Dark Legacy: Book I - Trinity

Chapter IV

Kieko woke up gasping for air. No, it was a dream, a dream; he had dreamt that he was drowning in a sea near high volcanic cliffs that spat fire into the night sky. His eyes focused; he saw Shinsei looking over him; he collapsed his head back to the ground.

"Do not move," Shinsei said before patting Kieko's brow with a cloth.

He tensed his abdomen to sit up but pain surged through his left arm.

"Do not move!" the priest commanded.

He saw that the priest's robe and garments were wrinkled, spoiled by sweat, and stained by dirt. "Where's Kira?"

"She fainted after your fight. She is resting now with her family."

"Oh." He looked around searching for things that would remind him of how he had been knocked unconscious. The tables were still decorated with bouquets of flowers but were cleared of food and drink. Colorful flags flapped and sounded with the blowing winds. The dying fires crackled. He then recalled his fight against Aiko, "Did I win?"

Shinsei let out a laugh while shaking his head.

"Aiko won? How?" he asked angered.

"That is not important," he took a moment to knot a bandage. "Your arm is broken, Kieko."

"What? Mother is going to kill me."

Shinsei frowned; a rush of cold air had slithered down his back.

"What's wrong?"

"We must see your mother," he said with urgency.

Kieko felt that something was wrong. He tried again to sit up but Shinsei held him down, "I am not done yet."

"Hurry up!"

"I am almost finished wrapping your arm. Just wait–"

"Damn the gods. Hurry up! Something's wro–"

Shinsei slapped Kieko hard across the face. With a finger pointed like a knife at his eye he said, "Do not speak to me with such a curse!"

He lay still holding his breath.

"Speaking against the gods," the priest said shaking his head as he finished mending Kieko's arm by securing it in a cloth sling that he had tied around his neck. "There, it is done." He helped Kieko up and took up his staff.

The two made out in hasty steps.

Kieko's heart sank when he saw two drunken men, Shitsu and Tonono, standing outside his hut. He knew what they were doing, keeping watch, deterring all. He ran at them marking them for death with a charging scream.

Shitsu stepped forward ready to strike Kieko with his staff but it was knocked out of his hands with a rock that Shinsei had thrown. Tonono dropped his staff and ran away when he saw the priest charging at him.

Kieko jumped and kicked Shitsu in the face knocking him down to his knees. He began kicking him in the stomach until Shinsei stopped him by holding him back.

"Let go of me, old man!" Kieko demanded as he tried to wrestle out of Shinsei's hold.

Shitsu scrambled away.

"He's getting away!" Kieko exclaimed.

"Let him go–"

"What?"

"Let him go–we'll deal with him soon enough. We need to take care of your mother first."

He realized that the priest was right. Just then the leather sheet that covered the entrance door of his hut flew open revealing a man cloaked in shadow and armed with a sword.