The Forbidden Library (24 page)

Turesobei sighed. “I’m not Kaiaru.”

“Then how did you know that I wasn’t? You even know whose stone this is.”

“Look,” Turesobei snapped, growing frustrated. “Are you going to let us go?”

“Hardly.” He grinned malevolently. “You have not asked my name … It is Satsupan.” He cast his eyes up and down Motekeru. “I like this one. The work is intricate, mostly wood.” He made a half-bow to Motekeru. “You, sir, I shall not harm. You may go if you like.”

“What I shall do,” Motekeru said, “is rip you limb from limb.”

“Oh, do please tell me you intended the pun,” said Satsupan. He frowned at Lu Bei. “What is your power, winged one?”

“My power is to blast my master’s enemies,” Lu Bei spat.

“Well, your posturing does not impress me. If you could not beat my knobs, you cannot defeat me. This is not your complete form. Show me.”

“Humor him,” Turesobei said to Lu Bei. The fetch turned into a book and fell into Turesobei’s hands. Then he returned to fetch form.

“Brilliant! Simply marvelous.” Satsupan sighed with delight. “You, too, may go if you wish. I mean you no harm.”

“I must stay near Master always. I am his fetch.

“Pity.” Satsupan examined the others. “You three,” he said, pointing to Kurine, Narbenu, and Kemsu, “are boring.” He spent an extra moment looking at Iniru. “You’re too much like them, and I remember your kind well enough. Boring.” He pointed at Enashoma and Zaiporo. “It has been many ages since I’ve seen baojendari and zaboko as well. But again, boring. Especially zaboko. So many, so long.”

“How long have you been here, in this place?” Turesobei asked.

“I have been here since before this was the Ancient Cold and Deep. When it was a larger, more prosperous land. Before it was split off from the normal world.”

“Split off?” Turesobei said.

“Indeed. I have no clue who did it or why, but a portion of Okoro was copied and split off and tossed into … whatever this truly is. In the Ancient Cold and Deep time passes, but the world does not evolve. It does not change. And it is an old world this Kaiwen. You’ve seen the red sun, dying, casting the world in eternal winter.”

Satsupan bent down and strummed his fingers through the water, sending bright ripples through the room. “All my brethren died, only those trees that could grow along the hot springs survived. But I had something special. A taiotsu.”

Turesobei craned his neck to peer down into the water. “A sun-stone.”

“A fragment of the sun in its brighter days, fallen from the heavens, as with lumps of white or black ore from the moons, but so rare, so incredibly rare that you’d think white ore was nothing more than copper. The taiotsu gives me warmth eternal. The knobs brought it down into the cavern and then, to survive, I reversed my growth. And believe me, that was not easy. But nutrients … I have drained the soil these many years. I require nutrients and my knobs cannot go far into the world because they cannot easily endure the cold beyond the caverns. So when something comes along … Something of physical worth. Well, it must be sacrificed that I may continue. That means all of you, naturally, except the machine and the book.”

“That’s not acceptable,” Turesobei said. 

“Do you wish to bargain with me?”

“We won’t give up easily,” Iniru said.

“Ah, she speaks. How delightful.” He spun to look at them all derisively. “I never thought you would give up easily. But I also don’t think that you can win. You cannot overpower two hundred knobs. And if you think my power is not significant, then you are in for quite a rude surprise. I do have a proposal, however.” He jabbed a finger toward Turesobei, Lu Bei, and Motekeru. “If the three of you will perform a minor quest for me, I will let these others go without eating them. Not the sonoke, though. I simply must eat. No one has wandered in here in over a decade.”

“What quest?” Turesobei asked.

“Long ago I fell in love with a nozakami. We can still sometimes communicate through dreams. She is out there, but she is bound to a statue in her old vine grove, deep in a cave. She has faded to almost nothing, but here she could thrive. Retrieve her and the statue and bring them here. Then I will free you and your companions. However, if you do not return within two weeks, I shall assume you failed or betrayed them and begin to consume them, starting with the mounts, one by one, day by day.”

“What’s the catch?” Iniru asked.

“Ah, clever, aren’t you? I have sent many after her before and none have returned, no matter the enticement. I have no idea why. I presume it is dangerous.”

Chapter 29

“I need more than Motekeru,” Turesobei said. “I need the goronku to guide me. I don’t know this land or how to survive in it. We came through the Winter Gate, from Okoro and —”

“Oh, very well and fine. You may take the younger male goronku with you as a guide. But not the other two.”

“I need two mounts to ride there. I need Iniru as well. She has great skill at thieving.”

Iniru shot him a look but said nothing.

Satsupan tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I think you are trying to save as many as possible and thus reduce your losses.”

“The two amber hounds are bound to my kavaru. Enashoma is my sister. Kurine is … my betrothed. If you do not think that I care for them …”

“Fine. You may take the k’chasan with you.”

“You will not harm any of them for three weeks.”

“Two was what I offered. And you have my word.”

Turesobei pointed at him. “Say it again and recite the
Vow of the Ga
.”

Satsupan stamped his foot. “I will not!” The limbs of the tree creaked and groaned. Leaves shivered and rattled. 

Turesobei strained a smile. The eidakami-ga was not just bound to the tree. He
was
the tree. What they saw before them was a manifestation of energy made to appear human. This was possible for some ga but impossible for normal eidakami. Satsupan had probably spent centuries mastering the form he now took. 

“Then I will not seek the statue for you,” Turesobei said. “I will stay here and you can kill me.”

Satsupan stalked over and stared him in the eyes. “I would not regret that.”

“I would not regret fighting and killing more of your knobs, of unleashing Motekeru’s full power against them. Nor mine. You have no idea what you are dealing with. See this sigil on my cheek? If I become desperate enough, I become the Storm Dragon.”

“Like Naruwakiru?”

“I ate Naruwakiru’s heart. Her power resides in me.”

“That — That is impossible.”

“Touch the mark on my cheek and see.”

Satsupan tentatively touched the mark with his forefinger. He drew back and stepped away. “Why have you not become the dragon already? You could have stopped the knobs from bringing you here.”

“I did become the Storm Dragon once and I nearly became the dragon permanently. I don’t wish to do it again, but I will if I have to, to save my companions. You will wait three weeks. Take the vow.”

His face ashen, Satsupan spun around and faced his tree. Long moments passed without him saying anything.

“You do remember how to make the vow, don’t you?” Turesobei asked.

Satsupan spun and cursed at him. Tears welled in his eyes. “You are the most insolent creature I have ever met.” Satsupan stuck his fingers in his mouth and drew forth a golden cord of energy which he wrapped around his neck. “I hereby vow by Kaiwen Earth Mother to not harm anyone here present nor allow the knobs to harm them, until three weeks have passed or the statue I desire is brought here to me. I reserve the right to harm in self-defense. I swear this on my life.”

Turesobei half-bowed. “Thank you.”

“Leave now!” the eidakami-ga shouted. “Leave the way you entered. A thousand paces past the cavern entrance you will find a blind in the canyon wall. If you take it, you will find a path that climbs up out of the canyon. It is much faster than taking the long way out. Travel due north for two days until you reach the crumbled tower, turn east and travel for a day. You will come to a stone formation the shape of a fan. A thousand paces further north there is a cave entrance behind a stone door. Enter and retrieve the statue.”

Turesobei looked at Enashoma, holding a hand over her broken, bleeding nose. “I must rest a while and see to my friends injuries.”

“I want you gone,” Satsupan said. “I can heal them. I swear that I will. Just go.”

Tears streaked down Kurine’s face as they prepared to leave. Turesobei hugged her. “We’ll be back.” 

She squeezed hard and sobbed. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He peeled himself free and kissed Shoma on the cheek. “You’ll be safe, Little Blossom.”

“I know,” she said. “I’ve heard Grandfather talking about the vow before. I’m more worried about you.”

He whispered in her ear. “I know it’s a trap so I’ll be okay. Did you see his face? He’s afraid I might actually be able to succeed. Explain to the others. Be brave.”

The knobs escorted them to the edge of the cave. It was nearly midnight. Only a light, fine snow was falling now. At least his storm had diminished.

“You certainly were antagonistic back there,” Iniru said as Turesobei cast the
spell of the moon mirrors
.

“I know how to deal with a kagi-ga. Especially one that old and proud. He hasn’t been challenged in ages.”

“And I think that storm sigil on your cheek is giving you a lot of confidence,” she added.

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Iniru replied.

“I just wish I could’ve done more. If I’d had a prepared strip for banishing spirits, I could’ve gotten us out of the cavern …” He shrugged. “And back into the storm.”

“No spell strips, no white-steel sword, too many enemies,” Motekeru said flatly. “You did the best you could.”

“So this is a trap, right?” Kemsu said.

“There’s a reason no one comes back,” Lu Bei said. He was in fetch form but only had his head sticking out of Turesobei’s pack. And he was wearing his knitted hat. “What I don’t understand is why we’re being sent at all. What purpose does it serve?”

“You don’t think there’s a chance that he’s sincere?” Iniru asked. “Maybe he really does want the statue and is in love with the girl and it’s guarded.”

“Love can make someone do strange things,” Kemsu said distantly, like he was thinking of something entirely different.

“I guess it’s possible,” Turesobei said. “But then why not keep just Enashoma and send all the rest of us? Why not let us go and offer a reward? Maybe he’s sending us to someone who has control over him. As tribute. We’ll be careful and we’ll find out.”

“Why didn’t you just threaten him with the Storm Dragon to begin with?” Kemsu said.

“He would’ve called his bluff,” Motekeru answered.

“How do you know?” Kemsu asked.

“Like Master said, he’s a proud old ga and all his knobs were watching. Bad enough he had to make the vow in front of them. And anyway I think, deep down, at the risk of his own death, Satsupan would have liked to see the Storm Dragon.”

“I don’t know about the last part,” Turesobei said, “but the first part is what I was thinking. I knew if I could get him to make the vow we’d have a chance of getting through this without me turning into the Storm Dragon.” He looked to Iniru. “I promised I would try to avoid doing that.”

It wasn’t easy in the dark, but Iniru spotted the blind. The slope up the steep canyon wall had clearly been cut into it long ago when people still lived here.

“Master,” said Lu Bei, “about you recognizing which Kaiaru’s stone he bore and all that … Were you actually offended by it?”

Turesobei glanced back at the fetch. “I honestly don’t know what came over me or how I knew. I don’t really want to talk about it. And I suspect if I did that I’d just end up passing out.”

Chapter 30

They travelled maybe a league beyond the canyon. Turesobei pulled on his reigns. 

“We need to stop. We have three weeks to do this. No reason to run ourselves into the ground. My mount seems irritated to be moving at all. We should sleep until noon, get plenty of rest, then continue on.”

“How can you be so calm about all this?” Kemsu asked as they all dismounted and prepared to set up camp. “I’m too nerve-wracked to sleep.”

Turesobei gave him a half-smile. “This isn’t my first time rushing off to save someone I love with little assurance of how much time I had or whether I could get past the danger I’d face. But this time it’s easier.”

“How so?” Kemsu asked.

“The eidakami-ga cannot violate his vow. So I know they’ll still be alive, if we can return. When I went to rescue Iniru … Well, we figured she would be dead by the time we got there.”

Iniru kissed him on the cheek. “But you came anyway.” He started to smile, but then she shot him a look. “Don’t think that I’ve forgiven you for picking up another betrothed to replace the last one.”