The lines met and clashed with a great roar.
Ashinji fell back, uncertain what to do. His soldier’s instincts ordered him to join the fight, but just then, his magical sense caught a faint tingle, a whiff of what he had been searching for.
He looked toward the castle and knew she stood there, on the wall below the western tower. A heartbeat later, he felt a powerful stirring, like a vortex, drawing energy toward it from the surrounding aether.
Sonoe…Shiura…is opening the Void! I’m too late!
“Noooo!” he screamed.
A great tearing sound echoed against the walls of the castle, like the very fabric of the universe had ripped asunder. A crack like a lightning bolt appeared in the air above the struggling armies, except it was the absence of light, rather than the presence, that defined it. An unnatural wind swept down the valley, picking up strength with each passing moment. It lifted streamers of debris and sent them whirling into the slowly expanding gash of darkness.
At first, the men and women locked in battle below seemed not to notice, but as the violence of the wind increased, more and more of them stopped to cry out and point overhead. Weapons dropped and human and elven voices swelled together in a chorus of confusion and fear.
I’ve got to get up there now! Ashinji thought.
He stared at the castle wall in desperation and willed himself to the top.
A heartbeat later, he landed face-down with bruising force on paving stones. After a terrifying moment of confusion, he realized he had somehow reached the battlements. He tried to rise, but his limbs refused to obey.
Move, move, move! his mind screamed, and after what seemed like an eternity, he managed to shift his head to the side.
What he saw filled him with horror.
He lay against the wall opposite where Sonoe now stood, arms raised, before a howling maw of darkness. Her flaming tresses whipped about her face like a tattered banner as a river of dust swirled past her straining body into the vortex. A pile of bodies lay heaped at her feet—the corpses of Sonoe’s fellow mages.
Ashinji could see shapes moving just beyond the tear, milling about as if uncertain whether to hang back or charge through. The former Kirian spoke a Word of Power and the tear expanded. Soon, it would grow big enough for the creatures waiting on the other side to easily pass through.
Ashinji struggled to throw off the strange paralysis that gripped his body. He concentrated on moving a finger, then his hand, then both hands, until he managed to push himself into a sitting position with his back against the parapet.
A black fog of exhaustion threatened to extinguish his consciousness. He fumbled at his belt, searching for the spirit box, then remembered he had lost it. It had proven useless, anyway; he would have to think of something else.
Sonoe seemed unaware of his presence. Ashinji could see the White Griffin glowing pure as starlight on her left hand. Despite how the Nameless One planned to use it, the ring’s magic remained uncorrupted by the evil of its creator.
The magic is still pure, Ashinji thought.
The solution came to him in a sublime flash of understanding.
The fundamental natures of the two energies—the positive polarity of the White Griffin, the negative of the Void—would not allow them to exist in concert. If brought together, they would cancel each other out!
Ashinji staggered to his feet, gripping the cruel edge of the parapet with tingling fingers. The rush of air into the vortex had grown to near gale force. One by one, the wind was lifting the corpses of the slain mages and pinwheeling them into the violet-shot darkness. In a few more heartbeats, it would suck him in as well.
Sonoe spoke a second Word of Power and Ashinji cried out in pain as its force ripped through his body. Through the shimmering aftereffects, he rallied his last reserve of strength.
Jelena, I loved you even before I knew you were real, and I’ll love you forever, even beyond death. We’ll be together again soon, I promise!
With a whispered entreaty to the One, he released his grip and lunged.
He slammed into Sonoe and the force of his charge carried them both over the parapet into the mouth of the Void. A shriek like tearing metal assaulted his ears and then he was falling, falling, into the limitless dark.
Light exploded around him, blinding and glorious.
He felt his body disintegrating in the mighty conflagration.
His last thoughts, before oblivion claimed him, were of the most beautiful girl in the world, and of how lucky he was to have known her love.
***
“Ai, Goddess!” Taya hissed, clutching her head. Amara reeled as the first shockwave hit her mind.
“It seems as if your son has succeeded,” the princess said through gritted teeth.
The second shockwave hit and both mages moaned with pain.
“Ashi,” Amara whispered.
***
The sky lit up like the very sun itself had exploded. A geyser of light erupted from the dark tear overhead, cutting a swath of destruction through the milling mass of people below. Those in its direct path were reduced to ash in the blink of an eye. The lucky ones on the periphery escaped instant death, but many fell, the exposed parts of their bodies badly burned.
Before the gates of Tono Castle, the defenders watched, awestruck, as the cohesion of the Soldaran army fell apart. With its principal commanders dead and its ranks shattered, morale collapsed and those who could still run turned and fled. As the human forces streamed back down the valley toward the pass, the terrible wound in the sky dwindled to a thin, ragged black cut against the blue, then closed with an audible snap.
Raidan shook so hard, he could barely stay seated on his plunging stallion.
“What in the Goddess’ Name just happened!” Sen shouted, struggling with his own mount.
A miracle, Raidan thought.
The prince clung to his horse until the animal finally ceased rearing and stood still, its neck and flanks in a lather. He looked around for an aide, spotted Mai Nohe, and waved him over. “Start spreading the word to the captains. I want our forces to follow the humans, nip at their heels, see to it that they really do leave.”
“We should station at least five companies at the pass for the next few days,” Sen added, pulling his blowing horse up next to Raidan’s. “We wouldn’t want ’em sneaking back in while we weren’t looking.”
“Yes, my lords!” Nohe saluted and galloped off.
The prince and the Lord of Kerala sat their horses in silence for a time. Finally, Sen spoke.
“The One works in ways too mysterious for us mere mortals to understand. She has delivered us from a terrible fate, yet the price she exacts is so very steep.”
Just how steep you have yet to find out, my friend, Raidan thought. He had no idea how to break the news to Sen about his beloved younger son.
Should I even tell him at all?
Sen believed Ashinji had died over a year ago. His grief, while still a part of him, had become manageable.
Why tear open those wounds again?
Because, as a father, he has the right to know of his son’s sacrifice. I can’t keep that from him.
Raidan noticed the castle guards, along with some of the bolder serving staff, had ventured forth onto the field and now wandered among the dead.
Damn it! I gave strict orders that no civilian be allowed outside the castle walls! We still have the plague to deal with! His chest tightened with fury.
“Prince Raidan!” Raidan turned in the saddle to see a soldier running toward him. The man skidded to a halt, breathing hard, and pointed to the east. “My lord, you must come at once.” he cried, hopping from foot to foot.
“What is it, soldier?” Raidan called out, his anger forgotten.
“It’s Prince Raidu, my lord. He has fallen! You must come now.”
Raidan’s body turned to ice. “Where does my son lie?” he shouted.
“They’ve taken him to the base of the eastern tower, my lord.”
&nbs
p; Raidan didn’t wait for the soldier to lead the way. Raked by his master’s spurs, the stallion sprang forward into a gallop. The prince bent low over the horse’s neck, his mind consumed with only one thought.
I must get to my son!
He found Raidu lying in the deep shade cast by the high castle wall, surrounded by a group of Meiji troopers. Someone had folded a cloak and had placed it beneath the younger prince’s head. Even before Raidan had dismounted, the soldiers had melted back and bowed their heads in deference.
“My lord Prince.” A woman stepped forward—a grizzled veteran and a sergeant by her insignia.
The prince recognized her. “How is my son, Sergeant Mata?” Raidan forced the words out through lips that had lost all feeling.
“We did everything we could, my lord, but none of us here are healers. I’m sorry, my lord.” The woman lowered her eyes.
Raidan removed his helmet and tossed it aside, then knelt beside his son’s body. For a time, he just looked.
My child…it’s as if I’m seeing you for the first time! Your eyes, so like your mother’s…your mouth, so like my own. I’ll never see you smile again. Those hands, so strong and clever…they’ll never clasp mine again…
Raidan made himself examine the wound that had taken his son’s life. Great skill, or incredible luck, had guided the point of a sword in below Raidu’s jaw, just above where the plates protecting his throat ended, lacerating the main vessel. His death had been swift.
“Bring my son to the castle yard,” Raidan ordered.
Four of the troopers sprang to obey. They gently gathered up the slack-limbed body in a makeshift sling and hoisted it between them. Raidan walked alongside, holding Raidu’s cool hand in his. Word of the younger prince’s death had already spread like wildfire, and by the time they reached the gates, a crowd had formed. Raidan indicated the troopers should lay Raidu’s body on the gravel.
“Let me through. I want to see my brother!”
The crowd parted to let Kaisik, who had stayed behind with the castle guard, through to his brother’s side. When the boy saw his brother lying on the ground, he broke down. Kneeling beside Raidu’s body, he covered his face and wept.
“Kaisik, my son,” Raidan murmured gently, laying his hand on the boy’s heaving shoulder. “Your brother gave his life to protect the elven people. He would not want his death to be your undoing.”
Kaisik looked up at his father with anguished, streaming eyes. “Yes, Father, I know,” the boy whispered. “I loved him. He always looked after me…I’ll miss him.”
Raidan wanted to fall to his knees, gather both his sons in his arms and give vent to his own grief, but he couldn’t.
Not in front of my army.
“Your Highness.” Sen appeared at Raidan’s elbow, then said in a low voice, “I’m so very sorry, Raidan. You know I understand.”
“Yes, my friend, you do.”
“Let us take Raidu to the chapel,” Sen urged. “Odata’s priest can see to his body.”
Raidan felt numb. He heard and saw everything around him, but it seemed as if he no longer inhabited his own skin; instead, he watched from a distance as his body moved and spoke. “Yes, yes. That would…yes,” he murmured, then without thinking, he added, “Sen, your own son…”
“Is safe, my lord. He took our Kerala contingent out to guard the pass.”
Raidan shook his head, realizing Sen had misunderstood, but before he could say anything further, a commotion at the gates drew his attention.
A scout had just arrived. She pushed through the crowd to reach him and bowed.
“Your Highness, the enemy has reached the pass and they show no signs of slowing down. The humans have fled the valley!”
A great cheer rose up, but died quickly as those assembled remembered the terrible tragedy that had befallen their prince.
“We’ve survived, against all odds.” Raidan raised his voice so all in the yard could hear. “Do not restrain your joy because of my loss. The Empire is beaten!”
For now.
The Final Confrontation
So dark…cold…
Can’t move…
He tried to take a breath, but could draw no air into his lungs.
Where am I?
Surrounded, imprisoned, crushed by a great weight…
His eyes, nostrils, mouth, filled with…
Dirt!
I’m buried…alive!
I’m alive!
Struggling against the earth that held him captive, Ashinji clawed his way through soil and gravel, up toward where instinct told him he would find air, light, and life. When his scrabbling hands broke the surface, he heaved himself free, staggered to his feet, then clutched his belly and doubled over.
He spent an eternity choking up gobbets of dirty spit, and when at last he could breathe without coughing, he stood upright and looked around, eyes and nose streaming.
He had emerged from beneath the roots of a lightning-blasted tree that stood like a lonely sentinel atop a small hill. The moon sailed high overhead, a silver crescent amid a field of stars.
Where am I?
His head felt thick and fuzzy.
Off to his right, he saw a constellation of rosy, earthbound stars arrayed before a wall of deeper darkness.
Campfires…that’s an army out there, but which one?
Crickets sang among the shrubs bearding the hill. A nightjar swooped by overhead. Ashinji brushed dirt clods from his hair and dug a small pebble from his right ear. In his slightly befuddled state, he couldn’t decide what to do. He sank to the ground and rested his head on his knees.
I’ve got to think…
He had no explanation for how he had come to be entombed beneath a dead tree far from the walls of Tono Castle. The last clear memory he had before regaining consciousness was of going over the parapet, the creature that had been Sonoe struggling and shrieking like a mad harpy in his arms.
The world is still here…That means I did the right thing, but how did I survive?
He sat for a while longer until the fog in his head cleared.
I must be near the mouth of the pass. That camp is too small to be the Soldaran army. Besides, if they’d beaten us, why leave behind any troops out here? There’d be no reason for them to guard the pass. No, that camp must be ours.
Ashinji climbed to his feet, then took a mental inventory of his body. Aside from a few scratches on his face and neck, he seemed to be intact. No serious pain, all parts present and accounted for. He could not say the same for his clothes, however, which hung in tatters from his limbs.
He tried to conjure a magelight, but could only manage a spark, which flared on his palm for a heartbeat, then sputtered out. He reached into the well of energy that fueled his Talent, and to his dismay, found it flickering near total depletion. Pulling the shreds of his clothes around him as best he could, he started walking toward the camp. The moist ground felt good beneath his bare feet. A bark of laughter escaped his cracked lips.
What a fearsome sight I must be, all ragged and caked with dirt! No one will recognize me!
With brutal suddenness, the memory of the knife biting into Jelena’s breast flashed before his mind’s eye. He stumbled to a halt.
I’ve killed my wife and taken my child’s mother away from her! How can I live with that?
He groaned aloud and lifted his face to the coolly glittering stars. The pain simmering in his gut exploded into anger.
If I hadn’t been denied my birthright…if I’d been trained as a mage, maybe I could have found a way to defeat the Nameless One without having to kill Jelena, my one true love!
No. This is useless, raging about what might have been. What’s done is done. If we hadn’t gone through with it, then everything would have been lost, gone, devoured by the Void.
A streak of light flashed across the heavens.
A falling star…maybe it’s a sign.
Ashinji took a deep breath and let the anger drain from him.
He started walking again.
He had gone about two dozen paces when he heard a whistle off to his right, followed closely by another to his left, then another straight ahead.
Elven sentries. Ashinji sighed with relief.
First thing…food. I need to eat. It’s been at least two days, I think. Then, some fresh clothes. Can’t very well go about naked, can I? Then…then I have to find Father…and Sadaiyo.
I wonder how Sadaiyo will react when he learns his despised little brother has returned from the dead?
How will I react when I see him?
How many times had he cursed Sadaiyo’s name the past year?
Too many to count.
Every time he had stood on the sands of the Great Arena in Darguinia, sword in hand, facing death yet again for the sport of humans.
Every time I got cut…every time I had to kill to survive…
Every time a human spat on me and called me ‘tink’.
Yet, to his surprise, despite how hard he tried to dredge up the bitter anger that had kept him going those long months, Ashinji found the fires he had just survived had burned his soul clean of hate. He would never feel anything close to affection for Sadaiyo—too much had happened between them—but he knew now he could, if not forgive, then at least choose not to seek revenge.
“Stand right there, you!” a voice commanded in Soldaran.
Ashinji froze in his tracks. In his emotionally and physically exhausted state, he had not sensed the other, out there in the dark.
“You should have run faster, human. Now, I will have your ugly round ear for trophy, yes?” The sarcastic tone cut like a lash, an old, familiar sting. Ashinji sighed. He had not wanted it to happen like this.
“Don’t shoot,” he replied in Siri-dar. His voice emerged from his throat as little more than a rusty whisper.
“Who are you and what are you doing out here so far from camp? I almost shot you, you fool!”
Ashinji remained silent, and waited. A figure emerged from the darkness and halted a stone’s throw away, leaning forward to scrutinize him.
“I said, who are you? Answer me, man!”
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