Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Time to get up.”
Ryuichi struggled to open his eyes. It was still dark outside. Who in the world could be yelling at him so early in the morning that not even the kami had risen yet?
Then he noticed the huge tengu staring down at him, and it all made sense.
Sort of.
“Good morning, Katsu,” Ryuichi said sarcastically.
He struggled to imagine anything worse than waking up before the sun did.
Maybe disembowelment, but given the way his whole body ached from the terrible mat he’d slept on, he doubted if even that would feel worse.
Katsu nodded at him. “Hurry up. We need to begin training.”
Ryuichi collapsed on the floor. “Please, just a few moments more.”
The tengu grabbed him by the legs and pulled him toward the door. “Preparation waits for no one, young master. Orochi approaches. Evil never rests.”
“That’s not true. Haruki and my shadow sleep all the time.” Ryuichi gestured to where his shadow was currently asleep on the other side of the room. The lousy beast hadn’t even stirred during this horrible ordeal.
Katsu released his legs. “It’s a metaphor, Kage-taro.”
“It’s too early for metaphors.” Ryuichi couldn’t believe it, but he was longing for that ramshackle campsite. At least under Koichi’s watch, no one had ever awakened him before daylight.
Katsu grabbed his legs again.
Scowling, Ryuichi protested. “You may let me go now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Am I sure I want you to let me go?”
Katsu, realizing it was a stupid question, released his leg.
He bowed stiffly to Ryuichi. “Follow me.”
Ryuichi stood and brushed the dirt from his yukata. Clearing his throat, he then followed Katsu to an open courtyard that was surrounded by buildings. An area in the middle had been cordoned off.
Obviously, this was their training grounds.
“Shouldn’t we be searching for the World Eater?”
Katsu shook his head. “And what would you do if you found him?”
“Beat him.”
Katsu actually rolled his eyes. “No, you wouldn’t. You’d bleed. A lot. Then you’d die. You must be prepared, or finding him will be useless.”
Ryuichi hated to admit Katsu was right. He still had a lot to learn.
Fine. He’d do this.
Already in his blue armor, Katsu went to the small wooden rack and pulled out two practice swords.
As he turned back to face Ryuichi, a matching suit of armor magically appeared over Ryuichi’s body, piece by piece.
Starting with the kabuto, which had elk-like horns, and ending with the dō, which was flecked with gold.
Ryuichi had never owned a full set of samurai armor before.
He gasped as he ran his hand over the chest plate. It was heavy, but so heroic.
Wow!
He felt grown. Invincible, even!
Katsu handed him a sword. “How much do you know?”
“I’ve been taught by Koichi. He’s the best swordsman in the world.”
Katsu appeared as doubtful as most. That was expected, but always a mistake. While Ryuichi knew he was nowhere near as accomplished as his sensei, he had been battle-tested.
But as much as he’d gone through, he still didn’t quite trust or understand his own abilities.
Katsu grabbed his wooden katana and walked to his corner of the arena.
Ryuichi knew what the tengu thought as he sized him up. Just another child. Another easy victory.
But he was much more than that.
I’m the son of a goddess. Fathered by one of the greatest evils ever known.
And still that little voice sounded in the back of his mind. You’re nothing. A foundling. No one thinks anything of you.
It was so hard to silence these terrible lifelong doubts. Those soul-destroying criticisms that had once haunted him like an oni bent on devouring every part of his being.
I won’t let it win.
I am Mahōtsukai Ryuichi. Summoner of Masaru. Controller of the gates.
Katsu narrowed his gaze on Ryuichi as if he could hear his thoughts. “Begin!” He lunged forward and struck. A loud pop sounded.
“And it’s over.” He returned to his corner.
Confused by that, Ryuichi blinked. At first, he thought it was a joke, then he realized his right arm hurt.
Badly. And his sword was on the ground by his side.
Katsu had struck him so quickly he hadn’t even seen it.
Then the pain really set in. Gasping, Ryuichi doubled over. His entire arm was numb and aching. Never in his life had he seen anyone move so swiftly.
Or hit so hard.
Had that been a real sword instead of wood, he’d be dead now.
The reality sunk in even harder than the blow he’d received.
Katsu turned angry. “Too slow. Too stubborn. Too stupid. You’re a mess! I thought you said you’d been trained.”
Ryuichi thought he had been trained. Until now. “I was. And if Koichi were here, he’d take offense.”
“And that is part of the problem with your training. Where is your sensei?”
Probably sleeping.
Koichi hated getting up in the morning. It was why the Kai-dan Koichi had commanded at Master Hanzō’s had been a night patrol.
If Ryuichi didn’t know any better, he’d swear Koichi had offended the goddess Amaterasu and had been banished from daylight.
And given how much Koichi cursed both, Ryuichi wouldn’t be surprised if she had.
But it would be dishonorable to speak ill of his sensei. “Koichi-san is indisposed.”
Shaking his head, Katsu gestured at the sword by Ryuichi’s feet. “You are meant to close the gates. But if you can’t defeat Orochi’s army, you won’t even get to breathe.”
That was something he didn’t want to hear, but it made him curious. “Have you ever fought him?”
“Long ago, and my warriors lost. He’s a vicious enemy, and given your current skill level, he will be your killer.”
That was unnecessarily harsh. It might be true, but it was kind of cruel. Was that the best way to motivate him?
“How did you survive your fight with him?”
He pointed to a jagged scar near his heart. “I almost didn’t. All that saved me was another tengu who gave his life so I could get away.”
That also wasn’t encouraging.
Ryuichi rolled his shoulder. “That was one strike you gave me. You can’t tell what kind of fighter I am from one strike.”
Could he?
Katsu sighed heavily. “I learned all that and more. Your stance is slovenly. Your eyes lazy. Even your words are made with so little consideration that all the world might as well be deaf for how much they matter. You are a child playing soldier, nothing more.”
His pride stung from those blows. Lifting his chin, Ryuichi tried not to let them go any deeper. “I’m the son of the Ryukage and the goddess Haruka.”
“And I’m the son of crows. A blade couldn’t care less whose blood it drinks. God or peasant—it’s all the same to a sword.”
He was right, and Ryuichi knew it.
Maybe this was all part of an elaborate ploy to bring out the best in him so he’d try harder.
Why disappoint him?
If he was counting on Ryuichi to whine more or quit, Katsu would be in for a long wait.
Because no matter how much his pride hurt right now, he needed this tengu’s help to survive what was coming.
Dropping his sword, Ryuichi sank to his knees to give the tengu master a proper bow. “Katsu-san, I need your training. Help me become the warrior I need to be to succeed. I throw myself upon your generous mercy.”
Ryuichi knew he was being a bit dramatic, but he was hoping it would appeal to Katsu’s sense of authority.
But the tengu appeared unmoved. He stared down at Ryuichi from the end of his long beak. “Why do you care about the world so much?”
That question surprised Ryuichi. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I care? I live in the world. Of course I care about it.”
“Yes, but wars come and go. Lords die and new ones rise to power. These sorts of things have a habit of working themselves out with or without the blood of others. Whether you’re here or not makes no difference.
Very few are the men born to alter history, and fewer still are those who live long enough to do it.
Why do you care so much about being one of those men? ”
Honestly, Ryuichi never thought about it that way.
It was only over the last few weeks of finding out about his father and fighting Ryukage’s army that he’d learned he could be more.
That he had a destiny he’d never known about.
Never once had he thought about where he wanted to end up. Or how he intended to get there. No wonder he’d always felt like a victim of uncaring fate.
Because Ryuichi had been.
Everyone else had made decisions for him, and he’d gone along without question.
Now the choice was his: Live up to his destiny. Or be average.
This was his time to shine, and he intended to embrace it. He was choosing not only for his right to live but to thrive in this world.
The gods were many things to him, but he’d never known them to be kind or generous.
Now he understood why.
They only helped those who helped themselves.
Ryuichi looked in Katsu’s eyes, this time with determination and grit. “Duty. I have a responsibility to this world.”
Katsu sneered at him. “What arrogance is this? Do you think yourself so important that the world would cease to function without you?”
Hardly. If he died this instant, the world would find a way to go on, and the only ones to miss him would be his handful of friends.
Maybe his shadow.
Slowly, Ryuichi stood up to face not only Katsu but his own worst fears.
“That’s not what I meant. My fight with my father caused all this, and it’s my duty and honor to clean up our mess.
I didn’t ask to be born. I didn’t ask to be abandoned.
I didn’t ask for any of this, but here I am, and it’s on my shoulders.
It doesn’t matter if this world doesn’t want to be saved.
The only thing that matters is that I have a responsibility.
One I’ll never abandon even if it kills me.
I’ll save the world even while it kicks and screams in defiance. ”
He was his father’s son, after all.
All his life he’d wanted power. He’d lamented the pain and suffering he had to endure. Had resented his own weakness.
Now he felt that he understood the Ryukage far more than he’d ever wanted to. This was what drove a man to crave power at any cost. The kind of madness that swirled in his blood.