Kichi looked at Gon. “What about the boy?”
“The necromancer released him,” Whitebeard said. “I don’t know how they're using him against you, but I’m sure he’s safe walking the castle.”
She hesitated. “Why is Tsunekatsu trying to kill us if the boy’s supposed to be bait? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Our enemies show signs of internal strife. Their allegiances begin to fracture.”
Gon put a hand to his stomach. “I don’t feel so good, but I can make it to Hisa’s apartment.”
Ema ruffled the boy’s hair. “He’s so adorable. Masahide, we have to take care of him. I know what it’s like to be a child alone.”
Masahide’s face glazed over for a moment as if he possessed prescience and saw the future but probably struggled to reimagine his life. “That’s the right thing to do.”
Gon crossed skinny arms. “You killed Ujisue. You must teach me to be a better fighter than him so I can defeat even you.”
“I didn’t mean…” Masahide said and then looked at his feet. “I will train you to the best of my ability.”
“It’s okay. Ujisue taught me how dangerous it is to be a knight. Sometimes, people kill you.”
Kichi wandered away from the conversation and near the passageway behind the throne. Busts of family members and weapons decorated a recess behind the dais. And she found the door to the promised passageway and gazed into the darkness. She heated a marble and sent it forward to light the way. It became a pinprick down the narrow length of the walkway, and the amber light exaggerated the rough walls. She entered and immediately felt claustrophobic and smelled dirt. She and the orange light move steadily onward. Closed in by thick walls, the silence was heavy.
Soon, Ema and Masahide caught up and followed behind. They suspected they were headed for a trap. But bolstered by their victory, each pushed on eagerly until the passageway opened and the walls vanished.
The space smelled of smoke, and embers formed a circle. A wind kicked up, resurrected the flames in the braziers, and revealed the chamber as a library and the two standing inside.
“Thank the spirits, you’re alive,” Tsunekatsu said. “I didn't want a hair touched on your head before I had a chance to fight you.”
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The minstrel adjusted his lute. “It wasn't our idea. I hope you're well. Do you need a minute before I destroy you?”
“No,” Kichi said, “We’re ready to fight.”
“You have no idea what ready means. I am a creator. The music guilds would burn me at the stake if they could. Knights would slay me as if I were corruption itself. Even the great spirits limit my life to twenty-seven years because they know what they did to the primordial spirits I would do to them. We are but spirit energy caught in the celestial harmony, and creators know the tune.”
Kichi readied herself and saw her friends to her flank. She wasn’t scared of the ramblings of a madman.
The creator’s fingers danced as if they comprised an entire ballroom. From out of the complicated tension of chords came a pure melody. It soared and filled the room and warbled down like it was a bird made of crystal. The deep strings sounded like the mountain’s yawn. “Knights and sorcerers are but conjurers of cheap tricks. If I were allowed to grow old and expand my knowledge, I could remake the world, but I guess I have to settle for destroying the three of you.”
Tsunekatsu folded his tattooed arms. “Don’t destroy Kichi’s body.”
The music should have been something terrible, but it sounded angelic. The melody made giant strides in pitch and tempo. Then, the shadow coalesced into a shape. Little eddies in the chamber created the outline of a dragon.
Kichi stepped back, and so did Masahide. But Ema strode forward and thrust her hand out.
Reality shredded around the minstrel. He turned to see a rift open and display a scene of fire. In a burning lake, a giant skeleton thrashed against its bonds. A bound wrist broke free, sending a chain flying in a spray of lava. Then it stopped to look at them. Its gaze hit them like a tempest. The creator staggered back. “Thailoc!” And he lost his balance, he pitched forward over the threshold.
Kich darted forward to catch lutist, but he fell through the rift.
The rift trembled, and the minstrel scrambled back, but it shut faster than he could make it. His terrified face was sealed away.
Ema fell unconscious, and Masahide tried to wake her. She wouldn’t open her eyes. He looked up in a rage. “Tsunekatsu!” A portal opened, and light flooded in. Two lances floated through.
Tsunekatsu laughed. “The forgotten summoning. I control what flies.”
The lances shot forward but lost control in a gust. Books flew from shelves. Dust filled the air. The lances destroyed a shelf and crashed into the wall, sending fragments hurtling. Kichi’s hair lashed in the air that had become alive. She didn’t want to give time for the wind to grow, so she ran and jumped from a tabletop. Her pure sword crashed against the Tsunekatsu’s, and a blast of air knocked her back. She kept going, flying across the room. Darkness overcame her.
Kichi
Level: 12
Focus: Prescience
Secondary focus: Lava+3
Weapons: pure sword - 5% pure
Items: Near Field Amulet (Prescience+2, focus)