“But how?”
“I’ve never trusted Sonoe, and with good reason, as it turns out, but even I never dreamed her capable of such duplicity!” The princess paused to wipe a thin trickle of blood from her mouth. “I kept watch upon her mind during the Ritual,” she continued. “I have the skill to monitor others undetected-but I now realize, to my everlasting sorrow, that I grossly underestimated her.”
A tiny, bitter smile touched Taya’s lips. “Before Sonoe turned on us, she let slip a very important piece of information. I suppose the anticipation of her victory made her careless. She did not know I gleaned from her mind the one thing that can save us.”
“What, Sister? Tell us,” Amara said.
The princess replied, “I now know the true name of the Nameless One.”
Aftermath
Ashinji sat on the edge of the altar and lifted Jelena’s hand to his face. “You’re so cold, already, my love,” he sighed, pressing his cheek to her palm.
Though he had wielded the knife, her death had not seemed real to him, until now. The agonizing realization struck him like a spear of ice through his heart. “Jelena,” he sobbed. “I’ve killed you. Ai Goddess! They made me kill you!” He slipped his arms beneath Jelena’s shoulders and raised her so he could cradle her limp body against his chest.
“Ashi, my son.” Ashinji felt his mother’s hand on his shoulder and viciously, he slapped it away.
“Leave us alone!” he snarled. “Just leave us alone…” His voice dissolved in a flood of tears.
“Ashinji Sakehera, listen to me!” Taya’s voice sliced through the haze of his grief. “You must put aside your pain, at least for now, for the fate of the material world hangs in the balance!”
Ashinji raised his head.
“Are you listening?”
“Yes, damn you!”
“The spirit’s true name is the one weapon you’ll have that can prevail against him.” Taya looked at Gran, who nodded in agreement.
“Even if I do know its true name, how am I supposed to defeat something powerful enough to toss aside three of the most skilled mages in Alasiri?” Ashinji stared at the princess, incredulous. “Goddess’ tits! I’m not a mage! I’m a soldier!”
“You won’t need any training, Ashi,” Gran said. “Your lack of it will work to your advantage. The Nameless One won’t view you as a threat; in fact, he’ll dismiss you out of hand. This will allow you to get close enough to spring the trap we will prepare.”
“You wish my son to capture the Nameless One in the spirit box,” Amara stated, her voice sharp with fear.
“He can do it, Sister,” Gran insisted. “You are well aware of the strength of your son’s Talent.”
“Yes, I am.”
Ashinji looked in his mother’s eyes and caught a glimpse of the guilt that haunted her. He also saw reluctant consensus.
They all believe I’m the only one who can defeat this thing! They must be truly desperate!
“Tell me what I must do, then.” He continued to hold Jelena in his arms, rocking her as if she merely slept. His tears had ceased, but the pain still ripped at his heart.
Taya bent to pick up a small wooden casket that had tumbled to the floor. She held it out so Ashinji could see the intricate glyphs carved into the lid and sides.
“This is a spirit box,” Taya spoke quickly now. “It’s designed to capture and hold any type of non-corporeal being, but it’s meant to be a temporary receptacle only. Eventually, the entity within must be transferred to a permanent containment vessel. All that’s necessary for the capture is to get within a few paces of the spirit and speak the appropriate incantation.”
“Its true name,” Ashinji said.
“Yes. That’s the surest way of capturing the spirit, though there are other ways,” Taya replied. “We had prepared another incantation, but that one won’t be needed now.”
“Do you know where Sonoe, I mean, the Nameless One, has gone?” Ashinji stared at the box, and blinking in surprise, realized the glyphs were crawling along the wood like fantastically shaped insects.
“Not precisely, but you can track her by using your Talent,” Gran said.
“I think I may know,” Ashinji replied, still staring with near hypnotic fascination at the animated glyphs. “It’s common sense, really. Sonoe, the Nameless One, I mean, intends to subjugate first Alasiri, then the rest of the known world. In order to do that, he must kill everyone standing in his way. He’ll start with all of the surviving Onjaras.”
Including my daughter.
With some difficulty, Ashinji finally looked away from the box back to the three mages.
“He’ll return to Sendai first, in order to finish off the king,” he added, “but I suspect Sonoe’s already done that. If so, then he’ll head south to where the army lies and kill Prince Raidan and his sons.”
“Of course,” Taya murmured. “He’ll no doubt seek out the mages assisting the army with the defense of Tono. He needs the power of at least three other trained sorcerers in order to perform the Great Working that opens the Void. As great as his own strength is, he still can’t do it alone.”
“He’ll have to take their power by force. No sane mage would ever willingly assist in such an evil act,” Gran interjected.
“Ashi, what about Hatora?” Amara’s voice shook and her face, already pale in the semi-darkness, blanched even more.
“My daughter still lives. The connection I have with her is very strong, even over so great a distance. Either the Nameless One hasn’t found her yet, or he’s passed her by for now.”
“Then you must go, immediately!” Gran urged.
Ashinji shook his head. “No.”
“You must!” Taya snapped. “We have no time for…”
“I’m not doing anything else for you until you bring my wife back!”
Ashinji glared at the three women. They looked at each other, then back at him. Their combined energies pushed at him, but he refused to budge, not until he heard from their lips that they intended to resurrect Jelena.
“We will try,” Taya replied, but her voice held no promises.
“You must do more than try,” he insisted.
“Ashi, we…” Amara began, but Ashinji cut her off with a shout.
“ Bring my wife back! You promised!”
His whole body shook with fury.
“ You demanded this sacrifice of us! You …insisted it was the only way to defeat our enemy! And now, my lover, my best friend, the mother of my child is…is dead …and still , the task isn’t done! You owe this to her! To both of us!”
Ashinji gazed into Jelena’s face, and marveled at how beautiful it still looked. A fresh flow of tears wet his cheeks. Tenderly, he lowered her head back to the altar’s surface. His hand brushed the hilt of the knife still protruding from her chest, and with a gasp of dismay, he jerked away, as if Jelena could still feel the pain of that cruel blade.
“Swear you’ll bring her back. Please,” he whispered.
Amara wept in silence behind shaking hands. Taya turned her face away and sighed. Gran came forward and touched Ashinji’s shoulder. He flinched, but did not pull away.
“Ashi, I swear.”
Ashinji looked into Gran’s eyes, and the calm determination he saw there cooled his anger. He knew the elder Kirian would keep her word.
After a few moments of silence, he rose to his feet and faced Taya. “I’m ready now,” he stated.
“Then I will send you back through the portal to Sendai,” the princess said. “When you pick up his trail, be very careful. The Nameless One is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine, and he will have absorbed all of Sonoe’s essence, including her magical abilities. They will only serve to enhance his already formidable skills. He will mimic her flawlessly, and so will be able to gain easy access to my husband and his council.” The princess pressed the spirit box into Ashinji’s hands. “When you get close enough, simply open the lid and speak his name. And now you must go!”