Kuroba Asashin's Arc

Chapter 49 of 51

Kuroba held the glowing odachi and stared at the four-elemental dragon. Water dripped from its horns. Fire moved in its throat. Behind it, Kazrik's escape route hung open. The king stood at Kuroba's shoulder, dragging his great-spear through the dirt. The old man had already told him strength was the wrong tool. Kuroba lowered the blade an inch and waited. "Step back, boy," the king said. "This one is mine." Kuroba did not move. "You said strength won't cut it." "Mine will not cut it either." The king planted the great-spear butt-first in the dirt and leaned on it instead of his cane. "But I am not going to cut it." Rin Mihal's voice slid from behind the dragon's shoulder. "The old lion limps to the water. Careful, king. Old bones drink deep and drown." The king did not look at him. He closed his white eyes and lifted one hand off the spear. His palm turned upward. The air above it thickened. Kuroba felt the pull start under his own ribs, gentle, like a hand steadying a horse. "I knew a man once," the king said, quiet, only for Kuroba. "Walked into my throne room with a stick. Told me my kingdom would burn if I kept the wrong counsel. He was right." "Kenji," Kuroba said. "He stood where you stand. On my left. When the first regime came for us." The king's hand shook once, then steadied. "He is close. I can feel him in what you carry." The dragon coiled. Rin raised both hands to drive it forward. The king Hon opened his white eyes. "Kenji. Old friend. One more time." Kenji's spirit stepped down into the king's body. The king straightened. His cane fell. He picked up the great-spear with both hands like a much younger man. The dragon lunged. The king did not strike it. He walked toward it, spear low, and spoke to it the way a farmer speaks to a spooked bull. The words were not loud. The dragon's fire dimmed. Its water slowed on its horns. It lowered its head one length from the spear tip and stopped. Rin took a step back. "Impossible." "Calm, eternal one…. Calm." the king said to the dragon. The dragon rested by King Hon like an old companion. "He is gone again," the king whispered. "And I am spent." Kuroba stared in awe at the king.