Author's Note: Sorry for the huge gap between updates... I really struggled with writing this chapter for some reason... Stupid Writer's Block... Anyways, please send me a review! It's highly appreciated!
Chapter Four:
It was not even dawn when Kakurenbo awoke, still snuggled up next to Baillon, enjoying the warmth his body provided in the icy hours of the night. Her room was pitch black, and, glancing out the window, she saw that the moon had disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds. But a strong scent was in the air: smoke. There was no mistaking the smell of burning wood, hair, and even flesh.
Kakurenbo jumped out of her bed, waking Baillon in the process and ran to the window. In the distance flames were leaping high into the smoke-filled sky. A great clamor in the village had arisen, and the pained screams were loud enough to reach the Shadow Walker's ears even through the glass of the closed window.
Quickly, she changed into her usual clothes and rushed downstairs, Baillon and Hyo, who had woken to the same ruckus his sister had, following closely. Hanako and Komako were up as well, but remained in the house as Hyottoko had ordered.
Grabbing her sword from where it leaned against the wall by the door, Kakurenbo dashed outside to find a large group of humans coming up the road, some on horseback, others on foot with torches and weapons in their hands. A loud chant rose up from their throats, although Kakurenbo could not understand the words.
Anger boiled within her when she saw the blood glinting on their weapons in the firelight. The screams coming from the village only fueled that anger and sparked a small amount of bloodlust in her heart. She wanted to see these humans perish; to see them fall at her feet and land in a deep pool of their own blood, to watch with a sense of satisfaction as their life drained from them, to watch their pathetic bodies go up in flame.
She would see it even if it cost her her life.
Her sword, to which she given the name Takai, sung as it left its sheath. Kakurenbo could almost feel the sword's thirst for the blood of these humans. Ignoring the calls from Baillon and Hyottoko, she bounded forward, her crimson and violet eyes flashing dangerously in the light from the torches.
The humans seemed fearless as Kakurenbo, followed by her brother and Baillon, began her attack, but the air was thick with their obvious fear as one by one they fell in huge waves of crimson blood. Kakurenbo seemed to lose all control of her body as Rage and Revenge took her as a student. Her movements swift and deadly, it was not long before only a few of the attackers remained standing. Dropping their weapons, they ran, trying to escape the monster Kakurenbo had become in the heat of battle. But she was not about to let them flee.
She wiped Takai's blade clean on the grass as the last of the humans fell with a shriek.
"Sweet retribution," she whispered, looking down at the mass of bloody corpses on the road, a sadistic smile coming to her face. But the voice that echoed those words was not hers. In fact, it was far different: the tone was cold and evil, nothing like Kakurenbo's normal sweet, caring tenor. Yet it was still that of a female, but it held a demonic sound behind it, making it echo like the voice of a monster from a child's nightmare.
"Kakurenbo?" Baillon's voice brought her back to reality.
"Baillon? What…" Her gaze once again fell over the carcasses of the humans around them. Panic struck her as she realized the screaming from the village, although still audible, had become fainter. And that could only have meant one thing.
Placing her fingers to her lips, she let out a shrill whistle, which was responded to with a loud whinny and the thundering of hooves.
"Baillon, get Hanako and Komako out of the city."
"Ren, where the hell do you think you're going?" Hyo asked as Kakurenbo swung up onto the back of her horse as it galloped up to her.
"I'm going to save who I can from the village."
"Well, I'm coming, too!" Komako was standing on the porch, a sword in her hand. Hanako was standing next to her daughter, a worried look on her kind face.
"Absolutely not!" Hyottoko shouted. "No one is going anywhere!" He turned to face his sister, a sad, pleading look in his eyes. "Please, Ren. I already lost Mom and Dad to the humans; I can't lose my sister to them, too."
Suddenly, a loud rumble erupted from above them, almost like a clap of thunder. But this was certainly no thunder. It shook the earth violently, and the glass of the already cracked windows of the house rattled loudly and fractured and broke even more. Whatever the noise was ceased suddenly. The screams from the village continued, but Kakurenbo swore she could hear a voice rising above them all: a deep, sorrowful, yet incredibly calm voice, although she could not pick up the words.
But before she had time to contemplate what had just happened or what the voice was saying, another roar, far louder than the last, echoed from above, drowning out almost every noise that could be heard. But it was not the noise that made Kakurenbo urge her horse forward and into a gallop, it was the lights.
Dozens of light beams shot through the thick, black clouds, crashing into the earth. Scraps of the houses and shops from the town shot hundreds of feet into the air, and amongst the flying debris, limp, lifeless bodies could be vaguely noticed.
It took Kakurenbo mere minutes to cover the two mile distance from her old home to the now destroyed village at the speed her horse was moving.
What she now saw before her would haunt her for the rest of her life.
She would never be able to forget the streets paved in crimson blood, the flames leaping into the hazy blackened sky. The sight of the corpses and severed limbs that lay strewn about both sickened and enraged her, and the screams that had grown louder since she approached the village only fueled that anger.
The Shadow Walkers and the human attackers were so covered in blood, Kakurenbo found it hard to tell two groups apart. Even their smell was masked by the metallic scent. Auras were all she had to rely on.
Gripping Takai's hilt tightly in her hand, she slid from her horse's back and ran forward, lashing out at the nearest human. It amazed her at how easily these creatures died, how effortless it was to slice through their flesh. Of course, almost any creature was like this, but Kakurenbo found a certain pleasure in spilling the humans' blood.
Minutes that seemed much more like hours passed and the battle carried on. Kakurenbo fought as hard as she could, yet something told her all of her efforts were in vain. No matter who she thought she had saved, they all wound up dead one way or another.
The whole time, in the back of her mind, Kakurenbo wondered what the real reason for the attack was. Humans had never been this brutal before. There was obviously something driving them to be so vicious. And when Kakurenbo saw him, she knew what that driving force was.
Before her stood a boy, not more than fourteen years old, with shoulder length golden blonde hair. For some reason, this boy, covered in blood, seemed vaguely familiar.
Kakurenbo was debating with herself on whether or not to kill him. After all, he was so young. Maybe he had been forced into this battle and really wasn't bad at all. But she focused more on his aura and realized that this boy was no human, but a half-elf.
But then why would a half-elf attack a city of Shadow Walkers? Unlike the humans, the elves, and the other races in the world, Shadow Walkers did not shun them. In fact, it was known that half-elves had always been welcome in the city of Nightsedge.
Of course, once she realized just where she had seen this boy, the answer still was not clear.
"You… You're the boy I saw in the inn!" she said, pointing at him. For a moment, the boy stared at Kakurenbo with a puzzled look on his face. "You were with two other half-elves and a human. You said your name was Yggdrasill…" It then suddenly dawned on her just who this boy was. "It can't be… Mithos Yggdrasill! You're supposed to be trying to stop the war, not aid it! Why are you doing this!" she cried.
The once puzzled expression on Mithos's face contorted to one of hate. "Aid it? I am stopping it!" Kakurenbo's oddly colored eyes widened. "Without the causes of the fighting, there is no war."
"Then you mean to destroy yourself and all of the other half-elves? Shadow Walkers are not the only creatures in this world who have been misjudged. Half-elves, although I don't know what they did to become hated like us, if they did anything at all, are a cause of this damn war as well. If you wish to destroy the causes, you'll be forced to destroy your own kind!"
A cold laugher escaped the half-elf. "Since when was it the half-elves fault for being born? It was humans that started this! They will be the ones to pay once you and your kind pay for the plague you set loose."
The anger that had been suppressed for the moment by shock once again boiled within her.
How dare he blame us for that plague! Kakurenbo lunged forward with a cry, slashing at Mithos, who moved out of the way with such speed and grace she hardly saw it. In a flash, she was facing him again, her palm pointed outward. She spoke the Elvish spell in an angry shout as a dark mist shot out from her hand. Mithos, however, had been prepared for such an attack. A beam of light shot from his outstretched hand and cut through the black mist with little difficulty.
Kakurenbo could not believe the amount of pain she was in. The light hit her chest, throwing her back roughly against the bloody cobblestones. Her loud cries of pain were lost amongst the rest as her skin was ripped open in various areas, the blood spurting out like little fountains. But soon, her voice faded into a silent scream as the blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and down her face from behind her eyes. She could swear her bones were slowly being crushed, her ribs compressing her lungs. She struggled to take in air, her breaths coming out in labored, ragged gasps.
Kakurenbo! A strange voice echoed in her head. I'm taking over! Suddenly it felt as if something was pressing against her mind and her vision clouded horribly. She felt herself rise from her position on the ground almost as if her body had a will of its own; or as if it was being controlled by someone other than herself.
What's going on? she thought in a panic. What are you doing to me?
I'm keeping you from getting killed! came the answer. Kakurenbo could feel Takai's weight in her right hand and a strange energy flowing through her body. She could not see beyond her clouded vision, but she knew she was moving, and she was moving quickly. She jumped, flipped, rolled, kicked, punched, and slashed, all at unseen enemies.
Not being able to see what was going on or just who she was killing greatly disturbed her, and the mass amount of warm blood that splattered on her face and arms only made things worse. For all she knew whoever had control over her body was not killing the human attackers, but instead destroying the innocent people she was trying to protect.
This has to stop, she thought as she felt Takai's blade slice through yet another body. Kakurenbo struggled to remove the pressure on her mind, but even when she summoned up as much mental energy as she could, it was not enough for her to regain control.
Stop trying to force me out, Kakurenbo! the voice snapped angrily. You want to live through this, don't you?
Not if my people are destroyed. Now get out of my mind!
You're a fool, Kakurenbo! Don't you see I'm trying to help you?
"Get out!" The dark clouds suddenly vanished from before her eyes and she found herself standing with her sword through the stomach of a rather surprised human. As he fell to the ground, she couldn't help but what wonder what had become of Mithos. But that didn't matter just then. She had to keep the city from being destroyed.
The number of attacking humans was amazing. When one went down, at least four more took his place. There were very few Shadow Walkers that were able to fight back now considering most were literally strewn around the city.
Gory hours passed; at least, that's what it seemed like to Kakurenbo. She fought on, viciously killing every human she possibly could. And just when she thought the humans were ready to flee, another thunder-like sound loudly rumbled overhead and she was able to witness the lights first hand.
As each beam hit, not within a second of the one before it, the ground shook violently, knocking Kakurenbo and mainly everyone else off their feet. Fires blazed as houses shot into the air in thousands of pieces along with the bodies of those unfortunate Shadow Walkers. They were dead long before they ever hit the ground.
Not giving up, Kakurenbo scrambled to her feet, lashing out at the next nearest human. However, he swung around and parried her blow with his own sword. Crimson and violet eyes burned into brown as the two of them entered a fierce sword fight. She had to admit, for a human, he was a rather skilled swordsman.
But, just as she had thought with Mithos, he seemed rather familiar…
"I should have guessed you'd be here," she said, parrying his attack. "The blue-haired half-elf must be around here somewhere, too. And what of the girl? Did you drag her into this as well?"
Confusion sprung into his brown eyes as he stepped back, lowering his sword. "Have we met somewhere before?"
"Before you start asking your questions," she snapped, pointing her sword at him. "You are going to answer my questions. Now tell me why the hell Mithos thinks this will stop the war!"
But she did not receive an answer. Instead, the human leapt forward and crashed into her without warning, knocking her roughly to the ground as a beam from the house behind them fell down in flames and sparks. "You're the one we're looking for, aren't you? Kakurenbo Narumi," he said, looking down at her. Kakurenbo glared up at him, tightening her grip on Takai's hilt.
"Just who the hell are you? What do you want with me?"
"I'm sorry for this." Prior to any reaction from her, he dashed around behind her with a speed she did not know humans had. And before she could do anything to defend herself, something hit her hard in the back of her head. Her vision flashed from white to black as she landed face first on the bloody cobblestones.
