o o o
The feathery winks of fishtails rippled to the surface of the lake. A haze of menace curdled his mercurial eyes. Lord Shoto, the guild leader and master of the hunters, examined the reams of shiver permeating the bowing warlord at his heel, who though was well-trained and was an outstanding strategist, seemed to have lost his touch under the pressure of losing to an inexperienced crowned prince he loved scorning and ridiculing. The crowned prince was terribly young and did not understand warfare. It was too late a discovery the Kuran was ten times stronger than he had been perceived.
He secured the realm with the largest army, despite the Toma samurais were the most powerful. Kaname did not stop there. His connections with the humans was another trouble. With warlords like Nobunaga and Tokugawa, the humans defended the country with the Kuran purebloods. The only measure of offense Shizuku Toma acquired over the course of his warship was the purchase of weaponry from the black market, the lot of mind-controlled chonin, and last but not least, the remaining eight hundred Toma samurais and raiders. His benefactor, Lord Shoto, offered him a weapon perfect for summarizing the end of the Kuran monarchs.
It was more than enough to win the war.
"I almost had him." Lord Toma bent in the soil to avoid the sinister glare panning his frame, "The dragon was about to kill me."
"You boast of power and how qualified you are to be a pureblood king, but the idea of confronting the Oracle Dragon has you shaking as if with fever." Lord Shoto remarked in sardonic smugness. "Warfare is a culmination of multiple wins. The king was kind by not using the Light of Heaven on you directly."
"I want to win and face you fairly," Lord Toma claimed, "You want the world to belong to the hunters."
"You have Little Nine's successor's regalia and want to bring up 'fairness'?" Lord Shoto amusedly reverted to the serene lake sparkling in the foggy night at his feet. "Deveining you has become an irresistible temptation."
Lord Toma buried his face in the soil, miserably. "Give me another chance."
"The crowned prince is calculating, he seems years ahead of you." Lord Shoto murmured. "Winning the war is the single way to face my guild, but if that never happens, there's no point in our temporary alliance."
"I will earn merit to fight you. I'll take his powers and kill the king. I will have the Light of Heaven and beat you, Lord Shoto." Lord Toma rumbled from the dirt.
"Go," His fine silver braids swayed in the cold breeze, past his shoulders, Lord Shoto whispered, "Try again."
The shuffling of the warlord climbing to his feet and receding in the shadows echoed along the flutey gargle of the lake before him. White filled his frontal cortex. His eyes narrowed in the crisp vibration of her cool voice. Chills condensed in his ligaments, he gazed at the fluctuating reflections in the water. The weight of his breath squeezed between the plaint absent grass under his boot and the memory as old as 6,000 years.
" 'I can only give you half. The other half lies with him.' "
Water rolled over the rocks.
Moments unfurled in the weaving vines of silence, connecting the day and darkness, the palpable season and the fog of the Toya clan. The world thought of no pureblood, no war. Silence swept through the guild leader. The thumping of his heart and running blood paused. Lord Shoto peered into the distracting fog manicuring the forest, blanketing their location.
"Rui," The lord interrupted the noiseless dark.
The tempo of his son's contour resulted in the pureblood appearing next to his father's shoulder, yielding into an obedient bow. "Yes?"
"What've you learned?"
Rui followed his peaceful, hazy stare on the cold flooring the lake. "I suspect the king'll attempt to meet her soon. She went to the Aidou clan and has not contacted the crowned prince."
"He killed her father." Lord Shoto recounted immaculately. "The tryst of timing and purpose are the hooks of betrayal. Her heart is shattered. There's no need to seek comfort in a Kuran pureblood."
"Your predictions are unbeatable. The Light of Heaven needs to return to the sheath. We need to equalize their power."
"I've seen many wars," Lord Shoto stated, "Shizuku is incapable of accomplishing a mere task. The ingrate is best left behind. We must turn our focus on the king."
o o o
The frigid darkness heaved in silence. The torches on the city walls trickled gold on the silhouettes of horses and armored samurais. Another cold wind whipped against their helmets, smothering the fire pit. Rido glared in the endless emptiness of numbing fog and blood-ceasing wind. He couldn't concentrate and blinked. The memory of Juuri barred inside a cage and driven into the mountains haunted the Kuran lord. He had always looked out for Juuri, but she was suddenly taken away to a place he had no clue about. He gritted his fangs and cursed Kaname.
The boy had no common sense. She nurtured and loved him like her own child, and he exiled her to nowhere land.
That soulless cur.
The horses tensed, neighing. The black night sparked. Light infringed the endless beyond, descending in showers of gold. His glare blackened and he swung his sword at the fire arrows.
"Shield!"
The rearguard angled their shields, covering their heads.
On the top of the city wall, next to the guards, Fumiko Kuran looked grimly at the soaring arrows in their direction. Attacking the palace was expected. Hanako pointed to the thunder clouds and rain rampantly gushed, spitting the arrows to the ground. Rido motioned the rearguard forward.
Tokugawa and his human army stood primed within the walls of Kyoto. A thousand men rimmed the palace, two thousand flooded the streets.
o o o
Lord Kisaragi's formation roused in sentient readiness in the cold lashes of wind and fog. Lumps of wind and water laced the purebloods. The Hious had joined the lord's wall under the interminable glitter of stars. Owls weaved between the white and black seams of infinity.
He held fast for a second, breathing in the nocturnal whisper, wringing in shivers like an eerie hymn of death. Another clove of stars shimmered over Kaname. Lord Ichijo whisked toward him. His eyes narrow in concern over the blood stains on Kaname's clothes. The wind and thunder hung alertly. Beyond the hill on the right would be lords of ice, controlling the water. The night creatures were concealed accordingly in the clouds. The hill on the left glowed in heat pulsations of the fire clan, the Phoenix emblem scorched the dark sky.
Kaname dipped his hands in the earth, injecting toxins in the roots of trees and grass. The poison was deleterious enough, the rocks trembled, and the soil transformed into black tar. The Hious unsheathed their weapons and pointed at the ground.
Lord Toma had kept his remaining men from being seen by one mere trick. They were never seen because they weaseled under ground. The army gaped anxiously at the stark outlines jumping out desperately from the numbing poison. Several weeded out to the surface, the purebloods halted under the sharp edges of their swords.
The sound of hunter weapons slicing into the hiding Tomas executed. Their pureblood forms dissolved in seconds to the ground. Multiple appeared around Kaname, but the line of samurais immediately severed them of life with a perfect stab to the heart.
Kaname looked past the lake at the standing row of Tomas, armored, running and skipping over the cold water. Lord Ichijo held up his sword, one step behind Kaname and dove high, ramming with the Tomas in midair.
Lord Toma charged after the first hundred spilled over the lake. Winding the regalia over his shoulder, he zoned on Kaname.
o o o
I never thought I'd grow such a bond with a pureblood.
After his heartbreak with Juuri, Haruka procured a restrictive receptivity of purebloods. Kurashiki was popular to all ranks of vampires, especially humans. In addition to having the greatest friend in the world, Yuki was spoiled by the kind and fatherly adults in her life. No where should there have been a pureblood. If it was a happenstance, it should have remained a happenstance. After all, she threw a knife at him, and he held her at gun point.
This pureblood was peculiar. How he followed and listened—enigmatically at her chastisements and embarrassing antics that could make cupid nauseous. Suppose he had been forewarned that they were antics. Down inside the pit was a little girl who was warned not to reveal her aristocratic rank and blend in her noble vampire lineage. That little girl suddenly lost the person she loved as a child, an adolescent or fledgling vampire—her father. The only way to reclaim her strength was by doing good and serving others. Hunting and protecting humans from threatening vampires was noble. Over the years Yuki had developed a strange longing, churning in the violent plague of what was not there, what should not be, the shadow of what was not meant to be.
Kaname.
Whenever Kaname showed, the world she knew turned to smithereens, and she knew no absolution from the way the pureblood made her feel other than to run away. But that had become a problem too. When the tactic that always saved her was no longer useful, she had a good look at her crave, at the tall lies behind the decrepit mask, and at the little girl told not to associate with purebloods. He was every thing she could not keep in her life, yet he was every bit of what she loved.
His wolfish cunningness, the compassionate diplomat, and the pureblood predator — each of the attributes made Kaname exceptional. He was ahead of his enemies and threw them off course, like Lord Toma and his samurais with weapons and the coordinations of armies soaring the sky and over the country. He was trying to appease the court by conducting affairs with human warlords, not solely vampires. He wanted to save everyone. The pureblood predator knew what worked for purebloods and how to standoff threats to power. He was using them to do good. It felt awful to remember his sword took her father's life. It felt cruel to believe Kaname was capable of such animosity.
He had sold her a beautiful dream. He'd always be with her and he'd come to her when she needed. The aftermath of her father's death ricocheted soul-shivering darkness through Yuki. The dream had been a lie. The kindness and gentleness he'd shown was white smoke. A sharp pain curved into the left side of her chest, drilling into her heart.
I used to be sharp. Now I can't distinguish between a good person and a bad person.
She ought to know better, purebloods would always be purebloods, and her father's warning remained true as ever. She ought to stick to her own and keep distance from them. Purebloods can escape into eternity unlike the rest of the vampire kind. He could've continued to fool her until she'd let him. He could've laughed until he cried at her naivety.
Yuki stared, solemn, down the hill into the valley of clashing vampires. Never mind she protected Kaname.
Never mind I ran over like a lunatic each time you were threatened. Purebloods are biologically stronger than any other vampire. Why was I so worried? Why did I give a care?
Her chest tightened, pain swooped into her sternum, inundating her burning throat. Yuki clenched her fists over her heart, wincing over her horse.
Why are you still beating?
A chorus of cracking twigs tugged a tingle in her spine. Yuki showed no concern or uneasiness, she knew the sound of animal and man. The air was not clouded by blood, but the sweat of fear rode into her nostrils. Their hearts chimed like horse hooves on the ground. She took a look over her shoulder at the troupe of middle, old-aged men and women crawling up the hill with weapons.
The lookout of the hill turned her horse around to meet their nervous eyes directly. Her helmet glinted in the evening light, but her red eyes blinked, frigidity zapping the upturned men and women. A gasping shadow scuttled past the crew and tore toward the lookout.
"We don't mean harm!" She exclaimed, arms up, "Pretend you didn't see us. We're trying to get away from the battlefield. The vampires are — o?" Her hazel brown eyes unnaturally widened, starry, upon the lookout.
Anxiously, men and women nudged and shook her in expressions of lividity and franticness.
"Another vampire!"
"It'll kill us all."
"Look at the size of the sword."
"This isn't a war between purebloods, it's a war between species."
"Hurry, run!"
The blond rounded back toward her troupe, "Wait, stop. Think before going back. The hill is safest compared to the valley and the lake. We promised to stick together. Don't you believe me?"
"You said, there were no vampires up here." A man grumbled and nudged his bearded chin at the silent lookout. "There's no escape. We're doomed."
The blond glanced at the red-eyed vampire. Her black stallion huffed and whipped its tail in the white felt of fog. "We're not doomed. We're saved!" She raved, "This vampire'll show us a safer route."
Humans, very loud humans.
Yuki glanced at the shooting arrows clotting the valley's stratosphere.
"We've been hiding in the hills for months. Won't you help us get to safety?" The blond woman crept toward Yuki's horse despite her companion's despairing shrieks in the back ground.
"She's in over her head."
"It's a death wish."
"Aargh! We're doomed."
At the absurd drama, Yuki gritted her fang in grueling impatience.
"You can't be on the side of that conniving Toma lord." The woman stated by pointing at Yuki's helmet.
"What if I am?" Yuki retaliated.
The human stared transfixed under the red glare that slithered its talons around her throat, stealing her breath. She shook her head determinedly. "You can't be! You saved me."
"Not possible."
"I am the proof of your actions. You can't deny what happened in Kyoto."
Misery and bitterness snuck between Yuki's dark brows. A shadow of hope and excitement colored her eyes. She was ignorant at the time. Running to Kyoto to confront her pureblood mother about why she abandoned her father and her, easier said than done, as Yuki learned the hard way.
I was about to meet Kaname for the first time.
The human marched toward Yuki's leg. Her companions silenced in surprise by the revelation. She unhooked the buttons and belts of her clothing to raise her shirt. Dark scars crossed from her bellybutton and ribcage.
"Your blood runs through me. You left me in the care of a waif. I recovered five months later. It's Sayori, don't you remember me?"
Is there a need to remember every significance? She had helped others before. Humans were unpredictable and did not live long. Yuki never assumed they'd cross paths. A guilty admittance oozed her veins, she did remember each encounter she had with Kaname from the moment they met.
"You survived." Yuki whispered, "What have you done with the freedom you found?"
Sayori fixed her clothes, ruminating on the belt notches. "I went to look for you but you had disappeared. I've been alone, and I learned to protect myself. I also started helping others flee from blood sacrifice rituals. I want to help and be useful, like you."
Yuki eyed the vampires fighting below. "Vampires can't abandon their true selves. Humans must never let their guard down. We can turn on you as easily as the wind and the rain. Your friends are right. The farther you stay from a vampire, the safer you'll be."
Sayori blinked at Yuki's satin, pale profile. "You and your friend showed me some vampires are good. I know you aren't part Lord Toma's army. Please, help us get out of here?"
"You need to convince your friends," Yuki glared at the whispering herd behind Sayori, "To keep quiet. The hill we're on is a melting pot of Toma raiders. A column is on its way. I can escort you to my camp, but I can't let you be free-loaders. You're roaming with capable and burly men."
Sayori scanned the middle-aged men blinking widely, gesture to themselves haphazardly.
"Us?"
"Me?"
"Yes," Yuki was reviewing the line of attack in the water, "Help us maintain our camp, follow the Aidous' rule, and you may stay under our protection."
The troupe exchanged glances over nervous chatter.
"If you make noise and lure the raiders," Yuki trailed.
"We won't. Shh!" Sayori hushed her companions promptly.
o o o
Lord Toma clawed his face, cutting his eyelids and slashing the regalia across his chest.
Kaname's fist infiltrated the lord's ribcage. In the other hand, he swung the scythe and swiped. Lord Toma dodged Artemis but pointed his sharp sword at Kaname's wound.
Blood trickled down Kaname's pale face. Lord Toma skidded on the mud, as Kaname landed in front of him. He glared at the crowned prince. The wound hadn't closed, the window was still open. Striking Kaname with the regalia and finally drawing his powers would seal the deal. He darted up fiercely, snarling at the Kuran.
Kaname breathed hard, Artemis electrocuting his left arm. Standing center in the carnage of vampire ruin, the screams of his allies, the ravenous raiders hollering, and the death in the night seemed to just be beginning. Lord Ichijo screamed his name. Kaname clenched Artemis, it rattled in his fist.
Lord Toma was a meter in front of him. His white sword slung on Kaname's chest. The crowned prince darted and raked the scythe across his neck. The hot sword thrust into Kaname's solar plexus. He hooked the scythe around Lord Toma's throat and yanked. Flesh seared, smoke licked the fog, and his head dispelled into ash.
White light radiated from the sword inside him. Blistering heat exploded, throwing the purebloods apart. It hurled Lord Toma's ashes in the wind and whisked Kaname in a storm of white light.
Across the lake, Shigeu lifted the Light of Heaven. Its brilliance illuminated the night. The Tomas shrank fearfully from the advancing king.
"I declare death to the Tomas! No more shall you challenge the Kuran power, no more shall you lust after what your forefathers protected. No more shall you be blinded by greed." He roared and swung the flaring sword of gold, white light.
Light flooded the lake and curtained the hills, expunging every breathing article in its wake, past the forest, into the opposite mountain that cut into half and racketeered into the moon. The light bounced off the stars and disappeared in the galaxy. In a hundred years the light would echo back and shower the earth. The lake disappeared, the land before the king was nothing but a depression of rocks. The Tomas samurais and raiders were effectively eradicated in a blow.
Shigeu searched the field for the reminder of Tomas. The Kisaragis were reeling from the perilous white light.
o o o
Yuki signaled the troupe to slow down. The shadows around the trees were visible now. The humans skittered behind her horse, shaking. Calmly, she unsheathed her hunter's sword. A rumbling in the ground left her horse uneasy. It kicked its hooves and whipped its tail. Fire and rotting flesh spread over the hill. Far into the distance, she detected the palpable preamble of horses. War cries screeched from the darkness.
"Sayori," Yuki flashed her sword.
"Ye-yes?" The blond raptly latched onto Yuki's boot.
"Hide."
She quickly turned to her companions and urged them into the bushes.
Yuki kicked her horse and charged. The raiders on horseback cackled at the single rider. She slashed four passing by and rounded back. Three snapped arrows at her horse. Another five cheered from the shadows, closing the circle. It was not her forte to fight on horseback, but she slid her poisonous pins and ejected two into the eyes of the raider over her shoulder. A raider jumped off his horse, tackling Yuki to the ground.
Held fast in the engorging arms of the panting raider, Yuki angled her sword and pierced him in the heart. Blood splattered and his grip loosened. Another raider swung his axe at her head, his technique impulsive, without form or tactic. Yuki was highly irritated from the whipping noise of the blade and tripped him.
Another storm of vibrations trickled beneath their feet. The raiders cackled together at their incoming support. The blatant thumping was indeed from horses. Yuki snuck behind a raider and slit his throat. Blue flags appeared next to the tall trees.
"Ice wall!" The leader of the Aidou column ordered.
The Aidou samurais sealed the forest with crystal blue ice. Their horses continued to stomp energetically toward the frozen raiders surrounding Yuki.
Hanabusa waved his right arm toward the men on his right, "Shatter!"
They charged like wild lions and swung their hammers. Body parts littered the glass floor.
Yuki slid on the ice, slumping widely at the sight of hammers slamming on the raiders.
Aidou noticed her expression from horseback. "See why we use our supernatural abilities?" He grinned.
Yuki picked herself up as the column returned to formation. "Hanabusa, thank you," She stared at the extreme prideful blush he'd adorned. "The hill is full of them, but they're manageable. I need to escort a few people to camp. I'll join you afterward."
"Stay there," Aidou cleared his throat authoritatively, squaring his shoulders and raising his head high, "I, Hanabusa, will come to you. I will keep you safe."
He feels proud to have killed the raiders.
Yuki nodded, albeit, awkwardly. She rapidly mounted her horse and whistled for the troupe of humans.
o o o
White light twisted and grated his spine. He landed roughly in the cushion of grass. The back of his head rammed against a tree trunk. Blood flowed, pooling around the unconscious pureblood. Dots of light emulsified into lustrous wings, shimmering and fluttering in silent symphony. A thousand and one light butterflies swirled around Kaname, coating his body and covering the wound in his solar plexus.
A soft voice transfused in the mellow harmony of wind and light.
" 'The place isn't for everyone. One pureblood was duty-bound, he went there to create life. His descendants stay there. You don't need to care. The Imperial Lord chose a simple and carefree life for you.' "
Her face was blanketed in white vapor, but her voice was soothing, a caress of fire in the winter cold. She stopped her motions to regard him.
" 'By some miracle I went there, what will happen?' " He wondered.
" 'Why are you suddenly curious?' "
" 'She spends a lot of time reading about unusual places. We don't know existence without each other. If she went, I'd have to go after her.' "
Amusement chiseled her voice, but she nodded. The movement created a rustle within her silver-lavender locks and her eyes skittered close in deep mirth.
" 'The place is vastly limited compared to our home. Mortal life is normal and short. Immortality is feared and revered. You would live as complete strangers and die apart.' "
" 'An empty place doesn't scare me, but,' " He debated, " 'I'd be in constant worry over her. Let me stay connected to her by an anomaly. She doesn't need to know. I need only see her. ' "
She smiled, bowing her head. " 'I will put her in your dream. You will know of her and remain apart from her.' "
Kaname tensed against a feverish sting, digging in his nerve endings. Blood trickled down his temples, out of his eyes. The light butterflies filled his face, healing the jagged cuts on his cheeks. White petered into his psyche, washing the rugged fiber of his organs.
A glowing hand slithered inside of his ribcage and grabbed his pureblood heart. "Are you asking to know more?" The loud tenor echoed in wafts of cool dust and water.
Kaname's lips moved, but his voice wielded no volume.
The vaporous form behind his eyelids moved sideways, and the heath of white clouds dispersed.
The white form sat down. A large glowing lake filled with stars engulfed the region before them. Kaname sat up on the grass. His muscles lighter and his arms agile. He glanced down and stared at the black paws of his raven wolf shadow. His red eyes turned to the shimmering lake, swirling with life.
"You made the mistake and she paid the price." He explained.
Kaname was a large wolf, but next to the opaque creature, he was a minuscule shadow that sat as tall as his shin.
"I worried you'd bring calamity if I put you together. The force between you was mighty. I created you at the same time millions of years ago. Before you took the pureblood form of a wolf, before she took the form of a light butterfly, you were inseparable. Other purebloods fought and killed each other. But you two," The lord threw his head back and chuckled, "You gave your powers to each other and looked after each other. The love of the wolf and his butterfly…"
o o o
© Nur Misurr • Read & Review • Thank You
Lord Toma dropped dead like you wanted \^0^/ Sorry it took so long T_T
Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts with me!