The First Kaiaru (27 page)

F
uming, Kurine stood. “You—you had it the whole time?”

Iniru opened her fist, revealing a gray pebble with a blue-green spiral pattern. “I spotted it as soon as we entered the cave.”

Clenching her fists, Kurine closed in on Iniru. “Why did you make me spend all that time searching? We could have been killed!”

“In every realm, you get the exact same pebble. The only difference is the color of the spiral pattern.”

“So?” Kurine asked.

“I wanted to see how much it meant to you. I wanted to see what you would do if you couldn’t find it. Would you just choose another in a pinch, or would you be willing to jeopardize all our lives over something so
seemingly
innocent? Now we know you would. So the question is why.”

“Can I please have the stone now?” Kurine asked with mock politeness.

“What’s so special about these stones?” Iniru continued. “Why do you want them? What are you up to?”

“There’s nothing special about them, except their sentimental value,” Kurine said defensively, “which is something you apparently cannot understand.”

“Try me,” Iniru hissed.

Kurine’s muscles tensed, as if she were ready to surge forward and take the stone by force. “I found the first one and thought it was pretty. When I saw the second and realized it was basically the same stone, I figured it would probably be present in every realm, which would make it perfect for my rock collection.”

Lu Bei made a hinting cough, but said nothing. Turesobei could feel the fetch's gaze upon him.

Iniru stepped over to Turesobei. “Do you know what she’s doing? Are you sure you can trust her? She might be working for the Blood King behind our backs.”

Turesobei narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “I trust Kurine—
completely
. And I would think that after all we’ve been through, you would too.”

Ignoring his argument and his anger, Iniru held the stone out. “Have you examined these closely?”

“I have seen the stones while my kenja-sight was active,” Turesobei said. “There’s nothing unusual about them.”

“Oh, come on,” Iniru groaned. “You don’t think it’s weird that despite the many centuries separating each realm that this pebble always appears in the cave and is the same size and shape every time, with only that little bit of difference in color?”

“Yes, that’s weird, but that doesn’t mean they’re special or that they have some sort of sinister purpose.”

“Sobei, one of the stones even appeared on the cliff in the Cloud Realm! Don’t you think it should’ve been buried in the earth, at the place where the cave would normally appear?”

Turesobei shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Iniru scoffed.

“Look, I can’t explain that, or why the pebbles are always basically the same. They do absorb more kenja than most rocks, but only a little. They are harmless.”

Awasa nodded. “They seem perfectly normal to me, too.”

Iniru shoved the stone right under Turesobei’s nose. “Look again—closely. Be certain.”

“I trust what I’ve already seen,” Turesobei responded angrily. “And I trust Kurine.”

“You hardly know her,” Iniru said with exasperation. “Use your kenja-sight now. Do it again…
for me
.”

“No,” he replied flatly.

With a sigh of irritation, Hannya stepped forward. “This is tiresome. That is a koretu stone. They are rare—very rare. The dominant kenja in an area, especially if great magic has been worked there, will stain the crystalline patterns in a koretu stone. That is why the stone looks different in each realm. As to why you can always find it, I have no idea. And in case you are wondering, Lord Gyoroe is aware that she is collecting them, and he is not the least concerned about something so trivial.”

“Koretu stones?” Lu Bei asked in confusion. Then his eyes went wide. “Oh! You mean
sochai
stones. Yes, Master had two of those, only they were much larger and shaped differently than these. I should have realized that’s what they were.”

“Indeed, you should have,” Hannya replied.

Scowling, with her ears turned down, Iniru opened her mouth to say something…but nothing came out. She threw the pebble down and stalked away. As she went, Turesobei thought he heard her mutter something about how they used to be a team.

He knew the stones had irritated her since the beginning, but he hadn’t realized that they bothered her this much. But then maybe this confrontation was more about his and Kurine’s matching goshawk brands than anything else.

“We're all tired and stressed,” Zaiporo said, trying to smooth things over. “And I'm sure Nazyraga is still after us. I think we should get out of here.”

“Nazyraga?” Hannya asked with alarm.

“He came after us,” Zaiporo replied. “We just barely teleported out of the cave in time.”

“We have to go—now!” Hannya hurried to the gate, eyeing Iniru as she went. “I cannot believe you wasted precious time with ridiculous teenage drama.”

She chanted, with Turesobei and Lu Bei providing a chorus. Before they finished, Nazyraga appeared on the horizon—heading their way with incredible speed, far faster than even the Storm Dragon could fly.

“We teleported,” Zaiporo said. “How did he find us? How is he moving so fast?!”

With a flash, the gate opened.

“This is his realm,” Hannya said. “He is far stronger and faster here than anywhere else.” She nodded at the cylinder in Turesobei’s hands. “Of course, he should soon become a whole lot less powerful.”

That was a thought to brighten Turesobei’s spirits for a change. If nothing else, they had accomplished one good thing with all of these missions.

They made it through the gate in time, then handed the heart stone over to Lord Gyoroe.

“You look like you have been through Torment,” Lord Gyoroe said, echoing Hannya’s first reaction to their current state.

As they described the battle, he healed their injuries, which was a welcome change since Turesobei usually had to do that.

“I suspected this one would be especially difficult,” Lord Gyoroe said. “But you did well. Motekeru, you’ve taken serious damage. I can heal you as well, if you will let me.”

Motekeru shook his head. “I will be fine.”

“Very well, but your combat readiness has been compromised.”

“I will manage,” Motekeru said.

Turesobei wished Motekeru would let the Blood King repair him. He didn’t understand why he was being so stubborn about that. He considered asking, but then thought it was probably better not to. Motekeru might have a valid reason he didn’t want to disclose.

“Iniru,” Turesobei said sternly as they all started to separate, “I think we should talk about—”

“Leave me alone,” she snapped, and she hurried away.

“I'll try to talk to her later,” Awasa said.

“Maybe Shoma could help you,” Turesobei replied, thinking Awasa might not be the best choice.

“What happened between them?” Enashoma asked.

“I'll fill you in on the details,” Zaiporo said. “Did your studies go well while we were away?”

“I guess so,” she said as they left together. “Tomorrow, I should cast my first spell.”

Turesobei and Kurine went to his room. He took her in his arms and smiled. “Just one more mission to go.”

She stroked his face. “After all we faced in the Summer Realm, I could use a couple of weeks of sleeping and cuddling.”

“I'm sorry about all that with Iniru.”

“You stood up for me,” Kurine said. “That's the most important thing to me.”

“I’m supposed to stand up for you.” He dropped his voice to the barest whisper. “I am your husband, after all.” Even though he’d said it, he could still hardly believe it was true.

“Tomorrow, we’ll patch things up with Iniru….somehow,” Kurine said.

“Are you sure you want to?”

“Don’t you?”

“Yes, of course,” he replied, perhaps too quickly. “But I know sharing isn’t your preference.”

“It’s okay,” Kurine said. “I want you to be happy. That’s all that matters to me.”

As they leaned in toward one another, Lu Bei cleared his throat.

“Before the two of you start kissing
again
, I have something to say. Mistress Kurine, I doubted you, because of the stones. But I was proven wrong.” He bowed deeply. Tears welled in the fetch’s eyes, and there was a look on the fetch’s face that Turesobei couldn’t quite pin down. “Please accept my most humble apology.”

“Why…thank you, little demon.”

Lu Bei gritted his teeth, flew over to a shelf, and turned into a book.

P
atching things up with Iniru didn't happen the next day. She didn’t show up at lunch, and when Turesobei and Kurine went to find her, they discovered that she had moved all her things out of Kurine’s room. They searched all over the Nexus, but no one had seen Iniru since they had returned from the Summer Realm.

That evening, Turesobei waited for Iniru in his room. It was her night to spend with him. When she didn’t show up, he went to Iniru’s back door and tapped on the screen. “I don’t know if you’re in there, but I’m sorry for everything that’s happened. I miss you, Niru. Please, can't we talk about this?”

He waited a while…but got no response. He wandered back to his room to wait and woke up alone the next morning.

No one caught more than a darting glance of her the rest of the week. Clearly, if Iniru didn’t want to be seen, no one would see her. Turesobei considered using the
spell of locating that which is hidden
, but decided it was best to honor her wishes and let her keep avoiding everyone.

Likewise, Kurine respected her truce with Iniru and only stayed with him on her allotted nights. He spent those lonely evenings he should have been with Iniru meditating futilely on the nature of sacrifice.

To Turesobei’s surprise, Kurine was upset that Iniru wasn’t showing up for her nights with him. He had expected getting married would make Kurine more possessive and jealous of his time with Iniru. It boggled his mind that she actually wanted him to be with Iniru, too. But he wasn’t going to look a gifted denekon in the mouth. If that’s what Kurine wanted, then he was all for it.

Other than the time he was given to renew his spell strips, all his work with Lord Gyoroe that week consisted of hours and hours of failed attempts to connect with the heart stones. No matter how many times he tried, he simply could not do it. Intellectually, he could wrap his mind around the Blood King’s idea of sacrifice. The problem was that he could not understand it emotionally, nor imagine doing it himself.

After the unproductive, frustrating week, Turesobei was glad that, despite the danger, the time for the next mission had arrived.

Iniru was the last one to reach the platform. Kurine immediately stepped toward her and started to speak, but Iniru held up a hand.

“I don’t want to talk about relationships. I will fight beside you. I will die to protect Turesobei, if I must. I’m a professional and…and a dear friend. But I can’t do my job and deal with all that other stuff.”

“If that’s what you want,” Kurine said sadly.

“That is exactly what I want.” Iniru looked to Turesobei. “Any problem with that?”

He shook his head.

A violet-eyed Lord Gyoroe cleared his throat, and they all turned toward him. “This will be your most difficult mission yet.”

“You think it’s going to be worse than what we faced in the Summer Realm?” Zaiporo asked incredulously.

“It is because of Moshinga that I am trapped here. At the height of my final battle against the Shogakami, things had begun to swing my way, but then Moshinga unleashed his full fury upon me, tipping the scales. Beneath his peaceful facade lies a power that few Kaiaru can match.”

“Do not underestimate his guardians,” Hannya said. “Also, I have a feeling Moshinga went a different direction than the others when he implemented his guardian system. While I would not expect deception from Moshinga, I would expect to find something deviously clever and unique.”

“The Fire Realm is generally inhospitable to life,” Lord Gyoroe said, “so before you go, I must place upon you enchantments to protect you from exposure to heat, smoke, and poisonous fumes. These enchantments will last for three days.”

“This just gets better and better,” Zaiporo said with a sigh.

“Just one more to go.” Awasa cracked her knuckles. “Let’s finish it in style.”

After the Blood King placed the protective enchantments on them, and wished them well, they stepped through the gate…and into a world that seemed even more alien than the Ancient Cold and Deep. Immediately, a wave of heat blasted them. Turesobei couldn’t imagine how terrible this would feel without the protections the Blood King had given them.

Around them, ash fell like snow over a landscape that was nothing but a blasted waste of bare stone. The sky above was filled with gray clouds, through which a hazy yellow sun shone dimly. The ground beneath their feet trembled continuously. And in the far distance, a column of smoke rose into the sky.

“Judging by the sun this looks like the past,” Kurine said, “but how can that be?”

“We have gone far back in time,” Hannya said. “This was during a time when volcanic eruptions and earthquakes rocked Okoro, sinking most of the continent into the ocean. Few of us survived, and none did in this region. All this loose stone and ash you see formed the rich soil that supports the trees and farms of the later era realms you visited.”

“Does anything live here?” Zaiporo asked.

“I don't see how anything could,” Iniru replied.

“If anything does,” Lu Bei said, “I promise it won't be pleasant.”

“Let's go,” Turesobei said.

They teleported to the site…and found neither a cliff nor a cave nor even a river. Instead, they encountered a rough expanse of relatively flat terrain that was similar to what they had encountered in the Cloud Realm. On the horizon, a towering volcano spewed ash into the sky. They could feel its anger in the constant tremors beneath their feet. Not far away, an enormous geyser propelled steam a hundred feet up. Its spray drifted across them and mixed with the falling ash to create droplets of gray mud that clumped onto their hair and clothing.

Where the pedestal and cylinder should appear gurgled a pool of molten lava about ten paces across. Turesobei walked up to the edge of it.

“This isn’t natural.”

Iniru rubbed the forefinger and thumb of one hand together. “Don’t you have a spell to cast?”

“Right.” He stepped away from the lava pool and drew a spell strip. “First things first.”

As he began casting, Awasa gazed into the pool. “There’s something about this place…. It’s different from the other sites.”

“How so?” Kurine asked.

Awasa shook her head. “I’m not sure but—”

The volcano erupted and launched more than two dozen fiery meteors into the air. The meteors all streaked toward them.