The First Kaiaru (9 page)

Z
aiporo and the hounds dived behind a boulder. Motekeru braced himself and held his arms up to shield his head, while Iniru darted in behind him. Awasa crouched low, holding up Fangthorn and a defensive mudra. Turesobei did a quick-casting of the
spell of lesser shielding
. Kurine leapt behind him as a shimmering force field formed in front of him. She wrapped her arms around him and held her shield up to help protect them both.

But it wasn’t an attack.

Giant clouds of fog rolled out of the beast’s mouths. Within moments, Turesobei could barely see the rocks beside him.

This certainly complicated things.

A serpent crashed against his force field, causing it flicker down to half-strength. He heard his companions fighting again, but the fog was so dense it deadened the sound, so they seemed much farther away. The fog lit up, and thunder boomed as the Storm Dragon fought the giant beast. The serpent-kagi struck again, knocking out Turesobei’s shield. Kurine shield-bashed its snout, and it slithered angrily away.

Turesobei couldn’t cast the
spell of heaven’s breath
without access to the storm energy, which was tied up in the Storm Dragon. So he cast the most powerful non-Kaiaru wind spell he had, centering it to swirl around him and Kurine. The spell activated, but it only gave them a few more paces of visibility.

“Why isn’t that working?” Kurine asked.

“Because it’s magic fog…I guess.”

Another serpent rushed up, and Kurine engaged it.

He could cast an anti-magic spell, but it would take a lot of time and energy to make one strong enough to disperse all this fog, assuming that would even work.

A second serpent rushed in. He shouted a warning, and Kurine raised her shield just in time to block the attack.

“How many of these things are there?” she asked.

Turesobei drew his sword and helped her fight them. He quick-cast the
spell of the ram’s force
and wounded one, knocking it back.

“Too many,” he said.

More and more of them kept coming up from the plunge pool, but it wasn’t wide enough or deep enough to hold that many creatures. There had to be a magical source at the bottom of the pool that was generating them.

“We need to find Motekeru!”

Yet another serpent charged them. Kurine was no longer attacking. Instead, she was guarding with her shield, while wildly swinging her hammer to keep them back. Whenever they started to break through, Turesobei would rush in and attack with the white-steel shortsword Lord Gyoroe had given him.

Lightning flashed overhead and thunder clapped, then the Storm Dragon tumbled backward overhead and crashed into the river nearby, spraying them with water. It launched back into the sky and sped toward the waterfall, disappearing amidst the fog.

He exchanged a frightened look with Kurine. Anything that could knock the Storm Dragon down was bad news.

“Why do you need Motekeru?” Kurine asked.

“We need someone to get to the bottom of the—”

He dodged aside as a serpent surged up out of the water and struck at him. As it whipped around, Iniru leapt out of the fog and slashed off its head. She joined Kurine in fighting off the serpents that were rushing them.

“Are the others okay?” Turesobei asked Iniru.

“Don’t know. I fought my way out here immediately. I knew we’d be doomed without you casting spells, and I was worried Kurine would get outnumbered.”

“The serpents are going to keep coming,” he said. “If Motekeru isn’t available, then I need to take Sumada from you, go down to the bottom of the pool, and destroy whatever’s down there that’s generating them.”

“I’m the better swimmer,” Iniru said. “You and Kurine cover me.”

“Wait. I’ll shield you.” He cast the
spell of the lesser force field,
so that it encased her in a bubble. Then he cast the
spell of prodigious leaping
on her. A brief wave of dizziness passed, the result of him overdoing it with the spell casting. Evoking the Storm Dragon was difficult enough, and quick-casting spells made them a lot harder.

“The force field will move along with you, without slowing you down, and it will keep a pocket of air around you. But it can only take about two hits from these things. I also put leaping on you, full strength.”

“I love that spell,” Iniru said, as she stabbed a serpent in the eye. “See you in a bit!”

“Don’t you want us to—”

Iniru leapt high up into the air and disappeared into the fog.

“Did she just jump straight into the pool from here?” Kurine asked.

“I think so.”

“I hope her aim was good,” she said, “because I’m not even sure what direction the pool’s in anymore.”

Turesobei and Kurine tried to fight their way toward the plunge pool, but it was tough going. They couldn’t see anything, and all they could hear was the thunder blasts, howling roars, and piercing cries of the Storm Dragon and the kagi-ga as they battled.

He was starting to worry. “Do you think I should dive down and check on her?”

“Give it another minute,” Kurine said.

A serpent rushed in and snapped at him. He twisted to the side and attacked, but his stab missed. Kurine hammered it aside, but she couldn’t get her shield around before another one slammed into her and gashed her arm with its fangs.

As it coiled back to strike again, Iniru dove on top of it and plunged Sumada through its head. Turesobei blasted another serpent with a weak fire spell, wounding it. Despite the wound to her arm clearly sapping her strength, Kurine finished it off. Then Iniru killed the only other one nearby.

“There was a huge mollusk shell, bigger than Motekeru, at the bottom,” Iniru said. “The serpents were coming out of it. I shattered it with Sumada.”

The fog had cleared a little. Though they still couldn't see the others, Turesobei heard them battling on the shore.

“Why is it taking the Storm Dragon so long to beat that thing?” Kurine asked.

“I saw them fighting,” Iniru said. “Its heads keep regenerating.”

“Let’s go into the cave then,” Turesobei said, “and see if something in there is helping it regenerate.”

They climbed out of the river and raced along the bank toward the waterfall. Turesobei's wind spell was still active, and it was extending their visibility further now that the fog was starting to dissipate.

They ran into Awasa, who was doubled over, catching her breath.

“You alright?” Turesobei asked.

She nodded. “I will be.”

“Have you seen the others?” Kurine asked.

“Lu Bei is helping in the fight against the big monster, and Motekeru jumped up onto its back. I don't know where Zaiporo is.”

“Right here,” he said, limping in. “One of them got me on the calf. But unless the bites are poisonous, I'll live.” He shifted stiffly. “Of course, I’ve taken a few dozen bruises to go along with it.”

The hounds limped up behind him. One was bleeding on the flank, the other on its muzzle.

“I’d be dead if not for these guys,” Zaiporo said.

“We’re going into the cave to see if something in there’s helping the kagi-ga regenerate,” Turesobei said.

Suddenly, the giant demon beast bellowed pitifully. Three blasts of lightning flashed. Then something large splashed into the river.

The fog disappeared within seconds. The giant body of the kagi-ga lay dead, floating in the river, smoke rising off the scorched parts that weren’t submerged.

Motekeru crawled off its back and tossed aside a section of vertebrae as he went. He stomped up to join them on the bank.

“All about finding the right spot.”

Turesobei was pretty sure ripping out any section of backbone was sufficient to kill most anything. The Storm Dragon crackled overhead, along with Storm Dragon Lu Bei. Turesobei recalled the power and staggered back into Awasa.

Lu Bei returned to himself and frowned at all the serpent corpses lying around. “Gross! Let's clear out before it starts to stink even worse.”

“Time for the cave?” Zaiporo asked.

Turesobei nodded. “Let’s be careful, though. Even if the heart stone has appeared, there may be traps ahead.”

T
hey stepped cautiously across a series of rocks that led through the shallows along the side of the cliff, right up to the waterfall. Motekeru leapt through the cascade of water.

“You can step through,” he said. “There’s a ledge that leads up. Just be careful. The ledge is covered in slimy algae.”

One by one, they stepped through the waterfall and crawled up the slippery ledge, which was far more treacherous than Motekeru had led them to believe. Apparently, he had forgotten they didn’t have claws on their feet like he did.

The cave was dimly illuminated by fluorescent algae and the glowing green runes on the cylindrical heart stone, which sat atop a four-foot-high pedestal in the middle of the cave. Turesobei cast the
spell of the moon mirrors,
and the entire cave filled with light, as nine shining discs appeared above them.

The mouth of the cave was nearly as wide as the waterfall, but the interior steadily narrowed until the cave ended after about thirty paces. At the mouth, the ceiling was at least twenty paces high, but at the back, there was barely enough room to stand without having to hunch over. Aside from the size of the cave and its location, the only remarkable thing was the pedestal holding the heart stone and the mass of small pebbles surrounding it, pebbles that didn’t seem natural to the location.

Turesobei eased forward carefully toward the heart stone, until he struck an invisible barrier and couldn’t get any closer. He drew a spell strip. “Now, we just have to break in.”

“Hold on,” Iniru said. “Let’s try the easy way first.”

She sliced into the barrier with Sumada. As the sword tore through it, the force field shimmered visibly. But the energy immediately filled back into place, sealing the cut. Then the force field disappeared again.

Turesobei cast the
spell of heaven’s wrath
. The lightning blasted the force field, ricocheted off, thundered between Motekeru and Awasa, and sped off through the waterfall. The force field was flickering blue.

“Watch it!” Lu Bei said.

“Torment’s balls,” Zaiporo said, “you could’ve fried us all with that.”

Everyone looked surprised and scared, especially Iniru. Instinctively, she had placed a hand on her belly. The Blood King had reflected that very spell back onto her. It had burned a hole through her stomach, killing her. She was only alive now because the Blood King had brought her back to life, a feat he wouldn’t be able to achieve a second time.

The force field stopped flickering. Turesobei reached out, and his hand struck the invisible barrier again. “That wasn’t enough.”

“So what now?” Kurine asked.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Turesobei said. “Awasa, you strike it with Fangthorn. Kurine, use your hammer. Iniru, use Sumada. Motekeru, use your claws. And I will hit it with the
spell of heaven’s wrath
.” He tossed Zaiporo his white-steel shortsword. “Zaiporo, you hit it with this. I’ll ready the spell then count to three.”

Turesobei cast and held his spell, which he couldn’t do for long with one this powerful. He counted up to three, then they all struck the barrier at once. The force field turned blue then shattered, with bits of energy sputtering off like the ghosts of glowing butterflies.

Turesobei reached out. Nothing stopped him. The force field was gone. He drew his hand back just before his fingers touched the heart stone.

“We did it!” Lu Bei shouted. “We won!”

The fetch flew through the air shaking his butt and singing a ridiculous victory song.

Everyone else let out a sigh of relief before laughing and cheering. Fatigued from fighting and then casting a difficult spell twice in a row, Turesobei fell onto his backside, breathing hard.

“You okay?” Iniru asked.

“Just exhausted. Kurine, how’s your arm and your ribs?”

Kurine was walking around the pedestal with her head down, as if she were searching for something. “My wounds are okay for now,” she replied distantly.

“Zai?” Turesobei asked.

“My leg hurts like hell, but it can wait.”

Turesobei had spell strips for healing, but he could only afford to treat serious wounds. He needed to save his strength for teleporting them back.

“I’m going to rest for a few minutes,” he said. “There’s a lot of energy flowing into this location, so I should be able to recharge my internal kenja faster than normal.”

Everyone sat down, except Kurine who continued to search around the pedestal. She seemed to be looking at all the pebbles, but he had no idea why.

Turesobei stared at the cylinder. He was honestly terrified of taking it.

If the Blood King had told him the truth, then removing it from here wouldn’t hurt the realm or the people in it. However, he would be permanently severing the power of Razakan, Lord of the Rivers. Assuming Razakan was still out there somewhere, he would go back to being a normal Kaiaru. That didn’t bother Turesobei much.

What really worried him was that taking the heart stone meant giving Lord Gyoroe what he needed to further his aims. Up until now, only Turesobei had benefited from their deal.

Kurine picked up a few pebbles, then tossed them aside. Apparently unsatisfied, she began to kick through the stones, redistributing them.

“What are you doing?” Turesobei asked her.

“Oh…um…you never saw my rock collection back home, did you? Well…I’m starting a new one. I’m going to take a stone from each site to commemorate our victories.”

“There are plenty of stones to choose from,” Iniru said, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“The trick is to find a special stone that’s unique, so you’ll remember where it came from,” Kurine said.

All of the many gray pebbles looked basically the same to Turesobei. There wasn’t even much difference in their sizes.

“Aha!” The pebble Kurine picked up was gray like the others, except for a subtle pattern of blue spirals. “I found the perfect one.”

Iniru shook her head, and Turesobei shrugged. A rock collection was unusual, but maybe not for a goronku. There were probably many cultural differences he still didn’t know about.

Turesobei walked over to the cylinder and sighed. “Okay, here goes.”

He grabbed the heart stone, and raw power surged through him, along with thousands of indecipherable images and, oddly enough, voices. Heart racing, mind numb, he staggered back. Holding onto the stone was like having two more Storm Dragons inside him, maybe more. It nearly overwhelmed him. If there had been even a small amount of energy more in the cylinder, he could not have handled it.

“Whoa! What a rush!”

“You okay?” Kurine asked.

“Perfectly fine. Energized, in fact.” He took deep breaths and tried to slow his heart rate. He felt all jittery, as if he’d had far too many bowls of black tea. “The Blood King does
not
need all this power. Nothing good can come from it.”

“Master, after a while torture becomes tolerable, almost pleasant,” Motekeru said, “especially if all pleasures are denied you. Provided you don’t go mad, of course.”

Everyone stared at him.

“I was simply pointing out the alternative. If you don’t want to be tortured, then continue helping the Blood King, while trying to find a way to stop him.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing,” Turesobei said with exasperation.

“I think,” Lu Bei said, “that what the big guy is trying to say, in his own creepy way, is that you’ve already made your choice, so stop moping about the alternative you’re unwilling to take.”

“Fair enough,” Turesobei said, nodding. “You’re right, of course.”

“How’s the defeat the bad guy plan going?” Zaiporo asked.

“I have no idea what to do, but at least I know his names now. Plus, I’ve mastered the Storm Dragon, and I’ve learned new spells. That’s a start. But I’m certain that to have even a chance at beating him—” he lifted the cylinder “—I’m going to need to understand how these work.”

“There’s one thing I need to mention before we go back,” Lu Bei said. “I think you all know this already, but it’s best to be certain. Do not say anything about Enashoma’s brush or her origami creatures. The Blood King does not need to learn about that.”

“I had wondered why she wasn’t making any, since it makes her so happy,” Zaiporo said. “But I didn’t bring it up because I figured there was a reason.”

“The Maker’s Brush is connected to our lineage and Nāa, isn’t it?” Turesobei asked.

Lu Bei nodded. “Please, do not ask me to say more. Because what I can say, I do not wish to.”

“Have it your way,” Turesobei said with a sigh.

“Shoma’s going to be okay with that stone, right?” Zaiporo asked.

“The kavaru itself won’t hurt her,” Turesobei said, “and Lu Bei and Hannya both said Nāa was a gentle soul. I think she’ll be okay. And who knows, maybe Nāa will know something that could help us escape.”

“We can hope,” Lu Bei said.

“Do we need to go back outside to teleport?” Iniru asked.

“I can cast the spell from here just fine.” Turesobei held out the cylinder. “And with all this energy in my hands, it will be a cinch. Unless I mispronounce a syllable or something.”

They all groaned, not wanting to be reminded that a single stutter could obliterate them all. Moments later, they were safely back at the gate.

Hannya congratulated them on their success. The villagers had brought her offerings of food and jewels and were currently bowing and singing to her.

“I had forgotten how good this feels,” she said. “I almost wish I could stay longer and bask in it.”

Hannya turned around and chanted the spell to open the gate. When the portal activated, they stepped through. Moments later, they arrived back in the Nexus.

Lord Gyoroe and Enashoma met them on the platform. While Enashoma rushed into Zaiporo’s arms, Gyoroe stepped forward eagerly.

“My great work.” His fiery blue-white eyes glowed with passion as he took the cylinder into his hands. “You all have my eternal thanks. Take a week off to prepare for your next battle.”

Lord Gyoroe hurried off toward the Throne Room, with Hannya following in his wake.

“I guess
I
will tend to everyone’s injuries,” Turesobei said.

After everyone was healed, and Enashoma had fussed over Zaiporo and probed them with a million questions about the battle, Iniru asked, “How about tomorrow we take a swim in the Bath to celebrate?”

“But we just fought nasty water creatures,” Awasa complained.

“That’s why I want a pleasant water experience to balance it out,” Iniru said. “I was the one who had to dive down to the bottom, after all.”

Awasa groaned. “I really don’t want to.”

“Oh, come on,” Iniru countered. “We all know you’re just going to go to your room and soak in the tub all night. What’s a little more water going to hurt?”

“I’ll think about it,” Awasa snapped.