Memories (Of Dreams and Demons)

Prologue - Tekko-Kagi Poison

"Hannya," Kaiken says quietly.

The silhouette, Hannya, stands alone, facing us, surrounded by the death she sowed with a laugh. We all eye her warily, our own conflict given pause. What happens next?

Hannya does not move, frozen amidst the shadows that grow, silent, savoring the fall of friend and foe. A gore red mask covers her face. I can't see any straps or locks, as if it were fused to her face rather than a mere decoration. A painted face upon the leather bares fangs; a face torn between sniveling mockery and irrational anger.

She wears an ebony dress, patterned in flame and spun of fine silk, tucked tightly beneath strapped barbed armor. Black-feathered streamers flow about a hood that wraps up tightly around her head. Her bloodshot eyes are locked on Kaiken, as two tekko-kagi, sharp steel claws wrapped around her fists, curl out from beneath the sleeves of her dress. That grating sound of metal scratching against metal reaches me even up here.

"Finally," Hannya says simply in return. Her voice is hoarse, resigned, toxic; a whisper in the shadows.

The laughter that follows though, it reverberates across the seas, surreal, unnatural, as if her mockery was embedded in the very essence of the darkness that surrounds us; the shadows and death manifestations of her will. It grates against the insides of my skull, a painful distraction from sanity.

And though she has stood still, her laughter the only hint she is not a statue on the deck, I can tell she's about to make her move. Readying to strike, Hannya tilts her head ever so slightly and squares her feet. The tekko-kagi claws now fully extended, the laughter stops. 

I take a breath, trying to calm the shadow-storm that ravages my body, to regain control over the newfound power that leaves my movement unpredictable. I need to be ready to face her, I can't afford to have no control over the power almost within my grasp.

Hannya makes her move, flashing out of sight an instant, her speed supersonic.

Kaiken turns her attention away from Ghekre and Fudo to take shots at Hannya instead. Rather than reload her flintlock with every blast, she casts the gun aside, only for it to reappear once again in her hand, freshly loaded.

But her shots are futile, Hannya just flickers back and forth, disappearing and reappearing like the pistol. She dances back and forth, rushes towards us a shrieking demon, features of her mask distorting in the darkness.

I grit my teeth, her charge will not be stopped. Hannya clambers up deck steps, swinging along ropes, bullets passing harmlessly through empty air as she dodges about.

And as Kaiken focuses on Hannya, Ghekre redoubles his efforts to strike at me. He heaves his own weapon towards me with all his might, aiming to pierce my heart with blade, yet is unable to conquer Kaiken's slender grip even as she focuses on the banshee that comes.

Ghekre's blade trembles, his strength slowly sapping away, even though he has spent a lifetime trained and focused for war. His eyes are fire and brimstone as his fur bristles. Such rage burns within, aimed towards me, demanding my death. Ghekre is a force to be reckoned with, it's true, but while Kaiken keeps my life in mind, he will be stopped.

But why, my mind begs the question, why sail by my side to only strike at me now? What tale hides behind the shadow?

No answers come, no understanding illuminates the unknown dark.

Though I'm safe, for now, death by Ghekre's blade seems impossible, I've lost control over my own body, over my own mind. I struggle to move, to think clearly, to fight. I am worthless in my current state, vulnerable to the powers about to clash about me.

This can not continue. I need to be able to handle myself, to make sense of whatever power courses through my veins. It races through my muscles a raging lion; my synapses a mad roar. I must take control, freeing Kaiken to handle Hannya before she reaches us.  

The Light's Pursuit struggles to sail within waters becoming ice as the world about us slowly freezes, the warmth of light evaporating as the cold darkness takes hold. The ship slows, specks of snow flickering about the deck, the lines and shrouds frazzled by frost. Soon they will become ice alongside the trained wooden masts, threatening to shatter and sink the once invincible vessel beneath the seas.

So as we stand facing one another in deadlock, time ticking away, Hannya, encased in shadow and promised violence, reaches us unharmed. Her muscles press against her dress, flex beneath black-barbed armor, readying themselves to strike great violence. The mask twists in the light to flash a sadistically victorious smile.

Kaiken, torn between defending her life or my own, chooses to take Hannya's strike full on, refusing to let Ghekre's blade strike true. Time slows further as I am lost to shock.. this woman just lay her life bare for mine.

The shadows snap into place. I refuse to let anything come to one who would lay her life bare for me, refuse to believe anything but death for those who would harm such.. love.

Something alien flickers upon my face, an unknown material. I can feel it press against my skin, wrapping itself snugly home. I close my eyes, inhale the insane black power of furious shadows, refusing to let it ruin my strength any longer.

I grab Hannya's right wrist at the last minute, her claws inches from piercing Kaiken's flesh. Her touch is poison itself, shivers like cold ice rattle up my arm. Pain, such pain, shoots up my arm; my arms twitch as color drains away from flesh, smoke hisses into the space between us. 

My fingertips rot away to be replaced by a black outline, shimmering in the moonlight. What have these shadows done?

Irrelevant, a voice answers, as my locked grip twists violently, to snap Hannya's hand at a disgusting angle. Her tekko-kagi warp and break, one claw turning completely to stab her own arm. Her skin bulges as the metal embeds itself deep, grinding against bone.

But Hannya ignores me completely.

"Time to die, kitten," she rasps at Kaiken, sharp claws bolted on to her left hand slashing around and slicing along her skin, ripping her hardened leather apart as if it were but another layer of weak flesh.

Kaiken sighs at the blood that flows freely from long gashes, the edges of her skin bubbling toxins. A symptom I have not seen before in action; a harsh poison, surely, dooming her to mere hours left of life. I curse under my breath; I could not protect her.

Hannya just hisses at me from behind her mask, as a feral cat might at a dog it's about to lash out at, her rot climbing slowly towards my elbow. Spinning slightly about to regain posture for a second attack, she smoothly steps closer towards me to stab at my stomach, letting her right wrist snap completely in the process.

I will have none of it. I force Hannya to a standstill, shadows run up both her arms and chain her legs to the deck, locking her in place, leaving her unable to strike. Seems the power is useful for something, after all.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave," I mutter at the five opponents squaring one another up, locked in stalemate.

Ghekre glares at me. Kaiken tilts her head sideways and smiles at Hannya as if she had not been wounded, who still hisses in return. Both ignore the ghastly wounds suffered in the mere seconds that have passed. Fudo's eyes are bright as he studies us all.

The rodent returns, rematerializes between us in a second puff of toxic smoke, laughs at our deadlock, and sends his blade again shrieking up, this time through Ghekre. The stalemate broken, chaos ensues.

-----------------------------------------

Thank you very much for reading Tales of the Realm. If you like it please follow, share and give the current chapter a vote. They all help very much and are greatly appreciated!

This is a work in progress, some chapters being an earlier draft than others; so whether you enjoy the current chapter or not, all your thoughts and feedback help me so much to improve both my style and the story. So I hope to hear from you. Ty again! :-)