A Love Beyond Time

Chapter 12-Nightmares and Magic

Shion ran blindly through the dense forest, his heart a panicked rabbit leaping in his chest as he tried desperately to locate Tenza. Sweat poured profusely down his face and body, drenching his Asaemon uniform; some droplets trickled onto his cracked lips, coating it with sticky saltiness.

"Sensei." A dearly familiar voice echoed in the thick air. Shion halted in his path.

"Tenza? Tenza, where are you? I'm here."

The blind samurai whirled around like a spinning top, searching for his student's orange-colored aura. Finally, he spotted it to his right. However, something was not quite right—instead of its usual brilliant vibrancy, it was dull and rusty. A sense of ominous dread settled over Shion.

"Tenza? Are you all right? I'm here. Sensei's here. I'll protect you."

Shion moved to approach the auric presence. But before he could take more than 2 steps, he was flung back violently by an unseeable force, and his back hit a tree with a resounding thud. As he attempted weakly to right himself, something cold and damp wrapped around his throat and squeezed painfully.

"Sensei. You are too late. Why?" His beloved student's voice sounded in his ears, flat and lifeless.

"Ten...za..."

"Why are you still alive? You are my Sensei. You should be my protector. You should be the one to sacrifice your life. Why are you still breathing?"

The cold pressure tightened ruthlessly on Shion's windpipe, and he felt something fracture. The platinum-haired samurai wheezed and gasped as he attempted to force air into his crushed trachea. His arms flail feebly to push the presence away.

"You should have been the one who's dead. Not me."

Tremendous pain wracked Shion's body as the bone-crushing pressure spread to his chest, and he spasmed helplessly. Darkness spread across his mind slowly like thick molasses, and Shion prayed fervently for it to hurry so that he could escape this unbearable agony.

And atone for his sins.

"I..I'm..."

"Now die."

As the words thrummed, Shion saw a blood-drenched Tenza kneeling before him, his slim body riddled with large bloody holes. The young man's eyes glowed a terrible red, and his once handsome face split into a sadist grin that revealed blood-drenched teeth. The vise-like grip around his throat—Tenza's hands—twisted sharply.

The crawling darkness suddenly transformed and opened into a yawning chasm that sucked Shion under. As he fell, he gazed at his student and struggled in vain to lift his numb hand to touch that face one last time. The guilt-wracked man murmured.

"I'm sorry. Tenza. Forgive me."

"Shion. Shion. Wake up."

The 4th-ranked Asaemon heard someone calling his name from somewhere far away, and something warm and soft cradled his face tenderly. The voice drew nearer and nearer until it was just next to him.

"Shion. Wake up."

His eyes shot wide open, and he drew in a sharp intake of cold air that soothed and burnt his aching throat simultaneously.

"Seimei." He croaked weakly. The blind samurai's heart pounded, and his pulse raced in his ears as he felt the Fox's arms around his shoulders to help him sit up. A bowl of herbal-scented water was placed against his lips, and he drank greedily, the cool liquid a much-needed relief for his parched throat.

"Thank you." Shion leaned back in Seimei's arms, feeling drained and weak. Seimei shifted closer so the mortal could rest his head on the Fox's shoulder. The latter ran his fingers lightly through the strikingly colored hair, enjoying the satiny feel. He alternated the actions with gentle, firm strokes and kneads of the scalp. Slowly, his hands slid lower to continue the ministrations on Shion's nape and shoulders, taut with his turbulent emotions from his nightmare.