Makoto shook his head. “Do any of you know the flags for the Northern Kingdom?”
There was silence around the group and Akira cursed their lack of foresight. They had talked about having a single set of flags for all armies, but by the time the idea had come around, Makoto and Mashiro had been nervous about adopting a new system. Communication was vital. Instead, they had arranged for the flags to be operated by pairs of people, each trained in the flags of their own kingdom. They could translate messages back and forth, minimizing the possibility of mistakes.
Makoto prepared to leave, but Mashiro grabbed his arm. “Be careful.”
“I will. But you always were the better strategist. Win this war.”
They looked at each other for a moment, and Akira couldn’t guess what was passing unspoken between them. It was Makoto who nodded and pried Mashiro’s fingers from his arm. “Be seeing you.”
With that the giant was on his horse, riding as far behind the lines as he could to get the message to Sen’s First in time. Akira looked at the path he’d most likely take. It should be safe. He had already lost Toro. He couldn’t afford to lose Makoto as well. It would be almost impossible to bear.
Shortly after Makoto left, Sen’s second army charged over the eastern ridge of the pass, bearing down on the Azarians. Akira watched them, amazed by their skill in the saddle. Even though they were only at the edge of the pass, the mountain trails were still steep and treacherous, and few men dared them even on foot. But Sen’s cavalry charged down the slopes, seemingly without concern. A cheer went up from the men in the valley, and all pushed forward as one.
Akira dared to hope again. Perhaps there was another reason why they hadn’t seen the Azarian cavalry yet. Perhaps there was none. Maybe Moriko’s information had been wrong.
The Azarians seemed to panic as they were crushed between Akira’s infantry and Sen’s cavalry. The appearance of Sen’s horsemen had changed the course of the battle. Akira glanced over at Mashiro, and even he seemed cautiously hopeful. It was enough to send Akira’s spirits soaring.
There was a cry, and Akira looked to where the soldier was pointing. On top of the western ridge was a large man on a horse. Akira grinned from ear to ear. There was no mistaking Makoto, even at this distance. Not only had he delivered the message, he looked like he was ready to charge down with Sen’s First. It was a bit foolish, but Akira could forgive him. It would be the killing blow. The Kingdom would be saved.
Makoto held flags in his hand. Suddenly, he started waving them vigorously. They were too far away for Akira to see what Makoto was trying to say. Mashiro rushed to a table and found a looking glass. His look was stern.
Akira couldn’t bear the suspense. “What is he saying?”
Mashiro shook his head. “It’s tough to tell without a relay. He’s still a very long way away, but I think he’s ordering a general retreat.”
Akira’s heart sank. From his vantage point high in the pass, Makoto would have a better view of both the pass and the battle below. If Mashiro was right, if Makoto was ordering a general retreat, it meant he was seeing something they couldn’t down below.
Then Makoto was off, down the other side of the mountain, out of view. Akira was surprised until two other horses could be seen chasing him. Mashiro and Akira shared a glance. There was only one inescapable conclusion.
Mashiro’s gaze was a question, and Akira nodded. Mashiro gave the orders. “Sound the retreat. As orderly as possible. Men should know what to do. Everyone, keep your swords sharp.”
There was a look of dismay among the commanders, and Akira realized they hadn’t figured out what was happening yet. To their eyes, they were winning.
The illusion didn’t last long. Over the rise in the pass came horsemen. First just a few, but then more and more, until they numbered into the hundreds and into the thousands. They came charging down the pass, and the Azarians still in the valley raised a battle cry and redoubled their efforts. The men of the Kingdom saw the Azarian cavalry and all courage fled their hearts. Lines started to break.
Mashiro looked at Akira. “You must leave now. It won’t be long. We’ll need your leadership in the days to come.”
Akira fixed Mashiro with a steely gaze. “We’ll need you too. Don’t you dare try to die on me. We’ll meet in the arranged place, but don’t you dare die. Save as many as you can.”
Mashiro nodded and turned his back on his king.
Akira gave one last glance at the battlefield, but the outcome was no longer in question. He assembled his honor guard and they began their retreat from the valley.
Akira fought the urge to break down. He had just lost the battle for the Kingdom.
Chapter 14
The morning sun rose on Nameless as he stood on top of one of the peaks overlooking the Three Sisters and the land below. The land that would be theirs.
He had to give the warriors of the Three Kingdoms credit. They had fought well. Much better than he expected, in fact. The outcome had never been in question, but the People had paid dearly for this new land. Even when Nameless thought the lines had completely broken, they still maintained an orderly retreat.
Nameless had let them go. There was no reason to chase them further into the land. The People had fought hard enough, and they had a foothold in the land they’d never lose. They had set up camp on the battlefield last night, and many had mourned their dead. But they were in a new land.
Last night there had been a large council, something that had never been heard of outside of a Gathering before. Nameless had given up his leadership, as he had promised. The clans had known which direction they would head, and their plans were confirmed. Wild game was plentiful, and the Azarians would be fruitful and multiply. Nameless told them to go as they would. Perhaps there would be need to gather again in the future, but he did not think it likely.
They agreed to a location for the Gathering this fall. It was there they would discuss the future of all the clans. Until then, clans were to go as far and as fast as they wished. Nameless told the clans the demon-kind were again at their command, to use as they saw fit.
There had been much else to discuss, but Nameless left before the council concluded. His mission had been to get the Azarians into the Three Kingdoms, a land where they could grow and thrive. He had succeeded, and now his task was done.
Already he could see some of the camps breaking down below. Clans would spread in whatever direction they wanted. They had some maps of the land, rough as they were. More detailed maps were supposed to arrive, but they had never appeared.
Nameless debated what he should do next. While his mission had been accomplished, there was still much unfinished. He was free now, not beholden to the needs of the People anymore. None of the clans had requested his aid, so he could go as he wished. And although there were tasks that were perhaps more wise, there was only one task he wanted to finish.
She had shamed him by cutting him, though it was more his fault than anything else. He had gotten careless, and she had been strong. It was time for her and the boy to die. He would find the old man, who would tell him where they were. Then he would hunt again.
He smiled. It had been long since he had hunted, long since he had done as he pleased. He would kill the nightblades, and be rid of them forever.
Chapter 15
When Ryuu came to, he was home, on his own bedroll. He took a deep breath, causing his entire body to flare up in agony, and memories came rushing back to him. He remembered the blades in the light of the moon, the vast amounts of energy he used trying to defeat the hunters.
Moving as little as possible, Ryuu attempted to make a list of his injuries. He had been cut several times, and at least two of them were deep. He must have lost a lot of blood.
There was no point in moving. He assumed Moriko had brought him back to the hut, and Ryuu knew from personal experience it must have been an exhausting task. But if she'd been able to bring him this far, she would be alive and less injured than he was. He closed his eyes and let his sense expand, wondering if he could find her anywhere nearby. After a few moments of trying he gave up. He might be awake, but he still lacked energy. He wasn't able to focus enough to bring his sense to bear. Still, he hadn't lost it, and so he rested contentedly.
He didn't realize he had fallen asleep, but he awoke when Moriko came inside the hut. His eyes took her in. She moved stiffly, but he couldn't see any signs of a dangerous injury. A sigh of relief escaped from him. He had worried about her, but it looked as though she had made it out of the fight better than he had.
"I came back when I sensed you were awake."
"Thanks. How are you?"
A slight grin crept into the corner of Moriko's mouth. "Better than you, although not without injury."
Ryuu tried to sit up, concerned. "You're okay, though?"
Moriko shook her head as another wave of pain forced him to lay back down. "Yes, I'll be fine. You were cut much worse than I was. I worried about you for a while. You lost a lot of blood."
"Thank you."
"Well, life does seem to be much more exciting when you're around. Decided I'd keep trying it for a while."
Ryuu chuckled, and another wave of fire worked its way up his body. He groaned, but Moriko gave him no sympathy. He wouldn't have expected any from her.
"Rest, Ryuu. The woods are at peace right now. Rest, and we'll talk about what's next."
Ryuu did require rest. His injuries were the worst he'd ever sustained in combat. While none of the injuries would cause permanent harm, the healing process was long and slow. As much as he wanted to get up and move around, Moriko kept forcing bed rest upon him. She was often out, wandering the woods and making sure there weren't any dangers nearby. After a few days, Ryuu was strong enough to use his sense at a distance, but still Moriko left. He could tell she was anxious to get moving. As soon as he was strong again, they would need to make a decision about what was next for them.
To pass the time, Ryuu pored over the documents Moriko had taken from Tomotsu. Some of them were obvious. They were detailed maps of the Three Kingdoms, some of the most detailed Ryuu had ever seen. The rest were less clear. They were filled with text of some sort, but either it was a language Ryuu had never encountered, or it was in code. At first, he had thought perhaps the documents were in Azarian, but Moriko put that idea to rest. The Azarians didn't have a written language, so whatever was on these papers had started in the Three Kingdoms.
Before the hunters came, Ryuu had looked over the papers briefly, but he hadn’t focused much on them. It had been far more important for him to train and regain his sense. But now he was healing and had little else to do to pass the time. It had been almost a quarter moon since he had been injured, and every day he sat up for as long as he could, studying the documents.
Looking at the nonsense made Ryuu think about language. In their language, every sound had a symbol associated with it. If you knew what sound the symbol stood for, you could read anything written on paper. Maybe the code held the same concept. Many of the symbols on the documents repeated, so perhaps the monks had just come up with new symbols for every sound. It would be an easy way to disguise what you were writing.
So Ryuu started looking for patterns in the documents. There were certain symbols more common than others. If these papers were in the language of the Three Kingdoms, it should mean the most common sounds would equate with the most common symbols, so he spent one day adding up how many times each symbol appeared on the page. Then he went to work at trying to match sounds with symbols. At times Moriko would come and help, but she had never cared much for mental puzzles. She preferred to be on the move, and so most of her days were spent outside. Ryuu knew part of it was that she knew they needed to make a decision soon, and she was afraid of what that decision might be. He didn’t blame her. He was nervous about it too.
Ryuu distracted himself by trying to crack the code. It was slow work, full of false starts and retries, but he kept pushing forward, and in time he knew he was on the right path. He was deciphering word after word, and the more he completed, the easier it was to fill in the blanks. Eventually he made a key with every symbol on it.
Once he cracked the code, the next task was to translate all the papers. Moriko had acquired a hefty stack, and the work was slow and laborious, as he only memorized the most common symbols. The rest he had to look up every time they appeared. He split his time between using his sense to find out what was happening out in the world and using his mind to translate the pages in front of him.
The more he translated, the more horrified he became. Moriko had suspected the monasteries were up to something, but she had no idea the magnitude of their betrayal. Ryuu checked his work over and over, but he could find no fault with it. The code had been deciphered well, and the message in the papers was clear.
When he finished, Ryuu took the time to look over everything he had translated, reading it through from start to finish. Then he set it aside. The knowledge frightened him, but he wasn’t ready to tell Moriko yet. Her reaction would be strong, and he wanted to be healthy when they discussed it.
It took Ryuu a half-moon to recover from his injuries. Even then he was still stiff and sore, but he could at least move without opening his scars, and he was able to resume light training once again. From then it was only a matter of time before he fully healed, but the moment had come for him and Moriko to choose their ways forward. Ryuu hoped they could continue on the same path, but he feared it would not happen. The upcoming conversation with Moriko made his stomach turn in a way battle never had.