Chapter 27: Awakening Awareness

Karasu flapped his wings to thrust himself up from the fading wind current to a higher one. Since returning to Throklana, he’d yet to talk to Kazuki, who was still in Osgavenda. From what he gathered, Kazuki hadn’t even been in the castle when he sent the note, yet the note hadn’t mentioned going to Osgavenda to meet him. At the castle, Reito had seemed puzzled to see Karasu.

“He did not mention any task he had for you before leaving or even that he’d sent for you. Strange.” Reito shook his head. “It would be best if you not follow, as the people of Osgavenda are already on edge. That said, from his last reports, things are turning in a more positive direction, so he should return here in a few days. Until then, I received word a short while ago that the king was seen near the village of Uragiri. It’s probably a false report, but it still needs to be checked.”

That was how Karasu found himself out searching for the missing king. Karasu guessed it meant that Reito really didn’t know where the king had gone either. With his stature and importance, it was amazing King Toramaru could be so difficult to locate, unless he was deliberately ensuring he wasn’t found. Thinking back to his conversation with Sakura, about how someone was likely trying to split Kazuki and Yuji, Karasu wondered if the same person could be behind the king’s absence.

With a scoff, he dismissed the idea. The king had left of his own accord and announced his departure. He hadn’t vanished; he was just taking some time for himself and wanted some privacy, for whatever reason. Though it did seem dangerous and even a bit irresponsible for him to do so without even telling his attendant. What if something had happened to him? Or, heck, look what was happening with him gone! But King Toramaru would have a good reason for all this, even if they didn’t know what it was yet.

The sun hung low in the sky as the remnants of what was once the village of Uragiri came into view. Now a desolate ghost town, it was once a regular, homey place peopled by a few hundred citizens, mostly farmers, who grew an abundance of crops in the rich soil. A few of the old irrigation ditches were still visible in the land, leading from the river to where the fields once stood.

According to the stories he’d heard, long before he’d been born, a series of pounding storms sent the once life-giving river raging over its banks, flooding the village. The same storms had unleashed mudslides from the hills above, burying a quarter of the town. The survivors were decimated with disease, and only a handful had managed to escape. Declaring it a cursed town, they’d left and never looked back.

A shiver ran through him as he flew over the village. As if to throw a final insult at the town, a fire had burned through at some point, leaving the wood-framed houses a mix of charred shells and stone foundations. Near the back of the village, a couple of houses had avoided the flames, but they still looked shaky, apt to cave in at any minute.

Nothing stirred, not even a breeze. Even as Karasu landed on the remnants of a fountain near the village square, he knew there was no way the king was here. “Bah, Reito was right, just another false lead.”

Though anyone would be hard-pressed to stay hidden in such a place, he flew over the area twice more. It had taken most of the day to fly there—a long flight for nothing. Grumbling about having to fly back at night, he turned back toward the castle. He’d just cleared the river when he realized he was no longer alone.

A large shadow swooped down from above with a screech. He barely managed to avoid the dracnor’s sharp talons.

“What the…you stupid bird, leave me alone!” It was rare for another bird to bother him, due to his yokai aura, but this dracnor seemed not to care. It was already coming around again for another attack. Karasu flew toward it, twisting past it at the last second to disorient it, then dove toward the forest below.

“I’ll just lose you in the trees, you nut.”

Halfway down, Karasu was forced to pull out of his dive to avoid another dracnor that had burst out of the trees below. Its claws whisked past Karasu’s tail feathers, knocking some loose. Before he could fully recover, the first bird came at him from the side, and he had to roll back down to avoid it. Maybe they were mates, desperate for food for their young. Then a third slammed into him, slashing his back and sending more feathers flying.

Despite the pain in his back, he went into a sharp dive toward the forest again. The dracnors continued attacking, forcing him to veer one way and the next to avoid them. He was only meters from the treetops when a fourth, arriving, ripped into his wings and rendered one useless. His dive became an ugly spiral toward the forest. Using his one relatively working wing and his tail, he managed to dodge another attack before hitting the trees.

Branches battered him as he broke through the canopy and fell through the lush branches. Meters from the ground, he morphed back to his humanoid form, landing with a painful crash.

“Ouch. What was with those crazy birds?” Shaking his head, he looked around the shadowed place. He could hear the dracnors screeching above, but they didn’t seem to be willing or able to fly through the thick foliage. Relieved, Karasu leaned against a tree to assess his injuries. With the damage to his arm, he was grounded. It would take days to walk back to the palace, unless he was lucky enough to find a village that would let him borrow a cart.

He ripped some strips of cloth from his shirt to use as bandages, wrapping one around his arm and pressing another to his side. The forest around him grew darker; it would be pitch black before long. He could feel his hair standing on edge among the silent trees; even the dracnors had stopped their screeching.

A twig snapped behind him, causing him to spin around. Through the leaves, several sets of glowing eyes approached.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” He bolted as the pack of shadow dogs charged him. Grabbing a low-hanging branch, he swung himself up into a trees, barely avoiding the sharp snap of one dog’s teeth. Jumping from branch to branch, he kept going toward the edge of the forest, the pack following along, jumping and foaming at the mouth.

When Karasu neared the forest’s end, the dogs just stopped, standing and watching him as he continued on. His arm burned with pain as he stopped to rest. Balanced on the thick branch of a tree, he watched the pack sliver back between the trees. Was it over, or was something else coming?

Several long minutes later, the sounds of the forest returned. With a sigh, he walked along the branch toward the trunk. Finally, his first stroke of luck! He’d stopped on a reiki tree. Its sap had healing properties that could have him ready to fly by morning. After securing the tree’s permission, he pulled the small knife from his belt and gouged the trunk enough to get to some of the sticky sap, pasting it on the worst of his wounds. The pain began to ebb before he was done.

“Thank you.” He waved his hand over the gouge in the trunk, healing the damaged spot. The helpful tree showed him an abandoned nest further along its branches. With a yawn, he morphed back to his bird form to settle in for the night.

In the morning, there was no sign of the shadow dogs or the dracnors. The reiki sap had worked well, healing his wing enough to fly, though it was still a bit sore. He stayed low to the ground, keeping a vigilant eye and ear on his surroundings until he reached the palace.

“What happened to you?” Reito asked as soon as Karasu landed in front of him in the castle courtyard.

“I was attacked.” He gave him a brief summary of the events in Uragiri.

“I see. Do you still have the note Prince Kazukiarama sent you?”

“Yeah, right here.” He handed the page to Reito. “Lord Reito, is something wrong?”

“This handwriting is not the same as Prince Kazukiarama’s. I should have realized it before when you showed it to me. Nor could that long-winded boy ever pen such a brief note.” He shook his head. “We’ve received confirmation that the person who reported the sighting of the king was the same one who claimed to have seen Prince Yuji near Aya’s room.”

Karasu could feel his stomach knotting. The note was a fake? Kazuki hadn’t recalled him? “But why would anyone call me back here? They couldn’t have known you’d send me to Uragiri, right?”

“True, though they may have suspected I would, as you are the only one currently in the castle capable of flight.” Reito turned and walked out of the courtyard. He didn’t run, but he walked fast enough that Karasu was trotting to keep up. “Earlier when we talked, you told me of Lady Sakura’s thoughts regarding the argument between the princes. I was not certain before, but this is enough to make me think she may be right. Which means the real question is why someone would trick you into returning here.”

“Sakura…I left her alone. You don’t think he’s after her, do you? I mean, the only people who know about her are you and Yuji, right?”

Reito stopped and put his hand on Karasu’s shoulder. “As far as we know. As you said, other than me, Prince Yuji is the only person who knows of Sakura’s existence or that you two were living in the human world. If I could, I would go myself, but the prince should be here within the hour. Hurry and go to his Lady Sakura. I’ll send him there as soon as he arrives.”

Kazuki dropped into Sakura’s garden, near the base of her cherry tree.

His heart raced as he looked around, the scent of his own fear filling his nose. Not a sound came through the open side door of the house, though he knew Karasu had already returned. As he stepped on the porch, he spotted the overturned kotatsu lying in the living room. He sprinted into the home.

“Sakura? Karasu?” He ran through the living room and into the hall. Sakura lay on the floor near the stairs. With a cry, he dropped to his knees beside her, unable to even speak her name. His trembling fingers stroked her still-warm face. He pulled her into his arms, clutching her tightly as he cried, begging her to wake up, though he knew it was futile. He couldn’t feel her heart beating anymore. Lifting his head, he kissed her lukewarm lips, apologizing over and over.

“What…?” Blue-purple bruises circled her neck, bruises shaped like fingers. Wiping his eyes, he laid her back down. Her shirt was torn in spots, and scratches littered her arms. If she’d had an attack, she would not have these wounds. He looked toward the stairs. The telephone table that usually stood near where Sakura lay was now in pieces at the end of the hall. Blood was smeared along the walls.

Kazuki stood, his fear mounting. “Karasu? Where are you?”

He strode toward the kitchen before glancing back at the front door. A large pool of blood stained the entryway. Sakura’s injuries were not enough to warrant so much blood. As he moved closer, he spotted a familiar wooden sword lying nearby, the blood staining it a dark color. Karasu’s scent was heavy in the air. “You tried to protect her, didn’t you, old friend? But from what, from who? And where are you now?”

He kept his hand on the sword at his side as he made his way upstairs. Sakura’s bedroom door was broken, the surface marred with claw marks. More marks dug into the windowsill along with bloody handprints. Only one other scent overlapped Sakura’s and Karasu’s: Yuji’s. It was strongest in the living room and kitchen, but he could smell it everywhere Sakura had run as well. Some parts smelled odd, particularly around Sakura’s body, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.

Something twinkled near Sakura. With a snarl, he snatched up the broken chain, staring at the rectangular pendant that dangled from it, identical to the one around his own neck, as it had been on the day he and Yuji had been given the set by their mother. He hadn’t wanted to believe Yuji was involved in this, especially not in harming Karasu, yet the proof was irrefutable. Closing his fist so tightly around the pendant that it cut into his hands, he howled in rage. “Damn you.”