Chapter 10

The Iron Butterfly

Kurosawa's hall was simple. It had neither valuable artifacts nor great paintings, yet compared to other buildings in this desert town, it was decent looking. Xiven and Chron inched carefully into the hall. Although weary, Xiven was reluctantly to let down his guard.
Kurosawa stood by the side of the hall talking to one of assassins. Acknowledging the entrance of the two foreigners, they turned their glance at them before Kurosawa gestured the assassin's dismissal.
"I see you had come stranger. Who are you and what news do you bear?" Asked the knight lord who eyed Xiven's mask suspiciously.
"I'm known as Xiven, this is my friend Chron De Zilfers, we were from Oryius. Our Chief, Eysilck placed upon us to deliver news that... Oryius was destroyed. He said you will know what to do."
"What?! Destroyed?" Kurosawa was taken aback by the news. This was the first time Xiven observed any real emotions from the knight lord.
"Overran by demons that was our own people. And blazed to the ground."
"Where is Eysilck now?"
"He... Was killed. By an assassin, whom I supposed was sent by those who ordered the savagery of our town." Xiven replied coldly.
Kurosawa fell back onto his chair. His face showed mixed emotions of frustration and worry. "It looks like a huge confrontation is to come. He had found out." Kurosawa muttered, sounding tired.
"Who had found out what? We want to know the truth!" Chron finally broke his silence.
"I don't suppose you know the situation here. Its quite a well kept secret." The young lord gestured for everyone else in the hall to leave. "The king of Migurid, Rudifus was a good ruler. At one point I used to serve under him as one of his elite runeknights. But as time went by, he started to change into a different person... He started having this icy glance.
It was one day, he summoned me. He said he wanted me to lead his Order of runeknights into greater cause, to ascend me to be the leader of the Order. I was taken aback by this honour he offered me and accepted.
During the ritual, I sensed dark magic, something that used to be forbidden in the Order since it's forming. But I could not have refused it. He assured me it was absolutely necessary.
With a dark messiah, the Order quickly gained strength and became the most formidable army in the land. But this dark power came at with flip side to it. My runeknights turned from civil warriors into battle frenzy savages. They gained profane powers and our cause became more and more villainous, not that any of us could break free of that spell.
Yet for some reason, I was able to break free from this control and became an impugn towards the new direction of the Order. I was ignored. I witnessed my men's savagery and came to light that the Order was corrupted.
Realising I was the source of this darkness, I disbanded the runeknights and left Rudifus' service. He tried many times to hunt me down but I went into hiding.
After months, I banded together a group of warriors who could no longer take the repression and went against the capital. Naturally we lost and thus, were exiled to these barren lands.
Our survival was not possible until Chief Eysilck, out of good will assisted us. We traded in secret and in return, we promised him one day we will free his town from the tyranny of Rudifus. Though apparently, that day can no longer come..."
"The people of Oryius still lives lord Kurosawa" Said Xiven who finally let down his guard.
"Please, address me as Kurosawa."
"The town was destroyed But not gone. It's people still lives and are waiting for you to keep your promise." Kurosawa viewed Xiven in a different light now. The Knight lord felt strength beaming from the mask wielder. A strength that was vast, yet vague. An unseasoned strength that was already considerably forbidding. Xiven on the other hand gained new respect of the young knight, for having such incredible leadership and charisma and having to bear with heavy responsibilities although he was only about the same age as himself.
"Xiven I believe, you have some... uncommon talents, is that why Eysilck trusted you to come to me?"
"Actually, I believe I just happened to be in the area." Xiven's answer raised some eyebrows. "More importantly, what were those sand creatures? And how did you managed to take all of them out so easily."
"We fought these sand beasts for years and had honed our skills against them. Yet they can, by no means be killed. What I did was simply hold them down for the moment until a new group surfaces."
"Then what are those strange weapons your assassins used?"
"Those are wrist-blades specially designed to take out the sand creatures. Each blade is fitted with a canister containing a flammable aerosol. The aerosol is special as it binds itself to the sand bodies yet still retains it's flammability. The mini pikes fired from the wrist blades were also coated with a layer of the flammable liquid. This substance enchances my ability as I'd only need a small spark of my soul's fire to cause a drastic effect."
"Very impressive, but more importantly what were those sand men?" Asked Xiven who was apparently not very impressed.
"Thats another long story." Kurosawa replied.
"Tell me about it, I have time."
"In the climatic battle, the Migurid army forced us to these sands. With nowhere to retreat, we either win for survival, or lose and be wiped out. Against a kingdom's army, our chances were bleak. But through an unnatural awakening of my soul, we regained the upper hand and forced the king's army to retreat in defeat. That awakening came at a... heavy price.
In seeing that we cannot be wiped out completely, Rudifus decided to instead keep us out from his land, and keep everyone else from entering. Thus he tainted these sands with a curse." Kurosawa said, his eyes heavy from the mention of that price.
"A curse?" Asked Xiven, remembering the formidable display of power.
"The source of all life in the desert comes from the groundwater, deep under ground. Rudifus had tainted it with blood of demons." Xiven fowled at Kurosawa's answer. This was not the first time demons spoiled things for him. And he knew it will not be the last time either.
"Lo... Kurosawa. I meant to ask you something. Recently I had been pursuit by this robed assassin. He wielded swords of light. He was the one whom assassinated Eysilck. He... constantly appears in my dreams too, each time maiming me. Given your past with the runeknights, perhaps you will know who he is?"
Kurosawa's ears twitched. "Swords of light?" His eyes flared up like before. "I don't think I know who that was but I believe found the source of your nightmares." The young knight conjured a flaming spear at a snap and launched it into the beam on the celling.
Xiven had not seen that coming. The flaming spear ripped the beam into two and exploded once it left by the roof. He seems to have missed whatever he was trying to hit. The debris of the beam crashed onto the ground alerting everyone else and a lady dressed in black landed in between Xiven and Kurosawa.
The lady was wearing a mask with eight red eyes. She was not very tall, had shoulder length hair and dressed in a tight black outfit with a cape that befits her profile of being spotted only now.
"Guards! Get her!" Kurosawa roared and reached for his sword.
The intruder removed her cape to reveal stingers on both her arms. Five guards rushed towards her while three assassin laid in ambush, the lady simply stood. The eight red eyes of her mask started to glow. Although it seem to do nothing at first, the effects soon took place as the five guards stopped in the tracks. Their faces shocked and filled with fear and within time were running for their lives.
Taking the cue, the three assassins leaped out and Kurosawa charged towards her with his sword out. His eyes flared up as he channeled power into his sword. The intruder smiled. She leaped backwards, dodging the three assassins but not before grabbing one of the canisters on their belts. Then leaping from the wall, she hurl the canister forward towards Kurosawa while slashing it open with her stingers.
The flammable liquid spread out like a web towards the knight lord. Kurosawa's aura ignited the liquid and became blinded by the web of flames.
Taking the opportunity the female assassin reached for the back of her belt and threw out an iron projectile towards the blinded knight. The shooting star clashed into metal but Kurosawa was safe. Xiven had appeared before Kurosawa in time to deflect her projectile with his dagger.
Once again the eight eyes on the intruder's mask glimmered. Her target however, was not Xiven but Chron. Yet much to her disappointment, Chron remained undaunted and continued conjuring a ball of flames which he fired without hesitation.
The fireball was weak and lacking in force but Chron had intended to use it only as a distraction. It's impact created a wall of smoke which young Zilfers used as a cover to lunge forward to the assassin.
She parried his attack with her two stingers but the force of the swipe snapped both of the iron needles. The female assassin was no longer smiling, her opponent on the other hand smirked as he landed a kick with a dagger attached to his boots.
She managed to dodge but was slashed on her forearms. Blood gushed out. Chron once again conjured another fireball only to be stopped. The entire hall went dark and everyone inside, including the assassin were confused. Moments soon, the shadow cloak lifted and the female assassin was gone.
Kurosawa regained his sight but only to realise the battle was over. The entire confrontation ended so quickly that he almost believed it was a fragment of his imagination.
"Chron... How did you learn to fight like that?" A puzzled Xiven asked his friend.
"I... can't really tell, perhaps all these fighting recently taught me a trick of two." Chron answered, equally puzzled. "Hey Kurosawa, who was that lady?"
Kurosawa stared at the projectile hurled at him with worry. "The iron butterfly. A shooting star used by one of the black hand of Rudifus."
"The black hand?" Xiven asked
"You see, after I disbanded the runeknights, Rudifus was lacking in a left hand, a hand to do his unsightly tasks. To fill this devoid, he selected a small group of highly skilled assassins and formed his black hand. Some of them were previously part of the Order of runeknights, like that lady you just saw. "
"So you know her?" Xiven asked
"Yes. But I don't know her real name. She was known by her alias, Phobia and processed the ability to exploit and manifest the fears of her targets. That iron butterfly was her signet when the order was still alive. She probably was the cause behind your nightmares Xiven." Xiven swallowed his saliva. "And if Rudifus really had sent his black hand upon us, I fear there will not much a fight we can put up."
"But Kurosawa, I've seen your powers. They're... intimidating. And together with me and Chron, I'm sure there we can take them, look at Chron! He just kicked her butt!" Xiven replied. An embarrassed Chron smiled foolishly at Xiven.
"I admire your optimism Xiven, but it isn't that simple. I had fought one of the other black hand at one time and barely survived. I only managed to injure him, and even that came at a heavy cost." Kurosawa said, once again his eye sunk at the mention of that price he paid.
"And so thats why you'd need me and Chron. We may not look like it, but we're the hardest cockroaches to kill around. You saved us once big time, so we still owe you one, come on what do you say?"
"I..." Kurosawa stuttered for a reply.

Kurosawa did not say much after that. But he was taken aback at the offer of friendship by Xiven and Chron. He accepted their offer and enlisted them. After being geared up and well-fed, Xiven cannot help but to look beyond the far edges of this barren land, looking for his friend, Liselle.