sorely mistaken. Emily still existed, and a colossus followed her commands.
Floating on the water, she had no way to tell the time—it might have been hours—but with the attention she’d paid to every breath, she was sure it was less than one. She felt a tug at her bow and, at first, thought nothing of it. Then the tug came again, stronger this time, and she cracked open an eye. The bow had caught on a rock that jutted out of the sea. Quickly, Emily dragged herself over and clung to it. She looked out and saw that she was near the cliff. Above her, the fortress burned brightly, illuminating the sky. It was enough to see by, and Emily spied the shore not too far away and a line of rocks she could follow to reach it.
She went slowly. Behind her, the countless ships waited patiently in the ocean, nearly empty apart from the skeleton crews that watched lazily from their railings. Scattered amongst the rocks, Emily found the bodies of fallen samurai. Some were broken on the rocks, split open from the impact in a way that made Emily thankful the burning fortress didn’t burn too brightly, while others were simply impaled, on their backs with their mouths open in silent screams. Burning chunks of wood began to fall from the sky, sizzling and extinguishing as they struck the ocean. Emily dared to glance up, hoping that none of it fell on her, and after many such glances, she was more than relieved to pass it all by and reach the sandy shore.
She was on the side of the fortress opposite from the bay town. There were no homes or people or farms to greet her. There were only dark and silent plains with scattered trees and beautiful flowers that sparkled in the firelight. Emily rested on the shore for a moment, catching her breath, and when she looked up at the fortress cliff, she saw samurai shouting their victory from Katsu’s walls.
They looked powerful, the samurai of Lady Xuan’s army, silhouetted against the burning fires they’d ignited. Emily admired that power for a moment, realizing that she’d never stood a chance of turning the tides of this war. She never should have joined an army. That was a mistake. She was dangerous alone, or with only a few reliable friends. The ways of war were not for her. Those samurai up there, that entire army, was a power that could conquer worlds.
But Emily had two advantages that made her deadlier than all of that: one was a bow, and the other was a colossus.
“Hang on Takeo,” she whispered. “I’m coming.”
* * *
Grasped lightly with only fingertips, the tiny, white cup enwrapped by a single golden ribbon rose to Emily’s lips and poured warm tea down her throat. She tried to drink in a custom similar to her company who was surprisingly well mannered, considering his chosen profession. Judging by every other action the old man took, one might mistakenly think he would drink like a slob.
As before, the old ninja wore only brown trousers. His white tuft of curled chest hair stood out more than Emily remembered, and she pondered if he purposely combed it to make it stick out so much. The wrinkled skin did little to hide his bony frame. It was distracting, as were his small eyes. The ninja had a very harsh gaze, and she tried not to betray her uneasiness.
“I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again,” he said.
“You said we’d never speak again,” Emily responded.
“Yet we are speaking now.”
Emily’s only reply was a quick nod. The ninja eyed her again, and this time she met the stare. To calm her nerves, she raised the teacup and drank again. When she set it down empty in its saucer, the old ninja glanced at it but did not reach to grab the teapot from behind him.
“Why are we speaking now?” he asked.
“You know why,” Emily said. “It was your ninjas who found me.”
“Don’t play coy with me. You were found in our old camp. You sought us, or me, I should say.”
“Yes, but it was your decision to bring me in.”
The man gritted his teeth and narrowed his already slim eyes until Emily was certain they were closed. When he opened them again, he reached back and produced the teapot. Steam rose from its spout as he refilled her cup.
“What happened at Katsu’s fortress?” he asked. “How did Lei Gao and his squad die? They had the perfect guise, delivering you to Lord Jiro and then infiltrating Katsu’s army. And where is Lord Katsu?”
“I thought you ninjas knew everything.”
“Never assume that because I asked you a question I don’t already know the answer.”
Emily swallowed. Her eyes betrayed her as she glanced out of the te
nt. The rest of the ninjas in the camp seemed to pay the two of them no mind, quietly going about their duties for the day, but Emily knew better. She’d always thought they stayed so quiet because they were practicing. Now she understood it was because they were listening.
“I don’t give information freely,” she replied.
“Well then, are you going to suggest a price?” he asked, seemingly unfazed by her defiance.
“Amnesty.”
“From whom?”
“From you.”
A breeze filled the tent, scattering the steam from their teacups and making Emily’s hair flutter. It waved more than she was used to, as it had grown a full finger’s length past her shoulders. Anymore and she might have to tie it up. As for the ninja, his white hair was too short to be moved by anything other than a hand. His curled chest hair quivered, though, as did his left eye when he gave Emily another cold stare.
“Can you be more specific?”
“You let me live,” Emily replied. “You sell me to no one.”
“It is done,” he said with a wave. “I know of no one who’d buy a sellsword amazon anyway—dead or alive.”
“I killed Lei Gao.”
The ninja froze for only a fraction of a second, but it was long enough for Emily to see.
“Hm,” the ninja huffed. “I suspected. He always did talk too much.”
“Actually, it was Ehuang who spilled the secret. I killed her, too. That was it, though. The other three died at Takeo’s hand.”
The ninja sipped his tea and scratched his hairy chest. To Emily’s eyes, he looked calmer than he had before—she had anticipated anger—and that made her uneasy.
“It seems I underestimated you,” he said. “I don’t normally make such mistakes. I’m going to surmise that you’ve encountered that before.”