Nightblade

by Ryan Kirk

  “You also need to know this. The nightblades are hated within the Southern Kingdom and throughout all three Kingdoms. Perhaps someday that will change, but it will not happen for many cycles, if at all. If you follow me, you will never have a normal life, a life with friends and family who care for you.”

  “Finally, there is one other truth that I believe in. Nightblades have always lived by the sword, and throughout history, we have died by the sword. It is very likely that you will die young, cut down by one stronger than you. Or by thirty scared of what you may become. Regardless, very few of us die peacefully in our sleep.”

  Shigeru gave the boy credit. He didn’t jump to one decision or another. He sat in silence and thought. Although the boy didn’t know what he was doing, Shigeru could sense the battle of emotions running though his mind. For a moment, Shigeru thought that he might have overdone it and he might have lost the best chance at a pupil he’d ever had.

  His fears proved ungrounded.

  “I will stay here and train with you.”

  Shigeru did not reply, but instead offered a bow that went halfway to the ground. The boy bowed all the way to the ground, forehead against the wooden floor of the hut.

  The rest of the meal was eaten in uncharacteristic silence. Shigeru had half-expected a fresh barrage of questions regarding training and what was to come next, but none came. Ryuu sat pondering his future, and Shigeru could see on his face that the journey was one that was part over-hopeful imagination, part sadness, and part anger. Shigeru was pleased. He didn’t want to train a boy who believed that swordsmanship was only fun and games. It was a hard way of life and an easy way to die.

  It was the way of the sword. It was the way of death.

  When the meal was finished Shigeru urged the boy to go to bed, even though Ryuu couldn’t contain his excitement. His fears had been overwhelmed by his dreams of training. He only got the boy to sleep by repeating, “It will be the hardest thing you have ever done in your life. You will need your sleep.”

  When Ryuu was awoken in the morning he found that Shigeru had not exaggerated. As the child of a farmer he was used to waking up with the sun, but the sun wasn’t even up yet. He was still bleary-eyed from sleep when Shigeru pushed him out of the hut. Ryuu watched as Shigeru lashed two wooden swords to his back in addition to the steel swords which were his constant companions. Together they took off at a trot. For Ryuu, who was only five and much shorter than Shigeru, the trot felt a lot more like a sprint.

  Shigeru made it into a game, teasing and prodding Ryuu to try to catch him. As Ryuu’s body started to wake up he fell in love with the game. Even though he was quickly exhausted, he found that he was always willing to sprint just one more time with the belief that this would be the time it worked, this would be the time he caught Shigeru. When the game was over Ryuu found they had left behind any terrain he recognized as familiar. His legs agreed. He could feel them wobbling with the effort it had taken him to come this far.

  They were still in the old woods in a clearing that was only twenty paces wide at any point. Given the chance to observe his surroundings, Ryuu imagined the clearing as a fort in the woods. The woods they had traveled through had been dense, even thicker than the considerable growth around Shigeru’s hut. For a boy of the plains to be enclosed by the majestic trees of the old woods was novel. It excited his imagination.

  Forgetting how exhausted he was, Ryuu ran around the clearing, trying to find the best vantage point for spying on the outside world. No matter where he looked, he couldn’t see more than a couple of paces in any direction. Even the hint of a footpath they had followed into the clearing twisted in such a manner that it didn’t provide a view out of the clearing.

  “How did you find this spot?” Ryuu asked, admiration in his voice.

  Shigeru did not reply, and Ryuu saw he had taken the wooden swords off his back. A surge of energy and excitement ran through him. Today he would learn how to be a swordsman like Shigeru.

  The excitement lasted only as long as it took Shigeru to give Ryuu his first instructions. To Ryuu’s great disappointment, he learned that his sword lessons were not to begin right away. Shigeru stood in front of him performing a series of moves that Ryuu was supposed to follow. Almost a cycle ago Ryuu had seen dancers who had visited his village. To him the moves seemed equivalent. What was the purpose of moving without a sword when you were learning how to fight with a sword?

  After what felt like a hundred repetitions Shigeru stood back and had Ryuu perform the actions on his own. After several more repetitions Shigeru attacked in the middle of a repetition. Ryuu was caught completely off guard, but his body had become so focused on repetition it was stuck in a rut. His reaction was to finish the movement Shigeru had taught him. He blocked all of Shigeru’s light punches.

  When the surprise of being attacked had worn off, Ryuu realized that Shigeru was teaching him defensive combinations. What at first seemed to be a dance without purpose was instead a new way of showing his body how to move, how to be effective. Once Ryuu had put the pieces together he threw himself into mirroring and learning Shigeru’s movements.

  They broke for a quick lunch of berries, dried meat, and rice and then returned to their training. This time Shigeru picked up the wooden swords which had rested so peacefully throughout the morning. The same practice was employed. Shigeru demonstrated a technique. Ryuu copied the technique under Shigeru’s critical eye. The sword tip always had to be in a specific spot. His foot placement was just a little off. Ryuu soon realized that Shigeru’s only expectation was perfection.

  Ryuu learned that there was an exact spot where the sword should be at any given time. If the sword was at the correct point everything fell into place. If the sword was positioned well he could block and cut faster, and all swordsmanship seemed to be about speed and accuracy. Over the course of the afternoon his body responded in less and less time. Ryuu mentioned this once after a practice cut.

  “There is a movement to all things in this world. Nothing stands still. Even this planet we are on moves, which is why the sun rises and sets every day. What you are feeling is called centering. Memorize the feeling, make it your home. It applies not just to swordsmanship but to life. A centered opponent is a fearsome enemy. Stay centered and stay alive.” Shigeru paused, noticing the puzzled expression on Ryuu’s face. “Don’t worry, after a couple of cycles of hard training, you will understand what I am talking about. But it is good to recognize that some things feel right.”

  Ryuu simply nodded, lost right after Shigeru began speaking. The planet was moving? That was silly.

  Shigeru’s eyes sparkled, and if Ryuu had thought to guess, he would have guessed that Shigeru was laughing at him. But Shigeru’s face betrayed no other emotion and Ryuu was too young to understand his new-found master.

  The training went through the day. When they finished, Shigeru again took Ryuu trotting through the woods in a friendly game. When they got back to the hut it was almost dark, and they had just enough time to get a quick meal started before the sun set. Ryuu asked if he could miss the evening meal. He wanted nothing more than to get to bed. His arms and back were sore from swinging the wooden sword, his legs were sore from running, and everything else hurt from the light blows he had taken throughout training.

  Shigeru made him eat. Training would be hard every day, but he had to keep his body well conditioned. Ryuu knew Shigeru was right, so he forced food down his throat as well as the tea Shigeru had prepared. As he ate, he realized that the food tasted better than anything he had ever eaten, and he said as much.

  “It’s because food has become more important to your body, so your body treats it with more respect now.”

  Ryuu shook his head a little. He wondered if Shigeru realized he was speaking to a child who had no idea what he was ever talking about.

  The next morning was brutal. Ryuu woke up at dawn as usual, but his body seemed to be several heartbeats behind his mind’s commands. He was sluggish and
could almost hear the screams of his limbs as he willed them to motion. There had been hard days helping his father in the field, but never anything like this.

  His pain disappeared when he stumbled outside to catch Shigeru in his morning practice. The early morning sunlight glinted off Shigeru’s blade, glinting like a crazed firefly in the daylight. Ryuu couldn’t track the quick motions of the blade, only see the flashes of lightning as the sunlight reflected off the shining sword. Shigeru’s movement was otherworldly, his feet and arms moving in a graceful, deadly, beautiful dance. Ryuu imagined he heard Shigeru’s sword sing.

  Ryuu could see that Shigeru had noticed him right away. He thought he saw Shigeru’s eyes glance his way for the briefest of moments, but his awareness was formed more by the knowledge that it was impossible to sneak up on Shigeru. He was always aware of everything. Ryuu accepted it. It was just the way of being a nightblade.

  Despite his awareness, Shigeru did not halt his morning routine. He completed the movements with a simple, effective sheathing of his blade. One moment the cold steel was flashing in the sunlight, the next it was resting in the warm embrace of its sheath. Ryuu hadn’t even noticed the movement.

  Shigeru took a deep breath and Ryuu could sense that he was being examined. Shigeru’s conclusions drawn, he spoke, “You are young, and training to handle a sword is difficult work. Later, we will train every day. But today we rest.”

  Ryuu felt relief wash over his tired body. Everything hurt to move, he couldn’t discover a single exception. His feet were sore from running and standing all day. His legs were sore from holding positions. His core and arms and chest and back hurt from handling the sword and the hand-to-hand combat. A day of rest meant the opportunity to go back to bed and sleep the rest of the day away.

  But as he turned to go back to bed he heard Shigeru’s voice behind him, a hint of laughter in his words. “Not that way, Ryuu. We’re going for a hike through the woods.”

  Ryuu wanted to groan, or scream, or cry, but even at his young age he knew that none of those responses would make any difference to Shigeru. They would go on a hike and it would end when Shigeru said. Ryuu wondered for a moment if it was worth even trying to resist, to put up a token argument. A moment’s reflection confirmed that it wouldn’t and he dutifully followed Shigeru away from the hut with one last, longing glance at the corner where he knew his bed to be, still warm from his deep slumber.

  They did not walk very far, only to the stream and small waterfall that Ryuu had discovered on his first adventures around the hut. Once there, Shigeru lay down his swords and began to stretch, bouncing on some occasions and holding still on others. To Ryuu’s young eyes, Shigeru looked silly, and he tried to contain his laughter. With a flick of his head, Shigeru made it clear that Ryuu was to join him in imitating the movements.

  Ryuu had no energy left to protest even though a small part of his mind argued that it was silly. He mimicked Shigeru’s moves as well as he could and noticed the effects right away. Every move stretched specific muscle groups. When he bent over to touch his toes he could feel the back of his legs complain and fight back against him. But he persisted, and soon he felt them relax and stretch out.

  As he learned the purpose of the movements he became more enthusiastic. They hurt at first, but as his body stretched and relaxed he could feel the pain from the previous day’s training slipping away. It was fascinating that by just moving his body he could find relief.

  A memory came unbidden to his mind. His father in the house at night, unable to move from the agony of a day in the fields. He sometimes moved like an older man, but he had only seen twenty-four cycles. He had been discreet, moving little once he sat in the house at night, but Ryuu was observant enough to know he was hurting every time he moved. What if he had known what Shigeru knew? Would he have suffered the pain he did?

  The thoughts distracted him from his practice for a moment, but if Shigeru noticed it he did not let on. They continued to move through the exercises for a while before Shigeru stood up straight.

  “What still hurts?”

  Ryuu thought about it before mentioning a few places on his body. His shoulders, arms, and back were still painful, a throbbing ache that refused to go away. Shigeru nodded. “Lie down.”

  Ryuu hesitated. He knew that Shigeru was going to do something to his body, but the thought of another person close to him bothered him. He remembered his mother’s embrace on cold nights and the rough hands of his father. Their warm memories clashed violently with the reality of his present moment and tears came to his eyes.

  Shigeru watched every emotion cross the boy’s face. Not for the first time, Ryuu felt like Shigeru knew everything in his mind. He said nothing, allowing Ryuu to process the conflict by himself, offering only quiet support. In a while the feelings passed, and Ryuu nodded his assent. He laid down on the soft grass near the waterfall. The sun was falling on the spot he chose, and sleepiness overwhelmed him.

  “This may hurt.”

  Ryuu nodded and gritted his teeth. He still wasn’t above trying to get Shigeru to show some sympathy. He felt Shigeru’s hands running over his back, quick and sure. Despite the coolness of the late spring breeze, Shigeru’s hands were warm. They were also as firm as steel. His father’s hands had been rough, weathered with creases and valleys. Shigeru’s were smoother but his hands had more focused callouses. They were as hard and unbending as the sword sitting in the grass next to them.

  Without giving a warning, Shigeru pressed his thumb into a spot on Ryuu’s back. All thoughts of bearing the pain left with Ryuu’s voiceless scream. It took a couple of breaths, but he was managed to regain his composure, and when he did he could feel that his back was already feeling better. Despite the pain he was fascinated, his insatiable curiosity overwhelming his natural response.

  Shigeru continued, pressing on spot after spot, each one sending new waves of pain through Ryuu’s small body. He couldn’t help but gasp each time, but when it was over Ryuu felt a lightness new to his experience. He felt like he could jump forever.

  Ryuu experimented with his brand-new body by running around for a while without purpose. It was enough to enjoy the sensation of moving without pain. But his body knew things it hadn’t before. It was more balanced, more ready to strike. It wasn’t much, but it was noticeable. The elation that Ryuu felt gave him energy he hadn’t known he possessed.

  Shigeru waited for Ryuu to run through his burst of excitement and newfound lightness. After Ryuu had run through his initial energy, Shigeru motioned for him to sit.

  “How do you feel now?”

  “Great!”

  “Good.”

  “How did you do that? It hurt so much, but now it feels so good. You weren’t even pressing on the spots that hurt. How does that work?”

  Shigeru raised his hand to halt the flow of questions. “I will teach you everything I know, and before long you will be able to do this all on your own. Have you heard of the dayblades?”

  Ryuu nodded. Everyone knew the legends of the dayblades and the nightblades. They had been two separate halves of the group of people known as the Blades, over a thousand cycles ago. Both groups had been destroyed in the Kingdom. The dayblades were healers, but everyone knew they were just as dangerous as the nightblades. In the stories that Ryuu had grown up with, all the blades had been killed, but Shigeru was still here.

  Shigeru continued, “Remember yesterday how I said that it is good when you notice that things feel right?”

  Ryuu nodded.

  “The same energy that you feel when you are in tune with your swordsmanship also applies to your own body and everything in the world. This is the very foundation of what you know as the sense. You can use this knowledge both to heal and to harm a person, but it takes cycles of practice. The dayblades are experts at using their knowledge to heal. The nightblades are experts at using their knowledge to kill.”

  Shigeru paused. “The divisions aren’t as clean as the legends would have y
ou believe. The two groups draw upon the same body of knowledge, but physically manifest their skills in different ways. That being said, a dayblade can be an excellent warrior even if they are an even better healer. Likewise a nightblade can heal as you just experienced.”

  Ryuu sat and pondered what Shigeru was saying. It was different than the stories he remembered. The nightblades were evil men who had destroyed the Kingdom, and the dayblades had kept them alive. But if Shigeru was a nightblade that meant he was evil, but he had saved Ryuu. His thoughts running in circles, Ryuu’s confusion was evident. Shigeru saw the confusion, but didn’t guess the reasoning behind it.

  “I’m not going to try to teach you about it now; you’re not ready to learn yet. But I will tell you that everything you experience, from the woods you walk through, the trees you climb and the people you meet, everything is connected. What is true of the outside world is true inside your body as well.”

  As was often the case, Ryuu was lost at Shigeru’s explanation, but he filed it away for further use.

  Shigeru let out one of his wide open grins, the one that made Ryuu believe, however momentarily, that this was an open man with no defenses. “Now, I see I’ve confused you again. I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to talk to someone who has only seen a handful of cycles. It wasn’t a part of any training I received. However, I do know that this pond is wonderful to swim in, and it will help your body feel even better. Care to join me?”

  Without any more warning Shigeru dove into the pond, a small ripple the sole evidence of his dive.

  Surprise halted him only for a moment. Ryuu jumped in, lacking the grace that Shigeru brought to his dive. The water was cold, but it felt wonderful to swim around. Shigeru splashed him, and Ryuu tried to pick him up underwater.