The Wind and the Void (6 page)

Moriko’s sword cut through a snowflake as she finished her practice. The sword moved as an extension of her body; her mind and sword worked as one. She cut and turned and cut again, each move perfectly controlled. With a smooth motion she sheathed the sword and took a deep breath.

Something had changed inside her during her time in Azaria. It was more than just gaining the ability to “snap,” as Ryuu called it. The ability was nice, but as Moriko breathed in the crisp winter air, her body felt more alive than it had ever been, tingling with energy. She felt like she could run for days and still have the strength to fight. Down in Azaria she had found a strength she hadn’t known she possessed.

Finished with her practice, Moriko wandered through the woods. She had missed them dearly, but hadn’t realized how much until she returned to them. It was quiet, the daily sounds muffled by the fresh powdery snow covering everything. The forest swallowed up even the sound of her footsteps, but she felt no hesitation wandering among old woods. They were places the people of the Three Kingdoms avoided, but to Moriko, visiting the old woods was like visiting a best friend. She felt refreshed and calm.

As often happened on her wanderings, her thoughts turned to Ryuu. It seemed hard to believe, but it had been over half a cycle since she had seen him last. She wondered if he had found the island, and if he had, what he had found there. But more than that, she wondered if he would return to her. She hadn’t waited for him, and she didn’t know how he would react. For all his strength, she still found him fragile in a way difficult to describe. His sword was strong, but his mind wasn’t. Despite his age and experiences, Moriko felt like Ryuu still had to grow up.

She was making plans to leave the Three Kingdoms. There were trading ships that left from Highgate in the Northern Kingdom. If she could find her way onto one of those, they could take her to a new land, a land where she could put all the pain of her previous life behind her. The Three Kingdoms had fallen into war, and Moriko knew better than most that the challenges were just beginning. By next summer she was sure the entire land would be burning. She didn’t owe the Three Kingdoms anything, and she didn’t plan to be around to watch it burn.

The question she kept turning over in her mind was whether or not Ryuu would join her. He felt an attachment to the land and people that Moriko didn’t. She wanted him at her side, but she feared he wouldn’t want to run, that he would want to stay and fight in the middle of it all.

She shook her head, trying to clear it of unpleasant thoughts. The woods were too peaceful for such nightmares. She imagined the trees, here for time untold. They had seen so much more. At the end of time, all her problems were small and meaningless compared to the scope of the world. The thought brought her comfort as she wandered through the woods, her hand brushing lightly against the bark of the trees.

Although winter was just beginning, there was already a fair covering of snow on the ground. Winter had come early to the Southern Kingdom. Moriko wondered if it was some sort of omen for the coming storm. But her needs were more immediate. She and Ryuu had been gone all summer, and in their absence, most of their harvest had been destroyed. Moriko tended their garden as best she could upon her return, but the damage had already been done.

If she was going to survive the winter in comfort, she was going to need more food, and she was worried she might not be able to get it. She hadn’t seen a soul since leaving the Three Sisters, and she had no idea what was happening in the rest of the Three Kingdoms. Had the Azarians invaded? Were the people of the Three Kingdoms preparing for war? If the whole land was prepared for invasion, it would be impossible to procure food.

Regardless, she had to try. She and Ryuu had plenty of money, as their needs were simple, and Shigeru had left a fair amount of gold behind when he died. Even if food was expensive, she should be able to get what she needed, if it was being sold at all. If nothing else, she needed to get out to learn what was happening in the world. Knowledge was safety.

She packed up their medicine kit. The nearest village was a two day’s walk away, but she was known there as a wandering healer. It brought in some money while providing a backstory for a woman who came into town so infrequently.

The walk was cool but pleasant. Moriko had dressed in simple garb so she wouldn’t be recognized, her sword hidden on her back, covered by the bulky medicine cabinet. It would be awkward to draw, but she kept her sense alive and expanded. She didn’t worry about anyone sneaking up on her.

She arrived at the village without incident, but when she arrived, she thought for a moment that the village had been abandoned. It was small, about sixty people in all, mostly farmers. But though the village was small, it had always been lively. Most days people were outside working or talking with neighbors. People rarely stayed in. It wasn’t their way.

When the village first came into view, Moriko couldn’t see a single person. She worried for a moment, but when she extended her sense in the direction of the village she could sense the warm glow of life. Moriko frowned. It was cold, but not so cold people would stay inside. She didn’t sense any danger, so she came down among the houses.

It was an eerie experience, standing in the middle of the village without anyone to greet her. She and Ryuu came through infrequently, but when they did, they had always been welcomed warmly. Today doors and windows were shut against the outside, and no one even knew she was there. Moriko wandered over to the house of the village matriarch. She had seen almost sixty cycles, and her house was the center of all activity.

Moriko knocked softly against the door. “Hello?”

She didn’t hear anything, but she could sense the fear and panic in the house. She knocked softly again, and finally she sensed the old woman coming towards the door.

The door opened, just a crack, and Moriko saw a small fire burning in the center of the hut. When the old woman saw who it was, there was a commotion inside and the door opened all the way. Moriko was ushered into the house, quickly, and the door was shut behind her.

“What are you doing outside?”

Moriko wasn’t sure what her best answer was. Something was happening, and if she was a wandering healer, she would be aware of it. She needed a story, but her mind didn’t seem to work fast enough.

“I’ve been wandering for some time. I thought it was time to come to the village and see how you all were doing.”

The old woman eyed her with a hint of suspicion. Moriko was surprised. They had always received such a warm welcome. What could be happening to make them act like this?

"I am sorry," said Moriko, "I have been in the deep woods for over a moon caring for an old man who behaves like a hermit. I have had no news in that time. What has happened? Why are you all inside huddled together with so much fear?"

The cloak of suspicion the old woman wore dropped in a moment. Despite her fear, she was still the matriarch of the village, and she believed in kindness and hospitality. "I am sorry too, my dear, but these are dangerous times, and no one travels the roads."

Moriko frowned. She had only been back in the Three Kingdoms for about two moons. How much had happened in that time to instill such fear in the people? "What do you mean? What has happened?"

The old woman looked around, as though the very mention of the danger might bring it into her household. "There are strange rumors going about. All we hear from everyone on the road is how entire villages are disappearing. The people in them vanish. Families have lost fathers, sons, mothers and daughters. Other travelers speak of horrible deeds, of villages massacred with no one left alive. They say that villages are red from the blood that has been spilled. I do not know what to believe, but we have heard the rumors enough times to know something is wrong."

Moriko shook her head. If what the old woman was saying was true, something was happening in the Southern Kingdom, something besides an invasion. Her mind raced, but couldn’t come up with an explanation for the rumors.

"How long have these rumors been spreading?"

The old woman shrugged. "It has been a moon, maybe a moon and a half since we heard the first rumor. At first I dismissed it as the ravings of a lone traveler, but more and more we've heard stories from different sources, and now there are no travelers in this area. Whatever is happening sounds as though it started further to the south and is working its way north. We have thought about leaving the village and heading to New Haven. But it is hard to leave the land, and harder still to carry the supplies we would need for winter."

The old woman had said her piece, and a silence settled over the room. Moriko pondered what the old woman had said, but couldn't decide what was happening. It had to be related to the Azarians, but she wasn't sure how. Regardless, it wasn't why she had come.

"I'm sorry to hear such ill tidings, but I must be on the road again by tomorrow. Is there anyone who needs healing?"

The old woman nodded. "A fever has taken one of the older women, and one of our boys has broken a leg. Your services would be appreciated."

Moriko's presence in the village drew people from their homes, if only for a little bit. Children, tired of being cooped up in their houses, ran around the village freely, although Moriko could see their mothers kept a watchful eye on them to ensure they didn't leave the village, not even to play in the adjoining fields.

Moriko did what she could for the people of the village. The older woman's fever concerned her the most. They had already been doing everything they could to break the fever. Moriko gave them some herbs she hoped would help, but as she examined the old woman, she feared she had come too late and that the old woman would rejoin the Great Cycle soon. The young boy was a different matter. The break was almost brand-new, and Moriko was able to set the bone and splint it. Her work with the young man made her think of her time with the Azarians. In their culture, such a break could've been fatal. But here the boy would live to hopefully see many more days.

When she was done, Moriko went back to the old woman and bartered for some food. She wasn't able to get as much as she would've liked, but it was enough for now, and she could see the fear in the eyes of everyone she met. She couldn't bring herself to push for more.

They begged her to stay. In their eyes, being on the road was tantamount to suicide, but she was able to convince them that as a healer she was honor-bound to stay on the road and provide what help she could. It was clear they didn't agree, but they couldn’t force her, and as the sun set on that day, Moriko left the village with a heavy heart.

Moriko was loath to admit it, but her visit to the village had made her nervous. There was no doubt in her mind something was happening in the Southern Kingdom, and if she had to guess, the Azarian hunters had something to do with it. They were the only warriors she knew of with the strength to eliminate entire villages and disappear without a trace. She thought about General Toro. Had something horrible happened down in the pass? She felt a twinge of guilt. Perhaps she should have stayed there.

Moriko shook her head. If the Three Sisters had fallen, there was little she could have done to prevent it. She was strong, but there were far more hunters than she could handle, and if the general had died defending the pass, she would've died there with him. She had made the right decision.

Nevertheless, her own safety was at stake. She had told Ryuu in her letter she would stay at the hut until spring came. At the time she had believed it would be safe to stay in the Southern Kingdom until then, but if the hunters were active in the Southern Kingdom, there wouldn't be any safety to be found.

Moriko was torn between her desire to leave the problems of the Three Kingdoms behind her and her desire to wait for Ryuu, to see what he would decide. Unable to choose, she chose a middle path, deciding to scout more regularly to the south of the hut. The rumors had placed the hunters, if Moriko was right, further to the south. If she was going to find them, that was the direction to search.

As the moon grew brighter in the sky, Moriko's daily pattern changed. Instead of spending her time in the old woods surrounding the hut, she wandered further south. There were two villages in that general direction, both about four days’ walk from her hut. She traveled to both of them, scouting to make sure they were safe. She did not enter the villages, electing instead to remain hidden from sight. Both villages were quiet, sealed in like the one she had visited earlier, but were otherwise unharmed. Moriko was grateful. If the rumors were true, this meant the hunters were not yet nearby.

Moriko no longer traveled the roads. Instead, she followed game trails that kept the road in view or in range of her sense. In this way she was able to keep track not just of the villages, but of the travelers who roamed from village to village in these dangerous times.

It was on one of these journeys that Moriko encountered a pair of hunters. She sensed them long before she was in sight of them. She pushed down the fear that threatened to take hold of her. If there was anyone in the world who was still a danger to her, it would be a hunter. But she had faced them before, and they had joined the Great Cycle while she was still here, pursuing those who thought themselves invincible. They were dangerous, but so was she.

The afternoon sun was burning low when she sensed them, and she crept quietly towards them, making sure her own presence was completely suppressed. There was no way they would know she was watching them. She hid deep in the brush, keeping as much distance as possible between her and them. More than once she had been discovered by smell, and she had no intention of repeating that mistake.

Moriko squinted when she saw the hunters. The two of them were unmistakable in their Azarian garb. Their tall stature and easy grace made them easy to pick out. But they were meeting with someone who looked to be from the Three Kingdoms.