The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

by Fuyumi Ono

  "If he has no shirei, then I shall protect him, at the cost of my life. I know I am no substitute for the shirei. Yet the people of Tai are waiting for their Taiho. If he lives, then they can rally behind him. I might not amount to much with my one arm, but the people of Tai together will protect him."

  "And that's how you intend to attack Asen? If adding a useless Taiki to your ranks could make such a difference, should you not have already done so?"

  "How can a person like you stand there and spout such nonsense?"

  "Risai."

  "What can the Taiho do--how could you even ask such a question? The Taiho is a kirin. He's not going to attack Asen. He's not going to man the barricades in any battle. Nevertheless, the Taiho is necessary. Don't you understand? Whether or not the Taiho is there--that is what will make all the difference in the world to me, and to the people of Tai."

  "Well--"

  "The Taiho is our hope, Genkun. A Tai without the Taiho and the King is a kingdom where the sun never rises. What he will do or can or cannot do is not the question. Before the people of Tai can again begin to hope, they must know that the Taiho lives."

  Gyokuyou stared off into space, gazing at the band of light streaming through a crevice in the deformed outcropping of stones, as if pushing that rock up the mountain herself.

  "Enki--"

  "Yes."

  "Who among your Sankou could you send on a temporary sabbatical?"

  "Temporary--"

  "We'll transfer Taiki's koseki to En. Taiki has never been officially registered, but simply to conform with formalities, he can be listed as a refugee from Tai. Once his records are in order, dispatch the Royal En and have him induct Taiki into the Registry of Wizards."

  "Can a kirin be made a citizen of En?"

  "Nothing says he cannot. While a kirin is not listed upon the census of his own kingdom, the law does not touch upon kirin from other kingdoms. The same thing applies to the Sankou. Though members of the Sankou must be citizens of that kingdom, no such restriction applies to a kirin from another kingdom."

  "Genkun--" Risai cried with great joy.

  Gyokuyou , did not look at her. "I haven't done anything you should thank me for. Even bringing Taiki back here will solve nothing."

  "And Taiki?" Youko interjected. "Is losing his horn a permanent condition?"

  "It depends. Without seeing him first, it would be impossible to say. Once you have retrieved him, bring him here and we will do whatever we can to help him recover. In any case, he must be separated from his shirei. Be sure to bring them back as well."

  "I understand."

  Gyokuyou nodded, and now looked at Risai. "Heaven has its reasons and its precepts, and no one may disturb their foundations. It does no good to argue necessity or expediency. There are reasons for everything, and all is built upon that foundation. Heaven itself lies within the web of the Law and cannot condone any outrage perpetrated against the people. In that respect, Heaven and Earth differ not at all. Do not doubt that for a second."

  Risai said nothing, but only bowed her head.

  Chapter 42

  The news Risai had been waiting for so anxiously arrived the day they came back from Mt. Hou. Renrin rushed into Ransetsu Hall, threw off the Koseisan and called out, "Risai, he's there!"

  Risai froze with shock. Hearing this long-awaited news awakened in her more fear than joy, rooting her body to the spot.

  "The shirei discovered Taiki. Gouran and Sanshi are definitely with him."

  Risai pressed her left hand against her breast and groaned in relief. She raised her head. "How is he faring?"

  "He appears to be unharmed. When I got there, he had already left. But I was able to follow his trail. He resides inside that building. I left shirei to watch, so we shouldn't loose track of him again."

  Risai looked up at the heavens. Strangely, she felt expressions of thanks welling up inside her. Indeed, if Heaven existed, then Heaven must be imperfect. Heaven must make mistakes. But those too could be amended. A Heaven that could not err could never correct itself.

  Hanrin asked, "What do we do next? Will Shouryuu go to see him?"

  A king was not a magical being by nature, and could not pass through the Gogoukanda. Even though called a god, he remained in essence a man.

  "No matter what path we choose, Taiki will be along. The Gogou Gate will have to open."

  "That will produce a large shoku."

  "Unfortunately unavoidably," Shouryuu mumbled mostly to himself.

  "We'll use as many shirei as we can muster to limit the collateral damage as much as possible. I don't know what that will accomplish, though. At any rate, we've asked the Royal Sou, and those three kingdoms will be sending us their shirei. We'll multiply their forces as much as possible and do whatever we can."

  Hanrin nodded.

  "And when?" asked the Royal Han.

  Shouryuu said shortly, "Tomorrow."

  Where the gate would open was carefully investigated. At the far reaches of the Kyokai would be best. As far away from dry land as possible. But even distance did not guarantee that the bad effects of the shoku could be avoided. Such was the nature of the beast.

  Rokuta said, "In cases like this, we really do close our eyes and trust to fate." He summoned his shirei. Kijuu could not cross the Kyokai. The shirei would bear Shouryuu.

  "Rikaku, I entrust him to you."

  Accompanied by Hankyo, whom he'd borrowed from Keiki, the two fastest youma would travel half a day, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the land. The shirei would follow after them, traveling invisibly through the psychic streams.

  Rokuta saw them off from the balcony of Seikou Manor. He let out a long breath. He'd split up with Youko and Risai at Mt. Hou and returned directly to En. He'd put the paperwork in order as Gyokuyou had instructed. With the Imperial Seal in hand, he'd arrived back in Kei this morning. And now all the groundwork had been laid.

  "Good job."

  He was resting his chin against the handrail. He turned around to find Youko there behind him.

  "I haven't worked this hard for quite a while. You okay, Youko? Taking time away from your official duties?"

  "At any rate, I'm not in much of a mood to work today. Koukan said I was there in body but not in spirit and kicked me out."

  "You don't say?"

  "Well, I did do the same thing to Keiki earlier."

  Rokuta laughed. "But of course. Keiki's really got a soft spot for the kid. Carries on like he's his little brother. He really took him under his wing."

  This news caught Youko off guard. "That's a bit unusual, isn't it?"

  "Way unusual," said Rokuta, and they both laughed.

  That was about the time a flustered Hanrin came running up. Rokuta turned to her casually, but knew from one look at her face that something bad had happened.

  "What's up?"

  "Renrin went to check on his condition. She says that Taiki doesn't remember us at all."

  "Unbelievable," Rokuta muttered, running back to Ransetsu Hall.

  Renrin and Keiki looked at their wit's end. Risai stood there like a ramrod.

  "Renrin--"

  "En Taiho, Taiki is--"

  "You met with him? What do you mean, he can't remember?"

  Renrin shook her head. Her face was pale.

  "Taiki is in that bad of a state?"

  "He definitely is. But he is safe. By which I mean he is still alive. But he doesn't remember anything about this world. Or what kind of being he is. What shirei are or what happened to him."

  "Damn," Enki blurted out. "His horn. Does he still have a horn?"

  "This may be because he doesn't have a horn. What should we do next, En Taiho?"

  "We'll do whatever has to be done."

  Whether or not he still remembered, they couldn't leave him there. In his current state, none of them knew how much longer he would last. To make matters worse, his shirei were still with him, and they were almost out of control. If abandoned
, sooner or later all hell would break loose. Nobody could begin to imagine what Toutetsu would do if no longer bound.

  "Has word been relayed to Shouryuu?"

  "I will," said Hanrin. "The remaining shirei will track him down. Using the tonkou, they should overtake him quickly."

  "Good," Enki said to himself. "In any case, Taiki must be returned to this world. He may not cotton to the idea at first, but if force is required then force must be used. After that--who's to say? Perhaps once his horn has healed, it will all come back to him."

  Enki turned to Risai. "Is that okay with you? Do you have any objections?"

  "I concur," Risai said, her face pale and drawn.

  Chapter 43

  Late that night, beneath the light of the Moon, somewhere on the seas surrounding the kingdom of Yamato, the surface of the ocean was behaving bizarrely.

  No sign of land could be seen in any direction. The strangely flat surface reached out to the horizon. There were no boats--and no living thing--in sight. Only the moonlight shimmering like a white stone.

  Slight perturbations like wrinkles in a bolt of cloth cut across the water's surface, interrupting the Moon's reflection. The reflection warped and shattered, suddenly growing, and then tracing a perfect circle in light.

  In the center of that circle of light, shadows danced below the water's surface. The countless shadows soared up into the heavens and abruptly stopped. The Moon's reflection beneath them thinned and began to return to its original form.

  All at once, its shape was broken by the waves. The psychic streams tossed and turned, changing into violent currents in the air. The raging billows churned the ocean into a sea of foam.

  The appearing shirei headed toward the far shore. Those youma divided in number by the Kouyoukyou, joined those recruited from the Yellow Sea, and grew to unheard of numbers. They stealthily advanced upon the shores and there raised their voices.

  Amidst the howling gale came the cry, We are here, further beckoning the surging winds.

  The voices of those being summoned to these shores--and the voices beckoning them there--were caught up in the sound of the wind swirling over the coastline.

  At last, a single equine silhouette among all those crossing the raging surface of the sea called out to a single shadow among all those along the shore.

  He realized that those voices in the wind and rain--and those emerging upon the shore--were calling out to him. Their voices sought out the essence of the long-sealed beast inside and resounded within him.

  He did not understand what they were saying.

  He did not understand why they were beckoning to him.

  But he said, come.

  And on they came.

  The heavy lid that had long sealed his true nature was beginning to stir.

  Mysteriously, the invisible golden strands left behind by those searching for him had set it in motion. Without intending to, wandering to and fro in their quest, their tracks had spun around him a spider's web of golden silk. The thin, golden currents of the life force had infused the ink-black shadows of his existence.

  And wrenching the cage further open were those looking for him. Renrin had observed him finding his way along the shore. She could not say herself what motivated her to remove the Koseisan and transform before him. Having met him once before, perhaps she felt emboldened to appeal to him in person. Perhaps she wanted to entreat with him: You are a kirin.

  She had no idea how he would interpret this gesture. Though being named a kirin, he would not be aware of it himself, or comprehend what sort of a creature a kirin was, or that he was being returned to Mt. Hou in human form. He would not remember the first time when, with Keiki's help, he had embraced the truth about himself and transformed.

  The transformation that symbolized the completion of the journey from "himself" to "Taiki."

  When Renrin departed, trailing the golden threads behind her, he remembered.

  He remembered he was Taiki. He remembered Tai. And his Lord.

  The wind and rain pounded against the dark shore, as if sweeping the equine silhouette from there to here, driving it down to the broad expanse of the gray beach.

  Amidst the breaking waves, falling on them like a small rain of hail, the one shadow stood rooted at the water's edge.

  Astride Rikaku's back, Shouryuu looked down at the shadow. The shadow looked up at Shouryuu.

  "Taiki?"

  The boy clearly trembled. He had never know this man by his taika visage, that bestowed by the place of his birth on this side of the Kyokai. And even if Taiki could remember the world over there, it was unlikely that he would have recognized Shouryuu.

  By the same token, neither would Shouryuu know Taiki on sight. Except that the damp, wind-tossed hair reflecting the dark light brought to Shouryuu's mind this person's unique characteristics. Those jet-black eyes that spoke of a resilient strength, like that of the bent bow returning to its true form.

  "Do you understand if I call you Taiki?"

  He nodded silently.

  Seated upon Rikaku's back, not waiting for a response, Shouryuu reached out and placed his hand upon his head. "According to the authority invested in me as King of En, I appoint thee Taishi."

  As soon as he spoke those words, the boy closed his eyes and fell back a step. Shouryuu grasped the arms reached up to the sky and hauled him onto Rikaku's back, in the same motion jumping off himself, slapping the beast on the flanks.

  "Go!"

  Rikaku spun around, cut like a knife through the swirling winds, and took off like a shot, leaving the wave-swept shore behind.

  Shouryuu watched them leave. Hankyo nudged at his heels. He climbed onto Hankyo's back, glancing over his shoulder as the fleet-footed beast soared into the sky.

  The reinforced coastline turned away the battering waves like so many splashes in a pond. Past the coastline, the city reached out and out and out. His people, his country, and everybody he knew no longer existed. This was a foreign nation to him now.

  The provinces of his youth sank into the mists of time, an old ship disappearing beneath the waves. He nodded once, acknowledging the strange new kingdom that appeared before him

  And so he buried his past, his country and his kin. This had become, in a sense, his long-delayed funeral.

  The clouds gathered from the east. The winds rose, scouring the peaks of Mt. Gyouten. A black spot appeared on the lead-colored clouds. Unconsciously, Rokuta rose to the tips of his toes. A second black dot appeared beside it. The winds swept them through the sky at such a speed they seemed on a collision course with the mountains ridges.

  They traced an arc around the back of the wide terrace and then swooped down and landed. The assembled crowd ran up to the pair of youma, each bearing a figure of a person on its back. The one glanced over his shoulder at them. The other slipped off the shirei's back and fell prostrate on the ground.

  Keiki impulsively scrambled ahead of Rokuta and then abruptly held up. Rokuta as well skidded to a stop and groaned aloud.

  The figure on the white cobblestones appeared younger than he should be at his present age. There was hardly a spark of vitality left in his ashen face and tightly-closed eyes. The color of his complexion suggested profound debilitation. The steel-colored hair lying against the stones appeared distressingly short to Keiki and the others. The arms thrown out at his sides were sickly, pallid, and thin.

  As much as they wanted to draw nearer, the overpowering stench of death held them back.

  "That's our little pipsqueak?"

  Rokuta took a step backwards. Keiki as well had no choice but to retreat.

  A deep and profoundly evil spell coiled around Taiki, pushing Keiki and the rest of them backwards like a force field. Like the curse of death congealed, the bloody, bilious scent was invisible to their eyes but overpowering in its presence.

  "What could have brought him to such a state?" Rokuta wondered.

  As if overwhelmed by the situation before him, he took several mor
e steps backward. Keiki seemed to hold his ground, but could not resolve to approach any closer.

  Keiki glanced back over his shoulder and nodded to Youko, who marched through that invisible wall. Risai stumbled after her.

  "What is going on?" cried out Hanrin, clinging to her lord. "Such impurities cannot be the stain of blood! This must be the curse of malice and bitterness directed at Taiki himself!"

  Chapter 44

  Taiki was flown immediately to Mt. Hou. Waiting for them at the gates, Gyokuyou examined the figure borne down to her.

  "What has happened--" she began to ask, and could say no more.

  "What can we do to cure him?" Risai implored.

  According to Shouryuu, Taiki had walked about under his own power in Yamato, and had managed to ride on Rikaku's back from there to here. But ever since then he had not opened his eyes once.

  Carried down by the wizardesses according to Gyokuyou's orders, his face was still an ashen gray. He seemed to have slipped into a deep sleep.

  Gyokuyou knelt and gazed down upon the emaciated face, her own features drawn with pain. "Impurities have compromised his horn. Nevertheless, however imperfect, he had achieved his full stature as the 'black unicorn.'"

  She raised her head and looked at Risai, Youko and Shouryuu. These three had accompanied Taiki here, the kirin being unable to abide his presence.

  "This is not something we can address. Our only hope is to rely on the good offices of the Queen Mother."

  All three of them looked back at her. "The Queen Mother?" Risai asked. "You mean the Queen Mother of the West?"

  Gyokuyou nodded. "It is possible the Queen Mother will know of a way to help him."

  "The Queen Mother of the West really exists?"

  "Of course she does. This way."

  Gyokuyou headed to a shrine. Both Youko and Shouryuu had stepped into its precincts once before. Only the statues of the Queen Mother and Tentei rested upon the altar inside the shrine. The altar was carved with numerous patterns and motifs. On a silver throne set against a pair of burnished silver screens sat the stone figure of a person. Pearl curtains strung between the four pillars hid the statue up to its chest.