Bonds of Blood and Shadow (Chapter 3 of the Deadhorse Guardians)

“If Nanto’s survived this long, he must have a place to hide,” Zaru said as he led Haikato and Mina down a web of secret tunnels. “These tunnels have already been discovered”-- Zaru shifted his light-orb to reveal claw marks scraping the wall– “but if Nanto kept moving, he may have been able to stay ahead of the shadowspawn.”

“And what if we find a shadowspawn?” Mina asked.

“Haikato and I will hold the tunnel,” Zaru said. “No shadowspawn will get past us. You run. We’ll catch up to you once we defeat it.”

“I could use geometry against it,” Mina said.

Zaru chuckled. “I wouldn’t recommend it, not in an enclosed space. A single misstep could collapse the entire tunnel on our heads.”

Mina pouted. “I’m careful.”

They emerged from the tunnel into another house along the edge of the Chasm. Zaru poked his head out the door and glanced upward. “That smoke overhead is thicker than I remembered.”

“The sun’s starting to set,” Haikato said. “Perhaps we should split up to cover this neighborhood more quickly? We’ll meet back here by dusk.” The city was dangerous enough by day, with most of the shadowspawn asleep. But by night, they’d want to return to Zaru’s hideout.

Zaru nodded. “I’ll go east. You and Mina go west.”

Mina nodded, her face grim. “Come on, Haikato.” She jogged down the street. Haikato overtook her, falling into line in front of her, every sense on high alert. Earlier, he’d been too reliant on the Aura’s ability to detect shadowspawn, and it had nearly gotten them killed. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

They canvassed the neighborhood in a grid pattern, but found empty house after empty house. Overhead, a thick clump of smoke hung in the sky, and from time to time a writhing tendril would shoot out and snake over the city. Haikato could hear the shrieks of the winged shadowspawn, but saw none of them.

“So few,” he murmured. “I would’ve expected the shadowspawn to have given us more trouble. Where are they?”

Hiding, maybe, the Aura said. Amassing forces to burst out all at once.

“To ambush the coming army,” Haikato said. But shadowspawn, showing restraint?

The Dark Aura could control the shadowspawn, the Aura said. But it would need a human vessel.

What if Zaru was wrong and the traitor who first brought the shadowspawn into the city hadn’t perished after all, but was still out there, teamed up with a Dark Aura, plotting to bring death and destruction on an even wider scale?

Mina stopped. She pulled out Haikato’s spellbook and flipped to the back. Haikato turned and looked at her.

“I’m reviewing my ideas for a bridge,” Mina said. “In case we don’t find Nanto on the north side of the city and need to search the south.”

“That’s… great.” Haikato looked away.

I’m feeling sick again, the Aura said.

Haikato snapped to attention– and then he saw it. A human figure standing on the edge of the Chasm with his back turned. He nudged Mina.

Mina looked up and snapped the book shut. “Nanto!”

The figure turned, revealing Nanto’s gaunt face. But his eyes were no longer wide and wild. Instead, they were pits of solid black. His coat seemed to suck in the light, and wisps of smoke rose from his shoulders.

Mina ran forward– then stopped. “Nanto?”

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Nanto said. He strode toward Mina, showing no trace of the frenzied nervousness from earlier.

Haikato drew his wakizashi and leapt in front of Mina. “Stay back.”

“She came all this way to find her brother,” Nanto said. “It would be cruel to hold her back now, don’t you think?”

Haikato, it’s his coat. It’s the Dark Aura. I should’ve recognized it earlier. I…

“Just don’t get sick,” Haikato murmured.

I’ll try.

“Nanto,” Haikato said. “Take off that coat.”

“Gladly.” Nanto unbuttoned his coat and hurled it into the chasm. A moment later, black smoke coalesced around him, forming into an identical coat. “Oh! Too bad. Seems that it doesn’t want to be rid of me. We’ve become such good friends ever since we massacred the city together.”

Haikato blinked, flashing through Shapesense just long enough to recognize the molecules making up the coat– writhing, ever-changing darkness. And something else– wisps of light trying to latch onto the darkness.

“Sister,” Nanto chided. “You must stop trying to transmute my friend. It’s impolite.”

The wisps of light vanished. Mina stepped forward. “You’re not Nanto. Give the real Nanto back.”

Nanto– the Dark Aura– grinned. “Make me.”

Haikato, watch out!

Haikato leapt to the right as a jet of flame erupted from where he’d stood a moment earlier. He landed in a crouch and engaged Shapesense, and he could see Nanto’s mind already preparing another attack, the theorems targeting the ground beneath his feet.

Haikato charged, blade arcing through the air– then changed direction as Mina sprinted past him. Mina threw open her arms and grabbed Nanto in an embrace, burying her face in his coat and sobbing in a broken voice, “Nanto, come back!”

Nanto froze, his hands hanging at his sides. For a moment, his eyes flickered. The solid black vanished, and Haikato saw terrified pupils beneath.

Then the darkness descended again. Nanto’s hand closed around Mina’s neck. With a strength that defied his emaciated frame, he hoisted her into the air. Mina kicked, landing a solid blow against Nanto’s chest– but the Dark Aura didn’t even flinch.

Haikato advanced, blade extended, watching out for any more geometrical attacks. “Let her go.”

“An interesting proposition,” the Dark Aura said. “Let me provide one of my own. Given: A girl who doesn’t know what’s good for her. Sought for: A nice bow tie to complement my coat. Now how to get from one to the other? Oh… I have an idea.” The Dark Aura stepped to the edge of the Chasm and dangled Mina over the ledge. Mina stopped struggling, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow. “Give me your own Aura, or my dear sister will discover whether the rumors about this chasm being bottomless are true.”

The Aura squealed. Ah! No! He’ll eat me!

“How about this one,” Haikato said. “Given: A very angry Guardian. Sought for: A way for you to stay in one piece. I think you can fill in the rest.”

The Dark Aura sighed. “Too complicated. Hurts my brain. If I try to solve it I might just… lose my grip.”

“Alright, stop!” Haikato thrust out his free hand. “Perhaps we can talk things out. Why do you want another Aura, anyway?”

“Let’s get this straight,” the Dark Aura said. “You come to my city, kill my pets, and try to destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to build… and you think you have the right to demand that I answer your questions?”

Haikato, the Aura whispered, sounding excited. Keep him talking.

In Shapesense, Haikato noticed something he hoped that the Dark Aura had overlooked. Mina wasn’t just dangling over the Chasm, resigned to her fate. Her mind was constructing a theorem. A big theorem.

“Ok, I get it, you want a bow tie,” Haikato said. He pulled off the bow tie and tossed it in the air. A moment later, it reformed around his neck. “But I can’t just give it to you. Look. It’s magic. It keeps coming back to me no matter what I do.”

The Dark Aura scoffed. “Don’t play dumb. You know an Aura can be passed on– if its bearer gives it up willingly. And trust me, I could drop this wench right now and still have a wide array of options to make you willing. Especially now that my pets have arrived.”

Chittering rang through the evening air. Three shadowspawn crawled down the streets toward Haikato.

“Think you’re so clever, keeping me talking so you can stall for time?” The Dark Aura grinned. “You’re not the only one who was stalling. And now just to prove I don’t need this pathetic girl, I’ll drop her. Say goodbye to your brother, Mina. And everyone.”

A primal cry ripped from Haikato’s throat, and he raced forward. The Dark Aura hurled Mina out over the chasm. Mina began to fall– and then slammed against a solid stone bridge that arched over the entire Chasm.

Haikato, duck!

Haikato obeyed, falling into a crouch beside a broken post jutting out of the ground. Mina pushed herself up on shaky knees. She thrust out her hands, and wind erupted from her, catching the Dark Aura and sending it flying backward. Haikato grabbed onto the post as the wind slammed into him, snatching the breath from his lungs. The wind faded, and Haikato looked up just in time to Mina collapse on the bridge.

The Dark Aura screamed in rage. The shadowspawn charged, and Haikato raced in front of them, climbing the first few steps of the bridge to where Mina lay unconscious, fallen from exhaustion after such a vast transmutation. He knelt to pick her up– but the shadowspawn were too close. He whirled, slashing at a shadowspawn’s face as it tried to climb the bridge. The shadowspawn ducked back.

“Kill the girl!” the Dark Aura demanded. “I need the would-be Guardian alive.”

The bridge was narrow enough that the shadowspawn could only attack one at a time. Haikato unbuckled his shield, sliding it into his left hand. The lead shadowspawn slashed at him, but he deflected one claw and severed the next. The shadowspawn squealed in pain.

The rushing of wind overhead alerted him to a new threat. One of the winged shadows alighted on the bridge behind him. Haikato stepped back, straddling Mina’s unconscious form, defending from both sides.

Haikato dipped into Shapesense and ignited the air around the bat-shadow’s head. The shadowspawn screeched and fell back, beating its wings to extinguish the flames. That wouldn’t harm it– just distract it for a single precious moment. With the threat to his back alleviated, Haikato threw himself against the shadowspawn at his front, batting away its claws and plunging his wakizashi into its forehead. The thought of igniting its blood like he had with the last one flashed through his mind, but no– he was in too close quarters to risk a fire.

But the Dark Aura, it seemed, had no such concerns. It leapt atop the carcass, holding a dart in one hand. As it threw the dart, the tip ignited. It reached into its coat pocket and threw another dart, then another, drawing its arm back and throwing with preternatural speed. Haikato blocked the flaming darts with his shield while warding off the bat-thing with his wakizashi.

The Dark Aura leapt backward, and as he disappeared from view, the carcass erupted into flame. Heat blasted over Haikato.

Two more bat-shadows swooped in from the side as Haikato whirled to face the one at his back. He dispatched the enemy on the bridge, but failed against the ones in the air. One grabbed his shield, yanking him off-balance, while the second slashed at Mina’s throat.

And then both shadowspawn dissolved into specks of light.

A titanic boom sounded behind him. Haikato turned to see fire blasting in all directions from the face of the bridge. The shadowspawn on the streets squealed in terror and ran. A moment later, the fire consuming the corpse turned to water– and then Master Zaru climbed atop the singed carcass.

“It’s just one old man!” The Dark Aura bellowed. “Kill him!”

“Correction, nephew.” Master Zaru turned and planted his cane on the dead beast’s back. “It’s just one old Guardian.”

Haikato knelt down and heaved Mina over his shoulders, then sprinted up the stairs, Zaru following. As they reached the apex, Haikato chanced a glance behind them, and saw shadowspawn after shadowspawn crawling over the dead one and ascending the stairs.

On either side of the bridge, the darkness of the Chasm loomed. Behind him, darkness coated the bridge. Above him, thick tendrils of smoke choked out the light of the dying sun.

Haikato tightened his grip on Mina and raced down the stairs as quickly as he dared.

As they reached the bottom, Zaru placed a hand on Haikato’s shoulder. “Go. I’ll hold them off.”

Haikato shook his head. “Not without you.”

Zaru smiled. “Keep my niece safe.” He turned and thrust out his arms as if welcoming the oncoming shadowspawn with an embrace. Haikato glimpsed a storm of theorems laying claim to the reality surrounding him– theorems so complex and powerful Haikato could only guess at how they worked. All he knew was that the sheer amount of energy needed to cast them would kill Zaru even if the shadowspawn didn’t.

Mina beat a fist against Haikato’s back. “The… lever.”

Haikato set her on the ground. “What?”

“On the lowest stone of the bridge.”

Haikato looked up. He could see a lever on the side of the stone where the bridge met the edge of the chasm.

“Flip it,” Mina gasped, then slumped to the ground.

As the lead shadowspawn crawled over the apex of the bridge, Haikato lunged forward and flipped the lever. The stone attached to the lever crumbled. Rumbling shook the air– then the whole bridge broke into pieces, tumbling into the chasm, taking the shadowspawn with it.

Haikato leapt back as the bridge collapsed. Darkness swallowed stone and shadowspawn alike. Across the Chasm, the Dark Aura turned and vanished into the city.

It won’t be long before he finds some more of those bat-things to fly him across, Haikato thought. We need to hide.

Zaru lowered his arms and let out a whistle of appreciation. “Looks like Mina is more clever than we thought.”

That was fun, the Aura said. Except for the part where I almost got eaten. You wouldn’t let him eat me, right, Haikato?”

“Maybe I should,” Haikato murmured. “You’d give him indigestion. That would at least slow him down from chasing us.” He walked toward Mina’s slumped form. If she created something as large and complex as that bridge as a twelve-year old, what could she do with full Guardian training?

Haikato scooped Mina into his arms. As he did, he felt something lodged in her back, and turned her over, concerned. A burn mark marred the skin above her left shoulder blade, and one of the Dark Aura’s darts lodged in the flesh at the base of her neck.

Haikato plucked the dart out, eyes wide in alarm. The dart hadn’t sunk in deep– but where it had penetrated, a black web spread beneath the skin.

“Master Zaru!” Haikato called. “Come see this.”

Zaru’s face darkened as he inspected Mina’s wound. “Poison.” He glanced up at the sky. “No time to treat it here. Follow me.”

Haikato wrapped his arms around and carried her. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest– was it slowing? Or did it only appear that way compared to the rushing of his own heart?

Zaru seemed weaker now. He moved slowly, leaning on his cane. Haikato couldn’t move much faster himself, not with Mina as a burden, but still every step felt too slow.

Behind them, the dying sun painted the sky a brilliant red as it slowly but surely lost its battle against the oncoming dark. The sun was almost gone by the time Zaru stopped by a sewer grate and pried it open with the tip of his cane. He wrinkled his nose at the stench, then gestured for Haikato to jump in.

“I hope this is the right one,” Zaru muttered, climbing down and closing the grate behind him. “Problem with secret tunnels is that they don’t have signs pointing to them.”

Mina started awake. “Wha– what’s happening?”

“Hush.” Haikato rested a gentle hand against the back of her neck. “You’ve been hurt, but we’re getting you to safety. It’s going to be alright.”

Mina pushed herself away from him. “Put me down. I can walk.”

Haikato chuckled. “Trust me, you don’t want to walk.” Here I am, knee-deep in crap again– but not from horses.

“There’s a walkway to the side.” Zaru summoned his light-orb, revealing a raised stone path running along the sewage-filled ditch. Haikato put Mina down on the path, then hauled himself up, doing his best to scrape the gunk from his boots and robes. He tried to cover his face with his sleeve, but that filled his nostrils with another stench– the dried blood from the first shadowspawn he’d killed on the bridge.

“Aura, please don’t tell me you’re getting sick,” Haikato murmured.

Nope! I feel fine. I don’t have a sense of smell. And besides, if the rest of your clothes are filthy, that just makes me shine all the brighter by contrast. The bow tie gave a cheerful pulse of light. That brief flash gave Haikato a clearer glimpse of the black web spreading beneath the skin on Mina’s shoulder– was it bigger than before?

Mina didn’t mention her wound, but she seemed weak, often leaning against the wall for support even as she refused to let either Haikato or Zaru carry her. Her face remained gaunt and determined.

Zaru led them down several twists and turns, until at last they came upon a ladder leading out of the sewers.

“There’s another hideaway above.” Zaru climbed the ladder and pushed aside a metal plate in the ceiling, revealing a dank, musty room. Mina tried to pull herself up the ladder, but drew back in a hiss of pain and clenched her shoulder.

“Climb on my back,” Haikato said. “I’ll take you up.”

Mina grumbled but agreed.

“Rest, niece,” Zaru said as they sat in the hideaway, the light-orb suspended in the midst of them. “Creating that bridge was a great work, but now you need to recover your strength.”

“I’m fine,” Mina grumbled, pulling her knees up to her chest and burying her head in her hands.

“Take some food as well.” Haikato handed her some rations from his pack, but she pushed them away.

Zaru put a hand on Haikato’s shoulder and spoke in a voice so soft only Haikato could hear. “Come. We need to talk.”

He led Haikato to the opposite end of the room, outside of the radiance shed by the light-orb, where only the glow from the bow tie allowed Haikato to see Zaru’s face.

“Have you seen that poison before?”

Zaru nodded. “Fatal without treatment. She has at least a week, but the poison binds her life to the breach, draining her strength to create more shadowspawn.”

Haikato rubbed his forehead. “But if I sealed the breach…”

“It would stop the poison’s spread, and a geometer skilled in healing could extract it later.”

“I’ll go,” Haikato said. “Crossing the Chasm was the hard part. Now all I have to do is get to the university and find the breach.”

“And survive whatever my nephew’s summoned to guard it– which will be more now that he knows you’re here.”

Haikato pondered. “When we saw Nanto earlier, he wasn’t being controlled by the Dark Aura. He even helped us fight the shadowspawn. Is there a chance he could be freed?”

“Dark Auras were never my area of study.” Zaru bowed low over his cane, as if grief rested as a heavy load on his shoulders. “But from what little I do understand, it would take a far greater geometer than I to break the bonds of a Dark Aura’s possession.”

“So sealing the breach is Mina’s only chance to survive.”

“No. There’s another option– a tunnel near here that I used to smuggle the survivors out. If we leave the city, we’ll meet my brother’s army as they approach. They’ll have healers that can counter the poison.”

“But there’s no guarantee that we reach the army in time.”

“Ah yes, that mythical beast, the ‘guarantee’,” Zaru said. “You’re right– it won’t come to save us no matter which path you choose. Seal the breach now, or escape and allow a hero from among the army to arise?”

“You’re not going to tell me which one is best, are you?”

Zaru shrugged. “Am I the Guardian of Baon City?”

“You were like this even when you were the Guardian of Baon City,” Haikato said. “The students never got a straight answer from you. You’d just say, ‘you could do this, or you could do that’ and walk away.”

Zaru chuckled. “And now… you could do this, or you could do that. Or some third thing that none of us has thought of. But whatever choice you make, make it swiftly. The shadowspawn are hunting.”

Haikato glanced at Mina, still sitting with her face hidden, burdened with an affliction deeper than poison or exhaustion. Perhaps he could take her with him to seal the breach. She could see her brother one last time, even if…

No. Seeing what Nanto had become would multiply her grief.

But if he couldn’t restore her brother, he could seal the breach and save her life.

Haikato’s pulse quickened, resolve flooding through his veins. “Aura, you can seal the breach, right?”

Of course I can! That’s what I was made to do. Although… um… I prefer the ‘running away’ option.

“You came to me for a reason,” Haikato said. “Maybe I’m not the chosen one meant to seal the breach. But I’ll never know unless I try.”

“We’re close to the university,” Zaru said, and gave him directions. “Stay hidden.”

“If I don’t make it back, I need you to get Mina out,” Haikato said.

Zaru smiled. “Aye, Guardian Haikato.” He showed Haikato the hidden door leading into the streets, and Haikato opened it. The sky was dark.

Haikato leapt out, wreathed in shadows. He pulled his robes over his bow tie so that the Aura’s light wouldn’t give him away. Before he left, he cast one more glance at the corner where Mina sat, crumpled.

He heard– as his parting farewell– a single sob.