by Ryan Kirk
Cursing, Takahiro had eventually given in, forced to remain with the unit Mari had been traveling with.
More than once, Asa doubted her decision to help the lady. She could be living on her own, surviving peacefully by hunting in the woods. What foolish sense of duty had led her to this point? Memories of Kiyoshi, Daisuke, Daiki, and Ayano were all that tied her to this idea of serving a cause.
Despite her doubts, she remained. This was the path she had decided to walk. She couldn’t leave until she had at least made the attempt.
The two hid in the rocks overlooking the encampment. One part of their task had been made easy: Mari’s supply raids had forced the camp to stay in one place for quite a few days. The women had made the journey faster than Asa had envisioned. Mari’s determination had played a role there, too. Whenever Asa thought to call a stop for the day, the lady pushed them harder.
Mari was studying Asa studying the camp, a smirk on her face. “I thought you said you could do this.”
“I thought you said we didn’t have a choice,” Asa shot back.
Mari shook her head sadly. “No, we really don’t. This is as good a chance as any we are likely to have.”
Asa almost told her that it wasn’t much of a chance, but she already knew that. No point in stating what was blindingly obvious.
The sun started to go down, but Asa still required more time before she dared to try infiltrating the camp. They crouched down into their hiding place and pulled out food. Asa devoured her portion, hungry from another day on the trail. Mari’s discipline was better.
“Asa, I don’t know that I’ve ever had the courage to ask, but what motivated you to join my cause?”
Asa struggled for the answer she wasn’t sure of. “You protect the people.”
Mari wasn’t satisfied. “Yes, but I mean really, why do you do it? What drives you? Why are you willing to risk your life to go down into that camp with me?”
In an uncharacteristic moment, Asa decided to tell her a short version of her life.
“When I was younger, I was obsessed with revenge. My father was killed by a nightblade, and I spent most of my adult life tracking him down. It was why I had trained in the first place. I was successful, but revenge . . .” She fought for the right words and failed. “Revenge didn’t bring me any peace, and it didn’t right any wrongs. I ended up questioning myself and what I had done. Since then, I haven’t felt at ease. Strangely, I feel almost like I need to complete the work of the man I killed.”
Asa’s voice drifted off, her thoughts wandering the passages of memory.
Eventually she continued. “Simply put, I think that serving you is as close as I can get to what I’m supposed to be doing right now. I don’t have any good answer, unfortunately.”
Mari smiled. “You’re not alone. I think that no one really has any idea about the meaning of our lives. We all pretend. We make plans and discuss our beliefs as though we’ve found an answer, but I think most are just guessing. I’m leading a cadre of nightblades, yet I’m not half as certain as I must act.”
In most people, such a confession of weakness would have bothered Asa. But not from Mari. She spoke earnestly, not seeking sympathy so much as just stating a fact. Not for the first time, Asa wished that Mari could become the new ruler of the Kingdom.
As the sun set, the two women huddled next to each other. The spring nights, especially in the mountains, got cold, and staying together kept them warm until it was time to move.
They both took turns napping. Asa didn’t want to leave until deep into the night, so they had time. Asa fell asleep first, with Mari waking her when the moon was high in the sky. Mari slept until Asa thought the time was right.
She nudged Mari awake.
“It’s time to go.”
The first part of the trip was simple enough. They picked their way down the dark mountainside, Mari leading the way. Asa was slightly ashamed, but Mari was more experienced in the mountains, and her footing was much better than the blade’s.
From there they passed close to the outskirts of the camp. The land was uneven and rugged, near the end of one of the many mountain ranges in Mari’s land. This gave them the advantage as they approached, but eventually they couldn’t sneak anymore.
Asa decided a simple approach was best. There was no way to sneak into camp, so they were forced to walk in. The two came as close as they dared to the perimeter and hid in a clump of tall grass. Asa waited until the shift changed.
Several groups of guards converged on one spot to listen to commands from a unit officer. Asa used her sense, and when she was sure no one was looking in their direction, she stood up with Mari and simply joined the group. When it split, Mari and Asa followed a contingent of guards going into the camp. As soon as they could, they separated from that group, now entirely in the camp.
Asa paused and took a deep breath. Her heart had been pounding. She couldn’t fight off an entire army. Not even Koji was that good.
They were soon ready to go. From here, the mission was more straightforward. Hiromi’s tents were near the center of the camp, so they would need to head in that direction. At first, that wouldn’t be a problem. On the outer edges of the camp, they could walk freely without being questioned. But the closer they got to Hiromi, the more guards would be present.
Asa decided straightforward was best, so they began by walking directly into the heart of the camp. With their hoods up and uniforms on, no one questioned them, just as Asa expected.
After a few hundred paces, though, she broke off a main path and started walking behind the tents. She figured they were starting to get close enough that they might be stopped.
She flashed back to the village with Daisuke. This was the same task, just with much higher stakes. Turning around, she told Mari to be silent and be right behind her, no matter what she did. She calmed her breath, focused on her sense, and started moving.
The task was easy enough to begin. No one was walking between the tents at this time of night, so most of Asa’s awareness was spent making sure the two women weren’t making noise. Once they had to stop for a few moments when a soldier came out to relieve himself behind his tent.
After a section of tents was finished, they came upon the real challenge. There were still several rows of tents to go, and the area was crawling with people despite the late hour. Mari leaned over and whispered softly in Asa’s ear. “He might still be awake with his generals. If nothing else, he is a dedicated commander.”
Asa hoped she wasn’t right. Mari needed to talk to Hiromi alone if Asa was understanding correctly. If they came into the tent and a general was still there, their entire cause would be defeated.
But first they needed to get there. Asa extended her sense and tracked people, not searching for holes. One of Daisuke’s first lessons to her had been to turn her mind off when trying to use stealth. Aiming to predict patterns consciously always worked out poorly. Better to trust intuition and instincts.
Which was exactly what they did. Asa didn’t seek an opening so much as wait for one to appear. Eventually it did, and they moved quickly, Mari staying less than a step behind Asa the entire way.
The opening shifted and moved, but Asa was in her element now. She stopped and pushed Mari down behind a tent as a guard peered over toward them. She crawled right behind another guard as he was talking to a fellow soldier. At one point she drew her knife and cut a small hole in the bottom of an empty tent, ushering Mari inside first.
The entire time, Mari didn’t complain, which Asa found impressive considering she had every right to be making this journey on foot in the middle of the day. She simply followed, trusting Asa’s lead. So far, she was incredibly grateful for Mari’s attentiveness.
They reached the end of the line of tents, leaving nothing but a final empty space between their location and Hiromi’s tent. Asa used her sense to search the area, but for the moment at least, they were safe.
But Hiromi wasn’t alone in his tent. Ano
ther man was there.
Originally Asa had planned to go through the front of the tent. That plan was destroyed by the presence of two stationary sentries. Asa could deal with them quickly if she needed to, but she wouldn’t know what to do with the unconscious bodies. If she left the bodies out, they would be discovered in short order, but if she brought the unconscious guards into the tent, their absence would be noted just as quickly.
There weren’t many patrolling guards here, though. Asa didn’t know why exactly. Maybe they thought their perimeter secure? The two intruders could just go to an unguarded side of the tent and cut their way in. Asa studied her surroundings again, ensuring no one would observe them.
They crept forward on hands and knees, moving as quickly as possible. They crouched in a shadow cast by Hiromi’s tent. Asa pulled a knife out and slowly went to work, cutting an opening through the fabric, her actions as silent as the night itself.
Each moment was agonizing, as Asa was afraid someone would approach. Since they were covered only by shadow, even a half-alert guard would see them.
Finally, the aperture was big enough, and Asa held it open as Mari crawled silently inside. For just a moment, Asa reflected that this was an awful lot of work to talk with a little brother.
Asa followed Mari in, coming into the middle of a heated discussion between Hiromi and an older man, who must have been one of the lord’s generals.
“My lord,” the older man was saying, a hint of despair in his voice, “I agree with everything you say, but it simply can’t be done! We don’t possess the forces necessary to accomplish every goal. If we are going to pursue this war, we need to decide on our objectives and be willing to risk the rest.”
The two women had found a dark corner of the tent, and the two men, absorbed in their argument, had no idea they had company. Asa was ready to stand up and introduce herself with her sword, but Mari held her back.
Hiromi paced the tent, and Asa got the impression she was looking at an overgrown child, sullen and temperamental. This was the lord Mari chose to believe in? Even at a glance, Asa could tell Mari was twice the leader than this fool.
He returned to a table near the center of the tent, lit by one of the few candles in the space. He stabbed his finger at the map. “Let’s look at this one piece at a time. You’re saying that if I commit any more forces to pursuing my sister, one of our fronts is guaranteed to collapse?”
The commander agreed. “You are stretched too thin as it is. Even if you stopped this pursuit of your sister and reassigned all your troops to a single front, you’d still only have one strong front. The other would still be weaker than I would like.”
Hiromi’s pointed finger became a fist that smashed into the table again. “General Kyo, you keep telling me that you need more men, but where are there more to get? It’s my understanding we’ve already recruited every able-bodied man in the land.”
Kyo cleared his throat. “As we’ve discussed, my lord, you could increase the range of people who are recruited. Boys who are excited to serve, and even older men who still have a fire for your house. Your call would be answered.”
Mari turned to Asa and indicated her time had come. She stood up and entered the light.
Kyo’s reaction was immediate, and Asa had to give the old general some respect. His sword was coming out of its sheath, but Asa had sensed the movement before it began. She shot from her hiding place, putting one hand on the hilt of his weapon and slamming it back into the sheath. Asa brought her knee up with all the force she could summon and drove it between Kyo’s legs, leaving him a collapsed mess on the floor.
Mari spoke softly, her voice still filling the tent with a comfortable sense of command. “Perhaps, younger brother, I can help you with your problem.”
Asa took up position near the entrance to the tent, close to Kyo. The general had eventually worked his way to his feet, wary of the blade and her speed. Fortunately, they hadn’t made enough noise to attract the attention of the guards outside. Asa’s positioning was clear, though. If he made so much as a squeak, he would be the first to die.
Kyo still looked as though he was going to throw up, which pleased Asa. If he was busy dealing with his own queasiness, he wouldn’t be thinking about ways to make her life miserable.
Hiromi and Mari stood near each other, not quite nose to nose but far too close for casual conversation. They spoke in whispers, but Asa could still hear them clearly. She thought about warning Mari to keep her voice down, but the two siblings were in a world Asa couldn’t breach. So she stood guard and hoped for the best.
Mari poked her finger into Hiromi’s chest, pushing hard. She was a little taller than her brother, and she definitely held the power in the room. She had, after all, come with a nightblade.
“You tried to kill me!” she whisper-shouted.
Hiromi backpedaled, and Asa almost laughed at the sight of one of the mightiest people in the Kingdom being intimidated by his older sister. He looked like he wanted to escape, but Asa blocked the entrance.
“You allied with the blades.” His response was flustered and uncertain, almost as though he’d never realized the extent of his order.
“So?” Mari’s voice was furious, and if words could wound, Hiromi would have been bleeding to death on the floor.
Finally, Hiromi found a little of his spine and straightened up. Asa took note, and she saw the flicker in Mari’s eyes that indicated she noticed as well.
“So! How can you even say that? Have you already forgotten it was the blades who killed our brother?”
Mari’s entire posture changed, and although Asa could sense what was about to happen, she still watched in disbelief as Mari grabbed her brother’s clothes, swept his legs up, and slammed him to the ground. Asa had no idea Mari knew anything about defense or fighting.
The lord was on the ground, staring up at Mari, shock on his face.
“Grow up! You’re lord of this house now, and you can’t make decisions based on personal vendettas. You would watch the entire Kingdom burn just to get revenge for Juro’s death?”
Something Mari said was exactly what Hiromi needed to hear. The fight went out of him, and he relaxed on his back, taking deep, convulsing breaths. His sister collapsed to her knees next to him.
“I’m sorry, and I miss Juro every morning when I wake up. If I ever find the nightblade who murdered him, I will kill him, too. But this is bigger. The Kingdom needs to come first. You haven’t seen how the people are suffering.”
The tent fell silent as the two siblings both came to terms with their emotions. Asa glanced over at Kyo and saw a look of stony anger on the man’s face. She frowned. He was part of another element at play, another perspective she wasn’t seeing. But then her attention was diverted as Mari helped Hiromi up to his feet.
Mari drifted over to the table where her brother and Kyo had been debating strategy. Small figures stood on the map, inscribed with symbols representing everything from unit strength to allegiance, but Asa hadn’t paid the display much attention.
Mari frowned as she looked at the map. She pointed at a set of pieces. “Is that true? Why are they there?”
Hiromi nodded. “They are marching on Starfall.”
Asa thought Mari was going to send her brother crashing to the ground again.
“Hiromi, how could you?”
Confused, Asa stepped forward so she could read the inscriptions on the pieces. With her back to the general, he acted immediately, standing up and starting to draw his sword.
Asa had never let her sense wander from him, though. Her own draw was faster, and without looking, her sword was at his neck, forcing him back down to his knees. Most of her attention was drawn to the map in front of her. She understood why Mari had been so angry.
Katashi had invaded the lands of House Kita, heading toward Starfall. Hiromi’s troops were nowhere to be found.
“Brother, you are more foolish than I had ever considered. You let enemy troops onto house land!”
“Yes! Don’t you see the brilliance of the plan? Kyo and I thought of it together. Katashi attacks Starfall, a city filled with blades. The forces will destroy one another, and we can come in and deal with the remnants. Then my forces will have the upper hand, and the Kingdom will be mine.”
Mari’s eyes were wide. “Do you even hear yourself? Why do you trust Katashi? You haven’t even left troops between him and Stonekeep. What if he walks right past Starfall and attacks our home?”
The look in Hiromi’s eyes made it clear he hadn’t even considered the possibility. Kyo fidgeted behind Asa, and she fixed him with a hard stare. The general knew more but remained silent. What was he thinking?
Hiromi’s defense was feeble. “Katashi wouldn’t dare. He is a lord, and if he was so foolish, it would be all the justification I would need to get Isamu to ally with us.”
Asa had never seen Mari roll her eyes, but she did now, as if she thought the sky itself might provide answers to dealing with her brother. “Think, Hiromi! If Katashi is in an advantageous position against House Kita, why would Isamu ally with us? When you want to win, you ally with the strongest power, not the weakest.”
Hiromi looked taken aback. Asa knew little about strategy and less about politics, but Mari’s words rang true. How had Hiromi become so misguided?
“Well, then, what do you propose, Sister?” Hiromi’s tone was still defiant, but at least he was asking the question.
“The same action I’ve always proposed. We need to ally ourselves with Starfall. They are willing to work with you. You need only to support them.”
“No! I’m not going to ally with the people who murdered my brother!” Hiromi’s voice was petulant and weak.
Mari glared at her brother, getting right in his face. “Do you have the strength to win this war on your own?”
Kyo spoke up. “You do, my lord. We’ve spoken about this.”
Mari’s glare never broke. “Look at the map and tell me the truth.”
The general was about to speak again, but Asa pressed her blade against his throat. She could see the indecision on Hiromi’s face. Perhaps the lord had received poor advice. Perhaps he was victim to his own anger over his brother’s death. But he wasn’t a fool. For a moment, Asa saw the leader Hiromi could be as he was forced to face facts.
