“What is it?” Wujun asked, his voice sounding to him as though it came from a great distance. He was still trying to process everything Soki had confessed to him, especially the part where he’d been raised by an organization of assassins indebted to his parents.
What sort of things could my father possibly have done to earn favors from trained killers? The thought was too grim for him to dwell on, so he quickly cast it aside and focused instead on what Kentai was trying to tell him.
“It’s started! Fuck! We should have left instead of dawdling around here!”
He heard the words but barely comprehended them. After a few long seconds where his mind simply staggered about like a drunken mule, he finally caught up to what was happening. “The army… The army is here now?” He frowned, fighting to regain focus.
This is serious! I need to pull myself together!
Kentai grabbed Wujun’s bag from where he’d left it on the nearby table and tossed it over to him. Reflexes kicked in, allowing the stumped young man to catch it. Vaguely, he heard Soki and the swordsman exchange a brief conversation, but he was too busy focusing on deep, calming breaths to clear his head of the dense fog that had moved in.
“They can’t be here yet!” Soki snapped. “Our scouts—”
“Were wrong!” Kentai finished for her. “But if you don’t believe me… By all means, check for your damn self.” He motioned toward the window.
Fixing the man with a dour glare, she started toward the window, but another ear splitting shriek froze her in place. It was followed by angry shouting, more screams, and the clash of steel. This time the commotion was much closer than before. It was undercut by a general din of panic and battle.
Kentai’s experience gave him an edge. He was the first to recover and act. He hurried around the room, dousing the candles and lanterns until the three of them were in near darkness. The only source of light was the glow of the fires outside.
A shiver ran through Wujun, who didn’t feel he was ready for another life or death confrontation so soon after living through his first skirmish last month. Couldn’t they just stay here? Was all this conflict really necessary? His eyes found the massive shadow that was Kentai and a rush of warmth, like a sudden balmy breeze on a cool morning, filled his heart.
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I want to find somewhere quiet and stay there with Kentai until the world is peaceful again. Just the two of us, talking and kissing… No war, no secrets. Just Kentai smiling at me, looking at me with his dark, haunted eyes…
He squeezed his own eyes shut and tried to will himself to be anywhere else, but all he could hear was the growing havoc on the streets and the sound of his companions bickering in hushed tones like children. That’s when he knew there could be no escape, not without effort and especially teamwork.
At present, his friends were arguing about which way to get out of the town. Soki wanted to return to the cottage, gather supplies, and round up the survivors. Kentai wanted to take what supplies were left at the inn and head straight into the mountains. They each had valid reasons, but left unchecked, they’d spend the night vying to determine who was right while the town burned down around them.
He cared about Soki and Kentai both. That they wanted to kill each other was unacceptable to him. It was up to Wujun to make them see that despite all their differences there was one thing they both had in common in this situation: him.
“Enough!” Wujun’s voice was so sharp it evoked immediate silence. “We’re going to the cottage by the most direct route and then escaping through the mountains.” Before either could protest, he pressed on, “Kentai knows the town and mountains best, he’ll be our guide. Soki, when we reach the estate, we’ll need to be swift in gathering essentials and checking for stragglers. With any luck, they’ll have left without us, and we’ll find them again in Kurokume.”
To show he was serious, Wujun shouldered his bag and started for the door. He paused after a few steps to glance back at them. “What’s the hold up?”
Kentai was the first to react. He grabbed his cloak and threw it on as he caught up with Wujun in a couple of strides. “Fine, but we make it fast. The cottage will probably be a prime target after striking at the town center. They won’t want anyone in power trying to take control of the situation.”
Wujun hoped his shiver wasn’t noticeable. He flicked his eyes to Soki, who was still standing there. Though he couldn’t make out her face in the dark, he could imagine the disapproving expression she was wearing.
“I need you, Soki.” Wujun could think of nothing else to assuage her but to appeal to her innate sense of duty. “But if you can’t—”
“Wujun,” she interrupted him, taking a step forward. “It’s not that… I will never turn my back on you, but…” Her voice grew icy and strained. “You’re asking me to trust someone whose very existence I’ve been taught to despise…”
Wujun shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’m asking you to trust me. It’s time I stop letting others decide for me, Soki. This is the choice that I’m making for myself. I don’t need you to accept it or each other. I only need you to accept that you want the same thing; to keep me safe.”
For an eternal moment, Soki didn’t react and he feared he was asking too much, that she would choose to part ways with him here and now. Then she gave a sudden, curt nod. “We should hurry. We’re wasting time.”
Despite the gravity of the situation and the hell they were about to step into, Wujun smiled. He felt as though the three of them could endure anything together and his hopes for their successful escape soared. But then, Kentai pulled the door open, and the horror of the invasion wiped the grin off his face.