All the Horses Died (Chapter 2 of the Deadhorse Guardians)

Haikato stood over Mina, the impaled shadowspawn to his back, breathing hard from his sprint over the bridge. He knelt by the stranger– Nanto– and saw his chest rising and falling.

“He’s still breathing,” Haikato said– then stopped breathing himself as he caught a whiff of Nanto’s putrid scent. Nanto’s cheekbones jutted from his emaciated face, and his hands were papery-thin. His once-fine suit coat was ragged and stained.

Haikato? the Aura said. I don’t feel so well.

A tear slid down Mina’s cheek and landed on Nanto’s face. Nanto started, eyes flashing open, and he jerked away from Mina’s grasp. He scrambled backward, and then stopped as Mina said his name.

“M… Mina?” His lips stumbled over the name, as if it were a sound he’d forgotten how to make.

“It’s me,” Mina whispered.

“You’re safe now,” Haikato said, scanning the area for more shadowspawn. “I’m a Guardian.” Well, an apprentice Guardian, but now’s not the time for technicalities.

“No!” Nanto panted for breath. “Not safe. No one’s safe.”

As if in agreement, a shriek split through the sky, and one of the winged shadowspawn emerged from a cloud of smoke and flew overhead. It circled once, then disappeared into the smoke.

“We can’t stay in the open,” Haikato said. “Can you walk?”

Nanto rose to his feet and stumbled forward, leaning on Mina. Haikato led them toward one of the abandoned homes. He didn’t think the winged shadowspawn had seen them, but it couldn’t have missed the corpses on the bridge. More would come to investigate soon.

I’m getting sick, the Aura said.

“How can you get sick?” Haikato whispered as they ducked into the squat building. “You’re a bow tie.”

I… I’m sorry–

Nausea seized Haikato, and he doubled over as his stomach forcibly emptied itself onto the ground.

That’s how I get sick, the Aura said. By borrowing your stomach. Sorry.

Haikato sputtered and wiped the vomit away from his mouth.

“Are you alright?” Mina asked.

“I’m fine,” Haikato said.

I’m not, the Aura said.

Haikato pointed to the bow tie. “It’s this. It’s acting funny.”

Nanto stood up straight, his gaze fixated on the bow tie. His hand reached out to grab it. Haikato pushed it away.

“Nanto?” Concern laced Mina’s voice.

“I must,” Nanto panted. “Have it!” He lunged at Haikato, scrambling at the bow tie. Haikato seized his arm, twisted it, and sent Nanto sprawling to the ground. He drew his wakizashi and stood over Nanto.

“Something’s wrong,” Mina said. “He’s not like this.”

Nanto crawled to the wall and pushed himself into a sitting position. Haikato kept his blade trained on him.

“Who are you?” Haikato demanded. “How did you survive the attack?”

Nanto’s gaze slid over to Mina. “Are you real?”

“I’m real,” Mina said. “I’m Mina. I’m really here. You’re going to be alright now.”

“Don’t trust me,” Nanto said. He rose to his feet and looked at Haikato. “Don’t trust anyone.”

There’s something out there, the Aura said.

Haikato looked out the busted doorframe. “What?”

I don’t know. I just sense… something odd.

“Mina?” Nanto said.

“I’m here.” Mina reached out to take Nanto’s hand.

“Mina, run!” Nanto batted Mina away, then spun and darted into the street. Mina cried out and raced after him.

The Aura pulsed with terror. Haikato, they’ve surrounded us!

Haikato leapt after Mina and grabbed her shoulder, yanking her back as Nanto ran down an alleyway. He pushed Mina behind him as a shadowspawn burst from behind a building, blocking the alleyway and Nanto from view.

A cacophony of shrieks swirled through the air. Bat-shadows plummeted from the sky, landing in the streets and chittering. Two more of the spider-shadows approached from the bridge.

They were here! the Aura sounded panicked. I couldn’t sense them, but they were here the whole time!

Mina stepped forward. “Stay away from my brother, you scum!” She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow, and a moment later, a pillar of fire burst into the air in front of each of the shadowspawn. The shadowspawn leapt back– but the fire faded, and they attacked.

Haikato raised his shield to deflect a chitinous limb. The force of the blow knocked him off his feet, but he rolled and regained his footing just as one of the bat-things clawed at Mina. He swept his wakizashi through its arm, and it deflated as black smoke leaked from it.

More creatures swarmed overhead. Too many. A shadowspawn lunged at Mina, and Haikato grabbed her and yanked her out of the way, accidentally clobbering her with his shield along the way. He pushed Mina inside the abandoned house, then whirled and turned to face the shadowspawn clustering about the doorway.

Stone to air. As Haikato stepped back through the busted doorway, he focused his mind, overcoming the panic surging through his veins to concentrate on the theorem. Darkness fell as the doorway sealed shut with solid stone. They were in one of the poorer homes– no windows. The shadowspawn beat against the stone, chittering.

Haikato fell to his knees, gasping for breath as nausea clenched his stomach. For a moment, the world seemed to pound on his head from all sides– and then he puked again.

Hey! the Aura said. I just stopped feeling sick. Why do you have to start puking now?

Because I spent a vast amount of energy sealing us in a tomb, Haikato thought as he slumped against the wall, careful not to step in the puddle of vomit. Brilliant move.

“Ew, I think I just stepped in your puke,” Mina said.

Haikato laughed, although doing so hurt his sides.

“Here,” Mina said. “Let me clean that up.”

Cool air washed against Haikato’s face. He reached out a tentative finger to the ground where he’d heaved– nothing.

“You shouldn’t waste energy on that,” he whispered.

“Puke’s mostly water,” Mina said. “Water to air doesn’t take much energy.”

“How did they get so close?” Haikato asked. “I thought you could sense shadowspawn approaching.”

Something hid the shadowspawn from me, the Aura said. Which means it could’ve been interfering with my senses all along. I… I’m not sure I know where Zaru is.

“What has the power to do that?”

Silence.

“Do you know?”

Another Aura.

Haikato took in a sharp breath. “A Dark Aura, you mean.”

Yes.

“Wonderful.”

That’s why I got sick, too.

Haikato groaned. He had a once-in-a-lifetime chance here. Fail, and the Aura would pass on to someone else, someone who could seal the breach, and he’d go back to being shin-deep in horsecrap until he was old and gray. But fighting a Dark Aura? He wasn’t ready for that.

He needed Master Zaru.

Haikato untied his bow tie and threw it into the air. It dissolved into specks of light, then reappeared fastened around his neck. “Is there anything you can do to find him?”

I can send out a distress pulse. He’ll come to us, then.

“No matter how dangerous it is for him,” Haikato murmured. That wasn’t an option. He refused to come all this way seeking Master Zaru, only to get his teacher killed trying to rescue him from a predicament he should’ve been smart enough to avoid in the first place.

Mina pounded her fist against the wall. “Guardian Haikato, I can transmute a hole in the wall small enough for me to sneak out, and then–”

“Don’t try it,” Haikato said. “The shadowspawn will spot you. And you won’t be able to do your brother any good if you’re dead.”

“But Guardian Haikato–”

“Don't call me Guardian.”

“Well then, why should I do what you tell me to do?”

“Because I want your brother to be safe, too– and if you go out alone, I’ll lose you both.”

Doubt niggled in Haikato’s mind as he spoke. Of course he’d like to save Nanto, but if it came to a choice between that and sealing the breach–

No. There was no contradiction. Sealing the breach was the best way to save the city and everyone in it, Nanto most of all. He could do both. Would do both.

Mina groaned and clenched her hair.

“He’s survived this long,” Haikato said. “I don’t know, but he’s figured out how to survive. He’ll be fine.”

“Ok.” Mina’s voice caught in her throat. She sat down across from Haikato, her face illuminated by the light of the bow tie. “How come you said you weren’t a Guardian?”

“I’m an apprentice.”

“But I thought you graduated?”

“Do you know what happens when you graduate Guardian School?”

“No.”

“You wait. And wait. Sometimes your whole life. Hoping every day to get the chance to prove yourself. Some never do. I did when I found that horse.”

Mina sat back. She bowed her head, raggedy hair falling over her face. After a moment of silence, she looked up.

“I had a horse once.”

“You did?”

“My parents gave me a foal all for myself. I taught her to take a bit, and then a saddle. I’d stand on her back to pick bananas. Her name was Poroku.”

Mina’s voice cracked. “She got bit by a snake. I stayed up all night with her, hoping she’d get better, but by morning, she was gone.”

Haikato pulled his knees up to his chest and remained silent.

“Nanto stayed with me all that night,” Mina said. “And in the morning, he was the one who held me when I cried.”

“I’m sorry,” Haikato whispered.

Outside, the sound of the shadowspawn trying to break through the stone faded. Silence reigned.

“You know,” Mina said. “I changed my mind.”

“About what?”

“Your story. If it ever gets told, you should keep the part where the horse died. Let the bards sing about how your tragic loss propelled you to become one-half of the greatest team of heroes ever to walk the land.”

“Team?”

“You and me. The Dead Horse Duo.”

The Aura yawned. I like that name.

“That’s a terrible name,” Haikato said.

“It’s perfect for us.” Mina stood up and leaned over Haikato, wrinkling her nose at the shadowspawn blood that clung to his hair, face, and robes. “You’re filthy.”

“I’m a Guardian. Being covered in the blood of fell beasts comes with the territory.”

“At least wash it off your face.” Mina gathered a handful of dust, transmuted it to water, and dumped it on him. Haikato sighed and rubbed at his face until most of the sticky black gunk came off.

Mina ran her hand across the wall. Then she froze. “Haikato– I think I found a secret passage. There’s a notch here– and I can see it in Shapesense! This section of wall is different than the rest.”

Haikato tried to use Shapesense himself, but in his weakened state, he saw a blur. “Aura, can you sense anything on the other side of that wall?”

Ooh, yes! Something’s coming– coming closer!

Haikato tensed. A creak sounded, and the section of the wall Mina was leaning against swung inward to reveal a pitch-black tunnel.

“You opened it?” Haikato asked.

Mina gulped. “That wasn’t me.”

Here it comes! The Aura said.

A faint blue light appeared in the passageway, then grew stronger. Not torchlight– light created from geometry. Shadow to light. A complex proposition, and one Haikato had never been able to wrap his head around.

As the light approached, Mina darted into the far corner of the room. Then a face appeared next to the light– an old, careworn face with a wispy beard. The face peered into the room, then crinkled into a smile.

“Haikato,” Master Zaru said. “Is that you?”

Relief flooded Haikato’s heart. He leapt to his feet and embraced the old man.

“Careful,” Zaru chuckled. “You might break me.”

Haikato noticed how frail Zaru felt and released him. He remembered his mentor as a robust warrior, but as he studied Zaru by the light of the blue orb, he saw an emaciated reed in ill-fitting robes, leaning on a cane.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Zaru said. “I’m fine. I just haven’t had a proper meal since the breach, that’s all.”

Haikato rushed to his pack and handed Zaru some ration bars.

“If you insist.” Zaru’s eyes twinkled as he bit into a bar. “Now, what news do you bring from outside? Is help coming?”

“Your Aura found me.” The words tumbled from Haikato’s lips. “It chose me to seal the breach. I alerted the Guardian Council, but I set out ahead of them alone.”

Zaru stroked his thin beard. “My brother will have had time to muster the army by now. Help will come– if we can just survive a little longer.”

“I can seal the breach, Master Zaru,” Haikato said. “If I stop the shadowspawn from coming before they grow any stronger, our army won’t even have to fight.”

“Easier said than done.” Zaru raised a hand and pushed his orb toward the center of the room, where its light fell on Mina. “And while you may have set out alone, I see you did not stay that way. That is good.” Zaru took a step closer– and then his jaw dropped. “Mina! What in the seven shadows are you doing here?”

Mina sighed. “Hi, Uncle Zaru.”

“Your parents must be worried sick about you!” Zaru said.

“Uncle?” Haikato asked. “I thought your uncle lived in the capital.”

“That’s my other uncle,” Mina said.

“My brother, Master Baru,” Zaru said.

“Baru! But… but he’s the head of the Guardian Council!”

“It’s a family tradition,” Zaru said. “We raise our children as commoners to teach them the value of honesty and hard work. But Haikato– what possessed you to bring a child on this mission?”

Haikato’s mouth moved, but for a moment he was too stunned to make a sound. Then, “it was the Aura’s idea.”

I have good ideas, the Aura hummed.

Zaru peered at the bow tie. “This may turn out for the best then. My old Aura has a way of knowing what its bearer needs most.”

He remembered me! The Aura pulsed with pride.

Mina stood up straight and looked Zaru in the eye. “I came to get Nanto.”

Sadness flickered across Zaru’s face. “Nanto disappeared shortly after the attack. Either he escaped the city, or…”

“We saw him! He was outside, just a little while ago.”

“He wasn’t in his right mind,” Haikato said.

“Not in his right mind?” Zaru furrowed his brow.

Haikato described Nanto’s behavior. Zaru nodded, his face grave. “This changes things. Come to my hideout– we have much to discuss.”

Mina grabbed his arm. “Changes things? What do you mean?”

“Relax,” Zaru said. “Guardian Haikato and I will do everything in our power to save your brother.”

Mina seemed unsatisfied by Zaru’s answer, but she didn’t press further and followed Zaru down the tunnel.

“This was an old smuggling tunnel,” Zaru said as they walked. “One of the few the shadowspawn haven’t yet found.”

“How did the shadowspawn overwhelm the city guard?” Haikato asked.

“They attacked from all sides, all at once,” Zaru said. “I suspect they had inside help– some person or faction hiding them as they came through the breach in small numbers, until enough shadowspawn had amassed to overwhelm the guard.”

“We hardly saw any shadowspawn as we moved through the city,” Haikato said. “If there were enough to defeat the entire guard, where did they all go?”

“The city guard defended the Great Stair,” Zaru said. “In the end, they fell, but not before inflicting titanic losses on the shadowspawn. Even so, the shadowspawn rebuild their numbers day by day.”

“Are there any other survivors left in the city?” Mina asked.

Zaru shook his head. “I smuggled the others out.”

“Do you know who helped the shadowspawn?” Mina asked.

Zaru sighed. “No. But it may not matter. I suspect the shadowspawn have already treated them the way they treated everyone else in the city. Ah, here we are.”

He pushed open a blank section of wall at the end of the tunnel and stepped into a cellar lit by a torch. Zaru snapped his fingers, and his light-orb vanished.

“Unfortunately,” Zaru said. “I ended up in a cellar that stored something other than food.” He unscrewed the lid of a barrel and leaned it over to reveal a pile of glittering gems. “A king’s ransom. Fat lot of good it did to whoever stored it.”

“I have a few days’ rations left,” Haikato said.

“Our bellies won’t be happy, but we won’t starve before my brother’s army arrives,” Zaru said.

“Are we just… waiting, then?” Haikato asked.

“Yes,” Zaru said. “Actually, no. Actually, I shouldn’t say at all.”

Wow, the Aura said. What an incredibly clear and helpful answer.

Zaru chuckled. “Taking charge is an old habit of mine, but now you’re the Guardian of Baon City, Haikato.”

“I am?” Haikato said. “But I haven’t sealed the breach yet.”

“You may not be part of the Guardian Council, but you are the one wielding the Aura. You bear the responsibility to decide whether we hide and wait, or take action.”

Part of Haikato felt he should take more time to deliberate, but in truth, he’d already made the decision. “The Aura chose me. That means I’m the one who’s meant to seal the breach. If we wait for the army, that’ll mean more blood will have to be shed to defeat the shadowspawn.”

“Trying to seal it now will be dangerous.”

“It’s my duty.”

“Haikato…” Zaru lowered himself onto a stool. “There’s something I need to talk to you about. When the time comes for an Aura to pass on, the Aura knows who the next chosen one is. But it can make mistakes.”

A chill ran through Haikato. “It… can?”

Don’t worry, the Aura said. I don’t think you’re a mistake.

“Mistakes are rare,” Zaru continued. “But more likely in certain circumstances. Say, if the Aura in question had been forced to share a brain with an animal.”

“Aura?” Haikato glanced down at the bow tie.

Uh… well… I don’t think I made a mistake…

“But are you sure?”

Silence.

“Tell me the truth.”

Horses don’t think much about saving the world, the Aura said. And that one was mad at me for making me leave his herd behind.

Haikato felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He slumped on a stool across from Zaru.

“I think you can do it, Haikato,” Mina said. “After all, you’ve got me. We’re the Dead Horse Duo.”

Zaru raised an eyebrow.

Yeah, we’re the Dead Horse Duo! No... Dead Horse Trio! Hold on, uh… Tragically Traumatized Horse Trio?

Zaru cleared his throat. “I don’t know whether you’ll succeed or fail either way. But that was always the case, wasn’t it? The tales are full of chosen ones who failed, and unlikely heroes who took their place.”

Haikato buried his head in his hands. “You said a Guardian is never an accident.”

“You’re no accident,” Zaru said. “You have a purpose for being here. And that’s why I’m giving you a choice instead of deciding for you.”

“But if I don’t seal the breach, someone else will.”

“Another hero will arise, yes.”

“And I’ll pass my Aura onto them.”

“Yes.”

And that other hero will join the Guardian Council, and I’ll never get another chance.

“Why don’t you take the Aura, then?” Haikato said. “Even if you’ve already sealed your breach, you’re better at using its power than I am.”

Zaru shook his head. “My time has passed. Once an Aura moves on, it never returns to a former bearer.”

“Uncle Zaru,” Mina said. “Can we search for Nanto now? The shadowspawn were waiting for us outside, but they didn’t know about the tunnel, so…”

Zaru looked to Haikato. “That’ll be for the new Guardian to decide.”

Haikato rubbed his forehead. “Do you know where the breach is?”

“Not with certainty, but the shadowspawn have been appearing near Baon University, on the south side of the Chasm.”

Haikato groaned. Crossing the Chasm the first time had nearly cost his life– and more shadowspawn would be guarding the bridge now that he’d drawn attention there.

Mina looked up at him, eyes wide with hope.

The logical next step would be to seal the breach without allowing for distraction. But what if…

For the first time since taking up Zaru’s Aura, doubt niggled into Haikato’s heart. What if he wasn’t meant to seal the breach after all? What if his mission was much smaller– saving one girl’s brother?

Besides, he wasn’t able to cross the Chasm now anyway. Searching a monster-infested city for a lone madman may not be the most important task, but it could double as a chance to scout for other ways to get to Baon University and find the breach.

“Alright.” Haikato stood and rested his hand on the hilt of his blade. “Let’s find Nanto.”

To be continued...