Immortal Swordslinger 3

by Dante King

“The Pathless are locals. They might know what plants and animals are available, and they can certainly provide more hands for the work. I bet they’re dying to get out of this fortress, too. A little break would do them some good. Why don’t you take some of them with you and see what food you can gather?”

  “It’s a good idea, but we might need a guard. After all, this valley is turning into a war zone.”

  “And who would you like as a guard?” I raised a mocking eyebrow. I had a good idea what the answer would be.

  She smiled. “I can’t think of anyone better than you.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Unlike me and Kumi, Shadiy knew the Pathless she’d been imprisoned with, both from their time in the cells and before. She picked out those who could fish and forage for food to come with us on our expedition.

  They gathered in the courtyard, ready and eager to help. I was surprised at the energy and enthusiasm they showed after living for so long at the mercy of the Unswerving Shadows’ guards.

  “This is our chance to do something,” Shadiy said. “To improve our own lives again instead of being passive and confined. This doesn’t feel like work so much as a taste of freedom.”

  Reluctantly, I held up a long coil of rope that I’d found in one of the storage rooms.

  “I’m sorry to do this to you, but would you be willing to play the part of prisoners, just for a little longer?”

  Several of the Pathless stepped back and glared at me through narrowed eyes. They started muttering to each other.

  Shadiy held up a hand. “Let the Swordslinger explain. I’m sure he has a good reason.”

  “Thank you.” I held out the rope for them to see. “I don’t want to imprison you again, but I don’t want to draw the Cult down on your heads again either. If you’re seen walking freely out of the fortress, then the guards on the city walls might realize that something is amiss.

  “Kumi and I will pretend to be guards taking you out into the Vigorous Zone,” I continued. “We’ll bind your hands loosely so that you can get out any time you want, but people watching from a distance won’t be able to tell. As soon as you’re out of sight of the city, you can free yourselves. Does that sound okay?”

  A man furiously shook his head. The experience of imprisonment had been too much for him, and he couldn’t face even feigning captivity. The rest stepped forward, some more reluctantly than others, and let us bind their hands.

  As well as our string of pretend prisoners, we had a cart pulled by a horse that Elorinelle had found in the fortress’ small stables. We were mostly bringing it to carry back whatever food we gathered, but I was also aware that the Pathless were malnourished, and some might not be capable of the walk ahead. If their strength gave in, we would have a way to bring them safely home.

  Still wearing the clan soldier uniforms and turbans that we’d used to enter the fortress, Kumi and I led our procession out of the gates and down the road into the valley. If we were even observed from the city, then they clearly bought our sham. We headed along the dirt trail, dust rising from our footsteps and the wheels of our cart, and out into the Vigorous Zone.

  I had expected the weariness of our companions to slow us down, but it seemed that freedom was the panacea they needed. In the end, the horse cart was the slowest and set our pace as we trotted into the wilds.

  By the time we reached the edge of the boneyard, the Pathless had untied themselves, and the rope lay coiled in the back of the cart. We were too far away now from anyone from the city walls to see what was happening, even if it weren’t for the dust cloud raised by our passing.

  Our journey was remarkably clear of monsters as well as warriors, despite traveling through a chunk of the Vigorous Zone. It was only at the edge of the boneyard that I saw the first signs of life. Something was stirring on one of the cairns.

  “Hold here,” I said to the others. “I’ll take a closer look.”

  I walked toward the cairn with my sword raised. At first, it looked like one of the ancient rocks had stirred to life and was trying to get away. When I looked more closely, I realized that it was some sort of giant insect, nearly as long as my arm. Its body was covered with thick, chitinous plates the color and texture of worn granite, giving it the appearance of a massive carved beetle the size of an average human. Four pairs of clawed legs emerged from beneath the shell, and a pair of razor-sharp mandibles protruded from the front of its head.

  “It’s a scarrick beetle,” Shadiy called out from near the cart. “Be careful; they normally move in packs.”

  Another beetle emerged around the cairn, and the two of them advanced toward me. I heard a skittering noise as three more scurried out behind them.

  The first beetle lunged at me, mandibles raised. I dodged and swung the Sundered Heart. The sword blow knocked the beetle across the ground but didn’t penetrate its sturdy shell; it barely showed a scratch.

  “You protect the Pathless!” I called out to Kumi. “I’ll deal with these.”

  The beetles were swift and agile, darting around me on their insectile legs. I dipped into my pool of Vigor, and the ground beneath the beetles softened before their legs sank into the Mud Entrapment.

  A beetle outside the patch of mud charged me, mandibles raised, while the others struggled against the clinging goop. As the beetle reached me, I brought my sword around in an underarm swing. The sword didn’t pierce its armor, but the force of the blow sent it flying. It landed with a splat in the mud, its belly exposed to the sky.

  I brought the Sundered heart down on the creature’s belly. Flesh gave way beneath the flaming blade, and guts oozed out, revealing a magical core hidden within. I grinned at the prospect of acquiring a new power, but there wasn’t time for that yet. First, I had to deal with the other beetles.

  Slowly but persistently, the creatures were dragging themselves out of the mud. I drew the Depthless Dream Trident and raised it high above my head. I sent a surge of water magic through it, the power of the tide adding to my own strength. The weapon’s prongs glowed a bright azure as I slammed it down against a scarrick beetle. Chitinous plates cracked, and the creature lay skewered on the end of my weapon.

  From there, it was easy to deal with the remaining beetles. I circled them while they were trapped in mud and dealt with each before it could spring free.

  “Your new abilities are most impressive,” Kumi said as she approached the mud. “It seems that the desert is good for you.”

  “This technique is as much water as earth. I owe it to you and your people.”

  “I’ll make sure to claim the debt.” She smiled and looked at me from between lowered lashes.

  The Pathless approached, bringing the cart with them. They looked at me in awe.

  “You made that look easy,” Shadiy said. “I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”

  Others in the group were muttering about the Swordslinger and openly staring at me and my weapons.

  “Just doing what I had to to keep you all safe,” I said, but that did nothing to change the way they looked at me.

  With help from Kumi and Shadiy, I retrieved the bodies of the scarrick beetles from the mud, opened them up, and retrieved the cores. I absorbed them and felt their power join my existing channels, but they weren’t enough to learn a new skill. I figured I could come back later to farm beetles to master a new technique; for now, I’d focus on getting to the fishing spot.

  With our path clear, we continued between the cairns and across the boneyard. This was apparently familiar territory to the Pathless, as none of them seemed in the least bit unsettled by the strange landscape with pale bones protruding from the dirt. We walked toward the cliffs at the back of the boneyard as the cart rattled along beside us.

  At the base of the cliffs, we stopped while Kumi used Ganyir’s directions to find the place she was after. It proved to be a larger cave than the one where the initiates and I had taken shelter. It had enough space to comfortably fit the cart a
s well as all the Pathless. I tethered the horse at the side of the cave, gave him some oats and water, then got ready to go deeper in.

  I took torches from the cart and shared them among the Pathless. I lit Shadiy’s with a small burst of Untamed Torch, and she used her own to ignite the others. An orange, flickering glow filled the back of the cave as we approached the passage beyond.

  The entrance was narrow and low enough that I had to duck to get through, but then the space opened up around us. Away from the bright sunlight and barren desert of the Gonki Valley, I found a cool breeze playing unexpectedly across my skin.

  “I can feel it,” Kumi said. “The call of the water.”

  She led the way, hips swaying as she followed her nature deeper into the caves. After a few minutes, winding tunnels gave way to a vast cavern.

  The light of our torches danced against pale walls and reflected off pools of clear water. Streams ran through a series of openings around the sides of the cave, cascaded down well-worn channels, and fell into pools at different levels across the tiered rock floor. From those pools, they flowed back together, then ran out at the far end in a pair of rivers wide enough to be swum rather than forded.

  The pools were mostly lined with smoothly worn stone, but the ground around them was littered with sand. We thrust the bases of our torches into the sand and approached the pools.

  Beneath the surface, I could make out the silvery shapes of fish. They drifted slowly around each other, occasionally darting into action to flit away as something moved nearby. The pools were huge, and each one was full of the creatures, as well as thick strands of the weeds.

  I smile crossed my face. “I have an idea.”

  I stood at the side of the pool and held out my hands. I closed my eyes and channeled Crashing Wave technique. When I opened my eyes, the previously still waters were moving, flowing back and forth in mounting waves. I sent those waves back and forth, rising in size, until they were a good five feet high. Then, I brought one crashing down on the shore. The fish in the water were left stranded on the bank, and the Pathless rushed to retrieve them.

  “This certainly makes fishing easier,” Shadiy said as she gathered the fish.

  I shrugged. “I never liked waiting around all day with a rod, waiting for something to nibble.”

  Kumi stood beside me and looked into the next pool over. She swayed her body, accentuating her wonderful curves, and chanted the Song of the Sea. Trails of water rose from the pool and dropped fish straight into the hands of the waiting Pathless.

  “You’ve got a more delicate touch than me,” I said.

  “True,” Kumi responded. “But sometimes, it’s good to be firm. And there’s a power and rhythm to your technique that I like.”

  “I aim to please.”

  “Believe me, you succeed.”

  We smiled at each other, and my pulse ran faster. Her song filled me with desire as she bent the waters to her will.

  “This reminds me of when we first got to know each other properly,” I said. “Exploring the marshes outside Qihin City.”

  “That was a good day,” she said. “And not just for what we did in the bathhouse afterward. It’s a good thing there are no eligible young women out here; they’d be drawn to you as surely as I was.”

  I laughed. “You did say that the Swordslinger should have lots of wives.”

  “Only if he’s willing to take care of their needs. Otherwise, it would be a tragic waste.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t want that to happen.”

  By now, we had piles of fish on the banks. Some of the Pathless were gathering them in sacks while others collected the arid bushes growing by the banks of the streams. They dug fire pits in the sand and heaped the broken bushes into them.

  “We would be honored if you would light our fires, Swordslinger,” Shadiy said.

  I let the fire flow through me, then launched small Untamed Torches into the heaps of fuel. Each one burst into flames, and the Pathless applauded. There was a wonder in their eyes, as if their freedom was only now becoming real.

  “Thank you, Swordslinger,” Shadiy said.

  The Pathless slid the fish onto sharpened sticks and started cooking them over the fires. We still had plenty more to bring back with us inside the cart, but they seemed like they were enjoying their time out here. I figured we could spare a few hours while these former prisoners exercised their newfound freedom.

  I looked for Kumi and saw her disappearing around a corner of the cave. I followed, curious to see what had drawn her away.

  She stood at the edge of a pool, unfastening the guard’s robes she was disguised in. They fell to the floor, revealing her more familiar and far more revealing clothes beneath.

  “I thought that I might go for a swim.” She removing her bodice. I smiled at the sight of her round breasts, their full glory released. “To reconnect with the water. Would you like to come?”

  Her mouth hitched up in a smile that hinted at all that phrase could mean.

  “I definitely would,” I said.

  I removed my own disguise and the layers of clothing beneath. By the time I was half done, Kumi was fully naked and sliding into the water. I hurriedly pulled off my pants and splashed in to join her.

  We swam across a wide pool of cool, refreshing water. It carried off the layers of sweat and desert sand that had been clinging to me for days. I felt cleaner than I had since we’d arrived in Gonki.

  I sank fully into the water, letting it wash all my cares away. The war for the valley, the quest to become Swordslinger. . . these were distant concerns for another day. Here and now, there was only me and the water and Kumi.

  She led the way down the length of the pool and into a channel beyond. The light from the torches was only the faintest glow now, but I could make out her shoulders and arms as she propelled herself forward with easy grace, the braids of hair trailing behind, the splash of her feet as they broke the surface.

  At a bend in the channel, Kumi stopped and crawled out onto a smooth, flat rock. I followed and lay down beside her, our bodies an inch apart.

  “So, Swordslinger,” she whispered in the darkness. “I believe I’m owed some marital rights.”

  “Is that so?” I ran my hands up her body and followed them with my mouth. Her breathing grew deep and throaty as I kissed my way up her legs, lingered for a moment at her center, then went on across her flat stomach and the mounds of her breasts. I kissed her on the neck, across the chin, and finally on the lips. She pulled me in close, our tongues tangling in a moment of deep, unquenchable passion.

  Kumi rolled onto her side, exposing her back to me. I kissed her shoulders and ran my fingers down her spine. She gasped and arched her body. One of her hands came back and took hold of me, working with steady strokes to build up my excitement, while I slid a hand around and stroked her breasts, teasing each nipple in turn.

  She pressed back against me, and I slid inside, our bodies joining at last. I let out my own gasp as a wave of pleasure washed over me.

  We moved against each other as the waves washed against the shore, a steady, mounting rhythm. At times, I would surge harder against her or she would pull me in deeper, like a tide dragging a sailor out to sea, and the two of us moaned together in delight. The water rose up in spiraling tendrils, responding to Kumi’s pleasured gasps.

  With one arm, I pulled her close against me while my other hand ran up and down her, touching every inch of her body, lingering on those places that made the breath catch in her throat and caused her to press that much harder against me.

  “The water,” she murmured. “I want you in the water.”

  I drew away from her, my whole body still tingling from her touch, and slid into the pool. Kumi followed, then pressed me back onto the bank so that I lay submerged up to my chest, with smooth and well-worn stone beneath me.

  Kumi straddled and then sank onto me, joining our bodies together once more. She leaned in close, her breasts pressing against my chest, an
d kissed me hard. Her hands took mine, fingers interlaced, and squeezed them tight.

  She rose and fell on me, my ocean princess, and the water moved with her. Waves lapped in time with our pleasure, and the pool moved around us until it seemed like there was nothing but us and this moment we were losing ourselves in.

  Kumi arched her body and flung her head back. She gasped and groaned, unable to contain herself any longer, and tightened around me.

  “My Swordslinger!” she exclaimed. “Oh Ethan!”

  The water glistened around us, as though every drop was a shining diamond. I sat up, our bodies still entwined, my pleasure mounting. I kissed her on the breasts, on the lips, wrapped my hands around her and took hold of her firm curves. The waves around us grew higher and faster in time to her movements, played out to the tempo of her deep breaths.

  At last, my own wave reached its peak. Every nerve blazed with delight as I gave in to it. I clutched her tight, the two of us panting and dripping in the shallows of the pool.

  She slid off me, and we lay back in the water, our arms wrapped around each other. “If I ever had doubts about leaving Qihin behind, that has dispelled them.”

  “Do you regret it?” I asked. “It’s a big step, leaving behind your family and the whole life you once knew.”

  “I miss it,” she admitted. “The city, its people, especially my father. But I always wanted to travel further, to move freely through the world like the water does in the oceans, to flow past the banks of the pool I once called home. Joining the Swordslinger on his path wasn’t something I ever expected, but I can’t think of a better way to do it.”

  “Even though you’ve been brought to a land that’s almost all dry?”

  “Even with that. It’s hard to use my powers in Gonki, but it’s worth it to do the right thing for the world. And moments like this make up for it.”

  She leaned over and kissed me on the lips while the waters surged around us.

  “How about you?” she asked. “You are a very long way from your home. Don’t you miss it?”