Chapter 2

Akira faced his master, Jin, across the field. Clouds surrounded them as they stared down each other. “You cannot fear the blade, boy. When your enemy comes at you, raise your sword and drive him back,” Jin said. “Like this.” He thrust his sword directly into Akira’s face.

Gasping, Akira woke up. It was still night, but Akira could see streaks of sunlight starting to peek through the horizon, pushing away the bleakness of the Deadland forest. There was no way he was getting back to sleep now. Dreams of his old master, Jin, always left him too angry to do anything.

Placing his hand on his sword, he let the images fade as the song replaced his anxiety. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and stood up.

“You’re up early. Bad dreams?” Rock asked, taking a drink. He was sitting beside the dying embers of the fire.

“We aren’t friends, Rock. After what happened in the last battle, I can’t tell if we’re even acquaintances. Why do you insist on asking me personal questions?” Akira turned to the tracker.

“My mother raised me to be polite,” he shrugged. “Even to assholes. Besides, we’re the only ones from Relancia here. The Kolori soldiers don’t trust me.”

“That’s because you keep slipping through their lines,” Akira smirked, hiding his missing teeth. “And with that ugly green outfit. Let them catch you once in a while.”

Rock smiled. “That would be cheating. Besides, Saku needs someone to punish. It’s the national pastime in Kolori. They love putting commoners in their place. I think there is a rebellion or two a year for them to put down. Their goddess would be upset if they didn’t occasionally spill blood in the streets. I heard it took them a week to remove the bodies the last time. I’m just giving him another excuse to get angry.” He tossed another branch on the fire.

In the two weeks since Rock found Akira, they moved through the Deadland forest, closer to the Kolori empire. General Saku had several dozen men with him, but the Demon King’s patrols made getting through the black forest difficult. Yesterday, they lost two men in an ambush before they were able to get away. The black trees were thinning. After today, they should leave this depressing place. None too soon. Akira kept feeling eyes on him. It had gotten stronger since he killed Thane.

Akira shook his head. Today’s pace promised to be a hard one.

“Is Saku awake?” Akira asked.

“Yes. He’s chewing out the sentry. They let Mel touch them again, and she had them acting like chickens or something like that,” Rock said, pulling his hat over his head.

Akira sighed and put his hand over his face. After joining with General Saku, Mel had become more uninhibited. It might have something to do with the Kolori attitude to magic. She’d taken to using her mind magic to get the soldiers in the Kolori entourage to entertain her and humiliate them. They didn’t dare touch her, however. One of them tried the first day. After his head met Akira’s sword, their attitude changed. They buried what was left of the body and learned to treat her with respect.

“I’ll have a word with her,” Akira grumbled.

Rock went back to his drink. The weather was getting colder and the hot cider smelt good. Akira sighed again, turned away and went to find Saku. A hero’s work was never done.

He picked his way through the stirring soldiers. Akira saw the General outside the camp yelling at some men, and wiping his head. He stopped doing that when Akira was near, but his hands still twitched. It had become an unspoken game between them. Akira chuckled.

“Lord Akira,” Saku said, quickly hiding his handkerchief. “You are up early. I trust you had a good sleep.”

“I’ve had better,” he said, glaring at the bald general. “What’s this about Mel?”

Swallowing, General Saku pointed to the two men. “I’m terribly sorry for the trouble. This was something I planned on bringing to your attention later.” Akira saw his hands twitching again.

“Spit it out. I’m not going to kill you if I hear bad news.” He grimaced. “I might if you keep talking around me.”

Saku nodded, and his face turned pale. “The men believe your mage has placed a mind spell on them. Now whenever they see the second moon they start rolling on the ground and clutching their heads.”

Akira turned to the two guards. “I remember you,” he said to the younger one. “You were at the cabin. Tell me why you think Mel had something to do with this?”

The guard turned deep red. “The last thing I remember was standing outside the mage’s tent for her protection,” he stammered. “She placed a hand on my arm and after that, I woke up naked in the field outside the camp. I don’t know what happened.”

“Were you drinking?” Akira asked, crossing his arms. He wouldn’t be the first soldier to blame drunkenness on magic.

“No sir. I’m a strict Metite. Alcohol is forbidden,” the young soldier said.

Akira tilted his head and sighed. The religion card. “Ah! The Kolori religion. My tutors taught me a little about it. I understand how pious you may be, but that never stopped anybody before.”

The guards and Saku nodded, frowning. Akira knew he was treading on a dangerous subject. The Kolori people were fanatical about their Goddess Zial and her hatred of magic. The soldier’s face turned hard. He was trying to suppress his anger.

This was another game. If Akira could annoy the Kolori soldiers enough, they would try to kill him, and then he could eliminate them all. It was not a hero’s place to kill wantonly. He’d forgotten that for a while. It was time, he remembered.

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“I will speak with Mel,” Akira told the General, saving the man from a bloodbath. It was good to try and keep the peace.

“Thank you,” he nodded. “I would hate to have to deal with the matter myself.” That usually meant beheadings in Kolori proper.

“If you do that, then you will follow,” Akira said, his voice quiet. “Mel and Rock are my family. What happens to them I will repay, a thousandfold. I already proved that.” He stared at Saku until the bald man twitched and reached for his head again. “When are we leaving?” Akira asked, changing the subject, and giving Saku a chance to save face.

Saku looked at the sky. Orange rays were hitting the bottom of the trees now. “Within the hour.”

“I will be meditating until then. Please don’t disturb me.” Akira said, moving back to his blanket.

Ever since he killed Thane, he’d been plagued by strange dreams and bad luck. Akira wouldn’t put it past the thief to put a curse on him. It had been too easy to kill her. He had Mel perform a scrying, but she had found nothing. In addition, the poison Ayasse had used on the knife was still causing him trouble. When something distracted him like this, the pain was possible to ignore. Mel had offered to try healing again, but he didn’t like her touching him. Meditation was the only other thing that gave him any relief.

He sat down cross-legged and placed his sword across his legs. After the incident in the camp, he no longer put himself into a trance while practicing his forms. Killing soldiers, even by accident, was not good for morale. Letting his breathing slow, he closed his eyes and brought back his dream. The memory was trying to tell him something. In it, he was practicing with Master Jin. His father had hired Jin to teach Akira how to hold a sword. All the kingdom’s nobles had a sword teacher after they reached the age of five. Master Jin claimed to have the title of Sword Master, but if he wasn’t drinking, or whoring, he was beating Akira.

The first year was the worst.

***

“Boy, you can’t hold a sword like that. Grip it with both hands,” Jin said, slapping Akira up the side of his head.

“Sorry, Master.” Akira wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Stop sniveling, worm. Practice your forms.” Jin went under a tree and pulled out a bottle of Hizzal. Father wasn’t coming home today, so he was going to drink the strong-smelling liquor until he was unconscious; his usual state.

Gritting his teeth, Akira went into his first stance and practiced the movements. “I’m going to get good enough to make you pay for this humiliation someday,”

he mumbled. “I’ll take your head.”

“Did you say something, boy?” Jin asked from under the tree. Akira could swear he had the devil’s ears.

“I’m going to make you proud of me, Master Jin.”

He started laughing and spilled his Hizzal all over his pants. “Look what you made me do, you little shit.” Jin stood up, grabbed his sword, and stalked towards Akira. “I’m going to give you a special lesson for that.”

***

Akira rubbed his face and opened his eyes. Even in his meditations, he couldn’t get away from that violent maniac. He was still in the Kolori camp. The twenty soldiers were finished running around and stood at attention. Saku was giving them one last check. The scouts would already be out. They would leave in moments.

He looked down at his sword. “At least I didn’t kill anybody today.”

“That’s right. I’m so glad you could control yourself,” Mel said from behind him.

“Mel,” Akira turned around, knocking his sword off his lap. She was leaning against a tree. “What are you doing here?” He could smell a slight burning in the air, like the scent of a storm.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t cast any magic on you. I was prepared to, however. The last time I caught you meditating, you killed several of my guards, remember?” She gave him a sardonic grin. “I’d hate for you to kill off all of Saku’s men before we get out of here.”

Akira stood up and faced her. “I’m under control. I let my hatred get the better of me then. It won’t happen again. I’m the hero, after all.”

Mel grunted. “Good,” she said, pushing away from the tree. “Saku said you wanted to talk with me.” Mel raised her hand and ran it down Akira’s face. He pulled away from her and took a step back.

“I told you not to touch me like that. We’re through.” Her face darkened. He was treading on dangerous territory but continued to speak. “This is part of the problem. Saku tells me you’ve been using your magic on his soldiers again. You know the Kolorians hate magic, especially magic like yours. According to their doctrines, Zial wants it destroyed, and they’re fanatical enough to do it.”

“But it’s so much fun. I love turning these stuffed peacocks into game hens,” she said, her smile returning. “It helps distract from the boredom of this journey.”

“Be that as it may,” he said, directing her back to the horses. “We have to get along with him for now. When we’re free of these accursed black trees and away from the demon patrols, I’ll take care of him.”

“Are you going to kill him?” she asked. Akira thought he could detect some worry in her voice. Did she want to stay with them, or was she worried about him?

“I haven’t decided yet. I hate Kolori almost as much as Sam, but it’s been so long since they killed my family that it’s become a dull ache.” He wasn’t going to let her know that since travelling with Kolori, he’d had more dreams of his sister than ever before. She would hate what he’d become.

Mel placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. “I didn’t know you hated Kolori. Why are we still going there?”

Akira pulled off Mel’s hand and dropped it. Ignoring the look of indignation on her face, he wiped his own on his pants. “It’s an old incident. Kolori soldiers were fighting with Relancian ones. A border clash, or something like that. The usual stupidity. They invaded my village and killed my family. It forced me to flee to the capital.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mel said. “Why didn’t you tell me about that before?”

“Because it wasn’t important.” Akira stopped by his bed roll and saw his pack was ready. Rock was always taking care of him. He cleaned his boots, set up his bed, and made sure everything was correct. Akira hadn’t had a butler since he fled his village. Rock usually did those things for him. When they were travelling to defeat the Demon King, it was great. Akira thought it was because he was the hero, but now he wasn’t so sure. What did that tracker want?

“I don’t want to go to Kolori, Akira. It’s dangerous for people like me,” Mel said. Akira looked up. She had crossed her arms and was glaring at him.

“I know they hate magic, but Saku assures me you’ll be safe and I will make sure you stay that way.”

“That’s not it,” Mel continued. “They do something to magic users. I’ve heard the rumours and they aren’t good. The Kolori prejudice itself isn’t the only issue. I don’t trust the Kolori people. They are dangerous. Remember what they did to that patrol yesterday?”

“The demon soldiers killed two of them.” Akira shrugged. “They wanted revenge. I would have done the same thing.”

“I can’t believe you’d think that was only revenge. They liked it.”

“Saw something similar, did you?” Akira stared at Mel. He knew she liked him. When he needed her, it was useful, but now? The closer they got to the Kolori empire, the more dangerous her attitude became.

Mel stared at him, her face stone. Akira met her gaze and didn’t blink. She turned and stalked away, kicking at the underbrush.

“You really don’t know how to talk to women, do you, Akira,” Rock said, stepping out of the bush.

“How did you hide in there?” Akira asked, spinning around and putting his hand on his sword. “I could’ve sworn it was empty.”

Rock put his finger on the side of his nose. “That’s my secret.” He cleared his throat. “Saku is waiting. He’s been wiping his head every two seconds. If you don’t come soon, we’ll probably see some skull poking through. His scouts found a demon patrol closing in. It’s bigger than the last one.”

“Blast.” Akira spit to the side. “Let’s go.” He followed Rock to the horses.