The Smoke Dragon

  Chapter 4

  Elder Keiji had always been an obstinate man.

  "Show me your arm. If you prefer, I’ll look at it when you’re slumped unconscious on the floor." Kaidan stamped his staff for good measure.

  "Leave me be."

  Kaidan locked eyes with the village elder, in many ways Kyuusai’s sovereign, if such a position existed.

  Behind Kaidan, Akio tended to Yumi’s mother Hisa—a handsome woman with knitted grey hair and eyes that spoke of many lifetimes worth of secrets. She was lying across a tatami mat and propped up on a cushion. Kaidan could feel her gaze on his back. Yumi stood mute by the door.

  "Don’t allow your bitterness to be your undoing, Keiji," said Kaidan. "I’ve accepted the choices of the past. Embrace your future."

  "You’ll not touch me, mountain wizard!"

  Kaidan stepped forward, glowering from beneath his hat at the old man. The two men—proud and resolute both—stood toe to toe, neither flinching nor willing to look away.

  "So be it," said Kaidan in a level tone.

  A quick flick of his wrist was all it took. The iron-banded staff darted forward, smacking Keiji on the temple. A snapping blow that dropped him cold.

  Yumi’s gasp filled the silence.

  "Akio," Kaidan barked. "Tend to the elder’s wounds. I’ll abide by his wishes and not lay a hand on him." Whirling around, he spotted Yumi. "You assist him."

  Yumi and Akio glanced at each other, and then broke the connection, clearly fumbling with self-consciousness.

  Kaidan stalked over to Yumi’s mother, bundled an arm around her, and carried her into the next room. He laid her gently down onto the floor and began a fevered chant. His words ran together.

  "Kaidan," she laid a hand across his prayer-knotted fists.

  The words slipped from his mind, tumbling to silence as memories of her skin against his awoke something repressed inside him.

  "Kaidan, don’t waste your mantras on me."

  He looked into her eyes, the cedar-brown he always remembered. "Why? Yumi said you took ill after the dragon attacked."

  "No. I’ve been feeling this way for quite some time. The pain flared up during the attack."

  "Hisa. You should have told me. I could have—"

  "What? Used some incantation on me? We both know that’s not a permanent answer."

  Kaidan removed his hat, allowing his long straight locks the colour of starlight to crowd his shoulders.

  "Tell me, where do you feel the pain? There must be a root or herb that can cure this." Kaidan absently fingered at his necklace of prayer beads.

  "No. My years have been fruitful. I’ve known the chance to see joy in my daughter’s eyes. I’ve had a man—men—who’ve loved me with the fullness of their hearts."

  "Hisa, I—"

  A sound at the window snatched his attention.

  Tsubasa stood there, his wings folded and his yellow eyes alight.

  "We'll finish this conversation later."

  "Don’t come back, Kaidan."

  He donned his hat, leaving his silver hair unkempt. He rose, propping himself against his staff more than usual. His fist was clenched into a tight ball.

  "I mean it, Kaidan," Hisa continued. "Don’t return. Do what you must, but looking at your face, ageless and unlined and so much like when we first met ... it’s all too painful."

  "There are ways, Hisa. I would brave them to see you strong again."

  She looked away, the hint of a tear staining the corner of her eye.

  Kaidan strode from the room.

  "Akio," he called. "Meet me at the shrine when you’re done with Keiji.

  Akio and Yumi exchanged a look before watching the Yamabushi storm from the house. The sparrowhawk landed on Kaidan’s shoulder as he took the thoroughfare, headed for the edge of the village.

  The Earth rumbled of riders approaching from the north, but the West Wind whispered of something far more sinister drawing near.

  #