Chasing Shadows

by Plantress

Fantasy AU. When Prince Koutarou Bokuto goes hunting for the monster attacking the people of Fukurodani, it turns into a living nightmare for his personal guard Keji Akaashi. Bokuto/Akaashi

Notes: So, I don't think I've ever written a canon pairing for Haikyuu. But I really wanted to do something with a fantasy AU, and I really wanted to write a bad-ass Akaashi, so here we are. I had a lot of fun with this one, and it will hopefully be the first of a series of loosely-connected fics set in the same world. I do really like the BokuAka dynamic, so I went with this. Will eventually involve most of Nekoma, but that's for future chapters. Thanks to everyone in the discord chat that listen to me ramble endlessly on while I was working on this. It meant a lot. A better view of the cover image can be fount at my deviantart account linked in my profile.

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Keiji Akaashi, knight-mage of the Owl Knights, member of the Royal Guard, personal guard for the youngest Prince of the kingdom of Fukurodani, heaved a sigh and slammed shut the book he had been reading, then glanced out the window of the royal library.
Normally he liked the library. He liked the books, the soaring several-stories high bookcases, cozy seating areas, grand fireplace, and most of all the general quiet and order of the place. Whenever he needed a moment to think, to plan, he would find himself coming here. Not that he hated the company of the prince, (privately he would admit that the opposite was probably true), but he was very...energetic. Sometimes he needed a moment to catch his breath.
Thought at the moment, this was not the sanctuary it usually was. If anything, it was a reminder of the information they didn't have at the moment. A lack that was costing them lives.
He ran his fingers over the cover of the book as he studied the deceptively calm looking forest beyond the city walls. There had been another attack a few days ago, this time against a large group, and they still had no real idea what exactly they were dealing with. Most thought it was shadow fiends or something similar, but what kind of shadow fiend or what abilities it had was still unclear. Very large and very fast was the only description the survivors had managed to agree on, and it was too vague to be really helpful. It didn't help that the thing kept striking at twilight, when the natural shadows made things even harder to make out. The attacks had been escalating lately as well, and it was causing a sense of unease to creep into the populace of the city. No one wanted to venture outside the walls if it would mean even the chance of getting eaten after all. That a caravan had been decimated was only going to make the tension in the city worse. They needed to find something if they wanted to make progress. Scouts had been sent out to try and track from the latest attack site before the trail went cold, but no one knew if that would have any sort of success.
He turned away from the window and brought the book back over to the shelf he had taken it from. His father would probably say that he didn't need to worry about it at all, that he only needed to pay attention to his charge. There seemed to be something fundamentally wrong about that to Akaashi. He had trained to be an owl knight because he wanted to be useful to all of the people of the kingdom, not just one.
Besides, his charge insisted on getting involved with all of it anyway, riding out whenever report of an attack came in despite his protests. The people called him Champion and it was a title he took seriously after all. Akaashi wanted to make sure that they were prepared for whatever trouble the two of them ended up stumbling across.
The door into the library creaked open just as he was looking for another book. He glanced over at the entrance out of habit.
"Ah, good, you're here," a familiar figure said as he walked inside, waving a small packet of papers. "I was afraid I would have to search the entire castle for you!"
"..Akinori?" he said as the scout came up him. Akinori Konoha was a ranger that worked with some of the more elite forest scout groups. The last time they'd talked was a couple days ago when he'd headed off with his unit as part of the scouting attempt. He hadn't even realized that he was back yet. Just got back it looked like. The scout had obviously made an attempt to clean himself up, but he was still in his armor and field uniform. There was also an almost frantic look in his eyes that made Akaashi feel apprehensive. "What's wrong?"
"We just got back," the scout said, confirming the knight-mage's suspicions as he walked over to meet him, "well, back to the castle a few hours ago, and we just got out of a long meeting with the king and his council."
"What?" Akaashi said, in complete shock. His father was one of the commanders of the army and in the king's close council. That was why Akaashi knew there hadn't been a meeting scheduled for today. It must have been an emergency session then, and if they'd kept the scouts there without bothering to let them rest or even get a chance to change… "You found something, didn't you? Finally?"
Akinori nodded, "Yeah, we did. I thought you would want to see the report. Technically I'm not supposed to even discuss it with anyone else, but I think you should know,." He started to hold out the small sheaf of papers, only to hesitate for a second. "And, uh….look, some of it is a bit dramatic-sounding, but I swear it's the truth. You have to trust me on that."
Since the scout wasn't the sort of person to tell lies in the first place, Akaashi gave him an odd look as he finally looked at the report. "...What does that even mean?"
"You'll see," Akinori said, looking unusually grim, "though I really wish I could say this was all just a giant prank."
Akaashi gave him a last look before he started reading the report. The scout stood there patiently as he went through it, not sure what was so important when it seemed to be perfectly ordinary and not at all helpful...until he reached the second half. He looked up sharply at the scout, who shrugged.
"Told you," was all he said, as Akaashi went back to reading.
The knight-mage read it through twice to make sure, yes, that was really what the report said. Then double-checked to make sure the pages actually belonged with the report, and somehow it hadn't gotten mixed with pages torn from a storybook. When he finally looked up again it was with trepidation, the thoughts buzzing around in his head so much it was hard to figure out what to think or even feel. The report did sound like a prank. If it had been anyone but Akinori he would have thought it was one, and dismissed it out of hand. But because it was Akinori, and he trusted him, he had to believe this. Besides, obviously the king's council had. They wouldn't have been fooled by a mere prank.
"You're sure about this?" Akaashi asked at least, and the scout nodded.
"Yeah," he said, "I mean, I thought I was dreaming at first, you know? But everyone saw it, you can ask Washio. It went across the moon as we were setting up camp. We thought it was a shadow fiend at first,but there's be never been one like that! And it looked just like the outline that's in the painting of the very first owl knight, the one that's in the King's Hall. Next morning we started back, and well, you saw the report. We weren't the only ones who had seen it, and when you've got so many people saying they saw about the same thing…"
"Then there's bound to be some truth to it," Akaashi could already feel a headache building. There was still the possibility that this was some new sort of Shadow Fiend. If anything that was the more likely possibility, or at least more believable than the other conclusion . However, even if that was true, this shadow fiend was larger than they had seen before and completely unknown. Treating it like a legend come to life would at least make people more likely to treat it seriously. "...What did my father and the king say? Since you were dragged into an emergency council, I assume someone believed you. Father wouldn't have just let you go without making some sort of plan."
Akinori leaned against the end of one of the bookcases. "I don't know all the details, but he's given us orders to 'rest and prepare'. We're going to be sent back out in a few days, to figure out if really saw what we think we did, and if so, where it's lair is. He doesn't want us charging in without a plan."
"That does sound like my father," Akaashi said, his attention only half on that fact. This entire thing felt almost like a dream. This wasn't something that you heard about in these days. It was like a myth, a legend, come to life and staring at them. If it wasn't for the very real casualties he would assume it was some sort of illusion or the result of far too much drink. "He's probably trying to gather a guard unit, just in case you do find it, and it's angry."
"Still, a few days?" Akinori sounded nervous. "And even with the guard, what are we going to do? You can't just kill something like that!"
"It's been done before," Akaashi said, "that's probably one of the reasons that Father has that preparation delay. " He wasn't sure if that was the choice he would have made himself, and there was a part of him that shared the scout's anxiety. The plan seemed to assume that just because this thing hadn't attacked the city yet, it never would. The knight-mage supposed that his father had his reasons but he could see several problems with waiting without even trying. One sprang to mind right away. "I know you came straight here, but what about the civilians that saw it? Did you hear about it when you were going through the city?" He didn't want to think of the sort of panic this sort of information would cause. Even if it turns out to be false in the end, people would still ended up panicking. And that could be...bad. Very bad.
"We didn't hear anything about it," Akinori admitted, "granted, we were rushing, but I don't think the information that it's real had trickled down to the general populace yet. Or if they had heard of it, they just thought they were rumors, the kind of thing someone drunk on one of the roads would see. So we're safe for now. His majesty even ordered us to keep silent, probably because he wanted to avoid riots. Maybe keeping quiet will help with that."
"Quiet," Akaashi repeated, starting to feel the beginnings of a headache building in his temples. "That's a good idea. I just hope we can actually make it happen. Especially since, if the council heard it, he's already heard about it by now."
"Who do you mea…"
As if in answer to that question there was a faint, sound of metal-on-stone that gradually got louder, and louder, until the library door didn't seem to so much open as burst inwards, admitting a swirling blur of black and white.
"Akkkkaaashi! Did you here? Did you hear about….! ..Oho Akinori, you're here too!"
"Ah," Akinori said "That, him."
"Yes," Akaashi sighed, "that him." Then he raised his voice a fraction. "Prince Bokuto, this is a library. Indoor voice only, please." He crossed his arms and glared at Prince Koutarou Bokuto, third son of the king, Champion of Fukurodani, who at least managed to look a little sheepish….for all of two seconds.
"Sorry!" he said in a harsh whisper, then seemed to forget about it watching his volume. "Anyway! Akaashi! Guess what I just heard?"
"That we have a dragon problem?" Akaashi said, unphased, "yes, I heard. Akinori just gave me the report."
"And," he added before the Prince could say anything else, "no, your highness, you may not go hunting it."
"But I haven't said anything yet!" His highness looked both impressed and disappointed at once.
"You're already wearing full armor," Akaashi pointed out. The heavy white armor, with golden embellishments and sweeping black cape was rather obvious, "and you came charing here to tell me about a dragon. You don't need to say anything. Unless I'm wrong?"
"Well,no," Bokuto admitted, poking his fingers together for a moment before shaking it off. "But come on, Akaashi, it's a dragon. A dragon!" He sounded excited, like it was something from a zoo or carnival not a creature that had been stalking their roads. "No one has seen a dragon in….thousands of years!"
"Hundreds," Akaashi corrected, "hundreds of years, not thousands," which was why it felt unreal, even to him. What was all too real though, was that familiar gleam in the prince's eyes. This was not something that he was going to let go easily. The knight-mage rubbed his temples, trying to keep the twinge from turning into a full-blown headache.
He wondered if Prince Bokuto was aware of those in court that liked to make jokes about how it was hard to tell which of them was the prince and which was the guard. Akaashi knew that he wasn't supposed to have overheard the remarks himself, but they hadn't realized he was there. Apparently they thought he carried a 'more dignified' aura. Anyone that said that probably hadn't meet Prince Bokuto. Yes, he was impulsive and loud, sometimes acting without thinking, but had incredible natural charisma and was a nearly unstoppable warrior. He was already considered one of the best fighters in the kingdoms. The only reason he wasn't considered one of the three best was because of how unstable his moods were. When he was doing well, he was amazing, and barely anyone could touch him. Then he would make a mistake, one of their men would get hurt, and suddenly he was in a 'dejected' mood where he almost seemed to forget which end of the sword to use. Guarding him during that time, when he was at his most vulnerable in battle, was a job and a half. The owl knights assigned to his personal guard always cheerful complained about it and teased him.
They were also extremely loyal, genuinely like the Prince, and wouldn't let anyone else say anything bad about him without jumping to his defense.
"Hundreds of years since anyone has seen a dragon then!" Bokuto corrected himself, "either way it's been a long, long time since anyone has seen one!" His usual cheerful expression turned to something more serious. "And it's been that long since someone had to fight one, so no one could tell what it 's why it's been able to cause so much damage. No one could figure out how to deal with it, right?"
Akinori looked slightly shocked by this, but Akaashi was used to Bokuto changing gears so easily. "Yes, that's one of the reasons," he said, "and you've been helping out enough to know that's not all of it, your highness."
"Yeah, but now that we know what it is now! All we have to do is take it out!" He slammed a fist into his open palm. "This time it won't get a chance to go after anyone else!"
"Prince Bokuto, do you know how to fight a dragon?" Akaashi said, deadpan. "You just pointed out that you couldn't have seen one before. We don't even know where this one is lairing. How do you intend to find it?"
That actually seemed to get to him for a second because he paused for all of two seconds before answering it. "We'll just fight it like we normally do! We haven't failed yet, have we? We find it, and we beat it up, it's simple!"
"It's a dragon," Akaashi said, "I doubt it's going to be that simple, your highness." There was some truth to his words though, as much as Akaashi hated to admit it. The prince hadn't become known as the champion of Fukurodani just because of his bloodline. The last time shadow fiends had shown up, he had been the one to step up and act despite the odds being impossible. Akaashi hadn't been pleased with him then either, but they had won and somehow he thought a monster that was that even this legendary could be conquered. He just thought charging in recklessly was foolish. "Besides, you still wouldn't even know where to look. The tracks were always 'inconclusive' remember?"
"Akinori knows where it is, right?" Bokuto turned to the scout. "He can show us where it is!"
"We don't know exactly where it is, just that it's around!" the scout said, "we're going out in a few days to find that out more specifics. Hopefully. Since we had zero luck finding it every time before this." Which just made Bokuto look slightly crestfallen.
"If you want," Akaashi said with a sigh since he couldn't just ignore his charge's expression, "We can go with them then, but remember it's only a scouting mission. We aren't going too.."
"That's days away!" Bokuto's voice was raising again, "what if it comes back and goes after someone else!?" he stood up straighter. His fist tapped against his chest. "I'm the champion, remember? It's my job to go out there and do something about it!"
The words were ones that echoed in Akaashi's own thoughts, but even if he agreed with Bokuto he couldn't let that get in the way of his duty. "And it's my job to make sure you stay in one piece. Just charging out there is only to get you killed, your highness." Privately he was wondering how he was going to keep him from charging off no matter what he said. Short of tying him up and locking him in his room, he wasn't sure that it was possible. The prince took the title of 'champion' very seriously. He wouldn't just walk away now that he knew what was hurting the people he was supposed to be looking out for."You have to have back up. If you'd just wait until we have a plan…."
"This isn't something we can just think about," Bokuto insisted. "What if it attacks the city while we're waiting to figure something out?" He shook his head, "being a champion means that I have to protect people. They trust me to make sure that everything turns out okay. I can't just wait here to see if something happens!"
He had that look about him, the one that Akaashi had last seen before he had charged straight into a shadow fiend nest. Prince Bokuto, he had learned then, was hard to stop when he really had his mind set on something.
"Besides," the Prince continued, "I'm a paladin! I'm supposed to go around getting rid of evil! So that means we'll have the blessing of the moon goddess, so we can't lose! ...Probably."
Akaashi didn't even know how to argue with that last part. He still wasn't even sure why the prince had decided to become a paladin in the first place, since he hadn't been particularly devout when they were younger. Even now he wasn't sure his prince was particularly religious, but his power did seem to work, so he supposed the moon goddess was pleased about something Bokuto was doing. Even when that something was being stubborn about taking on something that would very likely kill him.
About the only way Akaashi knew would top him when he got like this was sending him into his dejected mode, and that wasn't something he really wanted to do.
Besides, he did agree with at least part of it. Why wait several days to send out more scouts? It didn't make any sense to him.
"You're not going to listen even I say no, are you?" he said to the Prince.
"Come on Akaashi," he whined, "we have to do something!" There was an almost pleading look on his face.
There were numerous reasons he could think of about why going out after this thing was insane and possible suicidal. Akaashi knew that he could probably think of even more if he actually took a second to consider things more closely.
He also knew that none of those reasons would actually get through to Bokuto, not in his current frame of mind. Besides, he was uneasy about how long it would be until the king actually acted. Not that he would dare to question his majesty to his face but...
"...Fighting the dragon right now would be stupid," he said at last, "but," he held up a hand when the prince started to protest, "we can go look for where it is. If we can prove to his majesty that we have it's location, we might be able to convince him to move sooner. Just charing out there carelessly will get people besides you killed." Privately he thought there was no way they would be able to get rid of a dragon without losing someone, but that wasn't something he wanted to think to hard about at the moment. They could deal with it when they actually had more information.
Bokuto, meanwhile, had almost to vibrate with impatience. "But if we find it, we can…!"
"If we find it," Akaashi cut him off, "we come back. Promise me that you'll listen to me, Prince Bokuto." When he saw the hesitant expression on the Prince's face, he said firmly, "we'll come back after we find the dragon, then you can lead a unit out there, all right? It will be safer for everyone that way." It would give him more time to figure out a way to keep Bokuto from actually being on the front lines. He would actually like to keep him from going out there at all, but he had known his highness long enough by now that he was sure that was impossible. All he could do was try to redirect him.
He turned to Akinori then, "I don't want it to be just us either. There are a few other members of the Owl Knights we need too…"
"Um," Akinori said hesitantly, "I'm not sure that's going to work."
"Whyy?" Bokuto managed to whine and sound more like a child then a Prince. "Come on, Akaashi, we can go, right? We don't need anyone else!"
"I know it's not the best plan," he said to Akinori as he held up his hand to shut up Prince Bokuto again, "but he'll just ride out on his own anyway. A small group should be stealthy enough to maybe find something without alerting…"
"I'm not talking about that kind of 'not work'. I mean I was the last of my unit to leave the room, and I heard the general tell his majesty he was going to confine all Owl Knights to the castle grounds because he knew that Prince Bokuto would go off on his own if he didn't."
"...Father did what?" Akaashi started, not because he didn't think his father wouldn't do something like that, because he knew he would, he just hadn't realized he would act that fast. "But I haven't received any orders yet!" Technically he was a member of the owl knights, special guard status aside. A broad over would still cover him as well.
He had also been sure he would be the first person to be of orders like that, especially when it was relation to Prince Bokuto.
"I did just leave the meeting," Akinori pointed out, "even if he sent a runner out as soon as I left, it would be too the barracks. No one has had time to find you yet. I don't think anyone expected Prince Bokuto to find out about it so soon either."
Akaashi swore internally, mind already racing, "So, what we'll have to do is….your highness!"
The last burst out of him when he noticed that Prince Bokuto had bolted back towards the the library door. The champion turned around at him. "If we're going, I'm going to get the horses ready! Akaashi, I"ll meet you down in the courtyard!"
"Prince Bokuto!" But the shout was useless since his liege was already gone.
Akaashi allowed himself to groan and drop his head into his hand for a moment.
"Uh, Akaashi?" Akinori said hesitantly, "Should we stop him?"
"At this point I think it's useless," Akaashi signed and straightened up, running a hand over his face as he thought for a moment. "Akinori, can you do me a favor?"
The scout straightened up a little, "Of course. What is it, sir?"
Hearing Akinori of all people say something like that sounded...odd. The scout was an old friend, and very rarely felt the need to give that level of respect. He would ask him about it later.
"Go and get us some provisions for a few days, and bring them out to where Prince Bokuto will be. Knowing him, he'll just get mounts and no other supplies. If I go, I'll probably be stopped, or at least questioned. You aren't part of the Owl Knights, so I doubt you'll be noticed at all."
"And if I am I can probably find some excuse," Akinori said without hesitation, "so you can count on me for that." He hesitated for a second, "Are you sure we should be doing this, though? I mean, i'm not doubting you or his highness, but you'll be out there alone. Against a dragon."
Akaashi let out a breath, "I'm not sure we'll be right exactly, but if we don't do anything, Prince Bokuto will find a way out of here no matter what. Truly alone this time. He's got too many friends in the palace that will want the Champion out there instead of confined in here. Not only amongst the guards, but amongst the servants as well and some of them very clever. He's right about people expecting him to go out to face this thing.. They'll help him because once they hear about the dragon they are going to be frightened and he's the champion." Akaashi sigh, "at least if he's doing something useful, and I'm with him, I can keep him from getting himself killed." I hope, he added silently in his head.
"Besides," he added, "We won't be out there alone for long, if this plan goes well."
"Plan?" Akinori raised an eyebrow.
"My father did probably send a runner to the Owl Knight barracks already," Akaashi rolled up the report that Akinori had given him and stuck it in his a pouch at his belt, "But I doubt the orders to remain here will hold if they found out Prince Bokuto is already gone. He would be in danger then, and what use are those orders when the reason behind them is already gone?"
"I follow you," Akinori was grinning now. "So after you two leave, I tell someone the prince is missing?"
Akaashi nodded, "Just give us enough time to get clear of the city gates. Even if we make it to the ancient spire, I doubt the dragon is just going to be sitting there. We probably won't even find anything before our provisions run out, not if even your unit could find anything. And I don't want civilians to see their champion being dragged back to the castle. That might panic them as much as anything else."
"And," Akaashi added, "don't tell his majesty or my father yourself. They know you're friends with me, and will connect you to this. I don't want you getting in trouble because of my plan . Instead go to the captain of the owl knights, and tell him that you you can't find me."
"I'll do that," Akinori said at last, "And honestly? I hope you find something useful out there, Akaashi. Just don't get yourself killed."
"Believe me, I have no plans of getting anyone killed. Now let's get moving before Prince Bokuto gets impatient and tries to go ahead on his own.
As they separated and started going about their own parts, Akaashi tried to shut out the little part of his mind that was point out that even this plan was stupid. That there were a million ways he could stop or delay Prince Bokuto if he really tried. But he wasn't. He was going along with the man, because he had a hard time saying no to him. And because he was just looking for an excuse to go against his father's orders. That he was going to get both of them killed and it would be all his fault.
He shoved those thoughts away. Especially the last one. There was no way he was going to let either of them die, especially Prince Bokuto. If thing started to get too dangerous, or his highness too unreasonable, he had no qualms about knocking the Prince out and dragging him out of there. Even if that means he doesn't trust me or even like me anymore. His first priority was the Prince's safety, even if that ended with the Prince hating him. The latter was something that Akaashi had long ago come to terms with, if it were to happen. It might hurt, but as long as Bokuto was a live, it would be worth it. Gutwrentching as his hatred would be, it was much preferable to a word without his light in it.
Luckily he knew the routes that would get him back to his rooms without running into anyone that would actually want to stop him. The few servants he saw wouldn't think to tell anyone until far later. It took only moments for him to get ready, grab the few things he thought he would need and then slip back out.
He was unsurprised to find Bokuto waiting with their horses, already mounted, when he reached the courtyard.
"Come on Akaashi," he said excitedly, almost seeming to vibrate on his seat. The long-suffering horse seem to just give a sigh. "You take forever!"
"I was hurrying, Prince Bokuto," the knight-mage said calmly as he walked over to his own mount. "I was making preparations." He checked the packs that were on his own horse, and was pleased to see that Akinori had packed enough for two days. He wasn't sure they would even be out that long, but if something happened, or the prince fell into his one of his darker moods, then he wanted to be prepared.
"Are you ready yet?" he heard Bokuto say impatiently as he swung up into the saddle.
"Yes, I'm ready. Let's go," he said, and started the horse out the gate, with the Prince right behind him, yelling at him to wait up. He wanted to be out of here before anyone thought to stop them. If they were pulled back now, Prince Bokuto would just become more determined than ever to leave.
Their ride through town was peaceful, and relatively uneventful. Apparently Akinori had been right when he said that no one seemed to have heard the rumors about what was lurking inside the forest just yet, since everyone was going about their business as they usually did. A few of the townspeople did recognize Prince Bokuto, but those encounters just resulted in a respectful bow or an outright cheer and shouts of 'bless you champion'. It struck him then that that there were more of the latter than the former. The ones calling him champion also seemed more enthusiastic and he found himself wondering, not for the first time, if some people had forgotten he was a Prince at all and saw only the Champion.
Then caught himself thinking maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
It wasn't crowded in the city streets as it usually was, and under other circumstances he would have enjoyed the ride much more. The capital looked beautiful as always, it's rounded dark wooden buildings somehow seeming to have a glow of their own in the sunlight. Only the most wealthy could afford a stone-built first first floor, but all of them sported detailed carvings on at least part of the outside walls. Somewhere painted, some where not, but all the carvings told a story for those that could read them. Not just about what business that resided in the building but about the family that owned it as well. They paved streets that wound between the buildings curved and wandered in patterns that seemed confusing to anyone new to the city, but the longer you lived here the more you saw the logic behind it. (Akaashi knew it well. He'd lived there his whole life.) And everywhere, between the buildings, arching over the streets, growing over some of the house themselves, was the greenery that had made the city famous. The plants were a source of pride for the citizens, even though they seemed to grow just fine without care. Everything from massive trees between buildings and in the parks, to the carefully tended gardens and flowering shrubs were vibrantly beautiful, with some only seemed to grow in Fukurodani.
Akaashi took a deep breath as they passed by a particularly large bush dripping with white blossoms. It was a soothing scent and it occurred to him again that this was possibly one of the worst places for a dragon to turn up.
The outer walls might be stone, but if it flew over them...fire would be deadly to the city. He glanced over at Bokuto. As much as he hated to admit it, the Prince might have a point when it came to his plan. They couldn't let the city become a battleground. It was better to find this thing and bring the battle to it.
"...aashi!" Bokuto's impatent voice made him turn away from his contemplation of the city to find his Prince look at him with a slightly impatient look on his face.
"What is it ,Prince Bokuto?" he said easily, as if he hadn't just been woolgathering. Bokuto looked like he would like to say something, but apparently considered it unimportant next to his next question.
"Where was the dra…" he started to say, but even someone as loud as Bokuto seemed to remember that they were riding through a crowded market and shouting about dragons at the top of his lungs when it was supposed to be a secret wasn't a good idea. So he coughed. "Where uh...where was um...the..map again? You didn't let me see it!" He looked so pleased at his cover-up too. Akaashi sighed.
"It's in my pack, where it's safe, your highness," he said, "and I looked at the area Akinori's unit marked out early. It's out by the ancient spire. We've been out there before."
Bokuto seemed to light up at that, "Yeah, I remember! We went hunting there and we…" he trailed off. "That means it's pretty close, doesn't it?"
"Relatively close, but yes, Prince Bokuto, it is."
His highness fell silent for nearly a full minute after that. That was the real sign that something was wrong right there.
"Then we should hurry!" he said and urged his mount a little faster.
"Be careful Prince Bokuto," Akaashi called after him, without bothering to hurry himself. The city might not be crowded but he would be forced to slow once they got to the gate. He could catch up there. And in the meantime, maybe he could try to think of a way to keep Bokuto from charging into the mouth of a dragon that may or may not be waiting for them. Unfortunately his mind was proving to be frustratingly blank in the regard.
Outside of the city, the main road was still busy, even though it was obvious that things were much more tense than they should be. Even within sight of the city walls, people were hurrying, and kept glancing at the forests around them, as if expecting to be jumped on. You could feel the tension in the air, though some of it seemed to lift when they saw who was riding out. Apparently just the sight of the Champion simply trying to do something about the situation was enough to put them at ease. He wondered if Bokuto realized that. He stole a glance at the Prince and he thought that, from the unusually serious expression that he was very aware of what his presence meant to the average citizen.
Though from his words early, he had already known that. Akaashi was not surprised.
Like the ride through town, you could almost have called this ride through the forest pleasant if it wasn't for what they would, maybe, find at their destination. The forests that populated most of Fukurodani were ancient. The trees were massive things, reaching up far, far into the air, higher even than the walls of the city in some cases. The trunk of even the smallest was big enough that it would take more than one person standing with outstretched arms to circle it. Moss dripped from the branches of the giants, and the undergrowth was incredibly think anywhere a few lances of sunlight pierced through the canopy. Even on the main road the trees grew close enough to the edge on either side that their branches nearly touched and formed a long green tunnel.
Akaashi knew that the forest intimidated or frightened some people, but he found it refreshing. Especially once they got away from the main press of people and onto one of the side road that would lead them to the general area of the ancient spire. The forest here was quieter, almost serene. There was no sign that disaster could leap out at them at any moment. Instead it was just wind rustling through the leaves, the occasional shiver or snap from the undergrowth as perfectly ordinary animals went about their business, and the distance sound of birdsong. All so very peaceful.
It was broken only by the sound of Prince Bokuto's voice.
Not that Akaashi actually minded all that much.
He very much liked listening to Bokuto talk. Especially when it was something that interested him. Most people seemed to come to the conclusion that because Bokuto occasionally charged in without thinking, he was stupid. Akaashi actually enjoyed watching their faces when they realized the Prince had probably read more of the royal library than they had. It was just that he tended to get focused on his interests, and had trouble paying attentions to subjects that he wasn't. He had some gaps in his knowledge, but he was far, far from being stupid. And there were moments, like now, where he would go off on something he had read in a book or heard some say, when his eyes would almost seemed to glow. Akaashi found himself watching the way Bokuto gestured as he talked about something, the way the sunlight coming through the leaves bounced off the planes of his face, bounced off his lips as he laughed at something. His eyes traced the curve of his throat down to where his armor covered….
He realized what he was doing, carefully looked away casually. Mentally he gathered all those thoughts, shoved them in a box with all the similar thoughts before them , and sat on it. He didn't dare let himself really think about what those feelings were or what they meant to him. No matter what he wanted, his duty to the royal family of Fukurodani. It was what his family had always done, and they had made it very clear that they expected him to do the same.
No matter what his own feelings on the subject were.
"Hey, Akaashi," Bokuto said, and for a moment he thought that the prince had noticed his wandering attention again. Whoever, a glance at him proved the man wasn't looking in his direction. His highness rarely had a look that serious on his face, and when Akaashi followed his gaze, he realized that it his attention was taken up by something far more important than his guard's silence.
He had forgotten, until that moment, that this side road was deserted for very good reason. Most people had decided that it was too dangerous to travel on, especially after the latest attack.
"That's the trade caravan," Akaashi said needlessly as they moved nearer it. It's destruction had been what really caused people to really start to panic. After all, if a well armed, and well guarded, trade caravan could be taken down so easily then there was a little hope for a loan traveler.
"How many casualties were there again?" The Prince's voice was low and serious. People who hadn't seen Prince Bokuto during the worst moments of a battle probably would have been caught off-guard by that intense look in his eyes. It was completely different from his usual demeanor.
"There were ten," Akaashi responded riding forward a few paces to get a better look at the wreckage. He hadn't actually seen it in person before. Prince Bokuto had wanted to ride out and see, but the king had forbidden it. "Mostly guards, trained soldiers. The survivors couldn't give us a clear description of what attacked them either. Some said it was too dark, others that it was too fast or they were too busy trying to hide to get a look at it."
There weren't any bodies here now. Even what was left of the horses had been cleared off. He didn't need the corpses to tell how the battle though. The scuffs and trenches in the road, the spent arrows and broken weapons still scattered around, they told a story all their own to those that could read them. He might not be a scout, but he'd seen enough battles against bandits and shadow fiends to make an educated guess. Blood splotches on the remains of the carts, the long scratch marks on the wooden wreck, even one cart that looked as it some massive hand had just grabbed it and squeezed..that said as much about the violence that had taken place here as the stories the survivors had told. He supposed that it made sense given what they know must have caused it, but there was still something that was nibbling at his brain. It was only when he saw the pale edges of some of the broken wood that it occurred to him
Dragons breathed fire. They were legendary for it. So why was nothing here burned? Even if there was no one here capable of standing against it, you would think it would have used one of it's best weapons in order to end things quickly. Why attack a group this large anyway? There were easy ways to obtain food if that's what it was after, and it hadn't taken any of the goods they'd been carrying. So why would…
"We have to stop this," Prince Bokuto said, his voice raising. When Akaashi turned to tell him to watch the volume, the intensity of his eyes stopped him. He hadn't seen a look like that since the last time they'd had bandits riding through here. His breath caught, and for a long moment he couldn't look away as a shiver that had nothing to do with fear ran up his spine.
He crammed that thought back in the mental box it belonged in.
"That's why we're here, your highness," he said and rode back over to him. "But remember we're only scouts right now. Find the monster, mark the place, then get help so you don't charge in and get killed That was your promise, remember?."
"Gah, I know!" Bokuto yelled, throwing his head back, "we still can find it, right? Let's go Akaashi!" He kicked the horse into a gallop and went right past him.
Akaashi heaved a sigh, "Your highness," he said, wishing he didn't have to be so loud, "that's the wrong way. Our path is over there," he pointed at the small riding trail that lead off the road.
Down the trail, the Prince reigned in his horse, paused for a moment, then turned and trotted back the way they had come.
"I...I knew that," he mumbled and started towards the trail. "...Come on Akaashi, let's go!"
"Please keep your voice down, your highness," Akaashi sighed, "and slow down. It would be better to leave the horses here."
"What?" Bokuto twisted around in the saddle to face him. "Here?"
"No here, but there's a clearing a little way down the trail, before we reach the spire. People used to use it as a camp. It'll be easier if we continue on foot. Unless you want to feed your horse to a dragon." The last was a little harsh, especially when he didn't think they would even find the thing. He just wanted to be careful. Prince Bokuto hadn't fared well the last time he'd lost a horse. The Prince winced a little at his words and patted the neck of his war horse.
"Leaving the horses would probably be smart," he said, "but will they be okay by themselves? Won't it come after them?"
Akaashi liked his lips, one of the pieces of information that had clued them in that this wasn't an ordinary beast rising in his mind. "You can ward the clearing if you want, but I think they'll be safe. Remember, there has been no sign that this thing has ever gone after animals. No remains have been found, and a cattle were untouched. It only attacked the animals that were with humans when it found them." That was not ordinary behavior. Bokuto slowly nodded, since he'd been at that meeting too. That was when they had started to say it was shadow fiends. It would fit in with the pattern of behavior for some of the larger ones. Evidently, dragons were the same.
"I'm still gonna ward the clearing," his highness said, "but you're probably right. And it will be easier to ambush the dragon ourselves!"
"We aren't going to ambush it!" But his words seem to fell on deaf ears and he swore he heard the Prince humming happily under his breath. Akaashi could only sigh.
A bit later he stood on the riding trail, watching as Prince Bokuto finished the wards on the clearing. He muttered a prayer and the symbols he had carefully painted around the clearing flared to life. The white light was bright enough that Akaashi was forced to look away, but then the visible signs of the barrier faded away. It wouldn't work against anything truly intelligent, but it would keep predators away.
"All right," Bokuto said, looking pleased with himself. "That's enough waiting around, let's go!"
"You're the one who…" But Prince Bokuto had already started down the trail. Akaashi shook his is head and fell into line behind him. The trail was narrow, forcing them to go single-file even on foot. He would have liked to switch places, but he knew Prince Bokuto well enough by this point to have realized that would futile to argue about it. So instead he tried to be content being vigilant as he could, eyes constantly scanning for the least little bit of movement. He looked up...and frowned as he caught sight of Prince Bokuto's unique white and black hairstyle.
"Prince Bokuto," he asked, "where' your helmet?"
There was a guilty jerk of his shoulders. "I have it with me," the Prince glanced back at him, trying to look carefree but not quite managing it.
Akaashi heaved a sigh, again. "Put on your helmet, your highness," he said firmly. This was not the first time they'd had this argument.
"But Akaaaashi," he grumbled, "it flattens my hair! And I never get hurt without it anyway!"
"You aren't invincible, your highness. Do you want me to list all the times that you have been hurt? I remember more than a few."
"Well, uh, didn't you say we weren't going to fight? Since we aren't going to fight, and I can sneak around better with it off, I should leave it off!"
"We are looking for a dragon," Akaashi's voice was flat. "Even if we aren't supposed to fight it, I don't want to take any chances. Put on your helmet, please."
"B...but you don't wear a helmet!" which was also part of the usual argument.
Akaashi just leveled a look at the back of the Prince's head., "Put on a helmet, Prince Bokuto," he said, "please." There was enough warning in his voice that Bokuto froze for a second, then reached down and had the helmet on the his head in a few seconds.
"...Thank you," Akaashi allowed himself to relax a little, but didn't drop his guard totally. He still kept up his scan of the surroundings, but nothing happened by the time they reached the clearing that surrounded the ancient spire.
He had often thought, even when he was a child, that 'ancient spire' was a bit too grand of a name for what it was. It was just tall, uneven pillar of stone that rose out of the forest. It wasn't all it didn't reach that much than the trees around it, and had so many footholds it was easy to climb. Young adults from the surrounding towns often braved the superstitions that surrounded in order to challenge themselves to reach the top.
(He and Bokuto had done it themselves, years ago.)
There was a small clearing that surrounded the pillar itself. Bokuto paused when they reached it and Akaashi moved up next to him.
"So," Prince Bokuto said, eyes shining, "where's the dragon?"
His bodyguard let out a breath. "We're here to determine that, remember? It was seen around here, that doesn't mean it is here." He glanced around, the vague feeling of uneasy still there. Things were...quiet.
It shouldn't be this quiet. There should have been bird calls, animals noises, something beside the sound of the wind and their voices.
He realized that he couldn't remember really hearing anything since they'd started down the small trail. At the time he'd thought it was just because Prince Bokuto had been yelling, but they should have heard something by now.
Either the dragon had over-hunted this area, which shouldn't have been possible,...or it could be closer than he was comfortable thinking about.
Prince Bokuto had already started heading around to the other side of the pillar. "Hey, it was supposed to be in this direction,right?"
"Yes," Akaashi hurried to catch up with him, "so let's be even more cautious for now."
He had been going to suggest that they stay quiet, but all his words died when they reached the area on the other side, where the shadow of the pillar stretched out across the clearing and into the forest.
There were things there, darker lumps that seemed to bleed into the shadows like they were growing from it. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.
"Your highness," he whispered urgently as he drew his sword. There was a metallic hiss from beside them as the Prince's own sword appeared in his hand
"I see them," he said, sounding almost excited as dozens of yellow eyes turned towards them.
No one quite knew where shadow fiends came from. Their nests just seemed to appear out of nowhere, they attacked everyone in sight, then were either be killed off or disappear, leaving everyone to worry when they would appear again.
Some assumed they were demons, summoned forth from some strange abyss by a dark god or magician to harass the world. Others thought they once had been animals, and had been infected or transformed by some strange, twisted shadow magic. Akaashi wasn't sure what he believed, but he could see how those in the latter camp could come to that conclusion.
Superficially these things almost looked like the owls that made the forests in Fukurodani famous. It was when you looked closer than you realized there was something...off about. As if someone had tried to copy one of the owls without really looking closely at them. They were only a little bigger than normal but the head was just a little too big for it's body, the body just a little too bulky, beak a little too lumpy, and the color was wrong. The owls of Fukurodani were white with very vivid black markings, and bright yellow eyes. The fiends were dark, with slightly lighter markings that seemed to shift and change into odd patterns as you looked at them. Their eye color was similar, but their eyes seemed to glow with an acidic yellow light in a way that no natural creature's eyes coul, and the pupils were….off. They were oblongs slits that went sideways, like on a goat or a frog. Only no goat or frog he ever heard of could have that sort of malevolent pressure in their gaze.
The one nearest them moved, spreading it's tattered wings wide and his neck seemed to grow, extending several inches. Without the wings in the way, it was easy to see how wrong the body was. It was only feathered part way down and it's legs were thicker, with scales almost like a lizard's covering them, and talons that were so much longer than a normal owl's would be.
When it opened it's mouth and hissed at them Akaashi felt a shudder of revulsion go through him.
A beak was not supposed to have that many rows of teeth inside it.
"Here they come," Akaashi said as they took to the air, a swirling cloud of living shadows.
"Think you can handle them, Akaashi?" Prince Bokuto said and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye as he grinned.
In answer Akaashi brought his sword up, aimed it at the rushing enemies, and concentrated. There was a moment's pause, then a spark arched along the length of the blade. Within a breath the spark had multiplied, sheathing the blade in lightening. He sighted down it's length, whispering the name of the arcane symbol that he needed as he gave the slight mental twist that would complete the spell, and thrust the blade forward a fraction.
A massive lightning bolt cracked from the blade tip and arced across the shortening distance to the shadow flock rushing towards them. It slammed into one of the leader, blushing it backwards out of the sky and arching through the few next to it, dropping some of them outright and making a few others hesitate before surging forward.
He glanced over at Prince Bokuto to find him looking at him with something like awe. "That's awesome!"
"Eyes front your highness," he snapped, "I know this isn't the first time you've seen me fight!"
"It's still really neat!" the prince said, and then the flock was on them and there was no more time for them to banter.
One flew hissing at Akaashi's face. He slashed at with a sword that now flickered with flames, and clipped off to a wing as it's feathers combusted. It tumbled shrieking out of the sky, it's voice making him wince as four more took it's place. He slashed at them, scoring shallow wounds in two of them, the flames momentarily blinding the other two. The smell of burnt feather was starting to make him nauseous. In that short time Bokuto had managed to move away from him, somehow, and he chanced a quick glance around,hoping that he could see where the Prince was. He could tell by the yells that he was probably still doing all right, but it was his job to have his back.
That moment of inattention was all the opening one of the shadow fiends needed. A hoarse screech from above him was all the warning he got before a dark shadow plummeted towards him, at the exact same time two other monsters rushed towards him from in front.
He spat out a cursed, slashed at the two in front of him, and tried to swat away the other one plummeting towards him with his free hand. He felt an impact as his arm hit something... the thing wrapped around his arm and bit. He could feel it even through his leather gauntlets, the teeth were so sharp. He let out a yelp pain before he could stop himself and shook his arm frantically for a moment to try get it off. One of the things darted close during the moment, getting in a shallow slice that made him yell again.
Suddenly there was a white blur next to him, and purlish-colored ichtor splashed him as the shadow fiend in front of him was almost split in two.
"Akaashi!" Prince Bokuto was just there, his armor half-purplish because of the blood on it, cuts across his face, eyes frantic. "Akaashi, what's going? I heard you yell and I..." The Prince made a noise and glared at the fiend that was still wrapped around his arm as he caught sight of it.
The sight of the prince made him feel sharper, despite the pain. Or perhaps because of it. Some bodyguard he was when the man he was supposed to be looking after was the one to save him. At least his highnesses sudden rush had momentarily scattered the flock.
"I'll be fine," he said and it took only a moment of concentration to summon arcane runes in his mind. Normally a knight mage used his weapons as a focus for elemental magic, but it wasn't impossible to do channel with a bare hand, just a little more challenging. You didn't get precise control that using a focus did.
Akaashi was very proficient at channeling without a weapon. And he was fairly good at control too.
Within a few seconds frost started to spread over the outside of his gauntlet. He held his arm out, despite the pain, and there was an explosion of cold from the glove. The fiend still attached then stiffened, frozen enough that when Akaashi brushed it to the ground, half of it shattered. The frost clipped the wing of one of the fiends that had ventured to close, sending it spiral drunkenly away. He stood up, and took his place at Bokuto's back, where he should have been from the start. "See?" he said.
"You're bleeding?" Prince Bokuto said over his shoulder, "I can…"
"It's not that serious," Akaashi told him, "and I can still fight. You can look at if after we finish this."
"Okay," he heard a laugh behind him, "then let's get this done!"
Akaashi could only heave a sigh before the flock plucked up it's courage and they started gathering again.
The next few minutes were a blur of combat. He lost track of how many shadow fiend he cut down or drove away, his clothes slowly turning purple-blue from their blood. The air smelled like burnt feathers and ozone from his spells. All he could hear were their cries, and the shouts from Prince Bokuto behind him. It seemed like it went on forever, but eventually the flock started to thin out.
"Come on, let's finish them off!" His highness was getting very into it. "Akaashi! Let's see who can take more of them out!"
"Let's not," he said simply and slashed at the yellow eyes in front of him, "if we rush anything we'll get hurt. Just stick to what you do best, your highness."
As he finished speaking the flock suddenly scattered again. "What's going on? Did we scare them off?" Prince Bokuto said, "I've never seen a shadow fiend run away before."
Akaashi tensed, "I don't think so. They might be trying something, we should…"
A loud crack from the forest cut him off and made both of them glance in that direction. There was the sound of thuds, and you could near couple of trees shaking as something rushed towards the clearing.
There was as swift intake of breath from Prince Bokuto. "Is that the dra…"
During the fighting they had somehow shifted nearer the edge of the clear area, near a half-grown tree that was leaning drunkenly into the clearing itself. Something slammed hard into it and there was a massive crack right before it gave way and came rushing down towards them.
"Look out!"
He wasn't sure which one of them said it, but Akaashi was moving before the sound had faded, rolling forward. The ground shook as the tree slammed into it just as he finished scrambling to his feet, barely out of reach of the impact zone.
"Prince Bokuto!" He yelled as he turned around, frantic, half expecting to see blood.
"What the fuck!?" Came from the other sides of the fallen tree and send a rush of relief through the knight-mage. Apparently Bokuto was still alive and sound relatively unhurt. For now.
Because there was another shadow fiend atop the trunk, and it made the flock they had been fighting look tiny.
It wasn't a dragon, but a small part of Akaashi's mind almost wished it was since then he could have understood it. This shadow fiend had a head that looked almost like a deer, or at least had the general shape of one. A very, very large deer with no fur, only oily looking rust red skin,and blood red horns that twisted around each other in insane shapes. It had the same eyes as the shadow fiend flock and it's mouth was just wrong. Two long, slender fangs protruded from under the lips, twisting them into something that was almost a sneer. The head was supported by a long slender neck that seemed far to delicate to be able to hold up a head like that. Black segmented plates ran down the back of the neck, and over the most of an oval body that had far, far too many limbs for his comfort. The first two were bend up almost like arms, but ended in long, curved blades of something that glinted like ivory. The other four were supporting the thing as it stood on the trunk, and each of them ended in four extremely sharp looking claws. It whipped its head back and forth, staring at him for one moment, then turning to glance at the side of the trunk Prince Bokuto was on.
"Akaashi! You're okay, right?" Came the frantic cry from the other side of the trunk.
"Yes," he yelled back, "your highness, get to the other end of the trunk! We need to regroup!" This thing was huge and he didn't think that either of them would be able to take it on alone. Together though, he was sure that they would at least stand a chance.
Almost as if it had understood what was going on, the thing suddenly turned it's head one last time and it's gazed fixed on Akaashi. Slowly, like it was moving through water, it turned the rest of it's body in an unnerving skittering motion. Then it opened it's mouth and shrieked in a high pitched voice that set his teeth on edge and made him feel cold all over.
"Akaashi!" He heard Prince Bokuto yelling frantically on the other side as the creature stepped down of the log."Hold on, I'm coming, I'm….gah!" the last ended in a pained scream.
His heart leapt into his throat when he saw the fluttering of wings on the other side of the log, and realized that the last of the flock had finally decided to rejoin the battle. They had descended on Bokuto in force.
"Your highness!" his own voice sounded surprisingly loud and shrill to his own ears, though he was surprised he could hear it over the pounding of his heart. He couldn't remember how many of the smaller fiends had been left, couldn't remember if it was more than even someone like Prince Bokuto could handle. He was his bodyguard. His job was to make sure he was safe. Even if it was safe from himself. There wasn't any excuse for this, he shouldn't have let him come out here on this insane venture, not when he knew that it was more than likely to lead them into danger. If Bokuto got hurt or worse died out here because of that…..cold fear, worse than what they creature in front of him had caused, ran up his spine as a leaden weight settled in his gut.
Then he wrenched his mind away from the panic, using every bit of concentration he had learned in training. Maybe he had made a mistake, but he could blame himself later
Right now his job was to get both of them out ot of here. Alive.
And he could start that by dealing with the stalking monster that he had been backing away from this whole time.
"You," he said and aimed the still-flaming sword at the thing, "need to move." And with the same sort of mental push as he before, he turned the flame coating into a screaming fireball. It hit the creature with an astoundingly loud explosion that sent the creature reeling. Please fall, please fall, please fall…. He started to run, trying to get past it...and one of the creature's scythe arms lashed out of the smoke cloud. His sword came up in time to block it, but it sent him flying back. He landed with an impact that knocked the breath out of him, sure that it was only his armor that saved him from something being broken, and only his training had kept him from dropping his sword when he went down.
The creature was nearly on top of him before he could get to his feet again. It was faster than he had thought it was. A lot faster. One of the ivory scythes came flashing down towards him, he barely managed to avoid it by rolling to the side. It slammed into the spot where he had just been laying, burying itself half its length into the ground.
The fiend screamed in anger, that high pitched shriek that almost froze the blood in his veins as he scrambled back to his feet. Akaashi started to run around it but it wrenched it's blade free from the ground and rushed at him with that impossible speed, it's scythes lashed out at him again. He ducked and rolled backward. It screamed again, and Akaashi winced as he reached for his magic. When it took a step forward, he threw up his free hand crackling with electricity and detonated it. The shock made it stumbled back, but Akaashi cursed when it didn't actually drop the monster. It was still between him and Prince Bokuto.
He needed to get rid of it or distract it and it wasn't giving him any openings. Plus, he realized suddenly, if he got by it without killing it, he might only end up leading over to where Prince Bokuto was already fighting. His highness had more than enough skill to take care of the birds, or at least he did as long as he was in an upbeat mood. Taking care of both the flock and this thing might be overwhelming for the two of them. And if Bokuto fell into his dejected mode….. Akaashi tried very hard not to think about that. He had to focus on what was in front of him first.
There had to be a way to actually get rid of this thing for good, to cause enough damage that it could actually be hurt enough that they stood a chance.
A page from Akinori's report flashed through his mind and an idea occurred to him. It was crazy, worthy of something Prince Bokuto would do. But he couldn't think of any other plan that might work at the moment. He didn't really have any other choice but to try it.
"Akaashi!" Came Prince Bokuto's voice again, sounding strained, "Are you okay? Answer me!"
The sound of the desperation in his voice decided Akaashi. He had to get this done before Bokuto switched moods again.
"Hang in there, your highness," he yelled, "I'll be right back!"
"Akaashi!?"
He ignore the confused shout. The fiend in front of him had just recovered, and was glaring at him. It let out a low echoing growl and he was forced to dodge again as it snapped its head forward to bite at him. He whirled as he stepped out of it's range and brought his sword down toward the back of the neck, but it barely made a dent on the hard plates. Akaashi danced back with a curse, met the creature's eyes for a moment, then turn and ran towards the forest.
He glanced back before he hit the shadows under the trees, his heart beating hard. The fiend was making a noise that sounded like a growl.
Good.
This entirely foolish plan was depended on the stupid thing following him. He just had to make sure he wasn't caught before he made his goal. A burst of speed put him into the forest before it could reach him, and he took off.
After a few moments he was grimly pleased to see that at least one of his gambles was coming true. The fiend was bigger than he was, and even though it was fast it was having trouble dodging between the larger trees in the forest. It wasn't able to knock them over like it had the smaller one earlier. Instead it bounced off them or was forced to go around gaps he had been able to get through. It was slowing it down.
He had a hunch that was the only reason it hadn't caught up to him yet.
It was starting to get hard to breathe, but he didn't dare slow down. He tore through a stream, and jumped over a log that had ended up on the path, grateful that he was wearing lighter armor. The forest was turning into a green blur around, and he could only hope he had his landmarks right.
Akaashi tried to keep ahead of the thing, felt like he could feel it's breath on his neck, and tried to concentrate on ignoring that as he sorted through spell symbols in his mind. He needed to find that one arcane rune, that one mental path that would give him the spell he needed, and he couldn't slow down to concentrate.
He finally remembered it, brought it up, held it in his mind, and for a heart stopping moment he thought it had failed. Then frost started creeping up over the blade, turning the air around it foggy with cold. He mentally thanked his instructors that had been absolutely merciless when it came to his training in actual combat. Otherwise he wasn't sure he would have been able to make this work.
He chanced a glance behind him, and nearly swore when he realized how close the thing had gotten. Either it had learned to navigate the trees better, or his spellcasting had caused him to slow down a fraction.
He put on another burst of speed and started watching for one of the markers that would point him where to got. There was a moment of panic when he thought that he had overshot his destination and he wasn't sure how he was going to make his way back to it, but then he spotted the split boulder off to the left side that said he was close. The leadened feeling lifted slightly from his stomach, and he adjusted his trajectory slightly.
HIs breath was rasping hard in his throat, an ache forming in his side and his legs turning to lead when he finally burst out of the forest. His heart leapt at the sight of the half-collapsed hillside in front of him. This was the area that the report had called 'dangerous' and 'unstable'. A bit of the hill had collapsed, leaving half of it barely holding on, a tree growing midway up the hill barely managing to cling to it's perch and hold up what was left of the hillside. He pointed his sword at it, and fired the ice out in a beam that hit the trunk and slowly started to freeze the fragile thing. He ran past the unstable overhang, skidded to a stop, then whirled around to face the treeline just as the fiend burst out of it. He pointed his sword at it, and called upon the lightning again, the blade sparking. Without pause he whipped the point up and shot a bolt at the frozen tree.
The fiend reached the overhang just as the thunder from the strike was dying Please let that work, please let that work...he almost couldn't breath and his stomach surged unpleasantly when it seemed like nothing had happened. Then a welcome, rending, crack rent the air and the tree snapped in two. The fiend glanced up at the cliff-face just as the tree came falling down and slammed into it's back, making it scream and stumble, only seconds before the rest of the hillside came tumbling down to bury it.
The shaking made Akaashi stumbled back, and he was forced to put an arm up to shield his face from the dust that came billowing at it. Even though he had been very careful he was out of the danger zone, he hadn't anticipated this level of destruction. For a long moment, he couldn't hear anything but the rumbled of the earth, couldn't see anything, could barely even breath with the amount of dust in air coating his throat.
It seemed to last for ever, but at last it was over, leaving him coughing as he tried to clear the dirt from his lungs.
The silence only last a few moments though, then there was another loud shriek-roar right in front of him.
Akaash fell back into a fighting stance, sword up and read. How is that thing still alive? His gut was twisting unpleasantly again. This had been a last-ditch chance, a sort of gamble that even Bokuto would find appealing. If this hadn't worked, he wasn't sure what else he was going to get rid of the thing. He was a good fighter, but this wasn't the sort of thing he could deal with on his own!
He tried in vain to peer through the dust heart thumping madly, but then a goddess-blessed wind blew through and started to clear it up enough for him to actually see.
There was the fiend, it's body pinned under tons of rock, only part of it's head still visible. It strained against the pile of earth , but it was clear that it was not going to get free. It was probably already dying, and just hadn't realized it yet.
It also didn't seem to realized he was still free.
Akaashi let out a soft breath, then ran forward. By the time it had realized he was there, it was already too late. His blade sliced across the vulnerable front of its throat, and he moved out of the way as the purple-blue ichtor soaked the ground. He stood for a moment watching it's last death throes just to make sure it wasn't going to try to move again. Then he allowed himself to collapse back against the rocks, panting a little. He felt exhausted. Exactly as if he had...well.. just fought a battle then run for who-knew-how-long. At least now he could get back and help Prince Bokuto. A tiny voice whispered in his mind that he was probably too late but he shoved that aside. Prince Bokuto would not fall that easily, and as soon as he caught his breath he would go back and prove that.
He didn't even want to take this small moment, but he knew that he didn't gather his strength now he would be next to useless when he finally made it back to the ancient spire. Fine lot of good he would do if he got there and collapsed. Today had already been enough of a disaster as it was. He wouldn't let Bokuto take on more risk by having to protect his own bodyguard when he exhausted himself.
He left himself rest the least amount of time he felt he could, then pushed away from the rocks, picking up his sword from where he'd set it on top a boulder it in order stretch his fingers. He was only just starting to walk around the debris blocking the path, when suddenly another high pitched roar echoed through the forest. The knight-mage froze, and quickly looked over at the remains of the fiend he had just fought, in case it had some other trick up its sleeves and still wasn't dead.
But no, it was laying across the road, it's eyes a liveless amber shade now, skin swiftly fading into an unpleasant shade of gray.
His heart, and stomach, gave an unpleasant lurch. He had thought the direction of the sound was off. It had sounded further away, much, much further away….. It came again, almost as if it wanted him to find it.
And it was coming from the direction of the ancient spire.
He forgot to breathe for one terrifying heartbeat.
Then he was racing back the way he had come, all exhaustion forgotten. His heart was somewhere in his throat, and he was surprised the could still breath at all. Everything blurred around him again, but it wasn't fast enough. It felt a nightmare, like it was taking twice as long to make it back, and he tried to force himself to go faster. If one of those things caught Prince Bokuto alone…!
Enough, he told himself. Prince Bokuto was better suited for close combat than he was, and he had magic of his own, defensive magic. Even if he did encounter one, he should be able to hold his own. When he got there, they would take it down. He was sure that together, they would be more than a match for it. It wasn't as if fiends were impossible to defeat after all.
And together they could take care of anything. They had too.
He was a little over halfway there (hurry, hurry repeating in his head like a mantra) when a sudden sound nearly made him stop, almost drove him to his knees. This wasn't the shriek from one of the fiends, this was a deep-throated roar he could feel as much as hear. With the fiends, you could feel them at the edge of your hearing range, made you clench your teeth and shiver.
This was the sort of thing that resounded in your bones, that you felt in your gut, and made you shake from the sheer power of it. You knew, without even seeing it that this was something big, far bigger than you and strong.
No, he would have said the word, if he could have spared the breath for it. No, goddess, please.
There was a part of him that had thought, had hoped, that the deer-thing shadow fiends were what had been causing all the destruction lately, that it had been some mistake, some misinformation on the part of the the scouts. That there wasn't really a dragon out here. That would have been the most logical thing after. Even though he had read the reports, when he had first seen the thing, he had wondered if they had just panicked or misinterpreted something. They might have been the most skilled scout unit they had, but that didn't mean they couldn't make mistakes. And maybe he and Bokuto were going to ride back triumphant, able to say they had saved the day.
Apparently, the goddess was not being that kind today. Their original quarry was still here, and it did not sound happy.
And the man he had been supposed to be guarding was out there on his own.
Fear added wind to his steps.
He was near the clearing when he felt another roar, louder than before and heard a massive crash from somewhere up ahead. Akaashi was quite certain his heart was going to burst out of his chest at any moment.
He burst into the clearing, an arcane rune already forming in his mind, even though his legs felt as if they were going to collapse.
"Your highness!" he gasped, "I'm here…"
His voice echoed in the disturbing silence that was the only thing to greet him. For a moment he couldn't understand, then his heart dropped down to somewhere near his feet.
Prince Bokuto was not quiet. He was never quiet. Unless something had happened that meant he couldn't make noise.
"Prince Bokuto!" he yelled as he started across the clearing, but heard only silence. "Kentarou!," the last was said desperately. The prince's given name felt odd on his tongue, he hadn't used it in years. It should have earned some sort of loud, disbelieving reply but there was...nothing. Only that same echoing silence that ate into his soul.
He reached the trunk and managed to scramble up to the top of it. On the other side was….nothing.
Not Prince Bokuto at all.
There were piles of bird-fiend corpses and the field was soaked in their purple-blue blood, but that was it. No great pools of red like he had been fearing, no human corpse. When he took a breath to calm down, he noticed a broken path through the undergrowth, deeper into the forest.
His heart picked itself up from where it had fallen near his ankles. That meant Prince Bokuto was still alive when he left the clearing, and it couldn't have been that long ago. Why, Akaashi didn't know and didn't care. There was a chance that he was still alive. He just had to follow the tracks and hope that….
Another deafening roar echoed around him, much louder than before. He nearly tumbled off his logperch at the sound, and only stabbing his sword into the trunk saved him. Almost at the same moment there was an awesome thundering crash from deeper the woods.
The same direction that Prince Bokuto's trail lead.
Akaashi started to curse under his breath as he scrambled down from the log, hoping that he was wrong, that prince Bokuto wouldn't have been so stupid as to try taking something like a dragon alone. This was half his fault for leaving him alone out here. They should have found a way to deal with the bigger fiends together instead of him trying to take it on alone.
His boots touched ichtor drenched grass.
Before he could start to follow the trail, there was an immense thundering sound from the sky. A massive shadow passed over him and Akaashi looked up instinctively.
It seemed to cover the sky, a massive, black beast with a wingspan so large he could barely see past them. It was flying so low that it's passing raised a wind. As the branches shook and he had to put up a hand to shield his eyes, he caught sight of something in the dragon's front claws. A limp, dangle human figure with sun glinting off white armor.
His breath froze in his throat.
"No," the word was half a moan, half a plea to whichever of the gods might be listening. Please don't let it be him. Please don't punish him this way.
Something small and glittering fell away from the dragon as they passed over the ancient spire, hit the edge of the top plateau with a metallic clang, and bounced off into the grass of the clearing. Akaashi hurried over it, forcing his numb limbs to move. Once he saw the glint of white amongst the weeds, he didn't really need to actually see it to confirm his worst fears.
Laying there was the very helm he'd been bothering Prince Bokoto about early, now dented and bloodstained.