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Chapter 34: Of Cats and Water
Last Updated:
2023-11-30 20:40:55
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The passageway was deathly silent. If earlier Sasha had felt slightly annoyed by Aki’s constant chatter and whining, now he missed them. He missed them so much the enormous feeling welled up inside him and turned into tears in his eyes without his permission. Sasha burst into sobs and dropped to his knees. He knew he shouldn’t let Aki see him in distress so openly because for sure that would empty her already waning willpower. But there was no helping it. She was going to die if he didn’t do anything. He had to do something. He couldn’t just watch her die! They shouldn’t have entered the vault in the first place. It was a terrible idea. By agreeing with her plan, he had placed both their lives in grave danger. What were they thinking? They were just kids. Why did they ever think they could do this? If the grownups themselves had a hard time doing it, how much more would they? If only his or Aki’s parents were here. If only an adult was here – any adult – to tell him what to do. S
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He felt his knuckles connect with the ice. He did not hesitate or slow down in the slightest. He didn’t entertain the idea that the ice was tougher than his hand or that his fingers would break. It was all in the mind, his father had taught him. If he put his mind to it, he was capable of achieving anything. The world was his canvas. He didn’t decelerate his punch against the surface of the ice. More than the snapping shrimp’s shock wave, he imagined his fist as the head of the extinct water dragon Kuma-wani, the Bear-fish, going through the wall as if it was made of liquid. This was the crucial follow-through. In his mind’s eye, Sasha saw the dragon’s massive head ramming the wall and smashing it into a thousand pieces. When he finally opened his eyes, his grave expression turned to dismay, and then horror. He hadn’t prepared himself for the contingency of losing even his last sliver of hope. In reality, he wasn’t able to fully extend his arm. Sasha merely produced a webbed crate
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“OK, here’s what we’re gonna do. This challenge looks like it’s been designed with white Slayers in mind and you’re the lighter and nimbler one, so you’ll be the ball. Is that OK?” “Yep, wouldn’t want it any other way.” “If my calculations are correct, the acoustics inside will be nasty. Sounds will bounce back late, loudly, and repeatedly. It’ll feel like you were in a jungle, or even a war. You won’t be able to use echolocation like we did in the maze. Instead, you need to narrow your focus and block out all the noise. Trust only what you see with your eyes and not what you hear.” “All right. Make my concentration as narrow as the tip of an arrow. Roger that.” “The good news is, it looks like they gave up on the idea of having movable flipper bats. I can shout out instructions to you from down here, through the small hole on either side where the flipper buttons were supposed to go. The bad news is, my message will be delayed cause I’m not speaking from halfway up.” “I can wo
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Just like the maze, the pinball challenge was very different from Aki’s expectations. As soon as she stepped into the arched doorway, she was whisked up to a height of a hundred feet. Aki didn’t mind because she wasn’t afraid of heights (she was much more afraid of the dark) and like she told Sasha, she had done bodyflight training countless times. However, and this was what bothered her most of all, she felt something unusual just as she was floating on top of the column of winds. All her powers had been nullified. She could only think of one explanation for this. The whole pinball challenge was enveloped by some kind of Anti-enchantment Spell, which was very bad news for Aki. This meant she wouldn’t be able to perform any ki techniques, including Karamijutsu (body-lightening) or even the unpredictable Teleportation, which she had been counting on if worse came to worst and she was falling down the bottomless pit. Now, she doubted if she could even clear the thirty-foot jump from th
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Sasha’s brain neurons fired rapid signals. He knew there was only one thing they could do now. It was a move that wasn’t by the book. Called a “Death Save”, it involved nudging the machine and praying it wouldn’t detect a tilt. He waited for Aki to pass right where he was standing. He didn’t have to wait long. She rushed by him and disappeared under, taking the bend towards the Out Hole. Soon she’d drain down the pit. {Not if I could help it,} Sasha thought. Now Aki was directly parallel to where he was standing; only she was sliding on her stomach feet-first to the middle bottom of the machine. Sasha executed a Zenpo Keri or forward kick, stomping with all his might while keeping his spine erect to maintain balance, which was characteristic of a Slayer’s Budo Taijutsu (martial art of distance). The tremendous force of the kick rocked the whole pinball cabinet towards the left and ironically speeded up Aki’s slide towards the Out Hole. But this was all part of the plan because t
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It took several more jumps to and from a higher trapeze, which was diagonally above. Aki also made a mistake once because the three Drop Targets were very close to each other, which reset the word “ERA” by clearing all the lit Everlite crystals. Aki didn’t mind as long as the game didn’t restart the whole play field. Compared to the jump from the trampoline, this part was tolerable. Finally, when the word “ERA” was activated in the right sequence of colors, Aki hung from the trapeze and mouthed back down to Sasha: {What’s next?} “Jump to the Lock Sinkhole… hole… hole…” {The what?} Aki gestured her inability to hear. “Look up… up… up…” Sasha shouted while pointing up. Aki did. That was when she noticed something had changed in the flat surface of the play field. Several blocks of ice had retreated, creating a square indentation that was big enough for her to crawl into. Along the smooth and slippery cabinet, seeing this was like seeing an oasis in a desert. Aki checked again with
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“They’re but children,” someone spoke from afar. The voice was calm and soft, but with its inherent authority and in the tense silence, it was heard by everyone. The voice caused an immediate effect. Everyone, from Aki’s father to every single soldier and castle staff dropped to their knees and bowed low, their hands touching the ground. It was the Emperor! Aki’s mother and Mr. Babor both turned around and prostrated themselves as well. Sasha, after throwing a hesitant glance at Aki, who chose to remain standing with her head lowered, followed suit. A great hush had settled, only Aki’s sniffling (she tried to stop the waterworks but it was impossible) and the soft, steady footsteps of the Gold Lotus Emperor could be heard. “Children will be children,” the Emperor continued speaking in his calm voice. Aki kept her head bowed and sniffled as quietly as she could till the Emperor was standing directly in front of her. She could see the immaculate skirts of his royal robes. “Who am
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Temujin’s conflicting feelings manifested in the fire in the center of the igloo. The flame was dipping, which signified that the element fueled by his will was weakening. It also flickered several times, which meant that his heart was being clouded by doubts. Temujin was ashamed to admit it but he disliked Sasha. He knew it was unfair of him to judge Sasha because they had just met but in his mind, Sasha represented everything he didn’t have: loving parents, a big family, a tight-knit community, an identity. Sasha was the youngest and it showed in his gentle soul and the natural way he both gave and expected affection. He had known only his sheltered world and thus had the trusting and contented aura that Temujin didn’t. And because of these things, Sasha and Aki were a perfect match. This last realization hurt Temujin above all else. It was his own fault anyway, for entertaining the slightest possibility in his mind that Aki would develop feelings for someone like him. He hadn’t ev
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“’Tis a sin tah suffer such a numbskull as ye live,” Captain Fang said, “but it appears we be a perfectly even match. Ye know as well as I do ’tis futile tah resort tah our mother element.” The pirate could barely stand in his exhaustion and was leaning on his sabre. Sasha was also down to his last reserves of energy. He was poised low on the ground, ever ready to strike with his shinobuken held horizontally in front of him, his left hand behind. “Were we in a trainin’ dojo where ye’ve been raised,” the captain said, “no one would claim victory… BUT HITHER IS NOT A DOJO!” Captain Fang thrust his amputated right arm and released the harpoon on the end of it. As a matter of fact, Sasha had earlier grabbed a handful of salt when he tumbled forward across a drying pan. Now he swung his left hand from behind him and flung the salt to the captain’s eyes like a sumo wrestler purifying the ring. Sasha felt a certain amount of pleasure when he heard the captain utter a pained squeal. In a s
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Aki leapt from roof to roof. Her tabi boots touched the tiles lightly before pushing off. She was harnessing Karamijutsu (Body-lightening). Without warning, a tile she was stepping on broke and she slid straight down to the edge of the roof, only managing to grab the gutter in the nick of time. She was dangling there when Yuriko appeared on the incline, just a few feet away, crouching and fanning out a set of throwing knives. Apparently, she had launched a projectile that broke Aki’s foothold. “Fancy a prince tah rescue ye, princess?” “I’m not a princess,” Aki replied through gritted teeth. “I’m a SLAYER princess!” With a back flip, Aki brought herself upside-down with her legs spinning in a wheel kick. Yuriko held her forearms up in an X shape and the casings of her katars blocked the kicks. Aki landed right in front of her. They were soon locked in hand-to-hand combat; something rare for Stork Slayers who emphasized defense over offense, evasion over brute strength. Yuriko projec
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They sat around Koumori-shishou on the moonlit beach. Like real students, Aki thought excitedly. Sasha had returned to his human form and was still half-naked. Apparently, shrinking back down was relatively easier than blowing up to the fearsome scale of Dragonkist Ryūjin. The master sat on a large piece of driftwood. He took off the tunic-like uniform of the Dark Emperor and revealed his usual attire underneath: the saffron robe and pom-pommed surplice of the hermit monks, the Yamabushis. From inside his sleeve, he drew out his shakujō staff with the six rings. Like Aki’s bō staff, it could be retracted and extended. Next, from his slightly hunched back, he produced his straw conical hat and placed it on top of his head. Finally, he unclipped his one-toothed geta sandals from his belt and put them on. He was completely transformed. Aki clapped and Sasha muttered, “Wow.” Koumori-shishou bowed with a flourish. “You’re a true master of disguise, shishou,” Aki complimented. The monk
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From the strong rocking movements, Aki could tell they were on a small boat. Her captors were using oars. All at once, the bag was pulled from over her head and the wind coating was removed from her mouth. “Get your stinking hands off me or I swear you’ll lose them!” Aki blinked to adjust her eyes. It was still night. Have they arrived in Dragon’s Horn already? “Spoken like a true warrior-princess,” said a familiar voice. Aki couldn’t believe it. She strained her eyes in the dark. “Temujin?” she blurted out. “That’s right. It’s me.” “But I thought…” “I had some help,” he said, gesturing to a second figure behind him. Aki let out a frightened gasp. In the pale moonlight, she could make out the Dark Emperor! “Oh, don’t be alarmed!” Temujin said. “It’s just my master, Koumori-shishou.” To Aki’s great consternation, the Dark Emperor swept back his hood and took off his iron dragon mask. An old man with slanted eyes and a long wispy beard like a mountain goat’s was beaming at her
Dragon-kissed Chapter 84: Hard Truths
“What do you think they’re going to do to us?” Aki asked Sasha. They had eventually given up hope that Temujin would return. As much as it pained Aki to admit it, she knew he would succumb to brainwashing. Most Slayers did, sooner or later. “Well, at first they were pointed south like us but then they made a U-turn, which explains why we didn’t see them coming. My guess is they’re now taking us to Dragon’s Horn. It’s a big and busy trading port, for all things legal and illegal.” “They’re gonna sell us as slaves?” Aki said in horror. “No, we’re much too old to be submissive. But they know you’re the heiress apparent so they’ll demand a princess’s ransom.” “A princess’s ransom? How much is that?” “Let’s just say they’re gonna try and bleed your empire dry.” “My grandfather would never allow that. I’m sure he’ll have imperial soldiers waiting for us when we reach port. I’ll have these pirates arrested before they even—” “They probably wouldn’t tell anyone about you just yet. The
Dragon-kissed Chapter 83: Torture
In the afternoon, after their cheerless and tasteless brunch, the captain came down to the brig to grace them with his presence. Aki was right, the four most important people on the ship were: Captain Fang, the Dark Emperor, Kosano and Yuriko; in that order. But because they were pirates, it was easy to imagine incessant politicking among the last three. The entire crew was of course curious about the young Slayers who had kicked their butts, but they were under strict orders to stay on their posts and perform their duties. Nevertheless, Aki recognized Zaterra and Ganzorig; the first was endlessly cutting his nails with a dagger. Temujin also noticed his cork backpack slung on Zaterra’s shoulder. “Hey, that’s mine!” Temujin shouted, gripping the dragon-bone bars of his cage. “Finders keepers,” Zaterra replied and stuck out his tongue. “Give it back to him!” Aki demanded. “Be yer companions knowin’ yer secrets in this here bag?” asked Kosano. Temujin fell quiet. “Cat got yer ton
Dragon-kissed Chapter 82: Prisoners
They were held in separate cells down the ship’s brig. Aki’s and Sasha’s were adjoining while Temujin’s was across from theirs. Each cell had an additional feature. For instance, Aki’s had a water barometer to monitor the slightest change in atmospheric pressure if she attempted to form winds inside the ship. Sasha’s had a quicksilver thermometer to keep the room temperature in check. Last, apart from confiscating his flint and steel, the pirates put Temujin in a cell with the fire-proof bones of a red dragon for bars. In case the prisoners showed any signs of defiance by using their powers, the pirates also had a weird-looking contraption like an electrically charged spear. Sasha figured it was a weaponized version of the Leyden jar. If it touched their prisons (the conductor), it would discharge tens of thousands of volts. This last piece of technology suggested a link between the pirates and Tamerlane’s research on the fifth element, but all of them pointed to the fact that the cap
