by Andrew Rowe
I was arrogant, and because of that, I grievously injured a friend. I’ll never forgive myself for that, not entirely.
I tried to apologize on a few occasions.
Arkhen never forgave me for what I’d taken from him.
***
So, in conclusion, if you’re wondering why I didn’t use the sword more often...I had a lifetime of experience showing me it was a bad idea. I’d kept training since then, of course, and even used it on a few occasions before meeting Reika and Dawn. I’d gotten much better at it.
But there would always be that image of Arkhen bleeding in the back of my mind.
If I’d hurt an enemy badly, that would have been a failure, but one that I could accept.
Wounding a friend like that, and nearly killing him?
That was unacceptable. Unforgivable.
And I was terrified that I’d make the same mistake again. That maybe next time, I’d actually kill someone I cared for with an errant swing.
I couldn’t imagine anything worse.
Chapter VIII – Dragon Slayers
I woke up with an awful headache, shooting pain in my back and stomach, and numbness in my entire left arm.
For a moment, before processing my surroundings, I remembered my injuries and worried that I might have lost my left arm. Thereafter followed a few moments of panic while my eyes tried to adjust and failed, and then another few moments where I tried to move.
I managed to shimmy a bit, meaning I wasn’t paralyzed. I was able to move my right arm, so I reached over to feel for my left. My hand ran into something else.
I felt around for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief.
My arm wasn’t gone. It was just pinned under Reika, who had apparently fallen asleep on top of me at some point.
I slowly extracted my arm from beneath Reika, and she made a grumbling noise and said something about “cold” and curled up closer against my side.
It was kind of cute, I’m not going to deny that.
I rubbed some life back into my left arm, then concentrated.
A tiny flame appeared in my right palm, which I held aloft to examine our surroundings a bit better.
We were in a cave. It was, in fact, quite cold. It was also damp. Reika and I had been curled under a single blanket, which I surmised was probably the only one she’d managed to salvage during our hasty retreat from the previous campsite. If more blankets were available, Reika would have been under all of them.
Dawnbringer was right between us, and once again covered in the crystalline scabbard. I was a little surprised, but pleased, that Reika had the presence of mind to retrieve the crystal.
I found the Sae’kes a few moments later, also sheathed, and lying up against a nearby cavern wall.
I had mixed feelings upon seeing it again. It was my responsibility, and in some ways, it felt almost like an extension of myself. It was, however, also my greatest source of pain and shame.
I turned my eyes away from it, focusing on things that were more immediately important. I located my backpack and belt pouch a few moments later.
I reached over and grabbed the backpack, shuffling through it until I found my cloak. I hadn’t been wearing it earlier because the blankets had been plenty to keep us warm, but with minimal blankets, it felt desperately necessary.
I draped the cloak across Reika, then held my little hand fire near her to warm her up. She remained asleep, but snuggled closer.
I couldn’t keep that up for long. The flames were good for a momentary source of warmth, but using sorcery like that would rapidly drain my body heat, and I couldn’t afford that when I was already in terrible shape.
I scanned around the cavern, seeing little of import. The walls were a dark blue stone that I wasn’t familiar with. I didn’t see any obvious tracks or signs of anyone else nearby.
I took a quick glance at my injured hand and chest. They were still bandaged, and I couldn’t do any more with the resources we had on hand.
My body was still aching badly, even in some places I didn’t remember being hurt during the fight. My upper arms and neck were weirdly sore, and at the time, I couldn’t figure out why.
I found some food and water in the bag, pulled them out, then extinguished my flame. I could eat and drink in the dark.
After eating, I curled up back under the blanket and cloak with Reika. I was in too much pain to fall back to sleep, but at least I had company.
And at least if I was awake, we weren’t likely to be ambushed quite so easily next time.
I guess we’re going to have to start setting watch rotations.
I’d always been good about keeping watch during training exercises. It was amazing how bad I was at remembering those lessons when it came time to do something practical in the real world.
***
I wasn’t quite sure if it was morning when Reika woke up, because it was still pitch black in the cave.
“Mrm,” she offered as a traditional morning greeting.
I brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. “Good morning.”
“Mrrm.”
“Let’s get somewhere warmer, hm?”
She nodded absently. “Warm.”
I started to pull away.
“No, you’re warm. Stay.”
“We need to move if we’re going to get somewhere warmer.”
She frowned. “Just another minute.”
I stayed a few more minutes, until I was reasonably sure she was falling back to sleep. “Reika.”
“Hm? Yes, that’s me.”
“We need to get up, Reika.”
“Oh.” She gave me a disappointed expression. “Fine, fine. As long as there’s food.”
There wasn’t a lot of food.
I’d eaten virtually all of our remaining supplies during the night, which to be fair, weren’t particularly impressive.
Reika hadn’t managed to threaten any food out of the Tails of Orochi, apparently, because they hadn’t been carrying it on them during the ambush. They had a camp somewhere nearby where they’d kept most of their supplies.
My body ached as I pulled myself to my feet, and then helped Reika up with my good arm. I pinned my cloak around her neck, since she was still clearly feeling cold.
Then I shook the condensation out of the blanket, rolled it up, and packed it in Reika’s backpack. Fortunately, the books were in a separate section of the pack, otherwise she might have murdered me later for exposing the books to mild dampness.
Finally, I retrieved my own things, including belting both the Sae’kes and Dawnbringer on. “Okay. Now, how do we get out of here?”
“This way,” Reika mumbled, beginning to walk. I followed behind her with considerably less grace, relying largely on feeling my way along the walls and where I could hear the sounds of her footfalls.
It got a little bit lighter just a minute or so later, after which I had an easier time of it.
“Flew for a long time,” she explained sleepily. “Found the lake. This cave was nearby.”
That was...great news, actually. If we’d hit the lake, that meant we potentially had a source of fresh water — which we were also low on — and maybe even fish. I wasn’t an expert fisherman, but I had a general idea of how fishing was supposed to work, and also fire magic.
I felt considerably better once we made it out in the morning light. So, apparently, did Dawn.
I looked down at the sword. “Good morning, Dawn.”
“Thanks for your...concern?”
I rolled my eyes. In spite of her teasing, she did actually sound relieved.
Once outside, I found Reika had spoken truthfully about our nearness to the river. She had, however, failed to mention that we were a good thousand feet above it. Our cave was on a narrow outcropping
on a mountainside that loomed over the water. I took a moment to ponder how the cave had gotten damp this high up, but a glance at the dark clouds above gave me a probable answer. It had likely rained while I was sleeping, and it looked like it was probably going to be raining again soon.
“I don’t suppose you can fly us down to the waterside?” I asked Reika.
“Too hungry.” She frowned and shook her head.
She had mentioned that she consumed more energy while in her dragon form, and she was looking a little unsteady on her feet.
I handed her the last of the rations in my bag, knowing they wouldn’t amount to much, and we slowly found our way down the mountainside. The whole area seemed to consist of the same unusual blue stone that I’d seen within the cave. The cliff side was littered with both large and small holes, many of which looked like viable handholds.
I wasn’t in good enough shape for that kind of climbing, though. I searched the area while Reika ate, and eventually found a place where a short drop led to a declining path.
We made our way down to the path, then wove our way around the mountainside to the bottom. I took a cautious route, since I knew any kind of serious exertion could reopen my injuries.
Reika was uncharacteristically quiet as we moved, so I could tell she probably wasn’t in much better shape than I was.
When we finally made it to the bottom, we headed straight for the water.
The lake was just as pure and clear as I’d hoped, and large enough that I couldn’t see the opposite side. A quick glance showed me a couple possible paths back into the forest, but none of them looked like human trails.
I retrieved a mug from my bag, filled it, and reached into my pouch to find my purestone. Fortunately, it hadn’t gotten lost on the trail.
I dropped it in the water.
“What’s that?” Reika asked.
“It’s a magical item that purifies water.” I gestured at the lake. “That’s probably already safe to drink, but I try to avoid taking any risks.”
“Ooh, I didn’t know you had a magic rock! Can I use it?”
I smiled. “Of course. Here.” I handed her the mug, rock still inside. “Give it a minute to work before you start drinking. You can take it out to drink or just keep it in there. Just don’t lose it.”
“I would never!”
I patted Dawn on the hilt. “That’s not a sapient rock, Dawn. It’s just enchanted.”
I sighed. “Reasonably sure.”
I let Reika drink from the lake first, then I took over. Then from there, we both refilled the waterskins we usually carried.
After that point, it was time to find food.
That proved surprisingly easy. We found some birds standing atop the peaceful waters, presumably hunting for food of their own.
After cooking some poultry for breakfast, Reika and I made some attempts at fishing, which proved much more challenging. So, we found some more birds and had an early lunch.
After that, we began to follow the lake east.
Since Reika and I were both feeling a little better after eating, we gradually worked our way back into conversation. Mostly little things at first, but eventually, I got to one of the more important questions.
“Do you have any idea who the people were who attacked us last night?”
Reika shook her head. “Nope. It was dark, couldn’t get a good look at them. They must have been really sneaky! Someone collapsed our cavern right on top of me.”
Should I tell her?
I should probably tell her.
“Uh, yeah, sorry. That was me. I was trying to wake you up so you didn’t get hurt. And because I wanted your help in the fight.”
“Oh! That’s okay, then.” She grinned at me. “I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the fight or anything.”
It was...refreshing to have honest communication turn out in a way that didn’t get me into trouble. Reika was just so earnest, I didn’t really know what to say to her.
So, I smiled back at her, said, “Thanks,” and then moved on with the conversation. “Okay. If you didn’t hear, the leader — or, I guess, the one who spoke my language — said his name was Kaito. And he said they worked for one of the Tails of Orochi?”
Reika froze, spinning toward me. “What?!”
“Uh, yeah, he said—”
“Oh, I heard you. We need to go back there.”
I blinked. “...Why?”
“Because we let them live, and I’m currently having second thoughts about that.”
“They’re that bad?”
Reika folded her arms. “One of the Tails of Orochi killed my father.”
“Okay, that’s bad. But that’s one bad person, are they all—”
“The Tails of Orochi are dragon hunters. They kill us, then they eat us, because apparently that can make a person more powerful. That’s not a one-person problem. That’s the whole point of their organization. Killing and eating dragons.”
I paused, considering. “Admittedly, that does sound pretty bad.”
“Yeah.” Reika nodded. “It’s awful. They’re awful. Now, let’s find ourselves another meal, then I’ll fly us back there to finish what they started.”
I raised my hands in a slowing gesture. “A couple problems with that.”
Reika wrinkled her nose. “I’m listening.”
“One, they’re probably long gone.”
“I can probably find their camp from the air. Next issue.”
“Two, I’m not in any condition to fight right now. I realize you’re not used to injuries, but it can take months for people to recover from injuries like mine. At a minimum, I’d need about a week to get to the point where they’re not going to reopen from slight exertion.”
Reika stomped her foot, clenching her fists. “Fine. I get it. I’ll go by myself. Just make us a camp here or something.”
“Wait. They mentioned a leader, and seemed to think he was stronger than the rest of them. If they fled, they might have gone back to him.”
Reika took a breath. “Raizo? Was it Raizo?”
I shook my head. “It was...Zen something? Zenkichi?”
“One of the other Tails.” She tensed her jaw. “That’s...not good news. Zenkichi is a full-blooded descendant of the hydra.”
“The hydra?” I processed that. “You mean the God Hydra? Is that why they call themselves the Tails of Orochi? They have actual hydra members?”
Reika nodded. “Not all of them, of course. But all of the eight current ‘Tails’ should be at least partially hydra-blooded, and Zenkichi is supposedly pure.” She punched a nearby tree, shaking loose a peculiar fruit. We both ignored it. “I don’t think I can beat him on my own. Hydras, dragons, and serpents are all related. And we all get much, much stronger with age. Zenkichi is hundreds of years old.”
“Then I’ll help you fight him. After I’ve recovered.”
She turned to me, her eyes locking onto mine. “You promise?”
“As long as I’m physically with you and capable, yes, I’ll help you fight Zenkichi.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Fine. But we may not get another chance if we let him escape right now.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be an issue, because I don’t think they’re trying to escape. That group of Tails found us in the middle of nowhere. They also demanded Dawnbringer before we started the fight. I’m pretty sure they’re following us.”
“Oh.” Reika took a breath. “That...explains a lot, actually. I think I need to sit down.”
She sat down. I sat down next to her.
“So, I, uh, obviously wasn’t Dawnbringer’s first guardian.”
I nodded. “Sure. She’s been around a long time.”
“Her last guardian was my fathe
r, Akoji. He’d been her guardian for over a hundred years by the time I was born. He was a powerful dragon. He’d traveled the world in his youth, and learned many things. He took good care of me and taught me a lot. Things about the world, how to read and speak in a few languages, and some of what my responsibilities would be when I took his place.”
I thought to ask about her mother, but I figured she’d tell me if she wanted to.
“Anyway,” she continued, “You’ve seen how guardians have to challenge anyone who seeks out Dawnbringer. Well, when I was about eight, a terrible man came to the Whispering Woods. He ignored the traditional challenges, flying straight to the glade where Dawnbringer was sleeping. And so, my father went to meet him.”
I didn’t feel like this was a good time to point out the fact that I didn’t care much for the arbitrary nature of the challenges myself.
“I followed, to watch, as I usually did. There weren’t many challenges, and I was excited to see my father do his duty. I knew I’d have to do it myself one day.”
I nodded in understanding.
Reika continued. “My father told the man that he needed to go and complete the challenges properly. The stranger refused. He said that Dawnbringer was meant to be with him, and that my father had no right to keep them apart. My father said that someone who demanded Dawnbringer would never earn the right to wield her. The stranger was enraged. He attacked my father, slashing him across the eyes in an instant.”
Reika went silent for a moment. I gave her the time she needed.
“...My father fought back, of course. He was a dragon in his prime, a force of nature. But he’d been in his human form to talk, almost defenseless. And even when he changed to his winged form, he remained blind. The stranger struck with power that shook the forest like thunder, and when it ended, my father laid still at Dawnbringer’s side.”
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head.
“I screamed when I saw what had happened to my father. The stranger turned and saw me for the first time. When I charged at him, he lifted a hand, and the winds carried me like a feather. He pinned me, helpless, up against a tree. And he said, ‘You’re far too young to be a threat to me. I am Raizo, of the Tails of Orochi. Remember me. Grow. And when you are worthy, I’ll answer your challenge.’ I struggled, but I couldn’t move. But my father could.”