by Ryan Kirk
Nameless considered the old man’s advice. In his heart, he wanted the nightblades dead, but he recognized his hatred for them was personal. They endangered the mission he had set before his people. Their lives were an insult to his, especially the woman’s. He would have her head. That was a promise he intended to keep. But the advice was well-said. Sending pairs now risked their lives needlessly in the crossing. Besides, from the reactions he was getting from the council, they wouldn’t approve sending pairs now. It was a compromise that pained him, but perhaps it was necessary.
Nameless nodded his agreement, and the decision was quickly made. In the spring four pairs would be sent to herald the invasion of the People. The nightblades would die, and the Three Kingdoms would fall.
8
After the night she killed the two hunters in the village, Moriko never let herself stay too long in one place. The hut was still the center of her wanderings, and she came back to it from time to time to both drop off and gather supplies, but she never stayed for more than a night. Rumors of hunters in the land still flew from the lips of those she met, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to separate rumor from truth. She visited every village within three days of the hut, but she didn’t encounter hunters again, even if the rumors implied she was surrounded by them.
Some of the villages were empty, deserted in the middle of winter. Visiting those villages spooked Moriko the most. They reminded her too much of the abandoned city she had encountered in Azaria. The emptiness was menacing, as though the silence held the promise of violence. Moriko trusted her sense, but it was still hard to believe a village didn’t possess a single living soul. She would walk through quickly and then go on her way.
Other villages reacted differently. Many had seen people leave, but some citizens stayed. They didn’t go outside often, but they would still open the door to a friendly face. Whether people stayed or left, the fear was palpable everywhere Moriko went. It was obvious the hunters were trying to spread panic, and just as obvious they were succeeding. It made Moriko want to scream, but screaming did little good, so she continued on her rounds, wearing herself out a little more every day.
It would have been easier if her mind wasn’t on other things, like Tomotsu and Ryuu. Recently, it was Tomotsu she thought of the most. Her memories of him had been warm, and she had grieved privately when she thought he had died. He had never been the person she hoped he would be, but he had always been kind to her, and that was more than could be said for anyone else at the monastery. It had been a delight to see him alive after so many cycles had passed, but she still struggled to understand the events that forced her to take his life.
She tried to convince herself she hadn’t had a choice, that he had forced her hand by dealing with the hunters and drawing his blade. But she knew it wasn’t true. Ryuu was fond of saying that people always had a choice. It was a phrase he had learned from Shigeru, and it had seeped into Moriko’s beliefs as well. She could have run away, could have tried to knock him unconscious. But in the moment she had killed him without much thought.
It was survival, Moriko thought. Tomotsu made himself a threat, and her survival was paramount. She would kill for it without hesitation. It was a truth she had learned about herself while traveling through Azaria. She was strong and would do whatever it took to keep living. As the Azarians would say, the strong survived. As soon as Tomotsu had drawn his sword against her, his life had been forfeit in her eyes.
It bothered her a little that killing him didn’t bother her. There was a part of her that mourned the death of one who had shown her kindness, but it was a small voice, easily pushed aside. She wondered if that made her a monster, or just pragmatic.
Equally concerning were the documents Tomotsu had been carrying. Some of the documents were maps, maps of the Three Kingdoms more detailed than any she had ever seen. They denoted mountains, villages, hiding places, and locations of strategic importance. The maps, combined with the actual meeting of Tomotsu and the hunters, painted a clear idea in Moriko’s mind. In some way, at least some of the monasteries were working with the hunters to an end Moriko couldn’t imagine.
Along with the maps were a pile of other papers, filled with writing Moriko didn’t recognize. She figured it must be some sort of code, or a language she didn’t understand. No matter how much time she spent looking over the papers, she couldn’t decipher them. For all she knew, they could have been a collection of recipes. Given the context in which she had obtained them, she doubted it, but there was no way of knowing.
Her mind wandered with possibilities. At least one monk was collaborating with the hunters, but were more? It could be a single monastery, or it could be the entire system. Moriko wondered how deep the treachery ran and what it meant for the Three Kingdoms. The monasteries didn’t have armies, but they were powerful nonetheless. The people held them in deep respect. The monasteries were the last remnants of the blades of legend.
Without answers, her mind circled upon itself more often than she circled the hut. When she wasn’t thinking about the monasteries and their role in the invasion, she was wondering what had happened to Ryuu. She’d had no word from him, but she wasn’t sure there would be any way for him to get word to her. Messengers were scarce in this part of the world. It had been almost half a cycle since she had seen him, and so much had changed for her.
As though thinking about him made it so, one afternoon as she returned to the hut she sensed him. She had just completed another circle of the surrounding villages and had come back with more supplies when she felt a presence within the hut. Her initial reaction was surprise. It had been so long, but it couldn’t be anyone else. She paused and extended her sense carefully. There was someone within the hut, and it felt like Ryuu, but it also didn’t. Moriko was hard-pressed to describe her sensations. It felt like Ryuu, but somehow broken. The power she was used to feeling from him no longer pressed against her mind. It was as though he were a normal person. Her heart went out to him. What had happened? Had he lost his strength just as she found hers?
Moriko moved to rush to the hut, but then she felt other presences on her sense. There were two of them, hiding well out of sight of the hut. She could feel the tendrils of the sense as they snaked towards the hut. They could only be hunters, and if Ryuu had lost his power, he was hopeless before them. She sat on her heels, considering the problem. Was he bait? And if so, was he willing or unwilling?
There were no answers to her questions, but Moriko hadn’t come this far to be intimidated now. She swallowed her fear and walked towards the hut, right into the trap.
When Moriko entered the hut, she saw it was Ryuu waiting for her. He looked up and grinned, a wide smile Moriko didn’t realize how much she had missed until that very moment. It was hard to believe, after all this time, they were face to face once again.
Moments passed and the two of them looked at each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move. The last time she had seen him she had been riding south into Azaria as he was preparing to start traveling north. It had only been a half cycle, but so much had happened. Moriko had thought she was going to die at least half a dozen times, but she found a strength she didn’t know she possessed. She came back a different person than the one who had left.
And she had no idea what had happened to Ryuu. He seemed fine, but there was a sadness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. As happy as he was to see her, nothing could hide the sorrow he was experiencing. And there was something else as well. She studied him closely. He was afraid. Of her?
Whatever was going through his mind, he stood up and approached her, cautiously. “I’ve missed you.”
It was both a statement and a question, and in a flash of insight, Moriko understood. He felt abandoned when she chose not to return to Akira’s camp. He had read her letter but he hadn’t believed, and he was afraid he had lost her. Moriko wondered if he was right. If not for him, she never would have gone into Azaria, and although she was stron
ger for the experience, she wasn’t sure she could forgive him, innocent as he was.
Ryuu took another tentative step, and for a moment all doubt was forgotten. Moriko stepped towards him and the two of them embraced tightly. Neither seemed to trust themselves to speak.
After a while they separated, and the words began to tumble out of Ryuu’s mouth. “Moriko, there’s so much I have to say. I’m sorry for everything that’s happened.”
Moriko didn’t believe her eyes. In front of her one of the strongest nightblades in the kingdom was acting like a blubbering idiot. She took a step back. She saw how his weight was off-balance, how his head tilted forward. She wasn’t the only one who had changed in the past half-cycle. Ryuu had returned to her a different man, a broken man.
Moriko’s first reaction was disgust. Ryuu had been strong. As long as she had known him, he had always been strong. He was the boy who always wanted to do right, no matter the cost. Even when he lost Shigeru and Takako, he never lost the belief he could help others. But she wasn’t sure the Ryuu in front of her believed in much of anything. He was weak and pitiful.
But all the same, her heart went out to him. Perhaps she had spent too much time among the Azarians, believing that strength was all that mattered. Maybe the Ryuu she had grown to love was still inside. He deserved a chance, if nothing else.
Moriko threw out her sense. She still didn’t notice anything unique about Ryuu. Perhaps he was as broken as he seemed. The hunters sat outside the hut, still deep in the old woods. Moriko shook her head. If anything, they were predictable. They would wait until nightfall to strike. They had grown used to prey that relied on sight, but they didn’t know, or had forgotten, that night was Moriko’s domain. The moon was near-full, but in the growth of the deep woods, that wouldn’t matter.
If the hunters weren’t going to strike, they had time. Moriko went to put on tea, one part of her sense focused on the hunters to ensure they didn’t surprise her. If her guess was right, Ryuu wouldn’t have the ability to fight them. It would be up to her.
That afternoon they shared their stories. Ryuu went first. He spoke about his journey to the island and what he had found there. He talked about the strength and knowledge he had gained, the power he had felt. But he also talked about the division on the island, how one faction wanted desperately to return to the Three Kingdoms and another wanted to stay isolated.
Ryuu’s story faltered when he reached the part about his decision to come for her. He told her how he had been able to sense what was happening to her, how he had originally left the island to come and rescue her. He spoke softly about Renzo’s attack and how it had changed his mind, how he had known his only course of action was to go back to Akira. Moriko watched him as he explained his decision. There were hints of the Ryuu she had known there. He knew she might hate him for his decision, but there was no lie in his voice.
His story caused a flood of emotions to crash over Moriko. She was angry and upset, but also sad for the ordeals he had gone through. After Takako had died, he had hoped never to kill again. It had been a peaceful delusion until the hunters had appeared. But what tore him apart, more than anything else, was that he had been forced to kill a nightblade. She knew it felt wrong to him, and it had been the final weight that broke him.
Even though it had been the right decision, she was furious he had chosen to help Akira instead of continuing to ride south. The rational part of her mind knew it wouldn’t have made a difference. According to his story, he wouldn’t have reached her until she was already back at Fort Azuma. There was nothing he could have done, but still it angered her that he had chosen against her.
Silence reigned over the hut as she paced. Ryuu had told his story and would say no more unless prompted. He wasn’t one to say more than was necessary. She glanced outside. Night was falling rapidly.
Ryuu broke the quiet. “I’d like to know what happened to you. You’re . . . different.”
Moriko glanced at him and glanced outside. She didn’t have time to tell her story before the hunters attacked.
“Not now. There’s something I need to take care of.”
A look of fear flashed across Ryuu’s face. “You’re leaving?”
Moriko hadn’t intended to tell him, but she was angry. “No, but two hunters followed you here.”
Ryuu’s look of fear was replaced by one of surprise. So it really was true then. He couldn’t use the sense and didn’t know he had been followed. He knew if he fought them he would lose. But he stood up anyway.
Moriko shook her head. “You’re in no condition to fight them. I will kill them and return.”
Ryuu faltered for a moment. “By yourself?”
Moriko laughed. “I’m stronger than you can imagine.” Without waiting to get into an argument, she stepped outside and slipped into the darkness.
Moriko’s first hope was that Ryuu wouldn’t try to follow her. Even without his sense he was an excellent swordsman, without doubt one of the finest in the Three Kingdoms. But it was foolish to attack hunters without the sense. They’d kill him in a moment.
She was grateful Ryuu realized the same fact. Perhaps it had been the tone of her voice, or perhaps he knew he would be more a hindrance than a help in the upcoming battle. Whatever the reason, Ryuu stood just inside the door. It wasn’t much, but it was the most defensible position around. If Moriko fell, it was the only place he stood even a hint of a chance at cutting a hunter.
Moriko strode confidently out into the woods. The moon was full, but in the shadows of the tall trees, her dark robes would be almost invisible. She let her presence seep out of her. She wanted their attention turned away from the hut. If they had been following Ryuu, it seemed reasonable to assume they had already figured out his weakness. If so, their first target would be her. Once she was dead, Ryuu would fall without difficulty.
But Moriko didn’t plan on allowing them that chance. She had come out of the caves of Azaria reborn, deadly. Moriko frowned as she felt the hunters begin to move. One came towards her, the other towards the hut. She cursed silently. Either these two hunters were very confident or they didn’t know who they were hunting. She guessed it was the former. Every hunter she had ever met had been proud. Despite all the hunters who had fallen to her blade, they still thought they were superior to her.
The decision put Moriko in a bind. She had hoped to lure both of them away from the hut, but if only one followed her it meant Ryuu was in danger. Fighting both at the same time would have been harder, but it would have guaranteed Ryuu’s safety. It also meant she didn’t get to fight the hunters on her terms. She would have preferred to creep up behind them and kill them silently, but if she tried that tonight, Ryuu would die.
It wasn’t her style, but it was her only option. Moriko suppressed her presence completely and sprinted straight at the hunter following her. She crashed through the trees and leapt at the hunter. As she expected, the hunter wasn’t surprised. His blade was drawn and the battle was immediately joined.
The hunter was strong, fast and experienced. To Moriko’s frustration, he kept pulling her back, further away from the hut. In a flash of insight, Moriko realized their plan. They knew exactly who they were hunting. It wasn’t the hunters who suffered from pride. It was her. The hunter in front of her was only to keep her busy, to draw her away from Ryuu. The second hunter would kill Ryuu quickly. They knew if he died she wouldn’t be able to focus. She wouldn’t be a match for the two of them. She had thought them prideful and headstrong, but instead they had planned their attack brilliantly.
Moriko was a stronger fighter than the hunter she faced. Her ability to suppress her presence, combined with her own strength, made her too strong for him. The problem was, he knew it. No matter what attack she tried, he was more than willing to give up ground. Every step he retreated was one step further away from helping Ryuu. Frustrated, Moriko attacked with renewed determination, her blade singing in the air.
The hunter didn’t even try to block
her attacks. He just kept moving backwards and dodging. Even when Moriko reached out in a desperate attempt to strike him, he didn’t seize the opportunity.
Moriko paused her attacks for a moment, and the hunter let her. He didn’t launch his own attack. It confirmed her suspicions. This hunter was in no rush to kill her. He planned on waiting for his partner to join him. Moriko’s mind raced. Every moment she delayed was another moment Ryuu was likely to die.
She started walking backwards. She didn’t dare turn her back to a hunter, but there was no reason for her to chase him. She could move back towards the hut, forcing the hunter into a decision. He could pursue or he could wait. If he pursued and attacked he risked exposing himself, but if he didn’t, there was a chance Moriko would get back in time to the hut.
The hunter made his decision without hesitation. He leapt forward to attack, but he couldn’t sense how Moriko would defend. She waited until he was close, then stepped inside his guard and cut. He tried to react in time, but without being able to sense her, he was almost blind. Her blade opened his chest from shoulder to abdomen. It wasn’t a fatal cut, but he was out of the fight for a while.
Moriko turned and sprinted towards the hut. Her sense told her that both the hunter and Ryuu were still alive, but their presences were hard to separate. When she got within view of the hut she understood why. The hunter and Ryuu were rolling on the ground. Both of their blades were out of their hands, several paces away. They tumbled over each other, and for a moment Ryuu was on top, face bloody, fists driving into the face of the hunter. The hunter raised his hips and threw Ryuu forward, sprawling on the ground. The hunter scrambled away from Ryuu, grabbing his blade and standing. Moriko saw the hint of a triumphant grin on his face.
