Katuo no longer wanted to look at the sky. She crawled to the edge of the k’nanum cap and let her eyes wander over the vast expanse. Woodlands spread across the plains and spilled up into the Holigeng Highlands. Wherever her view fell, there were forests and mountains, hills and crystal pillars beyond counting, and great rivers that wound patiently through the land. Here and there, ancient ruins of the Goykang kingdom still jutted up from the earth. Broken and worn by time, their upper reaches strained to rise above the colorful tapestry of life.

  She drew her gaze back from the distant horizon to the nearer sights below. Beneath the cap lay layer upon layer of smaller plants, humble in stature, yet richer in variety. Oaa favors none, Katuo thought. All living things are tended with equal care.

  “Come over here,” Katuo said softly, glancing back, and she pressed a finger to her lips. “Speak low.”

  Below them, three clusters of vegetation were shifting in ways that did not belong. It took Ramii and Hudyn a moment, their eyes narrowed, before they noticed it too.

  The three murmured the o’Kiva charm, sharpening their vision manyfold. They followed every movement of those shapes. The figures were camouflaged beneath full-body armor, though it was unlike the o'armor.

  “They’re Goyk!” Hudyn burst out.

  Katuo jabbed an elbow into his side. “Lower your voice.”

  “Most likely,” said Ramii. “They’re heading toward Mount Bazdien. Here’s what we’ll do…”

  Ramii intended to take the strangers alive. If they truly were Goyk scouts, this might be his chance to pry information from them, above all concerning his mother.

  After a brief exchange, the three descended on O’Ky, slipping into cover beside the trunk of the k’nanum. They touched down without a sound, then crept forward behind the figures.

  Close enough.

  They surged forward together, snapping out their o’whips.

  One figure was snared. The other two twisted free, and long green flames burst from their arms, forming twin-blades, the hallmark weapon of Goyk infantry. At the sight of this, Hudyn and Katuo reshaped their o’whips into o'spears, while Ramii called forth an o’sword.

  Though reduced to two, the Goyk still pressed the advantage. Every strike they delivered was vicious; each blow was meant to finish the fight. Their opponents, by contrast, fought as they had been trained. They guarded first, then answered each killing stroke in turn.

  “OrokO’!” Ramii cried.

  Hudyn caught the meaning at once and fell back with him, as Katuo held her ground. She kept the enemy at bay and bought them time to cast.

  “Ahh!”

  A blade tore across Katuo’s shoulder.

  Graoo… Graooo…

  Oam… Oam…

  Two powerful beasts took shape from Yooni seeds. Hudyn’s Floramina was an O’Mandrill, crowned with a mane and three horns. Ramii’s was an O’Lynx, twin-headed, with wings rising from either side of its body.

  The Goyk had already fallen back. One of them drew a black, double-bladed sword of warped make. From between its twin blades, ghostly green flames streamed forth, gathering into a demon known as a Blazoul.

  The demon cut off the O’Mandrill’s advance. Arms of living flame seized the beast by the throat and hoisted it aloft. From a dark mark upon the Blazoul’s head, a stream of lava erupted. It burned the O’Mandrill as one would burn a bundle of writhing straw.

  At the same moment, the O’Lynx lunged toward the Goyk who had lowered his stance, just as he had intended. A cold blade traced with green fire swept once through the air.

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  Both heads of the O’Lynx struck the ground.

  Thud… Thud… Thud…

  A rumble rose from the press of many feet. The sound swelled as a large host closed in from one side. At the sound, the two Goyk turned and fled, the Blazoul left behind to block the way.

  ‘Let me go after them!’ Krutas called.

  He led the Wardclan in pursuit of the enemy. At the same time, Voznugaid conjured a defensive Floramina, its front four limbs like massive, rough-hewn blocks of stone. It endured the fire, advanced step by step, and closed its arms around the Blazoul.

  Voznugaid lunged forward and leapt in a single motion. With both hands, he drove the keen point of his o’spear straight into the dark mark at the center of the Blazoul’s crown.

  Hiss!

  Green sparks burst forth. Voznugaid sprang back at once and murmured a spell. Strands of Yonaan surged from his body to his burning arms, stripping away the molten residue clinging to them.

  The demon convulsed. It flared upward into a towering pillar of flame, then dwindled, guttering out until nothing remained but a smear of ashen smoke.

  ~~~

  “Katuo—Katuo, are you alright?!”

  “I… I’m just tired… don’t worry, Ramii,” Katuo murmured weakly. Her lips were growing paler by the moment.

  “I’m right here. Me… not Ramii," Hudyn stammered. He was carrying Katuo in his arms, hurrying back toward the Agariri Forest.

  “He’s right there, on your right,” he said. “Look over. Hey! Don’t close your eyes. Don’t scare me like that.”

  “Katuo, it’s me!” Ramii cried. “Katuo!”

  At last, they touched down before Lyndorin’s p’mopo and called out loudly for her help.

  ‘Oaa preserve us…’ Lyndorin gasped at the sight of Katuo. ‘How did it come to this? Bring the girl inside. Quickly!’

  Inside the p’mopo, they laid Katuo down. Lyndorin murmured a charm and loosened the armor at Katuo’s shoulder.

  ‘O, this wound is far too deep,’ she cried, stricken.

  Lyndorin took out three things: a green stone, a dry black leaf, and a white Yooni seed.

  She knelt and set the stone and the seed upon Katuo’s shoulder, then folded her hands before her chest and whispered. The stone dissolved into a thin veil of smoke, and the bleeding slowed, then stopped. She continued her chant; the Yooni seed sent out fine roots that drew the cut closed.

  She reached out and released the leaf. It drifted down onto Katuo’s wound, then melted away, seeping into skin and flesh. A steady stream of red light flowed from Lyndorin’s Trueye into Katuo’s heart.

  At length, a hint of color returned to Katuo’s lips, and she opened her eyes.

  “Lyndorin… thank you,” Katuo murmured.

  All this while, Ramii and Hudyn had sat motionless in a corner, scarcely daring to breathe. When they heard Katuo speak, they scrambled over at once.

  “How do you feel now?” Ramii asked in a low voice.

  “A bit better,” Katuo said. “Really. Don’t worry.”

  “You little devil,” Hudyn said, his voice breaking. “You scared the life out of me, Katuo.”

  ‘It’s a blessing you were brought here in time,’ Lyndorin said, her voice trembling. The healing had taken much out of her. ‘You lost a great deal of blood, and your shoulder bone was broken.’

  She rose. ‘I’ll go and fetch a few more herbs and some charm-stones. I won’t be long.’

  Ramii’s chest tightened at the sight of Katuo’s wound. “I never should’ve let you take such a risk…”

  “We planned it together,” Katuo said with a faint smile. “I’m still conscious, see? A broken shoulder will heal. It’s not that serious…”

  “NOT-Not that serious?!” Hudyn burst out, forcing his voice down. “If not for Lyndorin, you wouldn’t even be able to open your mouth to say that. And if Voznugaid hadn’t brought reinforcements in time, all three of us would be feeding the grass by now.”

  “But at least we did manage to capture one of the Goyk,” Katuo said.

  “Aye, sure—that part’s good, but…” Hudyn began to argue, then trailed off. He hadn’t yet found anything to argue back with. He scratched his forehead noisily, and his thoughts jumped elsewhere. “Oh! That fellow with the black sword. He was terrifying. Tch… I wonder if Krutas even managed to catch him.”

  “Did any of you feel the same?” Ramii asked. “There was something familiar about that Goyk. Like I’d met him somewhere before.”

  “I felt that way too,” Katuo said. “I thought it was just my imagination.”

  “Hold—I have it!” Hudyn burst out. “Don’t you two remember the devil in that snake-tree thing? I’ll wager it was him.”

  “I’m not sure,” Ramii said thoughtfully.

  “Or maybe you’re just fixated on him because he nearly took your head off,” Hudyn said absently.

  Hudyn’s forehead was flushed, marked with angry scratches. He muttered, “I wonder how many Goyk like him there are. Damn it… if there are others of his sort, we’re in real trouble. I’m starting to feel uneasy about our wild host. Don’t you think something’s missing from our forces, Ramii?”

  Ramii brought his hands together and touched his lips. “Mm… I’ve felt that too.”

  Just then, Lyndorin returned with word that Krutas had not caught the other two Goyk. She then told Ramii and Hudyn to go back to their p’mopo so she could tend to Katuo properly. Ramii lingered, unwilling to leave, but Katuo would not let him stay.

  “You should go back. I told you I’m fine already. Having you both stay here won’t make me any better,” Katuo said firmly.

  And so the two had no choice but to trudge off. When they reached their own p’mopo, Hudyn exclaimed,

  “Oh, my dear purple home at last. I’ve missed you so much. Today has been more than enough for me. That Goyk fellow and that black sword have given me a splitting headache. All I want now is a good, long sleep. Honestly, I really don’t want to dream about him.”

  Suddenly, Ramii stood motionless. Hudyn had to give him a sharp slap on the cheek to snap him out of it.

  Ramii remembered the nightmare he had while crossing the Zon’A Gate.

  The sword driven into his heart.

  The same double-bladed sword he had just faced.

  ~~~