The First Kaiaru (4 page)

E
nashoma scooped up her robes, turned her back to him, and dressed quickly. She was careful to not let him see the Maker’s Brush, which was bundled in cloth and tucked into a pocket of her inner robe. Normally, she kept it hidden under her sleeping mat and wrapped up in case the Blood King spied on her magically. But today, the servants were deep cleaning her room, so she’d had to bring it with her.

Using the Maker’s Brush, she could animate any paper creation she made, as long as it wasn’t much bigger than her hand. The effect normally only lasted for about fifteen minutes, but with Turesobei’s help, she had made an origami bird capable of flying hundreds of leagues to deliver a message to Iniru.

She suspected she could make better ones now that she had trained in the mudra arts, but Lu Bei had made it clear their first day here that she should keep the brush hidden from the Blood King. Apparently, that was working, or else the Blood King had sensed it and didn’t think it was worth mentioning.

Enashoma tied her sash, then turned around. His golden eyes seemed to stare beyond her skin and flesh and into her soul. She shivered.

“Follow me,” the Blood King said.

“Where are we going?” Enashoma asked.

“Somewhere I have never taken anyone before—not your brother, not even Hannya.”

As the Blood King marched out, a worried frown spread across Hannya’s face. Enashoma cringed. Great, even the scary Earth Dragon was worried for her. Surely, being a bonded host wasn’t worse than being an inheritant….

When she’d opened her third eye to gaze into the Mirror of the Soul, Enashoma had expected to find out she was nothing but a frightened aristocratic child far outside of her element. She was starting to think that would’ve been a much better result.

Her heart began to pound, so she took a deep breath and focused on staying calm. She couldn’t let her imagination run away with her. Any worry she thought of now would likely be worse than the truth. If she were patient, she would find out what this all meant soon enough. Keeping her mind on the present, she took one step at a time, as they left the Training Hall and crossed the courtyard.

“Hold up!” a familiar voice shouted.

Enashoma waited for the Blood King to stop, then turned to see her brother sprinting across the courtyard.

Turesobei was tall, leanly muscled, and moderately handsome. Kurine thought he was dreamy. She said so almost daily. Iniru obviously thought the same, though she would never in a dozen lifetimes have said something as silly as that. Enashoma didn’t see what the fuss was about, but maybe that’s because she’d known him her entire life. And of course, the whole “I’m a special wizard” thing didn’t impress her.

However, as far as brothers go, she’d gotten lucky. With a tyrant for a mother and their father gone all the time, Turesobei had been more of a protector than the bullies her friends’ brothers seemed to be. He had always checked in on her, even as he’d gotten older and increasingly busy with his studies. And anytime their mother zeroed in on her, he would step in and take some of the heat. The hardest months of her life—at home, before this adventure—were the ones when Turesobei had gone off to Wakaro with their dad. That was part of the reason why, when she'd suspected he was leaving again to go save Iniru, she had run away, too.

Turesobei’s amber kavaru dangled from a chain that hung from his neck. He’d had that stone all her life, and she remembered the pulse she’d felt when she had first touched it. She must’ve been about four years old, so he would’ve been six. Most wizards didn’t get a kavaru until they started training at the age of ten, but Turesobei had started much earlier than normal.

She had always assumed that was because he was the high wizard in training and was supposed to succeed their grandfather who was getting old. But given what she now knew about the spells on the kavaru, she wondered if maybe he’d had it since birth and no one had realized that was unusual. The powerful spells on the kavaru could have made people believe any number of things.

Before, Enashoma had always viewed Turesobei’s kavaru with a sense of wonder and potential. She had often dreamed of being a wizard herself, even though the Chonda, like most clans, did not believe in training girls to become wizards, regardless of talent. The Maker’s Brush was all they allowed her to have, and only because it was viewed as nothing more than a novelty. More importantly, it wouldn’t work for male wizards.

Enashoma’s grandmother had taught her how to use the brush and passed it down to her when she died. She had said nothing about its origin, about birthmarks or about Kaiaru lineages. Enashoma knew only how to use the brush. And that Lu Bei held it in the highest regard. His demeanor turned worshipful whenever he laid eyes upon it.

Now, the sight of Turesobei’s kavaru made Enashoma’s stomach turn. Someday, Chonda Lu would take her brother away. That in itself was horrible, but to have him replaced by a demented Kaiaru was even worse.

Along behind Turesobei flew Lu Bei, one of her favorite things in all the world. The fetch had two forms. In his natural state, he was a diary with a polished leather cover, bound in silver wire and embossed with strange runes. In his fetch form, he had amber skin that matched Turesobei’s kavaru and batwings of a darker shade. He was as big as a house cat, but only because he had grown after absorbing storm energy when Turesobei had destroyed the Storm Dragon’s Heart. That was also why Lu Bei had the
Mark of the Storm Dragon
on his chest: a lightning bolt spiking through a storm cloud in a circle of black, matching the symbol on Turesobei’s cheek.

Enashoma wanted to be angry with Lu Bei, knowing he was a part of her brother’s destiny. But having been created to serve Chonda Lu, the fetch probably didn’t have any more choice than Sobei in the whole special destiny plan. Besides, she didn’t want to make things awkward between her and Lu Bei. She dearly loved him, and he had more than earned her trust.

Turesobei reached them and bowed. “Is everything okay, master? I felt a pulse of magic and then the ground shook and—”

“How could anything in my realm be amiss?” the Blood King asked.

Turesobei hesitated. “I was just concerned because Enashoma was taking her test. I figured it was okay, but the others were worried, so I told them to stay in the Dining Hall, while I looked into it.”

“It was nothing…just a moment of anger about…” scarlet lights danced through the Blood King’s emerald eyes as they locked on Lu Bei “…something your ancestor did long ago. Do not concern yourself with it.”

Turesobei scanned Enashoma and frowned. Her appearance was obviously disheveled, and there was no way she couldn’t look frightened, given that it took every scrap of discipline she could muster not to break down into tears and run back to her room.

“Did something go wrong with your test?” he asked.

Before she could answer, the Blood King said, “That is yet to be determined.” He gestured. “Follow along. You should see this as well.”

Turesobei started to ask a question, but Hannya hushed him with a small shake of her head.

“I’ll let the others know everything is okay,” Lu Bei said. He darted over and whispered something to one of the servants, who then dutifully trudged toward the Dining Hall.

They entered the Throne Room and marched up the steps to the jade throne. Enashoma had been this way several times before. There was an invisible door that led into the Workshop, and if you walked straight through the wall, you appeared on a staircase that led down into the Workshop where Turesobei studied with the Blood King.

They rounded the throne and stepped through the hidden doorway as normal, but they didn’t enter the Workshop. Or at least, Enashoma didn’t.

She found herself…somewhere else. The ground was firm beneath her feet, and warm air brushed across her skin. But otherwise, there was only a dark, silent emptiness. She could neither see nor hear anything around her. But there was a tangy, almost metallic smell that she’d come to think of as the scent of magic, and it was potent enough here to make her dizzy.

A pure, high-pitched note rang out. It was the most beautiful tone she’d ever heard. Her heartbeat increased and goosebumps spread across her skin. Another note sounded. This one was deep, warm, and familiar. Then thousands of varied tones rang out, like a vast collection of wind chimes clattering and clinking in a strong breeze.

The pungent scent of magic broke apart into more than a dozen smells: cardamom, lavender, lemon, overturned earth, rain-cleansed air, cold steel…. Before she could recognize them all, an array of numbers and mystical symbols flashed before her eyes, glowing in various hues.

In a blink, nearly all the sounds, notes, colors, symbols, and numbers disappeared. Only a single tone now rang out—kind and melancholy. It was accompanied by the aroma of fermented tea leaves, specifically the kind Lu Bei prized above all others. And a calligraphic symbol hovered before her. It was one she knew well, for it was the activating mark required to bring her origami creations to life.

The mark faded away, and an amethyst light pulsed ahead: eleven flashes and a pause, then eleven more flashes and a pause, repeatedly. Before she even realized it, her feet shuffled her toward the light. She reached out and grabbed its source.

Suddenly, the pale Kaiaru man appeared again, standing before her, bathed in the amethyst light. He smiled warmly.

“Hello, Chonda Enashoma. I have waited a long time to meet you.”

E
nashoma gasped, closed her fist around the light source, tumbled backward, and fell onto the floor.

The Blood King spoke a word, and thousands of small, brightly-hued lights illuminated a long, narrow room elaborately paneled in rich, rare woods. A waist-high shelf ran around the perimeter. Small, open-topped boxes filled the shelf. The lights were shining from inside them. Enashoma was at the far end of the room, while Turesobei, Hannya, and the Blood King remained at the entrance.

Turesobei's amber kavaru glowed, casting strange shadows on his face. He blinked in confusion and muttered something unintelligible.

Hannya’s kavaru blazed scarlet light from her navel. Eyes wide, she shook her head in disbelief. “Is this…is this all of them?”

“Almost,” the Blood King said. All nine of his stones glowed as well. “A few were lost to the sea and buried in earthquakes. Over the centuries, the Keepers gathered all they could find. After creating the Ancient Cold and Deep, I went to their Forbidden Library and stole their collection, which was not an easy feat, even for me. They do not even know that it is missing.”

With a warm stone still clutched in her fist, Enashoma stood and peered into the boxes on the shelf. Each contained a different kavaru. There were thousands of them.

“Why are they all glowing?” Turesobei asked.

“The
spell of revelation
,” the Blood King said.

“It’s really rude to use that spell,” Lu Bei said.

The Blood King shrugged.

“When did you gather all these?” Hannya asked.

“Not long after you left me. And until now, no one else has ever known that I had them. Of course, you would have learned it soon enough. These stones are an integral part of my plan.”

Enashoma opened her hand. In her palm was the round amethyst kavaru of Nāa—its pulse matching her heartbeat. Her eyes locked onto the glimmering stone, not with fear or dread but complete fascination. She could not have looked away if she had wanted to.

Lu Bei glided along the shelves toward Enashoma, naming Kaiaru whose stones he recognized. Then he squeaked, crashed into the wall, and zoomed up to Enashoma. He gazed lovingly down at the stone in her hand. Tears welled in his eyes as the most melancholy of smiles stained his face. He reached out and touched the kavaru lightly with one finger. He snapped his hand back, his eyes wide as saucers.

“It’s alive!”

She nodded. “He spoke to me. That’s why we’re here.”

His large eyes locked onto hers. Tears rolled down his cheeks and through his now broad smile. “Nāa spoke again…and to you?” He started to say something else, but then chewed his lip and choked back his words.

Enashoma nodded. “Apparently, I’m a descendant of his.”

“Of course, you are.”

“You knew?! And you didn’t tell me?”

“Until today, it was a secret.”

“You are not going to enlighten us further, are you?” the Blood King asked.

“I would not if I could, but I can’t.”

“Care to venture a theory as to why Nāa spoke to Enashoma?” the Blood King said. “Or how his stone came back to life?”

The fetch shook his head. “My guess would be little better than yours. And I can’t imagine the stone coming back to life like this, after all these millennia. It’s unthinkable. Nāa was dead.” Lu Bei said the last part with such a tragic finality to his voice that Enashoma’s breath caught.

The Blood King’s eyes narrowed with suspicion once more upon Enashoma. She looked to Turesobei for comfort. Even though she had a kavaru in hand and had admitted that it had spoken to her, he hadn’t said so much as a word.

“Sobei?” she said.

He didn’t react. Ignoring the world around him, he continued to stare silently down at a stone in one of the boxes. Why was he so intently focused on—Oh!

“These stones are all future versions of kavaru that are still being used in our world?” Enashoma asked.

"Yes," Hannya whispered, the awe in her voice obvious as she gazed around the room, "although many of them were already lost or collected by the Keepers in your time."

"Then a stone could be here, in one of these boxes, and…” Enashoma looked at the stunned expression on Sobei's face “…and still in use?"

The fetch whipped around. His wings snapped taught, and every muscle in his tiny body trembled as he realized what she was saying. “Master’s kavaru…is here?”

“It is,” the Blood King replied, violet-eyed, with a sneer.

Enashoma put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, gods, poor Sobei. Seeing the stone…that’s like looking at your own grave.”

Lu Bei zipped over and hovered beside Turesobei, fixing his gaze down onto the box as well. But there was something odd about his expression. It wasn’t sad or distraught. It seemed almost…almost hopeful. Weird. Very weird. Enashoma clutched a fist over the stone in her hand—she couldn’t let go—and joined them.

Enashoma touched his shoulder. “Sobei, are you okay?”

“My kavaru…” he said flatly.

An amber stone, the exact same one that hung from his neck, shone in the box below. “Not even Kaiaru live forever,” she said. “And the Ancient Cold and Deep was far into our future.”

He nodded. “I know, but just seeing it here….”

The fetch still had a hopeful glimmer in his eyes, along with a sly smile on his face. He noticed her looking at him, and his face instantly dropped into a frown.

“Poor master,” he moaned.

Enashoma huffed. That little creature was the most infuriating keeper of secrets and schemer of schemes in all the world. And she still couldn’t help but love him.

“What would happen if Turesobei were to try to use both versions of Chonda Lu’s kavaru?” Hannya asked.

“He cannot benefit from an additional stone, even another incarnation of the one he is…bonded to,” the Blood King said.

Hannya tapped one of two empty boxes sitting side-by-side and raised an eyebrow.

“You and Ooloolarra both survived into all the future realms I created.” The Blood King’s eyes burned scarlet. “And you know why I did not bring you here.”

She bowed her head and said, submissively, “I understand, my lord.”

“Only two out of thousands made it,” Turesobei muttered. “Don’t know why I should be surprised. It’s not like I expected to live forever.” He shook his head and half chuckled as he turned to Enashoma. “I’ll be lucky if I live another—” His eyes fell onto the glowing amethyst kavaru in her hand. “What…?”

“It’s the kavaru of—”

He staggered back into the shelf. “Nāa.” He grabbed his temples. “I know him. He….” Everyone looked at him expectantly, but after a few moments, he shook his head in confusion. “Sorry, almost remembered something, but I couldn’t hold onto it.”

Eyes flaring the impatient violet, the Blood King’s groaned with exasperation.

“Why do you have his stone?” Turesobei asked.

“During my mudra trial, Nāa appeared in my mind and spoke to me.”

“His kavaru is alive still?”

“Until today, it was as lifeless as any other here,” the Blood King said.

“We’re descendants of his,” Enashoma said. “And…” she shrugged “and…that’s really all I know.”

“We’re descended from two different Kaiaru?” he asked. “Why is he awake again? And why did he speak to you?”

“I don’t know,” Enashoma said. “But that’s what we’re here to find out.”

“Tell me exactly what happened.”

She explained everything in detail.

Turesobei touched his lower stomach. “I’ve never noticed another birthmark.”

“It’s really hard to see.”

“It has not awakened in master,” Lu Bei said. “And I doubt it ever will. It’s a recessive bloodline trait. Amongst the Chonda, it typically only awakens in women, usually right after puberty.”

Wait a second…a recessive bloodline that only appeared in Chonda women…who were the only ones who could use the Maker’s Brush? That couldn’t be a coincidence. Had Nāa’s kavaru awoken because of the brush being here? He might have been trying to contact her all the while she had been in the Nexus but hadn’t been able to until her trial.

“I have never heard of recessive bloodline traits.” Emerald eyes sparkling, the Blood King scratched at his chin. “You will tell me more of this later.”

“If you like. But I don’t know much.” The barbed tip of Lu Bei’s tail shivered ever so slightly. That was Lu Bei’s tell. He was lying. “Master didn’t get far with his research. He only ever documented one other case.”

The Blood King nodded appreciatively, apparently buying the lie.

She should probably change the subject. “So what now?”

The Blood King studied her and Nāa’s kavaru. His eyes turned milky white then cycled through all their colors.

“You will keep the kavaru and use it. You have a bond with Nāa. I want to know why and how he sensed your presence. And I especially want to know how his stone could lie dormant for millennia, only to suddenly wake when you arrive. You might be the key to unlocking the secrets I have sought for so long. It is possible that I might not even have to venture again into the past.” His eyes faded to gray and a strange expression pained his face. “Except…except I must see the past. I must see the origin. No matter what.”

Enashoma didn’t think the Blood King being able to accomplish his goal more easily was a good thing. But there was nothing she could do about it, except go along for the ride. That was the only course any of them had available right now. The Blood King shook off the odd expression. His eyes turned pale blue, and he smiled warmly. “You are a true gift, Chonda Enashoma.”

“So that’s your ultimate plan?” Turesobei asked. “To reawaken the Kaiaru who once resided in these stones?”

“Using the secret of our origins, yes. And with your sister’s help, I might not even need to harmonize these stones with the ones in your world. It might be easier than I had ever imagined, and if it is, I will be able to bring even more Kaiaru back to life!”

Turesobei’s face was a blank mask, but Hannya was having trouble hiding her trepidation. The Blood King didn’t even notice. Would he even care if he had?

Enashoma rolled the kavaru in her palm. “So I can use the stone…and become a wizard?”

“Indeed,” he said.

She turned to Hannya. “Will you teach me?”

Hannya started to answer, but the Blood King interrupted her. “Hannya will be busy going on the missions in the realms. I will train you.”

Enashoma swallowed nervously. “Oh…okay.”

“You and I will be spending a lot of time together, so that I can learn how this kavaru came back to life.”

Great. She finally got a kavaru of her own and could become a proper wizard…only under the worst circumstances possible.