Zeph Kaizen's Arc

Chapter 19 of 51

The talons scraped stone above Zeph's head. Something heavy shifted on the roof beams, then dragged its weight toward the eaves. Zento's small figure held steady in the meditation space, but his pale eyes flicked upward. "Another one," Zento said. "Drawn by the same trail as the bird. It smells what you left at the door." Zeph opened his eyes. Kaine was already at the shuttered window, one hand flat against the wood. His yellow eyes narrowed. "Bigger than the bird," Kaine said. "It won't leave. It's circling." "Can I start the tiger trial while it's up there?" "No. The door to Zento closes the moment you fight. You know this." Kaine turned from the window. "Kill it first. Then sit." Zeph stood. His legs were stiff from the purge. He walked to the door and set his palm on the wood. He could hear the thing breathing now, low and wet, working its way along the roof ridge. He stepped outside. The creature dropped in front of him. It was a long-bodied cat, black, with a split jaw and too many teeth. It had been eating the bird's leavings. Blood caked its chest. Zeph named it under his breath. "I refuse to be prey." The merged door opened. Refusal and Stillness locked together under his ribs. He held it for a count of ten and moved. He took the creature's front leg with the first burst. It screamed and swung. He was already behind it. Second burst — he drove his fist into the base of its skull. Bone gave. Third burst — he stepped clear as it fell. It did not get up. He stood over the body, breathing hard. Three bursts. Yesterday it had taken four for the bird. He was faster. Kaine appeared in the doorway. "Drag it well past the steps. Both of them. The scent has to go with the bodies, or a third will come before dark." Zeph hauled the cat by its good leg down the cracked stone stairs of the ancestral hall. He dragged it to the treeline and left it there. He went back for the bird's bones and carried those out too. He kicked loose earth over the blood on the steps until the smell was buried. When he came back inside, the chamber was quiet again. Kaine shut the door behind him. "Sit," Kaine said. "Before the next one finds the trail." Zeph knelt on the clean stone. He closed his eyes and reached for Zento. The door opened without struggle this time. "Now," Zento said. "The tiger's face. Hold it." Zeph brought the white tiger into his mind — the blue-striped fur, the weight of it against his side on the ridge, the way it had chosen him. He began to refuse it.