Echoes of a Shattered Age (29 page)

Chapter Thirty-Four

The five companions were beaten and tired. Their descent into the canyon had been a rough one. The winds had carried them straight into the wall of the canyon. Unable to control their speed, it was a hard impact that sent them stumbling and tumbling to the canyon floor.

Kenyatta spat bits of gravel and sand out of his mouth from where he had rolled into a bed of loose dirt, growling curses through gritted teeth as he’d tumbled painfully over the rocks.

The others were no worse for wear. Kenjiro nursed a scar on his left arm from a particularly sharp rock that he’d skidded across. Shinobu sat against the wall holding his head in his hands. He seemed to have recurring pains from the fight two days ago.

Kita had perhaps the worst landing of all. He rubbed a bruised shoulder and forearm that had resulted from his unlucky collision into a tree. The tree that grew at an angle on the canyon wall, and he’d hit it while rolling, and was launched into the air. Once in the air he was caught in a crosswind and fell straight down to the ground. The only thing that broke his fall was that the dirt was thick and soft, but that brought little comfort to the battered Kita.

Akemi seemed to have had the most successful landing of the group. Although she did not escape the fall unscathed, she’d managed to grab hold of a bush that was strong enough to hold her until she was able to orient herself. Long after everyone else had crashed to the bottom in a heap of dust and dirt, she’d carefully picked her way down the decline until reaching the bottom.

Now the companions rested in a cave Kita had discovered that provided relief from the violent, ever-changing winds that punished the canyon.

“How can anything live here?” Kita asked as they looked at the howling windstorm. “If these winds were just a bit more powerful, the dirt and sand could turn a building to dust and grind the skin from your bones.”

“Yeah man,” Kenyatta replied. “Feels like I almost lost my skin even with my clothes.” He inspected his right arm, which was raw from the chafing sand. “It’s dangerous out there. I’ve seen nothing like it.”

“We will need to cover well when we leave,” Kenjiro said. “I like my bones better with skin covering them.”

“I say we camp here and recover,” Kita suggested, and all agreed except Shinobu, who still held his head in his hands.

“What’s wrong with you?” Akemi moved to sit next to the farstrider, then flinched and fell away.

Kenjiro looked over his shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“I can feel it,” the ninja gasped. “It feels like the same power that I was attacked by. A different kind of dark power, but definitely demonic.” She cupped the strider’s chin and lifted his face to look into his eyes.

“Touched by evil,” she said. Shinobu’s eyes had a distant and tormented look. None understood more than her, the nature of the agony he felt. It was like a persistent sickness that slowly crept from the subconscious to the conscious, and each time she pushed it back, it returned a little stronger. There were times that she heard voices, dark suggestions that remarked on everything she encountered. She felt as if she was being drained of her energy as time passed.

When she looked into the strider’s eyes, she saw a similar pain.

“It was the Nightmare,” he stated. “It entered my mind and thrust a lifetime of torments in my head in a manner of seconds. I’ve never felt such potent evil before, but after the fight I’d felt better, and thought nothing of it.”

Kenjiro stooped beside him, closed his eyes, and concentrated. “The demon’s incursion in your mind was more influential than you thought. The energy around you is tainted.” He stood, never taking his eyes from the strider. “The power that plagues you is different. You can withstand it if your mind is strong, but until you receive proper treatment, you will be forever haunted in your sleep and will have no peace of mind … or, your mind may be ripped to pieces.”

“A worthy test,” the strider remarked with a wry smile.

“One that may destroy you,” the samurai responded.

“This will take longer than a few days, as I thought,” Akemi said, drawing everyone’s attention. “The tower is still farther west, and we have not made half the distance.” She stood at the mouth of the cave just out of reach of the whipping sands. “We will need to camp for the night as Kita suggested. The winds have gotten stronger, and if we make the attempt now the sands will devour us before we take a dozen steps.”

Kenyatta moved beside her and looked out at the howling night. “I know you said that the winds are stronger here than any other place in the world, but there is something unnatural about this place.”

Kenjiro looked over at them. Even Shinobu lifted his head as Kenyatta continued. “The winds
were
always strong, but the sandstorm didn’t start until we reached the floor of this canyon, and now it is twice as intense.”

“It’s as if we were trapped here,” Kita said, peering out of the cave entrance.

Kenyatta picked up a rock and threw it out into the sandstorm. It was ground to dust before it hit the ground. “I think our friend is aware of us.”

“This costs us time that we cannot afford,” the samurai said.

“And we are two or three days from our destination,” Akemi added.

“We could tunnel our way out. Anyone have a shovel?” The group turned to see Shinobu leaning against the wall with a strained smile on his face.

Akemi saw the struggle in his eyes and used his conviction to strengthen her own.

“How long can he keep this up?” Kenyatta asked, waving a hand at the storm.

“If it is the Drek,” Kenjiro answered, “there is no telling how long he could detain us here.”

“So we could be here for days or longer?” Kenyatta chuckled in frustration.

He looked to Akemi for any possibilities, but the ninja just looked out at the raging sandstorm that was their captor.
This Drek could be a problem
.

* * *

Deeper inside the chilly cave, the group sat around a campfire Kita had created. Fortunately, there was some old dried up tree roots lying around and he had a bit of tinder in his pouch. Akemi produced a small, flat item from Kenjiro’s sack. After a bit of unwrapping, Kita saw that it was a pack of thinly sliced dried meat. She then reached into a pack that she had on her waist and produced a sack stuffed with rice.

“This will sustain us without weighing us down,” she said. “If we cook it on the fire and add the water from the tower that you brought, its revitalizing qualities along with the food will last longer.”

Kita reached for his sack and brought out the water skin. Kenyatta had set up a frame over the fire on which to sit a small pot.

Kenjiro gave the islander a sidelong glance. “Unless things have changed more than I thought, lone warriors traveling the road don’t carry cookware with them.”

“Nope,” Kenyatta replied, reverting to the western tongue, “but us improvise when we be need someting we don’t have. Carved wood makes a good bowl ya know.”

Kita nodded with an amused smile as he looked at the dumbfounded expressions on the other three companions’ faces. Although they all spoke a bit of the western tongue, they could barely decipher the Jamaican’s strong accent that even he, after living most of his life with Kenyatta, sometimes had difficulty understanding. Kenyatta looked around at the others and shook his head. “Some time or another, dem have to understand me.”

“You think so?” Kita replied. “You manage to speak Japanese with little to no accent, my friend. Your version of the western tongue is another story altogether.” Kenyatta just smirked and continued his work.

While the Jamaican prepared the food, Akemi moved next to Kita and spoke slowly. “How long you know each other?”

Kita looked at her in surprise. It was the first time she or anyone else in the group had attempted to speak in the western language.

“Almost our entire lives.” Kita offered a warm smile. “You speak the western tongue well,” he said, reverting to her language. “Maybe one day I’ll teach you the language of my people.” The genuine smile on her face and the tip of her head told him that she intended to take him up on the offer.

“Alright, done!” Kenyatta announced, sitting five wooden bowls beside the campfire. “Time to eat!”

Kita laughed at his friend’s use of Tagalog, Kita’s native tongue. He couldn’t say why Kenyatta had made that choice, but sometimes it was better just not to ask.

Shinobu moved closer to them. “Am I going to need a linguist to understand you two?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kenyatta replied, reverting back to the tongue of Japan. “We just didn’t want you to know what we really think of you, is all. We don’t want any tension, especially since you’re a bit fragile after your bout with that Nightmare a while back.”

The strider arched an eyebrow at the obvious sarcasm. It was the result of the remark he had made about the warrior’s skill from back in that canyon. “You don’t forget much, do you?” he said, referring to his remark about Kenyatta’s skill, days ago.

“What do you think?” came the retort.

Shinobu pursed his lips. “I think that harbored aggression spawned from a casual bit of sarcasm can be a detriment to one’s well-being.”

Kenyatta shot him a dangerous look, and Shinobu held up his hands. “Be at ease, friend. I meant no threat. I simply mean that to harbor such ill feelings for so long is bad for anyone’s health.”

“When the time dictates, I use judgment and act accordingly,” Kenyatta said evenly.

“Was my remark that offensive?” the strider asked.

“Would you tolerate a similar one from someone you don’t know, and who doesn’t know you?” Kenyatta replied. He straightened to face the strider. “I have yet to meet a warrior who would tolerate a stranger questioning his skill or ability in any way, joking or not.”

“I have yet to meet a warrior who would take such a fleeting remark so seriously,” Shinobu countered. “I think there is more to you than you reveal, Kenyatta, but that is not my business. I would offer this, however. Since I so deeply offended you, I offer my apology and an attempt to begin anew. We have a long road ahead of us yet, and I wish not to go into battle beside one who would watch my back for the sake of what is right and not for the sake of camaraderie or even friendship. It was not my attempt to create tension, which is what I have done. My wish now is to offer my hand to you in allegiance and hopefully in time, friendship, for I cannot think of a more capable ally to have at my side.”

Kenyatta regarded him for a moment. The man was genuine, and had also taken the more honorable road by apologizing. He let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “My grandfather once told me that a friend worth having is one that you can learn from. It is not you who should be apologizing, but me for my pettiness and ill-placed aggression.” For the first time, Shinobu and Kenyatta exchanged smiles.

Further toward the front of the cave, Kita and Akemi watched the two who seemed to have finally mended the tension between them. “Ken isn’t quick to anger,” Kita remarked, “but he can hold a grudge when he gets there. I think our strider friend has brought about a change for the better, and without a fight.”

Akemi nodded as she watched them. “You are like brothers,” she observed.

“We
are
brothers,” Kita replied.

***

Chapter Thirty-Five

After a satisfying meal, the companions took their ease around the fire. Akemi was the only one who seemed discontent. “I understand the reality of the situation, but this is just too much dirt, and nowhere to wash.” That remark drew a round of snickering before everyone sank back into their private thoughts.

After some time passed, four of the five drifted to sleep, with Kita having volunteered for first watch. With the exception of the violent sandy wind that persisted outside, it was a rather quiet and uneventful night.
What could get in here from out there anyway?
he thought.

He made up his mind to go sit by the fire for a while when he felt the ground vibrate. He froze, not daring even to breathe. Lately he had learned to be wary of everything. The trembling intensified, waking the others who were quick to their feet. Everyone froze, moving only their eyes to scan the cave.

“What now?” Shinobu muttered.

The trembling became more violent, and then the entire cave started to shake, pebbles and rocks dislodging from the walls and ceiling to fall to the ground. They group came together and formed an outward-facing circle.

“Do you think the cave is collapsing?” Akemi asked, looking to Kenjiro. The samurai was still studying their surroundings and didn’t respond.

“Be ready to make for the mouth of the cave,” he said loudly, over the tumult.

Shinobu looked at him as though he were insane. “And have our skin flayed from our bones?”

“We can try the storm, or have tons of rock fall in on us. Choose one.”

The samurai had barely spoken those last words when the rumbling stopped. It was so abrupt that it was as if the quaking had never happened.

“What games is the Drek playing now?” Kenjiro muttered. The cave had gone ominously quiet. It was eerie in contrast to the endless sandstorm punishing the canyon outside.

To their disbelief, the walls started to shake again, and huge pieces of rock separated from the cave walls.

A sizable chunk of the cave wall fell away and rolled to a stop in front of Shinobu, then started moving of its own accord. Farther back, a set of green eyes appeared in the wall, then a jagged head dislodged from the stone.

Shinobu’s mouth stretched into a crooked smile. “Just when I thought I’d seen it all.”

The sound of stone grinding on stone rumbled all around them as arms the width of a man’s body broke away from the walls. Massive legs broke free, and then a mighty torso. The ground shook as each one of the heavy-looking creatures stepped from the walls and advanced on the companions.

“We’re surrounded,” Akemi whispered. The warriors fell into a defensive crouch, hands at their weapons. The ground continued to vibrate as parts of the cave separated to become more and more of these rock beings who came stomping forward to encircle them.

“They are massive, but look slow,” Shinobu whispered. “We should try to overwhelm them with speed and agility.”

“How do we know they’re unfriendly?” Kenyatta whispered. That brought an incredulous look from the group.

“Do you plan to parley?” Shinobu asked.

“They haven’t made any aggressive moves against us yet,” Kenyatta replied.

“That could change.”

Kenyatta glanced at the strider. “How would you react if a group of armed strangers came into your house?”

“We didn’t know this was their house.”

“Do they know that?”

Shinobu tipped his head. “Fair point, but I still don’t want to die by crushing.”

The rock creatures seemed to frown at the group as they closed in. Kenyatta had slowly released his grip on his blades and spread his arms, palms facing out in what he hoped they would view as a non-threatening gesture. The others shook their heads and Kenjiro muttered under his breath, something about foolish and over trusting. The creatures did seem to relax a bit.

“You take quite a risk, my friend,” Shinobu whispered.

“If you tink I’m helpless without my weapons then maybe we have dat fight later, after all,” Kenyatta replied with a wink. He repressed a laugh when he saw the confused expression on the strider’s face at his harsh accent.

The rock creatures facing the other warriors did not relax, however, but kept their distance. Akemi thought she saw a bit of anger in the somewhat fixed features of one of them.

“
Groumber di sonosi al ti al fommo ao gerren aoi!
”

The warriors glanced at each other as the rumbling voice. The one standing in front of Kenyatta had spoken, and with each word, his teeth chattered. The creature seemed to be scrutinizing them. After seeing their confused looks, it spoke again, but in a broken use of the tongue of the land.

“Wise it would be if follow your friend, you do. Hurt you we will not, if threaten us you don’t.”

“Hurt
us
?” Shinobu muttered.”

“Don’t be so confident, strider,” Kita whispered. “We don’t know them. Just because they’re made of rock doesn’t mean they are as slow as you think.”

The words had barely left Kita’s mouth when several things happened at once.

One of the rock creatures took a step closer. Too close, apparently. Quick as a thought, the samurai ripped his sword from its sheath and whipped it around so that the blade was next to his head, tip pointed at the nearest rock creature, the cutting edge facing the ceiling.

That move alarmed the creature, and with speed that seemed impossible for its size, it batted the samurai aside.

Akemi ducked as her brother flew over her head to crash into the stone wall. She came up with Sekimaru ready to strike. A roar rumbled the cave, and they turned to see the creature holding its wrist. It had not struck the samurai without taking injury.

Akemi slashed horizontally at the approaching rock-like things, but hit nothing but air.
They
are
fast!
she thought.

Kita twisted the top of his staff and the shaft separated into a chain and he whirled it vertically, sending the blade end speeding forward.

Shinobu let loose his unusual sword and struck in quick, controlled forward strikes, bringing the sword back to its sheath each time. The group was careful not to break their defensive position and kept their backs at each other, but with enough distance so that they could move freely.

Kenyatta thought to reach for his swords, but then a rumble came from over their heads, and one of the creatures dropped out of the high cave ceiling. It twisted in mid-midair, straightened, and raised a hand over its head as it landed in the middle of the group with a ground-quaking crash. As it was descending, thick stone tentacles slithered out of the ground and bound their feet. Before the warriors could react to the new situation, another group of tentacles reached from the ground and wrapped around their arms, rendering them helpless. Once the humans were secured, the tentacles solidified.

Akemi glanced at her brother, lying on the ground unconscious. “Worry you need not,” came the rumbling voice again, speaking slowly as it chose its words. “Alive he is. Kill we want not.”

Akemi turned a dangerous glare on the creature that had struck her brother. It returned the gaze with anger. She thought she saw a bit of resentment in its hard, glowing green eyes. The one who had spoken before said something in its rumbling language and the surrounding rock creatures withdrew a bit. The one in the center of them leaped from the circle and landed a few feet away. She thought the move unnecessary and boastful, but given the size of the creature and the tightness of their circle, it could not have squeezed past them.

Kenyatta looked at the large rock creature standing in front of him. They seemed as though they could be reasoned with, though they were obviously angry.

“Why our cave you have come?” it asked. Kenyatta and the others noted that its voice did not rumble nearly as much as it did moments ago. “Our home this is, and welcome you have not been made.”

Kenyatta saw Kita on his right, struggling with his stone bindings, and then he glanced to his left to see Shinobu doing the same until a few of the other rock creatures had come to stand directly in front of them.

“Well it would be, if answer me you did. Impatient with humans, the others can be.”

Kenyatta looked back at the speaker. “We didn’t know this was your home. We sought refuge from the dangerous sandstorm out there.” He jerked his head toward the entrance to the cave, where just outside the sandstorm was still as violent as ever. The rock creature considered him for a moment.

“Deny the violent air I do not, but come to this cave why? Other caves there are. This one why?”

Kenyatta thought of several jokes about the creature’s oddly arranged words, but given their current situation, he kept them in check. “This was the closest cave to us when we got here,” he said. “We mean no harm to you. We just came to wait for the sandstorm to pass.”

The rock creature looked at him, then back to the mouth of the cave. Then the one to its right said something in its own language. Kenyatta didn’t think he liked its tone.

“Throw you to the storm, he says,” the speaker translated. “Why I should not, you tell me.”

On Kenyatta’s other side, Akemi was still locked in a stare with the creature in front of her. She was not challenging it, but trying to understand the hatred wafting from it.

“We have nothing to gain from you, except shelter from the storm,” Kenyatta continued. “What have we done that is wrong?”

“Unnatural that sandstorm is. Trouble, humans always bring.”

Kenyatta nodded. There it was. These rock beings considered humans untrustworthy and troublesome. “If perhaps you can help us, you will be rid of us all the sooner.”

That brought a rumbling laugh from the other stone creatures.

“Themselves, humans good at helping,” one of them spat.

“Never does good come from helping humans,” a particularly big one said. Its tone left no doubt that it wanted nothing more than to throw them out into the sandstorm and be done with them.

“Has our refuge to this cave upset you this much?” Kita asked. “If we knew that we would happen upon unfriendly hosts, we would have avoided it. We have no fight with you unless you make one with us.”

The big one moved to tower over him. “Always ready to fight, humans are.” It looked at the original speaker. “Nothing but trouble, they bring.”

“We want no trouble nor do we want a fight,” Kita repeated, and Kenyatta nodded.

“Attack you we did not, but draw weapons you did, and attack, that one tried.” It pointed toward the samurai who was just now stirring.

Kenjiro groaned and grabbed his head. “Thing has a heavy hand,” he mumbled. Before he could stand, several pairs of stone tentacles came out of the ground and bound him.

“Why come to this place, you have? Travel here, humans do not.”

“We are on an important mission,” Kenyatta answered, “and the long stretching crevice not far from this cave is important to our trip.” Kenyatta looked over his shoulder at Akemi. She was now looking at her brother but caught Kenyatta’s gaze out of the corner of her eye. “It may help if we explain,” he said to her.

For the next several minutes, the ninja explained their trip to Takashaniel and how the heavy winds from the canyon could carry the sound of her whistle to their horses, miles away.

The stone creatures went into a deep discussion in their language.

“Trick it could be,” the big one said.

“No,” came the response of the one Kenyatta took to be the leader.

“Tower of Balance humans do not know, unless special they are.”

The bigger of the two cast a condescending scowl over the humans. “Nothing but trouble do
Nyamas
bring.” The one Kenyatta took to be the leader eyed him again, then turned to its larger companion.

“Truth, they might speak.”

“Doubt it we do,” the big one said. “Easier it would be if throw them out we did. How much good, humans can bring?”

The leader seemed to consider the other’s words. It had a face that showed wisdom and experience gained through ages come and gone. Kenyatta wondered what this stony creature had seen and done in its time.

“True it is that troublesome many humans are. But not all, my friend. Chance, they must be given.” With something that sounded like a grinding snort, the big rock creature cast yet another scowl over the group, then moved toward the mouth of the cave. When it passed by Kita, the ground shook in front of him.

“If we don’t reach Takashaniel,” Akemi said, “you will find more troublesome things to deal with than us.”

“Why are you so untrusting of humans?” Shinobu asked.

The grinding sound of rocks laughing shook the cavern until the leader called for silence. It moved to stand in front of the strider. Its head was round, but with small jagged edges protruding from its scalp. Shinobu saw compassion in those green eyes. He looked the leader of these rock people over, and snickered, not in sarcasm, but at the realization that one of those arms (as wide as his body) could snap every bone in his body with little effort.

“Much harm, humans do. Take advantage of the world, you do. Destroy what you do not understand, you have. Patience and understanding you lack.”

It seemed to be looking someplace far away.

“Fragile you are. Fearful you are. When once my kind show ourselves, fight us you did. When beat us you could not, use big weapons from afar you did. Defend against such things, impossible.”

“Start fight, you do, then run behind big weapon like coward.” Another of the rock people glared at them in barely suppressed rage.

Akemi found that she could not discount their anger. Though this was a different age, most people were educated about the Age of Technology, and the great wars waged during those times. Most human civilizations had warred with each at some point in history, but during the Age of Technology, humans had developed the means to break the world.

“Many of us left, there are not,” the leader said. “Destroy us all, you tried.”

To his left, Kita saw that Kenyatta was silent, a look of lament on his face. He seemed to empathize with the creatures.

“It is true,” he said, “that humans have done little more than harm the world. That is why things are the way they are now. I ask you though, to look within us and judge us as individuals, not by what other humans have done to you. We regret the crimes our species has committed, but we are not all the same.”