The Last Heroes Before Judgement (32 page)

“Gojinus will be Emperor! The world belongs to me!”

“Wrong!”

Someone spoke with such a force that I remembered it was a dream. The Lady Dooza slapped me hard across the face. My eyes burned from the salt water. She grabbed my face to invoke direct eye contact.

“This world belongs to free men!”

She shoved my face under the water and stomped away. The Shaman dared to peer into the darkness of my twisted soul, and it had peered right back with utmost confidence. There was no way for me to know exactly how much she had seen, but I had seen much too much. The red shadow was a power shared by the royal houses of Goja and Belutgrava. So few members of either blood line remained that it had led both Major Bloodaxe and myself to amass a power that could barely be controlled. Just as he had suggested, Matthius, with the face of Gojinus, could walk right into the royal palace. Now, I even knew the directions. I nearly began a celebration, until I remembered, that same face was tarnished by the mark of shame.

“Get up. Two days is long enough.”

“Damn you Shaman. No, it is witch!”

I stood up in the pool, turning to The Lady Dooza and pointing with a knife hand. The sun was able to shine through the clouds and I was already stretching.

“You stole all my dreams. You put a curse on me and stole every one of my dreams!”

“Shut up and get out of your crib, baby.”

Major Swiftblade was standing right behind me, extending a hand to help me out of the water. I hopped out on my own, lighter than ever. All the fat on my body had burned off from fasting- just in time for the winter freeze.

“My strength has returned master. How can I help?”

His full dress told me something important was happening, but he waved it away.

“I am cold, that is all.”

“Do not change the subject.”

“You, evil-”

The Swiftblade slammed his open palm in the center of my chest, cutting me off mid insult. I crumpled to the ground like a hollow suit of armor.

“Owie.”

“You see? Your back is weak, your core is weaker.”

“That just tore me open.”

He squatted down at my feet where I had been standing at the head of the healing pool.

“Exactly why you must resume training at once.”

He reached down and tucked his fingers under my small wooden bowl of fresh water.

“Don’t.”

“Stop me.”

I removed my hand from my gut and tried to reach forward. I did not make it past my own foot. The bowl went into the pool of salt water and I could not so much as growl back.

“Practice falling down one hundred times. Tuck your elbows and your chin. Bounce back up like a spring. Remember, your core means everything.”

“But, sir, I, why?”

“Now, fifty more. Keep count Shaman.”

Major Swiftblade walked away with a purpose, proving he did in fact have a mission. He had made his point, I was in no shape to follow. Standing up just once was hard enough. I resigned to simply keeping an eye out, for enemies, and for rays of pure light as well.

“It’s for your own good.”

After leading me into a colorless nightmare, I had every right to be skeptical of her advice.

“Come, I made you a soft bed of pines.”

She led me through the area where the Opa had been. They had left behind a mess of dirt and food scraps that Dooza was preparing to clean. We stopped where the tree line grew into a small ring in which the wind did not blow. Hot spring air mingled perfectly with the glacial freeze to become a warm pocket that was refreshingly salt free.

“Well?”

Dooza swatted away the mist to reveal a thick bed of pines needles.

“Thank you.”

“Get started barbarian.”

She palmed me in the chest too. I was awake and more prepared, landing flat on my back without so much pain in the gut.

“That’s one, but you had better learn to bounce back up.”

“Yes ma’am.”

She grabbed her bucket and broom, and began slowly cleaning the area. However grueling and tedious, we both had work to do. I counted out loud for her, eventually finding a good pace. My breathing was nearly impossible to control by the end. I tried to fake a few to have a break, but Dooza knew better.

“That’s fifty more! And you had better redo those last eight.”

“Fine!”

I spent all day sipping water out of snow melts. The winter sun came and went so quickly that I did not earn my two eggs until late in the afternoon. I had never appreciated the ability to stand so completely. When I was finished, I had to crawl back to my healing pool. Each one of the cuts had ripped open, and the clouds still kept me from properly healing all at once. Another night’s worth of dreamless sleep nearly drove me moon mad. Fortunately, every time I contemplated conjuring the red shadow, I remembered the haunting memory of Emperor Goja displaying the power, and my stomach turned to stone. I refused to let that demon take hold, even if it killed me.

The Ambassador’s convoy made it back from Hi-yadora in time to leave our base under cover of the new moon. Major Swiftblade had left two days prior, presumably to guard over the road. The Lady Dooza entertained them while I practiced falling down. She did not want the mercenaries to learn of her sacred hot springs, nor did I. Jyetta screamed, likely from hearing I had been injured, but I did not come down the mountain until I was finished training and floating in the hot salt bath. The cold winter air nearly killed me after so many days spent in the cloud of hot mist. The thick scabs below the belly button dried out instantly. I grabbed my gut and realized that my underwear was heavily stained with blood, and that I was wearing nothing else.

“Oh my, when did you start training in the nude?”

“Master Crow! How was your journey to the heartland of the noble savage?”

Jyetta had run out of Dooza’s quarters and hugged me by surprise. Red from embarrassment, he flipped his hair to the side and presented himself like harlot.

“They inked your face? Just like your father.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes, of course.”

The Chron had put Jyetta through quite the painful experience. The tattoo began with the eternal crow’s face on each cheek, leading down the neck and meeting across the chest. Each crow had an ornate talon perched on their respective shoulder and another resting on the chest. The thing was massive and intricate and filled in completely.

“So, is this your initiation?”

“Yes, it hurt so badly. I could not move for the whole day. They took breaks, switching out and getting a bite to eat, but I could not.”

“Still, that is much better than mine.”

“You’re a grey skin, just grow a beard.”

“That is forbidden. Besides, I have seen that. The lack of hair in the middle only makes the mark more obvious.”

The wind blew so I curled up to hide behind Dooza’s wall. When I removed my hands Jyetta saw the claw marks on my gut. He gasped and pressed his ice cold hands over the wounds.

“Owie! Cold hands!”

“What happened to you? Are you still whole? What monster did this?”

“I am so cold Jyetta. I need to find my clothes.”

“They are clean and waiting atop your shell.”

He ran back into Dooza’s quarters. She yelled about closing the door, but he rushed back out first. The Chron had given him a heavy white robe that tucked into the boots and a matching cloak of white leather. He could have been vying for the position of Master Shaman with such robes. He was wrapped up tight while I still wore next to nothing, hopping from walking barefoot.

“Hey, now you can hide in the snow.”

“You mean stand out in the city. Uncle Malta had already sailed off to war so I dealt primarily with the Master Shaman. He demanded, before the entire council of elders, that I must have at least two children. Can you believe that?”

“Of course I can. He was very cunning for his age.”

“What?”

“He said nothing about a wife?”

“Oh, I see. You are quite right.”

“Did you even tell him?”

“I did not have to.”

He paused while I ran to my pile of clothes and threw the shining black vest over my head. I nearly asked how the Shaman could tell, but, his eyes never strayed from my body.

“You lost weight.”

“I lost blood- a lot of blood.”

“The Nanu Trap failed?”

“No, it worked exactly as planned.”

“What went wrong?”

“He got me first.”

“Wait. Did you actually slay the monster?”

His eyes opened wide and his jaw hung loose. I reached into my long unruly hair and revealed the lion’s tooth. Without untying it, he ran over and snatched it out.

“Now this is a mark of honor. I don’t understand?”

“Orders.”

“Why would the Lantos want that?”

“As with everything else they do, I won’t rightly know until I am drowning in my own blood. I swear, the last thing I ever do will be to slap my own face from having discovered their true plans.”

“Right, and then you die. Ugh. How are you not angry?”

“I’ve suffered worse for having done less. There never was going to be a future for me in the Union. With the mark of shame, I no longer get to lie to myself. It’s very...”

I shrugged again and Jyetta finished the thought.

“Freeing?”

“Exactly.”

He sighed and held out his hand, then decided against speaking his mind. I could tell he had once felt similarly, but, he had only the best things in life to look forward to in his future. He handed the long tooth back with a silent smile. I tied it to my hair while kicking around and shaking out the bed roll.

“Have you seen my flint stones?”

“Ugh. Those idiots tried to start a fire and failed hard.”

“Where is your guard?”

“Hiding in the stables for warmth.”

“What?”

“The air in Hi-yadora was hot and dry. They don’t have your gorgeous hair and bronze skin. Their bald heads burned and the heat turned them pink. Then, coming back turned them blue and made them sick as goats.”

“You know they can’t go back in that condition, right?”

“It will be fine. By the time we make it back, their sickness will be long gone.”

“And you will have only just begun to sneeze. I cannot allow it.”

“Is that so? Are you the Monster Hunter in charge?”

“Actually, yes. You can leave when Major Swiftblade returns and grants you permission.”

Jyetta huffed as though I had stomped on his toe. As much as he had wanted to leave the city before, he wanted to get back before the snow hit even more so. Luckily, the idiots had left my flint stones next to the fire block. Jyetta and I split up to gather the sick mercenaries and grab wood. Jimmy and Hoss were wrapped in the sloth pelts and leaning into each other for balance. They sat too close to the fire and inhaled enough smoke to choke a steed. The sickness had them coughing and sneezing so hard that they did not have the breath to speak, and for that, I was grateful. I made enough food for all of us, leaving Jyetta to stir while I fetched eggs from the hens. The clucks did not enjoy my cold hands, and, Princess acted as though she had never seen me before in her life. I risked not having a fresh breakfast, but, they needed to cycle through the sickness as fast as possible.

“Ugh. You grey skins are so nasty. Do you see this?”

“What’s the matter?”

“They do not cover their mouths or look away at all.”

“Th-the fire b-burns it up.”

“N-no it don’t.”

“T-t-t-too bad.”

Jyetta tried to get up and leave. I grabbed his arm.

“You will not be taking the sickness back to the capitol. Sit down. That is an order.”

“Excuse you, little soldier boy. I am Ambassador to the Chron.”

“When you sneeze on all the Lantos during your return brief, you will suddenly disappear from existence. Do not take yourself so seriously. Make any threat to Kane, and you will pay for it with your life. Even the mercs know that.”

Jyetta looked horrified at my words. The mercenaries were nodding in agreement. He was as reluctant as I to eat the tainted soup, gagging loudly with every sip. When he tossed his wooden bowl down I was reminded of his father’s glassware. However, he walked off when I went to retrieve the chest. As it turned out, he had run to tell Dooza. The Shaman was wise enough to agree with my point and came down to grab a share of the soup. Jim and Hoss fell asleep around the fire and I stayed up late to keep it burning. I propped the shell up against the heavy chest to block the wind. It kept us all from inhaling too much smoke. No matter, I still woke with a gurgling cough. The clouds blocked so much of the sunlight that all of us overslept.