The Wings of Storm

16.2- In the Middle of a Merchant's Brawl

We dodged hooves and side-stepped fallen packages, twisting and turning our way through the rabble. Somewhere to our side, Cho screamed that her bag was stolen at the top of her voice, making the merchants around us clutch their possessions in fright. The remaining swordsmen still on the sidelines jumped into the fray to catch the imaginary thief. Maya and I rushed to the edges of the road, to the nooks and crannies along the last buildings this side of Heikisato. Just beyond them was a few metres of wild grass, then the forest. The little white hundred-metre stones peeked out between the copse of trees. Thirty seconds of running, maybe less, and we'd be concealed by the trees too.

We hid in an alcove between pipes, cobwebs sticking to our bodies. A single swordsman guarded the meadow, his colleagues too busy calming the crowd.

Tackling him and exposing our identities wouldn't work, as Minister Banji had no doubt imposed the curfew both to appease the public and as a ruse to make sure no one got out to ruin his plans. He'd probably guessed that someone, at least Ahio, would go looking for Kaede.

The guard paced across the road in boredom, his large blade held with an iron grip and a blue Heikisato sigil on the back of his shirt. I gulped. Not that I can take him down anyway.

A stone wooshed passed us, hitting a row of trash cans at the end of the street, toppling them. The guard rushed over to investigate. Now!

Maya and I creeped out of our hiding place, then galloped across the meadows, the grass beating against our ankles. My lungs seared and Maya huffed beside me. We didn't stop till the trees shielded us with their boughs. The forest chirped with wildlife, and no footsteps came chasing after us. The plan had worked.

Thanks for the stone, Kei.

'There they are!' Ahio's voice broke through the sounds of nature. He marched out from behind a twisted mossy tree, Dr Chiasa behind him.

'Glad you got out safe,' she nodded.

Huffing and puffing voices came from just behind us, and Tsubasa and Daisuke ran through the foliage. Daisuke's face was red as he slumped on a knotted trunk, and Tsubasa clutched Tayo with shaking arms. The little animal blinked at us with its golden eyes, as if it hadn't just caused a commotion.

'Let's get going.' Dr Chiasa stepped across a gnarly root, marching further into the shadowed depths of the forest. 'They'll catch on sooner or later that we'd left.'

Shafts of light flitting through the leaves lit up the sprawling mass of undergrowth. Vines curled up the trees which stood in our way like sentinels, little red flowers dotting their tendrils. We trekked across the uneven terrain, just to the right of a road that wound through the forest. Everytime a merchant cart passed by, we held in our breaths and crouched behind the trees. Now and then, we'd stop and look around, startled by the snaps of breaking twigs. But they'd turn out to be forest creatures. Once I even saw a katu, its green arrow-head tail swishing across a branch.

Six hours later, when the sky had morphed into the red glow of sunset, we came to a stop within a clearing. My muscles cramped, but it wasn't time to sit down yet. Dr Chiasa put us to work setting traps around the perimeter, showing us the easiest and most effective ones she'd learned back when she was a swordsman. Twilight set in and the earliest stars shone by the time we finished.

We sat beside each other in a circle, taking out our packed food.

'I didn't think we'd need so many traps,' said Ahio between bites of his sandwich. 'Thought you'd protect us well, seeing as you were an assassin.'

'Assassins are taught more to stay in the shadows. They're not like fighters, barging in swords blazing.' Dr Chiasa glanced at him. 'We have some training with close combat, but most of it is focused on silent take-downs, traps and poisoning. I use a blowdart as a long-range weapon too, but others use arrows or... or throwing knives.' Her voice faltered and she fixed her eyes on her lunchbox.