Chapter 39: Rage of the Kame

Chapter 39: Rage of the Kame

Sakura

Ive had enough of these children. I think It's time we go for a walk.

What are you . . .? I tried to ask, but before I could finish the world started shaking. Gamera lifted his hands, his staff in one hand, and stretched his neck up to the sky. A moment later he made the strangest sound I have ever heard.

Graaaaaahahaaa! The shaking grew even more intense, the lights above us flickered, and dust rained down from the cavern above us.

Kame mad, King said into my mind and for a moment he stopped eating and looked over at the avatar of the greatest Kame alive. His eyes were wide with a mix of fear and respect.

Its going to be okay, I said through our mental connection. Gamera is a friend.

The world shifted around us. The palace and the whole valley seemed to shake and shift as if the buildings were built on liquid mud, while the ceiling of the cavern began crumbling away. Before the debris hit the city or fields below they shimmered in a bright green light, and disappeared.

Boulders the size of skyscrapers simply dissipated into pure green light in seconds as they fell from above. While other chunks floated safely to the ground revealing the buildings, people, livestock, or other spirit beasts that had been penned above us on the top of Gameras shell.

The air above us revealed the sky, and for the first time in months I felt the touch of a setting sun on my skin.

The two fighting figures in the distance broke apart, dodging falling debris that for some reason took a little longer to dissipate. Conveniently, until just past their duel. I saw a glint of mischief in Gameras eyes even as he unleashed his full aura, joining it with his main bodies and wrapping the entire scene in his mana and chie.

It felt like a stiff breeze, heavy with humidity. Not so much angry, as insistent.

ENOUGH! Gameras voice seemed to make the world shake with his meaning. Rock fell into place, dust settled, the wind blew a gentle breeze, and the snow on the twin peaks, now visible from where I sat, glistened brightly in the light of the sun.

Everything stopped. Everything settled.

And the two high level cultivators ceased their battle.

For a moment.

As soon as the city below them finished settling into place like a great boulder that simply decided it was finished rolling for today, the two combatants were at it again.

Lightning and ice shards filled the sky between them, and impacted on the fields and buildings below. Lower level cultivators, our families' guards and soldiers, did their best to mitigate the damage. But even a ricochet-forgotten attack from the baron and count seemed to carry enough power behind them to shatter mana shields, and warp protective chie formations.

Two familiar auras were unveiled in almost perfect synchronicity. Ren, and Raif, their auras filled with menace, unleashed their will on the world surrounding the two combatants. In a moment, they were sealed inside a bubble of rock solid air. I saw the two bounce off the bubble that now encased them several times, before finally they both realized what had happened, and stopped their fighting.

It would be wrong of me to call them children. My father said, but he turned and winked at me. But I find the description rather apt. Just between us.

And now, we stand. The horizon in the distance shifted. What once was filled with hills and valleys, and thick forest in the far distance nestled at the bottom of stark mountain ranges, saw those sights fall away, as the giant tortious city stood. When we stopped, and the wind settled, only the tops of the tallest trees were visible. The valleys and hills were gone from where we stood.

My ears popped, and I winced.

Forgot to warn you about that. Ren winced in sympathy. Sorry. It's just the air pressure equalizing. Dont worry. If your hearing is hurt, itll heal soon. Loosen your jaw a bit, it should help.

I did as I was told, and after a few moments the pressure was gone. Ñøv€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

Now, what to do with the unruly ones. Gamera grumbled quietly to himself for a moment, as the world around us finished settling. Birds began chirping, dogs howled their displeasure, and the sounds of life seemed to spring up around me almost all at once. As if someone had turned off the speakers in a car, only to suddenly switch the volume on again a moment later. I know.

Gamera reached a single clawed hand out, the other still clutching his staff. The movement seemed to carry with it power, as if his will could command the world to shift and obay him. He closed his claws in a cage, and then pulled it to him.

The sphere of hardened air and force flew towards us at a speed that made my nerves stand on end. A moment later, it stopped dead directly in front of the turtle man, and the forms of both ambassadors were thrown into the sides of their newly formed cage unceremoniously.

You are both adults. Men with power, station, and might that few in this world ever achieve. Gameras voice was stern. I recognized his disappointment from when I had tried to give up during training, or failed to grasp a concept quickly enough. And yet you squabble as children do. Throwing swings around wildly, without a care in the world for who or what might be damaged in your blind childish tantrum. You dishonor yourselves, the men you serve, and the mothers who birthed you.

The northerner was on his knees, his rage subdued. His earth and ice mana armor and weapons were gone, dismissed when he had been captured. Now he looked on despondent. I could see streaks of dried tears on his face.

The Dragon stood proudly, definitely. But there was an edge, a twitch of discomfort, and a crack in his visual pride that seemed to speak volumes about his mental and emotional state.

I will let the ruler of these lands deal with you. But know, if you so much as twitch your mana in a way that I do not approve of, I will crush both of you into dust. I will not have my shell cracked by nats again.

I am grateful. But I also resent the idea that I would stoop to such low efforts to achieve my goals.

I understand, Ren said waving away the subject. What I need to know is, if you were aware of the coordinated attempts on dissidents lives throughout the empire by your clan? This was not a one off event. I hear that even the King of the Western Kingdom had someone attempt to slay him in his own palace.

For less than a heartbeat I saw Yaldas mask of poise and confidence slip. But just as quickly as it had fallen, it was back up again.

I suspect, that if I had not been deep in my own palace at the time I would have also been a target of these assassins. Your clan has over stepped. Dramatically. Their actions alone would put the entire empire on the verge of splitting. But you add this with the strain that the Kadras ascension is causing, and you are lucky you do not yet have an open civil war on your hands.

Yalda took in the information, clearly new to him, and after a moment spoke. I was not aware of this, operation. However if my kin in the central provinces think it was needed, while I might not agree with them, I think it shows just how desperate things are there. How soarly stability needs to be reestablished.

And where Yalda, is the emperor in all of this? Why is he not soothing his people's fears, and reassuring his kinsman?

I, I do not know. Perhaps he thinks it . . . He trailed off, and after a moment of realization Yaldas shoulders slumped slightly. Beneath him.

Indeed. Perhaps it is so. Or, perhaps he is directly behind these attacks? I am not sure. And neither can any of us here be. Long has he been unavailable to anyone. Let alone a lowly Duke, or Count such as ourselves. Yalda stood stiffly at the words, but after only a moment he nodded once in agreement.

Our Emperor has, of late, not been available to the public. That is true.

As of this morning my King has declared for your clan Yalda. They will be sending support, I suppose. And any of us who disagree, will be punished. With exile. A kind punishment compared to what could be brought. But still. To think I will never see these hills, trees, or valleys again? It is a dark thought to me.

So you will refuse to go then?

Oh yes. The Emperor, and your clan, have been nothing but anchors around my family's necks. I regret now, not taking the southern throne when I could have. But to challenge for it now, would only cause greater unrest throughout the whole empire. Something I am unwilling to do.

So you will just . . . what? Leave then? Yalda asked, incredulous.

Yes. Yes I will. And I wont be going alone. That is my fate. As for yours? Your entire clan in a sane world, would be broken. Shattered into its families, and those responsable for this attack would be crusified for a month, and then beheaded publically. But we do not live in such a world. No. We live . . . in an empire of broken peaks.

What do you mean?

Did you know that if you go into the eldest sects, into their deepest basements, the ones they dont ever even tell outsiders exist, and you read from those hidden libraries whose scrolls and tombs have existed for longer then any living being, that you will learn the true history of our great empire?

Tread carefully, Duke. Some things are best left unknown.

Ren smiled sadly. I can see in your eyes you fear this knowledge, but you do not know it. Not really. I learned it when I was a newly minted Prince. I was told by the imperial clan to destroy a boarder sect. ONe that was half run by elves, and half by our own people. One dedicated to peace, and that had been acting as intermediaries between their kingdom and the empire for a very long time. Since before I was born, I knew that. And like a fool, I did as I was ordered. I helped kill every last member of that, peaceful sect. It is my greatest sin, and to this day it stains my soul. In the deepest hidden depths of that place, I found a library. From that library, I read all about our history.

Please. Some knowledge is forbidden for a reason.

I know. And that reason is control. You should know this, or else you will never be able to rule your clan with wisdom. Yalda sighed, and sat cross legged. He closed his eyes, but I could tell he was listening.

Our Empire was once ruled over by the Elves. This much we know. They held us as slaves, until the coming of the dragons, and the other Great Beasts who helped us throw off our shackles. Humanity, the Kin, and many other smaller races, most of which have since left the empire or been wiped out, overthrew our masters and sent them into hiding. You know this, we all do. Thousands and thousands of years ago.

What you dont know is what happened afterwards. The great beasts trained us humans. Bonded with blondlines. The sions of each of the great beast clans and houses rose through the ranks of cultivation, walking the multifaceted paths of the Dao, until they reached the very peaks. There, at the Emperor stage, each of our house's great ancestors ascended to serve the Gods in their great war against the void. Leaving a path for all of us to follow.

But one clans emperor stayed behind. Fearful of walking among the stars, and pushing back the enemy of all of existence. That fear gripped him, and instead he decided not to take that final step along with his Great Beast companion. While the great Golden Dragon ascended, his partner did not. That man became the first Emperor.

He conquered all of the other kingdoms, each which had their own unique culture, style, and cultivation methodology. Replacing all of it with his vision for a perfect empire. In so doing, he broke the paths our ancestors laid out for us. Now, we could only try to forge our own paths to the stars.

And some few have. And each one of those, every single human from the various kingdoms that has ascended to the Emperor stage as been either forced out of the empire, killed, or forced to ascend before they were ready. And do you know why?

Ren waited in silence for what felt like a long time, until Yalda asked, I do not. Why?

Because of your ancestors' fear. Fear of the stars, and fear of his cowardice being found out. The dragons are brave, bold, and noble in many ways. But they are also arrogant. And in that arrogance, they refuse to see the weakness that lies in the very human hearts of their companions. Fear.

I am not afraid.

You are, Yalda. I can see it in your soul. But do you know what the cure for fear is my friend? It is bravery. The willingness to act, despite one's fear. To do what one believes might be the right thing, rather than what one knows to be the right thing. Because no one can truly know. Bravery, and faith in those you walk with. That is the only cure.

Enough of your philosophizing. What will you do with us? Yalda demanded, his eyes open again, staring directly at my fathers eyes. I do not need a lecture on the moral virtues from you. Do what you will do, and be done with it.

Ren smiled genuinely this time. Fair enough. By now, my wife has subdued both of your factions. Hopefully shes been able to capture the assassins, but if not then have no worry. My people will. Theyre excellent at tracking. As for the two of you? Well . . . until today id say, despite my dislike for both of you, that I trust you. However, after today's little display, I cant say I do any longer. So, in the same mercy I have been shown by my King, I will so you. You are both banished from my duchy. Do not return, under pain of death.