The Land of New Sorrows
Taiko, Miyoshi, and Yumi had been unusually quiet for the past hour. It was the early afternoon, and they were almost back to Umai village now. They were passing through the Tampopo Forest again. This time, Chiyo was paying close attention to her surroundings. She thought about what would have happened if her friends hadn't been with her when the tsurujin caught her with those vines. She might be lying next to Ikumi right now, or worse.
The morning had been spent searching the cave where Ikumi was attacked. Taiko had exhausted every spell and trick she could think of looking for clues, and Chiyo was just as thorough with her efforts. Despite their best, they were still empty handed. A search of the area surrounding the cave did them no good either- not even magically enhancing her sense of smell could provide them any answers. She only described a strange musky smell that dominated the room where Ikumi was found, but disappeared outside of that chamber.
The others were just as wrapped up in their own thoughts as Chiyo was now, marching in silence while they each tried privately to make sense of the whole thing.
The cover of the Tampopo Forest ended, revealing the skyline to them and the outlying farms of the village that stood under it. Chiyo stopped and wondered at what she saw. Were there bonfires still burning from the festival? Columns of smoke rose into the air from the direction of Umai, thick and black. No, these couldn't be bonfires.
She wasn't the only one to notice. Her friends were frozen, staring at the sky.
"Dammit!" shouted Yumi as she broke into a run.
"Wait!" said Taiko, taking off after her, "Wait for us! It could be trouble!"
Chiyo did her best to follow them, but Yumi was hard to keep up with when she was this eager. The rest of the distance didn't take long to cover, and as Umai came into view Chiyo couldn't believe what she saw.
The village was an awful scene of ruin and destruction. Half of the cottages were either burning or already burnt down. Even the homes untouched by fire were smashed, with broken windows and splintered doors. Gardens were trampled and market stalls were overturned. All around the village were the scattered remains of the harvest festival's decorations, ripped to pieces and stomped into the mud.
Worst of all was that there was no sign of anyone. Aside from the crackle of burning wood Umai was dead silent, with nothing but embers stirring. Chiyo wanted to call out to see if anyone was there, perhaps hiding in fear, but the words caught in her chest and wouldn't come out.
"Hey!" shouted Taiko, running into the middle of the village, "It's us! It's Taiko! Come out! Someone! Mayor Ryouta! Miki? Fumiko? Kajiyachan?"
Not a soul came forward, not a voice spoke up in response. Taiko and Yumi looked into windows and through doors to find empty houses. Miyoshi stopped and stared at Miki's bakery as flames slowly consumed it.
Chiyo nearly collapsed, catching herself with her staff as her knees weakened. What kind of nightmare was the word turning into? First the tsurujin, then Ikumi, and now this- for as long as Chiyo could remember, her and her friends had gone on adventure after adventure, battling monsters and helping people, but they'd never seen anything this wanton and brutal before.
"What happened here?" she finally asked, "Who would have done this? Where is everyone?"
"I don't know," said Yumi, "But when I find them..."
"Yumi," said Taiko, "Don't say that so quickly. I'm worried. Really worried. Something's really going on here, something bad. Worse than anything I can remember. Something dangerous enough to hurt you if you aren't careful."
"I don't care, I'll-"
"Stop, Yumi."
Taiko put her hands on Yumi's shoulders, looking her in the eyes.
"We need to think. We need to use our heads. The first thing we need to do is find everyone. Maybe they ran away, or maybe something took them, but we need to focus on helping them before anything else."
"We should have been here," said Miyoshi, "We should have come right away in the morning. If we'd been here to help-"
"We didn't know," said Taiko. "How could we? The important thing is that we're here to help now."
Taiko turned to Chiyo next, and a reassuring hand appeared on her shoulder.
"Are you okay, Chiyo? It's okay if you need a minute to get your head straight. This is awful, and we wouldn't be us if it were easy to see our home like this."
"No," said Chiyo, feeling better for hearing Taiko's words. She always could make Chiyo feel like things would be alright, even if they'd never been this bad before.
"I'm okay," she said.
"Then we need you to help us. You're the smartest here. What can you figure out?"
Chiyo wiped the tears that she hadn't realized were in her eyes away, and started looking around, trying to ignore the horror to focus on the details.
"The footprints- look at how many of them were made by boots. Most people here wear sandals. There's no sign of anything that looks like a monster."
"Bandits?" said Yumi, "But bandits have never tried stealing the whole town before. They wouldn't have taken the people with them."
Chiyo started picking through the houses, noting what was taken. They'd done a lot of looting, whoever they were. A thought struck her, and she made her way over to the mayor's house. The place had been ransacked, and it looked like a lot of journals and records were missing from his office.
"Bandits wouldn't want anything with the mayor's books..." she said, absently. Books. What about her books? Chiyo thought about her house for the first time, and made dash to see what had become of it, and the tomes inside that might be Ikumi's only hope.
Her door was smashed in, and a mess made of the inside. She climbed her stairs to the second floor, which was entire taken up by her library and magical items. To her relief, her books were still there, even if half of them had been dumped on the floor. Some of her magical items were gone, but not most of them. Taking a mental inventory, the ones that were missing were the ones that would have looked valuable to anyone who didn't know they were magical- the amulets were gone, but unassuming Mask of Kyojin was still hanging on the wall.
"They didn't know much about us," said Chiyo, gathering her friends after her inspection of the ruins. "They took all sorts of journals and maps and letters, like they were gathering intelligence. But they didn't focus much on our houses."
"They took all of my weapons!" said Yumi, still fuming ever since she discovered her armory bare.
"Yeah, but they barely touched Taiko and Miyoshi's houses. So I don't think they knew much about the village at all. They weren't waiting for us to be away or anything, they just got lucky, and they didn't know enough to burn my library like they would have if they knew who we were and wanted to make it harder for us to come after them. There's a lot of valuable information in those books, but they didn't bother with them."
"The footprints all go to the east, where they've trampled the jelli fields on their way out. All the sandal prints are in a center column, with the boot prints on the outsides. Whoever did this was smart and organized. They did it fast enough that nobody got away or was able to hide, but they missed stuff that they never would have if they knew a lot about Umai."
"And they don't have any magic, either. I didn't see any traces of it at all, and they didn't seem to recognize magic stuff when they came across it."
"That means we have an edge," said Yumi. "They won't know what hit them when we catch up."
"I didn't smell anything weird or unusual," said Taiko, "If it's just a bunch of well-trained and well-armed men, then we should be able to win, if we're careful."
"What do you think they could want with the villagers?" asked Miyoshi. "What good would they be anyone, rounded up and taken away from their homes?"
"I don't know," said Chiyo, "Feeding and taking care of them all would be a lot of effort. I can't figure that part out. I don't think they've gone far. You couldn't move an entire village of people that fast, and we all know how slow the mayor can be. And they couldn't have left much before we got here, the fires are too fresh. If we hurry, we should be able to catch up before nightfall."
"Then let's hurry!" said Yumi.
"Wait," said Taiko, stopping her.
Taiko went back into the mayor's house, returning with a writing brush. She picked one of the booth signs from the ground and propped it up on top of the door handle.
"Someone may come back while we're gone," she said. "Someone who was away, like us, or Miruku. I don't want them to see this and think they're alone."
Taiko put the brush to the sign, writing on the blank side.
"We have gone to save everyone. Have faith is us!
-Taiko, Yumi, Miyoshi, and Chiyo."
Chiyo just wished that Ikumi's name could be added to that list. She bowed her head, and in silence prayed to the spirits of Umai. They were wounded, no doubt, but she offered her plea to them, hoping they would grow strong again.
Yushin watched through his telescope as the four women left the village, following the trail left by his Lord's army. He and his detachment had been left behind to round up anyone Lord Akio might have missed in his raid. He was wise, as always, and his thoroughness was paying off. The four women were young and very attractive. Lord Akio would be pleased to add these prizes to the day's spoils.
"They're coming our way. We'll let them catch up to the rest of the prisoners and ambush them when they get close."
"Yes, Captain Yushin," said his sergeant.
Yushin retreated from the tree he was using as cover. Lord Akio would be very pleased. Perhaps he would even allow Yushin to have one of them once he was finished.
Naoki shivered. She always did when she entered Queen Tomiko's throne room. Her uniform usually kept her warm enough with its tightly-fitted coat and fur-lined cap, but being in the queen's presence had a way of making someone feel chilled to their bones.
Her hide boots made little noise as she approached the throne. The great hallway was made of permanently frozen ice, just like the rest of the palace around it. Every surface was perfectly smooth and unblemished, showing clear through to the opaque patterns and designs etched a few inches deeper. Blue flames burned from within thick pillars, burning inside of solid ice and putting out no heat. The light reflected chaotically off of the many polished surfaces in the room and shadows slowly shifted around as the flames moved with unnatural sloth.
Naoki passed stiffened guards and hard-faced officers on her way, stopping thirty paces from the foot of the platform on top of which the queen sat. Naoki kneeled, bowing until her chest rested on her thigh.
"Your Majesty, I have an urgent situation to report."
There was no reply. Naoki kept her head bowed, fearing to look Queen Tomiko in the eye while delivering bad news. She continued without being commanded, afraid that the queen's patience would be short.
"One of your most exalted servants, the Oni Lady Kōri, has been taken prisoner by the deviant rebel Lord Akio. I have confirmed this news myself. I risked my own capture to infiltrate his territory and catch a glimpse of his party bringing her back to his stronghold, bound in chains."
Again there was only silence. Naoki's choice of words had been very deliberate, emphasizing her own diligence and bravery. She was only a scout and messenger, and had done her duty to its fullest extent. Still, she could barely breathe for how tense she was. Lord Akio had taken one of the Oni, and had taken her alive. It was viciously bad news.
Naoki knew that she was a good-looking woman. It wasn't conceit on her part; many men pursued her, many women admitted to admiring her, and the Oni Lady Yokubō's lustful eye often fell on her.
She dared to raise her head very slightly, enough to catch a glimpse of her queen as she sat unmoving on her throne of ice. Nobody knew why the queen was especially cruel to beautiful young women. She had no cause for jealousy- her own beauty was unmatched. Queen Tomiko's skin was as smooth and as flawless as polished ice. The silk dress that clung to her body showed no trace of any bulge that might spoil her figure, and her proportions were an artist's very ideal. She was blessed with faded blue hair that gleamed and appeared to subtly dance as the flickering light hit it. Her eyes and lips matched the color, save for her lips being darker.
She truly was majesty. Cold, cruel majesty.
To her side stood Lady Yokubō. She had the sort of features that men might usually find attractive, although Naoki couldn't see how they could overlook the grotesque base they were applied on top of. Even aside from the horn, she was past six feet tall and showed clearly defined muscles under her skin. Even if Naoki had any desire to be the sex toy of another woman, Lady Yokubō would not be that woman.
Naoki knew that she was a good-looking woman, and at certain times in Queen Tomiko's court it could be a very serious liability.
The queen hadn't budged since Naoki's entrance into her hall. Nobody dared offer an opinion that she hadn't requested. Nobody dared let her attention fall on themselves instead of Naoki.
"Arrest her."
There was no passion, no anger, no emotion at all in the words. Naoki knew that the sentence would be beyond harsh. She knew that there would be no appeal.
"No!" she said as she rose, fully away of how useless it would be to argue. She turned to flee, but two men were already at her sides. She knew them. Jurou and Tamotsu- good men. There was no eagerness in their eyes, but they knew that once the Queen had given such an order it wouldn't be revoked. They'd carried out these commands many times before, and they'd learned well that there was no point in hesitating or asking for confirmation.
Naoki tried to muscle past them, but they moved too quickly and blocked her path. A third man, coming behind her, jammed the butt of his spear into her back, just hard enough to knock the wind out of her. She went down onto her knees, her arms in Jurou and Tamotsu's hands now.
"Ungh! Don't! Please, Tamotsu! Don't..."
Nobody said a word. They put on hard faces as they opened her coat and pulled it back over her shoulders, using it to hold her arms in place while they unbuttoned her shirt underneath. Her cap had dropped to the ground, letting the silky black hair tucked underneath fall down her back.
It was a standing order that anyone placed under arrest was to have their uniform or symbols of office immediately taken away. For women, it was customary to strip them all the way to their underwear. This was a scene Naoki had watched many times before, fearing every time that it could be her one day. She should never have come back to the palace. She should have fled to the ends of the earth. She should have surrendered to Lord Akio, if that's what it took to save herself from this fate.
A fourth guard approached her. He was carrying her chains. They were made of heavy iron, enchanted so that they would always be as cold as if they had been left out in the snow. Frost covered them, and the guard wore thick gloves to handle the chains. Jurou held her by her arms while Tamotsu helped the guard fix the collar around her neck. It needed no lock- the collar froze shut, and would never open again without the releasing spell.
Her coat fell away and her almost naked torso was thrust into the cold. Now she shivered for real, her strength sapped as shackles clamped around her wrists. They were chained to her collar, and held her hands as high up her back as her elbows. Her wrists, neck, and back where the shackles touched burned as if ice was resting on them.
They forced her to stand while they took her boots and pants. Chains hobbled her at her ankles. Frozen links were laid across her chest and stomach, forming a harness that her wrists could be further anchored to and giving more of her skin to the enchantment's cruelty.
Jurou held her head up, putting her face to face with him. She could tell that he wasn't enjoying this. Just for a moment, she wished that he would kiss her. It was strange to think of that at a time like this, but he had always been handsome, and it would be a moment of tenderness and warmth that she might never experience again. Instead, a bit appeared before her lips. She refused to open her mouth, but with four men holding her she was soon defeated, and the metal bar slipped between her teeth. They tightened a leather strap around her head, careful to keep it from catching her hair.
Jurou and Tamotsu stepped away to let one of the guards she didn't recognize take charge of her. She turned around for just a second to stare hatred back at her queen. The guard jerked her back toward the entrance, forcing her to walk barefoot on the ice towards her eventual destination in the cold hell of the queen's dungeons. Everyone had heard the rumors about Queen Tomiko's lurid pits, but the only people who could speak firsthand about them were either still sealed inside, never to leave, or one of the few monsters from their depths, like Yokubō, that were allowed to walk the halls of the palace.
Tears rolled down her cheeks and froze on her jaw as she stumbled away, leaving her clothes in a pile that marked the spot where her life had been taken way. Tomiko still hadn't budged. Lady Yokubō was licking her lips while staring at Naoki's chained up body. Naoki knew she would be seeing her again soon.
Taiko peered over the ledge at the procession below, careful to stay out of sight as much as possible. It looked like all of the villagers were there, escorted by a roughly equal number of armed men. They were all wearing simple armor over red and orange uniforms. Just as Chiyo had guessed, they looked very organized and well-disciplined.
"Does everyone look okay?" asked Miyoshi, keeping her voice low.
"They look tired and scared, but I don't see anyone who looks hurt."
"Who are they?" asked Yumi.
"I don't know. I haven't seen anyone dressed like them before."
Yumi crawled up next to Taiko, eager to look for herself. The tracks from the village had led them to the river, which they followed into a canyon that ran through a forest filled with old, knotted trees. It only took them a couple of hours to catch up, with the whole group too large to move quickly, especially with the portly, out-of-shape Mayor Ryouta and Grandma Hisayo slowing them down.
The armed men had herded the villagers into the canyon, while Taiko and her friends took the high ground along the ledge where they had a good view of the group, about forty feet down. Taiko noted how organized they were, and thought she could pick out the man who was in charge.
He was tall and fit, not especially broad but cut square and strong. He had long black hair that was collected in a band below his shoulders, keeping it nice and orderly. Metal scale covered his chest and armored gauntlets protected his arms and shins. He stood proudly and whenever someone spoke to him they bowed, and then moved quickly when he gestured them toward one place or another.
"We can take 'em all, I bet," said Yumi. "Especially if we attack from above- they were idiots not to go along the cliff."
"It would have taken them longer," said Chiyo. "And I think they wanted to use the canyon to keep everyone contained better. They probably don't think there's anyone around to attack them."
"We should wait until they stop to rest," said Taiko. "They'll settle down more to start cooking and stuff, and they'll be less alert."
Even doing that might not be wise. The feeling that this was dangerous beyond precedent hadn't gone away. They couldn't just let these men take their friends away, but she had an uneasy feeling about fighting them before they knew more.
Taiko looked over the group again. Most of the villagers just had spears pointed at their backs, but the women of the village, at least the ones around their age or not much older, had been separated and were at the front of the column. For some reason, all of them were tied up. Their forearms where folded behind their backs and their chests were wrapped in several places with rope. It looked excessive to Taiko, and she didn't understand why the women had been chosen for this.
Taiko's thoughts were interrupted when an arrow sank into the ground between her and Yumi. She turned quickly to find its source, and a dozen yards away was a group of men, dressed and armed as the ones below. There were ten of them, and three were armed with bows. Their arrows were nocked, but not drawn yet.
One man stood in front of the others with a proud and cocksure expression on his face.
"You there! Put down your weapons and stand up. You are now prisoners of Lord Akio. Hurry- don't test my patience."
"Okay," said Yumi, "Then we'll make this quick."
Yumi jumped to her feet, spear in hand. Chiyo stayed crouched, adjusting only to point her staff in their direction. With a shout she sent a wave of energy at the men, knocking them all off their feet before the archers could ready their shots.
The man in charge shook off his disorientation and rose to his feet more quickly than Taiko would have expected, and his men were scrambling to join him. Their advantage had been lost, however, and now Yumi was in their midst, her spear thrusting and her feet kicking, knocking them down again and sending them stumbling away.
Taiko smiled. Yumi was amazing, as always. The trees provided some cover for them, keeping Yumi from whirling her spear around freely, but they also blocked the way for many of them to attack her at once. The men had to try to surround her to have any hope. Chiyo made sure that didn't happen, blasting them one by one with her magic as they tried to get Yumi's back. Three of the men rushed past her altogether to come at Taiko, Chiyo, and Miyoshi.
The one after Chiyo didn't even get half way before she hit him so hard that he went flying over Yumi's head to crash into his comrades who were still dodging her spear. Another grabbed Miyoshi, who cried out and elbowed him in the face. Taiko saw the third rushing at her.
Taiko didn't like fighting, especially not hand-to-hand where she had little skill, but he was closing in too fast for her to cast a spell. She dropped to the ground instead and kicked at his feet, tripping him and nearly toppling him over the ledge.
Now free to think, she spotted the vines and tangled brush on the forest floor and remembered the tsurujin from the day before. She stood and moved her arms, summoning her magic and channeling it with her pose.
"Grow, little weeds!" she shouted as she finished the spell.
The few men who were still up found their legs caught in the undergrowth, easy targets for Yumi and Chiyo. Miyoshi shoved the man who'd tried to grab her toward Taiko, just as her own attacker was lunging at her again. Taiko lead him into the path of Miyoshi's stumbling opponent, then dodged at the last moment to let them crash into each other.
Taiko looked about. All of the men were on the ground, groaning, disarmed, and beaten.
"Looks like we've got someone to answer our questions!" said Yumi, pointing her spear at the leader's neck. "Who are you, and why did you attack Umai?"
"If you think you scare me enough to make me betray my lord, then you're pitifully naive. Go ahead and shed my blood, if you've got the stomach for it. I see nothing but minor wounds on my men. You might be tougher than I expected, but I recognize someone who's too soft to kill when I see them."
"That's terrible," said Miyoshi. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for all of this? What kind of person are you?"
He laughed at her.
"What kind of ridiculous question is that? The only thing I'm ashamed of is not having beaten such a stupid bunch of girls like you."
"You arrogant bastard!" growled Yumi, looking like she might do it after all.
"Yumi, stop!"
Taiko rushed forward, putting her hand between Yumi and her target. It wouldn't stop her if she actually tried, but it eased her tension a made her step back.
"Tell us your name, at least. Mine is Taiko."
"My name? What use would that even be to you?"
"I'd have something to call you, wouldn't I?" Taiko smiled, hoping a little warmth would open him up where Yumi's threats had failed.
"We don't have any idea who you are, or why you attacked our village. We don't know why you think we're your enemies, or what you want. Surely just telling us that isn't betraying your lord, is it? How can we even talk at all if you can't let us know that much?"
The man seemed incredulous and confused. Taiko could tell that he wasn't expecting someone to try being nice to him. She was sure he would tell her more, if in no other way than by asking questions to satisfy his own curiosity. You could learn a lot by the questions people asked you, if you really listened to them. Right before he was about to speak, he stopped, and smiled instead. It was a haughty smile, and Taiko was too late in realizing that it meant danger.
There was an awful thud, followed by a pained grunt from Yumi as she fell to the ground. A man- the one that Taiko had seen in the canyon below and had pegged as their leader- was behind her, his sword held to show that he'd struck her in the back of her head with the hilt.
"Yumi!" shouted Taiko, stepping back to prepare a spell. Chiyo had the same idea, but the man was too close, and he grabbed the staff and ripped it out of her hands.
"Hey!" yelled Miyoshi. She latched onto the staff with both hands, and with a better position than he had was able to steal it back. Before she could toss it to Chiyo the man with whom Taiko had just been speaking tackled her. She smashed him in the face with the staff, dropping him, but two more men had been given the time to get back into the fight, and that was more than Miyoshi could handle. They threw her to the ground and fell on top of her, pinning Miyoshi and pressing her face in the dirt.
Taiko had to dodge an assailant of her own, scrambling back to get enough space to twirl her arms and ready her magic.
"Stop!" shouted the army's leader.
He had Chiyo in his grip, twisting her arm behind her back while holding his own around her neck. He jerked on her arm, making her scream.
"Stop that!" yelled Taiko, "You're hurting her!"
"Of course I am. One move out of you I don't like and I'll break her arm. You're going to let my men tie you up, understand? Your friend will be less use to me crippled, but I don't plan on letting any of you get away."
Three more men were up, and one of them was carrying a bundle of rope toward Taiko. She couldn't let him hurt Chiyo, but she had a feeling that surrendering to him was a bad idea, especially when there was nobody left to rescue them.
"Hold on-" she said, backing away slowly. "Tell me what you want with us."
"You won't like the answer," he said, twisting Chiyo's arm again and making her cry out in pain.
"Stop it you monster!" said Miyoshi, still struggling vainly against the two men that had her held to the ground.
"Quiet!" said one of them, twisting her arm as well.
The men were almost upon Taiko. She couldn't let them grab her, but there was nothing she could do with Chiyo and Miyoshi being held hostage. She took another step back, and realized that she was near the ledge.
One of the men lunged for her, latching onto her wrist. She jerked away, not thinking, and lost her balance. Taiko tumbled over the ledge. There was just enough slope to prevent it from being a straight drop, but she still felt the wind knocked out of her as she rolled and slid down to the river below.
Water enveloped her. The river was deep enough and the flow fast enough to send her spinning and rob her of her sense of direction. Her breath was already slight, and she had no idea where the surface was. Taiko only had one chance- she forced herself to be calm enough to focus on a spell. She flung her arms out, then circled them in again and balled her fists. Then she crossed them, one vertical and one horizontal, while pointing out with two fingers.
"Fish's breath!" she said, or rather bubbled, with the last of her air. Nobody would have understood the words, but it didn't matter. The magic flowed into her chest and her lungs stopped feeling like they were going to implode. Holding her breath suddenly became effortless, and it would stay that way until her magic wore off.
Taiko, no longer panicking, oriented herself with the direction of the current. The men were doubtlessly waiting for her to surface, and she'd already cast an enchantment on herself that would be useless in fighting them. It would last a long time, too- she'd put most of her magic into it. Taiko needed time to think and plan if she was going to save her friends. For now, she swam, letting the river take her out of their reach.
Her thoughts turned to the man in charge- presumably the 'Lord Akio' mentioned by the other man. What did he want? He seemed to want them as prisoners, even though he had no idea who they were. He didn't even want to talk to find out. There was something strange and sinister lurking behind the whole thing, some unmentionable reason why four young women would be valuable captives that Taiko knew but didn't want to think about.
She had to save her friends. She was very, very sure about it, even if she wasn't sure why.
Yumi's head was killing her, and no part of her body wanted to move. Something was tugging on her. She wished it would stop, but it kept intruding on her, demanding her attention more and more. She tugged back and found that something was holding her arms. Memories started to come back to her, and she suddenly realized that she was in trouble.
She opened her eyes to see a pair of boots. She was on the ground, the side of her face pressed into the dirt. Her arms were folded behind her, and she could feel the pressure where rope was tied around her forearms. She immediately tried to slip them free, but two pairs of hands were on her, and she was in a poor position to wrestle with them.
"Hey!" she said, raising her head as much as she could to see what was going on, "Get your hands off me before I break them!"
She turned her head to the other side and got some answers that she didn't want. Chiyo and Miyoshi were kneeling on the ground, and obviously not because that wanted to be there. Both of them were tied up, a complex sort of harness made out of rope wound tightly around their chests and arms. The harness seemed to pay special attention to their breasts, pinching them between bands of rope that ran above and below them and cinched in between.
They were both awake and staring back at her, their eyes worried and sad. They were trying to call out to her, but a thick cloth was wedged between their teeth and tied around their heads, gagging them. They struggled as well, but their arms were fixed tightly in place and their squirming was useless. A rope was tied around both their necks, leashing them together with only a couple feet of space allowed in between them, and a man was holding it to keep them down on their knees.
Yumi flushed with anger. They weren't just tied up to be held as prisoners- this was more than that. This was stricter, harsher, and more humiliating than it needed to be. For a moment, she thought of Ikumi, and wondered if these men had something to do with that senseless abuse as well.
"Pick her up," said the man whose feet she was at.
The two men obeyed, pulling her onto her knees and holding her there by her arms. She could see him now. He was tall and stern, and she had to admit to herself that he was rather handsome.
"Who are you?" he asked. "You and your friends are obviously far too skilled to be in that pathetic slob of a mayor's service."
"We're not in anyone's service, you son of a bitch. Where do you get off demanding things from after attacking Umai for no reason and forcing everyone to march off with your army?"
He slapped her. His hand swung and hit her right across the face. Yumi had taken much harder hits before, but this stung more than a fist to the gut. It was an insult as much as it was supposed to hurt, only possible because she was held on her knees where she couldn't block or dodge. The casualness of it shocked her- his expression was unchanged, as if it were nothing more than a gesture.
"Your friends were just as mouthy in their own way. If I don't hear anything useful out of you soon then I will personally make sure that your first night of slavery is as lavishly unpleasant as possible."
"Slavery? You can't- you're mad!"
He slapped her again. She was more ready for it this time, but his hand still struck across her cheek just as true.
Another hand moved across her chest, pulling rope with it. They were doing the same thing to her as they'd done to Chiyo and Miyoshi, and when she tried to resist the man standing in front of her grabbed her hair to help hold her still. Seeing it on her friends was strange enough, but the feeling of her breasts being squeezed between two sets of windings was uncomfortable in a way she hadn't expected. She felt herself blushing all over her body, humiliated like she'd never been before.
The men kept working, cinching parts of the harness and adding knots. The rope constricting around her chest grew tighter and tighter, taking more and more of her freedom of movement away until her arms were completely immobile, and even breathing made the rope press into her skin.
"I'm tired of getting your nonsense answers and stupid admonishments, as if you're the ones in position to pass judgment. I am Lord Akio. You should know what that name means."
"I don't know anything about you, 'Lord Akio'. Just that you're an obnoxious bully who's hurting my friends."
"That's impossible. There's no way a village like Umai could exist so close to my realm, keeping itself a secret no less, without knowing anything about the man who rules over this region."
"Well I guess you're just not as important as you think you are. I should be asking you how you've never heard of Umai- we've never hidden ourselves from anyone."
"You should be showing me some respect and not damning yourself any further. Gag her. By tomorrow morning they'll be much more willing to answer me honestly."
"Where's Taiko?" demanded Yumi.
"The other one? With the pink hair? Is that her name? My soldiers will hunt her down in plenty of time for her to join you in my dungeon."
Yumi opened her mouth to curse at him again, and instead tasted cloth. It went in deep and was tugged deeper as it was tied in place. The only hand on her now was at the back of her neck, but it was enough. She struggled against the ropes, but nothing would give in the slightest. Even when she was still they pressed hard into her flesh and put constant pressure on her body where they touched. Her fingers searched for knots or loose bits of rope to tug on, but found nothing. The twisted position her arms were in was already starting to ache.
She couldn't believe how impossibly secure it was. Yumi was strong, but every kind of way that she tried to move was pulling directly against some part of the harness. Nothing had been allowed to slide around or have any slack in it. She was completely powerless to free herself, or even to find a position where the ropes weren't hurting her and pinching sensitive areas.
The men pulled her to her feet and put her on her knees again behind Miyoshi. The leash was continued to fit around her neck while her ankles were bound, although not directly together.
"Captain Yushin," said her captor, speaking to the man who Yumi had at spearpoint earlier. He was kneeling as well, although voluntarily in a pose that showed genuine respect.
"You've done well in spotting these women and bringing them to me. However, your failure to actually capture them was disgraceful. You were lucky that I was able to scale the cliff face in time."
"Yes, my Lord," said the man. "I offer you a thousand apologies."
"I want more than that. Because of your sloppiness, one of them has escaped. Join your men in tracking her down. If you succeed, then I might allow you to have a night with her after I take my due. If you fail, then I'll give your rank to your sergeant, and you'll never be allowed to touch any of them."
"Yes, Lord Akio," he said.
"Go."
The man obeyed.
Lord Akio came back to her. She looked up at him to see a predatory expression on his face.
"Even if you won't talk, your bodies will be more than enough to make this a worthwhile distraction. You're quite beautiful, all four of you. Especially bound and on your knees. You'll need some training- especially you- but that will be my pleasure to give."
Yumi didn't understand what he meant, but she had a sick feeling about it. The way he looked at her made her angry, but it also made her feel weirdly nervous. Or was it anxious? It was like he was seeing her naked. The strangest part of all was that everything he did to make her hate him also made him- something else. It was like when she was watching Haru dance at the festival. She was developing a fascination for a man who she wanted to beat the life out of.
"Get them moving," said Lord Akio, "I want to be back at Taiyo before nightfall."
Yumi and her friends were hauled to their feet and shoved into motion. She nearly fell, the rope between her legs cutting her stride awkwardly short. She wanted to refuse, to give her captors trouble just for the sake of it, but she would have dragged Chiyo and Miyoshi down with her. She swallowed her anger and marched, having to shuffle along quickly to keep pace with the soldiers.
She told herself that a chance to escape would come. They couldn't keep her tied up this tightly forever.
Taiko broke the surface, tasting air for the first time since she'd gone under. Her spell was nowhere near expiring, but her arms and legs were tired from so much swimming, and she was sure that she'd left the soldiers far behind.
She shook the water out of her eyes before looking around to see where she was. The river was running through a forest now, although not one like she'd ever been in. She drifted over to the river bank and pulled herself onto solid ground, grabbing the roots of a tree and heaving herself up.
The air in the forest was surprising cool, and it made her shiver while she tried to wring out her clothes. She wished she could stop to build a fire to dry them out, but even if she was ahead of the soldiers, they might eventually come this way. She would have to bear it until she found a real hiding place.
She turned her attention again to her surroundings. She couldn't see the sky. About half of the trees in the forest were of regular heights, but the other half were enormous. Their tops disappeared upwards, blending into a canopy that was too far above to make out distinctly. The light that made it through was dim and diffuse, leaving the forest with neither brightness nor shadows.
The air was still, disturbed neither by breeze nor sound. Even the river refused to babble. Being a forest was something most of them did. This one merely was. It was as if the spirits had abandoned it, leaving its heart to decay. Taiko put the strangeness out of her mind and started walking.
The ground was relatively flat and free from underbrush, making it easy to move. She had no idea where she should be going; with so few distinctive features in the forest she could easily get lost. What she really needed was to find out where the villagers- and her friends- were being taken, but following the river back the way she came would be too dangerous while her escape was still fresh.
Taiko's uncertainty disappeared when a noise reached her through the gloom of the forest. At first it was just a high-pitched barking, but as she drew closer she heard a man cursing angrily. She hid behind one of the trees and peered around the side, keeping as quiet as she could.
It was one of the same soldiers who had attacked Umai. Or at least he belonged to the same group, judging by his uniform. He was embroiled in a struggled with a beautiful red fox, the poor thing's leg caught in a snare. He was trying to get a hold of it, but the fox was snapping desperately at him, and from the way his hand was bleeding it had already taught him to be cautious. The fox snarled and tried to bite at the line gripping his leg, but the man reached for him and he had to stop to fend him off.
Taiko didn't know why the man wanted to capture the fox, but she'd learned enough today to know who she was siding with. She reached out to the trap, sensing what it wanted. Traps were things of treachery. It was happy to have the fox, for now, but it could be made to betray its master. She moved entirely behind the tree and formed her spell, stepping out to finish it.
"Catch him!" she said, and immediately the man's attention snapped to her.
It was his mistake. The snare slipped from the fox's leg, and when the soldier reached for his knife he found it caught around his wrist. The fox, now free, lunged at the man's legs. The soldier yelled in freight, kicking at the animal while he drew his knife with his left hand. The fox was too fast, latching onto his ankle, his teeth sinking in even through the thick leather of his boot.
"Damn it!" he yelled, cutting the snare to free his hand. He swiped the knife at the fox, but it dodged easily. "I'll skin you alive you little shit!"
Taiko struck another pose and aimed her magic at the fox.
"Gale's force!"
The fox darted forward to snap at the soldier again, but this time he found himself infused with a might rush of energy. He slammed into the soldier's stomach and threw him back into a nearby tree.
The soldier stumbled, fell, picked himself up, and ran. He was fast, considering his limp. Taiko chuckled to herself, pleased with the sight. The fox didn't seem to know if it wanted to pursue or not. Its leg was hurt, and now that it was no longer in a fight for its life, it started to show. Taiko rushed over while the fox was still snarling in the direction of the soldier and scooped it up, hoping it would recognize her as a friend.
"We need to hurry out of here," she said, breaking into a run, "He might have friends nearby, and I don't think we can fight them all."
"Who are you?" asked the fox.
Taiko stopped in her tracks, and held the fox out to get a better look at it.
"You can talk?"
"Of course I can," he said, looking confused. "I mean, you talked to me. What kind of sense would that make if I couldn't understand you?"
"I, uh..."
Taiko heard shouting in the distance. It was a different voice than the soldier's. She put the fox down and formed her prayer symbols, touching the fox's leg to heal it.
"Come on, we'll talk later!"
Taiko started running again, and the fox followed. She wished her fish's breath spell would wear off so that she could enchant herself with his speed as the two of them fled a cruel and mysterious enemy.
Miyoshi's feet hurt. They were far from the only thing. They'd been on a forced march for hours now, and they were easily the most miserable hours she'd ever lived. Her legs were cramping from having to walk while hobbled, her jaw hurt from being stretched open by her gag, and her chest and arms were sore where the ropes pressed against her body. She would have given anything to rest for a moment, but every minute or so she was prodded to keep up her pace.
After they had left the canyon they'd climbed the rocky foothills of a distant mountain range. The fortress that marked their destination had been in view for some time as they trudged along hard trails, and now they finally stood in its shadow. A path led up the side of a plateau that was surrounded along the top by a stone wall with towers built into in. Miyoshi's faith that Taiko would find a way to rescue them was the only comfort she could cling onto, but now that she was staring up at the impenetrable stronghold that would be her prison she found it shaken. She tried to put her doubts out of her mind and believe in her friend, but the grimness of thing that stood above her seeped into her spirit.
Lord Akio was leading the column of soldiers and captives now, with Miyoshi not far behind him. Chiyo was in front of her, still leashed to her neck, and Yumi was at the rear. Akio stopped to let them catch up with him.
"Hurry," he said, grabbing Chiyo's arm and pulling her up the path. "You've already delayed us enough."
Miyoshi was already exhausted, and she felt like she was going to collapse at any second trying to climb the slope at the speed he wanted. For Chiyo's sake she kept moving, not wanting to strangle her by falling. She told herself that it was almost over- they were almost to the fortress, and they'd get their rest, even if it came from the inside of a cage.
The gate at the top of the path opened, and Miyoshi got her first look inside as Lord Akio dragged them through the opening and into his lair. Half of the space on top of the plateau was an open yard, although not an empty one. Wooden cages, enough for dozens of people, lined one of the walls. Archery targets and practice dummies lined the other. Crates, barrels, and other clutter occupied the occasional pile, and strange structures stood lined up not far from the cages.
Miyoshi was horrified to realize what their purpose was when she saw two women attached to them. One of them was on her knees with her hands tied behind her back. Too halves of a wooden board, mounted on a post, were locked around her neck. The hole was too small for her head to pull through, leaving her stuck there.
The other was on a large wooden cross. Her arms were hooked over the horizontal part and bound there with rope. Her ankles were placed on opposite sides of the vertical support, almost even with her knees, and bound as well. She was also stark naked, something that made Miyoshi blush in embarrassment.
She was of a race Miyoshi hadn't seen before. Her skin was red, and a horn protruded from the middle her forehead. From the way her mouth hung open and her half-closed eyes stared vaguely forward, Miyoshi could tell that she'd had enough of whatever punishment this was. Why hadn't they taken her down? Why had they done something so cruel in the first place?
Two men approached the woman, one of them holding a bamboo staff. He jabbed her with it, and Miyoshi could hear words being exchanged, although she was too far away to make them out. The man laughed, changed his position and struck her in the stomach with the pole. This time she was plenty close enough to hear her scream.
He wasn't satisfied with hitting her only once- he was beating her in a methodical rhythm, and she was crying along in anguish. Miyoshi wished more than anything now that she could help the woman; that she could rush over and stop the man. Even still bound, if she could just throw herself on her knees and beg him to stop, to plead with him to snap out of his madness. Whatever the woman was guilty of, she couldn't deserve this.
If she was guilty of anything. Umai hadn't been, and it had suffered these men's wrath. Would that be her soon? Or Chiyo, or Yumi? Miyoshi had been scared before, but now she was chilled to her core. It was as if reality was playing by new rules, and they were darker and more evil than the worst monster in her old world.
Miyoshi felt a jerk at her neck. She was falling behind. They were walking toward the other half of the fortress. At the back of the plateau stood a keep, a few times higher than the walls and decked out in banners and spikes. The bright colors it was painted couldn't hide the hard, sharp edges that were inherent to its form. It gave her the impression of a giant pair of jaws, lined with sharp teeth that would close around her when she stepped inside.
She found herself resisting when she reached the threshold, a pair of double doors open and waiting to swallow her. Akio noticed and tugged on Chiyo, pulling Miyoshi by the leash. Chiyo let out a pained grunt, and Miyoshi could only silently beg her forgiveness as she willed herself to enter the building. Lanterns' glow replaced the already dimming sunlight and the air grew stale.
A man met Lord Akio in the hallway and bowed to him.
"My Lord, I see you've been victorious."
"Captain Teruo. I wouldn't call such an easy raid a victory. It was fruitful, but there was hardly any battle worth mentioning. There are more prisoners still coming in; see that they're dealt with properly. I'll be taking these three to the cellar immediately."
"Yes, my Lord," he said, bowing again.
"You," said Lord Aki, gesturing toward a soldier, "Go down to the the cellar and tell them to start preparing for three new slaves that need immediate conditioning."
He turned around and pointed to two of the soldiers behind them.
"Bring them to the cellar. I'll be along immediately."
Miyoshi spoke into her gag, asking them to stop. All of their protests had been ignored so far, and Yumi certainly had plenty of them during their march, but Miyoshi sensed that if they were brought down to the the cellar they would regret it. Now was her last chance to get one of them to see reason. She knew that if she could just get them to ungag her, she could save her friends from the worst that might otherwise come.
"Go!" said the soldier, pushing Yumi into her back. Miyoshi bumped against Chiyo in turn, who took the hint and started walking again. Walking toward a fate that grew darker and darker with every new thing Miyoshi learned about these men.
Taiko stopped, leaning against a tree to catch her breath. She and her new friend had been running for a long time, and she was sure that the soldiers were far enough behind for her to take a break and consider her next move.
"I don't hear them," said the fox, sitting a few feet in front of her. "They might be able to follow our tracks, but not at a full run. We've got some time to rest."
Taiko, still breathing hard, was jealous of the fox's endurance. It didn't seem tired at all.
"Thanks for helping me, though I'm not sure what you did to get that snare off. My name's Aka."
"I'm Taiko. I just used a little of my magic, is all. Is it Mr. or Ms. Aka?"
"It's just Aka. But I'm a boy fox."
"It's nice to meet you Mr., I mean, Aka."
"Who are you, though? You look strange. And being able to use magic like that is strange. And messing with Lord Akio's soldiers- nobody does that!"
"Lord Akio- I've heard that name before. I think I've met him, too. He seems like bad news."
Aka cocked his head.
"You've 'heard that name before'? You think you've met him? We're talking about Lord Akio here- you must be from way far away if you're just hearing about him."
"Well, not that far. I'm from Umai village. We just came from there, earlier today. I guess we've never been this way before, but..."
Taiko stopped, trying to get it straight in her head.
"I don't know. I don't know how that could be. We've explored all sorts of places, we've gone all over having adventures and helping people. But I don't remember being out this way, and I can't think of what should be out this way if not this forest."
"Oh, I think I get it. You're crazy."
"Hey!"
"Sorry, I like you, but I think you're probably just crazy. It's the simplest explanation."
Taiko tossed a stick at him, which he hopped over playfully.
"What did you mean by 'we'?" he asked.
"Me and my friends- Miyoshi, Chiyo, and Yumi. We're all from Umai. We were away this morning, and when we came back our village had been attacked. We followed the tracks left by the men who did it, and we found this 'Lord Akio' guy and his soldiers marching everyone away. We fought some of them, and won, but then the leader- I think he was Akio- took out Yumi and Chiyo, and his men got Miyoshi. I fell into the river and swam away, but he still has my friends."
"Oh, wow. That's bad."
"I thought so, but I don't know why. What's he want with them?"
"Lord Akio wants everything everyone has. He raids and takes from everyone around here. Sometimes he just wants food and materials and stuff, sometimes he wants slaves, sometimes he wants women for, you know, company."
"Company?"
"Yeah."
"No, I mean, what do you mean?"
"I mean 'company'. You know- of the man on woman kind."
"You're not making any sense."
"Are you friends pretty, like you?"
Taiko was taken aback by the seemingly out-of-nowhere question.
"Yes, they're all at least as pretty as me, and Miyoshi is definitely-"
"The he's going to fuck them, no question."
For a fleeting moment, Taiko knew what he meant. Then, as if it were too horrible an idea to hold onto, it slipped away, leaving only the certainty that she had to save her friends, and that she didn't want to remember what she knew in that moment.
"I need to find Lord Akio again. I need to rescue them, and put a stop to this madness of his."
"Wow, you really are crazy. Look, you did good against that one soldier, but nobody stands up to Lord Akio. He's crazy strong, with all of his soldiers and his castle, and he's totally ruthless and everyone knows just to keep their heads down and hope he'll go after someone else for a while."
"That's horrible! Why doesn't everyone get together and figure out how to stop him? How can everyone live like that?"
"Because they don't have a choice. Nobody around here goes out of their way to help a stranger. They're too busy just trying to survive, and especially trying not to get Lord Akio's attention by helping someone who he's after. It's always been that way. I don't think anyone has any idea how they'd even start to fight him, and if he saw them getting together to try and figure it out- man, they'd be in so much trouble!"
"Look," said Aka, "You should hide for now, and get back to where you came from when you can. If you try to save them you're just going to wind up his slave too. I'm sorry for what your friends are going through right now, it's real bad, but you don't want that to be you too."
"I can't just leave them like that," said Taiko, "Running away and abandoning them would be worse than being there with them, no matter what he does to us."
"You might change your mind after your first night with him. Maybe I shouldn't do this, but, uh... there's a village not too far from here. It's called Punnydin. If you've got any chance at all against Lord Akio, it's going to start there. They've got a spirit that knows, like, everything. Maybe he can help. His name Is Minoru".