Kichi had no idea how long she lay against a bookshelf. Pain sizzled at the back of her head. Thick tomes littered the floor around her. Legs from a half table stuck upward. Bin slapped her face with tiny paws and stared at her with big eyes. “It’s okay, Bin, I’m up.”
Then she saw it.
Masahide was no longer a mere knight. She’d seen archknights now, and he surpassed even them. The sword in his hand glowed as it moved in perfect orchestration. It wasn’t the heat of a pure sword against a demon sword. No, it was just an internal white aura. His pure sword battered the other pure sword away like a toy. Then, the blade cut through the other’s steel.
Tsunekatsu’s sword exploded into a rain of shards, and he flew.
Kichi wanted to be the most chivalrous knight, but how long would it take to catch up to Masahide? She would have to dispatch corrupted spirits as fast as a cook does carrots. They say a knight who looks for rings is the knight we wait to ring. It was a gibberish saying, but it had something to do with dying. Perhaps she shouldn’t try to match him. But she’d seen that glimpse of a future, and she’d been so much more than she was now, laying uselessly on the floor.
“You are no longer a knight,” Masahide said, standing over the fallen man.
“How could… how did…” Tsunekatsu stuttered. He swept a few pieces of his sword into his hand and looked at them glittering in the dim library.
“Good luck finding a spirit to lay on the forge. You’ve lost yourself, Tsunekatsu .” Masahide scooped up Ema. Her eyes opened, and she smiled and explained in slow words that she used too much of her ability. The three of them followed the passageway up to the great hall.
A buz of argument reached them. Dinner must have already started. There was such a commotion when they peeked from behind the dais that they darted out unnoticed. At least it didn’t draw too much attention.
The Duke battered at the armrest of his high chair. “Silence! I will not hear any more of your drivel, Whitebeard. Tomorrow, we will begin the trail.”
A man with silver at his temples stood at the Celestrial table. “Duke Akitomo, we have arrived, and the twelve are here. When it appeared our efforts to reach Oligar were thwarted, the Council of the Round decided to come to Dunaguard for an urgent session.”
“I was not aware of this. Who let you in?”
Hisa stood. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I brought in a few strays.”
The Duke took a second, and a calmness settled on him. “It gave me no time to prepare a proper welcome.”
Kichi found her seat and tied the cord around her legs in the traditional style. Masahide sat and bade Ema to eat.
The silver-tempered man stayed standing. “Let Whitebeard speak. I have an interest in the Dragon Order. Hisa has caught me up on his tail. And if he is a criminal, let him create the noose by which to hang himself.”
The Duke's knuckles turned white in a fist. “Very well. Proceed.”
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Whitebeard’s chains rattled as he adjusted his seating position. “Let me then tell you of the Grail.”
***
At last, I found the golden cup of legend.
Along the way, I’d seen dark things. Human cultures seemed on a downward trajectory, becoming more destructive the further I sailed. But suddenly, I came to silver walls and impossible towers of an advanced people.
The towers rose heavenward at the skirt of a forest plateau. At the height was a temple and a tree. I knew at once that the tree was from Crann’s seed. They named it the Tattergorn. It stood by their temple for millennia when the first philosopher king planted it and proclaimed that their kingdom would last as long as Tattergorn.
I was a man of interest, as they seemed fascinated by the world outside. Yet they closed themselves off with a huge silver wall. Even the Palfrey had to anchor outside the boundary. The crew remained except the captain.”
I sat with a scroll on a bench at the plateau's edge. I could see league upon league into the blue distance beyond the island city.
Stretch lounged at my feet. The lion was restricted to the plateau, but I didn’t protest. I was surprised they let him off the ship.
Around me, citizens ate fruit and talked of music, existence, and morality. Their eyes were tender, as though they were on the verge of a nap, and their movement was languid and deliberate.
I probably irritated them with the rapidity of my questions, but I didn’t run on the same clock as they did. “How old are you, Bacna?”
The second daughter of the chancellor seemed to think about it. “In what way?”
“How many summers have you been alive?”
It seemed even Stretch perked up to listen. The loin napped most of the days, and seemed to fit in perfectly with the listless atmosphere.
She was a lovely girl. Almost too perfect like her society. But she narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m no child. I’ve seen two hundred summers.”
I laughed, but she only searched my face.
She looked like she was twenty, not ten times that. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve never met anyone over a hundred.” It took some explaining for her to understand.
That’s when she showed me their secret. At the center of the plateau was a lake and a fountain. In the fountain was a golden cup. They drank from the lake, and I guessed rightly that it expanded their lifespans. What I did next I regret to this day.
Perhaps I could have lived a perfect life there. Bacna and I were like magnets to each other, but one day, when I was no longer under the influence of her company, I strayed and found myself swimming in the green waters to the cup. I took it. I seized it in my hands, felt the cold, heavy metal, and swam back ashore with my heart thumping. I met the captain, and we hurried to the ship.
I felt sick to my stomach. They came after us but had no ships of their own. They had never met strangers and didn’t know to fear evil. I sat in the captain’s cabin and wondered how fast before their utopia collapsed. Bacna would grow old. They had very few children. They ate so little and only grew fruit as the blessed water sustained them.
What horrors had I visited upon them?
I urged the captain to turn around, but he refused. The crew was consumed by a strange greed, and I couldn’t reason with them. They wanted to drink from the cup, but I warned them of its potency.
The tension built, and I felt violence coming. I filled the Grail with water and poured it into a vessel. The first to drink gagged and vomited blood. A sore formed on his throat, and his neck melted.
“I warned you,” I said. “We need a large body of fresh water to drink from.”
The captain searched for an island, and when we finally found one, we found ruin. This was the lowest point of my life. Already, my heart ached for Bacna. But I was about to lose Stretch forever.