by Noah Ward
That oversight on Suzaku’s behalf would have been an advantage if the man himself was not prepared for it. He released his grip on the weapon and delivered a vicious right hook to Gin’s ribs that lifted him off the ground.
You’ve bruised a couple of ribs there, Gin.
Sprawled on the ground, he stared at the starry yet clear sky above, praying to Sephyr so she would send a belt of clouds to cover the full moon.
The shogens were not smiling on him that night. Not a cloud in sight. Instead, his vision was filled with that of Suzaku and the man’s giant weapon that could surely shear him in two like a log before a woodcutter’s axe.
Suzaku hefted the blade upwards and brought it tearing down with near-inhuman speed.
The old man would be so disappointed. The bastard.
Suzaku’s sword cut the air above Gin’s head, diverting its deadly course. The man twisted his body and adjusted his footing to bring six-feet of steel whizzing around to seemingly scythe nothingness behind him.
Gin was too busy choking on the heart in his throat to fully comprehend what was happening. Suzaku was attacking something or someone. Next, the man was catapulted backwards, tripping over a prone Gin on the ground to flail across the ice.
Next, a hand had grabbed him by his dark stealth robes and was dragging him to stand.
“I can’t leave you alone for a moment, can I?” said Kaz.
Gin was, for once, at a loss for words. Had she been following him? Shogens, his clan would be seriously disappointed with his tracking skills if this ever got out…
Her hand rifled in one of his pouches. “Find the girl,” Kaz said, and looked him in the eye. “I’ll find you again.”
Suzaku was already getting to his feet, using his giant sword as support.
Gin swallowed. He didn’t fancy sticking around, but a two-on-one fight might be easier...but he was in danger then.
“I will be fine,” Kaz said to him.
Rather than relief, Gin felt guilt. Still, he had his mission and that took supremacy over everything else. He did owe the woman a debt, that much he knew.
Gin nodded. “He’s...tough.” Then he scooped up his discarded blade and bolted.
It was a tactical retreat in the end. When he glanced over his shoulder, Suzaku was barrelling towards Kaz. Gin did not rate her chances.
50
Vermilion
When Kaz had watched the boat crossing the river towards Kikori, she had wanted it to be a sign from the shogens that she should simply leave Shay, Saito, and the rest of them behind. She had stood frozen to that spot for too long, unable to force a decision. The thought of pursuing the girl dredged up fear and anger. Saito and the others deserved misery, deserved whatever befell them.
But Shay did not. The girl was not her father. Kaz did not see an ounce of that man in her. Shay was just a girl looking for her father. She did not bear the same sins. And Kaz had let her go willingly into the arms of Saito and Asami. Who knew what tortuous notions that woman had in mind?
Kaz could do little more than ensure that did not happen. The girl did not deserve to become like her, not when she had so much life in front of her. It was selfish, cowardly. Besides, what life did Kaz have of her own? Go back into hiding? Subsist on jobs in the middle of nowhere while trying, in vain, to locate krystallis that probably did not exist or was beyond her reach.
If there was one good thing Kaz could do, just one, she had to try. No one would mourn her anyway.
Plus, she would not let either Saito or Asami win. Spite was as good a motivator as any.
So Kaz had boarded the final boat crossing the waters to Kikori, hoping to pick up the trail left behind by Gin and Shay.
What she found was the obvious aftermath of a kidnapping.
She did not think Gin foolish enough to drag Shay straight to their destination. The wisest option was to rest and resupply. Kaz had done the same, quickly buying herself a keval and items for the road. Then, she had scouted Kikori’s sole northern exit a short ways out of the town. It was early the next morning she spotted Gin tearing out of the gate--minus Shay.
The girl’s absence had been cause for concern. While Kaz had entrusted Shay to Gin, she did not trust a kamen. In truth, it was fear that had forced her to abandon the girl. So, she had kept her distance, intent on finding out what he was doing riding out by himself. It soon became apparent he was tracking someone, and, in turn, she pursued him.
When she finally discovered he was on the tail of Suzaku and Kitsune, Kaz stood by no longer.
Now, the wild man was up and barrelling towards her, his hand unstayed by recognition.
The man was simply an enemy. There had been no time she and his sister had been surrounded by Zenitian warriors and he had saved them, no nights spent in makeshift camps in the filth and muck, wishing to be home, kept warm by each other’s company as much as the fire. No bond of warriors, forged in battle.
Memories long since buried swelled unbidden. Kaz had conditioned herself to forget everything of that life. It was a rotting corpse buried in a battlefield winters ago.
Could they be reasoned with? Should they be reasoned with? This man looked upon her with hate in his eyes, devoid of any sentiment. To Suzaku, she was a stranger.
His blade swung downwards in a deadly overhand chop. Kaz sidestepped the attack--a blade like that meant telegraphing your every move. Its teeth sunk into the ice where it stuck for just a moment before sweeping up diagonally for her throat.
She bent her body at the spine, keeping her core strong, as the sword sailed overhead.
Kaz drew her blade and closed the gap between the two of them. She slashed from her hip upwards, hoping to score a hit across his chest. But Suzaku brought his blade in close so she struck between the weapon’s serrated teeth.
The man made to twist the sword and hook her blade away, but she had been expecting it and pulled back before jabbing her katana towards his neck.
To his credit, he was quick and managed to dodge the attack though didn’t escape unscathed: Her sword nicked his neck, drawing blood.
Suzaku smirked and hopped backwards. He wiped the blood away with the back of his hand. “Not many know how to battle a weapon like this.”
Kaz slowly circled him, taking deep breaths, steeling herself. “That’s because I’ve fought you before.”
The wild man frowned and considered her for a moment. “You fought for Zenitia.”
“I fought for Saito,” she said, as if it were obvious.
“I don’t recall the names of the rank and file.”
“My name is Kaz,” she spat.
Suzaku shrugged. “As I said--rank and file.”
Kaz’s jaw set in anger. How did he not remember her? Had they scrubbed her face from their minds?
“I fought with you--with Kitsune! With all of them!” she shouted.
“And now you are the enemy,” said Suzaku as he hefted the blade on his shoulder. “So you must die.”
He rushed towards her and swung his sword across the ground. A thin wave of ice flew into the air, obscuring her vision. She backed off but was still flustered. How was she a stranger to him?
His sword lunged out of the white veil. She dodged to the side, but he had expected it and followed with a powerful knee to her gut. Pain exploded in her stomach; she flew backwards and her spine struck the ice. Relentlessly, Suzaku pursued her and hefted his blade high to hack her. Kaz rolled to the side. The ice cracked, spewed up frigid water. Suzaku shifted his blade to the side and struck. Its teeth bit into her back, drawing blood. She grunted, dove to the side. Thanked the shogens her armour had saved her from worse.
Kaz rose, blade in hand. The river pooled onto the ice. With an almighty crack, a slab of the frozen river parted.
Breathe.
She’d spent so much time putting them all out of her mind, she had been so full of herself that she could not imagine they had done the same--especially with the fact that they had been hunting her. None of
this made sense--only that Suzaku was intent on killing her. And Kaz could not die just yet.
See them as they were just a few weeks ago, Kaz: enemies, murderers.
She gripped her katana, ignored the bitemarks across her back, the blood that soaked into her armour.
You have to win, Kaz.
But Suzaku was wild, skillful, and had range on her. His purpose and resolve were clear. Her mind was messy and muddled; she had ridden here with little sleep. If she were to win, it would not be in a head-on clash.
Water lapped at her boots.
She’d created her own opening.
Again, Suzaku rushed forwards. He carved wide arcs with his sword, keeping her at bay, refusing to let her close the gap. But Kaz had no intention of rushing him. Instead, she let him swing his serrated blade and even suffered more wounds across her arms and legs in an effort to let her plan materialise.
Kaz kept Suzaku circling, kept him carving away at the ground like an enraged sculptor.
“It’s no wonder I don’t recall your name if you were always running from battle,” Suzaku chided.
She was gasping for breath, making herself appear weak. They were both strapped for time, but Suzaku would be confident his sister could take of Shay. Kaz didn’t know whether the kamen was able to defeat her.
Kaz played into his taunt and dashed forwards. She drew her wakizashi, holding both blades outwards. Suzaku stood his ground, blade resting almost casually on the snow. A choked scream rose and escaped her mouth as she launched a final, desperate attack.
Suzaku swung his sword across the snow, creating a curtain of misty ice. Kaz bridged the distance and swept her blades in an upwards X. His sword tore through the mist, quicker than she could follow. It tossed her katana and wakizashi aside like an angry child. Her knees buckled. She skidded through his legs and attempted to rise behind him.
Pain exploded across her side as the flat of his blade launched her across the ice. Kaz’s world spun. Her eyes settled on him, standing triumphantly several strides away.
“Running is getting you nowhere,” he said.
She smiled weakly. “No, it’s not.”
51
A Tactical Withdrawl
Shay worried the protrusion of her sword’s grip that was just under her robes. The act was not meant to assure her that there was a weapon at hand if she required one--she could probably conjure something if pressed: she hoped some of Kaz’s bravery and composure would rub off on her.
It did not.
Kitsune sat on a log just behind Shay, not a care in the world. Her brother had left them to fight--kill--Gin not long ago. She had strained her ears to capture the sounds of battle but heard nothing save for the cicadas, the occasional howl, or some annoying nocturnal bird chirping its heart out.
Did she want Gin to kill Kitsune’s brother? She was not well-versed with kamen, but she knew enough to understand they were sneaky and duplicitous by nature. There had been an empathetic air around Gin, though…
It just means he’s an excellent liar, not sincere.
Shay grit her teeth in frustration. This was Akimaru and Denjuro all over again. The same people who served her father said Kaz was not to be trusted, and look how that turned out. The woman was the only person Shay had faith in. Everyone else had betrayed her. The truth was that none of them were better than one another. She just had to decide who she preferred being lied to and dragged around Zenitia with in the vague hope her father resided at the end of their journey.
What Shay did know was that even if he had lied to her, she did not want Gin dead. He had been kind to her and helped her.
“His death will be painless, if that makes you feel any better,” Kitsune offered, as if reading Shay’s mind. With the way she was gawking off into the forest, it wasn’t that profound a feat.
Shay swallowed and looked over her shoulder like a scared woodland creature. “You think your brother will win that easily?”
Kitsune stuck out her lips in thought. “Kamen tend to focus on surprise and avoid relatively close combat. While Mei says he’s supposedly one of the best, Suzaku simply has...more experience killing people directly.”
“Oh…” was all Shay could manage. “Who is Mei?”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Some friend of Saito. Between you and me, I’d say she’d be jealous of someone like you.”
“Why?”
Kitsune smiled. “Because time spent with you is not time spent with her.”
Shay folded her arms over her chest. “What did I ever do to her?”
“Well, around fifteen summers ago, you were born.”
“I don’t see how that’s my fault.”
Kitsune barked a laugh. “Don’t worry, you’ll get to meet her soon enough. Suzaku won’t be long.”
A stab of fear pierced her stomach. “Could...could Suzaku just tell Gin to stop following us?”
The girl tilted her head and offered Shay a look beyond her supposedly youthful summers. “Oh, Shay. That’s not how this all works.”
Don’t let her treat you like a child, Shay. This girl works for you father, doesn’t she?
“If Sai--If my father ordered you not to kill Gin, would you not?”
“Of course,” she said, without hesitation.
Shay rose to her feet. She had to take control of something in this whole mess. Sick of seeing events pass her by, she had to be a driving force for once.
“Then I’ll tell your brother not to kill the kamen. My father would not like it if my wishes were disobeyed.”
“Hey, that’s not how it works!” Kitsune snapped with a laugh.
Shay, however, was already running off.
◆◆◆
Despite the niggling feeling of guilt that pursued him during his tactical withdrawal, Gin knew it was the right decision. His priority was locating the girl and confirming Saito’s ambitions. He’d find that very difficult if his head were cleaved from his shoulders.
Back in the cover of darkness provided by the forest, he safely slipped into the shadows once again. Despite the brief encounter with Suzaku, he had not escaped unscathed and did not fancy battling with Kitsune if he could avoid it. The girl was just as adept a tracker as her brother, if not more so, and no slouch with the blade, either, from what field reports had imparted.
Stealth was his best option. If he could sneak in, grab Shay, and flee--perfect. Failing that, a quick blade to a vital area would do the trick. If he’d had more time, poison or a trap would have been viable alternatives.
Gin found Suzaku’s trail easily enough, as the man had made no efforts to erase his journey--smug bastard.
A rightly smug bastard, Gin.
As he slipped closer to the camp, he readied himself to scout the area. Though he was on a timer, structure was on his side.
Or not.
Ahead of him, a figure was running through the forest.
Shay.
And she was being pursued by another, slender person.
Kitsune.
Had the younger girl rebelled? Was Shay attempting to flee? Either way, it played in his favour.
Shay approached his direction. He waited for her to pass. Kitsune was getting closer…
Gin materialised behind, went to strike--
When a BOOM tore through the forest.
The close blast was enough to arrest the attention of everyone for the barest of moments.
KILL HER, GIN!
He struck. Too late. He was aiming for the top of her spine, intent on severing the brain stem. But she dodged, escaped with a slash across her shoulder.
Nothing was going right.
Gin leapt back, weapon ready and already bloodied. Kitsune loosed a guttural howl and drew a curved dagger from a sheath at her hip. He didn’t fancy his chances.
Over her shoulder, Shay had frozen. “Gin” she silently mouthed. Kitsune was bounding his way, hate in her eyes.
Option three it was, then.
◆◆◆
“Running is getting you nowhere,” Suzaku said.
Kaz smiled weakly. “No, it’s not.”
The last of the ice settled. Behind Suzaku, two sparkles of light, like grounded stars, fizzed angrily. The man frowned, whipped his head around.
It was too late.
BOOM.
A roar commanded the lake. Flashes of light blinded her. The ground cracked, like the breaking of a giant’s back. Water was hurled into the sky in foamy gouts. Salty spray struck her face.
The once flat lake had fractured; slabs of thick ice churned. Already dozens of other lines were busy snaking and cracking, alluding to their imminent collapse.
With a heavy groan, Kaz pushed herself to stand, back bowed and stinging something violent. Squinting, she saw a figure thrashing in the water: Suzaku. His furry clothing was singed, face red and black from the fire damage. His charred and bloody arms clawed at the icy flotsam, but it did him no good. The ice was too small and brittle for him to gain purchase.
Kaz stood there motionless, locked in morbid curiosity. The back of her mind warned her to flee the fracturing lake lest she suffer the same fate.
She could not--would not--leave. She had to watch him die. It was by her hand, after all. Perhaps it would give her some catharsis. This man was not Hanza, someone who was a leader along with Saito. This was someone she had once fought beside.
As Suzaku’s thrashes became laboured, Kaz could not find guilt or anger or anguish. It was almost foreign, the life of another. That version of Kaz had died winters ago.
Suzaku managed a final flail before his body submerged. More sections of the lake broke and sunk.
You need to leave, Kaz.
Snapped from her reverie, she held out both her palms. The weapons that the wild man had knocked aside flew from a floating slab of ice and slapped against her palms. Kaz sheathed them and then hobbled off to locate Shay and Gin.
52
Two Hearts
Kitsune was a close-range fighter. While that worked in Gin’s favour, his skills with the blade was not comparable to hers. She’d be fighting like a damn cornered animal. Luckily, he could not see any flash bombs secreted on her person, which was a nice change of pace. Still, it would require all of his concentration and resolve to--
