Spellbound
*Prologue
By Sakata Ri Houjun
*******************
Koi. Let me into your dreams. Open your heart and
hear me. Tasuki, I need you. Don't turn from me now,
or all is lost. I am lost. Koi.
Genrou shifted restlessly in sleep, turned his face
into the pillow. He could feel him there, somehow.
Skin, soft and yielding. Hands, gentle and soothing.
Then he drifted into dreams of searing flames and vast
mountains that rose high among the clouds. And the
scent of him.
*~~~*
The temple rose atop a hill, silver stone spearing
into stormy skies. The sound of his mount's bridle
jingled brightly as he climbed high over the rolling
grass. Thunder sounded in the west over the mountains
in the distance. And echoed in his heart.
Had he waited for me?
His eyes, golden as the edges of the magical flame he
wielded, shifted, scanned, searching for any holes
where a foe could hide. His tessen lay ready. In
such a place a man did not lower his guard. Here
magic stung the air and could embrace or threaten.
Here a god plotted or blessed, and a monk cast his
spells in that god's name.
Atop the lonely hill, towering above the nearby
stream, the temple stood, holding its secrets. No man
rode this path without hearing the whispers of old
legends and new spirits.
Had he waited for me?
The horse's hooves rang musically over rock until at
last they traveled to level ground. He dismounted at
the foot of the hill just as lightning cracked the
black sky.
And he was there, conjured up out of storm-whipped
air. His hair was a waterfall of sky blue silk over a
gray cloak, his skin alabaster with the faint bloom of
rose, his remaining eye as burgundy as wine and just
as intoxicating.
The rider's heart leapt, and his blood churned with love,
lust, longing. He dismounted and came to him, his beauty staggering.
Their eyes locked; he was eager for the older man who
was mage, monk, and lover.
"Tasuki, have you traveled all night, no da? You must
want something."
"Chichiri." His lips bowed in a smile. "I want
everything."
"Only everything, na no da?" His laugh was low and
intimate. "Well I guess that's a good enough answer
I'll ever get out of you, no da. I've been waiting
for you."
Then Chichiri's arms were around him, mouth lifting to
his. He pulled the smaller man closer; wild to have
whatever he was offering, and more.
"I've been waiting for you," he repeated. "I can't
fight this alone. Mikuni is too strong, her dark
forces too greedy. Koi, why did you shut me out of
your heart?"
He drew the older man away. The temple was gone - only
ruins remained, empty, battle-scarred. They stood in
the shadow of what had been, before a small house.
"The time is short now," he continued. "Tasuki, you
must come to me. Destiny can't be denied. Without
you with me, she'll win."
Chichiri lifted a hand to his face, and it passed
through him as if he were a ghost. Or perhaps he was
the ghost. "I have loved you throughout time. I am
bound to you. Come to me soon. Find me. Or I'm
lost."
Then he was gone.
*~~~*
The redhead awoke gasping for breath. And reaching
out.
*~~~*
"Kou Genrou, you need a vacation," his mother said.
Genrou sipped his coffee. He wasn't sure why he'd
come home to Brooklyn to listen to his mother
complaining about his life.
"I'm seriously considering that right now."
"Try Montana," his father suggested. As usual, no one
paid him any attention.
"You need a couple of weeks away from the city life,"
his mother said. "You're looking tired."
"That's because I'm home, listening to you bitch," he
grumbled. "But I have been thinking of taking a
trip."
"Good," his mother said. "You've been working too
hard. Not that we aren't proud of you. After your
exhibit last month I couldn't stop bragging to the
point that the neighbors started to hide when they saw
me coming."
"That's your huge-ass breasts scaring them, Ma.
Besides, I'm fine. Just not sleeping well."
"Have you seen a doctor?" his mother asked,
remembering her son as a boy, who had walked in his
sleep, and had dreamed of bandits, gods, and battle.
"Ma, I'm fine." Genrou said. "I'm planning to go to
China." It came out of Genrou's mouth before he'd
realized the idea was in his head.
"China?" His mother pursed her lips. "Not to work?"
"No, to…to see," he said. "Just to see."
She nodded, satisfied. A vacation, after all, was a
vacation. "Going to look up ancestors, Gen-chan?"
"I might." He was going to look up something, he
realized. Or someone.