by Travis Bughi
“You said, ‘Katsu left no heir.’ Does that mean he’s dead?”
“No.” Hyun sighed. “It seems his family is fighting for his throne in spite of the fact that he’s still alive and apparently amassing forces in Savara. It’s nothing to fear, though. He’d need nearly a hundred thousand warriors to oppose Lady Xuan at this point, and considering that it’s Savara mercenaries he’s recruiting, he’ll need over twice that number to face off against samurai.”
Again Hyun’s tone was smug, and Emily narrowed one eye. If she didn’t know any better, she could have sworn Hyun was a rather happy guy. Underneath that stern, samurai-trained face, there lurked a huge grin begging to be released. Takeo had been that way once, a stark wall that lacked emotion, but he had broken that mold and now sat smirking next to Emily.
“Katsu’s problems have caught up with him at last,” Takeo said. “My old lord trusted in greed over loyalty, thinking of humans as simply another breed of animals, and it’s good to see that finally working against him. However, that attitude should go over well in Savara, I think. Do you or Lady Xuan know how he fares in the Great Desert?”
“He fares well enough for his bounty to remain unclaimed.” Hyun shrugged. “Lady Xuan has set aside a small fortune for his death, which should be enough to entice every ninja in Juatwa, but whoever wishes to claim that bounty had better do so soon. Once Juatwa has been fully conquered, Katsu’s head won’t be worth its weight in sand.”
Emily’s mind was swimming with questions. This man seemed eager to talk, so she was content to listen for the most part, but she also wanted to direct the conversation. She cleared her throat and shuffled in her seat.
“You haven’t asked me who this is,” she said, pointing at Takeo. “Do you know?”
Hyun nodded. “Takeo Okamoto. I was informed you went to rescue him, and that was the trail we were sent to follow. It seems you’ve succeeded, and I’m not surprised.”
“You’re unconcerned with him?” she noted.
“I came here only for you.”
“Are you going to tell me why?”
“The Lady Xuan would have you hear her words first,” Hyun replied, reaching into his armor.
Emily’s hand flew to her dagger and unsheathed it. With the other, she grabbed Hyun by the edge of his clothing and jerked him forward until her dagger’s point touched his throat. He went still, but the other samurai near him leapt back from their seats, hands instinctively touching their sides where their katanas would have hung. Takeo was up, too, grabbing a knife off the counter, and then suddenly there were dwarves all around them with axes and hammers held high.
The once noisy hall went deathly silent and still as everyone froze in place. Only the quiet snores of a few passed-out dwarves broke the calm.
“Did I say something wrong?” Hyun’s voice trailed off, calm as falling snow, while his throat bounced against the dagger’s edge.
“What’s in your armor?” Emily asked, tightening her grip as his hand began to move. “Slowly.”
He carefully withdrew a scroll, and Emily’s cheeks turned red. She released him and gave the dwarves a look that she hoped was apologetic. They seemed to take it as such and went back to their duties, but only after eyeing all five samurai coldly. Takeo and the others returned to their seats. It seemed all parties, minus Hyun, were equally embarrassed.
“I’m sorry,” Emily said. “The last I knew of the Old Woman, she’d paid to have Takeo killed.”
“I did not know this.” Hyun straightened the cloth under his armor. “So I will accept your apology.”
Emily broke the seal on the scroll, unfurled it, and read.
Dear Emily Stout,
Although we have never met, I feel I’ve learned enough about you in the past few days to consider you an old acquaintance. I can assure you that if you had been born my daughter, I would be the proudest mother in the world. Instead, fate, or rather two late husbands, cursed me with nothing but sons. I will not be taking a third.
By the time this letter reaches you, I will be known as the Empress of Juatwa. I have more royalty waiting at my door to speak with me than I have patience for, so please understand the level of importance this letter represents. I am old, my eyes not well, and yet here I am humbling myself to a girl who could be my granddaughter, perhaps even great-granddaughter. To my knowledge, you hold no title, lands, or armies, and yet here I—the being who holds the grandest of all three—am seeking you out. I’m certain you wish to know why.
After I defeated Lord Ichiro Katsu, I captured many of those close to him. I have since learned of his plans for Lucifan and also of his involvement with the death of the angels. More to the point, I have also learned that the colossi are not fully dormant. At least one is still active, and I am told it obeys your command.
Normally, I am a skeptical person. I would not believe such a boast without proof or at least credible testimony. It seems I will have to settle for Katsu’s fears. He thought your power true enough to hold you prisoner, so I will hold it true enough to write you a letter. I hope you find my hospitality more pleasing than his.
I want you to know that I have no ill intentions for the city of Lucifan. Unlike Katsu, I do not hold visions of forcing the world to submit to my will. I will not live long enough for that, and I am not so foolish as to believe such an empire would survive my death even if I did accomplish such a task in my lifetime. Lucifan will remain unmolested as long as I live, and I expect to remain unmolested by colossi in return.
I would not go as far as to say that I knew the angels better than you—I never met them, while I am told that one gave his life to you. However, that being said, I’d like to remind you that the angels built those monstrosities for the defense of their people, and they were never used for that purpose. Were it up to me, I’d like to see such a record upheld. This world sees enough bloodshed without the help of good intentions.
If you find the time, I’d very much like to meet with you in person. Otherwise, if I never hear from you again, I will be equally pleased. I hope you understand.
Sincerely,
Lady Xuan Nguyen
Empress of Juatwa
The letter ended with an extravagant and illegible signature. Emily set the scroll on the stone bench where it rolled itself back up. Emily licked her cold lips and then stared at Hyun, who, transfixed by Emily, was hardly breathing. It made her feel uneasy.
“Do you know what it says?” she asked.
“The gist.” He nodded. “I had to, in case something happened to it, so I could still deliver the message. I must ask. How true is it?”
“How true is what?”
“The colossi,” Hyun whispered, glancing sideways at the nearby dwarves. “Do you really control them?”
Emily took a deep breath and let it out. Then she huffed, chuckled, and finally shook her head.
“Only one,” she answered. “I’ve commanded it to come to me, though I’m not sure why. I’m just going to send it back to Lucifan. Perhaps I just need to see it for myself.”
“What are your intentions in Lucifan?”
“Is that you asking, or the Old Woman?” Emily asked.
“A samurai keeps no secrets from his lord or lady,” Hyun replied, lifting his chin high. “Every question I ask is in service to her, and every word you speak to me will be repeated in her presence.”
“Admirable,” Emily said.
She thought for a moment, wondering just how much she wanted to tell this samurai, his allies, and thus Lady Xuan. In truth, she wanted to tell Lady Xuan everything. The Old Woman had thoroughly impressed her by destroying Katsu’s army in Juatwa and going out of her way to track down Emily in the Khaz Mal Mountains. Emily felt she owed the lady much and decided there was no harm in telling this samurai what she planned to do. He couldn’t stop her. No one could.
“Well fine, I’ll give you the honest answer.” Emily nodded. “I’m sure it will please the Old Woman. My business in Lucifan is both persona
l and professional. Well, actually, I don’t have professional business. It’s all personal. Lucifan is ruled by an old knight-turned-vampire named Sir Mark O’Conner. He was left in charge after the previous vampire, Count Drowin, was killed.”
“I thought vampires were immortal?” Hyun squinted.
“There are no such things as immortals, only beings harder to kill. A pirate told me that once.”
“I take it you killed this previous vampire?”
“I did, and I mean to kill his successor, too. Sir Mark had a deliberate hand in killing the angels, and I’m not one to let such crimes go unpunished, especially not when I’m only alive thanks to an angel.”
Hyun’s eyes drifted to Takeo, his look revealing his curiosity at why they traveled together, but he did not voice his thoughts.
Wise, Emily thought. You know Takeo was involved in the angels’ downfall, too, but you’re smart enough to keep your mouth shut. The Old Woman was right to send you, apparently.
“And, if I may ask,” Hyun went on, “what are your intentions then? Will you rule Lucifan as its queen?”
“Me? A queen?” Emily laughed. “I doubt that. I honestly hadn’t thought that far. I wish my butcher’s bill were done after that, but if what you say is true, and Katsu is amassing forces in Savara, I might have one more task to complete. On the other hand, though, going to Lucifan might solve both issues if my timing is good.”
“How so?”
“Lord Katsu’s plan, if he was defeated,” Takeo spoke up, “was to raise a force in Savara and capture Lucifan for himself. There he would raise an army, using Lucifan’s wealth, and oppose the shogun who defeated him with knights and ogres. Emily means to stop that from happening, too. She is the will of the angels. Their souls live on through her.”
Black as the thought may be, Emily had come to terms with what Quartus had intended for her to be: a force of retribution.
Hyun nodded, his gaze fixed on Emily. “Then you must be pleased to read my lady’s letter. It must be a relief to have only two enemies to fight.”
“You have no idea. Now, I don’t mean to be blunt, but does Lady Xuan have any other questions for me? If not, I really must be going. Takeo and I need to be leaving soon. It’s a long way to the frigid north from here.”
“The north?” Hyun balked. “But the closest harbor is in the south.”
“And I would have to sail all the way around Savara’s southern end before heading to Lucifan,” Emily answered, standing from the bench. “Meanwhile, if I leave from the north, it will be a straight shot to the angels’ city, only a few months at most. It will be a much shorter trip for both me and my colossus, not to mention the other personal business I have.”
“Another enemy?”
“No,” Emily said. “A brother.”
Chapter 5
Hyun did have more questions, and he asked them hurriedly as Emily set about preparing for her long journey through the heart of Khaz Mal. Most of the questions he asked she did not have answers to, such as what she intended to do with the other two colossi or how long she thought it would take to kill Katsu. A few others, she answered as honestly as she could.
“No, I won’t write a response to Lady Xuan,” she said, packing up stores of food. “I really wouldn’t know what to say in it other than, ‘I agree.’ And yes, when I say my brother, I do mean my actual brother.”
Emily could understand the confusion about how she had a brother in The North. She’d grown up on the Great Plains, far to the west, along with her two brothers and her parents. Of them, only Emily and her younger brother, Nicholas, had left the farm they called home, separately and in opposite directions, with Emily becoming an amazon and Nicholas a viking. The last time she’d seen him, he’d saved her from being enslaved to a cruel pirate.
Emily still remembered that pirate’s name, Carlito Hacke, and that made her shudder. Just the thought of him gave her a bad taste in her mouth. She wondered if he was still alive. He probably was, being that he was immortal so long as he was at sea. She couldn’t decide whether she hoped to see him again or not, expecting him to be chained to an oar as a slave or perhaps buried beneath an arm’s length of snow-covered dirt.
“After Katsu?” Emily sucked in air before answering another one of Hyun’s questions. “I have yet more personal business. It’s none of your concern, really, but I’ll be heading to the Forest of Angor to deliver a letter to a werewolf. Haha! You thought you were confused before, weren’t you? Don’t bother asking. Like I said before, it’s personal.”
Emily and Takeo were given plenty of supplies by the dwarves, who were extremely gracious hosts, providing dense food that would keep for many months, water-resistant leather with fur lining to keep them warm and dry through the nights, gloves and hoods, and, of course, thick boots. Their gift of a map made Emily sigh deeply in relief; finding the dwarven outpost had been grueling with nothing to travel by but the sun’s passage and secondhand explanations of landmarks. The dwarves also gifted Emily a block of wood to make more arrows and some coveted feathers to fletch them with, but even more shockingly, they found a single katana in their armory and gave it to Takeo without him ever asking for it.
“There ain’t no weapon in the world we dwarves haven’t made at least once,” Helga explained. “We even have a pair of gunslinger pistols, but those never leave the hold. It’d be dark times if an orc ever got their slimy, green hands on them. Not that they’ll do you much good on the outside, anyway. If the powder gets wet, they won’t shoot. How worthless is that in a place where everything is wet and cold all the time? None, I tell ye.”
Takeo tested the katana by giving it a few swings. His wrists flicked, making it cut through the air with a whistle.
“Seems heavier than it should be,” he noted.
“Aye,” Helga nodded. “That’s because it was made by dwarven hands, rather than by some shoddy human. Ye’ll find that blade cuts better than anything ye’ve wielded afore.”
“I believe you. And thank you. I’m forever in your debt. I won’t forget this.”
“See that ye don’t. We dwarves never do.”
The goodbyes were short and formal. They passed only two elders on their way out into Khaz Mal’s snowy embrace. Out of courtesy, Emily asked Hyun if he and his samurai would like to accompany them for the first bit of their journey, but he declined.
“I am in no hurry to leave this place,” he admitted, “and first I’ll have to record all you told me. I don’t want to trust my memory to survive the long months I’ll need to return to my lady. Best of luck to you, Emily. I hope all your personal business fares well.”
“You too,” was all Emily could muster in response. “Oh, and I’m sorry for being so jumpy when we first met.”
“Don’t be. I understand. You have too many enemies not to be cautious.”
Emily was sure Hyun hadn’t meant any offense by those parting words, but still they stung as she and Takeo made their way out of the dwarven outpost. They took one of the long tunnels headed north, which was also conveniently opposite the end where the main entrance was. That was the safest route, Helga insisted, to avoid the lingering orcs that might be out there now—and would continue to be out there for at least another couple of weeks.
Yes, Emily had to agree, she did have too many enemies.
She never meant for that to happen. She remembered her first enemy very clearly, back when she’d been only a little, 16-year-old farmer’s daughter who couldn’t shoot a bow and had no idea how to leave the farm she’d grown up on. Only the land had been her enemy then, a trap despite its lack of any physical boundary beyond size. When she’d conquered that, all the other problems had begun. She’d lost her grandmother to betrayal and her savior to her own incompetence. In the process, she’d earned her first true enemy, a woman named Heliena, and many more of Emily’s friends had died helping her bring that evil wench down. Heliena was dead now by Emily’s hand in the name of revenge, and yet Emily was not fulfilled.
More enemies seemed to have popped up since then, greater ones with darker purposes. She frowned, feeling emptier than she had before, less passionate.
“What are you thinking?” Takeo asked.
“Just reminiscing about the past and the future,” she muttered.
When they exited the dwarf tunnel, they emerged into a long valley. A brisk breeze kicked up and bit her exposed nose, and she tucked her head into her hood. Otherwise, the sky was a beautiful blue, and the sun a yellow beacon overhead. If Emily faced it, the light was just strong enough to warm her cheeks, and that brought a smile back to her lips.
“You’re confusing me,” Takeo said to her. “First you looked sad, and now you’re happy.”
“I guess that’s what happens when you contemplate life,” she said with a shrug.
Takeo paused and glanced up at the clear skies. She imagined him contemplating his own life, the hardships he had faced and the brother he’d lost, and then ending with the realization that he was with her. She hoped that made him happy, and perhaps it did because his dark eyes lightened when they fell back on her.
“I suppose it does,” he agreed. “Are you ready?”
“I am.”
“Then lead the way.”
They climbed out the valley and down the next hill, trudging through snow and wind, sweating and breathing out hot steam into the cold. Emily was constantly pulling down her hood when she got too hot and then putting it back on again when her ears went numb. Her gloves were forever getting in the way, too. Every time she had to pull them off to consult her map or manage something in her pack, the biting chill dug into her fingers to sap what precious heat reached them. When she put her gloves back on, it took a long while for the chill to subside. Her fingers never actually grew warm, but rather, with proper care, she kept them from turning frostbitten.
A part of her was willing to take that risk, though. She’d never be able to shoot a bow with these gloves on, and with the possibility of orcs lingering nearby, she kept her bow strung at all times. It would be painful to shoot, as she’d learned when she got her first taste of cold weather several months ago, but pain was better than death. She would know, having almost died once herself.