That night, Aki tossed and turned on layers of featherbeds. Temujin had been locked up in the dungeons as per the Emperor’s orders but no extra precaution had been taken to ensure the safety of the Egg of the Dragon God. In short, they didn’t heed the red Slayer’s warning.
Aki hated to admit it but the Clan of Stork could be supremely proud about their appointment as guardians of the Egg. Although it was true that the section of the Treasure Vault leading to the most coveted power source in the world was riddled with booby traps and various obstacles, and not even Aki had heard tell of what those were precisely, there was still a human variable in the defense system: the chief architect who had devised the whole thing.
Unless the Storks were a barbaric people who killed helpers just as soon as they had rendered their service, the chief architect was the weak link. And criminal elements always seemed to know exactly where to apply pressure to get what they wanted.
Aki was aware that her people, the Storks, didn’t have much experience with the criminal mind. She respected and admired the Emperor, her grandfather, but she of all people knew how stubborn her clan could be.
She had now gotten out of bed and was pacing her bedchamber. It was no use trying to force herself to fall asleep. It was counter-productive and, well, unrealistic. She had made up her mind to pay the dungeons a visit. If anyone caught her out of bed, she could pretend she’d been sleep-walking. She’d done this before on one occasion – OK, maybe more than one – when she snuck into the castle pantry.
First, she made a hand seal to invoke the pair of bronze lions that stood guard at temple gates. One had its mouth open to pronounce “a” and was called the Alpha Lion; the other had its mouth closed to pronounce “un” and was the Omega Lion. This time, Aki called on the first. She pressed her hands together, fingers interlocked except for thumbs, ring fingers, and pinkies which were straight and touching. The last two fingers were also separated to form a V shape or bird beak.
She chanted: “I am one with the Infinite Divine Energy.”
This particular hand seal, Tō, granted harmony with the universe and thus a state of extreme lightness was achieved. A bright white light tinged with many shifting colors emanated from and then sank back in her solar plexus.
Through long training and meditation, elite Storks had learned to focus their ki to either levitate or teleport themselves. Aki could manage these techniques in short bursts. For instance, she could will herself to become as light as a feather and travel limited distances without her feet touching the ground. This was Karumijutsu or the body-lightening technique. Basically, she manipulated her own gravimetric field, which involved some degree of psychokinesis, also an innate attribute of white Slayers.
Far-range teleportation was a whole other level of skill she was yet to master. So, the old-fashioned way, she picked the spots in the wooden floor that didn’t creak and landed on them like a ghost playing hopscotch. She was familiar with all the right spots even in the dark and she had left her socks on for added sound-dampening.
Down in the dungeons, the floor would give way to stone and what she had to worry about was echoes, damp walls, and the pervasive musty “cooped-up” smell. But she was too excited about the prospect of seeing Temujin again to care.
×
The guard stood in the long narrow corridor that led to a block lined with individual cells. Not all the blocks had sentries, which indicated that they were empty. Aki predicted all the other cells in this particular block would be empty too, except for Temujin’s. They didn’t have much crime in the Ethereal Nest and she was positive the Emperor would’ve given instructions to hold Temujin apart from any other prisoners.
Aki manipulated what little wind there was in the dungeons to carry her feather-light body. In the little moonlight that strayed into those bowels, she looked like an otherworldly apparition; airy and immaterial. Her meditation trainers would be so proud if they saw her. But then they’d scold her of course for using her abilities to break into such an unsavory place.
It turned out she needn’t have resorted to her ki powers though. The guard inside his full armor was sleeping very soundly. His armor was like some exoskeleton propping him up while his head lolled and retreated like a turtle’s inside the oversized shell. No amount of her waving right in front could wake him. It must be very uncomfortable though, Aki thought, sleeping on his feet like that. Then she flitted into the block to find the right cell in the dark.
She hadn’t gone too far in when a voice spoke in the pitch-blackness: “Oh, it’s you.”
Aki was startled that the red Slayer could see in the dark. She could barely make out his outline and the bars of his cell although they were only a few feet away. But it didn’t escape her attention that Temujin chose to address her not by her name or title and that there was a certain coldness in his greeting. It must’ve been the ill treatment he received at court and here in the dungeons.
“You have sharp eyes,” she stated, rather than queried, in the pidgin language of the flatlands.
“Vulcanus Clansmen can see well in the dark. We’ve lived most of our lives in it. Although I must admit, I almost mistook you for a phantom because of all the white sheets you Storks insist upon wearing.”
All at once Aki became conscious of what she had worn going to bed: a flimsy sleeping gown.
“Well, I assure you that that was my original intent as a proud member of the Clan of Storks,” she retorted, feeling grateful for the darkness that hid the blush rising to her cheeks.
“You were only a phantom in appearance,” the red Slayer said pointedly. “You moved as noisily as a poltergeist.”
Now Aki’s face was as red as a cooked lobster.
“That’s rich coming from a burglar caught right at the entrance.”
It wasn’t in Aki’s nature to trade barbs with a commoner but it had always been her firm conviction that princesses should be prepared for anything.
“I’m not a burglar!” Temujin spoke angrily, stunning Aki who had rarely heard a voice raised at her.
Also, she worried the sentry in the corridor had heard. Both she and Temujin waited a few moments in tense silence, listening for any sign of movement from him.
When there wasn’t a peep from the sentry, Aki said in a mature and calm voice: “OK, I think we should start over. My name’s Aki and you’re Temujin. I apologize for the conditions of your cell. We don’t normally deprive anyone of light, whoever they may be. It’s very inhospitable and uncharacteristic of the Clan of Stork. We are after all known as the Second Lantern of the World.”
There was a long and brooding silence in the darkness where the red Slayer should be. Aki pictured him sitting on the floor in a dejected fashion, one knee raised and the other leg stretched. She hoped he wasn’t looking at her, whether or not it was true he had the ability to see in the dark.
Aki thought her offer of peace was going to be turned down. Then she heard his voice again.
“It’s because of me.”
Temujin’s voice was soft, barely above a whisper.“What do you mean?” Aki asked. “They had to extinguish all sources of light within a hundred yards of me or else I’ll be able to manipulate them.”It dawned on Aki that that was indeed the reason the usual sputtering torches had all disappeared, swathing most of the prison in darkness.“I see,” she said. “My apologies.” “Why? Why do you apologize? It’s not your doing, is it?”“It’s common courtesy,” she reasoned matter-of-factly, “to express sympathy for another person’s discomfort.” “Well, I think you apologize too much.”She ignored that, fearing another outburst from him.“Can’t you generate fire from within you?” she asked. “With your ki?”“Fire can never be created by man. It can only be borrowed. We, of the Vulcanus Clan, are direct descendants of the god Homusubi, who gave the gift of fire to all mankind.”“I know that story. My mom used to tell it to me when I was a child.”“Well, I’m sure your mom forgot to mention how I
Aki cried her eyes out in her room. It was almost daylight but she hadn’t slept a wink. She couldn’t understand all the mixed emotions she was feeling. Mostly it was indignation about Temujin’s innocence and her clan’s unfair treatment of him. But it was other bigger issues as well; older issues. Temujin just stirred up all the frustrations she had long been denying. On the strict regimen of a princess and under the watchful eye of the Emperor and his extensions, she felt like a bird in a cage. It was golden, but a cage nonetheless. There were also many things they wouldn’t tell her; about her father, that day ten years ago when he perished before her very eyes. It was strange but all the knowledge she had of him was the little she could glean from History books and from that sole, hazy memory of her childhood. They had always treated her like a child, incapable of making her own decisions or surviving on her own. And every mistake she made was magnified in the eyes of her tutors and
Aki had reached the Armory. If her guess was right, here she would find all the red Slayer stuff that had been confiscated from Temujin. She figured the best way to tell if Temujin was lying was by checking if every part of his story fitted. She could do that by studying his possessions. Detective work, forensic science, and logical reasoning were all fundamental skills of a Slayer. She rummaged through shelves of close-range weapons – the shorter shinobuken and the longer wakizashi swords – then long-range ones – grenades, throwing stars, knives, blowguns – till her eyes settled on a box that was clearly set apart from the rest. She knew at once they were Temujin’s belongings. First, there was the familiar bright red color of his obi. For some reason, his jailers thought it best not to let him keep his belt sash. Next, there was a pair of tiger claws. Individually, those consisted of two iron bands conjoined by a leather strip; the upper one slipped around the palm and had spikes
Aki was woken up by strong winds blowing against her face. She opened her eyes groggily and saw the glare of the sun above her. She turned her face away and tried to turn over to her side. “Just a few more minutes,” she mumbled to her chambermaid. When she couldn’t turn or twist her body, she opened her eyes and looked down at… the ground two miles below! She screamed. “Whoa!” Temujin cried out from somewhere above her. He had to shout above the roaring winds. “You’re awake!” Aki couldn’t believe her eyes because Temujin appeared to be RIDING a giant eagle. Aki was sure it was a giant eagle because the monster actually twisted its neck to peer down at her even as it continued flapping its gargantuan wings, stirring up a hurricane around her. The eagle made a series of high-pitched whistles as though to say something to her, who was by deduction clutched in its huge claws. The grip wasn’t so tight as to squeeze the breath out of her but it was definitely not a comfortable spot to b
It was Aki who spoke again first: “Fine. Do what you want. But aren’t you forgetting one very important thing?” “What’s that?” Temujin growled. “Even if you do find the Egg or the bad guys (and that’s a very big if all on your own), you still need a good word to the Emperor so you don’t get executed. Or did you think they were going to take the word of a Salamander like you?” Temujin kept quiet. Aki knew the point had hit home. She had also deliberately used the Vulcanus Clan’s old name to make Temujin even more uncomfortable. “And who else in the entire world can do that for you? Why, only me. None other than Princess Aki, granddaughter of the Emperor and heir to the throne.” Griffin clucked at Temujin as though in support of Aki. “And how are you gonna deflect all the arrows when they come flying at you? You may not have meant to take a white Slayer as a hostage but it was the smartest thing you ever did. Even if you hadn’t planned on it, you better let me do my job as your shi
Aki was stunned. There had ever only been four elements in the known world. This sounded like a whole new set of challenges altogether. She was starting to feel she was in over her head. Like she was in the middle of something much larger than them, dealing with legends that were older than time itself. “Don’t worry,” Temujin reassured her. “You’ve got the best detective on this case. There’s another piece of information I haven’t mentioned to you yet and this is our next clue.” Aki leaned closer in anticipation. “How the thieves knew about the exact location of the Egg and the design of the security system could only have been through the chief architect of the Treasure Vault.” Aki felt her excitement rising. Her hunch was right! The human element in the security system was the chink in the armor, and the chief architect was where the bad guys had put pressure to get to the Vault. “All we need to do now,” Temujin proudly finished, thinking himself so clever for coming up with t
Aki prepared to cast a Divination Spell (Uranai Majutsu). First, she knelt and made the kuji-in hand seal of Retsu. She held her left hand palm-forward in front of her chest with forefinger raised. Then, with her right hand she gripped the forefinger and pressed her right thumb onto its nail. This represented The Wisdom Fist and allowed her a peek into the space-time fabric. She chanted: “I am one with the energy of manifested reality”, and the spot between and right above her eyes flashed briefly. What she intended to do was open her mind to different flows of energy. All matter consisted of energy waves that were constantly being re-created. Visualizing this re-creation would grant her partial control of time. Having geared her ki properly, Aki took out a kinchaku drawstring purse from the inner pocket of her Slayer suit. From it, she spilled magic gemstones and an odd collection of things. Temujin recognized pieces of lapis lazuli and hematite but there were also vials of oils, a
Before she knew what was happening, Aki’s consciousness was whisked away to a completely different time. It was as though she had leapt a couple of years forward and was at once seven years old. As it was in a dream, logic evaded her and it appeared as though the raid on the castle and the attempt on the Egg happened on the same day as the meeting with the chief architect. Aki knew this was virtually impossible (the chief architect was yet to begin construction of the Vault) but her consciousness believed and existed in the moment nevertheless. Just as it was on that fateful day, the red-clad invaders had set fire to the Grand Hall. Aki could see the blaze even from her spot under the table, which was indeed very odd. All participants of the meeting rose and cried out in alarm. They left the door open, giving Aki front row seats to the painful event that was about to take place. She saw her father, just like she did so many years ago, rush towards the invaders in full Slayer suit and