Gǔjiàn Hé Gǔqín
In the vastness of the crumbling world there was a man and a sword. He spoke little and knew no smile. He was burdened with the will of a higher power and the actions of the past that lay beyond his reach and redemption. A pain was set upon him on the nights of the waning moon that no word or reason would diminish.
He was bound to the last by a fate unwanted.
你是我的敵人
The final yelp of the wolves withered away to nothing. They slumped, one atop the other, to the dusty, bloody ground. Sasuke flicked his wrist and the blood came away from his blade. He raised it high as though to sheath it. However, at the last moment, he swung it around. The shrill wail of his pursuers tainted the fouled air.
"What," he asked lowly. "is it that you want?"
He glared over his shoulder. They were already on their knees: their swords held in front of them. The dust coated sheaths made him frown. There was clearly little respect for them.
"Please," they begged in unison. "Let us go with you. This place is dangerous. Let us go with you."
He turned and began to walk away at once. However, without a firm order to leave, Mukade and Otokaze stumbled to their feet. They followed him, hands and legs shaking violently. The passage led them straight on for a long time. Sasuke, who was skilled enough to note their presence, still said nothing about their presence. However, when there was a split in the passage the uneasy alliance came to a halt.
Otokaze clutched at Sasuke's coat. "Please, young sir, not that way. I don't doubt your skills, but to go that way would be to die!"
He turned slowly. "Why?"
Mukade clutched at his sheathed sword. "That is a road that leads to death. Please, we should go anywhere but there,"
The two shared a strange look. They were as willing to go through with their scheme as they were to never think of it again. The decision wasn't one that could be made twice.
"Why?"
They looked at him pleadingly. Otokaze released Sasuke's coat and staggered back. Mukade was already bowing deeply. The swords were rattling loudly.
Mukade forced himself to speak. "We were attacked one late night. No one saw who it was. We thought it was a rival warlord! It wasn't… We weren't prepared for anything like that… They took the dead. They took the living. We don't know where they went, not exactly. It was somewhere deep in the fortress,"
Sasuke glanced over to his right. "They were taken deep into the fortress?"
Otokaze nodded. "Yes! They were taken to where the fortifications were strongest: to where they would be hardest to retrieve!"
He glowered at them. "You left your comrades,"
Mukade dropped to his knees, hands clasped. "I'm sorry! We did! We did! We left them to die!"
Otokaze fell to his knees also. His hands thudded to the ground. There were soft splashing sounds that came from them both. Sasuke let them cry. A dark satisfaction burned in the depths of his gaze.
After a minute he spoke. "I'm not filth,"
He vanished down the right passage almost at once. The loss of the sounds of the low grinding of loose dirt and grit followed soon after. Mukade and Otokaze were left on their knees. Their feigned sobs had become real. The decision had been made for them. Neither of them wanted to go after him. They looked over to the left. The passage looked perilous.
"Wait for us!"
When they came running out at the other end they found the vast, circular opening to be utterly devoid of life. Out of fright they stumbled and went crashing to the ground. Mukade's sword flew out of his hand. It spun in slow circles and came to a final halt quite a distance away. He whined pitifully.
"Is this the centre of your fortress?" Sasuke growled.
They looked up. Their eyes were the homes of distress. They scrambled away from one another, inching back on their hands. Incoherent words fell over their trembling lips.
Sasuke looked up. "I see a desert beyond that wall. I can see a mountain to the right. What centre is this?"
No word was uttered. They grovelled and inched slowly farther from him. Sasuke wandered past them. There were two houses that remained in a reasonable condition. The one to his right, pressed firmly to the wall, looked almost untouched. If not for the dust and dirt that clung to its multi-faceted walls he would have expected it to be lived in.
He paused.
"Go the other way," Mukade commanded, his voice quivering. "I don't care about what you want. You're coming with us. You'll let us leave this place."
He half turned around. The sword was almost pressed against his shoulder. His dark eyes burned.
He spoke lowly. "What if I don't?"
Mukade hands almost slipped. "You'll die, of course,"
"Kill me now," he responded. "I won't aid you."
There was a flicker of fear in Mukade's eyes. That was enough. Sasuke pivoted on his heel, starting towards the great doors of the building. When he came before their greatness his hand clutched at a ring which hung from the door. He hauled it upwards. The door didn't move in the slightest. He tried again. It still refused to move. His grip tightened as he dragged it towards him. It continued to thwart his attempts. The wood was thick – almost as thick as the pillars.
"I said stop!" Mukade cried.
Sasuke took a small step back. The harsh edge of the blade was pressed against his back. A thin trickle of blood burst forth. He felt it glide down his back. Otokaze and Mukade reached for his arms, but failed. He strode forward and kicked at the door. It shook. He did it a second time. The door shook again. On the third kick it came down with a crash!
Those within, all with otherworldly, deathly complexions froze. Their dead eyes turned to fix on him. Then, slowly, menacingly, they turned to Otokaze and Mukade. The two had turned stiff with terror. Sasuke paid them no heed. His eyes, for the briefest of moments, had flickered to the large slabs of meat that fell over the edges of their plates. There were bowls full of a clear liquid that had no known origin.
Sasuke drew Otokaze's sword. With a deft throw it had soared through the air to the opposite side of the strangely shaped building. One being, green as mould, with an eye patch over its right eye, was unfortunate enough to be pierced by the sword. The bowl of clear liquid fell from his hands. He staggered back, choking on wails, until finally collapsing.
Sasuke tensed. The deceased had collapsed right in front of a gargantuan throne. A fiend of monstrous proportions sat there. There were three glowing red eyes down each side of the front of its face and two on each side by its ears. The highest was the largest and the lowest were barely the width of one of its humongous fingers. A low growl rumbled in its chest and the whole building quivered. It fixed Sasuke with its six eyes and enough intensity to fell a weaker man. As it was, both Otokaze and Mukade had fallen to their knees. Their heads were bowed as though they had fallen asleep upright.
The others rose. Their eyes burned with righteous fury. Their swords were drawn. At best, there were under thirty of them and Sasuke was the sole enemy. One, nearest to the one on the throne, made strange snarling sounds.
"Who are you?" he croaked. "How do you dare disturb the master?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. No sound came from him.
Otokaze dropped into a clumsy bow. "My… My name is Otokaze, greater conqueror! I… I have…"
Mukade hastily followed in his companions footsteps. "My name is Mukade, great conqueror! I too have… We have… together… this intruder…"
A great fist was brought down onto the arm of the throne. The floor seemed to bounce. The doors quailed.
The one farthest back croaked out again. "What business has you in the master's land?"
Sasuke stayed silent.
"Let him be!" the gargantuan friend chortled. "If he dares raise a sword to my weapons he will pay. Run, if you like. There is no escape for you kind."
The horde of inhuman beings staggers forward, swaying from side to side. Their swords are drawn promptly. Otokaze and Mukade drop to their knees. Their hands clamp down over their ears.
Sasuke drew his own sword. He took it in both hands, bringing it to the front, the tip facing upwards and centring it to his body. His eyes closed. The memories of the mountain top and his long hours of training returned. He ran his middle and fore finger from the hilt. The familiar rush of energy pulsed through the metal of the blade. The darkness that pervaded his closed eyes became suddenly bright.
He flicked his wrist. The sword came down on the left, moving instantly to the right and then to the centre. Each blow, though coming to halt just above the ground, brought vast eruptions. He swung the sword away from himself and opened his eyes to a view of carnage. The vast majority of his enemies were lying lifelessly in a wide pool of blood.
He looked up. "You asked who I am,"
The throne jumped when its inhabitant leaped up. The spikes on the armour shielding his shoulders scraped against the lowest area of the upwards slanted ceiling. His disproportionally small head jolted from side to side with a horrendous crunch of bones. He snatched up two swords twice the length of his weighty arms. They were steeply curved with serrated edges and hilts that were of the same piece of metal that the blade was forged from.
"So brave," he snarled. "I would like to see your strength run dry by my dāo. All of you…"
"Please!" the quivering guards shrieked. "Not us!"
Sasuke burst into a run. He raced to the left side of the room. The three fiends fell with a great artistic flourish of crimson. The wine bowls, the tables and the food was painted. He slipped behind the fiend without obstruction and felled the remaining combaters. His boots splashed in the blood. There was barely a stray droplet on his coat. Sasuke looked up at his enemy.
The fiend stomped over. "You shall pay,"
Sasuke raised his sword as he did before. The feeling of his fingers running over the cool metal brought a sudden solace to his heart. The attack was summoned as before. The eruptions of the earth staggered the fiend. One of his swords struck at Sasuke's arm. A long gash tore down his upper arm. It fell to his side limply.
Sasuke dashed forward. His right hand clenched the hilt. As he passed the fiend he slashed at one leg. It was as wide as a thick tree trunk. He made little more than a deep scratch. He threw himself backwards. Once the wall was safely behind him, pressing comfortingly at his back, he swung his sword forward. He took a deep breath, watching his enemy without even the slightest lapse of concentration. Soon, power pulsed within the sword again.
He slashed once to the right, then to the left. With each slash came a semi-circular wave of blue energy. It forced the fiend back. He didn't stay to find out if any damage had been done. His feet carried him without incident to where he had begun his assault. He watched as the fiend approached. The loud stomping soon died away as it stepped on a shattered shard of protruding earth. He lunged then. His sword tore the fiend's gut.
The fiend roared. The eyes on its arms glowed. Then, with a rousing finality, he crashed down onto his throne. It split and shattered under his weight. The dāo fell from his hands.
The ring of a small bell filled the room. Shō came in and landed on one of the carcasses. He tilted his head to the side. A sharp cry fled through the air. Sasuke stirred at that from his place on his knees. His dark eyes glared at his loyal companion. His lips began curling into a predatory snarl when he hunched further forward. His hand tried to stop his fall. It shook violently beneath him. A feral growl ripped up his throat. His left hand shot towards chest.
Author's Note: Oh, yes. I really, really am glad that I'm getting that in. I'm sorry that I had to wait so long for this chapter to be uploaded. You see, there have been a lot of announcements about the television adaptation of this story. As such, with my severe hatred of it, I was unable to face this. I… I owe this and that my life, you know. I wouldn't really be here if not for these two franchises. So, with all that I know from the adaptations made of the other franchise, this will not be pleasant. So, yes I was a bit behind. Then, of all things, they announced they were going to make another adaptation of the other franchise! My heart really hasn't been in this, I'm sorry. I'll be better from now on. I promise. I hope that I haven't disappointed you. I think my own feelings are enough of that sort.
