1. Sun
Chapter 1
Sun
C linging to the king of nocs, we set out to slay my emperor in the direction of the rising sun.
Flecks of ice coated the worn sleeves of my uniform, battered and damaged from the long climb up the mountain. I wondered if I’d ever own another clean pair of pants and a robe that would not end up ripped to shreds again.
Each breath we took came out in puffs of frost. It would not be very long before we needed to rest. My nocs were strong, stronger than me, as much as I hated to admit it. But they were not immortal and prone to frostbite like any other creature, even if they refused to complain about it.
It dawned on me, as I squeezed Hadi’s stomach harder, that we were worse off the closer we got to Kari, and the further away we fled from Black Lantern Prison back in the direction of Yewan. We had one more resurrected body to fight with, with the addition of the spider king, sure, but we’d brought more enemies, curses, and devastating revelations along with us on this treacherous journey.
And now this long nightmare is finally going to reach its climax.
I wondered if I had truly made it out alive from that hellhole of a prison, or if I was just living some fantasy inside my mind. That is until the heat of Hadi’s body was ripped away from me, jolting me back to attention. He maneuvered me so I could slide off his back, and I grumbled my dissatisfaction from losing his warmth and silent support.
“What?” I asked as everyone came to a stop behind him for a change. Seeing him lead and my nocturnal harem follow felt odd when they usually rallied behind me.
I raised an eyebrow at Kiar, Bracken, and Clem, who all wore matching expressions of pity and concern.
“Your hot breath murmuring against my neck is annoying–” Hadi grunted, stopping himself from saying vermin or human , I was sure. “ Sun. Spit it out. What bothers you so?”
I frowned at that because there was no easy way to explain what I was going through or what dark thoughts I was thinking, either. I moved my lips to speak and faltered, so I pivoted to something even more pressing than the war.
“We need to rest,” I said, my voice shaking as if I were still crying like a damn child. How embarrassing. That’s why they looked at me this way and followed Hadi instead.
“Why?” Kiar asked, slithering beside me, wrapping part of his tail around me as he’d done a million times by now. “We are not far now.”
“Define not far. By noc or human standards?” I rebutted, as Bracken and then Clem decided to chime in.
“By noc standards, a few days if we’re not overwhelmed by the vermin or traitors. But at your delicate speed, a few weeks if we don’t pick up the pace,” Bracken added.
“Though, if you’re tired, Sun, let’s rest! However, I don’t think a dirt road is best, and I’m not sure if we should scale a snowy mountain again to find a burrow or… Hmm…” Clem said, turning blue as he nibbled his bottom lip worriedly.
I rolled my eyes at all of them.
“The soldiers we met at the bottom of the mountain have probably already alerted a garrison, and that garrison has probably already sent a messenger bird directly to the emperor,” I said as Kiar hissed, and Hadi peered down at me through hooded eyes.
“So?” Hadi said, and I pinched my throbbing temples.
Were they all acting purposely stupid, or had being in the presence of the goddess sucked away their good sense?
“What I’m saying is, they’ll know before we arrive! Before we can even tell our story and hope for support and probably cause a civil war. We may face opposition or an ambush along this road. Scratch that, we will.”
I turned towards the setting sun, noticing a thin trail of lantern light igniting further down along the mountain pass.
“Our small squadron of five isn’t strong enough alone against the ruler of Naran,” I added to drive my point home.
But instead of flaring with rage at the thinly veiled insult, Hadi stated matter-of-factly, “But we are not alone.”
I stilled as Hadi crouched his enormous body brushing against me as Kiar stroked the back of my head. The spider king looked at his palm with disgust before reaching for me, stroking a strand of my hair. It stole my breath away, and I gulped.
Hadi didn’t have to follow it up with, “Because you have us, and we you,” but I felt it in the strength of his hands stoking my head, deep down in my bones.
“General Kovit is dead, and since he won’t return, Daaku will know about us soon. He probably already does if Kovit was wise enough to alert the false king,” Kiar mused out loud as Bracken nodded, scooping up Clem, who seemed unusually tired.
“Agreed. Sun has a point. We will be encircled soon enough, potentially trapped between our enemies. Let us be at full strength,” Bracken stated, and I was thankful someone agreed with me.
No one argued, and I sighed with contentment to rest my weary bones. All in agreement now, we began to walk, looking for a good spot to rest.
After just a few minutes, when I saw a string of lights in the distance and realized how far we’d come, relief filled me.
“We rest there,” I said, pointing. “After a drink.”
As I reached for Hadi, he lifted me into his arms but didn’t move to put me on his back. He held me at arm’s length with a curious look.
“A drink of what?”
“Liquor. What else? We’re already damned fools trying to slay two mad rulers. Might as well not be sober marching to our deaths.”
I didn’t mean for all that bitterness to leak out immediately. But Hadi didn’t admonish me; if anything, his expression softened.
Madness. If there was one thing I knew about Hadi, it was that there was nothing soft about him. He cursed out a goddess for being deranged. He was fearless and foolish compared to even me.
And yet, I couldn’t deny the tenderness by which he positioned me so I could crawl back on his back. Without another word, they followed my command.
The familiar rest stop was nestled between the winding mountain passageway that once connected Yewan to Kari, the heart of travel between the capital and the second-largest city on the continent. It was an extension of Jade Moon Village in the mountains, a frontier village established before the war. Now, it was home to isolated bandits and disloyal subjects who rebelled in the early days of the war against the emperor. If only I knew back then…
Now, primarily, raiders frequented these roads, but I knew a place that would still welcome us and a man who stubbornly refused to leave this dying town.
The few people who stayed at the foot of the mountain were loyal to the emperor, including my friend. That gave me pause, trepidation creeping into my spirit as we neared the fluttering, tattered sheet acting as the bar’s doorway.
I’d never been unsure of anything until now and being in a constant state of fear was unnerving. I hadn’t felt like this since I was a child. Until hearing the truth from Tsuki, I hadn’t wept that hard since then either.
“It looks ransacked,” Clem whispered as he fluttered from Bracken’s shoulder to my side.
“I assure you we are open and at your service, young man,” a voice called out as Clem and I walked in, hand-in-hand. Clem startled, shifting green with embarrassment as he clutched my shoulder.
From behind a beaded curtain behind the bar came Uncle Ryota, a man who practically helped raise me, if serving me drinks underage as an enlisted teen passed as parenting, that was. I fondly recalled sharing stories deep into the night while my elders were passed out drunk.
His top knot was bleach white now, deep-set wrinkles replacing the man I had met over a decade ago, already past his prime. Ryota hadn’t looked so frail back then, stooped over as he approached the counter. As I stepped closer, dragging Clem along with me, I toyed with the tips of my white strands and wondered if he grayed early because of stress, like me.
“Uncle Ryota, it’s good to see you,” I said as Clem anxiously pulled his hand from mine.
The others were stirring behind us, trying to repress their animalistic noises. I must’ve seemed crazy to them, bringing nocs before a human, but they’d know he wasn’t a threat soon enough.
“Hello, old friend,” the bartender said, finally opening his milky, unseeing gaze and staring straight through me, slightly turned left to his better ear.
“Oh…” I heard Hadi breathe as they confirmed why I wasn’t afraid.
Blindness didn’t make nocs undetectable. But Ryota was blind, going deaf, and generally didn’t have the same defenses around me. Trust was the best weapon to disarm a man. He wouldn’t expect nocs to be awake before nightfall fully descended, let alone for them to come into a human bar for a drink.
Uncle’s mind couldn’t wrap around something as insane as that. And seeing as I brought them, the famed noc slayer, he’d never guess.
“Sun, my boy, how have you been?” Ryota asked as he cleared his throat, lifting his worn sleeve to his mouth.
I smiled, recognizing the pattern. I’d dropped off that fabric and many others two years ago during my last mission near this part of the country. But Ryota’s disarming smile didn’t hide the tension in his shoulders, and he inclined his head downward.
“You’ve brought friends?”
I chuckled, nodding even though he couldn’t see.
While Uncle was loyal and affectionate to me, he was always uneasy when a large group of men came in. For one, large groups didn’t come anymore, and two, they were sometimes bandits who’d tailed me after a mission.
Gods only knew why he hadn’t banned me by now, for the number of times I’d dragged a fight to his establishment only to drink off the soreness of battle right after. Some of the poorly patched furniture testified to those brawls.
“Yes, friends. Real friends this time,” and I shocked myself by how much I meant it.
This pleased Clem, who stopped shifting from foot-to-foot and switched to snuggling against me, all pink and perky but having enough common sense not to click. How embarrassing. I was glad he couldn’t see this.
As if on cue, Bracken and Kiar seemed to materialize beside us. Bracken ordered a surprisingly hard brew and ordered berry wine with a side of bellflower beer for Clem. Not surprising. It smelled and tasted fruity, like the nectar he craved.
Kiar? He didn’t touch a thing, twisting his nose and lifting his chin at everything Bracken offered him.
I glanced over my shoulder and nearly burst out laughing at Hadi’s sour expression. He seemed tired from being left out, and for once, I couldn’t blame him since he physically couldn’t enter the bar without his ass tearing the frame asunder.
“Ah, you’re blinder than a bat but can mix a mean drink,” Bracken quipped in between sips.
“Don’t be rude,” I snapped, but Ryota laughed.
“Kiar can’t handle his drinks, or he’d take part. Our friend to your far right. Don’t take it as rudeness that he’s declining,” Bracken said, ignoring me.
Arrogant ass bat. I reached around Clem and slapped his back, but he just cackled.
My own beerse went down far too easily and soon, I was sitting back in my seat, feeling like I could unwind for the first time in months.
“Ryota,” Hadi suddenly spoke from the doorway. I spun in my chair to see him resting on it, his upper arms on the top frame and the lower set parting the curtain and holding the wood.
“Yes?” he responded while prepping what had to be Bracken’s tenth drink, the glutton.
Clem, for his part, looked buzzed off of one, and Kiar still refused, his eyes never leaving Uncle’s face.
“Why do I smell naga venom on you? Were you recently attacked?”
I froze. What the hell kind of question was that? Kiar and Clem perked up while Bracken just sighed, muttering under his breath. “Always starting shit, my inflexible lord.”
“Ah yes,” Uncle chuckled as if it were all a joke, but I knew he knew Hadi was asking a serious question.
“It might seem strange to you city folks, but we rub their venom on us for a reason,” he continued, motioning to his eyes next, horrifically scarred even now. “We are alone here, left defenseless for the most part. And so, we must forage in the forest and mountains when supplies run low like now. Even in the winter, I am careful to conceal my smell. If not for Sun here, I would not even be breathing, let alone blind.”
I stiffened, this conversation heading to familiar territory I was desperate to avoid. Damn old men and their need to repeat the same old tales.
“If you’re wondering about a naga pit nearby, don’t worry. Sun eradicated most of them around this area. Did he not tell you that he destroyed the largest nest in Naran at fifteen? Beheaded dozens, burned the rest. They hung them from spikes and paraded them down the streets in Kari. What a joyous day.”
I flinched hard as our companionable drinking shifted into something heavy and unforgiving.
“I remember this day clearly, you know. Sun isn’t one to brag, but I’ll brag on our champion’s behalf. It’s been so long, this war, some children don’t even remember the fullness of his legend, the radiance of his sword slashing through those monsters.”
With a shaky hand, Uncle went to serve Bracken another drink, but Kiar snatched it from his hand and drowned it. Slamming the porcelain cup down, he grunted, wiping his lips as his fangs forced their way out.
I shuddered. He was angry. He had every right to be.
“Uncle, let’s—” Before I could stop him, he’d already prepared two more drinks and was babbling on, excited.
“The nagas found our town when he was around fifteen. Sun, I mean. They decimated this village.” Uncle shrugged. “Unfortunately for me, one got to me before Sun could. But know I would be dead if not for him. Did I already say that? No matter. Our holy emperor had to triage this village afterward, you see. Most soldiers had abandoned this outpost, but Sun would not leave us to our fate. He found their nests and set fire to them while they slept. The ones that woke, wham! Slash! Hack! Sun ran through them with his deerhorn daggers like a beast. He took some down with his bare hands.”
His face shifted, beaming as he said, “Sun and General Hideyoshi always made it a point to protect us when they could, when military campaigns crossed our borders. Most have left us now. I guess we’re mostly a ghost town. But this would have been a mass grave if not for Sun.”
He pointed in my general direction and smiled with nothing but endearment. But my legend only filled me with unease now, purposely avoiding Kiar’s heated gaze on my face, I turned away from him, shrinking behind Clem and Bracken.
I hung my head lower, feeling shame when I shouldn’t. It was kill or be killed back then, and there was nothing wrong with righteous retribution. An eye for an eye.
But that didn’t change the fact that I felt horrible, allowing Kiar to hear how bodies of his kind had been paraded like prizes back then.
“…You didn’t answer my question, old man. You smell like venom now. I’m asking if there are nocs nearby.”
I couldn’t find it in me to reprimand Hadi at that awful moment.
“I see you’ve gotten to know some ill-mannered men, boy. But that’s good. You’ve always been strung a little too tight,” Uncle said with a snort.
Uncle chose his next words carefully.
“Sometimes, I can still feel that monster’s venom and smell the decay of my flesh. No self-respecting human should want to smell like this, but I rub it on me for deterrence now. We stored it in jugs, wringing the dead naga’s venom from them and diluting it. We still have old passageways and abandoned nests of other nocs nearby. Nightwings mostly, but the villagers kill enough that they don’t attack much these days. And they hate the smell of naga venom.”
He coughed and spoke in a weak, wheezing voice, “When you go out foraging if you smell like them, those monsters tend to pass you over. It’s the least I can do, seeing as Sun here has worked so hard to save me and us. The least I can do is try and stay alive. So, no, you have nothing to fear other than a real snake’s bite for now. However, that doesn’t mean a noc may not come out tonight. So, stick close.”
“I must add,” Uncle said, smiling at Clem, who was shifting between green and blue at a rapid pace, “I’m happy I went foraging today. I was out of dried bellflower. Maybe the gods knew you’d be here, and that’s why these old bones found the courage to gather what was left in the fields before it was all consumed by snow.”
The silence wasn’t just deafening, it snatched our collective breaths away. We all seemed to be waiting for hell to break loose as Uncle cleaned our spent glasses, unaware of who he was talking to.
“Um, Uncle?” I asked, wetting my dry lips, trying desperately to find a way to leave what used to be a place of refuge for me. “Is the innkeeper still here? We’d love somewhere to rest.”
I hoped he wasn’t, but it was worth asking. Otherwise we’d have to make camp in the freezing cold again.
“The innkeeper has left to get provisions from Jade Moon, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you and your friends resting there for the night free of charge. Now might be good since the night is still young, and you all can enjoy the hot springs alone.”
In translation, he was getting tired. The sun had already set, and for justified reasons, Uncle never kept the lights on for long at night. His gnarled hands probably ached, and I bowed my head in shame.
“Sorry to impose.”
“Never. I welcome every visit from our savior. And don’t dare offer me gold. The protection you give us is more than enough, Sun. It means the world.”
He bowed to me, and I bowed lower, so low that my forehead knocked against the counter. The awkward silence became more oppressive. Impressive, I would’ve thought that impossible.
“Well, guess it’s time to hit the hay,” Bracken blurted out, slapping his knees before he stood, never one to shut up and sit in tension for long.
But for once, I was grateful.
As we got up to leave, Ryota’s unseeing gaze lingered far too long above my shoulder, in the direction Hadi hung from the door with a glare in his black gaze and a snarl on his full lips.
“Be well, Sun. I am always here for you if you need me, son.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, brushing aside the feelings of warmth I always felt to be referred to as Ryota’s son. Sometimes, when my vision swam in the haze of my drunken state, I’d imagine my father’s face on his withered body.
“I will come again once this war is finished,” I said, leaving without another word, followed by my harem.
Little did he know it would come to an end before the frost thawed from the ground.
I just hoped that I could keep my promise.
It didn’t take us long to reach the inn. There wasn’t much to see at the rest stop, and it was hard to get lost.
And by the time we arrived, I was done thinking, worrying, and strategizing. I needed to be alone with an empty head if I had any hope of filling my hollow heart with something other than dread.
Because this was my future, wasn’t it? Bound to monsters, rejected by humans, in this toxic web of lies, I kept spinning that everything would be normal once I finished my new mission—slaying Emperor Gaulu.
“You’re usually more relentless than this,” Hadi mused as I thrust a bamboo door open to a medium-sized room. Clem and Bracken walked away from us, probably to find larger accommodations, as Clem shot nervous glances behind his shoulder until they disappeared around a corner.
Kiar was nowhere to be seen once we reached the inn—a small blessing. I couldn’t face him after what Uncle had told him.
“Yes, but even warriors must rest. I’m drunk and tired, Hadi,” and I don’t want to argue went unsaid.
“No, you’re not drunk. Maybe tired, and that doesn’t change the fact this little detour is eating away at precious time. You can rest on my back as we move.”
I signed, turning towards him fully.
“Go first to the springs. I need to lie down for a while. You join the others. We’re staying here tonight.”
Hadi hovered beside me, crouching low so as not to burst through the ceiling of the empty inn.
“Come with us,” he demanded. He was so used to that, it seemed, demanding what he wanted—and getting what he wanted at his command.
But Hadi had met his match in me.
“No, you go . I’m tired. I just need to rest my eyes for a bit,” I repeated for the last time, moving out of reach of his wandering hands.
Hadi scowled, murmuring something too low to hear.
“It’s better if we stay together,” he tried to reason with me, but there was more in his voice as if he yearned to say something else.
Now, it was my turn to scowl. I didn’t want to play mind games right now, so I relented a bit.
“Fine then. Wait for me if you want, but I’m going to lay down,” I said, turning on my heels.
By the time I settled in the sheets, Hadi’s massive shadow had eclipsed the sliding doors.
It occurred to me briefly that he had it in mind to protect me, blocking the entrance while I slept as he wedged his body inside awkwardly. It almost made me laugh.
But as I drifted off, it seemed more reasonable he was protecting himself. He thought me weak and saw me sniveling like a child. Hadi probably assumed I was in no shape to be alone.
And he was right. But I would die before I’d admit I wanted company if only to vanquish the voices inside my head leading me into despair.
“Rest,” he commanded, coming forward so close I could feel his breath on me. “Rest, Sun.”
I didn’t fight my exhaustion any longer, blowing out the candlelight.
The hot spring would do us all well. We needed to relax. And I’d join them soon enough. I’d lived from battle to battle for so long, hanging on by a thread. Meeting the goddess was just the beginning of the inevitable. Now, it would all come to an end.