23 Mud and Petals

  [Player: Kazuki Arata]

  [Level: 4]

  [Waza: Black Hand, Thread Cutter, Aura Sense, Dark Rider, Retribution, Eviscerate]

  Kegare: 3%]

  [Current Location: Grand Shrine Training Yard]

  ---

  How do I get stronger again without letting kegare corruption take over?

  He stood in the stone courtyard alone, the stone warmed by late afternoon sunlight. In his right hand, he clenched a short wooden jo staff he'd grabbed from the weapons rack, though he couldn't have said why he needed it. In truth, he was only trying to repeat the moment from his sparring with Karaba when time itself froze and a game menu had opened up in the air in front of him.

  Kazuki inhaled slowly. Then, eyes squeezed shut, he tried to recall the exact sensation from before; the slight pressure in his chest then the hush of the world going perfectly still and monochrome.

  He exhaled.

  Nothing.

  He gave the stick a swing, as if Karaba was there again. Game! Pause! Menu! But no window appeared. No list of his abilities. No hush fell over the courtyard; the world's colors remained bright. The only thing he heard was the distant chirp of birds perched on the shrine's tiled roof.

  A frustration coiled in his chest. Before arriving at the Grand Shrine of Karasu Peak he'd possessed monstrous abilities: Black Hand, Eviscerate, Retribution, the terrifying strength of kegare that had carried him through near-impossible battles. Now, with this power around 3% Kazuki felt empty and unnervingly ordinary. Even less than ordinary—exhausted from the bruises of constant training and Karaba's narrowed eyes every time he lost a practice match.

  Kazuki turned to leave then jumped, seeing the small frail Shrine Master standing at the edge of the courtyard watching him. The tengu was so ancient and frail-looking that each breath seemed an effort. He leaned heavily on a gnarled shakujo staff of dark wood, the top adorned with a small ring through which six metal rings dangled, making a gentle jingling sound when he moved. A pair of attendants hovered discreetly a few steps behind him, ready to help if he wobbled.

  Kazuki felt his cheeks flush. "Master," he said, bowing quickly. Kazuki lowered the wooden stick, chewing the inside of his cheek. "I… I want to see it again. The menu, the skills, the…game. I did it once by accident, but I… I can't do it again..."

  The Master's reply came as a soft wheeze of laughter that turned into coughing. One attendant stepped forward, but the Master waved him off with a slender, trembling hand.

  "Master, please." Kazuki said. "I'm not from this place. I… I don't understand why I'm here in this world, or how to… handle this kegare. What is it? Why me? What does it mean?"

  The Master didn't answer. Perhaps he couldn't. His lips parted, but only breath emerged. Kazuki thought the conversation might be over. Then, slowly, the old crow gathered himself, every motion deliberate. He lifted one hand from the staff and beckoned, inviting Kazuki to follow.

  Kazuki hesitated only a moment before falling into step behind him. The Master walked at a painstakingly slow pace. Each time the shakujo tapped the stones the rings jangled and Kazuki saw the man's shoulders stiffen. The attendants flanked them at a respectful distance, letting the Master lead the way.

  They exited the courtyard through a set of tall wooden gates, crossing a small footbridge that arched over a stream. The path wound past half-walls of carved basalt, continuing deeper into the shrine complex. Kazuki realized after a while that they were heading toward the southwestern side, a place he hadn't yet explored. Towering stands of bamboo lined the footpath, swaying gently in the breeze, their leaves hissing softly.

  Around one final bend, the path opened onto a vast lotus pond. At first glance, it looked almost like a solid plane of green leaves dotted with blossom after blossom—white, pale pink, vibrant fuchsia—unfolding in the warm afternoon sun. Stray petals floated on the water’s surface and lily pads wider than dinner plates drifted near the pond's edges..

  Silence. Only the gentle lap of water. The sky overhead was a perfect gradient between day and evening, golden sunlight slanting low enough to make the water sparkle.

  The Master stopped at the pond's edge, leaning on his shakujo. Kazuki stepped closer, feeling the faint heat of the sun on his neck. A sweet, earthy scent rose from the pond; the mixture of blossoms and the slightly unsettling smell of the underlying mud.

  The Master spoke in a hoarse whisper. "Kegare is… here."

  Kazuki looked around, perplexed. Where? All he saw was life: brilliant lotus blooms, lilting dragonflies. A place that seemed the opposite of corruption. He frowned. "I don't understand. Isn't Kegare…like dark energy? Rot, evil, destruction…?"

  The Master tapped his shakujo at the water's edge, sending a few small ripples outward. "Kegare… is dissolution. The force… that breaks down…." He coughed. "The old tengu extended his staff more forcefully, pointing at the large leaves floating near the pond's center."

  His staff wavered, the Master's grip suddenly failing. Kazuki lurched to catch the old man before he fell into the pond. The shakujo slipped from the Master's hand, tumbling into the water with a soft splash. The Master pitched forward as well. Kazuki's arms wrapped around the man's frail body, supporting him. One of the Master's attendants rushed in to help, and the old tengu sagged in their combined grip.

  Kazuki felt the Master's fragile bones under his robes, the bird-like delicacy of all tengu amplified by the thinness of age. He weighed next to nothing.

  The attendants quickly helped the Master step back to safety. As they led him off, he coughed once more, turning back and looking straight into Kazuki’s eyes.

  Then he was gone.

  Alone now, Kazuki looked at the pond. The shakujo had sunk a few feet away, half-buried in mud and tangled lotus roots. He kicked off his sandals then slipped into the water. It was cooler than he expected, the mud at the bottom yielding around his toes with a silky squelch.

  Moving slowly to not stir up too much silt, he felt his way along the soft muck, searching with his hands until his fingertips touched the staff. He gripped it carefully. it was jammed in a tangle of watery roots. With a grunt, Kazuki gave a pull. The staff came free with a sucking noise.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  He lifted it above the water. The dark wood was now streaked with black mud, clumps of decaying leaves, and old lotus roots. Slimy strands clung to the rings at the top, tangled with bits of pond weed.

  Kazuki shook the staff gently, black sludge dropping off of it. That dark soil falling from the shakujo looked… familiar. Then he saw it; the black soil of the lotus pond was the exact color of the kegare moving through his veins beneath his skin.

  Kegare had always seemed pure evil, an addiction that threatened his very sense of who he was. Yet here it was. In this pond with the lotuses.

  He pressed his lips tight, climbing out of the pond. At a small fountain nearby, water poured from a stone spout. Kazuki dipped the staff under the gentle flow. He used his fingers to peel away the clinging mud and rotted debris, letting the dirt swirl down the drain. He took his time, mindful of the old wood's crevices, wanting to return the staff to the Master clean.

  All the while, his thoughts churned. Is kegare evil? It doesn't feel evil...

  The water over the staff finally ran clear. As Kazuki rinsed his hands, something flickered at the corner of his vision; a half-transparent UI status line. He blinked, focusing on it.

  [Kegare: 2%]

  "My Kegare dropped from three to two…just now?" he murmured. He waited, hoping that the numbers would reappear. They didn't, but his pulse quickened. Why would it fall now? Because I helped the Master?

  "All cleaned up?" a familiar voice asked.

  He glanced back to see Fleet. The kitsune boy wore a simple tunic crossed in the front like a dogi, his orange hair disheveled, and the tips of his fox ears half-tucked behind a headband. "Just about," Kazuki answered.

  "Those things are slippery. Can I hold it?"

  "No!" Kazuki laughed, setting the staff aside now that it was clean. Together, they set out for a walk around the edge of the Grand Shrine. Partly, Kazuki wanted a chance to clear his head, and partly he felt restless, the encounter with the Master causing some undefined tension in him. The sun had slipped lower, casting long shadows through the cedar trees that bordered the shrine complex.

  The path around the shrine's outer edge was lined with tall stone lanterns at intervals, each carved with intricate crane and crow motifs. A gentle breeze rustled the evergreens overhead, carrying the faint scent of incense from deeper within the shrine. Occasionally, the hush was broken by a Tengu guard passing on patrol or a group of shrine attendants in muted conversation.

  Kazuki was in the midst of explaining his scattered thoughts to Fleet—how he felt safe at the shrine, but also lost—when voices reached his ears from around the bend. They sounded urgent but hushed.

  He and Fleet rounded a massive pine trunk to find Suzume and Karaba walking side by side. Suzume had her arms folded, eyes fixed on the path. Karaba, with wings unbandaged for the first time since their fall, was leaning forward slightly, tense.

  "…the wards are failing faster than we anticipated," Suzume was saying. "The Master simply hasn't the strength to maintain them. If he… passes away soon, who will channel the reishin to keep the barrier up?"

  Karaba's face set into grim lines. "I've tried but I can't do it. Without a proper passing of that mantle, the wards will break."

  Suzume shook her head, voice tinged with frustration. "But the other Shrine Masters can assist, can't they? They've done so in the past. We could bring in priests from the Kagura Shrine—"

  "They can help, yes. But if the Master's heart fails, we'll lose the keystone." Karaba's fists clenched.

  Kazuki and Fleet exchanged a quick look, uncertain if they should interrupt. But Suzume and Karaba had already noticed them. Suzume's eyes flicked to Fleet, then to Kazuki

  Kazuki cleared his throat softly. "Did something happen?"

  Karaba gave him a glance. "You could say that." He paused, as if debating how much to admit. "The shrine is under strain. Attacks, sabotage, the destruction of remote wards. We've kept them intact for now, but the Master's health…"

  Kazuki grimaced. He remembered how frail the Master looked by the lotus pond. "Is there…a backup plan?"

  Silence.

  "The wards weren't always the Master's burden alone," Karaba eventually said, his voice low. "For centuries, the Grand Shrine's protection was a shared duty among seven tengu elders. But during the Great War fifty years ago, five of the seven were killed defending the shrine."

  Suzume nodded gravely. "The Master, who was merely an adept then, and his teacher were the only survivors. When his mentor died twenty years ago, the Master took on the full burden."

  "It's like asking one person to hold up the weight of seven pillars," Karaba added. "Even for a powerful priest it's..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

  Karaba straightened. His head tilted, an intensely bird-like gesture as he listened intensly for something that no one else could hear. Fleet’s ears twitched a moment later, and his tail bristled. A low, distant peal of bells drifted to them on the wind.

  Karaba narrowed his eyes. "Those are the southwestern perimeter bells." He turned to Suzume. "A breach?"

  Suzume frowned. "But if the southwestern bells are ringing, the others leading to the Grand Shrine should be relaying it. We should be hearing at least three sets of bells." She glanced around. "But I only hear the one—far away."

  Kazuki strained his hearing. Now that she'd said it, the single set of bells did sound remote, muffled by distance. Why were no other bells responding?

  A tickle at Kazuki's waist startled him. He realized that the small brass bell, the one that Kuro had once given him, was trembling softly where it hung from his belt. It was ringing too.

  Fleet's gaze flicked to it, eyes widening. "Why is it doing that…?"

  Before Kazuki could answer, an ear-splitting BOOM shook the air.

  The ground lurched under his feet. A wave of hot wind rushed over them, carrying the smell of scorched wood and something bitter and chemical. In the single heartbeat before Kazuki realized they were under attack, a second thunderous crash rattled the shrine walls from farther away.

  Kazuki, Suzume, Karaba, and Fleet dove for the ground. Splinters of wood and shards of stone flew overhead, and a plume of dust and smoke climbed into the sky. Something had detonated not fifty paces from where they stood, near a row of sacred trees that lined the southwestern approach.

  Kazuki's ears rang, and he scrambled upright, searching for the others. Suzume had managed to shield Fleet behind her, her hair whipping around her face. Karaba was crouched, scanning the swirling dust like a raptor, wings partially extended as a black shield.

  A second explosion rocked the path, just as they were beginning to move, sending them stumbling.

  Kazuki's pulse hammered in his skull, adrenaline surging. He caught a glimpse of broken lantern stones skittering across the ground, flame licking at the base of a pine. Overhead, startled crows took flight in an uproar, their cries merging with the temple bells that now, finally, rang loudly..

  "Kazuki!" Fleet called, voice muffled by the ringing in Kazuki's ears.

  Kazuki grabbed Fleet's hand. "We're okay—I think." He spun, shouting at Suzume, "What's happening?!"

  Before she could answer, a blinding flash flared behind the swirling smoke, followed by a shockwave. Kazuki had only a fractured second to think: This is an attack. The wards are failing. Someone is inside… Then everything became a mad scramble. Fleet's grip tightened around his hand, Karaba shouting orders, Suzume reaching for him.

  A final, thunderous crash tore through the perimeter, rattling the foundations beneath the complex. Kazuki braced himself in horror, but it was too late.

  The entire western side of the Grand Shrine seemed to explode in a violent roar of dust and flame.

  All Kazuki could do was clamp his arms around Fleet, feeling shards of debris slam into him. A single question seared through his mind: Who could do this?

  As if as an answer, a figure emerged through the smoke—silhouetted against the fires. It was a woman, dressed in black, stepping lightly over the rubble.

  Then Kazuki saw it: a gun. Dark metal and unmistakably real, from the world Kazuki had left behind.

  She laughed—giggled even. Her voice, bright and feminine:

  "So this is the Grand Shrine. Dasai..."

  ---

  [Achievement Unlocked: Finding your Roots]

  [Next Chapter: Fire in the Shadows I]

  Thanks for reading!

  New chapter every day at 6:07 EST.

  We're up over 1,500 views! Amazing!

  I'm so grateful to everyone who has read along. And especially thank you for your reviews, ratings and comments. Lots more to come...

  Here’s a picture of the beautiful Takekoma Inari Shrine in Iwanuma, Miyagi: