by Ryan Kirk
There was a look of dismay among the commanders, and Akira realized they hadn’t figured out what was happening yet. To their eyes, they were winning.
The illusion didn’t last long. Over the rise in the pass came horsemen. First just a few, but then more and more, until they numbered into the hundreds and into the thousands. They came charging down the pass, and the Azarians still in the valley raised a battle cry and redoubled their efforts. The men of the kingdom saw the Azarian cavalry and all courage fled their hearts. Lines started to break.
Mashiro looked at Akira. “You must leave now. It won’t be long. We’ll need your leadership in the days to come.”
Akira fixed Mashiro with a steely gaze. “We’ll need you too. Don’t you dare try to die on me. We’ll meet in the arranged place, but don’t you dare die. Save as many as you can.”
Mashiro nodded and turned his back on his king.
Akira gave one last glance at the battlefield, but the outcome was no longer in question. He assembled his honor guard and they began their retreat from the valley.
Akira fought the urge to break down. He had just lost the battle for the kingdom.
14
The morning sun rose on Nameless as he stood on top of one of the peaks overlooking the Three Sisters and the land below. The land that would be theirs.
He had to give the warriors of the Three Kingdoms credit. They had fought well. Much better than he expected, in fact. The outcome had never been in question, but the People had paid dearly for this new land. Even when Nameless thought the lines had completely broken, they still maintained an orderly retreat.
Nameless had let them go. There was no reason to chase them further into the land. The People had fought hard enough, and they had a foothold in the land they’d never lose. They had set up camp on the battlefield last night, and many had mourned their dead. But they were in a new land.
Last night there had been a large council, something that had never been heard of outside of a Gathering before. Nameless had given up his leadership, as he had promised. The clans had known which direction they would head, and their plans were confirmed. Wild game was plentiful, and the Azarians would be fruitful and multiply. Nameless told them to go as they would. Perhaps there would be need to gather again in the future, but he did not think it likely.
They agreed to a location for the Gathering this fall. It was there they would discuss the future of all the clans. Until then, clans were to go as far and as fast as they wished. Nameless told the clans the demon-kind were again at their command, to use as they saw fit.
There had been much else to discuss, but Nameless left before the council concluded. His mission had been to get the Azarians into the Three Kingdoms, a land where they could grow and thrive. He had succeeded, and now his task was done.
Nameless debated what he should do next. While his mission had been accomplished, there was still much unfinished. He was free now, not beholden to the needs of the People anymore. None of the clans had requested his aid, so he could go as he wished. And although there were tasks that were perhaps more wise, there was only one task he wanted to finish.
She had shamed him by cutting him, though it was more his fault than anything else. He had gotten careless, and she had been strong. It was time for her and the boy to die. He would find the old man, who would tell him where they were. Then he would hunt again.
He smiled. It had been long since he had hunted, long since he had done as he pleased. He would kill the nightblades, and be rid of them forever.
15
When Ryuu came to, he was home, on his own bedroll. He took a deep breath, his entire body flared up in agony, and memories came rushing back to him. He remembered the blades in the light of the moon, the vast amounts of energy he used trying to defeat the hunters.
Moving as little as possible, Ryuu attempted to make a list of his injuries. He had been cut several times, and at least two of them were deep. He must have lost a lot of blood.
There was no point in moving. He assumed Moriko had brought him back to the hut, and Ryuu knew from personal experience it must have been an exhausting task. But if she'd been able to bring him this far, she would be alive and less injured than he was. He closed his eyes and let his sense expand, wondering if he could find her anywhere nearby. After a few moments of trying he gave up. He might be awake, but he still lacked energy. He wasn't able to focus enough to bring his sense to bear. Still, he hadn't lost it, and so he rested contentedly.
He didn't realize he had fallen asleep, but he awoke when Moriko came inside the hut. His eyes took her in. She moved stiffly, but he couldn't see any signs of a dangerous injury. A sigh of relief escaped from him. He had worried about her, but it looked as though she had made it out of the fight better than he had.
"I came back when I sensed you were awake."
"Thanks. How are you?"
A slight grin crept into the corner of Moriko's mouth. "Better than you, although not without injury."
Ryuu tried to sit up, concerned. "You're okay, though?"
Moriko shook her head as another wave of pain forced him to lay back down. "Yes, I'll be fine. You were cut much worse than I was. I worried about you for a while. You lost a lot of blood."
"Thank you."
"Well, life does seem to be much more exciting when you're around. Figured I'd keep trying it for a while."
Ryuu chuckled, and another wave of fire worked its way up his body. He groaned, but Moriko gave him no sympathy. He wouldn't have expected any from her.
"Rest, Ryuu. The woods are at peace right now. Rest, and we'll talk about what's next."
Ryuu did require rest. His injuries were the worst he'd ever sustained in combat. While none of the injuries would cause permanent harm, the healing process was long and slow. As much as he wanted to get up and move around, Moriko kept forcing bed rest upon him. She was often out, wandering the woods and making sure there weren't any dangers nearby. After a few days, Ryuu was strong enough to use his sense at a distance, but still Moriko left. He could tell she was anxious to get moving. As soon as he was strong again, they would need to make a decision about what was next for them.
To pass the time, Ryuu pored over the documents Moriko had gotten from Tomotsu. Some of them were obvious. They were detailed maps of the Three Kingdoms, some of the most detailed Ryuu had ever seen. The rest were less clear. They were filled with text of some sort, but either it was a language Ryuu had never encountered, or it was in code. At first, he had thought perhaps the documents were in Azarian, but Moriko put that idea to rest. The Azarians didn't have a written language, so whatever was on these papers had started in the Three Kingdoms.
Before the hunters came, Ryuu had looked over the papers briefly, but he hadn’t focused much on them. It had been far more important for him to train and regain his sense. But now he was healing and had little else to do to pass the time. It had been almost a quarter moon since he had been injured, and every day he sat up for as long as he could, studying the documents.
Looking at the nonsense made Ryuu think about language. In their language, every sound had a symbol associated with it. If you knew what sound the symbol stood for, you could read anything written on paper. Maybe the code held the same concept. Many of the symbols on the documents repeated, so perhaps the monks had just come up with new symbols for every sound. It would be an easy way to disguise what you were writing.
So Ryuu started looking for patterns in the documents. There were certain symbols more common than others. If these papers were in the language of the Three Kingdoms, it should mean the most common sounds would equate with the most common symbols, so he spent one day adding up how many times each symbol appeared on the page. Then he went to work at trying to match sounds with symbols. At times Moriko would come and help, but she had never cared much for mental puzzles. She preferred to be on the move, and so most of her days were spent outside. Ryuu knew part of it was that she knew they needed to make a decision soon, and
she was afraid of what that decision might be. He didn’t blame her. He was nervous about it too.
Ryuu distracted himself by trying to crack the code. It was slow work, full of false starts and retries, but he kept pushing forward, and in time he knew he was on the right path. He was deciphering word after word, and the more he completed, the easier it was to fill in the blanks. Eventually he made a key with every symbol on it.
Once he cracked the code, the next task was to translate all the papers. Moriko had acquired a hefty stack, and the work was slow and laborious, as he only memorized the most common symbols. The rest he had to look up every time they appeared. He split his time between using his sense to find out what was happening out in the world and using his mind to translate the pages in front of him.
The more he translated, the more horrified he became. Moriko had suspected the monasteries were up to something, but she had no idea the magnitude of their betrayal. Ryuu checked his work over and over, but he could find no fault with it. The code had been deciphered well, and the message in the papers was clear.
When he finished, Ryuu took the time to look over everything he had translated, reading it through from start to finish. Then he set it aside. The knowledge frightened him, but he wasn’t ready to tell Moriko yet. Her reaction would be strong, and he wanted to be healthy when they discussed it.
It took Ryuu a half-moon to recover from his injuries. Even then he was still stiff and sore, but he could at least move without opening his scars, and he was able to resume light training once again. From then it was only a matter of time before he fully healed, but the moment had come for him and Moriko to choose their ways forward. Ryuu hoped they could continue on the same path, but he feared it would not happen. The upcoming conversation with Moriko made his stomach turn in a way battle never had.
It was a cool night when they lit a fire outside. The days were growing warmer, but the heat of the crackling logs was relaxing.
“We need to decide what to do next.”
Moriko sighed. “I want to go to the island. That is all.”
Ryuu shook his head. At least she didn’t bother with polite formalities or dance around the question. “Will you allow me to try to persuade you otherwise?”
Moriko gave him a look which indicated she’d rather not, but she nodded.
“There are two facts I’d like you to know, which may change your mind. The first is that yesterday, the armies of the Three Kingdoms were defeated by the Azarians. The armies are in full retreat, and to the best of my understanding, it feels as though they are splitting up.”
Moriko shook her head. “They never had a chance. I’m sorry to hear it, but it isn’t a surprise.”
Ryuu hadn’t expected it would be. Moriko had been among the Azarians. More than anyone else alive in the kingdom, she had some idea of the power they controlled.
“The second fact will surprise you. I’ve finished translating the documents you found. The invasion wasn’t random. In fact, it’s been planned for a couple of cycles now. The Azarians always planned to invade, with the help of the Western Kingdom and Tanak… and the monasteries.”
Moriko’s eyes went up, and her eyes lit with fire. “The monasteries were involved in planning the invasion?”
Ryuu nodded. “From what it sounds like, there was quite the web of betrayal. Tanak wanted the Azarians to attack the Three Sisters last spring. His hope was that it would distract Akira and tie up most of his troops down in the pass. At the same time, Tanak would sweep through the Southern Kingdom. Tanak planned on a treaty between himself and the Azarians. He was led to believe the Azarians only wanted their land back.”
Moriko shook her head. “No. From the first time I met Nameless, he made it clear his only goal was to invade and conquer the Three Kingdoms.”
“I remember you saying that, and these documents have cleared it up. Tanak was deceived from the beginning. It doesn’t say as much, but I assume Nameless wanted the kingdoms as weak as possible. With the Southern and Western Kingdoms at war, he could have walked right into the land without a fight.”
Moriko continued the thought. “So Nameless wouldn’t care that he was late to the pass. Maybe he never even planned on being there in the spring. The more the soldiers in the kingdom fought each other, the better for him.”
“Exactly, but then his plan started breaking down. Akira surrendered without fighting the final battle that would have destroyed the remaining armies.”
“And Toro held the pass long enough for the snows to settle in, allowing the Three Kingdoms time to regroup.”
Ryuu was silent as he allowed Moriko to consider all the implications.
“But even if that’s all true, Nameless still invaded, and we still couldn’t stop him.”
Ryuu nodded. “But they are hurt. There’s no way for me to judge numbers, but our soldiers killed a large amount of their population. They are weaker than they’ve been in a very long time.”
Moriko shook her head. “They won’t think of it that way. In their eyes, only the strong survive. They’ll consider themselves stronger than ever having come through such an intense trial. I fear for the land.”
There was another silence. Ryuu wondered if Moriko was changing her mind.
“Regardless, I still want to leave for the island. The concerns of the land are not my own.”
“You still haven’t heard how the monasteries are involved.”
She shook her head. “And I don’t want to. I know you want to stay here and do something. And yes, we are strong, but we’re still only two people against an entire nation. We can’t change what’s going to happen.”
“The monasteries have always known Nameless was going to invade. Not only have they given him knowledge of the Three Kingdoms, they have a plan for taking over everything once he’s here. That’s what’s in the documents I’ve found. Terms to be sent to Nameless regarding the ruling of the Three Kingdoms.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that it looks as if the monasteries are going to take over the rule of the kingdoms. Nameless doesn’t care about the people here. The monks are planning to make each of the monasteries its own little kingdom. Those who want shelter can flee there. It sounds like they plan to make monasteries into towns and cities.”
Moriko stood and paced around the fire. “They are foolish if they think they can protect anyone from the power of the Azarians. I’ve met regular Azarian warriors more than strong enough to kill a monk.”
“But the monks don’t see themselves that way.”
Ryuu watched as Moriko decided what to do. She didn’t just dislike the monasteries, she actively hated them. If there was anything in the Three Kingdoms that would motivate her to take action, it was the idea of allowing the monasteries greater power.
When she finally stopped her pacing, Ryuu knew he had convinced her to take at least some action. “And what would you have us do?”
“At the very least, we need to let Akira know. If the monasteries are allowed to gather power, there’s no way the Three Kingdoms will hold together. Maybe we help him, maybe we don’t, but let’s at least let him know. If nothing else, he’s not that far away from the path we’d take to get further north anyway.”
Moriko thought for a moment and then agreed. But she saw the look on Ryuu’s face. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Ryuu nodded. “I wanted you to make the decision first. Hopefully this doesn’t change your mind, but I think Nameless is hunting us.”
16
If there was one action Akira couldn’t afford, it was to reflect on the past. It had been several days since their defeat at the Three Sisters, and still Akira couldn’t bring himself to think about it. It seemed unreal, a nightmare he couldn’t wake up from. There were times he thought, just for the briefest of moments, the battle had never happened and his land wasn’t being conquered right in front of him. But he dismissed this fantasy, because if he allowed it to last for too long the reality
of their situation would crash down on him, and he wasn’t sure he could handle the truth.
Instead, Akira focused on the day to day, completing one task at a time. Fortunately, there was always another task demanding his attention. Before the battle, Makoto and Mashiro had the foresight to set up a system for surviving troops to communicate with one another, to maintain something resembling order even in defeat. So far, the system appeared to be working. Messages poured into Akira’s tent day and night. Sometimes the groups were small, only two or three men. Sometimes they were large, headed by commanders who had gotten their men to safety.
They had been fortunate that the Azarians hadn’t pursued their retreat. Akira was only two day’s ride from the battlefield, but they thought they would be safe for at least another day or two. After the battle the Azarians had split into their clans. They were spreading in every direction. From everything they were hearing, the Azarian clans simply went where they wanted.
Akira and his honor guard were to the north and west of the Three Sisters, and so far, no Azarian clans had come this way. It was a small break, but one Akira was grateful for. His men weren’t just physically exhausted, they were spiritually broken. The fate of the kingdom had rested on that battle, and Akira and his men had failed. The knowledge took its toll on them all.
Akira’s most pressing question was what had happened to Sen’s First Army. Not only did Akira miss Makoto and his wisdom, but if the First was still around, they were the nearest whole army. Because the relays had been killed, Sen’s First hadn’t seen combat at the Three Sisters. They would have the strength to take actions Akira could only dream of with the troops he now possessed.
But they had no word of either Makoto or the army, and Akira feared the worst. If Mashiro was right, the Azarians had known where they would be, had known the exact layout of their forces. At times, Akira began to replay the battle in his head, wondering if there was anything else he could have done. But he had to push those thoughts away too. They had done everything in their power, but the strength of the Azarians had just been too great. Akira had heard dozens of horror stories from units who encountered a hunter in the battle. They had been hopeful in their stand against the Azarians, but their hope had been misplaced.
