“This is Arashi,” she said, picking him up and placing the puppy on my lap. “He is now yours and you are his. He will help balance you.””
FOURTEEN
“A DOG?” I almost yelled, but remembered where I was and kept my voice just this side of hysterical. I was still unsettled about what just happened with my power. It had never flowed away from me like that. I held the animal at arm’’s length, not quite sure what to do with it.
“No,” she said as she went to the kitchen area to make tea. “Not a dog, a komainu—a guardian. His breed is Tosa and rare to find. I have been holding him for you.”
“For me?” I said. “I don’t recall asking for one. I don’’t need a—what did you call it…komainu?”
“Yes, komainu,” she said. “This is not negotiable, Musha.””
Hearing my childhood nickname brought back the memories of my time in Japan with my uncle.
“How is this little thing going to guard anything?”
“He is your guardian and will protect you,” she said. “Tosa grow large, I hear. Besides, he is big inside…where it counts.”
“You want me to believe that he is a guardian, as in a temple guardian?” I said. “Look, he’s adorable and everything, but I don’t—I can’t do pets, especially mystical ones.”
“You just shot flames at me from your fingers and swatted a whirlwind away, but this you find difficult to believe?”
She does have a point.
She set a cup before me on the table. The aroma filled my nostrils. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the smell of chocolate mixed with different herbs. It was a variation of Pu-erh. Different from anything Buck had served at Sylph’s.
“Since when did you start drinking this?” I said and grabbed the cup from the table.
“Oh, this?” she said and lifted her cup. “I have always enjoyed this. You are holding lemon-and-honey tea. What you smell is sitting over there.”
She pointed across the loft floor to the kitchen area. On the counter, a demitasse sat.
“Excuse me?” I asked. “This is what I smell.”
I brought the cup up to my nose and smelled the thick aroma of honey with a heavy dose of lemon.
“I could have sworn—” I started.
“Did you think about my question?” she asked as she sipped from her cup and looked at me. “How long have you been manifesting winds?””
I thought back to when I started feeling ‘winds’ as she called them. The first time had to be when Darius fired the RPG at me. I told her about that and the time on the roof.
“And just earlier when you deflected my attack,” she added. “Do you still smell the tea from the kitchen?”
“No, it’s gone, can’t smell anything except this,” I said while holding up the cup.
“Do you notice any other smells?” she asked. “Anything that stands out?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath but nothing came to me except the smell of citrus from the dojo.
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” I said. “You changed the oil in the dojo so I smell the citrus, but that’s about it.”
“You smell the oil…from the shrine?” she said and looked at me intently. “Anything else?”
“Nothing else, just the oil,” I said.
“This usually happens with stress,” she said. “Latent abilities can manifest when your life is in danger. The oil you smell was changed…last week.”
“Last week?” I said. “Then how do I smell it now?”
“Another of your senses is being affected,” she said. “It appears to be your sense of smell. Arashi will be perfect to help you through this.””
“I don’t have time for a latent manifestation, or a dog guardian,” I said. “I need to find my uncle.”
“His name is Arashi, and you do not have a choice in either matter.”
The dog’s ears perked up and he looked at me when he heard his name.
“Sensei, this is really inconvenient right now. I have the PTF and Enforcers after me,” I said. “I can’t babysit a puppy right now.”
“They are not the ones you need to be worrying about,” she said. “You have attracted the attention of a dangerous group of mystics.””
“I don’t even know who they are or why I would attract them,” I said, raising my voice. “I only know I have everyone after me.”
She remained silent for a few moments and sipped her tea with her eyes closed before looking at me.
“Yes, I know,” she said. “You have become quite popular.”
“You know?” I asked. “How?”
“Like you, I have people who keep me informed,” she said. “Especially about one of my students. Your weapon and family crest were found at the site of what appear to be accidents, but we both know they were not accidents.”
I nodded and looked away.
I should be out there looking for Sebastian. Not here drinking tea.
“Someone is killing mystics and he has my uncle,” I said. “He is part of some secret group and his name is—”
“Kaze,” she said. “The group is called the Kurokami?”
“Yes, you know of this group?” I asked. “It’s supposed to be some secret group that no one knows about. Those that do can’t talk about it.”
She sipped her tea and looked at me for a few seconds. It was the first time I saw a flicker of fear cross her face.
“The Kurokami are from the Nihon Enclave,” she said. “They are assassins. Hard to track and hard to fight. Too dangerous for you.””
“Kaze has my uncle, Sensei,” I said, letting the words hang in the air. “This is my giri, my obligation.”
She slammed her hand on the table and cursed in Japanese. Small cracks appeared in the wooden table where her hand struck it.
“Have you ever seen Kaze?” she asked. “Do you know how he fights? His strategy? What power he wields, if any?”
“I have a picture of him in my folder,” I said, chagrined. “And more information as well.”
She was right. I was rushing to face an enemy I had not studied, and I was unprepared. I was letting my emotion cloud my judgment.
“I’m sorry, Sensei, you are right,” I said and bowed.
“Whatever information you have in your folder is useless,” she said. “Kaze makes a habit of changing his face regularly and no one knows the true numbers of the Kurokami. They have infiltrated every Enclave in the world.”
“Then how will I face him?”
“You can’t,” she said. “This is not your giri. This is your uncle’’s past choices coming to face him. You cannot save him.”
“I have to, he is the only family I have left,” I said. “I’ll get Ross to help me.”
“Not your only family,” she said. “If you bring Ross into this, you will only hasten his death. The Kurokami are not one enemy you can fight, they are many. Kaze is known as the wind of death for a reason. He is too powerful for you.”
“What do you mean not my only family? I asked. “And how do you know about Kaze and the Kurokami? I thought only Enforcers were allowed that information?”
“Too many questions and not enough time,” she replied. “The Nihon Enclave has used Kurokami almost from the beginning. My family, the Nakano clan, is very close to the Tanaka clan—your family.”
She looked quickly to one side and cocked her head as she put her tea down on the table.
“What did you mean, not my only family?” I asked again.
She shook her head and raised a finger to her lips. I heard the footsteps as she pushed her chair back and stood. I checked my aura and saw that the shimmer effect was in place. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was probably a student. The dojo didn’t advertise, but word of it got around to some of the more serious students looking for the older training. Many mystics occasionally visited to spar with Sensei.
“Someone’s downstairs,” I whispered. “Could be a student?””
She shot me a look she reserved fo
r when I was being particularly dense.
“Not a student,” she whispered. “A threat. Focus.”
I reached for my guns only to remember they were downstairs with my coat. I put Arashi down on the chair and told him to stay, pointing a finger at him. He lay down, curled into the seat, and remained still, his eyes focused on me. He tracked me as I stepped away.
I grabbed my sticks and followed Sensei as she padded silently to the stairs. She reminded me of a lioness about to take down prey. We made it down to the dojo floor before I saw them. They were dressed in dark blue hooded robes that fluttered gently in an unseen wind. I checked the windows and saw that they were closed.
One of them is an Air Mystic.
Around the edge of the floor, I counted four figures, two on either side. Seated in the center of the dojo floor, another figure in a blue robe remained motionless. The hood cast his face in shadow, making it impossible to see him clearly. I could sense power emanating from him. He read like a primary, but I couldn’t tell which, and his hands were hidden.
“We have come for her,” said the figure in the center. “If you interfere, Stone Maiden, I have been instructed to deal with you.””
Stone Maiden? He knows Sensei.
“Goro?” she asked. “He sent you? How did you find me?”
“Find you?” he said as he pushed his hood back. “We never lost you. The Kurokami are everywhere. I do not know why he allows you to live. You are a traitor to the clan.””
“So you could not track her, Goro?” she said. “I am surprised, considering your skill.”
Goro glared at her.
“He thought she would come here, and sent me so that this could be resolved without blood,” said Goro. “You know her value.””
Goro had jet-black hair cut short and a boyish face with a long scar that ran down his left cheek. He could almost be considered attractive, until I saw his eyes. His eyes were devoid of anything except death.
“She has no part in this; she is not Kurokami,” Sensei replied as she walked onto the dojo floor. “Return to your master and express my deepest regret at his absence here today.””
The figure in the center of the floor made a gesture and the four figures disappeared with a bright flash.
Mystic circles? I don’t sense any flow of power.
“They have gone to deliver your message,” said Goro. “Perhaps you will be privileged enough to face him before you die.””
“I am certain our paths will cross soon enough,” said Sensei. “My student will not be returning with you today.”
Sensei bladed her body, and I saw her symbol glow the brightest it’d ever been. Unlike my orange-red, her symbol gave off a bright white light that made me squint when I looked in her direction.
“She will help convince her uncle of his debt,” said Goro and he stood. “I will not return without her.”
“Then you will not return at all,” said Sensei as she stepped back and pulled me with her.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “You know him?””
“No questions,” she said. “This is not practice. If you fight like you fought me earlier, we will die on this floor today. Do you understand?””
I nodded. “He is Kurokami?” I asked. “They have my uncle?”
“Yes, and he has been sent to take you back to Kaze, where you will be used as leverage against your uncle.”
“Don’t kill him just yet,” I said as the anger rushed up and filled me. “I have a few questions.”
FIFTEEN
GORO SHIFTED HIS weight and crossed the dojo floor in less than a second. Sensei met his advance and stepped in front of me, partially deflecting a blast of air that shoved me to the side.
He’s the Air Mystic.
I let my power flow and spill out around me. The temperature in the room increased by several degrees. Goro smiled at me. It was an ugly, twisted thing that made me want to erase it from his face with as much pain as I could give him. I rushed in with my sticks on fire.
“Ava, no!” yelled my Sensei, but it was too late.
He opened his robe and uncapped a bottle strapped to his waist. It was attached to him upside down, which struck me as odd as I watched the water pour out and remain static in the air.
He’s a Water Mystic too—shit.
With a gesture, he shaped the water into a large spike and sent it at me. It headed for my midsection and would have impaled me where I stood if Sensei hadn’t shattered it with a fist. She pulled me out of the way as the shower of ice slammed down where I had stood seconds earlier.
“He’s a binary?” I said, backing up. “How is he a binary? I only sensed one ability.”
My breath came in short gasps and I forced myself to breathe deeply. Dealing with a primary was bad. Fighting with someone who could wield two powers was insane.
“No,” she said. “He’s a tertiary. He uses his last power the most……He’s a void walker. Once he transitions, he will stay that way. It also means no powers for us.”
This just went from insane to suicidal.
“I need my guns,” I whispered. “I have void ammo.”
“They won’t work,” she said. “Not against him.””
“Void ammunition works on every mystic, Sensei,” I said. “That’s why it was created.”
“Not every mystic,” she said. “Stop relying on your guns and use your skill. Stay focused, because he will try to unbalance you.””
Goro let the water spill away from him and then produced two long blades. They had the same violet glow as my sticks.
I approached him from the left in a defensive stance. Sensei approached from the right. He stood in a semi-crouch and waited for us.
“It is good to see that you do not fear death, Hana,” he said. “I promise to end you with dignity.”
“I do not cling to life—there is a difference, Goro,” she answered. “You never understood that. As for your promises, they are like the dying storm, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
“Did you just Shakespeare him?” I whispered. “Are you crazy? He’s trying to kill us.”
“I know,” she said. The briefest of smiles crossed her face as he yelled in anger and attacked her.
I could feel the waves of null energy flowing from him, which meant my flames were gone. I could see the violet glow sputter from my sticks as I closed on him. He had unleashed a flow-state unlike anything I had ever felt.
My arms dropped to my sides and I fell to one knee. My head was too heavy to lift and I could only look down. I shook my head, but all I wanted to do was take a nap. With a grunt, I managed to lift my head and watched, dumbstruck, as Sensei dodged the blades and twisted her body in sync with each strike. She slid next to me and slapped my face while she twisted around a lunge.
“Wake up,” she said and pulled me down as a blade slashed across the top of my head and removed strands of my hair. “Fight it! Focus.””
She grabbed me from behind and tossed me off the dojo floor. I just wanted to lie down and sleep. My eyelids felt heavy and each blink threatened to be the last. A sharp sensation raced up my leg and forced my eyes open from the pain. I looked down and saw Arashi with his jaw locked around my ankle, tugging at me. The wards along his back and sides flared with color. The null flow-state shifted and the world went from slow motion to normal speed. The lethargy that had overwhelmed me was gone.
I reached down and grabbed him by the nape. He let go of my ankle reluctantly and looked up at me.
“Good boy,” I whispered. “Stay here.”
He spread his forepaws and growled at Goro, baring his fangs.
“Arashi, no,” I said. “You stay here.”
He stayed in place with a low growl. I got to my feet and had to lean on the wall for a second to regain my balance. I picked up my sticks and headed back to my Sensei. There was no violet glow, but even without my power, my sticks could be lethal.
“Your student cannot resist my ability,�
�� said Goro. “You should have trained her better. I will make sure she is at least competent.””
“Goro,” said Sensei. “You always talked too much.”
Sensei leaped in and took a blade slice across one arm. Goro was about to pull the blade back when she grabbed his wrist and looked at me. I threw my stick as hard as I could. He twisted away from Sensei to deflect my throw. He intercepted my stick and batted it away but not before Sensei made a fist and punched him in the throat. He gagged and stumbled back. She slid in and brought a leg down, shattering his knee. He fell to the ground, gasping for air.
Purple splotches mottled his face—he was choking to death. Sensei bent over him, kicked one of the blades away, and grabbed the other. She brought it down on his neck, creating a small, but deep, incision at the base of his neck. With a finger, she sent a thin column of air into the opening, which allowed him to breathe. He stopped gasping and glared at her.
“I am afraid I hit him too hard,” she said. “I cannot repair the damage, and this is a temporary measure.”
I ran to her side and looked down at Goro.
“Where are you keeping my uncle?” I asked. “Tell me.”
“He cannot speak, the air will not pass his vocal cords,” she said. “Goro, I have given you death in battle. This is what you always wanted. Answer her.””
He closed his eyes and, for a moment, I thought he was gone. Then he nodded and grabbed her arm. He dipped his finger in the wound he gave her, causing her to grimace, and used the blood to trace something in Sensei’s hand. He did it several times until I saw my Sensei’s eyes open wide. When he saw her reaction, he gave her a wide smile and pushed us both back with a gust of air. His body spasmed and he clawed at his neck for several seconds before going still.
“What did he write?” I asked, picking myself up from the dojo floor.
“You have to go home,” she said. “That is where they took Sebastian.”
“Sensei, my home was reduced to rubble a few days ago,” I answered. “There’s no way my uncle is in that mess.”
A Dream of Ashes: An Ava James Mystery (Chronicles of the Modern Mystics Book 1) Page 8
