Lair of the Deadly Twelve (Storm Phase Book 2)

by David Alastair Hayden

  Getting away from an angry tracker with dubious motives wasn’t going to be simple. Turesobei chanted and cast the spell of heaven’s breath, taking his time. He centered the wind spell on the tracker and set it to spin around him like a hurricane for a few minutes. The wind kicked up, stirring ground debris, snapping tiny limbs, and ripping the last leaves from the trees. He rode away, hoping that would cover his tracks and scent.

  Turesobei reached the others. “I ran into a bit of trouble.” He told them about Hakamoro. “I don’t think he’ll follow us now that he knows I’m a wizard. Still, best to be careful and get out of here fast. We can divide up the supplies I got later.”

  ~~~

  With Lu Bei as their guide, they rode toward Sooku for two days, not stopping until late in the evening, covering as much ground as they could. With no sign of Hakamoro after all that time, they relaxed.

  Turesobei gave Enashoma and Awasa each an iron-shod staff. Enashoma took a few practice swings. Awasa hefted the staff and complained it was heavy.

  He reached out a dagger to her. She wouldn’t take it.

  “I’m not stabbing anyone.”

  “You will if your life depends on it. You did train with this, right?”

  “She got her parents’ permission to quit after the first day,” said Enashoma.

  “It’s beneath a lady to train with weapons and fight. Besides, I have a guardian.”

  “Not anymore,” Zaiporo said.

  Awasa glared at him. She started to say something but wisely didn’t.

  “It’s a baojendari tradition for ladies to train with staves, knives, and glaives,” Turesobei said. “For self-defense. You’d be glad you had trained with them if we were overrun by the Gawo.”

  “That will never happen.”

  “Sooner or later, they will beat the Chonda,” said Zaiporo. “They have greater numbers, more allies, and the desire to win.”

  “They will never beat us.”

  “I agree with Zaiporo,” Turesobei said. “They will destroy us. Maybe not next year. Maybe not in our lifetimes. But as long as tension exists between us and them, they’ll continue to grow more powerful while we diminish in our contentment.”

  Turesobei pushed the dagger into Awasa’s hands.

  “I don’t want to use this,” she said.

  “Too bad. You decided to come along. You can’t be defenseless. Otherwise you’re a drag on the rest of us.”

  Turesobei instructed Awasa in how to hold the staff: defensive positions, basic strikes. He’d start on the dagger tomorrow. Zaiporo would be better at teaching her, but he refused to deal with her. Awasa kept making mistakes. She wasn’t paying attention. He grabbed her hand and shifted its position. He met her wide eyes.

  “Please. Try to pay attention. For me.”

  She nodded and blushed. He jerked his hand away and lectured her on technique. He glanced over to see how the others were doing.

  Zaiporo laughed as he knocked Enashoma down a third time. Big mistake. Shoma had small allies. Lu Bei sneaked up behind Zaiporo. Shoma surged. Zaiporo took a step back and tripped over the fetch. Zaiporo landed with a thud. Lu Bei hovered over him and stuck out his tongue. Zaiporo swiped at him but Lu Bei easily darted away.

  Shoma planted the butt of her staff against Zaiporo’s chest. “I win!”

  Embarrassment then anger flashed across Zaiporo’s face, then he began laughing. Turesobei chuckled and turned back to Awasa. She tripped while performing one of the defensive routines. Enashoma snickered. Awasa threw the staff down.

  “I was already dirty from traveling. Now I’m filthy, sweaty and bruised. I’ve had enough.”

  “I thought you had more fight in you than that,” Turesobei said. “You’re always sniping at me. Always acting tough. But you’re just a pushover, aren’t you?”

  Awasa’s eyes narrowed and she bit her lip. She picked up the staff and swung at him. He dodged. She attacked again and again, but he avoided all of her strikes. She collapsed in exhaustion.

  “Maybe tomorrow you will pay attention? That way you might have a chance of hitting me.”

  Panting, she said, “I hate you. You know that, right?”

  Turesobei laughed. “Sure you do. That’s why you’re following me on a quest you’re not suited for.”

  She turned bright red and stalked off.

  Chapter 28

  In Tikaso Province managed woodlands appeared only near the cities and along the highways. The rest grew wild and was getting wilder by the year. The main roads came nowhere close to the Monolith of Sooku, so they traveled along small roads and tiny trails. Finally, they had no choice but to cut across a stretch of dense forest, navigating low limbs, hanging vines, thickets, and fallen trees. Awasa complained incessantly after a thorn ripped through the sleeve of her shirt and cut a deep scratch across her arm.

  Enashoma pulled up her denekon.

  “That’s it! I’ve had it. Get off!”

  Awasa leapt down. “Fine!”

  Turesobei rode up next to them. “Shoma—”

  “Don’t Shoma me! I’ve had it with her complaining. She doesn’t like the rain. She doesn’t like the sun. She doesn’t like the dust. She doesn’t like the trees and the branches and the bugs. She doesn’t like the way I steer. I will not ride with her any longer.”

  “I don’t want to ride with her any longer either,” Awasa said. “All she talks about is freedom to go where she wants, live how she wants, from having a betrothed. She doesn’t realize how good she had it. And she acts like this is all a big festival, but she’s suffering too. She’s just pretending she’s not miserable.” She pointed at Enashoma. “And you know what, you can’t steer.”

  Enashoma lifted her hand and leaned forward. Turesobei moved in between them, his denekon shoving Enashoma’s to the side.

  “That’s enough.”

  “I’ll ride with Zaiporo,” Shoma said.

  “Fine by me,” said Zaiporo enthusiastically.

  Turesobei did not need these distractions. “We’re not going over that again. Here’s what we’re going to do. Shoma, you ride with me for a while. Awasa, you ride on your own. Zaiporo, would you mind walking for a while? Not long. Please.”

  In this area walking was no better than riding and getting hit by low-hanging limbs.

  Zaiporo eyed Awasa and nodded. “I guess not. I could use a stretch.”

  “I don’t know how to ride very well,” Awasa said.

  Turesobei shrugged. “Time to learn. Keep up.”

  She didn’t keep up. He hadn’t expected her to. Zaiporo outpaced her. She kept leading her denekon into obstacles, which took work because in the forest denekon didn’t need to be guided. You just needed to point them in the right direction.

  Turesobei sent Lu Bei to check on her then realized too late that may not have been a good idea. He cast the spell of enhanced senses and glanced back.

  Lu Bei landed on the denekon’s head.

  Awasa swatted at him. “Get off my mount, you filthy little demon.”

  “Listen here, missy. You’re the demon as far as I’m concerned. You cause my master grief. I’m not fond of that. You broke his heart before I came along. Now you’re making everyone miserable. Keep it up and you’ll regret it.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “You bet it is. I don’t have fangs and claws for nothing, missy.”

  “I’m going to tell him what you said.”

  “No need. He’s listening in via spell. He probably didn’t think I could tell that. But I’m nine parts clever and one part wise.”

  Lu Bei flew back. Turesobei led them for another hour then stopped in the center of a wooded hollow. The setting sun plunged the forest deep into shadow.

  When Awasa caught up to them, he said, “Lu Bei’s only threatening you because he’s protective of me. He wouldn’t really hurt you.”

  “I’m not so sure you—”

  A wind whipped through the hollow and the temperature dropped suddenly. The
energy flows shifted. Turesobei held up his hand. “Shh. Something’s wrong.”

  He opened his kenja-sight and scanned. The currents were disturbed, swirling black and green with traces of silver. Spirit creatures nearby? He’d guess nature spirits except for the feel of the kenja against his skin, and the metallic taste on his tongue. Kahenan said that was always a sure way to know something bad was coming.

  Turesobei drew a spell strip and grabbed the hilt of Sumada. “Lu Bei, scout. Be careful.”

  Zaiporo unsheathed his sword. “What do you think it is?”

  “It’s not a monster … is it?” Shoma asked.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” said Awasa. “Monsters don’t roam the wilds of Batsakun.”

  “A few are spotted now and then,” Turesobei said. “Weapons out, everyone. Be ready. If I tell you to ride, ride fast. Back the way we came.”

  “Are they ahead of us?” Zaiporo asked.

  Turesobei didn’t respond. He didn’t want to panic them, but whatever it was, it was all around them. Kagi, spirit beasts, most likely. Wings pounding the air, Lu Bei rocketed in with a frown creasing his face. Few things worried the fetch. Turesobei drew Sumada.

  “Kippukagi, master. We’re trapped.”

  “How many?”

  “A dozen.”

  “I think I might can handle a—”

  “There’s a ga, master.”

  A kippukagi-ga? Out here? This was bad. Worse than the demons he faced on the ship on the way to Wakaro.

  “What — What’s a kippukagi?” asked Awasa, nervously. “What’s a ga? You can spell one away, right?”

  Kagi were vile, hateful spirit creatures, unlike the usually peaceful kami. A ga was a lord of kagi.

  Turesobei switched spell strips. Kippukagi hadn’t been seen in Batsakun in centuries. Where had they come from?

  “Sobei? What is it?” Shoma asked.

  Lu Bei flew up to her. “Bad, bad monsters, my lady.” He crossed his arms. “But I shall protect you best as I can.”

  Awasa began to cry. “We’re going to die.”

  “Would you shut up!” said Zaiporo. “I don’t want the last thing I hear to be your whining.”

  “Kagi can communicate, right?” Shoma said. “Maybe we can talk to them.”

  “No can do,” said Lu Bei. “They’re vicious monsters, and they think humans are a plight on all the land. They wish to restore its purity. They’re vicious monsters.”

  Turesobei held the strip for the spell of heaven’s wrath between his fingers. No other choice. There was no fog that could hide them from kagi. Too many to try repelling them with a banishment spell. And no one else had white-steel.

  “You can hit them,” he told the others. “It won’t harm them, but it might distract them or buy you time to get away.”

  “You’re the only one who can fight them?” Zaiporo said.

  “I can,” Lu Bei said. “A little.”

  Zaiporo jumped down and stood beside the girls on their mount. “I’ll just slow you down, Turesobei. Do what you’ve got to do. I’ll buy them as much time as I can … if it comes to it.”

  A mass of moss-covered earth seemingly held into the shape of a stocky man by the vines that wrapped around its torso and limbs shuffled into view ahead of them. Jagged rocks made up the teeth of its gaping maw. Horns topped its head. Its hands were stone blocks. Its eyes were glowing chunks of rose quartz.

  Turesobei’s heart skipped. He gripped the sword hilt tight.

  Awasa screamed. Yeah, that was going to help. He needed to get the others away and let all the kippukagi close on him so that he could blast them in one go.

  More of the kippukagi shambled into the hollow, all around them. To his left, that was the largest gap. If Zaiporo could get the girls through there, and if he could then draw the kippukagi in …

  “Zaiporo, I need you to—”

  The air shimmered. A baojendari man wrapped entirely in bloody gauze and wearing a black cloak appeared suddenly, out of nowhere. A desukagi-ga. A revenant. How had he missed it? His kenja-sight should have picked it up.

  “Surprise, whelp,” the revenant hissed.

  A ray of fading sunlight struck the crystal shard atop the oak scepter the revenant held in his hand. Before Turesobei could raise Sumada, the demon swung the scepter. The crystal flashed when it struck Turesobei on the temple. Not a hard hit. But his brain scrambled like an egg. The second hit knocked him from the saddle.

  Chapter 29

  Turesobei woke and sat up, gasping, in the middle of a circle of standing stones. The dark moon Zhura loomed high and full above in the night sky, a charcoal smudge against the starry backdrop. He couldn’t think clearly. His brain still felt scrambled, but he couldn’t remember why. He reached groggily for his sword, but it was gone, along with his spell pouch.

  Someone touched his arm and the contact brought him back to himself. Sense returned to him. Enashoma, her eyes red from crying, was sitting beside him. Awasa next to her was bent over sobbing. Zaiporo, a bruise swollen on his face, nodded to him, stoically.

  “Everyone okay?” he asked.

  “Alive,” Zaiporo replied.

  “We’re going to die,” Awasa muttered.

  “Well, they haven’t killed us yet,” Shoma said, trying but failing to sound upbeat.

  Kippukagi stood in all the gaps between the standing stones except one. Through that gap walked the desukagi-ga leading the shambling, moss-covered kippukagi-ga, which was three times the size of the others.

  “What — What is that thing, Sobei?” Enashoma whispered.

  “A desukagi-ga. A revenant lord. An undead wizard.”

  Turesobei began a spell but he couldn’t picture the runes correctly and got tongue-tied.

  The desukagi-ga walked over and pointed his scepter at Turesobei. “Not so easy to cast magic?”

  Whatever the scepter was, it messed with his mind.

  “Who made you? What do you want from us?”

  “I made me,” it hissed. “I was once known as Tikutasa. While dying, I summoned a desukagi to turn me. I was a sorcerer of some repute in my day.”

  “You died three hundred years ago!”

  “So I’m still famous, eh?”

  “Not in any good ways.” Tikutasa had dealt in the darkest of magics and murdered many innocent people.

  The revenant cackled a hoarse laugh. “Well, guess what, boy? Tonight I’m going to do you a favor. Tonight I’m going to spill your guts on this sacred ground and make you just like me. Only you’ll be in my thrall, of course.”

  Still laughing, the desukagi-ga went rejoined the kippukagi-ga. Turesobei glanced up. Zhura neared zenith. That’s what they were waiting for. They’d stumbled on these demons at the worst possible time.

  “Sobei, you gotta do something,” Shoma said.

  “What? He’s messed up my brain somehow. I can’t cast magic. I can barely think straight. I don’t have my sword. No spell strips. I’ve got nothing. Where’s Lu Bei?”

  “Don’t know. He disappeared when they closed on us. “

  “Did he go for help?” Zaiporo asked.

  “He can’t get far enough from me to go get help.”

  “He’s probably in league with them,” Awasa mumbled.

  Turesobei ignored her. He didn’t have time for her childishness.

  “What are they waiting for?” Shoma asked.

  “They need Zhura to be at zenith. We’ve got about … ten minutes.”

  Awasa started bawling. Turesobei touched her arm. “Stay brave.” He put his arm around his sister. She laid her head on his shoulder and choked back a few tears.

  The revenant glanced up at Zhura and turned back toward them, a wicked blade in hand. Suddenly tendrils made of what appeared to be solid shadow sprang out of the ground, wrapped around him, and jerked him down, and pinned him.

  A slender, cloaked figure cleaved through a kippukagi using a white-steel sword. Was that his sword? The kippukagi disintegrated into a pile of
dirt and vines. The figure darted lithely into the circle of standing stones. Another figure, short and stocky, barreled into another kippukagi, knocking it down. He plunged a spear tipped with white-steel into it. The kagi crumbled. The stocky man lifted his head and howled like a wolf.

  The kippukagi-ga stepped over to shield the revenant from them.

  Turesobei leapt to his feet and yelled to his companions, “Get the scepter!”

  Chapter 30

  Brain fuzzy, everything blurring around him, Turesobei plodded forward. The kippukagi-ga spun and swiped at him. He threw himself flat. The giant stone hand swept over his head and struck Zaiporo, hurtling him backward. Enashoma leapt in. The beast head-butted her. She crumpled.

  He crawled toward her. “Shoma!”

  She didn’t respond. He shook her arm. She murmured. Alive. Keep it together, Turesobei. He climbed to his feet. Something struck the kippukagi-ga. A throwing knife? The monster whipped its head around.

  Turesobei dove in and grabbed the scepter. Hissing and thrashing as it tried to break free of the shadow tendrils, the desukagi-ga held tight to the scepter. Tugging with both hands, Turesobei wrenched the scepter free.

  A huge foot stomped down on him, squashing him flat. The air was crushed from his lungs and his ribs threatened to crack. Gasping, he squirmed forward. The kippukagi-ga growled and pressed down harder. Bending backward, Turesobei managed enough leverage to free his arm. He threw the scepter. It landed at Awasa’s feet. She glanced down at it, unresponsive, face blank. Then her eyes went right back to the monster.

  “Break the crystal!”

  Still she stared at the monster, as if entranced.

  He couldn’t breathe. He was starting to get dizzy, but then it let up. He rolled over. The kippukagi-ga had lifted its foot so it could stomp on him. The foot zoomed toward his head. But never made it. The beast stumbled backward.

  Turesobei scooted away. A thick tendril of shadow was wrapped around the kippukagi-ga’s throat. He traced it back to the cloaked woman. The tendril extended from her hand. She was pulling the monster backward. How? As slender as she was and with it made of rock, the kippukagi-ga had to outweigh her by a factor of ten.