The First Kaiaru

by David Alastair Hayden

  “Will it make us pass out?” Kurine asked.

  “Probably not,” he said, “but afterward you’re going to be far more exhausted than normal.”

  Before the next wave of apes reached them, Storm Dragon Lu Bei returned. He hovered before Turesobei, with Fangthorn clutched in his talons.

  Turesobei groaned. “You were supposed to take it to Awasa.”

  The fetch cocked its head to the side and stared at him.

  “Did you look for her?” he asked.

  The fetch twisted his head the other way.

  “Never mind.” Turesobei took the sword. “Thank you.”

  Storm Dragon Lu Bei nodded, then spun around and began blasting the nearest apes. Turesobei sheathed his sword and used Fangthorn instead.

  Zaiporo had them form a wedge, with Motekeru at the point and the girls on either flank. Zaiporo stayed between them, moving left or right depending on who needed help. It was up to Turesobei and the hounds to protect the rear.

  They battled their way to the edge of the forest. But then a fresh wave of ape-kagi crashed against them with howling fury. After that, their progress into the forest slowed to a bloody crawl.

  Soon they were completely surrounded by ape-kagi, and Turesobei and the hounds were engulfed in battle as well. The boosting spells he’d used on the others were already halfway done with. They were never going to make it to the generator.

  Suddenly, the Storm Dragon broke free and shot upward. But before she could get far above the treetops, the ape-kagi-ga again leapt up and caught her, sinking his clawed hands into her side. Locked together, they crashed back into the forest near Turesobei and his companions. The giant ape pinned the Storm Dragon to the ground and pounded her with its fists. She writhed under him, struggling to break free. When that failed, she fired lightning bolts in a halo around herself.

  The ape-kagi-ga screamed, and the smell of burning skin and fur filled the air. But it wouldn’t let go. Worst of all, every wound the Storm Dragon inflicted healed within moments.

  “The ga can regenerate,” Turesobei said, along with a string of curses.

  “This just keeps getting better and better,” Iniru said as she sliced the head off of an ape-kagi.

  Kurine caved in the chest of an ape-kagi and knocked it back into several others. “Sobei, you’re going to have to do something flashy. There’s no way we’ll reach the generator this way.”

  “She’s right,” Iniru said. “This isn’t working.”

  He couldn’t argue that. So far, he and his friends were only taking minor injuries, but that would stop when the boosting spells gave out. Then someone would get hurt. And once one of them fell….

  The thunderstorm continued overhead, acting like a kenja generator and offering a tremendous amount of power—provided he could channel it safely. The problem was that to channel it safely he needed an adequate reserve of internal kenja to control and manipulate that force through his kavaru. And unfortunately, his internal kenja was weak from all the spells he’d already cast. He was now one fire-blast spell away from passing out.

  He stabbed an ape in the groin, and a trickle of energy flickered down Fangthorn’s black blade. Of course! Fangthorn took in a bit of energy with every demon kill. He could substitute the energy in the blade for his own. It wasn’t a perfect one-to-one ratio, far from it, but it should be enough.

  “I can open a path ahead of us with a rolling fireball, but that might be the last spell I’ll be able to do.”

  “Then blast away!” Zaiporo yelled.

  “Wait, would it be as powerful as the one you used in Naibane’s realm?” Iniru called out.

  “If I take it to the point where I could pass out, then yes.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be enough,” Iniru said.

  “Then what should I do?” Turesobei asked.

  “Maybe you should teleport us out of here instead,” Zaiporo said.

  “I’m not leaving without Awasa,” Turesobei replied.

  “We could come back and rescue her.” Iniru diced the arms off an ape-kagi. “We would then only have one generator and the ga to deal with.”

  “But who knows how far away she might wander,” Turesobei responded. “And what if the apes hunted her down? We don’t know that they won’t.”

  “But if you cast the fireball spell and we can't beat these apes, then you won’t have the strength to teleport us out,” Zaiporo said. “We’d all be dead. I don’t want to leave anyone behind, but there are no guarantees. Awasa knows that. Besides, she’s away from the action, and Ninefold Awasa can certainly take care of herself.”

  “You’re forgetting that I’ll have to draw the Storm Dragon back into me in order to cast the teleportation spell,” Turesobei said.

  “Master,” Motekeru said, “if we fight a tactical withdrawal, I think we can shield you long enough for that.”

  Turesobei considered the option, then came to a conclusion. “I don’t leave people behind. That’s not who I am, and I’m not going to let these missions or the Blood King change that.”

  As he said those words, it occurred to him that this was probably the type of sacrifice he didn’t understand, or rather, was unwilling to understand.

  Motekeru tore through two ape-kagi at once. “Master, maybe you should check to see where Awasa is right now. If she’s running away from here, I trust that she can take care of herself.”

  “Right,” Turesobei responded.

  Motekeru was close to Awasa. If he thought it was okay to leave her behind, then maybe Turesobei could do it. Rather than casting the locating spell again, he chose to use residual energies from the previous casting and focus on Fangthorn in his hands. Maybe her bond with it was still strong enough. He immediately got a read on her location. It wasn’t good.

  “I don’t know if she’s returned to being herself or what, but she’s heading back this way—and fast.”

  “That settles it then,” Kurine said. “We fight.”

  Sparks flew as the giant ape ripped a wing off of the Storm Dragon. The wing turned into a cloud, poured rain onto the ground, then disappeared. Distracted by the sight, Kurine gaped in horror and lowered her shield. An ape-kagi leapt toward her. Turesobei couldn’t get there in time to help. But Storm Dragon Lu Bei darted in and saved her. She thanked him, got her shield up, and continued fighting.

  “Change of plans,” Turesobei said, “I'm using the spell of heaven’s wrath instead, and I’m putting everything into it. My heart may stop, so you may need to resuscitate me.”

  Kurine flashed him a frightened look. “Sobei…are you sure?”

  “We need Motekeru, but so does the Storm Dragon. The ape-ga’s killing her. So I don't think I have a choice but to go big.”

  Iniru cut down an ape-kagi, then glanced back at him. He met her eyes, and she nodded. Zaiporo fell back so that Turesobei could step into the center between everyone and safely cast the spell.

  Iniru cried out suddenly and fell. An ape had kicked her low, causing her knee to hyperextend. The beast then elbowed her in the side of the head. Kurine barreled over and shattered the beast’s face with her warhammer. With her shield up, she stood guard over Iniru. The hounds took up Kurine’s former position, and they all closed ranks.

  Iniru climbed to her feet, shook her head, and stretched her leg. “I’m okay.” As Kurine shifted back, Iniru returned to the fight. “Get moving, Sobei. My knee’s killing me.”

  Turesobei drew a strip for the spell of heaven's wrath and began a slow casting, so he could make it as powerful as possible. In most battles, what he was about to do would be incredibly stupid. Turesobei called on every scrap of energy available to him. He used all his internal kenja and the power Fangthorn had absorbed, then he used the Mark of the Storm Dragon to connect to the thunderstorm above.

  You’re Chonda Lu's heir. Be like him. Be a Kaiaru. Fight like he did on the battlefield against Vôl Ultharma.

  An ape-kagi bounded over the others, got past Storm Dra
gon Lu Bei, and charged toward him. But Turesobei felt so close to Chonda Lu that it was almost as if they were one and the same. He acted as skillfully as his ancestor would have. He plunged Fangthorn into the beast’s chest, then took the bit of energy the blade drained from the creature.

  With the spell ready, he darted out in front of Motekeru and activated it. This casting was easily five times more powerful than the one he'd used against the Blood King. A bolt of lightning speared down from above, struck him, tripled in strength, then poured out from his spell strip.

  The cone-shaped blast tore apart the forest in front of him and incinerated all the ape-kagi within the area.

  For a few moments, Turesobei felt as if he were made of pure lightning.

  Then his heart stopped.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Turesobei drew in a desperate, ragged breath and convulsed.

  Strong hands held him firm. “It's okay,” said a male voice that seemed incredibly far away. “Take deep breaths.”

  As the convulsions receded, his eyes opened slowly. “Zai…?”

  Though still shallow, his breathing stabilized.

  Smiling with relief, Kurine kissed him on the cheek. “Thank goodness, you’re alive.”

  He tried to ask her what was going on, but his attempt to speak only resulted in coughing.

  Kurine stood and took up her warhammer. “Be still and keep taking deep breaths, my love. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Turesobei’s eyes finally focused, and his thoughts cleared. He sat up carefully, wondering how long he had been out.

  Kurine and Zaiporo had been beside him only moments ago, he was certain, but now he lay alone in the remains of the battlefield. The storm had vanished, and sunlight was shining down onto them.

  The Storm Dragon was gone. Lu Bei was a mud-covered book lying on a rock nearby. None of the guardians remained, except the giant ape-kagi. Motekeru was fighting valiantly against the beast, but judging by the score of new dents and scratches on his body and how slowly he was moving, he was getting pounded into submission.

  While Motekeru pressed forward with a full assault, Zaiporo charged the beast from the right. His attack hit the ape’s knee, but didn’t seem to achieve anything. Despite an obvious limp, Iniru leapt in from the left, but the giant ape slapped her away. She tumbled along the ground. When she stood, she grabbed her right arm and winced. The ape grabbed Zaiporo by the legs, and with a flick of its wrist, flung him into the river.

  Kurine reached the ape next. With all her might, she brought her hammer down onto the giant ape’s left foot. Bones cracked, but that didn’t slow the beast down. With a half-hearted kick, the ape knocked her all the way back to Turesobei. She sat up, and with a grimace, grabbed her ribs.

  Motekeru’s attacks had resulted in several gashes along the ape’s thighs, and one nasty cut across its lower stomach. But those wounds didn’t seem to slow the beast, either. And they were already beginning to heal.

  Motekeru dodged the monster’s fist, which punched a two-foot deep hole into the earth instead. Without even glancing over his shoulder at her, he yelled to Kurine, “We can’t beat this thing. It’s too strong. Take Master and run. I’ll buy you time.”

  “Motekeru, no,” Kurine said, “there’s got to be a way.”

  “You have to survive until Master can teleport you all to safety.”

  Kurine readied her shield and her hammer and started toward the beast. “But we’re so close to victory!”

  “No, we’re not,” Motekeru said.

  As Kurine started forward, Iniru limped into her path and stopped her before she could charge in again. “We have to retreat while we still can.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Motekeru said. “Just go!”

  Kurine sighed heavily and turned back. “Sorry if this hurts you, my love.” She grabbed Turesobei under the arms and tossed him over her shoulder. “I know it’s not what you’d want, but we’re out of options.”

  As soon as Zaiporo swam up onto the bank, and coughed the water out of his lungs, Kurine started running. Iniru and Zaiporo limped along behind her.

  As he painfully bounced along, carried like a sack of rice, Turesobei remembered his weapon of last resort.

  “Wait,” he managed to say. “Set me…down.”

  “Sobei, we can’t save him,” Iniru said.

  “We've got to run,” Zaiporo argued.

  “I'm not running away. Put me down. Now.”

  Kurine set him on his feet. He started to collapse, but she held him up.

  The giant ape lifted Motekeru, raised him high up into the air, then slammed him onto the ground three times. With each horrible impact came the sounds of springs snapping, wood cracking, and metal crunching.

  As the ape slung Motekeru aside, Turesobei pulled the Keepers’ rod from his belt. He had wanted to save this and use it against the Blood King, but that was no longer an option. He pointed the rod at the ape and focused his intent. A silent, multicolored beam fired out from the rod and burned a huge hole in the right side of the giant ape's chest.

  The kagi-ga fell backward…and didn’t get up. But despite the strength of the attack and the severity of its wounds, it was still alive.

  Motekeru, his joints creaking like two cats mewling, crawled up onto the still-living beast’s chest. Turesobei expected him to finish it off, but instead, Motekeru simply held his claws to the beast's throat.

  “Find Awasa,” Motekeru croaked, “and fast. We need her to get out of this.”

  “Why do we need her?” Zaiporo asked.

  “If she kills the ape with Fangthorn, she can transfer the energy to me,” Turesobei said, nodding in understanding. “Otherwise, we’ll be stuck here for days while I recover.”

  “I’d rather that than risk the giant ape recovering,” Kurine said.

  “Nazyraga will know we’ve defeated his guardians,” Turesobei said, “and he will come for us. Since we have no way of knowing how far away he is, time is of the essence.”

  “Oh,” Kurine replied, “then we’d better find her.”

  “I thought you could use Fangthorn that way, too,” Zaiporo said to Turesobei.

  “Using her advanced mudras, Awasa can draw a lot more energy into the sword than I can, especially with me being this depleted. So I will only do it myself if I must.”

  Iniru handed Sumada over to him. “You’d better hold onto this, just in case.”

  Kurine kissed him on the forehead, then set off downriver along with Iniru, Zaiporo, and the hounds. It was then that Turesobei noticed that the spell of heaven's wrath had burned a path as wide as four roads through the forest. Charred trees, both standing and toppled, were still smoking.

  “Motekeru, are you okay?” Turesobei asked.

  As the giant ape began to writhe, Motekeru slammed his fists down and shattered its nose. “No, master.”

  “Will you survive?”

  “Yes, master. However, my abilities will be greatly diminished. I’ve taken a lot of damage—externally and internally.”

  Turesobei limped over to the incredibly smelly beast. Prepared to end the beast if he had to, he held both Sumada and Fangthorn at its throat.

  “What happened after I passed out?”

  “Your spell soaked up the entire storm, even the Storm Dragon. The resulting blast carved up the forest, killed most of the ape-kagi, and caused a tremendous explosion in the distance. Apparently, you destroyed the ape generator with the blast, because no others showed up. While I held back the kagi-ga and the girls finished off the remaining apes, Zaiporo resuscitated you. After that, you were unconscious a short while.”

  Turesobei felt fortunate to be alive after that spell. “We’ll have to finish this thing off soon. The wound I blasted into its chest is starting to regenerate.”

  Motekeru glanced back toward the forest. “I hope Awasa's okay.”

  Turesobei knew Motekeru's concern went beyond their need for her abilities. He genuinely cared for Awasa. Minute
s passed with Turesobei staring at the wound, his focus fading in and out. Despite the danger and the bone-cracking punches Motekeru used to keep the beast dazed, it was hard for Turesobei to stay awake.

  Just when he was about to tell Motekeru that it was time to finish the ga, because the wound was healing faster and the beast was stirring more, the others returned, carrying Awasa.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Kurine had Awasa’s arms pinned behind her back, while Zaiporo held her by the feet. Controlling Awasa wasn’t easy, because she kept thrashing and kicking. Blood poured from her nose and from a number of small cuts on her arms and legs.

  “I will kill all of you!” she snarled.

  Iniru limped beside them, holding a hand over a wound on her neck. “She bit me. She actually bit me.”

  “Capturing her wasn’t easy,” Zaiporo explained. “She’d gone as wild as an animal.”

  Kurine released Awasa’s arms and seized her by the waist. Then Zaiporo set Awasa down on her feet. Before she could start kicking, he knelt and used his arms to lock her knees together. With her long fingernails, Awasa slashed at them, forcing Iniru to rush up and grab her wrists.

  Turesobei approached carefully and held Fangthorn out toward Awasa. That made her fight even harder to escape.

  “I don’t want that thing!” she screamed.

  He tried to place the sword in her hands, but her fingers wouldn’t wrap around the handle. Then he held the blade against her chest and waited…but nothing happened. For some reason, the blade wasn’t draining away any of the Warlock’s essence.

  “It’s not working.”

  “Master, can you handle the ape?” Motekeru asked.

  Turesobei nodded. Motekeru jumped down off the creature’s chest, and Turesobei passed Fangthorn over to him. Turesobei rushed over and placed Sumada’s edge against the major artery on the giant ape’s neck.