The other half of the afternoon was spent meditating. Liu-Ken continued to read and reread the book and the manuscripts with the worn-out, yellow pages, and a few folded corners.
"She’s trying. Do you think she'll be able to do it in time?" Kagu asked him, his voice resounding throughout Liu’s body.
"I have no idea and it is my fault. I should have started training her earlier, but Bardolph stopped me. He said he didn't want her to have the same life that his son had had. How could I go against the wishes of her grandparents?" Liu-Ken asked Kagu, "They didn't even want to tell her that they were his real grandparents. They were ashamed of the path his son had taken and they even blamed themselves. The last time I saw them was 10 years ago and they were very explicit when they told me they wouldn't make the same mistake twice," he said.
"I understand you. You, humans, still get overwhelmed by emotions. If the boy is not ready for the bloody moon, he will die," Kagu said, the same thick voice as always. The ring shone, the purple light reflecting on Liu's white robe. "When are you going to tell her the truth?”
"When she manages to have the black chi under control and raise two or three undead."
"You have to keep her on our side. Yin cannot get her hands on her. Not after what happened last time," Kagu told him and sighed deeply, "life was easier when I lived in heaven, even if I was locked up. It’s someone's fault for invoking me a millennium ago. Ever since then. I've been bouncing from one hand to another, and, truth be told, not everyone who dared to wield me has earned my respect. But both you and Aurora's father deserved my respect. I will support the girl when the time comes. I will also die for her if needed. It doesn't mean that I support her vendetta."
"She is still young. The anger will eventually fade away. At least I believe so," Liu-Ken said and looked straight into the sun's remains. In a curved shape, a yellow light survived behind some clouds that didn't seem to bode well, "It looks like it's going to rain. Maybe tomorrow we should take the opportunity to see if she can raise one of the dead again," he said.
"You can feel it, can't you?"
"Her chi? Yes. It's growing. She's trying to contain it."
"She's doing it. That's not the problem. It is knowing whether she is relying on her good or bad thoughts. You know the difference between fighting on behalf of each one."
"Yes, I do. I've seen what anger and love do to people. Love is long-lasting, prevails to the last breath, and anger is momentary, an attack doomed to settle the battle, no matter which way it is," Liu-Ken said and looked at the ring. "You are usually not this chatty.”
"Being in that filthy casket for almost twenty years is exhausting," Kagu replied, "Even if time passes differently for me, I was made to fight. It's on the battlefield, among those who give their lives, that I was meant to be," Kagu said.
"Do you still blame yourself? I know I shouldn't ask a deity this, but I can't help but wonder how you feel about it. I blame myself for letting my partner go to the battlefield alone. I should have been there, even if it was my last day on earth," he said.
"For my mother? For burning her when I was born? I couldn't see it coming. I could not control myself. I was a passive agent in what happened. My father, Izanagi, cut me into eight pieces. Each of them became a volcano and my blood gave rise to my brothers who still patrol their areas today. That is why I always ask you not to enter into water with me. I feel watched. But that doesn't matter now. The night is coming. How long will she stay there?"
"I understand you. I'm sorry. I have no idea. But as long as she's in control, I see no problem," Liu replied.
The flute was still on the table, on the crease between two pages, now serving as a bookmark. The crickets’ whistle grew under the last flashes of light. A white dot arose amidst the nocturnal mysticism.
They did not dine. Aurora got up from the rock two hours after sunset. It was already 10 PM.
Troops marched on their way to the fishing town. The leader of the Kaji School had heard the reports firsthand and hastened to send a legion with more than a hundred Level Three soldiers. No longer would he let a necromancer survive long enough to jeopardize everything he had built and achieved. He had spent his days running around, shouting at all his subordinates, drinking alcohol until he could not stand up, and had to be carried to bed.
He still remembered what had happened last time. The secret that made his heart scarce, burning it slowly, rotting with fear that someone would discover it. The truth about how he had let his father die at the hands of the necromancer, only having intervened afterward. It was that night, the hellish night as it was known to all, that he became the leader of the Kaji School and was anointed as the necromancer's killer. Only Amaterasu, the sun goddess, knew the truth. She had backed him in his decision in exchange for a pavilion where her believers could pray and offer their sacrifices.
Exactly across the continent, a boy and a girl, both of whom had black robes covering their entire bodies and faces, departed from the temple where they had spent the last nineteen years. The cult leader had placed on their arms the mission for which they had trained all their lives; to carry the necromancer to glory by whatever means necessary.
Chapter 17
Aurora had trained every day; from fencing to hand-to-hand combat, to gathering chi in one chosen body part, as well as the relieving of that same black chi and the seizing of the surrounding mana.
They did not attempt to raise one of the dead before reaching the last day. The ninth day. The clock pointers, throughout the house, rose a tone. The wind blew harder. A couple of the leaves in the forest were already air-dancing, their bodies of orange and yellow hues, resting on the ground. Every unidentified noise: a tree whose trunks trembled for a few seconds more, a flock of birds that left towards the horizon, all left them nervous, an extra layer of ever-present attention.
"Today is the day," Liu-Ken said. It was 9:00 in the morning and the two of them were already in the garden. It was colder than usual and the hairs on the back of their heads were lifted, "the day when you raise a body. We have been training for this."
"I'm ready. I will not fail this time. I can manipulate chi the way I want," Aurora replied.
"Don't get too cocky. Your training has just begun. You still have a lot to learn," Liu-Ken responded, getting a grunt in return. "Let's start with a quick practice," he added and threw one of the swords.
Aurora caught it up in the air and flung herself at the mentor. She was faster, stronger, and sharper. The swords crashed into each other and the metal sparks sprinkled onto the pebbles. The thundering, repetitive echoes frightened the birds on the riverside tree. Aurora proceeded to maneuver the sword, striking non-stop, not allowing Liu-Ken to breathe. The man backed down, one step at a time, deflecting all attacks with ease.
"The best defense is the attack," Aurora said, as her right arm swung, spinning, attacking, trying to find a breach in Liu's defense.
"I see you really liked that book. However, it is time to end this. Let us see if your defense is any good," Liu warned her.
Aurora witnessed the whole moment in slow-motion; the gray edge of the sword in a horizontal position, dropping close to the mentor's face, revealing a small, short, smile in the corner of his lips.
Liu-Ken rushed off like a bullet. His feet hovered above the ground, his hands swung at a dizzying speed, almost impossible to perceive. Aurora prevailed attack after attack even though she did not know where the sword was coming from. She could only glimpse one dozen arms and a dozen swords, all moving at the same time, from upper to lower and to the sides, as Liu-Ken whirled through the air, his body being one with the Dao. Liu's skin sweated, glowing, his sleeves rolling down to his elbow with each rapid movement.
"Damn it. You were hiding all this," Aurora said, panting, her fingertips clenched around the sword finally slackening off.
"I warned you. You still have a lot to learn," he said.
Aurora's instincts had prevailed and that was the only reason she had
managed to endure. She had decided not to use chi throughout the battle. She wanted to beat her master with only her base strength. However, within a minute, she was on the edge of the creek, one step away from falling into the water. The sole of her shoe brushed against the pebbles separating the soil from the water. Sweat ran down her forehead. The weakened sun arose behind some gray clouds, the few rays of light that remained over their bodies, only half the edges of the swords showing up on their sides. Liu-Ken struck a sharp blow to Aurora's sword handle and it leaped from her hands, the sharp part burying itself in the ground, meters away from her.
Liu-Ken lowered his sword and Aurora sighed with relief. As she was distracted, she did not even see her mentor's opposite hand rising. Liu put two fingers on Aurora's chest and shoved her. The girl ended up sinking into the creek.
"I'm glad you're having fun," Aurora said, as soon as she got out of the water and noticed that Liu had already sat on one of the chairs next to the table. "Can we get down to business?
"Not yet. I want to try something new. A visualization technique. Climb the rock. Meditate, get your chi under control and think about the future you want for yourself. Illustrate it in your own way. Once you feel you are ready, get up, and try to raise one of the dead."
"Do we have time for that?" Aurora asked, her eyes on the forest. She too felt the danger approaching, a ticking time bomb about to explode.
"Yes, we should have at least one more day. Tomorrow morning, we leave for the nearest town," he replied.
"Is there a purpose?"
"Yes. I'll be training you on the way. We must go to the Mizu School, the water element school.”
"It's your element, isn't it? Is that why you can't use Kagu's power to the fullest?"
"You've been paying attention. Yes, it's my element. I know someone there who might be able to shelter us for a few days. At least, until we prepare our next move," Liu-Ken replied and paused, "Yes, too. But not only that. Not everyone can control the full power of a deity. I don't have the innate talent for it, let alone a body that can resist or suck the mana around fast enough to survive. Your father did. He controlled fire and darkness. His body had been shaped in the great volcanoes, from east to west, where he spent a season alone, in reflection. It was in one of them that he found this ring. The previous owner had grown tired of not being able to create a connection with the divinity and left it there. Later, he was murdered. Karma does not forgive those who dare to disrespect a god. But it doesn't matter anymore. Let's not waste any time. Do as you're told," he said.
Aurora's climbed back on the rock. Her frustration grew. She wanted to implement all the training she had had and finally raise one of the dead soldiers. It was her last attempt and there was no room for failure. She sat down, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes.
“A visualization technique…” she thought, “I know exactly what I want to see,”
Chapter 18
A spark was all it took for geometric forms and curve-shaped shadows to emerge in Aurora's mind. It took some time for everything to click into place: people bleeding from their mouths, traces of dark spittle creeping down their chins. She was on top of a mountain, hundreds of warriors fallen on the ground. She stared at a soldier as he crawled, trying to escape, his fingers digging into the earth. An unfathomable fog acted as a dome around him.
Next to Aurora, two undead, both with a sword in each hand, roared fiercely before throwing themselves at the soldier. They had no skin and their bones tumbled at every step. A deadly symphony, the climax drawing closer to the infamous soldier. They reached him and flipped him over. He had elegant robes, even if dirty, covered with earth and blood, the yellow of the golden lapels distinguishing him from the black of the other soldiers.
"Don't think that the Kaji School will fall along with me. We will rise again," he shouted, spattering his red robe.
The man had no face. Where it should be, there was only a double-eyed balloon and a mouth drawn with the tip of a thin feather. Aurora walked up to him. Both dead men had their skeletal feet on top of his robe, preventing him from fleeing. Both had traces and skin patches all over their bodies. One of them handed the sword to Aurora. The girl held it. She lifted it above her head, holding it with both hands, gathering the necessary courage to sink it in the dantian of the man before her. Even though he had no face, Aurora knew who he was. He was the Kaji School leader.
However, a familiar voice, stemming from the fog, made itself heard.
"Is that what you want for yourself?" It was her adopted father's voice, Bardolph. "Is that what I taught you? To punish those who claim for themselves the life they have always wanted because they do not know any better?”
"No," Aurora murmured. "You taught me to forgive, to give them a chance, and only then punish them if they didn't learn from it."
"I knew you wouldn't forget. I've always been very proud of you and I still am, no matter where I am or what you do. Go ahead, keep working hard and you'll get what you want. What you do then is up to you," the voice said. "I have to go now. We will be watching you in this life and the next."
Aurora stared at the sword again. A myriad of sand and blood permeated the air. Her fingers were covered in murky blood. She shouted so loudly that waves of dust swept over the top of the mountain. The black chi honed the air around her. She threw her sword to the ground. It bounced back twice, raising a brownish dust wall around her.
She knelt beside the faceless man. Tears filled her face. She grabbed the man by his collar and punched him in the mouth, cutting off his lip. The blood flowed down his chin as Aurora's fists trembled.
"This is not what I want to be. This is not what I was taught. I learned that I should always fight for others. My revenge will be to end his reign so that others will not have to go through what I have experienced," Aurora whispered.
"What if to achieve that goal you have to stain the earth with blood?" a female voice said. A thunderstorm blew the sky in half, striking a spot within meters of Aurora. When the fog dispersed, Yin's mystical form was there. The force was so overwhelming that not only did Aurora find it difficult to get up, to speak, but black pulses swayed across the entire field. "Don't be surprised at my power. When we first met, I was in poor physical form, but here, within you, I have access to most of my potential, including the one that is hidden in the deepest corners of your dantian. Dao is waiting for you, girl. You can't run away from your destiny."
Aurora didn't answer right away. The more she watched Yin, the more she feared her. Her feet and arms were still just manifestations of black chi stretching and diminishing at her thoughts. She hovered upon the ground, this time being possible to see two thin features acting as a mouth, sometimes opening, sometimes closing, and unveiling endless darkness. She also had two creamy white eyes. They seemed to pierce through the soul to see beneath the mask that one could have for pure protection.
"I will find a solution. And..." Aurora said, pausing for a few seconds, raising her gaze, and facing Yin, "And if I have to, I will kill whoever stands in front of me. I am not naive. I know I cannot defeat Kaji School without killing, without blood...without people on my side. I won't do it alone, but I won't do it with you," she replied, twitching her face, a wrinkled line popping up on her forehead, branching out in both directions.
"Foolish. And where do you think you will get the power to fight those who dominate both chi and mana across miles? And how?" she asked, her voice rough, angry at being challenged.
Aurora, for the first time since the massacre, smiled out of happiness, "To the fondest memories," she said and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, she was at the front door of the house where she had grown up. A parade of people, young friends, and old acquaintances walked down the dirt road paved by their ancestors. Everyone smiled back, waving, saying goodbye, and thank you. The lake shone, stained with white, an exact reflection of the clouds above.
"Come in," a boy with long wavy blonde hair, green eye
s, and a contagious smile said, pointing to the house’s wooden door.
She opened it and found herself in the Genkan, the place that stands one step below the main entrance. She took off her shoes and placed them in her small closet. She walked down the corridor covered in aged yellow Tatami, made of pressed rice straw covered with reed mat and side strip, barefoot, until she reached the large room where they used to eat.
Her adoptive parents were sitting on the floor, their legs crossed, waiting for her. Even though they didn't have all their teeth, and the ones they still had were already yellow, they didn't stop smiling the whole time. They ate in silence as usual.
Only by the end, did her adoptive mother broke the silence, "Are you ready? I'm sorry we didn't tell you the truth."
"It's okay. It's okay. You couldn't have predicted that we were going to be attacked. I'm not upset. Not anymore. But I won't let this happen to anyone else again. Someone has to stop them."
"You remind me of your father, you know? Always bursting with courage, looking for a solution to every problem, wanting to help everyone even if he had to place his body on the line," Bardolph told her, "Do it but do it a bit at a time. Don’t rush it. Train, train every day, train even when you think it's no longer necessary. We will meet in another life and I hope that by then the world will already be different, that the Kaji School will no longer exist," he said.
"I'm gonna make it. I can feel it. Thank you for everything," Aurora said, and with her damp cheeks, she hugged both her adoptive parents tightly, not wanting to let them go.
Within seconds, they began to fade and the wooden structure, bound by beams and ropes, crumbled to dust. A tornado of dust, bones, familiar faces, swirled around Aurora, the girl as the epicenter. She plummeted into darkness and woke up moments before hitting rock bottom.
Awakening: (The Necromancer's Legacy Book 1) Page 7