CHAPTER TEN
“What are they?” Jysal’s voice was hushed and draped with fear.
Ran watched the warriors marching toward them with a mixture of revulsion and wonder. Each wore padded leather armor reminiscent of the type worn by Murai warriors in Nehon and strode with purpose toward Ran and Jysal. But if their armor was new and crisp looking, their faces were anything but. Gray skin covered their heads, and milky white opaque eyeballs rested in their sockets. Ran wondered if they were even able to see, but judging from how well they moved, he guessed that sight was not the issue. If these warriors were undead, how can they be killed?
“I can’t look at them,” whispered Jysal.
“Don’t turn away,” said Ran. “And don’t make any sudden movements. Let me handle this.”
Jysal nodded.
Ran smirked in spite of the situation. The warriors continued to approach. When they were but twenty feet away, the line of them suddenly stopped. Ran’s left hand rested on his scabbard. His right hand stayed at his side. He hoped his body language conveyed the fact that he was ready for a fight but not yet posing a direct threat. Still, if he suspected that he and Jysal were in immediate danger, he would act without hesitation.
One of the gray-skinned warriors stepped forward. Ran looked directly into what might have once been eyes full of life but were now blank milky white orbs. The warrior raised his right hand toward Ran and then uttered a single halting sentence tainted by an accent of some sort.
“You will come with us.”
Ran thought about replying, but then decided against it. What was the point? He doubted the warriors would be able to tell him anything useful. And if Kan-Gul was the man behind the state of these dreadful men, then Ran definitely wanted to meet him and see for himself what else he was capable of doing. Ran had seen the effects of sorcery before, and he didn’t relish the thought of battling another evil wizard so soon. But then again, he didn’t think he had much of a choice. If the universe had put him here, then Ran was determined to see it through to the end.
Whatever end that might be.
So instead of saying anything, Ran merely nodded once and then waited as the warriors all turned around in unison and started walking back toward the castle, their footfalls echoing in perfect time as they did so. Ran glanced at Jysal, and then they fell into step behind them.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Of course,” said Ran.
“And what is it?”
“My plan is to get inside and see what’s going on. Then I’ll come up with some type of a plan to free our friends and get us out of there.”
“That’s not much of a plan. There are dozens of these warriors here. And as good as you are, I don’t think you’re a match for all of them.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.
Ran frowned. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I really appreciate that.” He shook his head. “Look, the fact is we have no information about Kan-Gul, so doesn’t it make sense to see what he has to say?”
“Only if that means he’s not going to kill us.”
“If he’d wanted to kill us, we’d already be dead,” said Ran. “He might only want to kill you. In which, case, I’ll just leave him to it and be gone.”
Jysal looked horrified. “You wouldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t,” said Ran with another grin, hoping he’d broken her growing panic. He nodded at the warriors. “We need to find out more about these creatures before I try anything. Otherwise, I’d be a damned fool. And I don’t like to think of myself as a fool.”
A stiff wind blew across the slate gray plain as they walked toward the castle. To Ran, the gray features of the landscape matched that of their escorts. He tried hard to remember what his teachers had told him about sorcery and its uses outside Gakur. But even then, their experience was somewhat limited. What his elders knew of magic, they had only been able to piece together from reports from their network of spies throughout the lands. Or at least, that’s all they had taught him about it.
There were, of course, the rumors that high-level shadow warriors could employ a certain type of magic as well. But those claims came mostly from people who had never set foot into the training halls that Ran had. So what they thought they knew came from their own fertile imaginations. The leadership at his school had always been content to let such myths and legends propagate themselves. It helped add to their fearsome reputation.
Ran had also been exposed to enough of the school’s teachings to know that more often than not what others saw as magic was in reality simply a new perspective on something that no one else had yet thought to see. Skills that had gone dormant in other people were reawakened through the shadow-warrior training and honed to the point of becoming a tool for use instead of one that gathered only rust.
But then again, Ran had heard other whispers of levels far beyond his own that hinted at the potential for even more unusual skills. Whether they were magic or not, Ran didn’t know. But he wanted to live long enough to see if they were.
The warriors seemed to be headed for a wall that had no gate in it. Ran wondered whether or not they would be asked to walk right into the side of the castle. He hoped he was wrong and that a gate would suddenly appear. But so far, nothing had. When he’d first gazed at the castle, Ran’s keen eyes had seen only one way into the castle: through the portcullis. But the warriors showed no signs of heading for that entry point.
Where would they enter?
“They expect us to walk through stone?” Jysal’s voice was quieter still.
“I don’t think they will do that.”
“Funny way of showing it. How come we’re not heading for the main gate? Doesn’t that make the most sense?”
Ran shrugged. “Ours is not to question, just to obey.” He winked. “For now.”
Jysal shook her head.
“That’s all we have right now,” said Ran. “I suggest you simply relax and see where things take us.”
“Do you really believe that? Is that what all of your training has taught you?”
“Some of my teachers would probably tell you that they’re convinced I’ve learned nothing in my time with them.” He shrugged. “But the truth of the situation is this: there’s no point in doing anything rash at this point. We need to see what type of man this Kan-Gul is and what he’s done with our friends. If there is action to be taken, it will be only if we’re in immediate danger.”
“I hope you’re right about this.”
Me, too, thought Ran
The warriors suddenly stopped marching and fell silent. The one who had addressed Ran stepped closer to the fortress wall and placed his withered gray hand on the smooth surface and uttered something unintelligible. Ran could make no sense of the words, but the effect of the utterance was immediate.
The smooth surface instantly slid back and in, revealing a secret entrance to the castle, one no doubt guarded by powerful magic. Ran glanced at Jysal. “Apparently, there is more than one way into the castle.”
“What did that thing say?”
Ran shrugged. “I have no idea. Aren’t you supposed to be the sorceress in training? I assumed you all spoke the same language.”
“Don’t be daft,” said Jysal. “Magic isn’t some universal tongue. There are as many different types and varieties as there are people in the great lands. What works for one sorcerer may not work for another. Each type of magic is.”
“Apparently,” said Ran. He had little trust in such things anyway. He trusted his training and his cunning a lot more than he did the arcane words spoken by mages and warlocks. But even he had to admit that the sudden appearance of the entryway was impressive.
Kan-Gul was probably trying to manipulate them psychologically. If they were impressed with his magic before they even met, then that would put them on an unequal level. Ran and Jysal would naturally think of Kan-Gul as being more powerful.
Even if he was not.
Ran grinned. Crafty stuff, but then again, Kan-Gul had probably never dealt with a Shinobujin before. Ran’s teachers had always stressed that deception, manipulation, and clever strategy were far superior to merely wielding a sword or breaking bones. At times, Ran could appreciate that sentiment. But at other times, there was nothing better at solving a problem than simply relying on the folded steel of his curved sword. If that meant he lacked finesse, then Ran was comfortable with that assessment. He could always become more refined, provided he lived long enough.
Kan-Gul was clearly trying to intimidate them. Perhaps that was why they hadn’t been taken with the others. For some reason Kan-Gul felt he needed to impress them, keep them intimidated and cowed by his almighty powers.
Ran had a choice to make: either he could let Kan-Gul think he had bought into it by pretending to be suitably impressed, or he could simply appear bored by the whole thing. One reaction would almost certainly guarantee that Kan-Gul would grow angry, while the other might cause his vanity to swell to the point that he showed a weakness to Ran.
One that he could exploit when the time was right.
The warriors all moved into the secret entrance. Ran looked at Jysal. “Seems rude of us not to accept the invitation.”
Jysal pointed at the castle. “You do realize that once we’re inside, there’s a distinct chance we won’t ever come back out?”
“There’s always that chance,” said Ran. “But then again, there are very few certainties in life. And I’ve always preferred trusting the universe to put me where I’m most needed.”
“You think you’re needed here?”
“I don’t know just yet,” said Ran. “But our friends are going to need my help. Our help, for that matter. And if we stay out here, then there’s truly nothing we can do for them.”
“Well then,” said Jysal ducking into the opening. “I guess we’d better go and see this man Kan-Gul, eh?”
“Indeed,” said Ran. And he, too, ducked into the opening.
It was dark inside. For a moment, Ran’s stomach dropped at the thought that he had misjudged the situation and they’d suddenly stepped into an ambush. Then he heard the wall slide back and out, sealing the entrance from the outside world.
As soon as the wall had closed the entire way, a soft, warm light filled the room. Ran heard something like the snap of a whip and smelled some sort of burning in the air. He looked around but saw only that the gray-skinned warriors were moving away and arraying themselves against the wall on the far side of the room they now stood in.
“Ran . . .” Jysal’s voice was once again quiet.
“Yes?”
“Your sword.”
Ran looked down and frowned at the sight of his blade missing from his belt. “Well, that’s odd.”
“Odd?” Jysal shook her head and sighed. “You’re entirely unarmed. Kan-Gul can now do whatever he wants to do to us and there’s not a thing you can do to stop it.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you are far too much of a pessimist?”
“No.”
“Well, I’m telling you now,” said Ran.
“Oh,” said Jysal. There was no mistaking the disappointment in her voice. Ran smiled. In her place he might have felt the same thing. But he knew what he was capable of even if Kan-Gul did not. Ran had his own surprises he could play out at his leisure. And they were surprises he doubted Kan-Gul had ever experienced.
The warrior who had addressed them out on the field now came walking back over to Ran. “You will follow me.”
Ran nodded, and he and Jysal fell in behind him. The warrior led them out of the room and down a twisting corridor that sloped ever upward toward a grand entrance pavilion made of white alabaster. Far above them, the ceiling arched and looked tall enough to pierce the very heavens themselves.
“It’s beautiful,” said Jysal quietly. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
“Nor I,” said Ran. The spectacle was indeed awesome, and he couldn’t help but feel like this was another act by Kan-Gul to load the dice in his favor upon meeting them.
The warrior led them through the pavilion and into a throne room with blazing braziers at the four corners. In front of them sat a throne made out of what looked like one huge crystal. Ran wondered what the cost of such a thing might have been. He couldn’t fathom it.
“Welcome.”
The voice was different from any he’d ever heard. When Ran turned, he finally got a chance to lay his eyes on the sorcerer known as Kan-Gul.