Shadow of the Blade

Blood at Dawn

ZED:

The sky bleeds.  I gaze out over Ionia as the first rays of light trickle out of the horizon.  My Ionia.  I gave everything I had and was for her.  I'm just the darkest parts of what I used to be.  Some people come face to face with their shadow and look into the dark reflection of themselves.   It can drive weaker men mad.  Now, all I can see is shadow.  Mostly, It's all that's left.  

I killed my mentor and father figure.  I destroyed the order that raised me.  I alienated my best friend, because that can happen when you kill their father and their order. Someday, I'll probably kill my apprentice. I hope not but  I'd do anything to protect Ionia from that which is hellbent on destroying her. I saved Ionia.  Drove back the forces that planned to rip her apart and I would do it all again.  Over and over.  

These are the choices the strong need to make.  I was raised by the Kinkou to revere balance over all else, only to discover balance is nothing more than a poor imitation of power.  Nothing more than a way of justifying compromise and compromise is completely unacceptable.   So the only choice to make was obvious.  I was unafraid to take the power I needed so I took it.

You might think all of this makes me pretty callous.  I guess it might.  But there are moments, just moments when I feel a sliver of myself before I dealt in shadows. Sometimes I indulge myself and let it linger.  These moments usually lead to trouble for me.  It's best if they're pushed away quickly.  If I stay with them too long I might start to have doubts.

The clouds above swirl into a dark circle in the sky.  It almost looks like a spinning wheel.  Hmmmm.  an omen of some kind.  I'll need to think on this.

Now that the war is over and we're trying to rebuild there's a whole new set of things to protect Ionia and the order of shadow from.  I will root out any threats and destroy them without mercy.    

I go back inside through the dojo and watch my acolytes training at first light.  I give a slight nod of approval.  All of this...All of it I built.  with blood and sweat and sweat that looks like tears.  Oh, well no, not the actual structures.  The buildings, those I took from the Kinkou right after I killed most of them.  

Except for Shen.  Shen is still out there.  Rebuilding the Kinkou.  If I were him I would be plotting a way to kill me.  As it turns out I happen to know he's not.  He's somewhere meditating piously on ways to not hate me.  The thought kinda irks me.  It would be so much better if he would come at me with his blades and we could have it out.  Like the good old days when we used to spar only with less friendly competition and more blood.  

The matter at hand needs my attention so I stop being annoyed with Shen who I probably have no business being annoyed with anyway.  I head further into the depths and open the locked cellar door.  Within it is the only mirror on the grounds.  I sit down in front of it and take off my mask to look deep into it.  I do this when I need answers to a problem that isn't being solved by my normal means.  (meaning violence and death) or when I feel something bad is on its way.  whenever there doesn't seem to be an answer, I can find one here.  It isn't easy to look at myself like this.  The mirror tells no lies and the number of times I have looked into it before has not made it any easier.

I look deep into the silver sheen and I see a moon.  A moon and a graveyard.  I know who this is about.  I need to make a trip underground.