Pilgrim 3, p.27
Pilgrim 3, page 27
Danzen pulled his foot out of the crack caused by Shutendorji’s last attack and lifted the blade over his shoulder. He took a lumbering step forward.
He was just about to reach Shutendorji when the demon launched himself at Yato. She tried to hold her ground, but the demon swatted her away with the back of his hand, which sent Yato flying into the air, thirty feet to the left before she collided with a rock wall. She didn’t get up when she finally landed, her head now tilted forward, something abnormal about the way Yato now lay on her side. It was a spinal injury at best, death at worst.
Seeing this triggered something within Danzen, a thirst for vengeance the likes of which he hadn’t experienced before. Shutendorji needed to die. And for the demon to die, he needed to be stronger than he currently was.
What happened next was something Danzen had never intentionally done before. He brought the enormous odachi to his side and placed his left hand along the blade, running it toward the tip, opening a wound on his palm.
He could deal with the aftermath later.
The strength that surged through him as blood dripped down his wrist was enough to easily wield the giant weapon. Everything red, a mist forming as portals opened up, Danzen’s muscles swelled and his veins pulsed with a boosted animosity—the true battle was set. Shutendorji seemed to welcome it, the towering demon laughing as Danzen’s hellspawns crawled their way out of portals, some lunging for him, others taking off, free at last.
Danzen didn’t even think about using his power to control them; he wanted the madness, the chaos, the frenzy, everything that came with what happened when he broke skin. The odachi felt light in his hands now, as if he were wielding Astra, his superhuman strength and stamina sending him to Shutendorji in under a second. He brought the blade down, immediately severing the enormous demon’s right arm from the elbow up as Shutendorji tried to swat at him.
Shutendorji roared and twisted away from Danzen.
He stomped his feet and kicked up more dust, Danzen just about to move in for the kill strike when his own hellspawns reached him. A mangled monstrosity raked its claws across Danzen’s back, additional portals opening in the process, Danzen barely registering the pain. He swiveled and cut the demon in half, then used his gigantic sword as a pole to stab it through another, which he flung up into the air, its body managing to crack into a different hellspawn that was crawling up the side of one of the ridges, toward Minjin.
He barely managed to avoid Shutendorji’s next attack, the colossal demon pressing right past him, inches away from tackling Danzen. He tried to swat at him with the arm he had left; Danzen ducked beneath it, just as one of his own hellspawns launched itself over his back, and was struck by Shutendorji. Sending his power into his feet, his blade now pointed forward as if it were a lance, Danzen exploded toward Shutendorji, his mammoth sword puncturing the demon’s stomach, and pressing out his back.
The two smashed into a wall of solid rock, Danzen’s impact mostly on his side, Shutendorji taking the brunt of the collision. It also had the effect of forcing Danzen to twist the blade to some degree, widening the demon’s wound as the two of them quickly dropped to the ground.
The dust settled and Danzen saw that Shutendorji had rolled over onto his side, the odachi now sticking out of his body, albeit sideways. Danzen was on his feet in a matter of seconds. He glared down at the demon with the face of a lion dog, Shutendorji on his last several breaths, Danzen’s shoulders heaving up and down.
Man, demon, or yokai, everything looked the same when it passed, and Danzen had seen enough to recognize that he had been victorious. But that didn’t stop him from tugging the massive odachi out of Shutendorji’s muscled abdomen and bringing it down one more time, severing the demon’s head.
Without a moment to waste, Danzen prepared to address the hellspawns he had unleashed. In the end he wouldn’t have to go this far. His creations all stopped moving at once, and then they crumbled to sand, the sand forming into the body of Danzen’s father.
Tengir Gantulga was closer to human size this time, still in his purple-black armor, handsome as always, the visage of a man in good health. He brought both hands up and placed them in a prayer position beneath his lips as he examined his son.
Danzen was slowly starting to lose power, his weapon once again held by both hands, the tip of the odachi hovering close to the ground. Could he do it? If he was fast enough, could he kill his father now and be done with this? Likely not, but the notion was still there, the desire to remove himself from whatever game his father was trying to play.
A splash of realization came to him, Danzen remembering where he was, the animosity he was experiencing just moments ago washing away from him as if he had just stepped out from beneath a waterfall. Yato. He dropped the weapon, and immediately shifted his gaze to her.
She still wasn’t moving.
“You have done well,” Tengir Gantulga said. “And you deserve this reward.”
He ignored his father, and was on the verge of rushing to Yato’s side when something in his periphery caught his attention.
Danzen looked back to see Nomin standing beside Tengir Gantulga.
****
Nomin was the spitting image of her former self. It was as if no time had passed since she stood across from Danzen in the courtyard of the nunnery, challenging him. Now in white robes, the thin woman with her head shaved and a familiar sword and scabbard at her waist, Nomin took a step back and withdrew her weapon.
“What is the meaning of this?” she asked, her focus shifting to Tengir Gantulga. Something about her overall demeanor told Danzen that she was still blind, and once he got a glimpse of her eyes, both completely white, he knew this to be the case. Why was she here? What could Tengir Gantulga possibly have to prove by bringing her back to life?
Danzen’s focus returned to Yato, who still wasn’t moving.
He rushed to her side and dropped next to her, Yato whimpering, confirming what he had seen earlier, that her fall had done something to her spine. She was still alive, but the way her legs were twisted away from her body told Danzen that she was likely paralyzed.
He’d seen this before.
“It was his wish,” Tengir Gantulga finally told Nomin, answering her question. “My son wanted you alive, so I’ve brought you back to this world.”
Danzen looked up at his father. He had never said anything to him about wanting Nomin alive, but there was no point in arguing with him, not with Yato in her current condition. Danzen placed his hand on her cheek, some of his demon blood transferred to her soft skin.
“Tengir… Gantulga?”
Danzen looked up to the top of the rock ledge not far from his father to see Minjin, the elderly woman less surprised than she should have been to see the ruler of Diyu.
“Your punishment is over, my child,” his father said, ignoring Nomin for a moment. “Shutendorji no longer lives on this plane of existence, and I will be sure he will never bother you again. Come to me, Minjin. It’s time to return home.”
Minjin stepped to the edge of the ridgeline above, about twenty-five feet up. She hesitated.
“Please, my child. You will not fall, I will float you down to me,” Tengir Gantulga assured her. “Take a step.”
A smile of hopefulness appeared on Minjin’s wrinkled face. She flung her arms out and took a step into the air. She tumbled down to the rocks below, the elderly woman cracking her head on a sharp stone, Minjin eventually rolling onto her back, her mouth agape, a single tear changing its trajectory as it moved across her face.
A smile formed on Tengir Gantulga’s face as he looked at his son again. “She would have slowed you down anyway. And, for that matter, what is the difference between dying at the monastery and dying here? There is no place to go aside from Diyu.”
Nomin withdrew her blade. “You monster.”
“You say that to the monster who has brought you back to life? You should be thankful. You can continue bending your echo here, and can increase your power, or do whatever it is you planned to do before my son killed you. Perhaps you will simply become an assassin again. After all, you excel at extinguishing life, and sending people to me prematurely. Maybe I should bring all the assassins back. I do love new arrivals.” Tengir Gantulga observed Nomin for a moment, the corners of his beard lifting as he grinned at the woman. “And your eyesight? Would you like me to restore it to you? I figured you would like to be exactly as you once were, but if you would like…”
Nomin spat onto the front of Tengir Gantulga’s armor, Danzen quickly realizing something in that moment—if ever there was someone he could fight his father with, someone willing to take on the ruler of Diyu, it was Nomin.
Danzen slowly stood. “Return my weapons to me,” he told his father, not able to contain his Demon Speak power, even if he knew it wouldn’t work on Tengir Gantulga.
His father looked from Nomin to Danzen. “You would defend her?”
“With my life.”
“You do realize that either way, you would be the heir to my throne, do you not? Whether you exist here, or you die, it doesn’t really matter to me. You want your weapons?” Tengir Gantulga blinked, and Danzen felt the weight of his Blade of Darkness on his back now, his gauntleted weapons on his arms, Astra and Nomin’s sword at his waist. It was as if they had been there all along. “You have your weapons.”
There was enough shadow caused by some of the rocks for Danzen to augment the power of his glaive. He withdrew his Blade of Darkness and slowly pressed one of his feet to the side and back until he was in the correct stance to use the polearm. One glance to Nomin and he could tell that she was ready as well.
They could do this together.
“This is why I love you,” Tengir Gantulga said, fondness coming across his eyes as he fully turned to Danzen. “And once again, this is what separates you from your brother, Nomtoi. The callous fool doesn’t have the guts to challenge me, even though he is much closer to my strength than you are. He also wouldn’t sacrifice his own life for anyone else, regardless of the fact that he is practically impossible to kill considering the nature of his birth. That doesn’t mean a demon can’t suffer. And there are places in Diyu where demons go, ones like Shutendorji, where they will be tortured for all eternity. But I digress, your audacity is what makes you unique, and why I have such high hopes for your future as my inevitable replacement.”
“Enough,” Danzen said, his voice still on edge.
“I don’t believe now is the time for this to happen, so I won’t let it. Your beautiful young assassin will be fine.” Tengir Gantulga extended his hand to Yato. One glance over his shoulder and Danzen saw that she was now able to move, Yato slowly getting to her feet, completely healed, a bewildered look on her face. “Continue to groom her; she may be of use to me in the future.” His father bared his shining white teeth at Danzen. “A very useful girl, and fertile as well. Yes, continue to groom her. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Tengir Gantulga collapsed into sand, leaving both Danzen and Nomin with their weapons drawn, and now looking at each other, neither ready to back down.
****
Yato stepped forward and swiftly brought her fists up.
Skrrict! Skrrict!
The sound broke Danzen’s attention, and even though he knew it was dangerous, he returned his Blade of Darkness to its sheath.
“I’m not here to fight you,” he told Nomin. “Regardless of what my father said, I didn’t ask for you to be brought here, not that I…” Danzen recalled how she had helped him back in Diyu, going against his brother’s wishes. “Are you all right? Did Nomtoi do anything to you?”
Nomin took a step forward, and as she did so she brought her blade out and respectfully placed it back in its scabbard.
“I’m sorry for everything… what happened at the nunnery,” Danzen said, his voice choking just a bit, hoarse now from everything he had experienced over the last hour.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Nomin finally told him. “I’m the one who brought on the challenge. I knew then it wasn’t what you wanted to do, and I know now, more than ever, who you actually are.” Her arms now at her side, Nomin extended her head forward, bowing to Danzen. “I understand now what must be done.”
“Even I don’t know that,” he told her. “It just seems to get more complicated, and now that my father has shown up in my life, and my mother…” Danzen swallowed. “And you’ve seen my brother, know what he is capable of.”
“What do you plan to do, then? Do you really intend to fight your father?”
“If it comes to that, yes. I don’t believe there is a way to even win against him.”
“But you were ready to, just now,” Nomin reminded him.
“Because you were. You know I would fight alongside you no matter what we are up against.”
“I know now.” Nomin turned to Minjin, the tragedy of the older woman’s death making Danzen hate his father even more. “What about her?”
“I will bring her back to the nunnery. She deserves… she deserved better. She was that demon’s slave, you know,” Danzen said as he gestured toward Shutendorji, whose body was already starting to deteriorate, his odachi as well. “She served him for two hundred years, kept alive by the demon. She was making her escape when we encountered each other. Minjin had hoped to die at the nunnery, and only makes what my father did even more despicable.”
“I will join you, then. But after we reach the nunnery…” Nomin shifted her chin to Yato. “You have an apprentice?”
“Not—”
“—Yes,” Yato said she stepped forward. “I was Master Thane’s student.”
If this statement caught Nomin’s attention in any way—considering she had fought alongside Thane in Diyu and had known him when they were both alive—she didn’t reveal what she was thinking through a facial expression. While there had been a point years ago where she was much more verbal, vulgar even, Nomin had changed considerably since Danzen stopped training with her so many years ago. And even though she was blind, Nomin knew the power of a facial expression, how dangerous they could be.
“Treasure the time you spent with him,” she finally told Yato. “And I’m glad to see you have found someone of equal quality,” she said to Danzen. Nomin tilted her head up and took a big inhale in through her nostrils. “The nature around here smells absolutely wonderful, everything so alive. I missed our world.”
“Are you thirsty? Hungry?” Yato asked, her blades slowly returning back to the hoods on her gauntlets.
“No, I’m fine for now. It is going to get late sooner rather than later, however, which means we should start our journey.”
Danzen didn’t know how Nomin recognized what time of day it was, but it made sense that she was able to do so, and he wondered if her visuals were to the point that she could truly see and understand shadows. That would explain some of the depth perception she had exhibited in the past.
Danzen made his way over to Minjin’s body. He crouched before the ancient woman and examined her, an absolutely tragic look on her face, one that told Danzen how close she thought she was to some kind of salvation.
He lifted the woman into his arms and turned back to the others.
It was time to return to the nunnery and explain himself to Kudzu.
Part Six
.Chapter One.
The nunnery where Danzen’s mother had lived most of her life turned out to be closer than he expected. Maybe this was because he was hoping it would take a bit longer to get there, giving him more time to decide how he was going to explain everything to Kudzu. He almost wished he had asked Jelmay to do it while he was gone, the situation made more complicated now that he was arriving with Nomin, of all people.
She had already hinted that she wouldn’t be traveling with them after they reached the nunnery, that there were other things she needed to see to. Danzen didn’t know quite what this was, but her company was always welcome, especially now that she had seemingly given up on trying to kill him.
He could have moved faster, Minjin in his arms, the elderly woman with a gaping wound on the side of her head, but he stayed behind Nomin and Yato, the two moving silently over the rocks as they cleared the last rocky obstacle before they reached the main trail to the nunnery.
It would be night soon, and Danzen had already seen movement in the mountains, wild sheep, hawks, and a few smaller animals reminding him just how far out they were, none of the creatures scared of Danzen and his companions.
And they should have been.
They were all armed, certainly capable of hunting. It reminded him of just how much humans had changed the kingdom, from their cities to their agricultural habits. Was this the way it was actually supposed to be? Were they really no different than the animals in the outer regions?
It was easier to focus on his surroundings than on what he would say next, how he would explain everything to Kudzu. He hoped she would be understanding of the secrecy. But he still felt guilty for not telling her, and for showing up with a dead woman in his arms and in the company of the blind assassin he’d told her about several times.
It didn’t take that many steps into the courtyard of the nunnery for some of the women to start recognizing Nomin in her white robes, many of them gasping. It was quiet, but the chatter that sparked from her sudden appearance quickly spread through the compound, Menya eventually coming out of the main quarters alongside Kudzu, who was in her human form.
“What has happened here?” Menya asked, barely able to contain her surprise. “Nomin? By Sunyata…”
Nomin tilted her head to Danzen, Yato doing the same.
“Is there a place where we can speak privately?” Danzen asked after he handed Minjin’s dead body off to a pair of nuns.
“Certainly, follow me.”
After giving some instruction to the nuns who had taken Minjin’s body, Menya led them to a chamber he hadn’t been in before, one in a tower at the far side of the compound with views of the rock face. The second floor had a rather large balcony with seating on it, and as Menya motioned for them all to wait a moment, a young nun appeared with cushions in her arms. She placed them on the ground, and soon the five were able to sit, Danzen feeling like they were all facing him even if they were technically in a circle.
