Nightblade (38 page)

He lowered his sword into a defensive stance and turned to look on the source of the energy. It was another monk, but dressed in different robes than the others. If the information of the villagers was to be believed, Ryuu supposed this was the Abbot.

The energy radiating off his body was incredible, and if what Ryuu had sensed a couple of days ago was any indication, the man was showing only a portion of his strength. Just his normal presence was debilitating. It was so bright it blinded the sense. Ryuu realized even untrained people would recognize the power in front of them.

Ryuu relaxed the same way Shigeru had taught him when they first went into a city. It was the same lesson. If your sense is about to be overpowered the best thing to do is let it go. It was a tool and nothing more. If it isn't working, you drop it, and focus on all the other training you did.

Relaxed, his sense suppressed, Ryuu was surprised to note the Abbot no longer had any strong effect on him. His other senses were sharp and clear. He silently thanked Shigeru for training him well.

The Abbot didn't seem to pay Ryuu any mind, like having a stranger with a sword in your receiving room was as common as the rising and setting of the sun. His only reaction seemed to be disappointment Ryuu hadn't killed Moriko yet.

"Please, don't stop on my account. I just wanted to watch the end of her life, as well as observe you, my friend. I can only imagine you are the young one Lord Akira wants dead so much."

Ryuu didn’t respond as he processed the new information. It was Lord Akira that wanted him dead then. It was logical, given he had killed Akira’s top general's only son. Orochi was just a sword for hire then, albeit one with a personal score to settle.

The Abbot continued. "Please continue. If you kill her, you’d be doing me a great favor. She’ll be dead and you’ll be my present to Lord Akira."

The Abbot's self-confidence grated on Ryuu. He had come too far in his training and had fought too many strong opponents to be intimidated by a man who only knew one trick. He wouldn't be captured here. Ryuu turned to face the Abbot.

The Abbot laughed. “Really? I dare you, boy. I'm very curious what has Lord Akira and Orochi so worked up."

Ryuu moved in to strike. He could feel the Abbot's energy flare, the same way it had felt when he had first sensed it. But with his sense pushed down, it was nothing but an uncomfortable gut-twisting moment, disconcerting but little else.

Ryuu made his cut. The Abbot, caught in his moment of pride, was much too slow in drawing his own blade to block. Ryuu's cut passed through the Abbot unopposed. In an instant, all his energy vanished into oblivion, the Abbot dead before he even had time to be surprised by what had happened.

Ryuu turned to Moriko and let his sense open up again. She was surprised as well, but managed to control her reactions. She looked at him calmly as he turned to face her. He knew he didn't have long before the entire monastery was up in arms, but he had to know more about Orochi.

"Who is Orochi to you, and where is he?"

Moriko examined him. He could tell she was weighing her options, deciding what course to take. To his relief, he saw her shoulders relax, and knew she would tell the truth.

"Orochi was my master. He taught me how to be a nightblade, but since he left to hunt you and your friends, I do not know where he has gone.”

Ryuu took a moment to weigh her words. Although she did not have all the information he desired, she was telling the truth.

"Why are you bound?"

"I killed a monk."

Ryuu raised an eyebrow to invite further explanation.

"He had no honor and was abusing a young girl new to the monastery."

Despite himself, Ryuu was beginning to like Moriko. She was strong and honest, qualities he found himself attracted to.

“Who is Orochi to you?” He had to know more.

“My way out.”

Ryuu could sense the monastery waking up. To live for cycles upon cycles in the presence of the power of the Abbot, waking up without that presence would be disconcerting, like waking up to discover your right arm had detached itself while you slept. It would take them some time to orient themselves and decide on a course of action, but it wouldn't be long.

He studied Moriko carefully. She had been beaten severely, close to the edge of her life, but she lay there, open to whatever happened next. Despite his opinion of Orochi, he seemed to have trained her well. Ryuu decided to trust her, hopefully not just because he found her attractive, he thought to himself.

"What would you have me do?"

The question clearly surprised her. She must have been expecting death. "Well, cutting these bonds would be a good start."

"Will you continue the mission your master started, to kill me and those close to me?"

She looked at him venomously. "Orochi may have trained me, but I am my own. I am not his lapdog."

Ryuu shrugged. It was good enough for him. With a quick flick of the wrist, he cut through her bonds. She took a moment to rub her wrists and ankles and then slowly moved to her feet. She was strong, but just as clearly injured. Ryuu wasn't sure how well she would fare on her own.

"Come with me. I can take you to where I am hiding. You can recuperate and decide what you wish to do."

Moriko didn't appear to be in a place to say no to a gift. "Thank you."

The words had barely escaped her lips when the first of the monks came rushing in. Moriko seemed to surprise them, but Ryuu had to remind himself they couldn't sense her either.

As Ryuu stepped forward to meet them, he was surprised to be joined by Moriko. She grabbed the Abbot's sword and stood next to him. He glanced at her dubiously, but her return glance stifled any warnings he may have given.

The monks were strong. They were fast and well trained, but they weren’t nightblades. The sense provided just the smallest of openings which made him stronger and faster. They did not fall easily, but they did fall, either by his blade or by Moriko's.

Ryuu glanced over at Moriko again. Many of her cuts had opened and blood was oozing from old wounds, but it didn't look like she had been cut. She was exhausted though, rocking back and forth on her feet in her efforts to remain standing. Ryuu felt a wave of admiration for the girl, fighting despite the suffering she had experienced.

The second wave of monks came in, this group less experienced than the ones before them. They halted when they saw their comrades on the ground. Then they saw Moriko, covered in blood, looking like a demon set forth on the monastery. They were ready to bolt.

Ryuu seized the moment. "I do not wish to kill you all. I only wish to leave in peace."

One of the younger monks pointed at Moriko. "With her?"

"Yes."

"She has killed one of our leaders! She must pay with her life."

Ryuu tried to think of a diplomatic solution and failed. He was too tired from travel and from combat. "She is under my protection. If you wish to fight her and kill her, you must come through me first." He tilted his blade so all could see the blood along its edge.

The monks scampered back a step or two, looking around the room and seeing the bodies of their elders scattered over the floor. They looked at Ryuu, who still hadn't been cut, and none of them stepped forward to challenge him, but they didn't get out of the way either.

Ryuu decided to keep moving forward. He wasn’t going to be able to talk his way out of this. He watched the monks. None of them stepped forward to challenge him, and almost all of them moved back in response to his movement. He held his sense out, focused on them, but though one or two were hesitant, none intended to move forward to strike them.

Ryuu and Moriko stepped out of the Abbot's quarters. He was worried about her. Although an outside observer might think she was fine he could see her steps were uncertain. She wasn't going to last long before she passed out from her injuries. He looked to the stables.

Decision made, he led them there and started saddling two horses. Not being experienced, it took him longer than he would have liked, and in the time he was saddling them the entire monastery came out to watch. He did not sense an attack from any of them. Their emotions ran from angry to confused to upset and sad.

They mounted in silence and moved to ride off, but despite the crowd's uncertainty about attacking, there seemed to be an unspoken consensus not to let them through. Ryuu drew his sword and spoke in a low voice that carried in the winter's night.

"I came here because the power of your Abbot drew me here. But when I arrived I found dishonor and threats. I am not proud of the violence done here tonight, nor do I regret it. Those who seek to do harm will be duly rewarded. Your Abbot was killed in one cut, and your elders’ blades never even kissed my skin. Despite your training, those who draw their blades against me will die."

A monk near the back of the milling assembly spoke up. “But you are a nightblade. We must stop you.”

Ryuu shook his head. “I am a nightblade. And you are dayblades. Know, brothers and sisters, we all walk the same path. You are welcome to visit me at any time.”

Ryuu took a moment to let his statement and claim sink in. It felt right to let the world know he was a nightblade. For so long he had hidden. His had been a life of shadows and deception. Honesty was refreshing, like letting sunlight into a part of his soul he hadn't dusted in a long time.

Ryuu didn't wait for the monks to rationalize his argument. He started their horses forward, and the crowd parted. Once he sensed a monk almost draw his blade, but fear overtook him at the last moment and he faltered.

As they made it out the gates of the monastery, Ryuu released a deep breath he didn't even realize he had been holding. He looked over at Moriko, who was struggling to stay upright in her saddle. Ryuu shook his head. This was going to be a long journey.

They rode the horses back as far as they could, but Ryuu made them get off a fair distance from the edges of the forest. He didn't want to be leaving tracks.

Ryuu tried a couple of times to get Moriko to open up, but she was deep within herself dealing with the pain and exhaustion. Ryuu also noticed that as Moriko grew more and more exhausted he was able to sense her. Even her presence was beautiful. She exuded the sense in the same manner he did, tendrils of awareness flitting to and fro all around her. It was a beautiful, intricate pattern, invisible to all but him in this world.

When she became too tired to walk on her own he supported her. When she couldn't even stand on her two feet, he carried her. Ryuu had predicted correctly, the journey was long. It was only because of their time on the horses that they made it back to Ryuu and Takako's campsite by the rendezvous time.

When they reached the camp, Takako was unhappy about the situation. Ryuu didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say much. He said he had rescued the girl. He settled the senseless nightblade into their tree. Then he sat in his customary spot, asleep the moment he was still.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The forest was a terrifying place without the company of another. Takako had never been in the woods alone. Ryuu had been right. These woods were alive. One didn’t recognize it at first, but the variety of sounds was astounding. After Ryuu left she found a dead branch on the ground light enough she could pick it up and swing it with ease, heavy enough she could convince herself it was a weapon.

During the day she managed to keep herself busy, ranging as far from their tree as she felt comfortable to find food. Ryuu had left her with an ample supply of meat, but she enjoyed the variety of berries to break up the monotony of dried meat.

The nights were difficult. With nothing to do but hide in the tree it was too easy to jump at every sound, to imagine that every twig that snapped was an assassin. She wished she lived in a world where that was as ridiculous as it sounded. The sounds of the forest kept her awake each night.

Takako could feel her shoulders relax when she saw him return. But now that she was safe her anger blossomed. He had taken her from all she cared for and left her in the forest alone. He owed her better treatment.

The girl didn’t make her feel better. At first Takako had thought it was a body. There was so much blood. But the girl was alive and Ryuu wasn’t willing to say much about her. He just laid her down and went to sleep himself, not even asking how she was. Men.

Takako looked over the new arrival scornfully. She reminded Takako of Ryuu. She was of average size but there wasn’t any fat on her. She was strong. She had shoulder length dark hair, and an incredible set of cuts and bruises over her entire body. Takako was surprised she was still alive. It was no wonder Ryuu had been covered in blood.

Ryuu didn’t sleep long. He seemed to have the ability to wake up at will. After he was up he made a fire and asked for Takako's help in taking off the woman's clothes. Takako was close to making a remark about Ryuu being a pig, but saw the seriousness in his eyes. It was the same look she had seen after their last encounter with Orochi. Takako let the remark die on her tongue and helped him.

They got to work, peeling the clothes off the girl with as much gentleness as they could manage. Blood had caked the clothes to her body in several places, and Takako grimaced every time she tore off congealed blood with the clothes. They washed the wounds and tried their best to dress them, although they didn't have enough bandages to dress all the cuts. They had to choose those which looked most dangerous.

The work was exhausting but gave Takako a sense of satisfaction. Healing was a worthwhile endeavor, and she felt optimistic about her work. If they could prevent infection the girl should recover without too many problems. As they worked Takako noticed many of the new scars were laid over old scars. Whoever the girl was, she had been through some severe beatings.