“Are they all right?” she asked.
“Sleep spell,” I answered, doing my utmost to move my lips without moving my jaw. “Or maybe drugged. Is it only you?”
“No, there are others. I’m sorry, Lady Du came as well.”
“It’s fine.” On to the fourth lock.
“Kazuhiko’s group saw two bandits heading my way. They killed one. The other surrendered. They made noise, so we came to see if we somehow betrayed your position. It was about time we checked anyway, though it appears you did not need the aid. Are you wounded?”
“Nothing too serious. Get some villagers to carry these people out of here.”
As Mae went up the ramp, another woman came down it. Kiku daintily skipped over some of the dead bodies to get to me. She leaned on a column as she watched me finish up unlocking all the occupied cages.
“You did well, dragon knight.”
I pointed at my neck. “How does it look?”
She grimaced, though not in genuine revulsion. I’m sure she had seen worse. “Ouch. That’s the darkest red I’ve ever seen. It is kinda dark in here, though. You okay?”
“My jaw might have a crack in it, or at least a bad bone bruise, but I don’t think it’s dislocated or anything.”
“Poor baby.”
“Not now, Kiku.”
“I was talking about the child.”
I turned to see the boy squirming in his enclosure. “The spell is wearing off.”
Kiku squatted to get a better look at the sleepers. “Hmm, these four are wearing better clothes than the other two.”
“So?”
“The four must have come from the carriages, but four isn’t enough to explain two carriages.” She stood back up. “I bet there are a few more victims in the other tunnels we passed.”
“Women.”
“Aye. Slavers like to keep the pretty ones for themselves. Have you looked into any of these other tunnels?”
“No. I do know a slaver escaped up that northern one.”
“So more can come at any time. Hey, where’s your sword? Can’t defend me without a proper weapon.”
She had a point. I had her gather some of the weapons nearby to choose from. Since most of my experience came with a longsword, I ended up being partial to the double-edge sword that failed to stab me. Its hilt was not well-suited for two-handed use and the round crossguard could have been larger, but I didn’t have to waste time mastering techniques more compatible with single-edged, curved, or blunt designs. Kiku untied its associated sheath and I had a new sword at my side.
It took longer than I thought for Mae to return with three villagers. Mae explained that the delay came from Kazuhiko and others finding a room of seven women shackled to the floor and walls. Presumably due to their recent capture, two of the women looked relatively unharmed, but the other five had clearly been subjected to daily cruelty. A couple of the villagers had to be spared to take the brutalized women out of the tunnels.
A self-righteous pleasure cheered me up knowing I killed many of their abusers. A fleeting feeling, however, for what did I expect to happen? I bore no power to make them forget the horrors they would undoubtedly relive for the rest of their lives. And unless they could offer me a way to summon a dragon, no reward could mollify me. They would show me gratitude and I would accept their kind words and nothing more. I did not want to get the chance to engage in such futile interactions.
While I contemplated the limits of how much I could help people, I moved to pick up the boy. If I recovered a third of my prana I would have had the strength to bear the heaviest of humans, but in my current state, the boy would have to do. Kiku and Mae carried a youth a bit younger than I, two villagers took it upon themselves to take the fat woman, and the heartiest villager picked up a man around my age. That left an elder and a middle-aged man in their cages. With heavy arms and heavier hearts we hoped that we would come back to find them untouched.
Like a sleeping dog or cat, the boy fidgeted in his sleep repeatedly. Unlike a natural sleep, the bumpy journey through the tunnel did not stir him out of his involuntary slumber. What did make him moan and writhe was hearing his mother’s voice. I met her near the room I killed the first two slavers. She looked to be as torpid as a human could, yet her spirits lifted to alarmed joy the instant she saw her son. I held no impulse to win a tug-of-war bout against the mother, so I handed her the child when she reached out for him.
From the room, Kazuhiko heard the little shriek the mother made and asked whether everything was all right. The villagers informed him what happened. I entered the room to see a bent over Kazuhiko holding a lantern by the crevice. The straw had been piled on top of the dead men to presumably hide them from more sensitive eyes. Kazuhiko aided the villagers in getting the unconscious people through the exit. Too tired to go back and carry an adult, I sat on a stool and dedicated this time to recuperate further.
When Mae and some of the villagers went back to get the last two victims, Kazuhiko asked me, “Is what they claim true? You killed a whole cavern full of slavers?”
Not bothering opening my eyes, I said, “I tricked the slavers into fighting the Fadraeesa. That did much of the work.”
“Well, however you did it, it’s most impressive. People often like to embellish their stories in whatever tavern they’re in, so I feared Lady Du misplaced her coin trusting only a single bodyguard to protect her in her travels. However, it’s now obvious she invested wisely. I suspect you’ll be defending royalty soon. I’ll be sure to reward you the best I can once we get back to the village.”
“A bed for a night, food for the road, a little tobacco, and someone to mend my clothes will be all I need. Anything more will be unnecessary and rejected.”
“I’ll accept more,” said Kiku.
“We’ll talk about it.”
Kiku tapped her jaw. “We’ll see.”
Several minutes later saw the reappearance of a sprinting villager. He said the rest were not far behind, but before they left the chamber, they thought they heard people coming down the northern tunnel. Kazuhiko and I took it upon ourselves to guard the passage leading to the exit as the last of the villagers brought the last pair of located victims. Not a minute later and I overheard the distant echoes of manifold boots stomping the ground.
When Kiku told us everyone had gone deep into the gap, we hurriedly made our way to it and crawled through a place now lit by a lantern in the middle. This journey felt a thousand times faster and less cramped than the first go-around, though my contusions and aching everything begged to differ.
Waiting on the other side was a dirt ramp cast by a couple of villagers who used earth spells to till their farmland. They were told to pack as much dirt in the gap as possible after we came down. The freed abducted were already being placed on horses, but even if most of them had been awake and in good shape, we did not have enough steeds to take them all at once. We had to come up with an impromptu system of switching burdens between each of us that could take them.
My role in the rescue granted me a reprieve from carrying anyone, so my job was to recover, hang back, and be ready to fight any bandits that pursued us. Kiku did not mind taking half a load once in a while, but mostly let the villagers and mounts do the heavy lifting. Not helping matters were the heavens opening their stores of rain, making everything heavier and slipperier. Nevertheless, the water seemed to stir them awake faster. Apart from the inflated woman, most of the freshest victims were in various states of consciousness an hour since leaving the hills, though still far too sluggish to move much.
That first hour we tried our damnedest to put distance between us and the hills, but having so many fragile people to lug around and look after forced a deliberate, dawdling pace not even the antsy horses appeared to enjoy. In any case, I never saw a sign that anyone hunted us. The holdup could have come from taking the time to get on their horses, so I knew it was in the next hour that would determine whether the brigands risked leaving the shelter o
f the hills to take back what they stole.
“Nothing familiar about this situation?” I asked Kiku.
“Hmm? Oh, you mean if I’ve seen us walking in the woods before? Yes, a few visions showed that improbability. You know, I’d tell you if I remembered a vision that showed us in dire straits.”
“I’m not at all sure what you would choose to reveal.”
“Aww, still don’t trust me? I understand. It’s so hard for people to even trust themselves. I’m still figuring out what I’d really do in high-pressure situations. A big drawback about seeing so many visions is seeing yourself choosing against a belief you once thought inflexible. You feel a thousand different personalities of yourself arguing why one vision makes more sense than another. Makes for a confusing inner voice, but it does give me an open mind. Even with my past explaining my distaste for a man’s touch, I would have never considered finding comfort in a woman’s arms before I saw it for myself. Or is it legs? Both, I suppose.”
“Your master doesn’t guide you?”
“To a point, but he doesn’t like to push a particular vision on us. Even if he wanted to, he doesn’t often have the time. Most of the year he’s off on his own.”
“Doing what?”
“A question I don’t have an answer to. He says he doesn’t like the idea of the Fadraeesa occupying Pukam, so I’m thinking he goes off to check that they haven’t moved down the Fulns. I know that alone doesn’t explain all his absences. It used to make me wonder in the same way you’re wondering about me, but while I don’t know everything about him, I choose to support him when he calls for it. That’s my freewill at work. Yours can do whatever it wants, too. Remember, I’m only here to help you if you decide to accept corruption again. You can tell me to leave at any time.”
“Something tells me to test that.”
“Shh, no decision should be done hastily when one can help it. Now stop talking and let your mouth heal up, hm?”
Reminding me about my injury incited a frenzy of rasping stings in my jaw. That indeed silenced me.
The rain let up in the morning, imparting us a clearer view of our surroundings. Without this brighter outlook we may have missed the silhouettes of several horsemen galloping to the west of us. Given their northern course, I presumed them to be a patrol sent to find us, something Mae soon confirmed on her horse. After a little information swapping, it turned out that we already missed another patrol half an hour before. In any case, the patrolmen and their robust steeds lessened out load and eased our fears.
Mae offered me and Kiku her horse to get back to the village faster, but I refused. I would have liked to get to a healer and bed quicker, but a misstep here and there created vibrations that traveled up my body and jostled my jaw. A bumpy horse or carriage ride terrified me more than any bandit attack at this point. If a healer couldn’t numb the pain somehow, I feared I would have to slow my pace for the next few weeks.
Lovely. Yet more time to ponder my future.
Chapter Fifteen
Odet
I was not able to convince the fort commanders to escort me to Tawahori. They used Unburdened to inform their Kikokumo commanders of my presence. Word reached the emperor. He insisted on meeting with me as soon as possible, so we had to change our plans. I did get them to send a message to the Tawahori guild house for me. I wanted to say more to Master Miyake than to expect me or Mercer to meet him in the near future, but organizing men in foreign soil without the emperor’s permission might complicate matters with him.
From the fort we began a four hundred and fifty mile journey to the capital island. Depending on the weather, such a journey would take three or four days by ship, but whether we liked it or not, the griffin squads insisted on flying us there. Like it we did. By switching griffins available on naval ships and island bases, we could reach Kikokumo many hours less than a full day. With Wregor kingclaws providing the wings, the lionhearted Jegeru riders and their resilient steeds were finally able to gain a rest from their foreign encumbrances.
All of us benefitted from a few hours of nocturnal rest halfway into the migration. We touched down not on a ship, but on a large wooden platform hundreds of feet long and wide. As this platform acted as an outpost for griffin riders and not as a sailing vessel, no mast or sail obstructed the sky above it. After eating the finest fish they had on hand, we went to sleep in the cleanest, least stinking quarters available below deck.
Lying on a bed made me more aware than ever before just how sore my muscles had become. One would think sitting on a flying griffin would not be so tiring for the passenger, but all those minor unconscious and conscious adjustments to remain erect added up. My weary body quickly overcame my mind’s wariness on being inside a fortress floating on a foreign sea.
Gerard had to shake me awake to get me to leave my bed. I would have disowned the knight for ruining my rest if I didn’t remember we had all agreed to leave at dawn. A light breakfast later and we climbed the air again.
We swapped griffins on a regular warship a few hours into the latter half of our journey. From here on I saw dozens of ships sailing the seas. From what I understood, the ancient city of Kikokumo had been constructed on Daidu-Lu, the largest island in the Wregor Sea, but much of its lithic landscape was not suitable for farming. So while Daidu-Lu had the room to easily accommodate its half million populace, feeding them was another challenge entirely. I imagined most of the vessels transported copious amounts of food to the island.
Thanks to exquisite paintings, I already had a rough idea of what I would see before the island herself breached the horizon. As expected, fishing villages, seaports, and the occasional fortress dotted the shoreline. These little settlements combined to make up the majority of the island population. What separated Daidu-Lu from being an ordinary example of geography were the plateaus that rose all throughout the land mass. It was on these where much of the nobility lived.
Kikokumo herself rested on a broad plateau hugging the northwestern shoreline. Being a capital city, it of course occupied one of the higher elevated plateaus the island had to offer. It thus did not need a large wall to defend it when it already had steep slopes and a powerful naval force doing more than an adequate job of it. As the nobility likely had abundant provisions stored beneath the surface, even a successful naval blockade would take years to take effect. Short of a massive aerial force, Kikokumo ranked among the most defensible cities in Orda.
Unlike its wooden cities on the mainland, Wregor’s capital incorporated quite a bit of white and golden stone in its stout architecture style. Rounded corners and domes seemed to be a popular choice here. Adding modern Wregor flair to buildings designed well before the empire existed, some structures featured reddish slivers of wood outlining their stone frames. A number of manors lined the very brink of the plateau, challenging its stability for a stunning view of the island and sea. A grand city worthy of its far-reaching fame.
The largest buildings constructed of wood were six pagoda towers encircling what artistic renderings showed to be the emperor’s starfish-shaped palace. The eight-tiered towers were connected to one another by a thirty-foot wall, the longest and tallest partition anywhere on the island. Between the towers and the palace’s arms, lush green gardens grew in soil that had to have been imported from somewhere else. Each arm of the building ended with a white dome fifty feet across, while its central body was capped with a golden dome some two hundred feet in diameter.
The griffins headed to the open ground in front of the wall linking the two southernmost towers, which held the main entrance to the palace. Once our identities were made known, a messenger on a horse galloped through the gate to inform her emperor of our arrival. Griffins were evidently not allowed to fly over the palace grounds, so we dismounted the beasts to walk the rest of the way. I welcomed the chance to stretch my legs.
Branching trails led to the palace’s two lower arms, but we followed a smooth, paved pathway that led straight to the central dome. The sou
thern garden we promenaded across sustained plant life no taller than a child, presumably to make it more difficult for anyone to sneak across the most accessible area of the palace. While not in full bloom, the purple and orange flowers still boasting their petals were rather lovely.
My group was directed to wait under the roof of a large open-air sitting area jutting out the front of the palace entrance. For reasons different from the soldiers, the nobles frequenting the area ogled the outsiders treading into a city so sheltered from the world. It would not surprise me to learn that none of them had ever visited the worlds at sea level. With the soldiers staying guard around my group, no noble had a chance to do more than murmur to each other about us. I snubbed their gawking by laying myself down on a marble bench.
A few minutes after lying limp and enjoying the breeze, we were told that the emperor was ready to speak with us. I expected for them to ignore my request and place a limit on how many of my companions could go with me, but their imperial ruler apparently ordered no restrictions to that effect. Therefore, with Wregor soldiers clearing the way for us, we entered the central body of the palace.
Sprouting from the pristine marble flooring, dozens of columns propped up the lowest section of the ceiling circling the inner wall. A soldier stood guard by almost every column. Most of the rooftop comprised of the arresting dome itself, which sported a mix of silver and teal colors on its coffered underside. A round pool of water lied below the dome’s oculus, helping to further reflect the sunshine coming through the aperture. As it was the middle of a clear afternoon, these rays alone did plenty to illume the chamber.
Five large, arched entryways marked the five halls that extended out in their starfish shape. The red and white drapes that hung over them were currently open. It was by these entrances that the nobility huddled in groups. In front of the northern entrance rose a tiered plateau of ten marble steps. Contrasting from the brighter colors present everywhere else, a tall throne of near black stone stood upon the raised floor. Except for the gold trim and a red cushion, it did not appear to have any ornate design engraved on it.
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