Lord Altan had said that the First Capital was rebuilt, but it didn’t look it. We’d landed in a half-collapsed building, the remains its tiled roof and glass windows crunching under my boots. The house was painted bright yellow, but the walls had been scorched. The place smelled of oil and ash.
Erhi tugged at the boots I’d insisted she wear. “These feel… weird.”
I bent down and picked up a shard of glass. “But undoubtedly much better than this going through your foot when we landed.”
Batu was bent over, throwing up into the dirt. “I… thought travelling was supposed to get better, not worse.”
“What gave you that impression?” I said.
He stood upright and stretched, cracking his back. “It’s magic, right? Magic shouldn’t…” He waved his hands in the air. “I don’t know, feel like it’s trying to stab me from inside by stomach.”
“Depends on the magic.” Erhi kicked some rubble out of her path.
I shifted a hanging rag and peeked out from the house. Some of the houses on the streets looked better than this yellow one, and each was painted a different bright color, but all of them were charred. All of them had been patched up with tarp and tree branches. The streets were mostly empty, but a few mothers waved their children back home for supper as the sun sunk below the First Capital’s uneven skyline. Merchants packed up their carts and beggars returned their empty palms to their chests and curled into their nooks for the coming night.
“Curfew is in force, by order of the Council,” a voice said. “You, merchant, you’re out too late.”
A group of three city guards loomed over a merchant. One of them picked at his vegetables, taking a bite out of a tomato. Another held the merchant’s collar, preventing him from leaving.
“Look at the hour,” the leader of the gang of guards said. “You’re in violation. We’ll just have to find some way to make this right, won’t we?”
“Please… please I’ll get inside if you just let me—”
“Oh,” the leader said. “Oh, so I have to correct your error? That doesn’t seem very fair, now does it?”
His two companions chuckled behind him. I clenched my fist.
“I apologize.” The merchant bowed sharply, his arms outstretched with a cabbage. “Please accept—”
“The shit you couldn’t sell?” The leader swatted the cabbage out of the merchant’s hand and spat. “What, do you think we’re just some inconsequential guards who look after your sandals when you’re praying? We’re city guards! I’ve guarded the Council of Lords themselves! Lord Batbayar, Lord Oktai. Even Lady Khulan herself.” He turned his head to his men. “Though I’d like to do more than guard that bitch.”
“Sir,” the merchant said, his head still bowed. “Forgive me, but I find such talk of Lady Khulan inappropriate. She was kind to us merchants. Please—”
The leader kicked the merchant’s knee, sending him to the ground. The merchant raised his hands to shield his face.
“Look!” the leader said. “Look, he’s raising a hand to me. He clearly intended to strike at my person. Your crimes grow like mold, merchant. You even smell like mold.”
“Wait here,” I whispered to Batu and Erhi. I stepped out from the house.
“I fear that’s just the smell of your breath hitting your nose,” I shouted to the leader. “I’m getting the edge of it all the way over here.”
“Who are you?” The leader scowled at me. “His babysitter?”
“No.” I sidled forward. “I’m your babysitter. You’re clearly in need of one.”
He put his hand on his blade. “How dare—”
“I would say the same to you,” I said. “You clearly don’t recognize me.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. The merchant did too.
I shook my head. “You claim to have guarded the Council of Lords, and yet you don’t recognize me?”
The merchant’s eyes opened wider. “Eternal Blue Sky. He’s Lord…” He glanced around. “Lord…”
“Luuvan,” I said. Luuvan was the word for carrot, in the old language of the First Empire. My grandfather had taught me a few words before he died.
The leader paused and locked eyes with me. Slowly, his hand drifted from his blade. “Lord Luuvan. Of course I recognize you.”
“So you knew it was me and you still put your hand on your blade? Do you mean to threaten a lord?”
“I…” The leader nudged his companions and the three of them bowed in unison. “I apologize. Please forgive us for our manners.”
“Oh,” I said. “Oh, so I have to correct your error? That doesn’t seem very fair, now does it?”
The merchant chuckled, but cut it short when the leader shot a glance at him.
“Merchant,” I said. “Pack your cart and fear no more harm from these…” I scowled at them. “Well, I’m not sure if they’ll still be guards by first light tomorrow.”
“Please!” One of the leader’s companions said. “It was only Captain Munokhoi’s crime, not ours.”
“I’m a fair man,” I said. “Scurry off.”
They did as they were told. It was just Captain Munokhoi and I now.
“So,” I said, “you say you’ve guarded the Council?”
“I have, my lord. Truly. Lady Khulan will speak well of me if you—”
“Good words are one thing, Captain,” I said. “Good actions are another. If I ever hear, and I will hear, of you harassing the citizens of this city without cause, I will find you. And when I do…”
He fell to the ground, his face almost on my boots.
“I-understand-my-lord-please-don’t-kill-me-I-don’t-have-much-but-I’ll-give-you-anything-please-don’t-kill-me-please-don’t-kill-me-please…”
I let him stay there for a few moments and sighed. “I will call on your service in the near future, and you will provide it. Leave, quickly.”
His uniform was dirty when he got up, but he didn’t dust it off. He ran as if a cold wind had caught his back. My wrath was worse than a cold wind, though. But he’d creep back to me, one way or another. People like Captain Munokhoi didn’t let things go. When he realized that there isn’t anyone named Lord Luuvan, he’d come after me. He probably wouldn’t even wait for morning.
The merchant tugged at the tarp covering his vegetables and tied it down. “My lord, thank you.”
“My name isn’t Lord Luuvan,” I said, “but you’re welcome.”
“I know,” he said. “I’m not an educated man, but a merchant has to know who to serve and who not to. I didn’t have this cart for twenty years because I served rotten customers. I can always tell the rotten from the lordly.” He handed me a tomato. “You might not be a Lord, but you deserve to be.”
“I’m not Lord Luuvan,” I said. “But I am a Lord.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Lord Kublai.” I stuck out a hand.
He paused, then shook my hand. “They call me Bet.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Lord Kublai… I don’t recognize the name.”
I smiled. “You will.”
The merchant heaved his cart inside a building down the street, waving back to me as he did. I scanned the rest of the city. People shut windows, doors and whatever else that could be locked. They casted sideways glances at me for staying out. The color seemed to drain from their houses like blood from a slaughtered cow – and night was the butcher. An icy wind raced through the streets, howling and screaming at the same time.
Erhi peeked out from inside the house. “Kublai.” She shivered. “I don’t like this place.”
Batu pushed past her. “It doesn’t have much in the way of night life.”
“No,” Erhi pulled Batu back. “Something is very much alive in the night here. Kublai, we should stay inside.”
“And make shadow puppets on the wall?” I said. “No, there’s work to do.”
Erhi narrowed her eyes. “Work?”
Batu shook her hand off his wrist. “Work!” He grinned. “Who’re we working on?”
“I need information,” I said.
“So we’re knocking on doors?” Batu scrunched his nose. “I thought this would be fun, brother. I may as well have been a tax collector if I wanted to knock on doors all my life.”
“We’re knocking on something, but not doors,” I said. “Well, someone.”
“Who?” Erhi hid behind me. I didn’t know what she was hiding from, but whatever it was, I’d stand in the way of it.
I held up a finger. “Give it a moment.”
In the distance, the wind carried the sound of footsteps. A glow of torches danced above the alleyways between houses.
“Right on cue.” I gestured to Batu. “Our doors.”
Four guards rushed out from behind a house. They must’ve been off-duty, judging by their untucked shirts, hastily-fastened boots and skew helmets. Captain Munokhoi pointed at me and yelled something to his gang.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Batu drew his blade.
“Keep the one with the big ears alive,” I said, pointing at Captain Munokhoi.
Batu nodded. “I’ll just cut his ears down to size.”
“Bastard,” Captain Munokhoi said as he approached. I was close enough to smell his breath. Munokhoi stood up on his tiptoes to try and match my height. He was still short about half a foot.
“Took you a bit longer than I thought,” I said.
“To discover your lies?” Munokhoi glanced back at the four men behind him. “I have always been a trusting man.” He pressed a finger to my chest. “And when that trust is betrayed… I’m less pleasant.” He poked me as hard as he could manage, which is to say not hard at all. “Much. Less. Pleasant.”
“You’re right.” I grabbed his finger. “You are much less pleasant like this than you were when your face was in the dirt.”
“You—”
I twisted his finger. He squealed and pulled back.
“This’ll be fun,” Munokhoi said.
“Funnily enough,” I said, “we agree on that much.”
I slashed upwards, my blade whistling through the air as I sliced through Munokhoi’s torch. He darted back into his men and sent one of them to the ground. The move wasn’t meant to injure him.
Batu took his cue. He slipped a blade by gliding on his knees and rolling, but two of Munokhoi’s men predicted the move. They weren’t as drunk as they looked. Batu let one blade glide off his armguard and caught the other with the hilt of his sword. He was on one knee and holding off two men, but I’d seen him come out from worse. The worst of it would probably be the scrapes on his knees.
Munokhoi scowled at me. “Bastard!” He charged.
I put my blade on the head of the torch I’d sliced before. When Munokhoi got close enough, I flicked my wrist. The flame shot up into his face.
He swatted it away, eyes closed and hands flailing. I took his moment of blindness as my opportunity. I turned from him and toward one of his men. Before the man could get his blade halfway out of its sheath, mine was already at his throat.
“Stop,” I said to him.
He jumped back, but I nicked his throat just below his beard. After a few moments, his uniform was stained red, but the man was still standing. He held a hand to his throat. “Fuck!” He advanced toward me, blade fully drawn and gleaming with the distant torchlight.
I struck before he could. A little tuft of hair drifted from his chin. He’d pulled his head back just in time. He struck back, but I caught his blade with mine.
We exchanged blows like merchants at their trade, the sound of clashing steel causing some citizens to peak out from their homes. My opponent’s movements were getting more and more sluggish, and when he went to raise his blade, he stumbled with dizziness.
I grinned. The cut I’d made on his throat wasn’t deep enough to kill him right away, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t kill him. He slumped down and hit the streets hard. I stabbed him through the chest to be safe.
Batu had dealt with one of the other men and was clashing blades with another. Captain Munokhoi was on his knees, trying to wash his eyes out with water from a puddle and mumbling “fuck” every few seconds.
I darted over to the last man standing. He and Batu were pressed up against each other, steel grinding like sandpaper on wood. The guard pushed away as soon as he saw me coming. His eyes shifted from Batu to me to Batu to Munokhoi. He sighed.
He turned and ran.
“He’ll inform the Council of Lords before morning if he gets away.” I looked at Batu. “Flip a coin for who has to chase him down?”
Batu pulled a silver coin from his pocket and flipped. “Call it.”
“Heads.”
“Heads it is.” Batu stretched his legs and ran after the guard. “This won’t take long.”
“Neither will this!” Munokhoi stumbled back up to his feet. His eyes were dark from the torch’s ash and his cheeks were burned, but the damage seemed mostly superficial. That was unfortunate for him – some menacing scars would’ve really helped his appearance. Munokhoi held his blade loosely and his stance was tense.
“You haven’t actually fought a day in your life, have you?” I said.
“Shut up!” He swiped at me and my suspicions were confirmed.
I dodged them as easily as an eagle slipping a child’s arrow. I sheathed my blade.
“What are you doing?” Munokhoi said. “Bare fists? You want bare fists? Good. I can beat those snarky words out of your mouth, one by one.”
“Unfortunately, my snarky words come by the dozen, as a rule.”
Munokhoi swung his fists wildly, lunging at me like a puppy at a lizard. I deflected each blow with ease. His fists met my palms with a soft tut before I pushed them off left, right, left, right. He jumped back to catch his breath.
Windows unlatched and doors creaked open. More eyes peeked out from their little dimly-lit coves. None of the citizens dared to step outside, however.
Munokhoi swung at me. I caught his fist and jabbed at his nose. He scowled, clutching his nose as blood ran down his uniform. A few citizens whistled. Munokhoi had swung himself out, so I’d be able to subdue—
A roar echoed through the streets of the First Capital. Windows clanked as people shut them. I tasted metal, and the streets reeked of sweat and sulfur. The wind grated against my skin. Something was coming – I could feel it instinctively, but I couldn’t see anything. We were being watched, but I didn’t know by what. Munokhoi froze.
Erhi tugged at my arm, her eyes wide and staring into the distance. “Kublai…”
I glanced back at her. “Yes?”
“We have to run.”
“Looks like Batu’s got the idea.” I pointed to a house on the left. Batu sprinted out from an alleyway and into the main street.
“Brother!” Batu shouted. “Brother!” When he reached us, he didn’t try to catch his breath. “I… it’s… fuck… I don’t know.”
“It’s a night-hound,” Erhi said. “We…” She dug her nails into my arm. “We have to run.”
Munokhoi tried to run off, but I grabbed him by the collar before he got out of arms reach. “I’m-sorry-please-let-me-go,” he said. “It’s-coming-and-it’s—”
“I need you alive,” I said. “So be quiet. Erhi, what is it?”
Erhi stared off blankly.
“Erhi.” I nudged her. “What is a night-hound?”
She shook herself out of it. “It’s a spirit creature. When the Eternal Blue Sky sours to darkness, they come out. But… that’s only in the Spirit Realm, or places like the Split-Skull Forest. They shouldn’t be here.” She stared off again. “They can’t be here.”
“Well they are,” Batu said. “I think we’re the ones who shouldn’t be here right now.”
Crunch. Stone and tarps exploded from a house down the street. It looked flattened, as if the night-hound stepped on it.
“Nonsense,” I said. “Erhi, how do you kill them?”
She pursed her lips. “You don’t. They’re vicious, intelligent, strong…. I’ve only heard legends of those who tamed a spirit creature after displaying their strength, but no one’s ever tried to force a night-hound to submit. You have to know its name, too. And those are just legends, wives’ tales really. The people who’ve tried and failed…”
“And you said that the First Capital is like the Split-Skull Forest, right?” I said.
She nodded.
The merchant I’d helped before scurried toward us in his nightclothes. He glanced behind himself as he ran toward us, as if he could see the invisible night-hound. “Come, quickly! Come, my lord!”
I pushed Erhi’s hand off my arm. “Brother, take Munokhoi and Erhi inside.”
“What!” Erhi shouted as Batu pulled her away. “Kublai! You can’t possibly think you could…”
Batu guffawed. “Woman, you’ve known him for, what, a few days now? What did you think he’d do when you told him that no one’s done it before?”
The merchant pushed Batu, Munokhoi and Erhi along. “My lord, I’ve seen men destroyed by those beasts before. They leave us be if we’re inside. What do you… what could you possibly gain from facing it?”
I grinned. “I’ve always wanted a puppy.”
The merchant shook his head. “My lord, you can’t seriously—”
“Put a pot of stew on the fire for when I’m finished,” I said. “I’m starving. Hurry, merchant.”
He gave up trying to convince me otherwise. He tugged his gown closed and shuffled home. I didn’t blame him for his urgency. The prickling on my skin became worse, as if the wind had become glass. Roars sounded closer, and closer, and closer.
I slipped my hand into my satchel and pulled out the map. Let’s see exactly how much like the Split-Skull Forest this place was.
I stuck my finger on a village near Karakhorum, but as I did, the blurred outline of the night-hound flashed before my eyes. It had a mane like a lion, but its sleek body resembled a wolf. Its teeth were jagged and stuck out in every direction.
When I was travelling, crimson and amber and the white of a star intertwined with the blue light. My muscles, toe to neck, tensed and felt as if my skin was constraining them. My blood ran like lava and my breath like the fumes of an erupting volcano. When I landed in the village just outside Karakhorum, the sand beneath me turned to glass, and a wave rippled through the grass, uprooting patches of it, as if I were a rock thrown into a pond. In the distance, a flock of birds hurried from their trees and dogs barked.
Just like the Forest, I thought, making a fist. No. This is more powerful. I could still feel the energy of the Spirit Realm in my bones. I breathed for a moment, my finger hovering over the street where the night-hound was. I pressed down.
I landed hard. Stones blew out from under me. A crack traced up the base of a nearby wall. Blue light leaked from my arms, like steam from a closed pot. My veins pulsed with light, and my blood felt hot. Every move I made felt as if I might break the wind itself. I put the map back as carefully as possible.
The night-hound was clearer now. Its breath curled across the floor and its shoulders heaved. It stared at me with silver eyes, and its fur looked as if it’d been torn away around dozens of thin, long scars. Whip marks? I thought. A metal collar constricted its throat, and a chain trailed back toward the center of the First Capital.
I tried to draw my sword, but when I gripped the hilt it felt as if I’d shattered it. Bare handed then. I’d have to make this fast, though. If I ran out of energy from the Spirit Realm in a bad spot…
The night-hound charged at me, bumping into homes left and right. I widened my stance. My feet dug into the stone, pushing aside the street like it was little more than sand. I only had one shot to deal with the—
The night-hound’s speed increased. When I blinked, its nose was buried into my chest, and the night-hound pushed against me. The force of its breath alone would push an ordinary man ten feet back, but my feet had only dragged back an inch. I put a hand on top of its mouth and pressed down, slamming its chin into the ground. It tried to open its jaw to snap at me, but I held it shut.
“My… turn,” I said, through clenched teeth.
I reached down with my right hand and grabbed a thick tuft of fur under its chin. I pivoted, throwing the night-hound with my hip and over my head. In the air, it writhed, paws clawing wildly. It landed with a heavy thud, but it only took it a moment to resume slashing at me.
I didn’t let go. If I gave it even the slightest window, I’d be between its teeth in moments. I pressed its jaw into the ground harder. The night-hound was belly up, and the whip scars looked even worse from this angle. Its ribs stuck out from its flesh like mountains among valleys. I didn’t know who’d put this chain on the beast, but they hadn’t been feeding it. That explained why the night-hound was so angry.
I need to break the chain, I thought. I glanced at the night-hound’s head pressing against my hand, and back at the chain. I could only just reach it while holding its head down. I’d only have a second or two.
The night-hound flickered and became invisible for a moment. Fuck. I was running out of energy. I’d have to act.
I lunged, throwing my entire weight at the chain. I had to let go of the night-hound’s head, but it took the beast a moment to realize. As I collided with the chain, I felt its breath on my neck.
The chain shattered. The metal dissolved and drifted upwards, as if it was made of air.
I spun, stamping my foot on the night-hound’s bottom jaw and extending my palm upwards. Its tongue grated against my skin, but that’s about all it could do. It shuddered with the effort of trying to collapse my stance.
“No!” I said. I’d never had a dog before, but from what I’ve heard, they would listen to you if you were firm. “No! Stop it.”
The night-hound seemed to pause, but continued pushing. It flickered invisible, and its jaw became impossibly heavy for a moment.
Its name, I realized. Erhi had said I needed to know its name. The beast didn’t seem interested in having a chat, though. But if I gave it a name---
My strength faltered again, and I heard the crack of bone.
“Your name is Dog!” I shouted. “Dog, stop!”
The night-hound froze.
“Dog…” I relaxed my arms. My left arm was definitely fractured, but I had worse. “Sit.”
The night-hound sat.
“Good… boy?”
It growled.
“Good girl, then.” I reached up to pat its nose.
She bent her head down. In the right light, Dog was kind of cute. Erhi would like her. Eventually at least.
I ducked under Dog’s leg and reached up to her neck. Dog recoiled a bit, but relaxed when she saw I meant no harm. A broken chain hung off her collar and shifted in the wind, but the rest of it – the part trailing through the First Capital – had dissipated like mist. It would be troublesome finding someone who could chain up a night-hound like this, if they didn’t want to be found.
I flicked the chain. “Can you show me where this used to lead?”
She paused, then nodded.