Lair of the Deadly Twelve (Storm Phase Book 2)

by David Alastair Hayden

  She faded away, then everything faded to mists.

  His consciousness slammed back into his body in the hollow of the monolith. He clawed his way out through the arch. Lu Bei zipped over to him, Enashoma running behind.

  “Master, are you okay?”

  “The Lair … high in the Orichomo’s. Winter Gate … One Hundred and the Eight … blanket Okoro in ice … forever.”

  Chapter 41

  Venison roasted, crackling and spitting, over a fire. The scent knotted Turesobei’s stomach with hunger. He rolled over, every muscle cramping, and peeled his eyes open. Zaiporo held a chunk of meat on a skewer over the flames in the fireplace on the sixth floor of Chonda Tower. Starving. Lips cracked. Throat dry.

  Enashoma lay curled up asleep in the corner. Her arms wrapped around Lu Bei. The fetch’s lips fluttered and his ears twitched as he snored. Traitor.

  Awasa leaned over him. She pushed the hair from his face. His queue had come undone at some point. She smelled … fresh. Her skin was clean. Her hair, too. He was confused.

  She smiled. “Do you need something?”

  He gave a tiny nod. “Water.”

  She gave him a canteen. “Are you okay?”

  The words scraped out from his throat. “I’ve been better. I’ve been—”

  Images flashed through his mind: the Deadly Twelve, the caves, the Winter Child, Iniru suffering. His heart raced. He trembled.

  Frowning, Awasa squeezed his hands. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  No time to panic. Doesn’t do any good. Focus. He took deep breaths and pushed it to the back of his mind. Like with a difficult spell, he just needed to concentrate on the steps to be taken. Worrying about the result only assured failure.

  “Just remembering what I saw. I’ll be fine.”

  He sat up. The world spun. He laid back down.

  “What time is it?”

  “Morning. You’ve been out for twelve hours. I was — We were very worried about you.”

  “Just exhaustion.”

  She took his hands and helped him sit up. He went wobbly and she grabbed his shoulders and kept him up until the dizziness faded. She brought him a handful of dried fruit.

  He ate and washed it down. Awasa gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. What — What was that?

  “I’ll wake the others and fix you a proper breakfast. After that you can get a bath.” She wrinkled her nose. “You certainly need one.”

  “A bath?”

  “There’s one on the floor below. Lu Bei showed us how to work it.”

  “I don’t remember a—”

  “You have to slide a panel back on the floor. He’ll have to explain it to you. But it’s there and … It’s wonderful.”

  “I don’t really have time for—”

  “Make time for it. You won’t regret it. And, I apologize for what I’m about to say but … well … you really do stink and you look terrible.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Sorry.”

  She brought him a breakfast of walnuts and roasted deer meat. Zaiporo sat beside him. He had clearly had a bath as well. The grime was gone from his ash-gray skin. His clothes were clean. His hair was neat … and cut!

  Had he really only been out for twelve hours?

  “Good to see you up. Are we going to rest here for the day?”

  “Apparently I’m getting a bath. After that, we’re leaving.”

  “You want the bath,” Zaiporo said. “Trust me.”

  Awasa woke Enashoma. Lu Bei hissed at her. She stuck her tongue out at him. He returned the favor. Lu Bei zoomed across the room and into Turesobei’s arms. He returned the hug.

  “Master, you’re up! What did you see? Did you find—”

  “Iniru is alive … for now.”

  Shoma cheered. “Tell us all about—”

  “I’m not ready to talk about it. Not yet. I need my strength.”

  “That bad?” Lu Bei asked.

  “Worse.”

  He sat the food bowl aside.

  “Bath time,” Awasa said.

  “Do I really smell that bad.”

  “Yes,” they all replied in unison.

  Laughing, Shoma added, “We all did. You’re just the last one whose dirty. So it’s kind of noticeable.”

  “I really don’t have the time for it.”

  “You’re not going to get another chance for a bath,” Shoma said. “And it is complete perfection.”

  “You’ll be stronger afterward,” Awasa said. “Refreshed and ready to travel again. Just take an hour.”

  He levitated down one floor. Everyone followed him. Steam rose up from a tub sunk into the floor in front of one of the fireplaces. But where did the tub go? He hadn’t seen anything protruding from the ceiling below. An illusion? And what heated the water? It couldn’t steam when the sliding panel was closed.

  He shook his head. It didn’t matter. There was no point trying to understand this tower. It would take him years of study to figure it out.

  Awasa had placed his spare clothes next to the tub, along with a comb and a fresh tie for his hair.

  “Thank you,” he told her.

  She smiled and sighed all at once.

  He stared at them. They stared back.

  “Well?”

  “Well what?” Enashoma said.

  “I’m not going to bathe with all of you standing there.”

  Only Lu Bei remained. Turesobei stripped down and climbed into the hot water. The temperature was perfect, almost but not quite too hot. His muscles eased. The water smelled of lavender and minerals. He ducked his head under and shook the grime out of his hair. The water tasted faintly of salt.

  “This is the most relaxing bath I’ve ever had.”

  Lu Bei sat on the ledge and dipped his feet in. “Master’s special blend of herbs and minerals.”

  Turesobei opened his kenja-sight and laughed. Green and gold healing currents flowed through the water. Subtle. Not strong enough to heal anything more than a scratch, but they would aid muscle recovery and stimulate healing. And he had a lot of scratches! No wonder the others insisted he take a bath.

  “The tub’s enchanted.”

  “Well, of course, master. But the herbs and minerals are important too.”

  “I knew Chonda Lu was powerful, like all Kaiaru, but this is beyond what I could imagine.”

  “People have forgotten how powerful the Kaiaru were, and Master was one of the best. And this is a place of power. It was easy for master to create such comforts here. He couldn’t have done so in Ekaran, even if he had wanted to.”

  Turesobei scrubbed his skin then leaned back, soaking. After a long while, he was finally ready to talk. As ready as he was going to be. He knew from experience that talking about it would make it all too real.

  “Lu Bei, it’s bad. Far worse than I could have expected. The original twelve are back.”

  Lu Bei chewed on his lip and scowled. “Are you sure, master? I don’t see how they could be. Chonda Lu killed them. I was there.”

  “Oh, it’s definitely them. They’re back, and they’re mad about Chonda Lu having killed them. They’re going to come for me soon. They’ve got one shot at vengeance and they plan on making the most of it.”

  Lu Bei winced as if he’d been stabbed in the gut. “Tell me everything.”

  “Go get the others. No reason to say it all twice.”

  The others levitated down. Awasa blushed when she noticed he was still in the tub. But the tub was sunk into the floor and he was all the way in. She couldn’t see anything more than his shoulders from the other side of the room. But then she probably hadn’t even seen a boy without a shirt on before this trip. If Enashoma was a sheltered princess, Awasa was a porcelain doll kept on a high shelf in a secret room.

  Lu Bei dipped his feet back into the tub and waved to the others. “There’s room for everyone.”

  “No!” Turesobei told him. “It’s not proper.”

  Lu Bei shrugged. “Why not? You
used to do it all the time.”

  “I did not. Chonda Lu may have. But he was a Kaiaru. And times change, you know?”

  “Apparently not, master. Because here I am on the verge of my master fighting the Deadly Twelve. I’ve been awake a little more than a year since the last time I saw them, even if centuries fell between those months.”

  Turesobei knew from the look on the fetch’s little face exactly what he was thinking: He was going to see his master die against the Deadly Twelve for a second time.

  The others sat across the room. Enashoma looked hopeful, Zaiporo skeptical, and Awasa’s face was blank. He haltingly described what he had seen. Everything.

  “The Deadly Twelve are going to come after us?!” Enashoma wailed. “After our clan, our family?! What can we do?”

  “I don’t know. Fight them, I guess.”

  “You can’t beat them, master. You are not strong enough. Chonda Lu died killing them. And it obviously wasn’t permanent.”

  Turesobei shrugged. “At least we know Iniru is alive … for now. She can’t hold out much longer. The wound on her back will get her if they don’t. But she isn’t trying to escape. I think she knows what they’re up to and is trying to stop them.”

  “You think she’s actually going to try to kill the child?” Shoma said.

  “That’s what she was supposed to do, I think, and she couldn’t.”

  “I can’t imagine her killing a child,” Shoma said.

  “She’s an assassin, though, right?” Zaiporo told her. “That’s her job. It’s supposed to be for the greater good.”

  “There’s nothing good about killing a child,” Shoma replied.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Turesobei said, “because she can’t kill the child. The child’s invulnerable. Protected by an ancient magic. If the Winter Child opens the gate, all of Okoro will suffer. The One Hundred and the Eight will return and plunge Okoro into chaos. And Winter will blanket the land forever.”

  “The One Hundred and the Eight?” Zaiporo asked.

  “Ancient devils of some sort,” Lu Bei said. “Master thought they might be yomon but wasn’t sure.”

  “What are yomon?” Shoma asked.

  “Something far worse than demons,” Turesobei replied. He didn’t know a lot about them, but he knew enough to be terrified. This was getting worse.

  “But couldn’t the child close the door again after letting the devils through?” Shoma asked. “That would at least prevent winter.”

  “It seems logical that she could close it if she could open it,” Lu Bei said. “But we don’t really know for sure. Maybe once it’s open, it’s open for good, though I don’t think that’s how it would work. Could be the Twelve have a plan to prevent her from closing it.”

  “Their leader,” said Turesobei, “Bara … Bara …”

  “Barakaros the Warlock,” Lu Bei said. “The others are Jaskashi the Wolf, Zaharalla the Poisoner, and Asusharus the Spider.”

  “Barakaros said that if he has to, he will break the child’s willpower and compel her to open the gate. There’s a risk he might ruin her, though, or he would’ve done it already. He needs her whole to get the gate opened. I think he’ll give up on her eventually, though, and risk it. His primary concern is killing Chonda Lu and his heirs.”

  “White-steel can penetrate the ward protecting the girl,” Lu Bei said. “But being wraiths like they are, I’m not sure they can handle white-steel. You could kill her with it, though, master.”

  “I’m not killing an innocent child.”

  “Not even to save all Okoro?”

  “It’s not an option, Lu Bei.”

  “You don’t think the Winter Child can hold out against them?” Zaiporo asked.

  “I don’t know, but either way they will still come after us. I’ve got to face them and I’d rather do it when there’s a chance my sacrifice can prevent eternal winter.”

  “You need help, master. You can’t beat them alone.”

  “If you went home, you’d have an entire army to fight them with,” said Zaiporo.

  “They’d find him in a moment of weakness,” Lu Bei said. “They’d hit him when he was the least guarded, appearing practically out of nowhere. If they could sneak up on Chonda Lu …”

  “But he could still have powerful people near him at all times,” Zaiporo said. “That would give him a chance.”

  “I’m supposed to lock myself in the High Wizard’s Tower while the land falls to chaos and my friends and family are picked off and killed? No, I’m going after them. I’ve just got figure out how to get to the Winter Gate. There must have been pathways, tunnels up the mountain that priests used.”

  “The tunnels are carefully hidden, master. But I know where they are. I’ve been there.”

  “If I use the storm energies, if I really let loose with the power, can I take them?”

  “All of them? I don’t think so, master.”

  “Then I’ll just have to do the best I can. I’ve got to face them. They’re going to come for me sooner or later.”

  ~~~

  Turesobei gathered his gear and loaded his pack onto his denekon. He glanced back at Chonda Tower and the Monolith of Sooku. He wished he could stay longer. He needed rest. His soul ached. Only a wizard would understand that. But it did. The projection all the way to the lair of the Deadly Twelve had taken a lot out of him. He gritted his teeth. Rest would come in the saddle or not at all.

  Lu Bei hovered beside him. “Master, the tunnels start on the Zangaiden side.”

  “So you said.”

  “It will take us weeks to get there.”

  “Then we should hurry.”

  “We’ll only lose ten days by going back to Ekaran—”

  “We’ll get help at Tumokon and go from there,” Turesobei told him.

  Tumokon, the capital of Tikaso Province, was only three days away if they rode hard.

  “The magistrate won’t believe you,” Lu Bei said. “But Kahenan will. And you will have strength at home to fight them.”

  “I’m the heir to the High Wizard of the Chonda. I think Tumokon will listen, especially if they’ve heard of my exploits. Look, I’ve got to get to the lair before the Deadly Twelve attack. Maybe trick them into thinking I’m the only one left. I don’t want to be anywhere near home if they come for me. And yes, the magistrate may not believe me. But you know there’s no guarantee that King Ugara will believe me either, or let me go.”

  The world spun. His vision darkened. He leaned against the denekon. Deep breaths. Hold it together. For Iniru. He recovered and continued packing.

  Shoma put a hand on his shoulder. “You need to rest.”

  If not for the bath he would’ve had to.

  “No time. You three will stay in Tumokon.”

  “Sobei, don’t you think—”

  “Look, I know you guys don’t agree with me. But I’ve got to act as fast as possible. Home is ten days away. Tumokon three days. And I do not want them showing up at home. I want them to come after me.”

  “Master, they will get their 144 one way or another.”

  “I’ve got to try. Maybe I can’t beat them. But I’ve got these storm powers, right? If I unleash on one of them, just let it all go, maybe I can kill him and save 12 people. If I can take out the Warlock, I can save 108 people. Taking him out will destroy the copies of him, right?”

  “Probably so, master. And I see your thinking, but he’s the toughest one. As tough as his eight clones by himself.”

  “I’m not changing my mind. We’ll send word to Grandfather Kahenan. We can send it via one of Enashoma’s origami creatures. Go ahead and make one Shoma. We’ll send it tonight, while we rest the denekon.”

  He looked to Shoma, Awasa, and Zaiporo. “You three are staying behind in Tumokon where it’s safer. No, don’t argue. This is above my head. Above grandfather’s head. You guys have no business getting involved. I’m doing it because I have to. Shoma, you are not to go back to Ekaran, though. If you’re not
there, the Twelve may never come for you.”

  Chapter 42

  The midday sun shone down on the aging splendor of Tumokon, on its patina-crusted copper roofs, and on the glistening Tumo River which wound through the middle of the city. The Tumo, like the Taba near Ekaran, flowed ultimately into Batsa. Tumokon was the second-oldest baojendari city in Okoro, after Batsa. But with its depleted mines and anemic farmland, the city had faded while younger cities blossomed.

  With his companions tucked away in a dense copse a league away, Turesobei rode alone into Tumokon. The guards at the outer gate noted him with interest but said nothing. So far so good. He thought it best to reveal his identity to as few people as possible. He made his way to Inner Tumokon. Here the guards asked his purpose.

  “I need to see the Magistrate of Tikaso Province. It is an urgent matter.”

  In Ekaran, a much smaller though more prosperous province, this would have meant seeing the king himself, after an interview with one of his ministers. But Tumokon had a magistrate who answered to their more remote, disinterested king. In Ekaran the king had actually been nothing more than a hereditary magistrate until Chonda Lu died. Chonda Lu had never troubled himself with the day to day affairs of the clan.

  One of the guards detached from his unit. “Follow me.”

  He led Turesobei to the Magistrate’s Office, a stone structure with five tiered levels. It seemed more like a temple than a government building. A line of people, zaboko peasants and baojendari merchants, stretched around the building.

  “Is there something going on?” he asked the guard.

  “No. Why?”

  “There are so many people in line.”

  “Not from here are you, eh? Tumokon isn’t the most efficient place to do business.”

  King Ugara only saw a few claimants each day. There was no need to see more. Problems were few. This … This was ridiculous. The government clearly mismanaged things.

  “I need to see the Magistrate. It’s an emergency.”

  “Can you back up that claim?”