by Dixon, TJ
It takes a while to find the first one but, much to her delight, it is Midori who does so. To thank her I have her lure it down here. She is most grateful!
“Damn it! That thing almost ate me!” Midori complains as we stand over its corpse.
“Fly quicker next time.” I tell her sympathetically.
“I flew as quickly as I could! Are you trying to get me killed?” Midori asks bitterly.
“Don’t be silly. Just because you’re going to be luring them all down here doesn’t mean…” I start to say but am predictably interrupted.
“All of them?! You can’t be serious.” Midori complains.
“Actually I am. You now know that you can outfly them, but the same may not be true for everyone.” I tell her.
“I hate you, Rin.” She says, but she doesn’t really mean it. I hope she doesn’t anyway. I’m not going to risk getting someone killed just because she might hate me though. I guess my joke may have gone a little too far.
“Sorry, but you’re our best wind user.” I tell Midori. My flattery may be a bit too obvious but she seems to accept it as an apology.
“Fine, I’ll do it.” Midori says. “Since I’m our best wind user, I’m sure you’ll agree I’m better suited to Peter than you are.”
My mind goes blank at her words. I just don’t know what to say, but I am just as shocked at Asuna’s furious response. “There’s no way someone who can joke about Peter whilst he is in danger could ever be suited to him.”
“Wha… what did you…?” Midori starts to say but is interrupted by Neko.
“Enough all of you, nyyya. Peter, nyyya, wouldn’t want you arguing like this, nyyya.” Neko says sadly with tears in the corners of her eyes.
“Neko is right.” I say with a sigh. “Everyone, please focus on the job.”
“Fine…” Midori says and Asuna looks away but remains silent.
The hunt seems to last forever as everyone seems awkward, but at midday we are running low on power so I call an end to the hunt. We have twenty one Ice Birds though, so we each take home just over a gold. I have plenty of ingredients for my mother too.
Jenny’s group, which Yu Kii was in, finished their hunt before us. I have lunch with Jenny but can’t find Yu Kii. Hermes was in Emma’s group so isn’t back yet.
Chapter 2 (Ara Kii)
I am watching Haru Kii dance and she finally seems to be getting better. I suspect it will still be another month before she is ready, but at last there is hope for her. It is late though, so I decide this will be her last practise for today.
“Not bad. Not perfect, but not bad.” I say as she finishes.
“Thank you!” She says with a bow.
“Supper now, and then time to sleep.” I tell her. I feel sorry for her because she has to sleep on the hard stone in the courtyard, but there is nothing I can do about that.
“Why did it get dark so suddenly?” Haru Kii asks sounding confused, and she is right. Although it is late it was still fairly light until a moment ago. Now it is almost like night. We look up at the same time. The sky is filled with black feathers falling towards us. They block out the sun almost entirely. “What are they?”
“Death feathers.” I say fearful as I recognise them. It is the first time seeing such a sight but there can be no doubt. Haru Kii isn’t attuned enough yet to sense the life magic in them but each feather has enough power to instantly kill a person. “Get inside, now!”
Despite my words Haru Kii just stands there, so I literally pick her up and run carrying her over my shoulder. We reach the main temple building and I put Haru Kii down. I turn to look back and the feathers are still slowly falling towards the ground.
There is a roar and a bright light forms a dome around the temple complex. As each feather hits the dome there is a small flash. Then the feather is gone. The sky is like a divine light display on the Kuroneko’s birthday. This though is of course very different to the harmless but pretty display each year. Two very powerful spells are competing and the one which wins will determine our fate.
There can be no doubt that the dome is the work of the Kuroneko herself. Nobody other than a god, a Fallen Angel, or the Queen of Contractia could compete with life magic on that scale. At least not on their own. Surely this attack must be the work of the Fallen Angels, but I have no doubt that the Kuroneko will be victorious. We will be safe. Even so I don’t want to go outside and risk getting killed by a stray feather that happens to get past her protective magic.
“What’s happening?” Haru Kii asks fearfully.
“The Kuroneko is fighting to protect us. There is nothing to be worried about as long as you stay inside.” I tell her.
“Is it the Fallen Angels?”
“No, this is just a servant of the Fallen Angels.” I tell her. I don’t tell her that if it had been a Fallen Angel we would already be dead. There’s no need to worry her even more. Also, there’s no way the Fallen Angels will personally attack us. Doing so would mean dragging the Queen of Contractia personally into this war. That would be suicide even for the Fallen Angels.
“So we’re safe?” Haru Kii asks nervously.
“Yes, we’re safe.” I tell her with a smile.
“So what do we do now?” Haru Kii asks.
“Like I said earlier, it is time to eat and then to sleep. You’ll need to sleep inside for now though.” I tell her.
“Is it really ok to eat when we’re being attacked?” Haru Kii asks.
“You weren’t planning on going out there and fighting were you?” I ask.
“Of course not!”
“So all we can do is carry on with our lives for now.” I tell her and she nods in understanding.
Supper is sparse for her as usual. Just stale bread and cold pea soup. I wish I could be kinder to her, but these are the rules written by the Kuroneko. A miko must lead a hard life devoid of comfort. By being strict with her body in matters like these her soul is strengthened. It still seems cruel to me, but I haven’t exactly led an easy life either.
My first sister was a sister of body as well as of soul. I worked hard with her as she trained. She was exceptional and I was sure that she would please the Kuroneko enough to spare her life. She made a mistake after eight years of dancing. Just one simple mistake. Most people wouldn’t even have noticed it. I was sure she would be spared, but instead she was executed in front of me.
Yu Kii was next and I decided not to grow too attached to her emotionally. She wasn’t even related to me by blood so it should have been easy. When you work with someone for years though, it simply isn’t easy to not care about them. No, not just not easy, it isn’t possible. Not for me anyway. I am grateful her life was spared but even so I miss her. I hope Yu Kii is living an easier life in Contractia than she did here. She would be sad though if she knew her sister was now a miko.
I am lucky that I can now eat enough and sleep on a soft bed each night in this spacious room carved out of the mountain’s grey stone, but it wasn’t always like that. As a child I was abandoned along with Ari Kii, my twin sister, on the mountain top. Somehow we survived the first night without freezing to death or getting eaten. Then we were found by a catman. He brought us here and I was trained as a monk. My sister of course became a miko.
Like a miko I slept outside when I was about three years old, but not in the sheltered courtyard with my sister. I slept outside the temple’s red stone gates on my own. There were times wild animals attacked me but thankfully I managed to ward them off. They left scars on my body that scared Haru Kii when she first met me, but Yu Kii never showed fear when she saw them. Instead there was pity in her eyes.
As a monk I was of course trained to use magic, as well as my body. Now that war has come to our mountain I will surely have to fight. I take Haru Kii to an empty room near mine and have her sleep there. On the way back to my room through the grey stone corridor a catman I am familiar with greets me. He is both black and talented so commands a great deal of respect from most of the
other catmen, but he is one of the few catmen that treats me with respect despite my being a mere human.
“Ara Kii, there is a war council being held in the common room. You should attend.” He tells me.
“Thank you, Nico Na.” I say and bow respectfully before following him to the common room.
The common room is the largest room carved out of the mountain and normally seems huge with dozens of small wooden tables for four spread throughout and rarely more than a dozen people in the room. Today it is full and feels cramped as the tables form a semicircle facing towards one small table in the centre. Of course everyone is only sitting on the one side so there isn’t going to be enough room for everyone, but for now there are still some free tables.
At the centre table is someone I have never spoken to, the High Priestess. She is the only person allowed to talk to the Kuroneko. Obviously she is a black catwoman, the closest thing to the Kuroneko herself. Beside her sits the High Monk, a black catman, who I have spoken to a few times, but never for more than a few words.
The room is filled with excited whispered conversations, but the High Priestess is silent. We find an empty table and start our own whispered conversation. Like everyone else we pass the time speculating about how we will fight the enemy. After a while a gong rings three times. The conversations stop the moment it rings the first time. After the third ring the High Priestess stands and so does everyone else in the room.
“The Kuroneko’s shield will not fall to the enemy’s foul magic. Their magic weakens, but the shield is as strong as ever. We have called on Contractia to honour their deal. They are sending a hundred mages to aid us in our fight. Tomorrow every monk in the temple will arm themselves with both weapons and magic. Alongside Contractia’s mages we will defeat the enemy. The battle will begin shortly after dawn and victory shall be ours before tomorrow’s sun sets.” The High Priestess then sits and the High Monk rises.
“The enemy have only twenty mages. They are obviously very powerful mages, but they have seriously underestimated us. They use life magic, but every monk in this temple knows how to fight life magic. Do not forget your training. The enemy ride drakes but a tamed drake is not as dangerous as a wild one. We will split into twenty teams with five Contractian mages and twenty monks in each team. The team lists are written on that wall.” He says and points at the wall behind him. As he does so lists appear on the wall. “Good luck everyone.”
The High Priestess and High Monk then leave the room. I wait with Nico Na as everyone rushes to see the lists. He looks at me with a smile and asks. “So do you remember how to form spiritual armour?”
“That’s not something I could forget.” I say with a laugh. It took a while to learn but failing to summon it properly was very painful. I still practise it every day to make sure I really don’t forget. “What about you?”
“I summoned it successfully the first time.” Nico Na says with a smile. It is just typical of him. He normally masters everything on the first attempt.
“I wish I did.” I say bitterly. We talk for a while and then as the crowd thins we get up and take a look at the list.
“It seems I’m leading the team you’re in.” Nico Na says with a grin. I am actually relieved. He will lead fairly so I have a much better chance of survival than under any other team leader.
“Try not to get me killed.” I joke.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be the first one to die.” He jokes back.
I have a hard time sleeping but somehow I do eventually manage to get to sleep. I get up and wake Haru Kii at dawn. I tell her to practise all day on her own. There is no time to prepare food for her so she’ll be hungry today, but at least she will be safe.
I go back to my room and take off my clothes. After a quick wash I summon spiritual armour. Thankfully it only takes energy to summon and not to maintain so there is no reason to wait until the last moment to summon it.
I go to the armoury and take a black wooden staff. It is as tall as I am and as thick as my muscle covered leg, but it is as light as a feather. It can be used to break protective magic as well as to block offensive magic. Like any enchanted item there is a limit to its power, but it is much better than fighting unarmed.
We gather at the main entrance and I quickly find Nico Na. There are five very unhappy looking mages standing there in plain blue mage robes arguing with him. They are human women so they are certainly the Contractian mages. If I had any doubt their words would have rid me of it.
“I will not take orders from a mere man, and a catman at that. As a Contractian woman, I will be the one giving you the orders. Do you understand?”
“I was put in charge of this team, so you will obey me.” Nico Na snarls back at her. He is a very friendly catman, but no catman is just going to accept that sort of insult.
“Are you too dumb to…?” She starts to say but then there is a loud ring of a gong. We all turn towards the main temple gong that just rang. Standing there are the High Priestess, the High Monk and a human woman in blue robes with a single red stripe from the right side of her waist to her left shoulder, who I assume must be the leader of the Contractians. It is the Contractian who speaks.
“Under orders of the Queen you are all required to cooperate with the locals. The monks are in charge of the teams, so you will obey their orders. That is all.” She says firmly and the Contractians seem to accept her orders.
“Team leaders confirm when your team is ready.” The High Monk says.
It isn’t long before we are all ready. The sight of so many monks armed for war is quite impressive. I find defeat hard to imagine with so many of us against just twenty enemies. The Contractians are useful because they can port us into position to surround the enemy. They can also prevent the enemy porting away from us.
The High Monk gives the order and we are all ported. It is a little disorienting but I recover quickly. My attack joins the many attacks that fill the air. Naturally we use earth magic, mostly stone and metal shards. Earth magic is what we are attuned to and shard attacks are much harder to dodge than unbroken stones. The Contractians focus on defence and preventing the enemy from porting.
Initially the enemy use fire and lightning against us. Our team has its target just as every team does and it isn’t long before each enemy focuses on the team that is attacking him. Drakes are very hard to kill even without magical shielding, but our target is the rider. He starts to struggle to defend against so many powerful stone and metal shards.
The mage we are attacking uses life magic. The same feathers as yesterday form a cloud in front of him and then with a blast of wind they fly straight at our Contractian mages. He must realise our armour will protect us from them. I am between him and our Contractians though, so I fill my staff with power and strike the feathers with a spirit blast. The feathers are neutralised instantly.
There is a piercing screech and then the drakes fly upwards. We concentrate our attack even more but soon they are out of our range. We forced them to retreat, but our taking to the sky would give them too big an advantage. I am not surprised when Nico Na orders us to retreat to the temple complex. The Contractians try to port us but their port is blocked.
“We’ll just have to walk.” Nico Na says with a shrug. It really isn’t a big deal.
Back at the temple we must relax and recover our energy. In peacetime it is unheard of for monks to be resting in the middle of the morning, but we are at war and need to be at our best whenever the enemy attacks. I interrupt Haru Kii’s training for a late breakfast. She isn’t allowed to eat lunch so I am glad she doesn’t have to do without breakfast as well today.
After breakfast I just watch Haru Kii dance. It is the most relaxing thing I can do so I don’t see it as a problem even though it is my usual routine. It seems to unsettle Haru Kii a little that I am not criticising her mistakes but I am just watching her to relax today. She knows when she has made a mistake anyway so I don’t really need to tell her anymore.
At lunch
time I feel as guilty as I always do to be eating whilst Haru Kii has to work without anything to eat again until tonight. I have gone without food too often though to pass the chance to eat. I just have to live with my guilt.
In the afternoon there is another war council. The enemy have retreated but we have no way to pursue them. There is much debate about what to do next. Some of course argue to wait until the enemy make their next move, but most are against that option. In war it is rarely wise to give the enemy the initiative.
The High Priestess is angry that Contractia is unwilling to send enough support to defeat the enemy in the sky. On this though the Contractians make it clear there will be no compromise. They even threaten to leave entirely if we don’t accept this. In the end there is no decision. Most of us want to do something but nobody can agree just what we should do.
It is dark by the time we leave the war council. I return to find Haru Kii still dancing in her room. I take her to get some supper and after that send her to bed. Well, to sleep on the floor like always, but at least she is warm and safe inside the main temple.
It is the middle of the night when the temple gong sounds. I jump up instantly wide awake. As we suspected the enemy chose to attack at night. We are ready. The night guards easily maintain the defences for the short time it takes the rest of us to get there. The night guards had taken extra care to get enough sleep during the day so they were at full power just like we are.
The enemy are inside the Kuroneko’s barrier. It only repels magic not people, but at least their life magic will not work inside the barrier. They seem much more determined than they did in our last battle. Now they are closer I can clearly see their fearsome mounts. They are huge red scaly beasts and their wings are formed of a flowing red metal. Their fearsome claws and fangs are scary, but what is worst is that in their eyes I can see their dark souls.
These aren’t just wild animals that have been tamed. These are creatures born, bred and trained for war. They are much more dangerous than their riders and despite our attacks they are edging closer to the temple. As they approach us though we start to surround them. Once we have them completely surrounded we start to chant. It is an ancient chant that even we don’t understand the meaning of, but even so we have all practised it and follow it exactly.
