Suddenly, the beasts piling onto him practically exploded, covering him in a thick, bloody goo. He crawled free and saw a drenched Awasa swinging Fangthorn like a scythe through wheat, cutting down all the enemies that rushed toward them.
Badly wounded, both hounds limped up to Turesobei. He stood guard over them, returning the favor for a change.
“I didn't have to go far to find the source of the crab demons,” Awasa said. “Sorry I took off like that, but I didn’t think we had time to debate it. And I figured I was the best choice since I can detect kenja currents.”
She kicked away one squid-head and stabbed another in the face. “I used a banishing mudra to keep all but the most determined crabs from attacking me. I tried it on the squid-heads, but I’m not powerful enough to make it work on them.”
Awasa cut a wide swath with her blade, then did a pirouette that brought her right up beside him. She placed her free hand on the back of his neck and spoke a word he'd never heard before. A pulse of kenja ran directly into him from her via Fangthorn.
Shaking her head, she took a few uneasy steps. “Whew, that left me woozier than I had expected.”
Turesobei was far from refreshed, but she had managed to restore all the kenja he had used to cast the rolling fireball. “What did you just do?”
“An energy transfer Lady Hannya taught me. Sorry, I'm not that good at it yet. And unfortunately, it's very inefficient.”
“Kenja transfers always are,” Turesobei said.
Awasa deftly kicked a squid-head in the gut, then lopped off its head
“And normally, they severely drain the donor, yet you seem okay.”
She nodded as she eviscerated a creature rushing in on them. “Fangthorn absorbs a bit of energy from each kill, so that's what I used.”
“Ah, so you didn’t have to tap into your own reserves…clever.”
Turesobei was tempted to do another fire-blast, but he'd just end up severely weakened again. He figured it was best to save the power, just in case. He drew a spell strip and chose something more basic: the spell of the strength of three men, which he cast onto himself and Awasa.
Together, they waded into the mass of squid-heads, with the hounds limping along behind them and an injured Lu Bei darting overhead blasting monsters.
“Is it just me, or are they thinning out now?” Turesobei asked.
“Not just you.” Awasa pointed. “Hey, look! They did it!”
Motekeru and Iniru appeared over a ridge and fought their way toward them. Motekeru was covered in an ocher slime that smelled worse than rotten eggs.
No new squid-heads were replacing the ones they killed. Soon, they finished off the last enemies. Then they hurried back to the cliff edge. From deep in the sea came rumblings and flashes of light. Occasionally, water sprayed up into the air. At least the giant octopus was now too far out now to flail at the shore with its tentacles.
“What happens if it kills the Storm Dragon?” Iniru asked. “Can it die?”
“If she sustains enough injuries,” Turesobei said, “she will lose cohesion and dissipate. Her essence and some of the energy will return to me immediately. However, it would take weeks for me to build up enough storm energy to summon her again.”
“Is there some way we can help her?” Awasa asked.
Motekeru stepped to the edge of the cliff. “That’s my job,” he said as he dived into the sea.
“We'd better check on Kurine and Zai,” Turesobei said.
They jumped in and swam to the cave. It looked exactly like its counterparts in the other realms and was even dry. Some sort of magical seal kept the water out but allowed them to enter. Kurine crouched in the back, rocking and muttering. Zaiporo sat nearby, trying to comfort her. He had a nasty cut on the side of his neck and a few smaller ones on his arms, but otherwise he looked okay. Blood and fragments of crab-kagi were splattered everywhere, which Turesobei assumed was due to Zaiporo’s spell-enhanced strength and his wielding Kurine's warhammer.
Lu Bei flew in behind them, made a circle, then flew back out—presumably to help Motekeru and the Storm Dragon.
“It's been so long since I've seen a peaceful spirit creature,” Turesobei said wistfully, making a mental note to deeply honor every calm spirit of the land he ever encountered again.
“What if the Storm Dragon doesn't beat that thing?” Awasa asked.
Turesobei shrugged. “We try to hold out until I can cast the teleport spell. Then we rest and come back to try again later.”
“Shouldn’t we try to help?” Zaiporo asked.
“I don’t know how to fight or cast spells underwater,” Turesobei said. “And I don’t think it’s safe to get anywhere near that octopus-kagi-ga.”
Kurine was shivering. Turesobei kissed her on the forehead and put an arm around her shoulders. “It's okay. It's almost over.”
Almost over turned out to be nearly half an hour. The pedestal and the cylinder did finally appear, but Turesobei waited until Lu Bei joined them in the cave before recalling the Storm Dragon, just to be safe.
Then they shattered the force field. As soon as Turesobei placed his hands on the cylinder, he sighed with relief as the flow of kenja instantly reenergized him.
While Awasa bandaged Zaiporo's neck, he said, “I'd be dead without this armor. I swear a few strikes aimed at my head swerved at the last moment and struck my breastplate instead.”
“That's an effect from the anti-demon wards,” Lu Bei said with a yawn. “Unfortunately, it doesn't always work.”
Zaiporo gestured at his neck. “Obviously.”
Iniru stepped up beside Turesobei. “I saw her fight demon after demon in the Shadowland. I never would’ve imagined her crumbling like this.”
“Everyone has a weakness,” Awasa said. “I’d hate to imagine how I’d respond if I ever saw the Warlock and his crew again.”
Motekeru stomped into the cave. “Let's go.” His voiced boomed in the small space. “I’ve had enough of this realm.”
* * *
When they returned, Lord Gyoroe didn't immediately seize the cylinder and take off. Instead, with a look of concern in his pale blue eyes, he rushed to Kurine and placed a calming spell on her.
She stopped muttering and rocking. Then she yawned and began to nod off.
Enashoma took Kurine’s hand. “Is she going to be okay?”
Gyoroe stood, visibly relieved. “After a day or two of rest, she should be fine.” He then thanked them and took the cylinder.
Hannya trotted off after him.
“Let’s get Kurine to her room,” Turesobei said. “Then I’ll do healing spells for everyone.”
Zaiporo groaned as he walked. “It’d be nice if he cared about the rest of us as much as he cares about Kurine.”
“He is oddly affectionate when it comes to her,” Iniru noted darkly.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Master, she's awake,” Lu Bei said.
Turesobei followed the fetch to the room Kurine shared with Iniru.
He stopped in the door, and she smiled sleepily at him. He knelt beside her and kissed her on the forehead.
Kurine sat up, yawned, then glanced around in confusion.
“Sobei, how did I—” Her eyes flared as she grabbed him by the arm. “Oh no! Sobei, I’m so sorry.” Her words came out in a mad rush. “I saw the demons and their tentacles and I panicked. I didn't mean to. I couldn't stop it. I never think about those demons. Never. I can't bear to. If you had gotten hurt…or worse…because of me….”
She started crying.
He held her tight. “It's okay. It's all over. And I’m not upset at you. No one is. We all understand.”
“And no one got hurt because of me?”
“Zaiporo took some scrapes while defending you in the cave. But he’s fine now. It was a rough battle, but we got the heart stone and, most importantly, we all survived. Do you remember any of that?”
“Only a little.” Kurine stood up suddenly. “We won? Oh no! So
bei, we have to go back!”
“What?! Why?”
“I didn't get the stone to commemorate my victory!”
Turesobei laughed, but with a little worry. “Kurine, I know it means a lot to you, but it's just a rock collection. We can't go back there for one silly pebble.”
She growled in frustration and pounded a fist into her sleeping mat. “It’s not silly!”
Were all the girls in his life broken? That might explain why they liked him. “Kurine…” He struggled to figure out how to handle this without upsetting her.
“We won't have to fight anything this time,” she said. “We just pop out there, grab one of the stones, then come back. It wouldn’t take more than an hour.”
“Each teleport requires a lot of energy, and there's always a little risk involved. Besides, I don't think Lord Gyoroe would allow it.”
“You don't understand,” she whined. “I must have a stone to mark our victory.”
“I love you, Kurine. I do. But I don't understand why this matters so much to you.”
She sighed with frustration. “Because…because…I can't explain it.”
“Can you at least try…for me?”
Awasa tapped on the door and entered. “Everything okay?”
“I'm fine,” Kurine said dejectedly, “but—”
“She didn't get her rock,” Lu Bei said from behind Kurine. He pointed a finger at his temple and made a circular motion.
Turesobei scowled at him.
Awasa tossed a small pouch to Kurine. “Oh, I thought about that.”
Kurine turned the pouch upside down, and a gray pebble with a deep blue spiral pattern rolled out into her hand. Her eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to find one that matched the others,” Awasa said. “I hope I did okay.”
Kurine clutched the stone, leapt to her feet, thumped into Awasa, and lifted her into a big hug. “It's perfect. I'm sure it's the one I would've chosen.”
“Don't reward me—by crushing me.”
Kurine set her down and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me.”
Awasa blushed a faint violet color. “It's…I mean…you’re…welcome.”
Kurine did a happy dance. “Yay! I got my stone.”
As Turesobei frowned with concern, Lu Bei again pointed at his head and swirled his finger.
Turesobei followed Awasa out of the girls' room. “Thanks for getting that pebble for Kurine. I don’t get it at all, but it means the world to her.”
Awasa shrugged. “Maybe because we didn’t come from a colorless land of ice where you never expect to do or see anything interesting.”
“I guess maybe, but she's going to keep seeing awesome things.”
He frowned. Something occurred to him, and he hadn't even thought of it before. They were going to be going back to the Ancient Cold and Deep. They would have to. What if Kurine wanted to go home? What if that was why she was collecting mementos?
Even if she stuck with them for all the battles, they could still take her back to her world when they were done. She didn't have to go to his Okoro. Was that why she asked him about his world so much, because she would never see it?
* * *
Turesobei entered the Workshop. “You asked to see me, master?”
An emerald-eyed Gyoroe nodded. “Come with me.”
Turesobei followed him to the handleless stone door that led to what should have been the outer garden corresponding to this section of the octagon. Instead, it led to the room where Lord Gyoroe kept the heart stones, a room Turesobei had yet to enter because, up until now, Gyoroe had always said he wasn’t ready.
A network of intricate runes covered the entire door. Their protective force was strong enough that waves of kenja emanated outward and palpably crashed across Turesobei’s skin.
“Today, you will begin training with the heart stones.”
Turesobei did his best to mask his relief. The heart stones might hold the key to defeating the Blood King. He certainly couldn’t think of any other approach to explore.
“I look forward to it, master.”
Lord Gyoroe waved a hand, and the door opened. Turesobei stepped through after him and entered a relatively small, domed chamber practically buzzing with energy—so much so that it was hot inside and the hairs stood out along his arms. The floor within was pure white marble. The dome was clear glass.
When Turesobei tried to look at the world outside the dome, a torrent of information rushed through his brain, without sound or image, or any sort of reference. There was simply nothing for his mind to latch onto. If someone had asked him to describe what he had seen, he could not have done so. He fell to his knees, slammed his palms onto his temples, and fought the urge to vomit.
“It is a bit of a shock the first few times,” Lord Gyoroe said. “What you are seeing is the Nexus as it flows through the time stream. Even I have difficulty making sense of it. I recommend you focus on the room itself and not what lies beyond the dome.”
Turesobei found that surprisingly easy, perhaps because his mind simply couldn't comprehend anything beyond the room itself and instinctively rejected it. When he focused on himself and his immediate surroundings, the headache, disorientation, and nausea quickly faded.
Inside the domed room stood nine pedestals: one in the center with eight around the room’s edge. Five of the outer pedestals held only one heart stone each. The other three now had two identical heart stones, stacked atop one another. These were the heart stones he'd recovered from the realms so far. He assumed the pair of cylinders on the central pedestal were the heart stones for the Nexus.
“This is where I do all my great work, apprentice,” Lord Gyoroe announced proudly. “Recently, I altered the interface and adjusted the way the heart stones interact. After my imprisonment, I spent more than a century reconsidering their alignment. This time, given enough energy, I know that I will succeed.”
“If you’re showing me this, I assume it means you’re going to need me for more than just retrieving the heart stones….”
Lord Gyoroe nodded. “You will serve as the secondary activator, while Hannya will serve as our anchor to the real world. Being an earth dragon, she is good at that. Besides, she gets disoriented while ghosting back in time and that makes her a terrible secondary.”
“And you think I can manage it?”
“You can cast the teleportation spells reliably, something Hannya has never been able to do. Plus, you are Chonda Lu’s heir and have the power of the Storm Dragon in you. Naruwakiru also excelled at teleportation and ghosting through time, and she served me well in this role.”
“So what must I do?”
“You must learn to connect with the stones. Make no mistake, however. The stones are imprinted with my signature. You cannot steal their power from me. Even your Shogakami could not take possession of them. The best they could do was to reroute their power while I was imprisoned. The heart stones will always belong to me.”
Turesobei held his disappointment in check. He had to hold out hope that there was a way, some sort of loophole perhaps.
“So I'm going to start learning how to connect with them today?”
Lord Gyoroe shook his head. “Next week. Today, I simply wanted you to see the room and be exposed to the time stream. After this visit, you are going to have a terrible headache for the next few days.”
“I already have one.”
“It is going to get worse, far worse.”
“Fantastic.”
“For now, this exposure will be plenty. You cannot work here with me until you can handle this experience.” Lord Gyoroe waved him off. “Now, go and prepare for your next mission.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Autumn Realm was not as far into the future as the Winter Realm or the Sunken Realm, but there was an orange quality to the sun overhead that made Turesobei believe it was starting to die.
This was, however, a prosperous and w
ell-populated Zangaiden. The gate stood behind a temple complex. Within moments, priests were rushing out and bowing down before them, chanting and singing.
“This is embarrassing,” Turesobei said.
“If you summoned the Storm Dragon now, they would think you were a god,” Kurine said. “They wouldn't know otherwise.”
“Don't encourage him,” Iniru said with a grin. “His ego is big enough already.”
“By this point in the history of this world,” Hannya said, “magic has become rare. It would not take much to impress these people.”
Turesobei suddenly had a thought he couldn't believe hadn't occurred to him sooner. “Hannya, wouldn’t there be a version of you in all these realms, bound into Fangthorn and trapped on that tiny island?”
“You want to free me in every future realm we visit? And then have several of me to contend with?”
“It's just…well, wouldn’t you want the other versions of you to be free?”
“Is it me you are interested in, or the prospect of having a few more Fangthorns for your team to wield?”
Turesobei scowled. “That hadn't even crossed my mind.”
“No, that would not have occurred to you.” Hannya gazed off into the distance and said morosely, “Every version of me is damned, Chonda Turesobei. Even this one. I cannot save them. Leave them be.”
“But you could free them and let them roam these realms.”
“Assuming they came out sane, what would they do?”
“They could serve the people of the realms,” Zaiporo suggested.
“You think far too well of me. Power corrupts all, especially the Kaiaru. Every time I had power, it led to evil, except when we imprisoned the Blood King. And that, too, was a mistake. No, the other versions of me are where they should be.” She sighed. “Now, go. Get the job done and return here safely.”
As soon as they reached their destination, Awasa said, “Having to see a reflection of what she truly is terrifies her. She simply cannot face herself.”
“That's deep,” Zaiporo said.
Awasa shrugged. “That's how I feel every morning.”
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