Nightblade Boxed Set

by Ryan Kirk

  Revenge had been exacted, but the price was steep. Between killing the hunters and attacking a large clan, Akira was down to just over seventy men. They were being whittled away, slowly but surely.

  Even though they found revenge, their hearts were still empty. Tensions were rising between the Azarians and the citizens of the kingdom, and the citizens were paying for it with their lives. Too many didn’t know how to fight.

  No matter how much they did, no matter how hard they fought, Akira and his men were learning a brutal truth.

  Nothing they could do was enough.

  Since the last village, Akira and his men had stayed off the road. They were wanted men, and he decided to call a halt to their wanderings for a time. He told the men it was so the wounded could recover, but he had not been completely honest.

  In truth, Akira had to decide what he was going to do next. He had hoped, at the beginning of the summer, that his small group would ignite a spark of rebellion, but now he understood it had always been a foolish dream. His men had fought well, but it was going to take much more to ignite the will of the people against an oppressor as strong as the Azarians. For rebellion to take root, hatred of the enemy had to overcome the fear of the enemy. There was plenty of hate to go around, but much more fear.

  Akira considered different options. They could keep fighting, but even his honor guard wasn’t strong enough to make a difference in the kingdom. They would continue losing men slowly until they were all gone. But the other option was to disband, and that was just death in another mask. Akira would much rather go out fighting.

  His reverie was interrupted when a messenger burst into his camp. The man was breathless and looked as though he hadn't eaten or bathed in days. His horse didn’t look much better. Akira sat up straight, his heart full of fear. There was no way they would receive good news in a time like this. He wasn't sure how much more he could bear, but he wouldn’t let his men see his despair.

  The messenger was welcomed around the fire, but Akira could see he was not alone in his fears. His honor guard glanced about at each other, worry in their eyes. He hoped this would not be the piece of news that ended all their intentions. His imagination ran ahead of him, creating different scenarios that meant the end of them all.

  After the messenger had caught his breath and had been fortified with some food, he looked straight at Akira to deliver his message. He didn’t seem concerned that everyone could hear him. "My king, I've traveled long and hard to find you. Although word of your deeds has spread throughout the land, you are still remarkably difficult to track down."

  Akira allowed himself a slight grin. "Good. If we are hard to find, it is safer for us to strike. Tell me now, my men have rode long and hard, and we have little stomach for polite conversation. What is your message?"

  Akira was grateful when the messenger got right to the point. "My king, I've been sent by General Makoto. He and Lord Sen’s armies still hold the lands of the Northern Kingdom. To this day, no Azarian his entered there. I come with information and a question. General Makoto has tasked me with informing you of our troop distributions and our logistics. In return, he wants to know what you plan next. He wonders if you are going to continue to run around the land like a beggar king, or if you are going to come to your senses, join him, and fight."

  Akira couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but the messenger misunderstood why. The poor man thought he had offended.

  “Those were his exact words, my king. Not mine.”

  Akira looked around the campfire. Perhaps it was just the light of the fire reflected in the eyes of his men, but he thought he saw a spark of hope that hadn't been there before. Ever since the Battle of the Three Sisters he and his men had thought they were the only ones left, but in a single moment, they found out they weren’t alone.

  Ideas started to race through Akira's head. Makoto was alive. With armies at his disposal and the whole of the Northern Kingdom at his back, there were still possibilities. They had options once again.

  Akira's heart, starved for so long for hope, suddenly surged forward. He didn't know exactly what they were going to do, but they were going to make a statement, a statement the Azarians couldn't ignore.

  28

  Ryuu wasn't sure how much more he could take. He had been on the island much longer than he had expected. He had hoped to present his case to the nightblades within a few days of his arrival, but Tenchi wouldn’t allow such rash action. Ryuu could see where Tenchi was coming from, but every day they spent on the island was another day the people in the kingdom suffered. But he didn’t have a choice.

  The time of waiting was almost over. In a few days Tenchi would call a meeting of all the blades on the island, and a decision would be made. Despite his best efforts, Ryuu wasn't sure which way everyone would vote. In some corners of the island his message had been well received, heard by blades eager to return and assume their rightful place in the kingdom.

  But for everyone he met who was excited, there was one who wasn't, one who was either attached to the life of the island, or afraid their return would spell their inevitable doom. Ryuu didn't agree with them, but many would not be swayed, and many shared Tenchi's opinion that the kingdom was not ready for them to return. For too long the blades had been the stuff of nightmares.

  Ryuu was certain he had already presented his argument to everyone on the island, so there was little left for him to do but to be present and answer questions and concerns the people would raise. He only hoped it would be enough.

  He was training with some of the older nightblades when Tenchi found him. Tenchi watched their practice with interest, but gave no advice. When Ryuu finished, he went over to Tenchi to see why he had come.

  "You fight well. You have gotten even stronger since you first left the island."

  "I still need to be stronger."

  Tenchi nodded. "Yes, you do."

  "That's all? I know you sensed the battle between Nameless and me. You know he is stronger than me. You know how much will depend on the outcome of our next meeting. All you’re going to do is agree with me? What comes next? What technique will I use to defeat him?"

  Tenchi shrugged. "I have taught you all I know. I wish it were otherwise, but you have already mastered every technique we know." He turned and stared directly at Ryuu. "You either get stronger and beat him, or you don't. I wish there was more help I could offer, but that is the truth of it."

  Ryuu rolled his shoulders back. The sun was shining brightly, and it was hard to think of the dark future when the present moment was so beautiful. "Well, why find me if not to teach me? I know you didn't come here just to rain on my day."

  Tenchi grinned, and Ryuu was glad to see he hadn't lost his cheerful disposition. "You're right, of course. There is someone who would like to see you, and I've come to escort you to them."

  Ryuu looked around. It was an unusual request, for the island was small, and he was certain he had visited everybody since his return. He couldn’t think of anyone on the island who would be able to send Tenchi as a messenger.

  Ryuu had learned not to ask questions of Tenchi when he wasn’t in the mood to answer them, so he sheathed his sword and turned to follow him. Moriko, who was nearby, did the same. Tenchi turned around and motioned for her to stop. "I'm sorry, Moriko, but I think this is a meeting best held by Ryuu alone."

  Moriko gave Ryuu a questioning glance, and he shrugged to indicate he didn't know what was going on either. Moriko made her decision quickly, turning around to join in more training.

  Tenchi escorted Ryuu in silence, content with not providing any further clues. Ryuu followed suit, knowing any questions he had would not be answered. Soon they reached a hut right next to Tenchi's. Ryuu frowned. He had been to visit Tenchi several times, and every time, the small house next to his had been empty. Ryuu had never sensed anyone inside. But Tenchi motioned him in, and Ryuu followed without question. Tenchi did not come in with him.

  Inside, the house was deligh
tfully cool. It was dark, with all the windows and the door covered. There was a little light, but the shadows in the house were long, and Ryuu couldn't sense anyone inside the house. He wondered for a moment if this was another test of Tenchi's.

  But then a familiar voice spoke out of the darkness, and Ryuu couldn't believe who he was hearing.

  "Hello Ryuu, it has been far too long."

  Ryuu's heart leapt for joy. It was a voice he hadn’t expected to hear on the island, but one that made his day even better. "Rei! I didn't even know you were on the island. If I had, I would've come much sooner."

  "I know. I have hidden my presence on this island ever since I returned. But I wanted to see you, and I suppose I owe you an explanation."

  Ryuu shook his head. "You don't need to explain anything to me. I’m just glad you’re here. But why the secrecy?” Even as they spoke, Rei was cloaked in shadow and he couldn’t sense her.

  "You will see soon enough, but first, I wanted to explain what happened to me and how I felt."

  Ryuu nodded. His initial surge of excitement had been replaced by apprehension. When he last saw her, Rei had been crippled from a cut. But it had been over half a cycle since then, and apparently much had happened in her life. There was something in her voice he couldn't quite place. It was as though she had grown old in the past few moons.

  "When we left this island together, I was so eager to see the Three Kingdoms. I wanted to see the land we came from, the land so many of us still call home. You warned me, but still I didn't believe. Then I saw with my own eyes. Yes, there is a tremendous amount of good in the Three Kingdoms, but they are also weak and scared of us, and I see that now. There is some strength left. Lord Akira is a worthy man. But there aren’t enough like him in the Three Kingdoms.”

  Ryuu listened closely. He heard the change in her tone when she spoke of Akira, but he also heard a sadness that had never been present in her voice before. When they left the island, she had been the most optimistic person he had ever met. Now she had seen the true state of things, and Ryuu worried the Rei he had left with would never return again.

  She continued. "When I was first brought back, I was grateful to be here. I wanted to run away, wanted to hide from everything happening. I am safe, and here my concerns are very limited. But while I've been back, I've been thinking about you. You see, you've grown up in the land, and you've experienced all that it has to offer. You’ve seen the good and the bad. Knowing everything, you still want to do all you can to save the people.

  “For the longest time I didn't understand. But now I think I do. Our error is the same as the Azarians. We think our strength makes us better. But it doesn’t, does it? I will help you convince everyone to return."

  Ryuu tried to follow her argument, but she was explaining it to herself, not to him. All that mattered to him was that she was alive and she would support him. She would be an influential voice in the debate, but he had to push that aside. He considered her a friend, and she was clearly still in pain. "Rei, I’m more grateful than you can imagine for your support, but right now I’m more worried about you. Are you okay?"

  Rei didn't respond, but Ryuu could sense her as she began to allow her presence to escape. Like Moriko, she could hide from the sense. She wasn't nearly as good, but still good enough to escape casual detection. As Ryuu began to sense her, he realized something was off. They weren't alone. There was someone else in the room with them.

  Then Rei stepped out of the shadows, and Ryuu understood everything. Her belly was large, and the energy he had felt was a life inside her.

  He didn't know how to respond, but his feelings took over, politics aside. "Rei! Congratulations."

  Not even knowing he was going to do it himself, he rushed forward and embraced her tightly.

  She returned his embrace and Ryuu felt as though he was going to tear up. All of a sudden the enormity of what was happening dawned on him. "Does he know?"

  Rei shook her head. "When the dayblades came for me, not even I knew. They didn't tell me what they sensed until we were well on our way back. I haven't been sure what to do, so I’ve just been taking it one day at a time."

  Ryuu shook his head. “Wait, do you even know everything?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You said you’ve kept yourself isolated from events. Did you know Akira has reunited the kingdoms and become king? You’re carrying the heir to the entire kingdom.”

  The look on Rei’s face was one Ryuu would never forget. He almost fell over in laughter.

  "I've seen it all. You are carrying the heir of the king as a nightblade. I don’t think that’s ever happened."

  Rei frowned. “It hasn’t. In the time of the Kingdom, it was against the law for any blade to bed a royal family member. It was punishable by death.”

  They looked at each other for a moment, and the absurdity of life was too much for them to handle. They both laughed until they cried.

  A few nights later a full assembly of the island was held. They were in the same amphitheater Ryuu had dueled Tenchi in, a large depression in the surface of the island perfectly conducive to the mission of deciding what would be next for the blades.

  Everyone Ryuu had become close to was sitting up front with him at a low table. Moriko, Rei, Tenchi, Shika, plus several other members of the council. After the evening meal the amphitheater filled up quickly. The murmurs that filled the space were loud and intense, almost as though there was a hive of insects among them.

  The excitement and nervousness were easy to feel, and Ryuu felt it most of all. Everything he was came down to this vote. By himself, he was strong, but not nearly strong enough to turn aside the Azarian invasion. Even if he managed to somehow kill Nameless, he wasn’t sure it would be enough. He needed more strength. He needed the nightblades.

  In the time since he had come to the island, he had become convinced his purpose wasn’t to become the strongest fighter in the world. Swordsmanship was a skill, not a purpose. His purpose was to bring the nightblades back to the kingdom. That was what he had been born to do, and it all came down to tonight.

  When Tenchi was convinced everyone had entered the amphitheater, he stood up. The crowd, despite the energy crackling throughout, was silenced almost immediately. Tenchi’s voice was both soft and strong, carrying well throughout the space. Ryuu admired the sheer presence of the man.

  “Everyone knows why we are here tonight. I won’t restate the obvious. I only ask this favor of you all. Make your best decision tonight. Listen to the arguments, and however you make your choices, make them well. We all know we aren’t simply speaking about the decision in front of us. The decision to return to the kingdom or not will echo down for generations, and it is our responsibility to make sure those echoes ring truly in the hearts of our grandchildren.”

  Tenchi paused to let his request sink in.

  “We’ll get right to it. All of you know Ryuu. No one here can question either his strength or his integrity. You know his arguments, but here’s a last chance to hear what he has to say.”

  Ryuu stood up and bowed towards Tenchi. He had thought for a long time about what he was going to say tonight. At one point, he had almost memorized a long, rambling speech. But as he stood here in front of all his peers, the words seemed empty and meaningless.

  “This is not a time for words. I have argued for the return to the land, and I believe that time is now. The kingdom is whole again, for the first time since we left the shores of Highgate in search of our new home. A king rules who would welcome us back. And most importantly, the people of the kingdom face a threat from an enemy they no longer have the strength to fight.”

  “I understand Tenchi’s concern. He thinks of the safety of those on the island, as he rightfully should. And he’s right. I can’t stand before you today and tell you that every person of the kingdom would welcome us back with open arms, even if we did come in and save them all. There are many who would still fear us.

  “But this
is the question I would leave you with: If not now, when?”

  Ryuu paused to catch his breath. “No, it is not the perfect time to return, and there are risks, but if we don’t return now, when will we? We have waited almost a thousand cycles, and we have never had an opportunity like this. If we don’t return now, we never will.”

  Ryuu sat back down, his speech greeted by a deafening silence as the blades considered his words.

  Rei stood up next.

  “I don’t have much to say that hasn’t already been said. I have been to the kingdom, and Ryuu speaks truly. I would only add this: Back when we lived in the kingdom, nightblades took an oath to serve and protect the people of the kingdom. We don’t say that oath anymore, but I think that perhaps we should. They may not deserve our help, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give it to them.”

  Finally, Tenchi stood up to speak.

  “I also don’t have much to say. You’ve heard my arguments before, and neither Ryuu nor Rei have sought to deceive any of us. They have the truth of it. You know I’ve spoken of my concern about what will happen if we return. I worry that the persecution and the hunts will begin again. But I’m not just worried about how they will react to us. I’m worried about how we will react to them. We have gotten used to a certain way of life, and even this question has threatened to tear us in two. Renzo, one of our best, betrayed our location to try to kill Ryuu. I wonder if perhaps we aren’t ready to return. Perhaps we haven’t reached the necessary maturity our powers demand. I don’t know the answers to these questions. I only know the questions need to be asked.”

  Tenchi allowed his words to sink in. He would be the last to speak.