Jay Kristoff - The Last Stormdancer

No time to wonder. No time to ponder.

Fly, friend Koh.

And fly we did.

Lord Tatsuya stood atop a rugged foothill, surveying the forces arrayed against him. His brother’s armies were arranged in orderly phalanxes, Tiger banners blowing in the breeze, tabards dipped in the same bloody hues; seeming for all the world like a lotus field in bloom. It briefly occurred to the Bull that either he or his brother should have changed their colors so their armies might tell each other apart. Some few of Riku’s men had painted their banners with the sigil of the Bear alongside the Tiger clan, but as it stood, almost every one of the rank-and-file troopers on either side was arrayed in the traditional clan scarlet, roaring Tigers emblazoned on their chests.

Tatsuya’s reserves had arrived from the south, bolstering his numbers, but from the look, Riku still outnumbered him two to one. The high ground would normally offer advantage, but those accursed Guild sky-ships hovering in smoke-stained skies above Riku’s army all but neutralized their gains. The Bear’s attack would almost certainly commence with another aerial bombardment, so Tatsuya had his men sheltering in the caves around him. Yet sooner or later, they would have to venture out to meet Riku’s charge or be hemmed inside the caves.

“And then those bastard ships will blast us to pieces…” Tatsuya muttered.

The Bull looked at the majestic mountains rising up behind him, snow-clad and beautiful. A spring storm was gathering at their summits; cruel Raijin no doubt watching the proceedings from above, the Thunder God delighting in the thought of the slaughter to come. The hills about him were old and strong, roots running deep, the surrounding fields rippling with the chill press of mountain winds. Cool in his lungs. Gentle kisses on his eyelids.

A good place to die, Tatsuya thought.

A cry went up from his men, fingers pointed skyward. Tatsuya looked up and saw the silhouette of an arashitora circling above; wingspan of twenty feet, silvered and graceful. Raijin had sent one of his children to give his blessing on the battle to come, it seemed. The Bull raised his hand, palm upturned, asking fortune from the beast and its father—fortune he might live long enough to meet his brother in single—

Wait …

Soldiers emerged from the caves, murmurs of wonder and astonishment sweeping through their number. Tatsuya blinked, jaw slackening as the beast circled lower, and he finally caught sight of the figures on the arashitora’s back.

Impossible …

“Lady Ami!” came the cry amongst the men.

Tatsuya hurried down his hill, shale and pebbles skittering about his feet, watching the arashitora sweep in to land. Dust and pollen stung his eyes, thunder cracking overhead as the beast touched down, wings pounding, talons spread and gleaming. He saw a boy seated behind his wife, hands upon her waist. As the thunder tiger touched down, the lad leaped off the beast’s back, covered his fist and bowed low to Tatsuya. He looked a scrawny peasant-child; dirty black cloth and ragged shoes, a thin cane of polished pinewood in his hands, milk-white eyes. But Tatsuya spared him only a moment’s glace, instead focused on the wife he had left in Kigen city. Her hair flowing free, wind-tossed and knotted. Her face bereft of paint, her dress torn. Anger flared in his chest along with the disbelief, a frown darkening his brow.

“Ami-chan, what in the Maker’s name goes on here?”

Ami climbed down off the thunder tiger’s back, bowed from the knees.

“I am pleased to see you also, my husband.”

“Hang the pleasantries, woman. What are you doing here? Who is this scrap of a boy who dares lay hands upon you? I should have his head!”

I glared at the Tiger Lord, his words spilling through Jun’s head into mine. A growl seethed in my chest, wings spread in challenge. I did not care who he was, what title he claimed among his kind—it was not his place to threaten Jun.

“The Stormdancer’s name is Kitsune Jun,” Lady Ami said. “And though I beg your forgiveness at saying so, beloved husband, he may be deserving of somewhat more courtesy considering he saved the life of your bride yesterday morn.”

“Saved your life?” The Bull blinked. “What madness is this? This boy is clearly blind!”

“My maidservant betrayed me. Assassins struck the palace in your absence. Almost a dozen, armed with weapons I had never seen. Shuriken spitters and growling swords. They slaughtered my guards. Blind or no, Jun-san’s blade struck true and swift. If he were not—”

“Growling swords?” Tatsuya breathed. “Like the chainblades used to clearfell forests?”

“The same,” Ami nodded. “They would have killed me, if not for the Stormdancer’s intervention.”

“Honorless Guild dogs, ” he whispered, fingers curling to fists. “They will pay for this treachery in blood, I vow it.”

The Bull turned away, rage flooding his face, teeth gritted and bared. It took a few moments for the Tiger Lord to compose himself, breathing deep, eyes closed. After a long, suffocating silence, he turned to Jun, covered his fist and bowed low.

“Humble apologies, Stormdancer Jun,” he said. “I beg forgiveness for hasty words. It is not often I see another man place his hands upon my wife. Yet, for saving her life, I and all this country owes you a debt. For burying the Guild’s assassins, thwarting their treachery, I grant you tribute. Ask anything and it will be yours.”

“Noble Lord.” Jun spoke with hesitant voice, eyes drifting to the Lady Ami. “It was my pleasure and duty to assist the Lady in her trials. And I ask only what you have already vowed. The Lotus Guild is responsible for a spreading sickness. Afflicting not only the people of Shima, but the beasts of the land and sky, also.” Here he gestured to me. “My friend, the great and fearsome Koh has lost her own kin to this illness. That you declare the Guild your enemy, that you agree to purge them from Shima once this war with your brother is done, is all I ask.”

“I have so vowed. For them to betray me on the field is bad enough. For them to strike at my hearth and home is insult that cannot be forgiven.”

A smile brightened Jun’s face, spilling over into me. I could see the thoughts in his head—his grandmother’s prophecy now one step closer to fulfillment. Providence had brought him the Tiger Lord and his armies. But the Skymeet spoke, even as we stood there. Every second bringing us closer to the moment the Khan would render his judgment.

“Then you must excuse me, Lord Tatsuya,” Jun said. “But my friend Koh and I have business in the skies above our heads.”

“Will you not stay and do battle alongside us, Stormdancer?” Tatsuya said. “The Guild has ships that sear the skies with fire, blast my men to pieces. You and your thunder tiger could do much to even the scales when the Bear moves against me.”

Jun was already astride my back, my wings spread and crackling.

“I can do better than a single arashitora, great Lord. Give me an hour, and I will give you an army.”

Jun bowed deep to the Lady Ami, palm covering fist. And before the Bull could give his reply, we took to the air, my muscles humming, tearing through the frostbitten skies and circling up the mountainside. The earth fell away beneath our feet, exhilaration filling the boy’s belly, filling my own, his teeth gritted in my skull, my fingers digging into his feathers. That oneness again, adrenaline and hope dragging us together—we two who were so different, and yet so much the same. His grin infectious, making me wish for a brief and gleaming moment I had lips with which to smile.

Do you believe now, friend Koh? Do you see how close we are?