The Scholar, the Sphinx and the Shades of Nyx

by A. R. Cook

  Almost as soon as he was done completing his dreamscape, the beautiful woman he had met there before appeared. For a moment, Acacia stared at him with her green, gold-rimmed eyes. David felt a creeping dread about what she might say or do. She couldn’t be happy with him, after the way he had spoken to her.

  She raced to him and grabbed him in a tight, unyielding embrace.

  I am so glad you are all right, she projected into his mind. There was a gentle joy in her tone.

  “You’re not mad at me?” he asked.

  It was not your fault. Nico tricked you into getting lost in the Curtain. He is an awful, wicked brute.

  “But what I said before, at the lagoon … I know I hurt you. I’m sorry.”

  It’s all right. You felt deceived. I could not explain to you at the time, about what Nico told you. She released him from the hug, and looked into his eyes. Yes, it is true, in my family line, bequeathing a familiar name means establishing a bond much like those of mates. But it is not binding. I would not hold you to it if you did not wish it.

  A wave of relief washed over David. He did catch, however, the disappointed tone in Acacia’s voice. “Are you still at the sirens’ island?” he asked.

  I have been searching everywhere on both sides of the Curtain for you. Where are you? Are you someplace safe?

  “I’m in Japan. I’m staying with a man named Yofune Nushi, who says he knows you. Do you know where he lives?”

  Acacia’s body tensed up, and concern was reflected in her gaze. Yofune Nushi? Has he treated you well? He has not hurt you, has he?

  “He said given that I am still alive, that’s a good thing.”

  Acacia smiled and nodded, and she rested her head on David’s shoulder. I know we don’t have much time, as I must bring you back and make sure my family is all right. I left them in the care of my sisters. They will guard them until our return. But, for this brief moment, I can be at peace again.

  He had to admit, it was a rather nice moment.

  The inevitable question about Acacia’s affliction crossed his mind, and he waited silently to see if she would read his thoughts and respond. She did not, however, which caused him to wonder if she really did not know what he wanted to ask, or if she knew and was refusing to comment. She looked so content and lost in the moment they were sharing, maybe she was not even attempting to access his mind.

  He knew that now was the time to ask, while she could speak to him without the Shade harming her. “Acacia, Yofune told me that you have something inside of you that is hurting you whenever you speak. He called it a Shade of Nyx.”

  Acacia held him closer. None of that now, she said calmly. No questions.

  “But Yofune said this Shade is deadly—”

  I won’t discuss it.

  “I want to. Is there something that can be done to get that Shade out of you—”

  She broke the embrace and held him away from her, glowering at him. If there was something that could be done, I’d have done it a long time ago. There is no point in speaking about something you cannot change. Do not bring it up again.

  When David remained silent, she took it as a consensus to her request. She held him close again, shutting her eyes.

  “I just want to help you,” he told her.

  She sighed, and rested her head against his shoulder. I appreciate that. What you can do for me is not concern yourself with it. From the moment you found me, I have found a peace with you that I have found with no other living being. I wish to keep it that way. Do not trouble me by being troubled yourself.

  David smirked. “You found peace with me, when I came looking to slay you?”

  They say you find what you’re looking for where you least expect it.

  “What were you looking for?”

  Acacia abruptly jerked her head up. Something is not right … Gullin …

  The landscape melted away, as if an artist had splashed paint thinner over a fresh masterpiece. Then Acacia was racing through the world of Sleep with such ferocity that David was sure that if he had been in his body, his flesh would have peeled straight off his bones from the sheer speed of their flight. The rosy haze of the sleep world faded to purple to indigo to black. The only reason David knew when they had come to a halt was because there was a discernable shape in front of them.

  The shape was Gullin, or a muted version of him, a reflection seen through a powdered mirror. At first he did not seem to see them. He was staring at nothing, with no expression, much like one of the Jenglots when deprived of blood-warmth. Acacia reached out towards Gullin, touching him on the cheek, and she cooed a soft melody, not in as lovely a voice as her siren sisters, but pleasant and silken.

  Gullin became more saturated in color, and his form solidified. His consciousness awakened, and he saw the sphinx before him. His face was like that of a son’s who had been reunited with a long lost mother.

  “Mistress, you found us!” He realized her form was not the usual, and he looked around at the blackness in which they were suspended. “This is a dream, isn’t it? But it is you, the real you.” He glanced at David beside her, and tried to cover his grimace with a smile. “And you, too. Glad you’re alive, boyo.”

  Gullin, what is wrong? Acacia asked. You were not sleeping, for you were trapped in this dark space unwillingly. You were unconscious.

  “Cast that bloody dog down to the pit!” Gullin growled. “That devil with a fox tail claimed that since you ran off after … him …” David could tell that he had meant to call him something else, but chose not to in front of Acacia, “that you had abandoned the rest of us and so we were free property for the taking. The sirens weren’t going to let him get his paws on us, but then one of his ‘friends’ came at his call, and tore up the island until he drove everyone off. I tried to fight ‘im off …” He looked away in shame. “That fiend was just too big, too strong … knocked me clean out …”

  The sphinx’s eyes flared with a gold and green fire. My cousin will pay for this, she said with dark, brewing malice. She turned back to David, holding his hands. I must go and protect my family. I will come for you once they are safe. Stay where you are, and let Yofune know I will come as soon as I can. Let him know, if he tries to harm one hair on your head, I will do worse than that young maiden did to his eyes.

  David nodded, knowing he had to let Acacia go for now. She and Gullin vanished from his sight. He felt himself yanked backwards, and he had the sensation of being a drowning man pulled from the water.

  He was staring at the fire pit, back in his own body. He stood up, staggering from wooziness, and started towards the door.

  “Where are you going?” Yofune asked.

  “I have to go help the others,” David replied. “The Teumessian took Acacia’s family. He has a monster holding them prisoner. I have to go help them.”

  “Go and fight a monster?” The kappa ducked his head down into his shell. “Why would you want to do that?”

  “A good question,” Yofune agreed. “I thought you had no admiration for the sphinx. You said you wished to find her so she could take you home.”

  David ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Yes, I know, and she said she would come back for me, but—”

  “Ah, I get it,” Tanuki said. “He wants to make sure the monster doesn’t eat her before she can take him home.”

  “No, that’s not it!” David snapped.

  Yofune took a step towards David. “Then why do you wish to help her?”

  “Because it’s my fault they’re in trouble! Nico is doing all of this because I embarrassed him in front of everyone. He’s mad at me, and Acacia …” He rubbed his aching temples. “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t gotten involved. And whatever monster this is that Nico has holding them, and Acacia’s health being so bad, it could …”

  “You care about her.”

  David took a deep breath. He gave a quick nod.

  Yofune stroked his beard. “Do you possess any item that belo
ngs to her? Something with her scent?”

  David rummaged through his pockets, realizing that he didn’t have much except for his handmade cross and that pouch of pellets that Gullin had given him. The pouch would have to do. If it still had Gullin’s scent, it would lead him to Acacia as well. He extracted the pouch and handed it to Tanuki.

  Tanuki took the pouch over to Yofune, who took a quick sniff of it and snorted. “These herbs make it difficult to detect your friend’s scent.” He took another sniff of it. “Fortunately, your friend is incredibly potent. This will do.”

  Tanuki returned the pouch to David, who pocketed it. “If I may ask, how is this going to help us find Acacia’s family?”

  Yofune did not answer him. “Tanuki, I will need you to be my eyes. It has been a long time since I have ventured from this forest. I will need guidance.”

  Tanuki nodded with excited enthusiasm. “Yes, Master Yofune!”

  David fumbled for words. “Master Yofune, no offense, but I don’t feel right putting a blind elder of your … wisdom … in danger—”

  Before he could finish, Yofune’s robes rapidly grew in length and breadth, the cloth shifting into plates of thick, glossy scales as blue as the sea. The blind man’s body stretched and coiled around in serpentine slenderness, filling the room. His face elongated into a long muzzle, and his underside was covered in ice-white bristles from his chin to the tip of his newly formed tail. Two short antlers sprouted from his head, and his arms and legs twisted around into stubby but muscular crocodilian appendages. The black bandages fell from his eyes, since his head was now five times larger, and it was clear that Yofune’s eyes had been scratched out by a knife. In less than four seconds, the sage had been replaced by a sea dragon, a leviathan as ancient as the earth and ocean.

  Tanuki jumped atop Yofune’s head, positioning himself like a captain at the helm of a ship.

  “I will determine if my blindness or ‘wisdom’ is a problem,” Yofune Nushi retorted in a voice that would make thunder fall silent in fear. “And, Sandoval-san, you may stop the flattery. I’m old.”

  David, stunned by the sudden dragon before him, weakly nodded. “Yessir.”

  “Now get on my back, and be quick about it.” Yofune curled around, exposing a spot right above his shoulder blades. David hesitated at first, but then quickly climbed on so as not to anger Yofune by making him wait. He barely sat down before Yofune took off like a gale wind, bursting from the hut and splintering the doorframe as he went.

  The kappa, left behind, ambled outside and around to the back of the hut, watching Yofune and his passengers disappear into the forest. “What am I supposed to do??” the kappa called.

  He spotted the ripe cucumbers growing in the garden. The broadest smile crossed his face.

  “I’ll stay on guard here until you get back,” he shouted. He picked up a nice fat cucumber and hugged it like a lost friend. “Don’t you worry, your friend Kappa isn’t going to leave you all alone …”

  Chapter Eight

  The countryside of Kyoto whooshed beneath them as Yofune Nushi flew just above the trees, low enough that David feared that they might be spotted. But neither Yofune nor Tanuki seemed to be worried, and the sea dragon’s body twisted and spiraled in the rushing wind.

  “Keep straight, Master Yofune,” Tanuki called out while grasping onto the reptile’s horns, “I can see the ocean not too far ahead. The old tear in the Curtain should still be just off shore.”

  David clung with all his might to Yofune’s neck. Great, we have to go through water again to get back through the Curtain. He was going to be waterlogged before this ordeal was over.

  The land beneath them ran out and they flew over the dark waters of the ocean. Yofune lowered himself to skim across the surface, dipping his claws into his natural element.

  “I’d hold your breath if I were you,” Tanuki yelled back to David.

  David had barely half a second to do as suggested before Yofune dove down beneath the waves. He had to hold on with even greater strength as the water pushed against him, almost ripping him free from the dragon’s back. He kept his eyes shut, hoping Yofune would resurface soon—but maybe the dragon did not realize that being human, David was likely to drown.

  But then he found that he could breathe just fine.

  Opening his eyes, they were no longer surrounded by the murky depths, but they were traversing through the fog of the Curtain. There was nothing to see or hear at first, but then Yofune landed, skidding on his belly for a minute or two before coming to a stop.

  Tanuki lost his grip on Yofune’s horns and fell backwards, tumbling onto David’s lap. He looked up at the boy, and said, “Did you lose your breakfast back there? Because I think I’m about to.” Placing a paw to his mouth, he rolled off of David and plopped to the ground with the grace of a sack of rice.

  Yofune turned this way and that in the fog, sniffing the air. “I can smell the scent of your friend and his odd herbs … plus the smells of many others …but the scent is very faint. There were people here, but they have been gone for a long while.”

  David looked around, and saw large rectangular shapes in the Curtain’s fog. He knew they were the caravan wagons that Acacia had left behind when they all went to the Sirens’ Festival.

  “This is where Acacia left the rest of the caravan,” he told Yofune. “We mustn’t be too far from the home of the sirens.” A quick thought struck him. “I have something in one of the wagons that should help.”

  The boy, dragon and badger approached the wagons, and David entered each one, rummaging through things. What he wanted was his dagger. He wasn’t sure if it had been discarded that night when he had been captured, but he assumed the gypsies kept it, if only to resell it. Any weapon would be helpful if he was going to encounter whatever beast Nico had in his employment.

  He went into Gullin’s wagon, his hopes high. If anyone would have held onto his dagger, it would be Gullin, having once been a Master Huntsman. He went to the large wooden chest in the corner, and sure enough, inside of it was David’s sheathed blade.

  There was a whole array of hunting weapons in the chest. Apparently, Gullin was still a hunter at heart. There were exotic weapons that were unfamiliar to David: a bow with a quiver of iron arrows, each with strange markings engraved into the shafts; a rusty musket with a mirror welded to the side; pouches of various herb pellets and vials of multi-colored liquids; and a foot-long metal tube with open-mouthed dogs’ heads forged on each end. David stuck his dagger and the odd tube in his belt, and took the bow and arrows, since he had practiced archery for a short time with his father. The musket, while it would have been ideal, was empty of ammunition, and there was none in the chest.

  He returned to his party. Tanuki twitched his nose at David’s new equipment. “Boy, a samurai you are not. Leave any dirty work to me and my master.”

  “This isn’t your fight,” David noted.

  “In your world, there is a justice system that punishes those who commit wrongs,” Yofune said. “Do you think we have no concept of justice in our world, Sandoval-san? There has been a transgression made here, a transgression that threatens the lives of innocents. Those with the power to protect should do what they can to fight the cowards who do evil.”

  This is just like something out of a hero’s legend. David felt a sense of empowerment flow through him at Yofune’s words. “You’re right. I can protect, and I can fight. Nico is the coward, and I personally want to set him in his place.”

  A toothy smile spread over Yofune’s face. “You are brave, but naive. You wish to protect because you believe that you are good, and that good is stronger than evil. It is not always, young man. Many times, many suffer at evil hands, for centuries …” The dragon sighed, as one of his claws touched the scars around his eyes, “… before justice is finally dealt. I confess, I am not good at heart. I have devoured thousands without thought or remorse. One day, a young woman exacted revenge, taking my sight. Only then were my eyes tr
uly opened. I see that weakness is not in those who are victims, but in those who victimize others. I will not tolerate such cruelty anymore.” His face hardened. “Be warned, Sandoval-san. To stop the merciless, even a pure heart must be willing to show no mercy. Do you understand?”

  David stood a moment, taking in Yofune’s story. “I do,” he replied. He wouldn’t mind kicking in Nico’s teeth if the chance presented itself.

  “Hey, this is nice and comfy.” Tanuki’s voice was coming from the open wagon which held Acacia’s cushion-filled nest. The badger snuggled up against the soft pillows. “Someone knows how to live. Is this pure silk?” He dug himself down under the cushions. “It’s nice and cool down here,” he added, his voice muffled. “These would be great for my burrow.”

  “Get out of there!” David ordered as he walked over to the bowl. “That is Acacia’s bed! You have no right to dig around in it.”

  “There’s something lumpy down here,” came the muffled voice again. Tanuki popped back up from the cushions, a viola in his paws. “Why does the sphinx sleep on top of such pointy stuff?”

  The viola threw David into confusion. “How on earth … but that’s impossible. I destroyed that viola. How could Acacia have …” His curiosity drove him to pull up a few of the cushions. As he went deeper, he found more: violins, harps, lutes, lyres, a mandolin, and even a cello. Some of them were brand new, some chipped and splintered, some with only one string left. There was an entire string section of an orchestra in the bowl.

  Why does she have these? He wondered. Was it coincidental that she horded instruments, and he had known how to play one? Or was there something more to this musical collection, particularly that they all were members of the string family?