“Stand right there, you!” a voice commanded in Soldaran.
Ashinji froze in his tracks. In his emotionally and physically exhausted state, he had not sensed the other, out there in the dark.
“You should have run faster, human. Now, I will have your ugly round ear for trophy, yes?” The sarcastic tone cut like a lash, an old, familiar sting. Ashinji sighed. He had not wanted it to happen like this.
“Don’t shoot,” he replied in Siri-dar. His voice emerged from his throat as little more than a rusty whisper.
“Who are you and what are you doing out here so far from camp? I almost shot you, you fool!”
Ashinji remained silent, and waited. A figure emerged from the darkness and halted a stone’s throw away, leaning forward to scrutinize him.
“I said, who are you? Answer me, man!”
“Someone you never expected to see alive again, Sadaiyo.”
Ashinji’s brother recoiled in shock. “No! It can’t be you! You’re dead!”
Ashinji stepped closer so his brother’s eyes could verify the truth.
“What, no ‘welcome home, Little Brother, I missed you, I’m so glad you’re alive?’”
“I saw you die! How can you be here now?” Confusion, anger, and fear rolled off Sadaiyo in waves.
Warily, Ashinji eyed the bow in his brother’s hands. “I’m a lot tougher than you thought, Brother, and not so easy to kill. I’ve got the scars to prove it.”
Sadaiyo’s eyes narrowed. “Where’ve you been all this time, then? Why didn’t you come home sooner?”
“I couldn’t, and that’s all I feel like telling you right now. I’ve just been through something too complicated to explain and I’m worn out. All I want to do is see Father, eat a little and then sleep for a very long time.” He brushed past Sadaiyo and started toward the camp.
“Stop!” Sadaiyo growled.
Ashinji halted and turned to face his brother. He braced himself for what he knew was coming. “Sadaiyo…”
“I don’t know how you survived, nor do I care. What I do know is that I can’t allow you to return.” Sadaiyo’s hand tightened on the grip of his bow.
“I didn’t come back to expose you, if that’s what you’re afraid of,” Ashinji responded. “I couldn’t do that to our father. He needs you too much right now.”
“Liar!” Sadaiyo spat. “I’m sure you can hardly wait to tell Father about how I left you to die at the hands of the humans.”
“But that’s what you did do, Brother. I cried out to you for help and you chose to let the humans take me. You knew… ” Ashinji faltered. An entire lifetime of hurt threatened to drown him. The very thought of Sadaiyo witnessing his tears made him sick with anger, but the pain pushed too hard and strong.
With frightening swiftness, Sadaiyo raised his bow, drew, and fired. Ashinji sensed the attack coming and threw himself sideways, but exhaustion slowed his reflexes. The arrowhead grazed his neck, slicing a stinging furrow into his skin just above his collarbone. He turned and ran.
A second arrow whistled past his ear.
Can’t fight him now. Too tired. I have to find somewhere to hide!
He stumbled on the uneven ground but somehow managed to stay on his feet. His legs felt like lead weights and his lungs burned with each breath. Even though he did his best to run in silence, he knew Sadaiyo could track him with ease, even in the dark.
A rocky outcropping loomed ahead, like the weathered bones of a giant, mythical beast. He used the last of his failing strength to scramble into the sheltering rocks. Wedging himself into a crevice, he waited.
Becomethedarkbecometherockbecomethedark…
A tiny puff of breeze tickled the back of his neck. A single bead of sweat rolled down his forehead and along the bridge of his nose, then hung suspended for a heartbeat before dripping off his face. A furtive scrabbling sound from above, like tiny claws upon rock, made him look up over his shoulder, every sense strained to the breaking point.
Sadaiyo won’t stop until he’s killed me…If only I wasn’t so tired!
He had come so far, endured so much, that to die now, like this, seemed a very bitter fate, indeed. At least he could take some small comfort in knowing his father would eventually learn the truth. Amara would not rest until she had discovered the fate of her younger son, and when she did, Sadaiyo would finally be exposed. Ashinji wished with all his heart his parents could be spared that terrible pain.
Then fight! a voice in his head demanded, a voice that sounded very much like Jelena’s. Don’t let Sadaiyo murder you! Fight back with everything you’ve got!
I can’t. I have nothing left. I just want to lie down and sleep.
No! Wake up, Ashi! He’s coming!
His ears detected the barest whisper of sound-a faint scuff of leather on rock. Ashinji twisted out of his hiding place just as an arrow splintered on the stone where, a heartbeat before, his head had rested. Heart in his mouth, he peered into the darkness, up to where he could now feel Sadaiyo lurking, poised to shoot again. He swallowed hard and made a decision.
Summoning the last of his physical strength, he surged upward while at the same time, he consumed the dregs of his magic to weave a cloak of temporary invisibility. He pulled himself onto the narrow, flattened top of the outcrop just as Sadaiyo raised his bow into firing position. Confused, Sadaiyo hesitated for an instant, as if he could hear but not see his target. Ashinji slammed into him, and they went down hard. The bow flew from Sadaiyo’s hands and spun over the edge of the outcrop into the darkness.
Sadaiyo let out an incoherent roar, like a crazed beast. Savagely, he pummeled Ashinji with his fists, growling with each blow. It took everything Ashinji had just to protect his face and head. An especially brutal punch to the midsection nearly did him in.
“I hate you, you sniveling little piece of shit !” Sadaiyo spat each word like a stone from a slingshot. He stopped beating Ashinji, but kept him pinned to the rock. “Father loved me before you came slithering out from between our mother’s legs and stole him away from me! I’ll never forgive you for that!”
“Father never stopped loving you, Sadaiyo, but your own poisonous jealousy made him stop liking you!” Ashinji gasped.
“ Liar! Shut your… stinking…lying… hole!” Sadaiyo’s fingers tightened around Ashinji’s throat.
“Don’t do this to our family…Sadaiyo, please!…You know you’ll never get away with it…Mother is a mage , for Goddess’ sake. She’ll know…the instant she sees you!”
Ashinji had to keep Sadaiyo engaged or his brother’s rage would overwhelm him again and he knew he couldn’t hold out much longer.
This needs to end now!
“Brother, please! ” he wheezed.“Think about your wife and son! Their lives will be ruined if you do this!”
Sadaiyo’s fierce grip loosened a tiny bit, giving Ashinji the opening he needed. With a heave and a twist, he threw Sadaiyo off him and scrambled to his feet. Blinking sweat and blood from his eyes, he dropped into a fighting crouch, struggling to stay focused through the pain.
Sadaiyo stood very still now, arms dangling at his sides, a darker shape silhouetted against the night sky. A cloud of rage still enveloped him, and the feel of it made Ashinji shiver with dread.