Chasing Dreams (Discontinued)

Chapter 205: Sparrow of Death

"We're slaves. Every member of our clan are slaves to the same ideology. Remain undefeated. Refuse to accept any form of loss. Keep standing no matter the cost, regardless if you have legs to stand on, fist to fight with, or you've been reduced to blackened bones."

"However, there is one thing that we see eye to eye auntie. Despite the way of the samurai suggesting that there is only honor dying in battle. I believe death is what completes a person. We spend our entire lives writing our story, formulating a legacy that we can leave behind. There is merit behind a glorious death, or a sacrificial one if it leads to something grander than what you were capable of doing in life."

Shinobu presented eyes of frost, her gaze all-seeing. She saw the shadow of death looming over Sayuri and serenading her with a hollow song.

Sayuri listened from the emptiness of her bed. She saw Shinobu's raven perched at her windowsill, mimicking its master's voice.

"Are you the one they sent to judge me?" Sayuri asked. Her voice sounded like gravel. Mei's fires seared her vocal cords leaving behind a charred mess. Sayuri's appearance matched her voice. Her once beautiful silky onyx hair was reduced to an unkept bundle of bandages and dark patches. Her face was even more disfigured than her head/ Her skin was as raw as a skinned cat. Her eyes were vacant like soulless gems. She resembled a mummy more than a living human being, causing most people at first glance to assume she was dead.

"Heavens no, I just wanted to see if the rumors were true. I wanted to know if the Great Dragon of the Fumiko Clan had truly fallen. I can't say I'm overjoyed to know the rumors were actually true." Shinobu replied sweetly. "You and I both know who was chosen to finish you off."

Sayuri's faint eyes pictured his image. A young boy with a subtle smile. She sighed, coughed, and painfully hacked up blood.

"Disgusting," Shinobu said, displeased. "Ryota won't get that much joy out of killing you. At least not as you are now. He wanted to fight you. He wanted to prove to the sword he's become a swordsman even more competent than you." Shinobu dragged her stare along Sayuri's body like rusted nails. "Clearly, you won't prove much use. The least you can do for him is die soundly. Maybe then you'll be able to retain what's left of your pride."

"What was left of my pride burned away when that shaita defeated me," Sayuri growled. "All that remains is the dragon's husk. Ryota must be terribly angry if he's coming to kill me personally."

"Very." Shinobu said sarcastically. "He's disgusted from the bottom of his heart."

Heart? Oh, that's funny. Sayuri cracked a smile. Her mouth opened awkwardly. It appeared half-open and half-closed. An eerie laugh escaped from her throat, filling the mute room with a hellish wail.

Shinobu's eyes widened. She hadn't heard Sayuri laugh before. She remembered Sayuri being quiet and stiff like a wall of stone. She rarely emoted anything outside of anger and an occasional proud smile when watching her son.

"You're laughing, why?" Shinobu bitterly spat. "Do you find Ryota killing you that amusing?"

"No, not at all. I find it disgusting." Sayuri said bluntly. "I think it's funny that you believe he has a human heart." Sayuri rolled to her side and struggled to force herself up. Her arms shook like a baby deer's legs. "Even after all these years, you are still a stupid girl Shinobu. I should expect nothing less when Sumiko is your mother. Frail woman, she's like an old fucking bat. I'm surprised the harness of the clan hasn't killed her already."

Sayuri heard Shinobu grind her teeth and saw her don the Fumiko scowl.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten Shinobu. We're from the Fumiko Clan, we don't have the luxury of having something as feeable as a human heart. We are dragons the hero world. We are slaves to destruction we have no use for something as detrimental as a human heart. Our hearts were taken from us the moment we were born. The Fumiko Clan cursed us by sealing it away in a layer of diamonds."