The Brightest Shadow, page 32
All too soon it was morning, harsh and bright. Efeinas had already moved on, urging them to reach the river. Some of the new arrivals couldn't keep up, but he didn't seem to care, running faster and faster as they finally saw the blue streak of water on the horizon.
But it wasn't just the river. There was a large crowd gathered before it and several ships floating off the shore. Large-hulled Nol ships with several masts, like only occasionally came to Bundlin. There were more people on board and he struggled to count them. They seemed endless... no, not endless. There were hundreds, not thousands. Not endless.
When they drew close enough, Efeinas stopped and turned to them, spreading his arms again. "This is the army that I've gathered! Now that you are here, it is complete."
Had his eyes always been so pale and bright? The robes Efeinas wore still held the same colors, yet those colors seemed richer and truer than any Slaten had ever seen. And the sun was so painfully bright, illuminating him as he stood there before the army that he had drawn from nothing.
"That's a lot of bodies," Veron said. She had her jug open and took another long drink before speaking again. "How many of them are good in a fight?"
"What matters is not strength of arms, but strength of conviction!" After a pause, Efeinas glanced to the side, eyes no longer so bright. "Most of them are sein-trained. A few hundred are good. Maybe half a dozen about as good as the two of us."
Could that be true? If so, this army was one of the strongest Slaten had ever seen in person. He was unsure of the size of the forces in Bundlin, but he didn't think the Deathspawn had that many experts. All of them lurched into motion, preparing to march or sail.
Tani gave a strangled gasp and stumbled a step back. Slaten automatically moved to help, but she didn't fall, just gripped his arm tightly. "How did he convince a Helsuu tribe to join him? They shouldn't... they hate outsiders, I don't see how..."
Slaten looked more carefully and saw just how diverse the army was. In the blinding sunlight, they had all looked like one unified force. Now he could see that there were many Corans, but also a large group of Rhen, and another significant group of Nol, especially on the ships. The Hero stood before them all, a proud smile on his face.
It was difficult to say anything. Efeinas looked as though he might walk away at any moment. Before he did, Eraes managed to choke out some words. "What's the plan?"
"The plan?" The Hero turned back to them, smiling brightly. "We march to victory over the Deathspawn. We march to take back Bundlin."
Chapter 22
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"The old master explained to the Red Warrior that if he walked for one year without using sein, he would regain far greater power. He spoke the truth, yet the Red Warrior refused to believe it. Without anything to fill his soul except power, he became miserable and wretched. On his way down the mountain, the Red Warrior insulted the honor of another warrior and was immediately killed, as he had killed so many before him.
So it was, so it is, and so it will be."
- excerpt from the Tale of the Red Warrior, a popular Nelhae story
-
For once, Kolanin managed to work without pausing. Paper after scroll, gripe after triviality, he dealt with everything on his desk.
Mostly because he didn't want to think about the reports on the other end.
He'd stacked them there together and told himself that he would read them soon. Just as soon as he finished a little more work. The complaints of merchants might be insignificant and slightly changing the rates of taxation might accomplish little, but at least they did something. They helped Bundlin take a step closer to what he hoped it could be.
Unless it didn't matter in the end.
The offer from Ildariel frustrated him, but he could work with it. Mining materials for voidlinks could work out, even if the profit was taken by rich Seinan back on Orphos. The order necessary to maintain it would make peace an official objective. Staffing the mine could provide many jobs for local workers. They might be able to expand to mining other materials and strengthen the region.
Unless...
Kolanin couldn't forget about the final meeting, try as he might. Succinct, eminently reasonable, terrifying. He didn't think it included any lies, though he hadn't been told everything. It would be easy to set it aside and forget about stories of Heroes and Legends, if not for those damn reports.
Growling low in his throat, Kolanin pushed away his work and picked up the stack of report scrolls. Most he had already read, and all seemed familiar. Tales of a human who called himself a Hero, who inspired others to follow him, who seemed to be something more than human. It wasn't over. Just as he'd been told.
And that meant that the two terrors who had arrived in Bundlin had a reason to be there. He wished them luck in tracking down the new Hero before he could kill anyone else, but he never wanted to see them again. One Zeitai was too many for a lifetime, much less three...
Shouts sounded from outside his door and Kolanin leapt to his feet, eager for a distraction. Sounds of a clash in the corridor, then the door slammed open.
To his shock, Slaten stood there, gasping for breath. He had drawn his sword, but it hadn't seen combat. They stared at one another for some time before Slaten finally took a deep, shuddering breath and spoke.
"Kolanin... I can't explain everything... but the Hero is coming. He's bringing an army. I'm not far ahead of him."
No. No, not like this. Kolanin feared not for himself, but for Bundlin. Though Slaten looked half mad, Kolanin believed him. He straightened his back, focusing on what could be salvaged. "We need to stop him before he enters the city. Is h-"
"It's too late. Half the army is coming up the river in ships, the other half disembarked and is coming from the west."
"The west? They're entering the human side of the city?"
Slaten paused, put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. His voice came slower, stumbling over the words. "There was... a reason. Save the h-human side first. Or... someone on the inside... can't close the gate..."
Kolanin watched the young man with pain lancing through his heart. He could imagine what he had struggled through to bring the warning. His memories of fighting the Hero came into focus, especially how clouded his mind had been faced with that terrible brilliance. How much worse would it be for humans, captivated by his glory? Slaten had managed to overcome that and fought his way here.
And he was too late. Kolanin heard the shouts and screams begin from outside.
~ ~ ~
Tani's heartbeat pounded through her body, so loud that it drowned out the yelling. She was running without being certain why, her mind racing to catch up.
Before they had entered the city, there had been a plan. To sneak out ahead of the army and... do something. Warn someone. Prevent unnecessary bloodshed, though she didn't see how it would have worked now.
But then the Hero had let out a battle cry and everyone roared in response and even though Tani clutched her hands over her ears she found herself running with them. Slaten sprinted out ahead of the crowd, Eraes and Laeri managed to hold back near the city walls, and Celivia had disappeared sometime afterward.
Now Tani was running alone with the rest of the army, struggling to regain herself.
They hadn't attacked the first humans they ran across, but the Deathspawn patrol had been hacked to pieces. The violence had scattered from there, people killing one another on all sides. Some civilians managed to hide in their homes, but others were cut down in the streets and more joined in the battle with crude weapons.
A Coran man appeared in front of her and swung his sword without even hesitating. Tani nearly struck him in the face with her sickle knife and only barely managed to hold herself back. Instead she ducked past him, running even faster and putting some distance between her and the rest.
Warriors flashed past her, Deathspawn and human. It didn't matter, she avoided them all until the sounds of the screams weren't so loud. Only then did she manage to catch her breath, wipe her eyes, and let herself think again.
It was too late to prevent the battle from reaching Bundlin. She didn't think that she could stop Efeinas. Hopefully Kolanin could kill him, assuming he was there. No, she needed to save something. Make some difference.
The first thought that occurred to her was to find Dhunor and Yomeri and make sure they were safe. As relatively prosperous Nelee Rhen, they might be targeted by Corans if everything dissolved into chaos. She wasn't sure if the Hero's presence would make such looting more or less likely, but she didn't want to leave it to chance.
As Tani headed out, ahead of the fighting, she noticed others who had broken from it as well. Kelfaa, Coran, Nol... the only common trait she saw among them was that they felt much stronger than her and they seemed mostly in control of themselves. But where they were going, she couldn't be sure. Looking to fight Catai, perhaps? She hadn't seen any of the massive Deathspawn yet, and they would need their strongest warriors against the Catai to take Bundlin.
No, not that. Tani shook her head and chased after them.
They all converged on a single street, almost as if something was drawing them. She thought she recognized the street - it led to a dead end with a noodle wagon that had broken down and become a permanent fixture. Tani sprinted ahead of the group and hit the wall of one of the nearest houses at a run, propelling herself up the side before catching the top and climbing to a vantage point on the other side.
Below, she saw that the dead end street was mostly empty. She spotted the warriors near the entrance and two things stuck out to her. First, Veron was among them with her sword drawn. Second, there was a strange sort of pole standing in one corner of the street. It was cut into six flat sides instead of a smooth circle and it seemed to be made of stone.
Tani dragged her gaze away from all the movement to the wagon at the other end, which was remarkably quiet by contrast. The noodle wagon sat there like normal, with a middle-aged woman who was vaguely familiar to her. But it was empty... except for one guest who was impossible to miss.
He was the largest man Tani had ever seen, if he was a man at all. Even sitting, he dwarfed the noodle wagon, and when standing she thought he would be more than a head taller than any Catai. Though he looked thicker as well, his entire body was covered in dark blue armor so that she couldn't see even the slightest glimpse of his skin.
No, he was armor. The oddity of his movements came together for her in a moment of intuition. He wasn't wearing armor, he was a Deathspawn with a body that was made of armor. Instead of steel it had the consistency of stone, but the shape reminded her of heavier Coran armor. Though she had never seen any Coran armor with such vicious spikes on the elbows, shoulders, and helm.
The man of armor was currently drinking a bowl of soup. It looked like a cup in his hand and he simply poured it into the slit where his mouth should have been. He gave a sigh of satisfaction and set the bowl down heavily.
"Not bad. Another!" His voice sounded like mountains grinding together.
"My... my lord..." The woman trembled in place, gaze shifting between the Deathspawn and the small army of humans moving toward him from behind. "They... they..."
"Another time, then. This will do for payment." The Deathspawn set down something on the shop table, shining like gold but mangled. Tani realized after a moment that it was a crushed helm. "Run along now."
Not even picking up the helm, the woman fled from her wagon into the nearest house. The strange armored Deathspawn turned casually to face the warriors approaching him, leaning back against the noodle wagon as if it was a backrest.
Where his eyes should have been, there were only burning green pits. If Tani had doubted that this was no person in armor, her doubt was destroyed in that moment. Though he merely leaned back casually, Tani found herself struggling to breathe as she watched.
"I am Zeitai Xetsu, the Bloody Pantomime. Perhaps you have heard of me?" His face shifted slightly, more than a real helm could have moved. The expression was difficult to read, yet seemed to match his tone of mild amusement. None of the approaching warriors responded. "Ah well. I cannot blame you for attempting an attack when you do not know me. Indeed, I could not blame you for wanting to try yourselves against me if you did."
"Die, Deathspawn!" One of the men roared, prompting a sigh from Xetsu.
"Terribly unoriginal. Very well, let me tell you how this is going to go." He rose to his feet in a single swift movement, more than half again as tall as the tallest man facing him. The warriors drew back and began to spread out to surround him - Xetsu ignored them and pointed toward the stone pillar. "I will take ten steps down the street. Until then, have your fun. Then I will pick up my staff. After that, everyone still here will die."
He stood still for a moment, letting the announcement sink in. Then he took a step.
Warriors attacked him from all sides. Swords and axes and clubs struck him, blows filled with sein that would have crumpled steel armor, yet they did nothing. Xetsu simply took a second step. Disbelieving their own eyes, the warriors kept attacking. Not so much as a single chip fell from his armor as he took another step.
Three steps taken, seven remaining until the staff at the end of the street.
They pulled back, no longer attacking wildly. A Rhen warrior stood in front of him, focusing on his spear and gathering his sein. He threw everything he could into a single thrust, the spear striking Xetus in the eye socket at point blank range so hard that the spear tore itself apart. Tani watched without taking a breath, not even daring to draw a knife, knowing it would be useless.
Five steps.
A Coran warrior leapt onto the Deathspawn's back, stabbing her blades in the cracks of his armor, to no apparent effect. A warrior in a broad Nol hat moved in front of the Zeitai and raised a palm in front of his face before touching Xetsu over the heart. Tani wasn't sure of the technique, but the warrior seemed surprised when he was simply pushed aside.
Three steps remaining.
At that point Veron ran up to the staff, grabbed it, and ran off.
From her viewpoint, Tani caught a split second change in the monstrous Deathspawn's expression. The holes that surrounded his eyes opened slightly, those terrible green pits widening. Though his mouth was only a slit, it shifted in something that might have been amusement.
Then he was simply gone. A gale force of wind smashed through the courtyard in all directions, knocking some warriors off their feet. Even from a distance Tani was pushed back, but she didn't care about that. Her eyes had no hope of following the movement, she just desperately searched until she found him.
Xetsu stood on top of the building opposite her, his staff in one hand and Veron in the other. His gauntlet-like hand went all the way around her neck, though he didn't seem to be squeezing. Veron had both hands on his fingers, failing to pull them apart. She kicked at his crotch and it made a dull thump, as if she'd kicked solid stone.
"Just what was that about?" The rumbling voice seemed more amused than anything. Veron glared at him, still struggling with his grip.
"Oh, come on. It was obvious what was going to happen when you got to the staff."
Xetsu let out a laugh like a joyful earthquake. "True, I did tell you. But not many have the spirit to do what you did. Unless you wish to die by my hand, stay down."
With that he tossed her aside with a careless gesture that sent Veron's body flying like a doll. Xetsu turned back to look at the street beneath him, tapping his staff on the roof beside him. His eyes shifted to Tani and she was completely frozen in place, drowning in the bright green, then his gaze moved down to the warriors standing below.
"We'll call that ten."
Xetsu hit the ground, cobblestones shattering, and blood and gore flew in all directions.
Tani wanted to look away, wanted to vomit, yet she was transfixed. Xetsu grabbed the head of one man and crushed it without effort. The body had barely begun falling when his staff lashed out twice, caving in the chests of two different men. Despite his size, Xetsu flowed around the bodies only just beginning to leave the ground from the force. Everyone else might as well have not been moving.
Worse than his movements was the solid wall of violence that struck her. Nothing like the sensations she had felt from masters, this impacted her with physical force. The aura of chaotic violence expanded to fill the entire street, eclipsing everyone within.
Worst of all, Xetsu was simply enjoying himself. He reached into a man's stomach, skin tearing like wet paper, and tore out his intestines. These he swung around, wrapping around another man's neck and then jerking hard enough to snap his neck. Such a technique made no sense and must require a huge waste of sein to perform. Xetsu didn't fight, he danced amid the shower of blood and gore that was still expanding in the air as his body flitted among his victims.
Finally the tension broke and Tani fell to the side, vomiting. The sight had been horrible, but it was the sein crushing her from all sides that overwhelmed her. It hit her so strongly that she didn't smell mint at all, it was just a sensation that made her entire being crumble to dust.
And all of that power was fully devoted to killing. Not just killing, but joyful violence.
Shuddering on the roof, Tani desperately went through every exercise she knew, every form of meditation she had ever learned from her master. What she had learned from Slaten and Veron and Celivia, anything that wasn't the violence that she'd just witnessed.
Eventually, her shivering stopped. She managed to gather the fragments of herself together, to feel simply numb instead of shattered. Had she witnessed such a thing a month ago, she would have fallen into seinshock and never returned. Suddenly she remembered Napenel crying quietly at night and grieved for him again even though she had never truly known him.
Slowly she managed to climb to her feet. If Xetsu had meant to kill her, he could have already done so - the battle had been over by the time she finished vomiting. No, that hadn't been a battle, just slaughter. Tani reluctantly looked at the street from the corner of her eyes, avoiding looking at the fragments of what had once been humans.
