Nightblade Boxed Set

by Ryan Kirk

  “Why?”

  Akira stepped back. Such blunt questions were socially shocking, if refreshing. He had never spoken so openly about his plans. But somehow he felt the boy needed to know. If he could convince the nightblade he could convince anyone. He still thought he could convince the boy to work with him.

  “Order, strength, discipline. My citizens are generally happy. They may complain about the harshness of the rules we’ve set, but there is little crime and little to fear outside of the normal risks of existence. Our military is strong and fast, and we are always on a war footing, unlike the other two kingdoms, who have begun their fall into decadence. Their peace has made them weak. I also had the service of the best assassin in the Three Kingdoms. He would have been instrumental in a clean campaign.”

  Ryuu grunted. “Why take over the other two kingdoms if your own is going so well? Aren’t you content with the power you possess?”

  “I am. But I see a greater responsibility ahead. The Three Kingdoms are part of a larger world, and although geography has helped us remain independent, it will not always be so. We have a rich land here, a land which would mean a lot to people beyond our shores and ranges. If we don’t unify under a strong hand, we will all fall.”

  “Considering the cost it seems like a thin justification for a grab for greater power.”

  Akira gazed at Ryuu with a hint of anger. “I am well aware of the shortcomings. I understand that the safety of the whole sometimes overwhelms the needs and lives of more than a few people. That knowledge doesn’t make anything easier, but it doesn’t make it any less necessary.”

  Ryuu was angry as well now. “No kingdom is worth the lives of my master and my friends.”

  Akira transfixed him with a steely glare. “The kingdom is worth that, and much more besides. If I can keep hundreds of thousands of people safe, but must kill a handful to make it happen, it is a sacrifice I am more than willing to make.”

  Ryuu’s hand went to where his sword would have hung if he had one, briefly, before he took it away. Akira noticed the gesture but didn’t flinch. “You burned down an innocent family, killed my master, and tortured my friend to death. If those are the actions your peace is founded upon, war seems like a more pleasant alternative.”

  Ryuu saw the look of sadness flash upon Akira’s face and was surprised.

  Akira held his gaze. “I ordered your death, the death of your master, and the death of the girl who started this whole mess. General Nori took his orders further than he should have.” Akira rose his hand to silence Ryuu’s retort. “He was an officer under me, and like all officers in the military, I am responsible for his behavior. I am sorry her family was killed in addition to the women in the brothel, and I have received reports about the torture she suffered. For all these actions, I owe you more than an apology. But I will not apologize for the deaths of your friend and your master. They were the correct orders then, and they are the correct orders now, even with you here ready to take my life.”

  “Why?” Ryuu was barely able to get the question out through his clenched jaw.

  “Because your very existence threatens the kingdom and all the work that I have attempted to perform over the past few cycles. You know better than anyone alive how nightblades are demonized in popular culture. I’m sure by now you realize it’s not accidental. The nightblades split our great kingdom in three, and that must never be allowed to happen again. Now that the public knows about you, there is no telling what will happen. Everyone is scared, uncertain how the balance of power may be shifted. You are safest dead.”

  With a supreme effort of will, Ryuu managed to hold his anger in check. “We were never a danger to anyone.”

  Akira raised an eyebrow. “Don’t delude yourself. The first time something happens that threatens you, you attack. When Takako was taken, in a perfectly legal transaction, I’ll remind you, you went into the camp and killed an officer of the army. Not the actions of a peaceful man. When your master was killed, you attacked both a monastery and an army base. Any time something has happened to you, you have responded by sowing disorder and chaos, elements that will tear my kingdom apart. When you’re unhappy with my decisions, you come personally into my chambers. Hardly the actions of a typical peace-loving citizen.”

  “Everything I did was to protect someone who couldn’t protect themselves.”

  “Which is exactly what I’m doing, just on a scale you can’t seem to comprehend.”

  The steel and frustration in Akira’s voice penetrated through the haze of anger surrounding Ryuu’s thoughts. He thought through all his actions and tried to assume Akira’s perspective. In a flash of insight, he realized that Akira’s actions weren’t much different than what he would have done. If he had to choose between mass chaos and the death of a few individuals he would have chosen the same path. Abruptly, his anger cooled.

  “I see.”

  Akira, not being able to track Ryuu’s thoughts, was surprised at the concession. He was surprised at himself as well. He realized he had been expecting to die, and had spoken much more openly than he was used to, even with his closest advisers. He had inadvertently created a bond with this boy.

  Ryuu was still muddling through his thought process, and Akira turned it to his advantage.

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  Ryuu looked up. “Well, I came to you to tell you to stop hunting us. If you weren’t going to listen, I was going to kill you.”

  “That was your solution?”

  “Not perfect, I admit, but it would have gotten the job done.”

  Akira shrugged. He enjoyed the blatant disregard for authority the boy held. “It might have. Everyone will be searching for you now.”

  Ryuu examined him. “I think the plan still holds out. I have no ambition for power, nor any desire to serve a master other than myself. I would like to lead a peaceful life and explore the origin of the sense to greater degree. Orochi gave me some leads before he died.”

  “He spoke to you then.”

  “Yes. He seemed to believe I was a lot stronger than I think. He gave me some directions on how to continue my training.”

  “To what end?”

  The question paused Ryuu for a moment. “I guess I’ve never really thought about it. I’ve always trained simply to be stronger. I suppose it’s for times such as these when strength is necessary to protect those who I care about.”

  Akira nodded. “You haven’t yet figured out a purpose for your life then?”

  “I’m not sure there is a purpose to an individual’s life.”

  Akira glanced from Ryuu to his map back to Ryuu. “We all have purpose, whether we pursue it or not.” He paused. “Would you consider working for me under the same conditions I had with Orochi? They were generous terms.”

  Ryuu shook his head. “Not just because of how I personally feel about you. I’ve seen decent men be party to horrible actions because they tied their honor and their obedience to another. The peace of a kingdom isn’t worth the suffering Takako experienced. I think being party to that helped kill Orochi in the end. Better to be free and responsible for your own actions.”

  Akira found himself liking the boy more and more. He was reasonable, if perhaps too young to understand the ways of the world. He found himself more curious. “Do you believe you will be able to live in peace even if you and I part today less than enemies?”

  Ryuu shrugged. “I hope so, but it would be naive to assume that just because I hope so it will be. Shigeru often worried that those who lived by the sword would be fated to die by it. Perhaps it is true. It is pointless to predict the future. What is important is that what I want at this moment is peace.”

  “Are you sure you won’t consider working for me?”

  Despite himself, Ryuu grinned just a little. It was nice to be appreciated for one’s talents. “Yes.”

  “Where will you go, and what will you do?”

  “I wouldn’t tell you for the world.”

 
“You know I will send spies after you. You are far too dangerous a man to leave wandering around my kingdom.”

  “I may not stay in your kingdom. But you are welcome to send any spies. They will risk their lives, and I suspect they won’t be able to track us anyway.”

  “What if I need to contact you?”

  The corner of Ryuu’s mouth turned up just a bit as if he found the idea amusing. “Akira, I leave you alive today because you have convinced me you are not out to kill me or Moriko, and you will leave us in relative peace. But we are not allies. If your claims are true about why you rule and what your goals for ruling are, then you are a man best left alive, and perhaps are best suited to pursue a kingdom for all. But that will not be my fight.”

  Ryuu turned to leave, but Akira spoke before he could begin his egress. “Do you really think you’ll be able to do it?”

  Ryuu glanced back quizzically.

  “Do you think that as a warrior, you’ll be able to find a life of peace?”

  As Ryuu looked at Akira, he couldn’t help but think that this young man, just barely of the legal age of a soldier, had the eyes of a man who had seen much, much more. “No. I suspect the sword will continue to find me. But we are defined by our actions, and what kind of man would I be if I didn’t at least attempt to live in peace?”

  Akira nodded. He understood this boy, and somehow, this boy understood him better than a whole reception room full of nobility and courtiers.

  “I wish you the best of luck. While I will try to keep track of you, you have my word that no harm will come to you or the girl on my account. Perhaps you’d do the kindness of not killing any messengers I may send.”

  Ryuu grinned and suddenly went from a sage to a young man in an instant. “Depends on how good-looking they are.”

  With that he was out the door. Akira started to track him but found that he had disappeared into the emptiness. It was a pretty impressive skill.

  Akira grinned despite himself. He and Orochi had understood each other and respected each other, but he liked that boy. He had a feeling that someday he might see him again. Perhaps not. Either way, from the bottom of his heart, Lord Akira hoped he would find peace.

  World's Edge

  This one is for mom and dad,

  still putting up with me after all these years

  Prologue

  Akira, Lord of the Southern Kingdom, ran his hand through the grass. He closed his eyes and focused on the warmth of the morning sun on his left side. The morning was early and the predawn quiet still held, the fort behind him silent as men rolled bleary-eyed from their sleeping pads. Akira had been up before the sun, driven by curiosity.

  He kept his eyes closed as he listened to the soft rustle of a morning breeze through the prairie. If it was possible, even the wind sounded empty and hollow. The grass here was high, coming well above Akira’s waist. If he wished, he could sit and disappear from the view of those behind him. For a moment his imagination got the best of him, racing ahead of logic to present solutions to his confused mind. He pictured the Azarians, spread out in front of him: thousands of them, just sitting in the grass, hiding and laughing at their own private joke.

  But when he opened his eyes, the rolling prairie in front of him was empty. He looked down at the grass, tall and strong, and thought of the amount of blood this field had been fertilized with. The grass here would grow strong long after he and his men had rejoined the great cycle. Their blood ensured it.

  But there was no death here this morning. The sun rose on three armies that faced no enemy. Akira turned and looked at Fort Azuma, stone walls built tall and strong with sweat and lives. Behind it lay the Three Sisters, mountain peaks Akira could just make out from where he stood. Beyond them, even farther to the north, lay the Southern Kingdom. Akira’s father had fought for ten hard cycles to retake the pass from the Azarians, and Akira had finished the work through the completion of the fort named for his father. He believed he had ensured the safety of his kingdom. No more would the Azarians be a threat to his people.

  Today he wondered if his dream had come true. For sixty cycles the Southern Kingdom had fought and died against the Azarians, fighting to protect their border. The fighting in the pass was as regular and predictable as the seasons. Some winters were harsher than others, but winter always came, and spring always followed it. With the spring came the Azarians. Sometimes more of them and sometimes less, but they always came.

  Now, spring was here. Even the prairie, usually burned brown by the sun, was green. The air smelled fresh and clean. But though spring was in full bloom, the Azarians were nowhere to be seen.

  It should have meant rejoicing. Behind Akira stood fifteen thousand men and boys who might not meet their ends in this empty grassland. But Akira didn’t trust it. He couldn’t trust it. The silence in front of him wasn’t pleasant. It was oppressive, menacing. It felt like the wind pausing right before a storm hit, tearing well-rooted trees out of the ground.

  Akira turned and walked back to the fort, causing the bodyguards he had ordered to stay behind to breathe a silent sigh of relief. Questions raced through his mind, but no answers. He couldn’t explain it, but when he looked out on those empty plains, he only felt one emotion, and it wasn’t relief. It was fear.

  1

  Akira studied his maps. They were large, almost as large as the bedroll he slept on. Although he’d not say as much out loud, they were one of the prides of his reign. Maps were knowledge, knowledge of the terrain that could mean the difference between success and defeat in a military campaign. His were the most detailed of any in existence, and with the addition of small wooden figurines to denote armies and units, it gave him all the information he needed to run his kingdom.

  The sun wasn’t yet up, but the candles in his tent provided plenty of illumination as he puzzled over the maps. He commanded five armies. The Fourth and the Fifth were far away, up north guarding the borders of the Western Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom, respectively. It was quiet duty, but Akira didn’t dare leave his borders undefended. The other lords needed to be watched, Tanak especially. The lord of the Western Kingdom was building his armies. Akira’s shadows reported Tanak already had three full armies with over six thousand men apiece, and a fourth was in development. It worried Akira, but it was a matter for another day. The treaty had held for over a thousand cycles, and Akira couldn’t see anyone breaking it soon.

  Down here, at the southern edge of the Three Sisters, Akira held three armies. He had hoped to test his new generals in battle, but no battle awaited them here. His generals would have to find experience elsewhere.

  Akira shook his head. There was nothing on the maps he hadn’t already thought about. He stepped out of his tent as the first rays of the sun peeked over the horizon. The morning was still. His sleep-starved guards stumbled to attention, but he motioned for them to sit once again. He was in the middle of his army, there was little for him to fear. No one made it this far unless they were personally known. Ryuu’s casual breaking and entering of his castle grounds two cycles ago had caused significant tightening of Akira’s personal security. He preferred not having a sword to his neck.

  His guards knew his penchant for wandering without company. His advisers objected, but it was a small way he could show solidarity with his soldiers. They risked their lives every day for the kingdom. If he couldn’t step outside his own tent without a company of soldiers, what type of leader would he be? His guards would report his wanderings immediately anyway. He never had much time to himself.

  Akira walked to the spotting tower and returned to the view he had looked upon the day before. The morning sunlight bathed the land in brilliant orange hues and Akira couldn’t help but think that Azaria was a beautiful land. Empty, but beautiful.

  He forced himself to turn away from the sight. The land was still empty and nothing had changed. When he reached the bottom of the lookout he was met by members of his honor guard. He almost asked how they had found him, but he k
new the answer. They may have given him space, but they couldn’t risk giving him freedom. Captain Yung, the head of his honor guard, was a strong soldier, but an even better bodyguard. Akira knew the captain had issued orders that Akira be trailed discreetly at all times.

  Akira greeted his captain with humor in his voice. “That obvious?”

  Yung, to his credit, did not smile. “There was only one place you would have gone, my lord.”

  “You never will call me by my given name, will you?”

  “No, my lord.”

  Akira laughed. “Well, hopefully these generals will follow orders better than you!”

  Yung shook his head and let out a short laugh. “Unlikely, my lord.”

  They covered the ground to the command headquarters in short time. Even though the morning was still young, and the camp wasn’t awake, all the generals were assembled. The command of a kingdom waited for no one.

  When Akira entered the headquarters he scanned the room and took in the three generals of the armies he traveled with. They represented the best of the Southern Kingdom, and Akira considered himself fortunate to have their skills and expertise.

  General Toro was the oldest, having seen almost fifty cycles. He had been promoted to general of the First after General Nori had died, making him the highest ranking general in the kingdom. He had the experience that balanced the impulses of the two younger generals, Makoto and Mashiro.

  The two of them were like brothers. They had served in the same units growing up and had formed a bond that could only be created on the battlefield. Makoto was the older of the two by a cycle, but he was still only twenty-seven. They were the two youngest generals in the history of the Three Kingdoms, but their skills on the battlefield, both as soldiers and as commanders, had earned them the trust and respect of all. They were both brilliant strategists and charismatic leaders. On their shoulders the Southern Kingdom would continue to grow in strength. Although they were close in age, they couldn’t have physically been any more different. Makoto was a giant of a man. Akira, who himself was tall, came only to the general’s well-muscled chest. Mashiro was thin and of average height, but his speed, both mentally and physically, was astounding. Akira wouldn’t want to be on the other side of the sword or strategic table from either of them.