56 – Pick the Right Path

The descent down the mountain passed by in a blur, literally and figuratively. I had jumped down the sheer cliffs, from point to point, with the strange sphere encased in a construct of black steel. I had no idea what to do with it.

I could have destroyed it, but I feared what would happen if I did. All the energy inside of it... could've been a cataclysmic explosion.

I pressed on toward the village, a ragged figure. My blood was pulsing in my ears, and I stared across the hills and roads as I laid my eyes on Tiode. On the small crowd that had gathered beyond my fence.

When I first summoned my armour, part of me had feared that I would not be able to control myself. That I would become like a mad dog again, as I had once been.

But looking over at them, at that small cluster of figures I knew and recognised, I was filled with an odd sense of... calm. They were safe. All was well.

My armour and my sword dissolved away on the breeze, and I was once more a man.

"Aniki!" Haita called as I drew near. "You... all those explosions up there-"

"It's done," I told him simply. "Tiode is safe. The how and the why of it doesn't matter."

Yomi grinned, leaning partially against her cassowary. "You really are something else, you know that?"

"Master Amon," Mikan said, making her way over. "Thank you."

I worked my jaw sourly. "Didn't do anything," I lied. "Nothing important, anyway."

"That orb you're carrying doesn't look like nothing," Yomi said. "But I know you're a man who doesn't like praise. I suppose I won't pry. Even if you look cute when you're flustered."

"So... it's done then." The voice, hoarse and weak, sounded utterly alien compared to the awe and jubilance of everyone else present.

I turned to see Yamato kneeling beneath an old tree. The ruined half of his face looked no better in the fading sunlight. His left cheek had been cleaved open, the hole revealing gritted teeth.

"He... came down from the mountain a little bit before you," Haita said. He looked like he couldn't decide if he was annoyed by Yamato's presence or just... sorry for him.

It became hard to hate someone, truly hate them, when you saw them so utterly broken. Takes all the fire out of it.

"It's done," I said. "Every creature that attacked the mountain is dead."

"Along with everyone in the sect," Yamato said hoarsely. There was no accusation in his tone, but I still felt stung.

"Nothing that could've been done for 'em when Sha decided to level the mountain," I said. Which was perhaps partially true. Perhaps I could have done more, but going all out would've put any potential survivors in just as much danger.

And past a certain point you couldn't let hypotheticals dictate your life.

"Sorry, kid," Yomi said, sounding and looking genuinely sad. "People rarely survive when a flock of yokai want 'em dead."

"No," Yamato admitted, speaking in a calm and resigned tone. "I suppose not."

He drew his blade with shocking speed, even in that exhausted state of his, and that glint of silver gleamed brilliantly in the moonlight as he swept it toward his own throat.

I caught him by the wrist, his arm trembling in my grasp. And through it all his face was set in stone. Shocked gasps rose up from everyone present, staring wide-eyed at the scene.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

Yamato shifted his disfigured jaw. "My home, my family, everyone I ever knew is gone. But I'm still here. Too weak to have saved anyone. A damned failure. So why... why should I live, while they don't?"

I knew words like those all too well.

I took in a breath through my nose. "You don't need-"

"DON'T LECTURE ME!" he screamed with a sudden fury, shattering the mask of icy calm he had previously worn. Tears streamed from his good eye, and anguish contorted the undamaged half of his face. "Damn you... why do you even care?! After everything, why-"

"Because I have been exactly where you are. And I won't let someone fall in that same damn stupid pit as me," I told him. The pressure of his straining arm slackened by a tiny fraction. "And... to take your own life is to give a final, permanent victory to your enemies."

"Aniki," Haita said, blinking in surprise.

"Easy. Easy," Yomi said, raising one hand. Her face was ashen, eyes wide.

"I don't..." Yamato shuddered. "I don't have anything. I don't have any reason to-"

"Then you find a reason," I told him. "No matter how hard it is, how long it takes, you find a reason to keep going. Life, all of it, is a damn quest to find that reason."

Yamato hesitated, his blade still trembling. But then that seemed to be enough. He lowered his arm, all the strength deflating from it, and I took the sword from his grasp.

Old man Guang shuffled forward, looking half-asleep, guided along by Haita's two friends. "What's all this about a demon attack?"

"It's dealt with, Elder Guang," Ryuga said. "Please, do what you can for this young man's wounds."

Guang stared at Yamato, his expression blank. But I'd seen enough sawbones in my life to know he didn't think he could do much beyond stitching him up. Those wounds would mark him for the rest of his life.

But the physical wounds don't often weigh as much as the mental ones.

"I'll do my best. Come on lad, we should disinfect them."

Yamato said nothing, a gaunt and hunched figure led silently away by an old man. I watched him go, then stole a glance to the sword in my hands.

Maybe someday he could be trusted to hold it again. Until then, I'd carry it in his stead.

"You reckon he'll recover?" Yomi asked.

I shrugged. "People will do what they can for him, if they're inclined. But... he's got to want to recover." I rubbed my brow and glanced at the crowd. "It's done. Head home, all of you."

And they did so, slowly and reluctantly returning back to Tiode. Save for my usual haunting few.

"You did right by us Aniki. Thank you," said Haita.

"Amazing. Truly astounding," said Asquith. "You must be some sort of master wizard, Master Eamon."

"In these parts," I told him firmly, "we don't spread gossip or rumours. I hope you understand, Asquith."

The Ilgardian raised his brows. "Er, of course, of course. Not to worry, we Ilgardians never gossip. Borderline illegal to gossip, as it happens, aha."

"I'll bet." He struck me more and more as just a fool, rather than a spy. But fools could get you in plenty of trouble too.

Iudex Ryuga approached him, his hands folded into the sleeves of his dark robe. "I owe you my thanks," he said.

"No, you don't." Gratitude from people still made my gut twist. I didn't deserve it.

"You are a very odd man, Master Amon. But I fear I am beginning to like you." He smiled, briefly, before his expression turned grave. "Two yokai attacks in such a short span of time. Do you suppose that is the end of them?"

"You strike me as a worldly man Iudex. Reckon you'd know as well as anyone that nothing ever ends."

The older man turned, staring up at the obliterated peak of Mount Gruai. It still smoked and simmered, the edges blazing orange, like the caldera of a volcano. He laughed without joy. "No," he said, "I suppose nothing ends. I'll have to send word along to Low Moon and High Moon, ask for some troops to reinforce our land. Though I don't doubt they will already send people to investigate all of... that." He gave me a small nod of thanks, turned, and made for the village.

Smoke passed him on the way, the hellcat swaggering proudly. "I have kept the people of the village safe in your absence, Father," he said, beaming.

"You did." I crouched, rubbing between his pointed ears. I kept Yamato's sword in my other hand, the tip of it sinking into the soil. "I'm proud of you."

His purring was like the rumbling of a rockslide, ad he gracefully swished his tail too and fro.

"But next time," the hellcat said, "I would appreciate coming with you. Claws are no good if they must remain sheathed."

Yomi gave a small bark of laughter. "I like that cat of yours. Fiery."

"Cats tend to be," I said.

"We are the fiercest of warriors," said Smoke, preening with his head held high.

Yomi had been helpful, up on that mountain. And I was sure Smoke could come in handy too. Perhaps, for all the risk it posed, it would be best to make him even stronger as a fighter. Doing it all alone was a heavy burden.

"It's been a damn long day," I said, rising to my feet. "Think I'll turn in."

"Yes!" Smoke said, hopping briefly and turning back toward the house. "Bed is my favourite place."

"How very feline," Yomi remarked.

And, one by one, those few of us left on my farm went our separate ways.