by Rick Scott
His words trailed off as he finally peered over the cliff’s edge and saw the entirety of Amatsu Village below. Huge plumes of smoke billowed from several of the buildings, including the healing house.
His heart leapt into his throat. Mei Ling! “We need to get down there!”
“Are you kidding?” Olja said. “Those are the same Tsu mercenaries who attacked your village, aren’t they?”
“What?” Shinoto said and dashed forward as well. She reached the edge and stopped, her jaw dropping open. “By the heavens! How is this happening?”
Olja glanced at her oddly. “What do you mean, ‘how is this happening?’ You came warning the general about this, didn’t you?”
“It was just a ruse,” Shinoto said. “No one was supposed to be attacking the village! Not for real!”
“Oh…” Olja said, folding her large arms, looking nonplussed. “Well, I suppose the fates have done us a favor then. Come on. We’ll take advantage of the chaos and escape the village unseen. It’ll keep us ahead of those thugs while they’re busy fighting the general and his lackeys.”
Olja strode towards the steps.
“No!” Kenji said, staring down at the flames licking through the village. “We’re not leaving these people here to die.”
“And I’m not planning on dying to save them either,” Olja said without breaking her stride. “Those Tsu are sellblades too. And pretty tough ones by my estimation.”
“Tougher than you?” Shinoto said, raising a brow. “You said you were the Iron Queen, didn’t you?”
Kenji still didn’t know what that meant, but perhaps Shinoto did.
“That’s supposed to make you the best of the best.”
“Well…” Olja paused at the young girl’s not-so-subtle attempt to stir her ego, or perhaps pride.
“It’s settled then,” Kenji said. “Let’s get down there.”
“Wait! Hold on!” Olja said, raising her hands. “I am the Iron Queen, yes. I can hold my own. But I’m not sure against all three of them at once while protecting the both of you. Not to mention that general and the schoolmaster. They’re both probably close to twentieth Dan. Going down there and fighting all of them would be suicide.”
Her words brought back those of his father, warning him of entering Han Village a second time once he had sent him back. He was too weak to do anything then. But that was not the case now. Kenji curled his fist and endured the bite within his doma as he summoned his Qi. “You won’t need to protect me. I’ll fight too.”
“How?” Olja said. “I’ve seen you throw a punch, my friend. And as impressive as it was, you’re no mystic warrior. You’d be lucky to hit these guys, much less survive in any kind of real combat against them.”
“I don’t need to fight them directly,” he said. “They’re after me. I just need them to see me and then I’ll lead them away from the village. I have friends down there. I won’t see them all die!” And then he paused for a moment, thinking of his own loss. “…not again.”
Olja huffed out a sigh. “I can’t allow you to do that. I’m duty-bound to protect you and to bring you to the Holy Seer—”
“So protect me then,” he said, cutting her off as he clambered down the steps. “Come on, Shinoto.”
The Xjian woman let out a curse in some foreign tongue as she threw back her head with aggravation. “I don’t know which will get me killed first, you or those damn Tsu. Come on then, you brats!”
Olja surged in behind them with three quick strides and scooped them both into her powerful arms. Kenji’s breath left him as she jumped off the edge of the steps into nothing but air. They plummeted like rocks, Kenji’s stomach rising into his throat as Shinoto screamed.
“Relax!” Olja said, her Qi pulsing as she engaged her Qinggong. “We’re taking a shortcut down.”
* * *
General Amikazu searched the crowd of screaming civilians surging about him. He knew what the boy looked like. He’d seen him last fall, when he’d made an impromptu visit to Han Village with the gray robes, collecting what would become the village’s final harvest of Qi-concentrated fruits and fare.
He had made special note to avoid the boy from seeing him then, approaching his father’s home to collect a stray lock of hair when he had been assured the boy was out in the orchards. That strand of hair collected off his bed pillow had been the start of all of this. The trigger he’d used to create the demon summoning spell that would lead the Tsu mercenaries to their country and give him the cover and opportunity to claim not one, but two legendary soul stones.
But where he was avoiding Kenji before, he was actively seeking him now—trying to spot his face amongst the crowds. He shouldn’t be that hard to find, Amikazu thought. He was a tall, strapping young man and a splitting image of Li Wan Fu, except in his youth.
Where are you, boy…?
The three lieutenants surged ahead of him as they entered the village square, pushing against the villagers. The Tsu sellblades were at least doing as he had instructed them to now, remaining at the village outskirts. He’d need to take care of the lieutenants soon. There could be no official witnesses for when he acquired the boy.
“The three of you with me,” he commanded. “We must engage the enemy away from the civilians.”
“Yes, General!”
They heeded his command in unison and he felt a pang of guilt. He didn’t know them personally, but they were loyalists who would now die for the empire and most likely by his hand.
Forget them, Amikazu…they are worth the prize.
Indeed, they were. Their sacrifice would give birth to a new empire under his reign.
As they neared the outer boundary of the village—a wooden fence placed just before the fields—he spotted the Badger. The brute of a man was removing his claws from the stomach of an elderly woman, a wild look in his eyes. The animal…a shame he was not the one he needed to put down.
“The two of you find the one causing these fires,” Amikazu said, pointing to the large building now in flames. “Be wary, it’s likely a Fire Soul Master.”
They nodded and departed, leaving the third officer standing with him. Amikazu looked at the young man, perhaps in his early twenties, and then pointed towards the Badger. “Engage!”
“Yes, sir!”
The lieutenant charged forward, but with a flash, Amikazu struck him from behind with the Shadow Point Technique. His jian smoothly entered the man’s back, piercing his heart. The lieutenant collapsed and fell at his feet, releasing a sharp cry.
The Badger turned at the sound and a grin spread across his face as he watched the lieutenant grow still, succumbing to the deathblow. “Well done, Purple Leaf. You’re getting good at that.”
Barbarian… Amikazu closed on him rapidly and the Badger tensed, as if expecting to be struck by the same killing blow.
“Why did you attack so early?” he shouted at him. “You’ve put everything in jeopardy now!”
There were only the two of them here, the crowds within the square allowing him the opportunity to speak freely.
The Badger grimaced. “Things happened. You’re a soldier. You know how battle goes.”
He wanted to chastise the man further, but what sense would that make now?
The boy, Amikazu… the boy!
“Have you seen the boy I described to you?”
“No, not yet.”
Curse the fates. “Keep harassing the villagers, I’ll need you to keep the panic going while I find him. The master from the mystic school is here also, so beware.” He then looked back at the dead lieutenant. “But I’ve evened the odds for you now. Take out the rest of my men and signal me when you find the boy.”
* * *
Kenji’s heart raced as they sailed over the expanse of Amatsu Village. He’d never experienced anything that was both so terrifying and exhilarating before at once. He clutched to Olja’s arms, desperate to keep from falling to his death.
Shinoto however, appeared to be enjoyi
ng every second of it, a huge smile on her face.
“Why didn’t you say you were high enough Dan to Windwalk?” Shinoto said excitedly. “You’ll definitely defeat them all now!”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I’m only first tier in Windwalking.” Olja banked to the side, correcting their trajectory as she aimed towards the burning buildings below. “Just enough to not fall to my death from a height, but I had other skills to invest in first.”
There was that word again. “What do you mean invest?”
Olja chuckled. “You’ll find out, if and when we ever reach the north.”
He was about to ask her what she meant, but as they closed in on the healing house, a fearful sight came within view. Kenji’s heart jumped as they passed over the roof now in flames and flew across the open area where they had lit the funeral pyre. There, standing just outside the building, was Mei Ling and opposite her was the thin Tsu warrior with the twin Dao blades.
His nerves stood on edge. It was the same man who had slain his father. The man grinned, twirling his blades, a wolf about to pounce on its prey. He surged forward to attack and the doctor screamed.
Mei Ling!
They were still far too high overhead to land, but Kenji didn’t care. He kicked out of Olja’s arms, dropping towards the ground like a stone.
“Hey!” Olja screamed after him.
He barely heard her as he fell towards the earth, wind rushing past his ears in a whistle. He twisted in mid-air, willing himself to land atop the Dao-wielding fiend. He released a cry as he drew back his fist and dared to flex his doma, channeling whatever power he could into his punch.
With the forward momentum of his fall, he sailed right past Mei Ling and flew straight into the Tsu warrior, crashing into him more than punching him. Pain radiated from his doma as his shoulder struck the man, and they both tumbled to the ground in a heap. Every bone in his body ached and he feared he may have broken something somewhere.
Curse the fates…
“Kenji!” he heard Mei Ling say from behind him with a gasp.
“Run, doctor…” he wheezed, trying to get up. “Get to safety.”
The Tsu was back on his feet in an instant, using Qinggong. Kenji had no such advantage, however, and struggled to stand amidst both the pain and the added weight of his armor.
The man grinned. “There you are, you little brat!”
The Dao wielder swung his blades and Kenji shifted to avoid them, but one sliced into his thigh while the other came crashing onto his armored torso. Kenji cried out from the wound. He knew he was no match for the man’s skill. Desperation and sheer strength of will were his only weapons now. He purposely opened himself up to another hit on his side, the blade nearly cutting through the armor, but he clamped down with his elbow on the man’s wrist, trapping his sword.
“You killed my father!” Rage built within him as his Qi surged, flashing like lightning in a storm. “You’ll pay for that now!”
He let his fist fly before the man could pull away. Kenji’s punch was wild, but with his arm locked under Kenji’s elbow, he couldn’t escape and Kenji felt the satisfying impact of knuckles on bare skin. The punch landed with every ounce of force he could muster and the pain from his doma nearly caused him to pass out.
The man sailed backwards from the hit, flipping end over end three times before crashing into a pile of logs at the edge of the pyre ring, sending wood flying.
Kenji fell to his knees and tasted blood in his mouth. The Tsu warrior recovered, rising from the scattered pile of logs, a look of disbelief in his eyes. “What in the hells are you?”
The man studied his chest where Kenji had punched him and then glared. He lowered into a crouch, looking ready to charge forward again. Kenji attempted to get to his feet, but they felt made of stone, all strength gone from him now.
“You won’t survive this,” the man said as he stalked towards him. “I don’t even remember killing your father. But I will remember killing you.”
The man sprinted forward with Qinggong. He got perhaps halfway when Olja’s huge form crashed into him from above, sending him flying with a savage kick. He flew across the pyre circle once more and crashed into the side of the healing house, cracking the wall. Shinoto landed in a roll next to the giant woman and then came running to him as Olja dashed forward to engage the sellblade.
“Kenji!” Shinoto cried. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said, looking for Mei Ling. “Are you alright, Doctor?”
Mei Ling was just a few paces behind him, her face flushed, but otherwise she seemed unharmed. Even her poise seemed unbroken as she balanced on her high-based sandals.
“You shouldn’t stress your doma like that,” she said, rushing towards him and stooping to check on his wounds. “But I thank you for saving me.”
She produced one of the blue stones and waved it over the cut on his thigh. “Your body is changing from the effect of the Qi. A strike like that should have taken your leg.”
Kenji looked down and while the cut was deep, it had already stopped bleeding and under the effect of the crystal, it was already beginning to close.
By the heavens.
“You’re amazing, Kenji,” Mei Ling said. “I wish I had time to study you more.”
“Well, that’s the same reason they’re all here,” Kenji said as he struggled to his feet. “They’ve come for me, Master Mei Ling. I need to lure them away from the village to keep you all safe.”
Mei Ling looked between both of them. “You two knew this would happen?”
He shook his head. “I tell you truthfully, no. We didn’t mean to bring this upon you. Only to cause a distraction.”
Mei Ling nodded. “Well the fates must be with us then. We were at least on alert when they attacked thanks to me ringing the bell. Many more would have perhaps died if not so. What will you do now?”
Kenji looked to where Olja was now battling the Dao-wielding man. Without the confines of a hallway, the giantess was earning her pay, chasing the Dao wielder with leaping kicks that sent dirt flying high into the air as her armored boots stomped the earth where the man had been just moments before. He retaliated with quick slices from his blades, but Olja deftly parried each one with her gauntlets, sending sharp rings of metal echoing through the air.
Then from out of the sky, two more figures in military robes appeared and descended into the fray. Olja and the Dao wielder immediately broke off to face their new attackers. The lieutenants fought with the same weapon style, Wind Blade Masters it seemed. They spun and twirled with blue-hued Qi, creating small whirlwinds of force as they crossed swords with the Dao master and Olja respectively.
The scene played out in just a few seconds, all of them shifting into blurs as weapons clashed with greater ferocity and speed. A howl then filled the air as a third figure appeared, sprinting into the midst of the combat. Kenji recognized the barrel-chested man from before, the one with the claws. He sliced the back of one of the lieutenants, causing him to spin about and to take a subsequent hit from the Dao wielder from behind.
“This is too much!” Shinoto said. Her eyes shifted rapidly back and forth, trying to follow what was happening. “We need to help Olja!”
They did, but how? Before he could even think, Shinoto dashed forward a few paces and shoved her palm towards the fray. Blue energy streamed haphazardly from her hand as the yellow rope about her waist engaged. The blast hit no one at first, but a glancing blow struck the Dao wielder and opened him up to an attack by one of the lieutenants.
“It’s working!” Shinoto cried, as she began to channel, preparing to invoke her Qi once more. “I can attack from afar.”
Perhaps, but it wouldn’t work for long. He needed to get the sellblades away from the village, and then he needed to find a way to get away from them afterwards. There was too much violence happening now, too much chaos. If only he had time to think, to freeze time like his father did.
A sudden sickness entered his stoma
ch, resonating within his doma like Dark Qi. A sweat broke on his skin as he fell to his knees and an ice-cold hand gripped him around the back of his neck.
He glanced up to see the general standing behind him. “Come with me, boy…”
The general dragged him to his feet by one hand, gripping so tightly it felt as if his neck might snap. Kenji cried out as the pain within his stomach grew insufferable, the resonance crippling him with paralysis.
Both Mei Ling and Shinoto turned about at his cry, and their faces grew pale with shock as they saw the general now holding him aloft like a caught fish. Shinoto turned her palm towards him.
“Shinoto, no…!” Kenji said, but it was too late.
A stream of blue energy shot from her hand, but the general met it swiftly with a palm technique of his own. A circle of darkness formed within his hand, growing stronger as the stream from Shinoto pulsed into it, flowing for the full fifteen seconds of the rope spell.
“General!” Mei Ling cried. “What has the boy done? Release him, please!”
“He’s a thief,” the general said. “He has something that belongs to me.”
The box around his neck began to glow and pulse. With a clench of his fist, he crushed the ball of dark energy within his palm and a shockwave of violent Qi radiated from it, crashing into Kenji like a wall. He grunted with the pain of it slamming into him, but was horrified when he saw it crash into Mei Ling and Shinoto as well. The wave hit them with far greater force, tossing the doctor off her sandals and into the wall of the healing house. She bounced off of it and fell to the ground looking dazed. Shinoto went flying in the opposite direction, her small body tumbling end over end until she hit the adjacent wall of a building some distance away.
She fell to the ground and didn’t move afterwards.
Kenji’s heart stood still. “Shinoto!”
He struggled against whatever was constraining him, rage and fury combining in a concoction that surged through his doma. The box around the general’s neck pulsed and the man winced as if struck by something himself. But the general quickly recovered and began walking away with him in tow, heading towards the far edge of the village.
