With their relationship conflicts now resolved, Lukas had begun to spend a lot more time in Tanya’s presence. He still maintained a professional distance during her lessons with Solana, and outright avoided them if he could help it. Solana was ‘in’ as far as he was concerned, but he had a faint suspicion that the skinwalker might not take it nicely if he interfered in her ‘training’ time with Tanya. In fact, she had practically commanded the yokai to maintain distance from the Outsider. Knowing her, she probably thought he’d be able to corrupt them using his Outsidery ways like he did Maude.

But that was fine. He liked solitude, and preferred it actually. He’d stay cooped up in his room, create a territory within it to keep away eavesdroppers, and practice his craft within it. After all, his was not a quest of power, but of comprehension. Fighting until his bones shattered was as likely to grant him an understanding as would sitting in his room, meditating on the topic, preferably under Tachypsychia.

But that was not all that changed. He and Tanya would meet every evening. They discussed what they did or learnt during the day, had their dinners together, talked about their respective worlds and discussed plans to overcome their future problems. And of course, continued with the boyfriend-girlfriend activities. With Lukas no longer maintaining his stubborn aversion towards their relationship, Tanya seemed to think they had moved into the ‘honeymoon phase’. Had this been Haviskali, she’d have taken him out sightseeing, or to her favorite spas for some massage, or maybe to some of her favorite restaurants. If nothing else, they could always go flying or hang around the Otamba bridge.

Her words, not his.

But they weren’t. Instead, they were cooped inside this subterranean territory. The best she could do was get out and get some fresh air in the desert, but it would either be too hot or too dark to be of any enjoyment whatsoever.

So they had sex. Several times a day. Lukas limited it to kisses and hugs and cuddles as much as he could, the memory of what happened with Frost too vivid in his mind. That however, didn’t stop Tanya from offering.

Honestly, it was like she had a one-track mind.

This evening was going the same way. They had gone through their pro forma activities, and Tanya was clearly horny, but her attempts had been less intense than the other days. Lukas had concluded that she had been a little desperate and starved for his attention and constantly worried about their relationship, but now that things were settling down, she had begun to relax. It was nice to be able to sit back with what they had, without worrying about her getting possessed again. Frost might have given him her word, but he didn’t trust the avatar as far as he could throw her.

Plus, he was actually pondering over asking Solana for some texts on divinity and the Yggdrasil. After all, nobody knew they were in the Desert, and given the breadth of skills Tanya had to get used to, it was clear her instruction would easily span months. He might as well get a head on with his studies during that time, especially with imminent danger hanging over their heads. Yes, that was the right decision as far as things were concerned.

Logic is the art of going wrong with confidence.

Lukas found this out when Maude broke into their private cuddle-time by rushing into their room, and ruined the perfectly good evening with her next words.

“We need to talk!”

There is enough empirical evidence in the history of civilization that almost nothing good ever follows whenever a person, specifically a female, ever starts a conversation with that particular phrase. Quite naturally, that statement kicked him completely out of his mental zone, and he stood up, and nearly fell down, unaware that his legs had long ago fallen asleep courtesy of Tanya straddling him for the past hour. Annoyed, he was about to literally snap at her for interrupting their privacy like that when he noticed the horrified expression on her face instead of her otherwise teasing demeanor.

“Wha—”

“Leader has news. There’s been an attack on Banksi mansion. Zuken is….”

She trailed off, breathing hard. “Come with me.”

…

…

…

Lukas collapsed on the chair, his eyes wide and glassy, as he tried hard not to think of what he had just seen. They were in Solana’s office, with the skinwalker sitting behind her desk, looking strangely pensive. Solana had, much like before, conjured a holographic illusion for them to see. Only this time, she had conjured a memory, one she had collected from one of her watchers she had placed at Banksi mansion to report her about his and Tanya’s activities. The yokai in question — a group of reiki, had possessed some of Zuken’s men and stayed on that hill without anyone being the wiser.

And then that happened.

Despite watching the memory play in front of his own eyes, Lukas could barely believe what had transpired. The sheer barbarism displayed by those… igriotts, he supposed they were called, was enough to send bile racing up his throat. He had faced worse at the borderland when he and Tanya had faced the wrath of an entire army, but this was way more horrifying. Those people living on the hill were innocent and had no part to play in all of this. Normal men, women and children, resting in their homes, just beginning to tuck in for a night’s sleep. People who had woken up to find themselves in a nightmare, fleeting for their lives from shadowy figures that seemed to come out of nothingness and move with a speed that bordered on disbelief. Lukas had watched, his fists clenched and drawing blood, as children — innocent children were hunted down like animals, or fled from one invader only to find another waiting with jaws and fangs.

“Wha… What happened to Zuken?” Tanya stammered.

“We believe he’s still alive,” said Maude, “but his current whereabouts are unknown.”

“How — how sure are we of this feed?” Lukas asked.

“Feed?”

“This memory,” he clarified. “How authentic is this memory?”

He glanced at Solana, expecting her lips to twist into a familiar annoyance. Instead they stayed pursed, as if his words hadn’t even registered. Instead, it was Maude who replied.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“All but one of our watchers perished in the battle. The moment their hosts perished, the Eternal Light burned them to death.”

Lukas frowned. He had almost forgotten that little titbit. Yokai in their spiritual form could not survive in the Eternal Light. It was why they survived out there, in the Desert, where Eternal Light was barred from existing. It was why they used the Haze for traveling, why they frequented borderlands and other realms, but stayed away from the Empire. It was also why they possessed bremetans on sheer principle.

“So this watcher had to physically cross the entire Haviskali until he or she reached the Desert.”

“Yes.”

“And was the possessed body that of a spiritist?”

Maude shook her head. “Possessing spiritists is usually a bad idea. The bond they have with their kami is empowered by Eternal Light. It makes it absolutely difficult for the yokai to maintain control over the bremetan soul.”

“That reiki didn’t have those problems when she possessed Olfric.”

“Who, Mizo?” Lukas asked. “She possessed Olfric?”

Tanya was about to expound on that when Maude interrupted her. “You were inside an anomaly in the Desert. Eternal Light is at its weakest here. As it is, reiki tend to exclusively choose bremetan hosts rich in lifeforce.”

Lukas frowned, and turned to Tanya. “Say, how long would it take for someone to travel from Zuken’s place to the edge of the Desert?”

“Two to three days if they use civil transport ,” she shrugged. “Maybe faster if they have access to a jixin, which they probably don’t. And then they have to get past the outer patrol, so that would take another day or two before they can get to the desert…”

“Which means this memory could be a week old.”

“More than two weeks,” Maude corrected him. “The possessed was significantly injured and spent several days unconscious and being treated at the local shrine first.”

Lukas exhaled. “Any idea why this man attacked Zuken?”

“Why else?” hissed Tanya. “He must have known that Zuken had hired me. Something, someone must have informed them about me. I knew this would happen. It always does. Every time I think I’ve gotten some semblance of peace, every time I think I’ve left my past behind, this always happens. Sometimes it’s assassins, sometimes abductors, sometimes the Frost and now Ultaf.”

She punched against the wall, bruising her knuckles. Lukas put his arms around her and pulled her closer. She pursed her lips but accepted his comfort nonetheless.

Maude looked at her, shiftily. Lukas caught her eye.

“There is something you should know,” she murmured. “Destroying the anomaly was not the only mission Zuken hired me and Olfric for. He… he wanted to know exactly who you were, find out what you were capable of, and most importantly, how you were able to destroy the Class-2 anomaly. It’s possible that he had been hired by—”

“No,” Tanya shot back, the absolute finality in her words taking Maude by surprise. “That’s not it. Banksi…. Zuken knew who I was, knew I was the descendant and heiress to the Wind King’s mantle. He wanted to know why I was hiding when revealing my heritage could have gotten me so much more. I told him that the Shimizu line was dead for me, and without the Wind King’s kami, it might as well be dead to the world.”

“And how do you think Zuken knew about your identity?” Maude demanded.

Tanya opened her mouth to answer, but shut it.

“I suppose it’s possible that Banksi was indeed working for this Ultaf fellow,” said Lukas. “It’s possible that the anomaly mission was his attempt to kill two… no, three birds with one stone. Destroy the anomaly for whatever reasons he had to, and confirm if Tanya was indeed the person he thought he was.”

“And the third?” asked Tanya.

He smirked. “Find out what’s so interesting about you. I mean, if I’m taking a contract to find you for someone else, I’d want to know exactly what you’re worth. Just to confirm that I’m not being trapped in an unfair deal.”

Tanya scowled.

“But for whatever reason,” Lukas continued, “he changed his plans. If he wanted to sell you out, he had enough time to do so. Maybe he discovered that you were worth far more. Or because it went against his own moral tenets. Zuken does seem like that kind of guy. Or…” he looked at Tanya, “he discovered a better use for you than just handing you over.”

“Like… what?” asked Tanya, dumbfounded.

“Like him,” said Solana. Everyone looked at her. This was the first time that the skinwalker had said something during the entire episode. “Isn’t that right?”

Lukas met her eyes. “Yes. he found the ‘Outsider’, and the ‘Outsider’ made it very clear that he was on Tanya’s side.”

Tanya stiffened.

“Whatever it was,” said Maude. “It was big enough that he hid all his findings about Tanya, and let her stay at the mansion where the Out— I mean, where you were.”

“Until Ultaf found out,” said Tanya. “But how…”

“The ‘how’ is not relevant,” said Lukas. “The fact is that he’s found out and he attacked Zuken’s mansion. Killed all those people, destroyed the place and possibly abducted Zuken.” He frowned. “That’s not how you do business. Not with someone of Banksi’s stature. Even if Zuken had been hiding Tanya, the guy had to offer him something first and negotiate. You do not just ram your army at your enemy’s house without trying for a peaceful way out.”

“You say that because you haven’t met my grandfather, Lukas,” said Tanya. “That man believes that violence is the solution to every problem in the universe. If you cannot solve something with violence, you are clearly not using enough violence. That he’s a Warlord and the ruler of a Sacred Eight Clan doesn’t help matters either. Banksi has connections, but I doubt any of them would hold political value against my grandfather.”

“And despite knowing all that, Zuken stood his ground,” murmured Maude.

“It doesn’t make sense!” said Tanya, incensed. “Lukas and I were stranded in the borderland. No one, not even the svartalfars should know that we are here in the Desert. All Zuken needed to do was tell him the truth. He didn’t need to face my grandfather.”

“He did,” said Maude. “Tell him, that is. We received information that the Shimizu Army attacked the Zwaray Keep, smashed its defenses apart, slaughtered over a third of the svartalfar populace, and took control of the territory. Dvalinn, Second Staff of Yggdrasil and the commander of the Keep’s forces, was brutally injured in the clash.”

Lukas did a double-take. He remembered Dvalinn, the svartalfar that had authorized the Trial By Combat back at the keep. He was hardly among the most powerful beings he had faced to date, but there was something memorable about him. Like a half-sheathed blade. Just his presence loomed over everyone, like a stalking predator.

For him to be brutally injured, despite the home advantage was…

Humbling.

He turned to Tanya again. “I thought you said that the svartalfars have a treaty with the Empire.”

“Ultaf Shimizu is Sacred Eight,” was all she had to say.

“Damn, this is like the United States or China bullying other countries while the UN sits and diddles their thumbs. Tell me, is there any other Sacred Eight clan around that I need to be aware of?”

“Lord Naowa,” said Tanya. “Shogun of Haviskali. Son of the Ether King, Avensigg Naowa. Much like ours, he too isn’t fit for his father’s mantle. But he still has two generations before the Empire gives up hope on him.”

“And one Sacred Eight member can just plough into another’s territory, and cause this kind of damage and walk out without a care?”

Tanya looked tongue-tied.

“He wouldn’t,” said Maude hesitantly. “Not unless… he had concrete evidence that Zuken was lying.”

“And who could’ve given him this evidence?” Lukas asked. “Olfric? The Overseer?”

“No,” said Solana. “That would be me.”