Chapter 9: Night Flight
The next evening, the Emporer appeared unexpectedly at their quarters just after dinner.
"Tenou!" Ashura quickly let him in and shut the door. Yasha stood and bowed. "Tentei. How goes it with Seiryuu?"
"My army is cutting off the passes. My navy is blockading the sea routes, and Seiryuu is making camp as though for a seige."
"That's odd," Yasha said thoughtfully. "The northern reaches are not dependent on any vital items from the south. What can he hope to gain?"
Ashura sighed. "If I were there--"
"--No," said the Emporer. "He is after me as much as you. But remember, we outnumber him a hundred to one. No, he is not why I came." Tenou smiled almost sheepishly. "I have to get out of this place, if only for just a few hours! I was going up to my favorite spot on Mount Meru and I thought you might like to see it."
Ashura turned to Yasha, who smiled. "You go with him, Ashura. I will stay here."
"But don't you want to see Meru at night?"
"I already have, and it is a memory not easily forgotten. Go now. Spend time with your brother."
* * *
Tenou set Ashura on top of his white dragonhorse in the soft moonlight, then vaulted up behind the saddle. "Put your feet in the stirrups!"
Ashura clutched the snowy mane tightly, balancing precariously. Tenou wrapped one arm tight about the other's waist. "Don't worry! I won't let you fall!"
"What's his name?"
"Meghaduta!" The winged steed sprang forward into a gallop, and then they were flying. It was as smooth as a dream of clouds. Ashura's eyes were huge as they rose through layers of mist, the only sound that of giant wings.
Higher and higher they flew, a speck against the moon, until they were surrounded by stars. Ashura laughed for joy, the sound seeming strange and new and wonderful. Tenou was smiling broadly, the wind in his face and tangling his flying hair. Ashura leaned into him and he glanced into those golden eyes and was held by them. Ashura was so beautiful when happy that it broke his heart. The Emporer pressed his cheek to his brother's. "See there!" he said as he held Ashura close. "That is Mount Meru, the center of Heaven and Earth!" A huge white crag reflected the moonlight above them. "Once I flew right to the top!"
"Is it true the Water of Life is there?"
"The Water of Life does flow somewhere on Meru, but I have not yet found it."
They flew closer and closer to the mountain, the stars wheeling round it overhead, until Meghaduta began to break a sweat. When they finally landed, it was on a gentle slope where white frost-lilies grew in a secluded glen under the moon. Tenou handed Ashura down from the saddle and hobbled his steed by the wings, which had been pierced with steel rings. He fastened these together with a decorative chain. The animal snorted and began to graze the fine, moss-like grass.
"Megh was given to me by my father a long time ago. Now come," said Tenou. "This was my resting-spot when I first ascended the mountain. I've brought food!" He pulled a cloth and some packages from the saddlebags.
Despite having just had dinner with Yasha, Ashura happily ate everything Tenou offered, much to the Emporer's amusement. "How can such a thin creature eat so much?" he wondered aloud.
"Yasha asks the same thing," Ashura said carelessly, devouring a pear.
Tenou watched his sibling thoughtfully. Before him sat a dream some would risk death to possess, a dream currently oblivious to itself. Ashura's fine jet hair was like shadow, wrapping round the richly clad body like black wings. But the eyes, deep golden wells, seemed in an eerie way to be the eyes of a child living for the moment, unsophisticated.
"Tenou," Ashura said unexpectedly. "Tell me what it is like to be Emporer."
Tenou was a bit startled, but replied readily. "I know my life has been easier than yours, Ashura. But it has been, in truth, far from what most people think an Emporer enjoys."
Ashura had finished eating, and was now watching him with the same steadiness he had just watched Ashura with. "How is that?"
"You have Yasha."
Ashura was silent, gazing up at him.
"Lower down the mountain, there is a meadow where windflowers dance in the breeze," Tenou said finally. "I never go there anymore."
"Why?"
"It... is where I once took Kendappa-ou."
Ashura froze.
"You are not responsible for what happened to her, Ashura. She chose to side with my father."
"She was your your loved one?!"
"Yes."
Ashura blinked and was silent, not knowing what to say. Finally Tenou managed a smile. "I was young and stupid and far too infatuated to see that her heart was already taken. I was so stupid in so many ways back then. I thought my father really didn't care much about me, other than that I was his heir, and our mother Shashi... Well, anyway, a lot of people used me for their politics and greed, until I learned to recognize that... And my brother... For the longest time I thought I had no brother or sister, Ashura!" He looked away, and for a moment in the moonlight Ashura saw a younger face, the face from the old Zenmijou, and a totally open heart.
Ashura sat quiet for a long time, finally stirring to ask: "How badly did I hurt you?"
"When... When our mother died...?"
"I remember it all, Tenou. I remember...!" Suddenly words poured forth. "I was a prisoner in my own body and... and the Black Ashura killed her, and took the seal, and stabbed you! I... I hurt you...!"
Tenou drew a deep breath. Then he flipped his cloak back and pulled up his sleeve, exposing his arm, and one of the ugliest scars Ashura had ever seen. It made Yasha's disfigured face seem trivial. "I nearly lost my arm," Tenou said. His voice was mild, almost apologetic.
Ashura gasped in horror. "Tenou! Oh, gods--!"
"Hush... See? My hand still works well enough to hold a shield-- the thumb and two fingers are good. And I can bend my elbow, and turn my wrist somewhat." He continued steadily on over Ashura's horror. "It took a lot of time to learn to write with my other hand, but concealing this weakness is the most difficult part of it. Your Yasha was very loyal to me in the practice arena when we sparred, for he could have exposed that weakness and he deliberately chose not to. The people would never accept an imperfect Emporer, even after knowing me all this time. That is why my father--" Tenou stopped abruptly.
"Why what, Tenou?"
"Oh, nothing. Let's not talk about my father, Ashura." He drew his knees up and wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself. "That was another stupid thing," he murmured. "Why did I try to provoke Yasha so, when his loyalty was proven already by a far harder test...? What's wrong with me?"
Ashura slid quietly to sit next to the Emporer, putting one arm around Tenou's shoulders. Tenou returned the gesture as Ashura spoke slowly, from deep inside the heart. "Tenou. If there was only some way I could undo what I have done... Only some way I could make this right, I would."
"I know you would. I know."
"Yasha and I are going to be wed soon. Did you know that?"
"I am very glad. You deserve it, Ashura."
"And then we are going to leave."
Silence.
"I... I did not know that." Tenou looked away, out over the world.
"It's for the best, my dear, dear brother... Tenou?"
"Ashura."
"I know that at the sacrifice you almost let me be killed. No, no, don't pull away! It's all right! I would never have blamed you for it."
"I-- Oh, Ashura...!!" Now Tenou was truly miserable.
"No, listen. It is my own Yasha who plans to kill me someday. I know that too. It's the only thing he can do when he is finally ready to die himself, for no one else in the world can control my dark side. And it is the kindest thing for me. Without him my life would be a hundred hells. But it's not time yet. It's not time. And I want to save the Ryuu clan, and I want to help you get out of this mess your own love has gotten you into. So, after the wedding-- please, my brother, please-- Let us go!"
Tenou drew a huge breath, but it was obvious he had already come to a decision on the matter. "Yes, I must. But Ashura, I do love you. I love you very much. I don't like to think of you and Yasha wandering all alone in this world."
"We'll never be alone. Just like you saved us in Alaka, in the snowstorm, you can watch us with your miko any time you like. Just don't tell Yasha. He's really easy to embarrass!" Leaning to pluck a frost lily, Ashura placed it in the other's hand.
"You are kind and sweet, Ashura," Tenou said tenderly. "And that shows Yasha's true nature as well, for he fostered you and taught you that kindness."
Ashura paused, then leaned up to place a soft kiss on Tenou's cheek and put both arms around him and held him close. Tenou returned the embrace gently. Ashura noted that the warmth and security of his arms was not unlike Yasha's. "Ashura," whispered Tenou, and a tear welled from his eye.
"Loneliness is written all over your face. Yasha says it is just the price of being Emporer, but I think it is unfair." Ashura hugged him tight. "But I love my brother and my heart will always be there for him."
* * *
Yasha was dreaming of Ashura, of long black hair and long white limbs binding themselves round him, and he moved to kiss his loved one, but for some reason he could not. Then he was dreaming of a red hibiscus flower-- no, dreaming of a hidden rose with the sweetest of dusky scents, a rose he wanted to devour. This was a flower in its prime, petals shining. He drank its scent with the hunger of one long-starved.
The long limbs in the darkness wrapped themselves around him. He thrust himself into their embrace. The dark hair enveloped him. "Ashuraaa..." he moaned, his one eye sightless; but no God came to greet him in this dream, and his heart broke even in his bliss. "Ashura..."
A low, feminine voice whispered in his ear. "It is I." Full lips brushed against his; but he turned his head away.
* * *
The morning sun just beginning to rise over Mount Meru was one of the most beautiful sights Ashura had ever seen. Tenou sat in the glade with an armful of lilies Ashura had gathered for him, looking out over Tenkai. Far away in the west, the golden glint of a vimana sparked for a moment in the sunrise before vanishing.
Ashura sat at the Emporer's feet, still picking at the crumbs of their foodstuffs. "So just how big is this kingdom anyway?"
Tenou chuckled. "In theory, I suppose I rule everything I can see from the top of this mountain, but in practice, I'm lucky to rule my own city!" He sighed. "Ashura, I wish I could just turn and leave and go into the forest and live like you have lived."
"It is nice there, brother. There are no rules. I can eat whenever I want, and walk naked wherever I please!"
Tenou suddenly laughed as something clicked. "Ashura is an exhibitionist!"
"What's that?"
"Never mind." But Tenou seemed to find his sudden realization amusing.
"I guess I will have to ask Yasha then," said Ashura.
"You do that. Just don't tell him I said it! Now would you like to fly Meghaduta?"
"Yes, brother!"
They gathered up their food wrappings and picnic blanket and packed them into the saddlebags. Tenou fastened Vajra, which he had brought along, back to the saddle. He tightened the girth and tied his frost lilies to the harness before lifting Ashura up onto his steed. Then, unchaining Meghaduta's wings, he vaulted up to his seat behind Ashura, hanging onto the harness. Leaning forward, he spoke in Ashura's attentive ear. "To make him fly fast, just let the reins loose. He loves to fly fast! To make him slow down, keep the reins a little tighter."
"All right. Hang on!" Ashura dug both heels boldly into Meghaduta's sides, who snorted and leaped into a gallop from a standing start. Tenou uttered a startled shout.
Meghaduta took off by holding both wings rigidly extended. When he was running fast enough, he was simply lifted into the air. Ashura watched attentively as the dragonhorse flapped those leathery wings only after the tips would clear the ground on the first downstroke. Tenou's distant laughter followed them as Ashura slacked the reins too much and Meghaduta began to climb high above the clouds. Ashura glanced back in shock and saw Tenou sprawling in a patch of frost lilies below. "Meghaduta!" cried Ashura, pulling on the reins. "We have to go back!"
The great steed shook his sculptured head, but obeyed not Ashura, but instead a long whistle from Tenou himself, swerving so sharply Ashura was reduced to clinging to the mighty neck before the dragonhorse finally landed with incredible delicacy not three feet from where Tenou sat in the weeds. Ashura scrambled down from the animal's back. "Tenou! Are you all right?!"
"Yes, yes!" Tenou was still grinning and rubbing his backside. "That was an excellent takeoff, Ashura! I haven't ridden him like that since I was very young! Shall we try it again?"
* * *
Takeoff was less abrupt the second time around-- and Tenou was holding onto the harness much more tightly. "It doesn't take him much effort to glide down from a height," he said, "So you can fly him as high as you want, Ashura!"
"How high will he fly?"
"As high as the air will hold him!"
As they rose through the grey morning mist, suddenly they hit the level of the sun and all the sky around them turned to gold. Meghaduta's mane, Ashura's hair, the blinding clouds, all made of the richest gold. They circled the mountain, climbing higher and higher, and Ashura's mouth was open in astonishment at the glistening of huge gems in its rocks, and thousand-foot waterfalls shimmering down its sides. Even this high up Meru harbored a few trees and other life. Once they saw a sage waving at them, and they waved back. "He's a sannyasa," Tenou said happily. "I don't know how he does it, but he lives on water, air and grass! A lot of hermits live here... And even some gods!"
"How come you ascended Mount Meru before?" Ashura, getting more comfortable handling Meghaduta, held the reins loosely in one hand and leaned back into the crook of Tenou's warm arm.
"It's part of the ritual of becoming Emporer. Vajra returns to the top of Meru after the death of every Emporer, so their successor must prove themselves by getting it. Of course, you might say that with Meghaduta on my side, I cheated!" Tenou's voice was thoughtful. "My father's gift of him was unexpected. Nothing else I ever received was as splendid as Megh. And... my father seemed very pleased that I was pleased. I have wondered... I have wondered just what he knew..."
Ashura turned slightly to look at the Emporer. Tenou's face was suddenly haunted and wistful. "He knew you would be badly hurt some day, and that you could never climb this mountain on your own."
"Yes. That is what I think, Ashura."
Ashura turned back, looking between the great dragonhorse's pricked ears at a flock of distant birds. "You are lucky to have gotten this horse, Tenou."
"Am I? He made me Emporer."
The conversation was suddenly interrupted by Meghaduta himself, who uttered a deafening cry and snort which shook his ribs violently and made both Ashura and Tenou grab for the harness. The flock of birds out in front of them were not birds at all, but Meghaduta's wild sisters and brothers, and he suddenly strained at the bit as he flew after them. Tenou reached around Ashura to take the reins, but he did not try to restrain his winged friend. "Ashura! Ashura! Look! I had no idea that there were any others like him!"
"It's a whole flock of them, Tenou!"
"I'll let him get closer."
The wild winged horses did not seem to mind Meghaduta's presence, but greeted him with whinnying of their own. Careless foals and yearlings swooped and circled around them like swallows, so Ashura and Tenou ducked. One accident and they would be knocked out of the air. Tenou found himself briefly glad that Yasha could not see them now. Nevertheless, they could not bring themselves to leave. The flock circled widely around them. Between the golden sun-rays Ashura caught glimpses of golden hides and silver hides; bronze and blue and spotted hides all polished from the wind, and long expanses of mighty, shining wings. The stallion, at the vanguard, snorted a challenge, and only then did Tenou rein Meghaduta to fly slower, increasing their distance.
"We could land on one of Meru's foothills, Ashura, and turn him loose," Tenou said after a few minutes.
"How will we get back?"
"I can call a vimana to pick us up."
"Really?" Ashura considered this, and considered Meghaduta's quivering neck and eager snorts. "Why don't we let him decide?"
"Megh?" Tenou gently tightened the reins, setting his horse's head and causing him to glide. The wild dragonhorses followed them down through layers of clouds, keeping a bowshot away.
They landed finally on a small hill perhaps two thousand feet above the plain. Zenmijou glimmered in the sky above them, its air traffic unabated despite the earliness of the morning. Tenou's face was set and sober as he quickly stripped Meghaduta of his harness and bridle as the wild herd circled distantly above them. Then he impulsively pressed his forehead to the noble brow of his childhood steed as Ashura looked on.
"Megh. Go."
Meghaduta did not hesitate. With an exuberant squeal he leaped straight into the air, whipping his wingtips carelessly against the grass as he sprang straight over the Emporer and up to the clouds. As he ascended the air currents almost as fast as a vimana, Ashura heard the cries of the flock and smiled. "You did the right thing! I hope you won't be sad."
"No, Ashura. I will miss him terribly, but I won't be sad." Tenou was still gazing skyward. "I hope he can get along with that stallion. I don't want him to fly all alone. But... alone or not, he belongs up there, not in a stable. If only I had known before." He turned to Ashura. "My father intimated that he was the only one of his kind."
"He knew you would turn him loose if it were otherwise."
Silence.
"Tenou? I have something kind of strange to ask you..."
"What, dear one?" Tenou looked at his sibling with gentle eyes.
"Am I really the last of the Ashuras? Am I really...? That's what I was always told-- that I was like Megh, the only one. What if I'm not?"
Silence.
"I don't know," Tenou said finally. "There is one other genuine Ashura who may still be around, but he would be very, very old now. He survived Shiva's destruction of the Tripuras, the three great flying cities of the Ashuras. His name is Maya."
"The great engineer! Then he really did build your city!"
"No. My city was built from ancient plans of his. But... I will tell you a secret so closely guarded that only my father and your father knew it."
"What? What...??"
The Emporer drew a huge breath. Then: "Far, far away, across the sea in another country, there are people who just might be related to you. It is recorded that Maya took some Ashura refugees to live there after the Three Cities fell. They are called the Mayans. But it is a rumor only."
* * *
Tenou had a magic speaking device that had been made for another Emporer thousands of years before. It still worked, and the already astonished Ashura was startled to hear the voice of Shaunakaa coming clearly back from it. Only minutes later, a vimana flown by Jatayu, one of Tenou's best pilots, appeared in the sky. The wild horses were long gone as Tenou hauled Meghaduta's heavy harness and bridle inside the craft. Strangely enough, Jatayu did not ask questions, but merely smiled, and Ashura had the feeling he had seen wild dragonhorses before somewhere in his aerial wanderings.
Once they were in Zenmijou, Tenou and Ashura walked hand in hand in silence toward Ashura's room. "I love my brother," Ashura said quietly as they walked down the long, deserted halls. "He is generous, and kind to animals. Even to the lowest animals, like me."
"If only the people could understand you, Ashura!" Tenou's voice was deeply sad.
Ashura sighed. "It is because you are strong and they are weak. You are not afraid of Ashura. Either Ashura."
"Ashura... You are like Megh, a wild thing that ought to be free. I am so sorry that I ever forced you to come here."
"At least we could meet for this long, brother. I am happy about that. I wish we could live together always, without strife among the people..."
"Ashura, if I had an heir I would give all this up and come and live with you, wherever you end up living. That is, if Yasha didn't mind!"
"Yasha wouldn't mind. He likes you. Yasha..." Ashura suddenly stopped, releasing Tenou's hand. From the center of Ashura's upheld palm the tip of a transparent blade emerged, unknitting itself bloodlessly from Ashura's flesh. "Shurato calls Yamato," Ashura murmured. "I can hear Yamato answer... but he is not in our room! It is... this way. Follow me!"
"Ashura!" Tenou cried, but his sibling was already gone, flitting ahead of him, a light among the shadows of the morning. Tenou girded himself and followed with a silent curse.
The next evening, the Emporer appeared unexpectedly at their quarters just after dinner.
"Tenou!" Ashura quickly let him in and shut the door. Yasha stood and bowed. "Tentei. How goes it with Seiryuu?"
"My army is cutting off the passes. My navy is blockading the sea routes, and Seiryuu is making camp as though for a seige."
"That's odd," Yasha said thoughtfully. "The northern reaches are not dependent on any vital items from the south. What can he hope to gain?"
Ashura sighed. "If I were there--"
"--No," said the Emporer. "He is after me as much as you. But remember, we outnumber him a hundred to one. No, he is not why I came." Tenou smiled almost sheepishly. "I have to get out of this place, if only for just a few hours! I was going up to my favorite spot on Mount Meru and I thought you might like to see it."
Ashura turned to Yasha, who smiled. "You go with him, Ashura. I will stay here."
"But don't you want to see Meru at night?"
"I already have, and it is a memory not easily forgotten. Go now. Spend time with your brother."
* * *
Tenou set Ashura on top of his white dragonhorse in the soft moonlight, then vaulted up behind the saddle. "Put your feet in the stirrups!"
Ashura clutched the snowy mane tightly, balancing precariously. Tenou wrapped one arm tight about the other's waist. "Don't worry! I won't let you fall!"
"What's his name?"
"Meghaduta!" The winged steed sprang forward into a gallop, and then they were flying. It was as smooth as a dream of clouds. Ashura's eyes were huge as they rose through layers of mist, the only sound that of giant wings.
Higher and higher they flew, a speck against the moon, until they were surrounded by stars. Ashura laughed for joy, the sound seeming strange and new and wonderful. Tenou was smiling broadly, the wind in his face and tangling his flying hair. Ashura leaned into him and he glanced into those golden eyes and was held by them. Ashura was so beautiful when happy that it broke his heart. The Emporer pressed his cheek to his brother's. "See there!" he said as he held Ashura close. "That is Mount Meru, the center of Heaven and Earth!" A huge white crag reflected the moonlight above them. "Once I flew right to the top!"
"Is it true the Water of Life is there?"
"The Water of Life does flow somewhere on Meru, but I have not yet found it."
They flew closer and closer to the mountain, the stars wheeling round it overhead, until Meghaduta began to break a sweat. When they finally landed, it was on a gentle slope where white frost-lilies grew in a secluded glen under the moon. Tenou handed Ashura down from the saddle and hobbled his steed by the wings, which had been pierced with steel rings. He fastened these together with a decorative chain. The animal snorted and began to graze the fine, moss-like grass.
"Megh was given to me by my father a long time ago. Now come," said Tenou. "This was my resting-spot when I first ascended the mountain. I've brought food!" He pulled a cloth and some packages from the saddlebags.
Despite having just had dinner with Yasha, Ashura happily ate everything Tenou offered, much to the Emporer's amusement. "How can such a thin creature eat so much?" he wondered aloud.
"Yasha asks the same thing," Ashura said carelessly, devouring a pear.
Tenou watched his sibling thoughtfully. Before him sat a dream some would risk death to possess, a dream currently oblivious to itself. Ashura's fine jet hair was like shadow, wrapping round the richly clad body like black wings. But the eyes, deep golden wells, seemed in an eerie way to be the eyes of a child living for the moment, unsophisticated.
"Tenou," Ashura said unexpectedly. "Tell me what it is like to be Emporer."
Tenou was a bit startled, but replied readily. "I know my life has been easier than yours, Ashura. But it has been, in truth, far from what most people think an Emporer enjoys."
Ashura had finished eating, and was now watching him with the same steadiness he had just watched Ashura with. "How is that?"
"You have Yasha."
Ashura was silent, gazing up at him.
"Lower down the mountain, there is a meadow where windflowers dance in the breeze," Tenou said finally. "I never go there anymore."
"Why?"
"It... is where I once took Kendappa-ou."
Ashura froze.
"You are not responsible for what happened to her, Ashura. She chose to side with my father."
"She was your your loved one?!"
"Yes."
Ashura blinked and was silent, not knowing what to say. Finally Tenou managed a smile. "I was young and stupid and far too infatuated to see that her heart was already taken. I was so stupid in so many ways back then. I thought my father really didn't care much about me, other than that I was his heir, and our mother Shashi... Well, anyway, a lot of people used me for their politics and greed, until I learned to recognize that... And my brother... For the longest time I thought I had no brother or sister, Ashura!" He looked away, and for a moment in the moonlight Ashura saw a younger face, the face from the old Zenmijou, and a totally open heart.
Ashura sat quiet for a long time, finally stirring to ask: "How badly did I hurt you?"
"When... When our mother died...?"
"I remember it all, Tenou. I remember...!" Suddenly words poured forth. "I was a prisoner in my own body and... and the Black Ashura killed her, and took the seal, and stabbed you! I... I hurt you...!"
Tenou drew a deep breath. Then he flipped his cloak back and pulled up his sleeve, exposing his arm, and one of the ugliest scars Ashura had ever seen. It made Yasha's disfigured face seem trivial. "I nearly lost my arm," Tenou said. His voice was mild, almost apologetic.
Ashura gasped in horror. "Tenou! Oh, gods--!"
"Hush... See? My hand still works well enough to hold a shield-- the thumb and two fingers are good. And I can bend my elbow, and turn my wrist somewhat." He continued steadily on over Ashura's horror. "It took a lot of time to learn to write with my other hand, but concealing this weakness is the most difficult part of it. Your Yasha was very loyal to me in the practice arena when we sparred, for he could have exposed that weakness and he deliberately chose not to. The people would never accept an imperfect Emporer, even after knowing me all this time. That is why my father--" Tenou stopped abruptly.
"Why what, Tenou?"
"Oh, nothing. Let's not talk about my father, Ashura." He drew his knees up and wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself. "That was another stupid thing," he murmured. "Why did I try to provoke Yasha so, when his loyalty was proven already by a far harder test...? What's wrong with me?"
Ashura slid quietly to sit next to the Emporer, putting one arm around Tenou's shoulders. Tenou returned the gesture as Ashura spoke slowly, from deep inside the heart. "Tenou. If there was only some way I could undo what I have done... Only some way I could make this right, I would."
"I know you would. I know."
"Yasha and I are going to be wed soon. Did you know that?"
"I am very glad. You deserve it, Ashura."
"And then we are going to leave."
Silence.
"I... I did not know that." Tenou looked away, out over the world.
"It's for the best, my dear, dear brother... Tenou?"
"Ashura."
"I know that at the sacrifice you almost let me be killed. No, no, don't pull away! It's all right! I would never have blamed you for it."
"I-- Oh, Ashura...!!" Now Tenou was truly miserable.
"No, listen. It is my own Yasha who plans to kill me someday. I know that too. It's the only thing he can do when he is finally ready to die himself, for no one else in the world can control my dark side. And it is the kindest thing for me. Without him my life would be a hundred hells. But it's not time yet. It's not time. And I want to save the Ryuu clan, and I want to help you get out of this mess your own love has gotten you into. So, after the wedding-- please, my brother, please-- Let us go!"
Tenou drew a huge breath, but it was obvious he had already come to a decision on the matter. "Yes, I must. But Ashura, I do love you. I love you very much. I don't like to think of you and Yasha wandering all alone in this world."
"We'll never be alone. Just like you saved us in Alaka, in the snowstorm, you can watch us with your miko any time you like. Just don't tell Yasha. He's really easy to embarrass!" Leaning to pluck a frost lily, Ashura placed it in the other's hand.
"You are kind and sweet, Ashura," Tenou said tenderly. "And that shows Yasha's true nature as well, for he fostered you and taught you that kindness."
Ashura paused, then leaned up to place a soft kiss on Tenou's cheek and put both arms around him and held him close. Tenou returned the embrace gently. Ashura noted that the warmth and security of his arms was not unlike Yasha's. "Ashura," whispered Tenou, and a tear welled from his eye.
"Loneliness is written all over your face. Yasha says it is just the price of being Emporer, but I think it is unfair." Ashura hugged him tight. "But I love my brother and my heart will always be there for him."
* * *
Yasha was dreaming of Ashura, of long black hair and long white limbs binding themselves round him, and he moved to kiss his loved one, but for some reason he could not. Then he was dreaming of a red hibiscus flower-- no, dreaming of a hidden rose with the sweetest of dusky scents, a rose he wanted to devour. This was a flower in its prime, petals shining. He drank its scent with the hunger of one long-starved.
The long limbs in the darkness wrapped themselves around him. He thrust himself into their embrace. The dark hair enveloped him. "Ashuraaa..." he moaned, his one eye sightless; but no God came to greet him in this dream, and his heart broke even in his bliss. "Ashura..."
A low, feminine voice whispered in his ear. "It is I." Full lips brushed against his; but he turned his head away.
* * *
The morning sun just beginning to rise over Mount Meru was one of the most beautiful sights Ashura had ever seen. Tenou sat in the glade with an armful of lilies Ashura had gathered for him, looking out over Tenkai. Far away in the west, the golden glint of a vimana sparked for a moment in the sunrise before vanishing.
Ashura sat at the Emporer's feet, still picking at the crumbs of their foodstuffs. "So just how big is this kingdom anyway?"
Tenou chuckled. "In theory, I suppose I rule everything I can see from the top of this mountain, but in practice, I'm lucky to rule my own city!" He sighed. "Ashura, I wish I could just turn and leave and go into the forest and live like you have lived."
"It is nice there, brother. There are no rules. I can eat whenever I want, and walk naked wherever I please!"
Tenou suddenly laughed as something clicked. "Ashura is an exhibitionist!"
"What's that?"
"Never mind." But Tenou seemed to find his sudden realization amusing.
"I guess I will have to ask Yasha then," said Ashura.
"You do that. Just don't tell him I said it! Now would you like to fly Meghaduta?"
"Yes, brother!"
They gathered up their food wrappings and picnic blanket and packed them into the saddlebags. Tenou fastened Vajra, which he had brought along, back to the saddle. He tightened the girth and tied his frost lilies to the harness before lifting Ashura up onto his steed. Then, unchaining Meghaduta's wings, he vaulted up to his seat behind Ashura, hanging onto the harness. Leaning forward, he spoke in Ashura's attentive ear. "To make him fly fast, just let the reins loose. He loves to fly fast! To make him slow down, keep the reins a little tighter."
"All right. Hang on!" Ashura dug both heels boldly into Meghaduta's sides, who snorted and leaped into a gallop from a standing start. Tenou uttered a startled shout.
Meghaduta took off by holding both wings rigidly extended. When he was running fast enough, he was simply lifted into the air. Ashura watched attentively as the dragonhorse flapped those leathery wings only after the tips would clear the ground on the first downstroke. Tenou's distant laughter followed them as Ashura slacked the reins too much and Meghaduta began to climb high above the clouds. Ashura glanced back in shock and saw Tenou sprawling in a patch of frost lilies below. "Meghaduta!" cried Ashura, pulling on the reins. "We have to go back!"
The great steed shook his sculptured head, but obeyed not Ashura, but instead a long whistle from Tenou himself, swerving so sharply Ashura was reduced to clinging to the mighty neck before the dragonhorse finally landed with incredible delicacy not three feet from where Tenou sat in the weeds. Ashura scrambled down from the animal's back. "Tenou! Are you all right?!"
"Yes, yes!" Tenou was still grinning and rubbing his backside. "That was an excellent takeoff, Ashura! I haven't ridden him like that since I was very young! Shall we try it again?"
* * *
Takeoff was less abrupt the second time around-- and Tenou was holding onto the harness much more tightly. "It doesn't take him much effort to glide down from a height," he said, "So you can fly him as high as you want, Ashura!"
"How high will he fly?"
"As high as the air will hold him!"
As they rose through the grey morning mist, suddenly they hit the level of the sun and all the sky around them turned to gold. Meghaduta's mane, Ashura's hair, the blinding clouds, all made of the richest gold. They circled the mountain, climbing higher and higher, and Ashura's mouth was open in astonishment at the glistening of huge gems in its rocks, and thousand-foot waterfalls shimmering down its sides. Even this high up Meru harbored a few trees and other life. Once they saw a sage waving at them, and they waved back. "He's a sannyasa," Tenou said happily. "I don't know how he does it, but he lives on water, air and grass! A lot of hermits live here... And even some gods!"
"How come you ascended Mount Meru before?" Ashura, getting more comfortable handling Meghaduta, held the reins loosely in one hand and leaned back into the crook of Tenou's warm arm.
"It's part of the ritual of becoming Emporer. Vajra returns to the top of Meru after the death of every Emporer, so their successor must prove themselves by getting it. Of course, you might say that with Meghaduta on my side, I cheated!" Tenou's voice was thoughtful. "My father's gift of him was unexpected. Nothing else I ever received was as splendid as Megh. And... my father seemed very pleased that I was pleased. I have wondered... I have wondered just what he knew..."
Ashura turned slightly to look at the Emporer. Tenou's face was suddenly haunted and wistful. "He knew you would be badly hurt some day, and that you could never climb this mountain on your own."
"Yes. That is what I think, Ashura."
Ashura turned back, looking between the great dragonhorse's pricked ears at a flock of distant birds. "You are lucky to have gotten this horse, Tenou."
"Am I? He made me Emporer."
The conversation was suddenly interrupted by Meghaduta himself, who uttered a deafening cry and snort which shook his ribs violently and made both Ashura and Tenou grab for the harness. The flock of birds out in front of them were not birds at all, but Meghaduta's wild sisters and brothers, and he suddenly strained at the bit as he flew after them. Tenou reached around Ashura to take the reins, but he did not try to restrain his winged friend. "Ashura! Ashura! Look! I had no idea that there were any others like him!"
"It's a whole flock of them, Tenou!"
"I'll let him get closer."
The wild winged horses did not seem to mind Meghaduta's presence, but greeted him with whinnying of their own. Careless foals and yearlings swooped and circled around them like swallows, so Ashura and Tenou ducked. One accident and they would be knocked out of the air. Tenou found himself briefly glad that Yasha could not see them now. Nevertheless, they could not bring themselves to leave. The flock circled widely around them. Between the golden sun-rays Ashura caught glimpses of golden hides and silver hides; bronze and blue and spotted hides all polished from the wind, and long expanses of mighty, shining wings. The stallion, at the vanguard, snorted a challenge, and only then did Tenou rein Meghaduta to fly slower, increasing their distance.
"We could land on one of Meru's foothills, Ashura, and turn him loose," Tenou said after a few minutes.
"How will we get back?"
"I can call a vimana to pick us up."
"Really?" Ashura considered this, and considered Meghaduta's quivering neck and eager snorts. "Why don't we let him decide?"
"Megh?" Tenou gently tightened the reins, setting his horse's head and causing him to glide. The wild dragonhorses followed them down through layers of clouds, keeping a bowshot away.
They landed finally on a small hill perhaps two thousand feet above the plain. Zenmijou glimmered in the sky above them, its air traffic unabated despite the earliness of the morning. Tenou's face was set and sober as he quickly stripped Meghaduta of his harness and bridle as the wild herd circled distantly above them. Then he impulsively pressed his forehead to the noble brow of his childhood steed as Ashura looked on.
"Megh. Go."
Meghaduta did not hesitate. With an exuberant squeal he leaped straight into the air, whipping his wingtips carelessly against the grass as he sprang straight over the Emporer and up to the clouds. As he ascended the air currents almost as fast as a vimana, Ashura heard the cries of the flock and smiled. "You did the right thing! I hope you won't be sad."
"No, Ashura. I will miss him terribly, but I won't be sad." Tenou was still gazing skyward. "I hope he can get along with that stallion. I don't want him to fly all alone. But... alone or not, he belongs up there, not in a stable. If only I had known before." He turned to Ashura. "My father intimated that he was the only one of his kind."
"He knew you would turn him loose if it were otherwise."
Silence.
"Tenou? I have something kind of strange to ask you..."
"What, dear one?" Tenou looked at his sibling with gentle eyes.
"Am I really the last of the Ashuras? Am I really...? That's what I was always told-- that I was like Megh, the only one. What if I'm not?"
Silence.
"I don't know," Tenou said finally. "There is one other genuine Ashura who may still be around, but he would be very, very old now. He survived Shiva's destruction of the Tripuras, the three great flying cities of the Ashuras. His name is Maya."
"The great engineer! Then he really did build your city!"
"No. My city was built from ancient plans of his. But... I will tell you a secret so closely guarded that only my father and your father knew it."
"What? What...??"
The Emporer drew a huge breath. Then: "Far, far away, across the sea in another country, there are people who just might be related to you. It is recorded that Maya took some Ashura refugees to live there after the Three Cities fell. They are called the Mayans. But it is a rumor only."
* * *
Tenou had a magic speaking device that had been made for another Emporer thousands of years before. It still worked, and the already astonished Ashura was startled to hear the voice of Shaunakaa coming clearly back from it. Only minutes later, a vimana flown by Jatayu, one of Tenou's best pilots, appeared in the sky. The wild horses were long gone as Tenou hauled Meghaduta's heavy harness and bridle inside the craft. Strangely enough, Jatayu did not ask questions, but merely smiled, and Ashura had the feeling he had seen wild dragonhorses before somewhere in his aerial wanderings.
Once they were in Zenmijou, Tenou and Ashura walked hand in hand in silence toward Ashura's room. "I love my brother," Ashura said quietly as they walked down the long, deserted halls. "He is generous, and kind to animals. Even to the lowest animals, like me."
"If only the people could understand you, Ashura!" Tenou's voice was deeply sad.
Ashura sighed. "It is because you are strong and they are weak. You are not afraid of Ashura. Either Ashura."
"Ashura... You are like Megh, a wild thing that ought to be free. I am so sorry that I ever forced you to come here."
"At least we could meet for this long, brother. I am happy about that. I wish we could live together always, without strife among the people..."
"Ashura, if I had an heir I would give all this up and come and live with you, wherever you end up living. That is, if Yasha didn't mind!"
"Yasha wouldn't mind. He likes you. Yasha..." Ashura suddenly stopped, releasing Tenou's hand. From the center of Ashura's upheld palm the tip of a transparent blade emerged, unknitting itself bloodlessly from Ashura's flesh. "Shurato calls Yamato," Ashura murmured. "I can hear Yamato answer... but he is not in our room! It is... this way. Follow me!"
"Ashura!" Tenou cried, but his sibling was already gone, flitting ahead of him, a light among the shadows of the morning. Tenou girded himself and followed with a silent curse.