NEXT: Chapter 1
It's been a long time, Natsuru; I hope you're doing well. So much has changed over the years, and we do need to meet again. Follow these directions as written: Go south until you see a dock marked with a gray-striped banner. Get off, then walk along the dirt path until you see a skull mounted on a post. Do not fear for your safety, because my men will escort you.
And you must come alone, or I will not speak to you.
Your old friend,
Akane Isesaki
~~~~~
The dock never used to be this large.
Natsuru Machida's ferry moored at the place described in the letter, but Akane had undersold it. The dock was ringed by wooden defensive walls, manned with crossbowmen in gray-striped bandanas. Inside the dock's central area were men with spears, standing vigil and walking with purpose, also dressed in gray-striped bandanas. Seeing all this weaponry, Natsuru couldn't help but think that this was more than a place to keep boats.
But one thing was certain; Akane was keeping her promise to ensure Natsuru's safety.
Natsuru climbed out of the ferry and headed for the gate. As she was seeing someone she hadn't seen in a decade, she wore her pink-and-red dress, with a slit up the side to allow her legs to breathe in the hot and humid air. She didn't bring her high heels, as those were unsuited for travel; instead, she wore a sensible pair of brown sandals. Clutched in her hand was a golden staff, a tool she needed to wield her magic. But her appearance wasn't just for show; it attracted the attention of the armed men.
One of these men, a crossbowman atop a horse, went up to her.
"You are Natsuru Machida, correct?" he asked.
"I am. Are you to escort me?" Natsuru answered.
"Me and two others, yes. We don't have a wagon available, so you'll have to walk. I apologize for the inconvenience."
"Doesn't matter; I was expecting to walk anyway. Let's go."
As Natsuru and the crossbowman headed for the gate, two others also joined them, also mounted atop horses. They led Natsuru out through the gate and onto the dirt path.
As Natsuru and the crossbowmen moved along the path, a gentle hum filled the air, as did an offensive odor. On either side of the path were the dismembered corpses of raptors, each piece with a cloud of flies around it. Vultures carried off the smaller pieces, glad for such an easy meal. But it was not only raptors who met their end; a tyrannosaur corpse also lay among them, but this one was whole. It had been skinned, and the strips of gray-striped hide that remained left little doubt what was done with all that skin. The stink was especially powerful with this one, as much of the meat had been left to the vermin.
"Why are there so...many?" Natsuru asked.
"You'll understand in due time. Now, we're at our destination. Do be respectful to Lady Akane," a crossbowman said.
Natsuru had arrived at the meeting spot -- a wooden post in the ground, with a blackened human skull mounted on it. But there was something strange about this skull. It was small, with a rather soft appearance. It was glued together in quarters, and the jaw had been fastened on with nails. But what got Natsuru's attention was the top of the skull: it had a diamond-shaped hole that looked far too neat, as if it were there before it was mounted.
Why would Akane choose a place like this? And this skull...is it a...
Natsuru kept her fears to herself and chose to focus on the coming meeting. There was so much to talk about, after all. But she couldn't stop staring at it.
Maybe it's not real. Maybe it's the work of some skilled artisan.
"You seem to be fascinated by that skull. What do you think of it?"
Natsuru jumped as a high-pitched female voice greeted her. The woman before her was both familiar and unfamiliar. She had a short height, and thick, black curly hair framed a doll-like face. On top of that, Natsuru knew that cutesy voice anywhere.
But the intervening years had not been kind to Akane Isesaki's appearance.
Her doll-like face had slit cheeks held together by X-shaped stitches. She was clad in a cloak made of gray-striped cloth in the pattern of the tyrannosaur hide, though the hood was off. She wore the half-shirt and short-shorts she always liked, but a grisly X-shaped scar stood out on her abdomen. She wore brown boots on her legs, but there didn't appear to be any scars on her thighs. In her hand was a bow, and on her lower back was a quiver of arrows. But even with such a drastically altered appearance, Natsuru recognized her old friend.
Akane addressed the crossbowmen beside Natsuru. "Return to your posts. We need some privacy," she said, her sweet voice containing a surprising tone of authority.
"Will do, ma'am," a crossbowman said. All three of them rode away.
"Now as I was saying, what do you think of the skull?" Akane asked.
"It's...unique."
"Glad you think so. But you! I mean, you've always outshone me, but it's like the gap between us has widened. You've grown more beautiful, while I've gotten worse. You must be doing well for yourself," Akane said.
"Before we get to that, how'd you end up so injured?" Natsuru asked.
Akane looked away, frowning. "These things happen sometimes, that's all."
Natsuru noticed how bothered Akane was by the subject, so she dropped it. Still, Natsuru herself was bothered by the skull, so she chose to approach that issue with care.
"How has life treated you?" Natsuru asked.
"Through many struggles and sacrifices, I'm now the leader of Haiirosen. I even had the dock built a couple of years ago," Akane said.
"So that's where that came from," Natsuru said.
"Indeed -- it's important to our future. What have you accomplished, though I could probably guess," Akane said.
"I've become Chief Witch, but my time in that position is growing short. After the dark months, I'll be married. I know I'm 32, but better late than never. How about you? You married yet?" Natsuru said. But she caught herself, as she remembered that Akane had to kill her fiance in self-defense all those years ago.
"I'm sort-of married. It's not a conventional arrangement, so I still have my maiden name. You wouldn't understand," Akane said.
"Any children, though?"
Akane tensed up, and she gripped her bow harder.
"I used to have them, but they're no longer around. You know how it is," Akane said, her tone aggressive.
A sharp pain went through Natsuru as a scary thought passed through her mind.
"What happened to them?" Natsuru asked.
"Listen, you've seen it all the time. Sometimes, children don't make it. Gotta have a ton of them in case one or two die, you know? There isn't a mother on this planet who hasn't buried her children. Or cremated them."
Now it was Natsuru's turn to be scared. Cremated? What did she mean by that?
"But enough of this idle chatter. I brought you here for a reason; now let me show you," Akane said.
Natsuru followed Akane as she went further down the road, her gray-striped cloak fluttering behind her. As they walked, Natsuru kicked herself for thinking so ill of her friend.
How could I assume such things? Maybe the cremation was just that -- a funeral like any other, Natsuru thought.
After walking some distance, Akane brought Natsuru to an archery range set up on an open field. Stern-looking men in conical hats and gray-striped gi tops were checking the condition of their bows -- which were hand-pulled instead of the crossbows that most people used -- and counting arrows. Saddled horses were tied to wooden posts, next to idle wagons.
But what surprised Natsuru the most was not the bows, but the targets. These weren't the typical wooden boards painted with concentric circles. Rather, they were a wall of upright stones, packed in a tight semicircle far downrange. The stones had no markings of any kind.
Natsuru was about to ask about this odd choice of targets, but then something else caught her eye. Or rather, someone.
A man in a gray-striped bandana and a yellow gi was off to the side, aiming his bow at a wooden board. Something about him seemed familiar to Natsuru, so she tried to get a closer look.
But Akane demanded her attention again. It would have to wait.
"These are the Tempest Archers, the pride of Haiirosen. Those dead dinos you passed by? Those beasts were attacking our horses and cattle, but my archers made short work of them. I'm sure you've noticed there have been way more raptor attacks than before, so we formed this group in response to that," Akane said.
"You're right. People have been having way more encounters with these creatures than I'd like. It's getting harder and harder to find pigs to eat," Natsuru answered.
"If you ask me, we're in need of another Savage Hunt," Akane said, referencing an extensive hunting expedition that happened over a century ago, an expedition which reduced the dinosaur population so much that Gaikyo had never been attacked by dinosaurs since the Hunt ended.
Akane was about to say something else, but at that moment, there was a shout.
"Some arrows are missing...Kei, you stupid bastard!" an archer shouted. He ran to the man in the yellow gi.
That name got Natsuru's attention, and she moved up a bit to get a closer look.
She couldn't believe her eyes. It was that scoundrel Kei Kaneshiro.
Natsuru marched up to Kei with anger in her heart. Akane raised her voice to try and stop her, but Natsuru ignored her.
Both men turned to see a very pissed-off witch, and Kei's eyes went wide.
"Natsuru? What are you doing here?" Kei asked.
"I could ask the same question of you. You've got a lot of explaining to do," Natsuru answered.
The man next to him chuckled. "I'll let her do the chewing out for me; you probably deserve it anyway. In the meantime, I'll take back all this stuff." He then gathered up the bow and arrows and walked away, leaving Kei alone with Natsuru.
"Listen, what's done is done. Let's leave whatever you're about to talk about in the past," Kei said.
"Shiori isn't 'the past,' and neither is your daughter. Both are alive and well, and you chose to leave them behind because you didn't want to own up to your responsibilities," Natsuru said.
"Like I need to do anything. Shiori has a family, right? Didn't they help her raise the baby?" Kei said.
"They did, but that's not the point. What if every man ran off after getting some girl pregnant? Then there would be no families to catch the poor girls. Do you see the problem?"
"Well that didn't happen, did it? There's still plenty of guys staying with their girls, so me leaving makes no difference here in the real world."
"Excuse me!" a high-pitched female voice said. It was Akane, and now, she herself was mad.
Natsuru spoke up. "I don't know if he told you already, but he abandoned his own child. I think maybe he should come back to Gaikyo with me and own up to what he's done."
"Answer this question: Does the Venerian Order of Magic hold authority here in Haiirosen?" Akane asked.
Natsuru tensed up. "No."
"Then you don't decide who has to leave. You should know your place," Akane said.
"But didn't you hear what I just said?" Natsuru asked.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Akane retorted.
Natsuru glared at Akane, who was smiling triumphantly. "Yes, I heard you."
"So that settles that. Now come here and let me show you something," Akane said to Natsuru. After that, she switched her attention to Kei. "You can go back to the city. You're dismissed."
"Thank you. I'm sick of dealing with these proud fools," Kei said. He turned to Natsuru. "I suggest you pay attention to what Lady Akane shows you. Maybe then you'll learn some respect."
Natsuru dismissed Kei's warning and turned to Akane. "So what is it you want me to see?"
"Follow me," Akane answered. She guided Natsuru back to the shooting range, and by now, the archers had prepared their weapons.
Akane moved up further. "Tempest Archers, ready your bows!"
At once, the archers each picked up an arrow and drew it back against their bowstrings. After a short moment, the arrows glowed a brilliant blue; it was clear to Natsuru that they were imbued with magic.
But how? Vesta only permits women to perform magic; in fact, most of the gods do, Natsuru thought. She looked more closely at the archers, and there was no mistake -- they were of the male sex.
"Now, shoot!" Akane shouted. The arrows tore across the range with loud thunderclaps, then each one struck a stone slab and blew it to tiny pieces. Akane dragged Natsuru down and made her cover her head with her arms in a defensive crouch. Everyone was spared the debris due to how far away the slabs were, but a cloud of dust shrouded the range. Both Natsuru and Akane coughed as they breathed in the acrid air.
But the demonstration shook Natsuru.
"How frequently can they do that?" Natsuru asked.
"As long as they have arrows. They don't need to mutter any words or channel any ki; if they have arrows, they can blow you apart. By the way, look again," Akane answered.
The dust cleared, and before Natsuru's eyes was a scale model of Gaikyo. She wasn't sure how accurate it was, but she could see the Onodera Estate's elongated profile with the peaked roof in the middle. But unlike the stone slabs, this model was made of wood and paper, and the debris from the stone slabs had partially damaged it.
"Now it's my turn," Akane said. She walked up to where the other archers were, then took an arrow from her quiver and drew it back. Like the arrows from before, it glowed blue. However, she aimed upward at an angle. She shot the arrow, making it fly high.
But when it reached the peak of its trajectory, it multiplied into innumerable dozens of arrows. The glowing blue bolts came down on the model with fire and fury, ripping it to shreds with explosions until only a smoldering pile of ash remained.
Akane fell to her knees. The shot had taken the wind out of her, and she heaved and gasped for air. A Tempest Archer ran over to her and allowed her to lead against his back. He tried to take her away, but Akane told him to stop, as she still wanted to address Natsuru.
"Here's...how it will be..." Akane tried to say, but then she fell unconscious.
"What's happening?" Natsuru asked the archer.
"Doing that tires her out in a big way. But don't worry about Lady Isesaki -- worry about yourself and your pathetic city," the archer said.
"What do you mean by that?" Natsuru asked.
"You saw what we just did. Now all we want is to live in peace and good will. Let us live in our way, and we'll leave you alone. Otherwise, we'll shoot these arrows at live targets, and I don't mean animals. The disappearance of Gaikyo would be a tragedy, but it is one we are willing to live with if it means that Haiirosen remains free. Now go on your way, and remember what you saw here." The archer hitched Akane onto his back in a piggyback fashion and walked off. Then, he addressed two of the other archers. "You two, mount horses and escort Lady Machida back to the dock!"
Two of the archers got on their horses and rode over to Natsuru to walk her back. But as Natsuru walked alongside the cavalrymen, she came to a horrific conclusion.
Akane murdered her own children.
NEXT: Chapter 1