“He tried it with me,” Zaiporo said. “I told him to … well, I won’t repeat it now. He got the message, though. Do you think Awasa can recover? She drove me nuts, but I didn’t hate her. And she was starting to become a decent person.”
Iniru said sadly, “Really? Well, that’s an injustice.”
Turesobei shook his head. “Anything is possible, but …”
“Her mind is broken,” Aikonshi said. “It will never be the same. She was not a strong girl. She was weak and inexperienced. She couldn’t handle it.”
Hakamoro attempted to be upbeat. “So, what’s the plan? Shi? Turesobei? I know one of you has thought of something.”
“We die,” Aikonshi said despondently.
“We fight,” Turesobei countered.
Everyone looked to him with the slightest glimmer of hope in their eyes.
“I have a plan,” he whispered.
“I’d like to hear it, because your last plan failed spectacularly,” Zaiporo said.
“Yeah, worst rescue mission I’ve ever seen,” Iniru added. “Well, what is it? When do we start?”
“The first step is to rest. We’ll spring into action when they take us out to open the gate. You’ll know when. I’ll take care of it.” He held up a hand to cut off any comments. “And you’re all just going to have to trust me. It’s our only shot.”
“You will kill the girl?” said Motekeru. He didn’t sound thrilled about it. As much as Aikonshi had portrayed him as a merciless killer, he didn’t seem that way to Turesobei. Not so far, anyway.
“You can do what I couldn’t do,” said Iniru. “You can fix this. One quick lightning strike. Kill her instantly or knock her from the mountain. You have to do it. You can’t feel bad about it. So many lives depend on it.”
“I’m not killing the child. It’s not possible anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Iniru asked. “The Sacred Codex sent me to kill her.”
“The codex was wrong. Have you noticed the tattoo on her leg or chest? I bet it covers most of her body under her nightgown. I saw it when I projected my spirit here to find you. It’s the Mark of the Guardian. Powerful magic, Kaiaru-level stuff, except it is old zaboko blood magic. I don’t know how the priests managed it. The art was supposedly lost.”
“Kaiwen Earth Mother in Torment’s Flames!” Iniru cursed. “You mean I never had a chance?”
“Never,” Turesobei replied.
“I don’t understand,” Iniru said.
“The Mark of the Guardian,” Turesobei explained, “will keep its bearer from being killed in any way. She can die only from old age, when her organs shut down. The ritual to make that mark takes a year to perform, and a number of sacrifices. Ten, at the least, one for each month. A white-steel weapon could kill her, but nothing else.”
“So we could seize your sword and kill her with that?” Aikonshi asked.
“I’m not going to kill the child. If she opens the gate, I think I can save all of us and Okoro.”
“How are you going to do that?” Iniru asked.
“I’m going to be true to myself.”
Chapter Sixty-Three
The Wolf and the Poisoner set three buckets inside the room: one filled with water, one filled with an overcooked rice porridge, and one for the toilet. No one said a word in complaint. The two wraiths noticed the fire, discussed it in whispers, and left. Turesobei said nothing else of his plan. He was afraid the Twelve might hear them. Besides, all he needed from the others was for them to fight and run when it was time.
Without rest, it would never work. Thinking he would sleep for an hour, Turesobei closed his eyes. When Iniru shook him, she told him he’d been asleep for nearly twelve.
He stretched, groaning. “I didn’t mean to sleep so long … only thirteen hours left, then.”
Shoma was crying softly.
“What’s the matter, Little Blossom?”
“Lu Bei. Brave little Lu Bei.”
Turesobei stood up. “What — what’s the matter?”
“He’s dead!”
“Dead?” said Aikonshi as she left her meditative state. “Hardly. He’s a tough little runt.”
Shoma blinked in surprise. “He’s alive?”
“Of course,” Turesobei replied. “I’m pretty sure I’d feel it if he had died. I felt it when Isashiara and Tochibi …” He trailed off with an awkward cough, not yet ready to face that loss, and tapped the book. “Wake up, lazy.”
The diary spun around rapidly, turned to smoke, and congealed into Lu Bei. He had a nasty bruise on his forehead, and his eyes were swollen. “Can’t I rest a bit longer, master?”
Shoma pounced on him and hugged him tight.
“Aiyee! Killing me with kindness — killing me with love — smothered. Smoth —” The rest of his words were muffled.
“Shoma’s been crying because she thought you were dead,” Turesobei said. “You should’ve let the others know.”
Lu Bei squirmed free. “Why didn’t you, master?”
“I just … assumed.”
“Aha. Aha. Big, big mistake, master.” He gave Shoma a kiss on the cheek. “I am quite alive, my lady, though sore for it. I knew you were all safe, and so I rested. So sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re still with us.”
He spun around and looked at Iniru. They stared at one another for a few moments, until Lu Bei said, “Well, I shall continue to rest if no one needs me …” And he turned back into a book.
Iniru rolled her eyes, but Turesobei thought he saw her cheeks twitch in the effort to smile.
Turesobei drank some water and forced himself to eat some of the porridge. It didn’t taste bad. It was cold and didn’t taste at all.
“Niru, I need you to take off your shirt,” he said.
She laughed. “You what? I know it’s been a while, Sobei, but I don’t think this is really the time for—”
“I need to heal your wound,” he said with exasperation.
“Oh, sure. That’s why.”
“I’m glad you all still have a sense of humor. Face the corner and lift your shirt. I want to heal the wound on your back, and the one on your side.”
“The Twelve bound them. I’ll live long enough. I don’t want to weaken you.”
“I can’t have any of you in poor shape when the gate opens. Do it.”
She sat facing the corner and pulled her torn shirt off. The bandage was bloody, and infected puss had oozed out from under it. Aikonshi helped by removing the bandage, then turned away with a retching cough as soon as it was free. Turesobei grimaced.
“Ugh,” Zaiporo said. “What’s that smell?”
“The wound that’s going to kill me if the Twelve don’t,” Iniru said. “It’s infected.”
Aikonshi pinched her nose, her sense of smell being so strong. The flesh of the wound was turning green. Iniru must have nearly been caught by the Wolf. It was the same claw pattern as on Zaiporo’s chest.
Aikonshi put her lips on the back of Iniru’s neck. “How are you functioning? You have an incredible fever.”
“I’m a k’chasan qengai,” she said proudly. “I can endure whatever I must.”
“I can’t cure the infection,” Turesobei said. “You will need medicine and rest for that. I can reduce it and slow down the progression, and I can heal much of the torn tissue.”
Turesobei held his hands near the wound and chanted the spell of greater summer healing. He didn’t have a spell strip, but also had no need to hurry. The spell required a lot of his internal kenja, since the natural energies the magic needed were not strong high up on the cold mountain. But he had strength enough now, after resting, to do this and open the channel to the storm sigil and control it when the time came. Besides, this way he was doing what he had set out to do. He was saving Iniru.
A warm, golden energy flowed out from his palms. The glowing cloud seeped into her wounds.
She sighed with relief.
He moved his hands around
to her side and the energy flowed into the cut Awasa had made there. The wounds wept puss and sealed. Tissues knitted back together, with two or three weeks of natural healing happening in minutes. When finished, there were raised scars and pink, exposed tissue. But it was much better. Still infected, but not as bad, and her fever came down.
Turesobei was panting and tired, but pleased. Iniru spun around, one arm covering her chest. She wrapped the other around him and gave him a hug, then a kiss on the cheek. She drew away.
“Why are you smiling?” she asked.
“I came here to save you.”
“Haven’t done that yet, dummy.”
“Well, I healed you, didn’t I?” he said. “You’ll live longer now.”
“Twelve hours or so.”
“Hopefully more.” He shrugged. “Your turn, Zaiporo.”
Zaiporo’s wounds weren’t as deep, nor were they infected, so Turesobei cast the normal version of the spell of summer healing on him.
“Thank you, Turesobei.”
“Sobei. Call me Sobei.”
“You may call me Zai.”
“So, what now?” Aikonshi said.
“We rest,” Turesobei replied.
Everyone napped as best as they could. Turesobei fell into another deep sleep.
Iniru cuddled up to Turesobei. “I still feel like it’s my fault. Like if I’d killed the girl, you would still be back in Ekaran, studying hard. Enashoma wouldn’t be out here in this mess. Awasa wouldn’t be a monster. You’d all be happy.”
“There was nothing you could do,” he said, uncomfortably. He’d never seen Iniru so weak, so vulnerable. But she’d been through a lot and had barely survived. “At least we got to see each other again, right? And for me … it felt good to be out in the world — adventuring again. I was restless. Tired of studying, sitting at home. I know my duties are important, but I just feel like I should be off somewhere else.”
Aikonshi chuckled. “Oh, you’re Chonda Lu’s heir alright. That summed him up in a nutshell. Never happy at home. Always off on some adventure. Never helping his people when he should’ve.”
“Aikonshi’s right,” Turesobei told Iniru. “My father was like that, too, and Shoma. She was already planning to run away even before your note came. I wanted to be out adventuring … with you. I missed you so much. I tried hard to be what they wanted me to be. I worked all day. I went to teas. I made peace with Awasa. But it wasn’t me. Now, I guess I’ve found the next part of my destiny. Maybe the Sacred Codex knew you wouldn’t be able to do it and we’d end up together again.”
“I can never go back home, you know. I’ll be marked as a failure.”
“If we finish this, they will never know,” said Shoma.
“They know already. As soon as I didn’t kill the girl, I failed — a red line marked through the text.”
“But she couldn’t be killed,” Turesobei said. “I don’t think that was the Codex’s intent.”
“Doesn’t matter. That’s just how it works. If I don’t kill her, the red line goes through it. I have brought shame to my clan.”
“But wasn’t the intent to stop all this?” Hakamoro asked. “You could still do that, right?”
“It must be done as listed. I failed, and I am shamed.”
Shoma shrugged. “So, join the club.”
“What?”
“Zai. Sobei. Awasa. Me. We’ve ruined all our names.”
Turesobei took Iniru’s hands. “But we can save the world … stay true to who we are … together.”
“I’ll have nowhere to live.”
“Come back with me, then. They’ll take me back. No matter how mad they’ll be, they have to take me back. They need me too much. I’m their secret weapon against the Gawo. Oh, it will be horrible. But they’ll have to accept you if I insist. We can be together. No matter my station, no Chonda woman will want to marry me after this scandal.”
Iniru kissed Turesobei. “You’re always so hopeful and naive. It’s charming. When it doesn’t just tick me off. What about you, Shoma?”
“I’m going wherever Zai goes, and then … I don’t know.”
“So you two are a couple? A highborn baojendari lady and a zaboko servant?”
“A zaboko guard,” Zaiporo snapped. “And I don’t — I mean … we’re not … a couple … really … just … good friends.”
“You don’t sound sure.” Iniru said. “Shoma?”
“I — I love Zai, but I … we’re just friends. For now, anyway. Maybe …” She blushed. “Maybe someday.”
“We’re together now,” Zaiporo said. “I don’t really care about anything else, or what we call it.”
“Ah, young love,” Aikonshi said. “All confused. What a joy.”
“You remember it well, do you?” Iniru said.
“Monsters nearly killed me before I ever even had my first kiss. Then Chonda Lu saved me, and I was with him seventy years or so. And then off-and-on for a century. After he made me into this.”
Hakamoro stared at her with admiration. “Don’t let her fool you with her tough act. She’s very tender and caring.”
Everyone, Aikonshi included, looked at him like he was completely insane.
“Forgive my love,” Aikonshi said. “The beast I saved him from damaged his brain. As you can see.”
She kissed him, though, and cuddled into his arms.
Hours later, Awasa opened the door. She had Sumada in hand. “The time has come.”
Chapter Sixty-Four
With Awasa standing to the side, everyone began to shuffle out into the cavern. But after Iniru passed through the doorway, Awasa shouldered into her. Iniru spun and kicked, but the Spider’s webs caught her foot before it made contact. Awasa swung the sword. Turesobei surged forward. He wouldn’t make it in time. But the Wolf leapt in, grabbed Awasa’s arm, and stopped the attack. He shoved her away. She started forward again, but he growled at her, and she hesitated.
The Warlock took Awasa by the shoulder and led her aside. “You cannot kill her, my thrall, no matter how much you wish to. I have traded her life for cooperation from the Winter Child. If we killed her, it would ruin my plans. You do not wish to disappoint your master, do you?”
She narrowed her eyes at him and glanced at the amulet around his neck. She bared her teeth in a snarl. “No, master.”
“Go ahead of us then, and see that the way is clear.”
Making his way out of the room with Lu Bei in book form tucked under his arm, Turesobei watched the Warlock out of the corner of his eye. The Warlock frowned at Awasa. For whatever reason, his breaking of Awasa had gone awry. He had unleashed hatred, but his dominance was not complete. Maybe there was hope for her. Turesobei shook his head. He couldn’t worry about it now. He had too much else to deal with.
With solemn, trudging steps and downcast faces, Turesobei and his companions followed the Deadly Twelve through the tunnels and out onto the shelf where the Winter Gate waited. No one tried to fight or break free. Turesobei had told them not to bother. He needed them all strong and ready in case his plan worked.
Icy wind whipped around them, snapping the corners of the wraiths’ crimson robes. The silver beads braided into the Winter Child’s hair tinked against one another like wind chimes. A waning Avida Bright Moon shone down on them from above. Its light glinted on the silvery runes of the Winter Gate.
In the fierce cold, Turesobei and his companions shivered. A few hours out here, dressed as they were, and they would freeze to death. But the Winter Child walked out in her nightgown, barefoot, completely unaffected by the cold.
Turesobei broke away from the group and hurried ahead to reach the Winter Child. She looked at him, worried, apologetic.
“It’s okay,” he told her. “I’m not mad at you. You did what you had to. You did the right thing.”
Awasa stepped in and pressed him away.
“Awasa, I’m sorry that —”
She shoved him back against a rock formation, pinning him. Then she
forced a kiss on him. He tried to squirm free, but she kept on. She bit his lip, and he pushed her off and slid away.
She licked his blood off her lip and sneered.
“You should have stayed in Ekaran. You should have stayed with me.”
He said nothing in reply. What could he say?
“Awasa!” the Warlock called. “Come here.”
The Spider stepped up to the tunnel leading into the mountain. She cut both of her palms and chanted. From her hands sprayed blood-red silk tendrils, which she wove across the entrance in a dense web. She kept going until the web completely blocked sight.
Panting, she turned around and said, “Don’t want anyone trying to run away, do we?”
The Winter Child stood closest to the gate, with the Warlock and Awasa guarding her. He didn’t seem to want Awasa near Turesobei and his companions. Was he afraid something would go wrong and she would betray him, or that she’d go on a rampage and kill Iniru?
The Wolf and the Spider divided everyone else into two groups. Those closest to the gate were the ones they claimed they would set free. In the back stood Turesobei, the two wolfhounds, Aikonshi, and Motekeru. Two clones were stationed between the groups. The rest of the clones guarded them from both sides. The Spider and the Poisoner stayed at the back to keep watch on everyone, while the Wolf hovered beside Motekeru.
For a moment, Turesobei doubted his plan and was tempted to make a play for Sumada and kill the Winter Child. But he wouldn’t make it to her, and even if he did, could he kill a child? Iniru couldn’t. Besides, he refused to believe he could make things better by murdering a child, no matter the situation.
The Warlock turned to his companions. “The time for our revenge has come. To the Shadowland we shall return, but victorious.” He stalked over to Turesobei and smiled. “I’m going to enjoy ripping you to shreds, boy. And then your friends and relatives. Except those I promised the child I would spare, of course.”
Storm Phase Series: Books 1-3 Page 60
