Shadowkin
Part III: A Bloody Reunion… A Teary Farewell

“Are we there yet?” Sain was, of course, displaying his usual lack of patience. Tarsa, however, was still sullen; his wife had not woken up yet.
“We will be there in one hour.” Said Tarsa, his wife over one shoulder.
“That’s what you said an hour ago!” Moaned Sain, slumping his shoulders and gazing into the woods through which they were traveling. “When do we get to do something interesting?” Sain looked up at Tarsa beseechingly, hungering for something to do with his many talents. Tarsa, suddenly struck with inspiration, rummaged in his pocket a bit and pulled out an ornate red box.
“There is a prize for opening this. When you finally get it open, anything inside is yours.” Said Tarsa, throwing the box to Sain.
“Cool!” exclaimed Sain, immediately turning his attention to the box. He struggled with it, pulling on both sides, then pushing on both sides, then, finally, twisting various parts of the box.
“You won’t get it open that easily.” Said Tarsa, now grinning at his son. His sullen mood had lifted upon seeing Sain struggle with the box. Tarsa looked around, rolling his eyes at the sound of Sain biting the box and snarling.
Tarsa suddenly froze. Sain continued gnawing at the box, but stopping alongside his father. He looked up and saw that his father was glaring up into the trees. He immediately ceased his tooth-gnashing assault on the box and looked at the treetops as well. Tarsa turned to his son. “Sain, I would like you to meet my good friend, Libetsu Verge.”
“Awwwwwww! You never let me have any fun!” Came a call from the trees. A man dropped down from his perch on the bough of a tree. He was slender, with a cheery air about him. He carried a katana, long and slender, a lot like him. He wore a grin on his face, a cheery remnant of times long since past. Then, upon seeing Sain, “Who’s the stiff? A hired hand from Qualinesti village?”
“Libetsu, this is my son, Sain… we have been together for quite some time, now… nine years, I believe?” He asked dryly. The last bit was directed at Sain. He laughed at his father’s statement, then extended his hand.
“Nice to meet you. How do you know my father?” asked Sain, a little disgruntled. Then, anxiously, and a little bit excitedly, “Did you really think that I was a mercenary?” Libetsu scoffed.
“No!” he laughed, grasping Sain’s hand with his own. “How could someone of your… constitution… be a hired man, handpicked by Tarsa Rieson? No, my friend, you seemed to me like a refugee that Tarsa was helping escape from some disaster or another…” he looked to Tarsa and raised his eyebrows. “You sure this is your son? He’s not… has he ever even killed a man before?” he asked incredulously.
Tarsa gave him a hard look. “We live in different times, now Libetsu. Not every man alive has experienced war. And I aim to keep is that way. Now…who’s your friend? He is doing a very good job hiding… a man that size…” Tarsa stared at the ground to his right.
As he did so, what Sain had mistook for a large mound of earth rumbled and stood upright. The man underneath (for indeed there was a man underneath… a very large man.) turned to Tarsa and grinned.
“Genjin! Is that you? I thought you died in the battle of Lethinyon gorge years ago!” Tarsa exclaimed and hurried into the arms of the big man. The man called Genjin grasped Tarsa with his meaty arms. “I thought I was dead too!” he whispered into Tarsa’s ear “We’ll talk later!” Then, returning to his usual booming voice, “So! This is Tarsa’s son, eh?” He moved around Tarsa for a better look. He stared intently at Sain for a while, then shot to Tarsa “Bit pecky, isn’t he?
Tarsa laughed while Sain looked indignant. Tarsa noticed his disconcertment and turned to him. “Son, to him… all the people he meets are scrawny, pecky welts! Look at him, for goodness sake!” Sain looked at Genjin’s towering frame. The man was ten feet tall and he was slightly fat. He looked like the kind of man who would choose to wield a club. He certainly could.
“Are you a half-giant?” asked Sain curiously. “Because ever since my dad told me about their role in the War of Juudijami, I have always wanted to meet one!” Sain shifted closer to Genjin’s hulking frame and inspected him with an intensity that only a curios child could pull off.
Genjin roared with laughter. “That’s some kid you got there, Tarsa!” he yelled with a twinkle in his eyes. “You didn’t even realize that I was a half-giant until you saw my birth record!” Genjin, still chuckling walked over to Libetsu and grasped his shoulder. “I’ve been traveling with little mixer over here since I met up with him in a village off The Great City of Salzmanon!”
“Little mixer?” asked Tarsa, bemused.
“Yeah! This little guy mixes it up with anything that moves! He fought a squirrel about a half mile down the road!” He leaned over and said in a loud whisper “It got away!” Tarsa began a raucous spiel of laughter.
“Well hamshanks here forgot to mention that we met when I was judging a pie eating contest! He nearly ate my arm!” said Libetsu loudly, causing more laughter from Tarsa and Sain.
“Well…” began Genjin, but Tarsa cut him off.
“We can exchange stories later. Right now we have an injured Mesodemon on our tail and my wife is unconscious over my shoulder. Let’s keep moving.” Said Tarsa briskly, beginning his stride from before with a jaunty air to it, having found two old friends already, one of which was presumed dead.
“An… injured… Meso…” began Libetsu, but Tarsa stopped him with another “Later” and pressed on. The foursome walked until dusk, trooping along without a sound.
“So…” Pressed Libetsu, hoping for an answer. “This Mesodemon… it must have been hurt pretty badly for it to not have simply teleported after you…” he trailed off, expecting an answer which he soon got.
“His doing.” Said Tarsa, motioning to Sain. Libetsu looked at Sain for a second, then back to Tarsa, expecting him to elaborate, which did not happen. Tarsa simply said “His truename is Jibbstikle. I read it off of the aura around him when he was hit. He let his guard down enough for me to slip through. I…” He trailed off.
“But there’s no way that he could possibly sent Troques after us, Genjin…” He said rubbing his right shoulder. “After all, they would have to have been lead by Weyr Rift tracker demons. Right Libetsu?” He said, rolling his left in small circles. Sain barely had time to register that Genjin and Libetsu had slipped to one side or the other before Tarsa shouted “Now!” And Genjin lumbered off to the right while Libetsu darted to the left. Tarsa himself leaped into the trees and Sain could hear demons shrieking. Sain hurried after his father.
There were demons surrounding them, different sorts on different sides. Tarsa had sent Genjin after the hulking brutes, seeing as he was physically the biggest and the strongest. He wielded an overlarge sword, something a normal man could not pick up… but then, Genjin was not a normal man. He swung the sword like a stick, cleaving his enemy’s ranks with each sweep.
Libetsu went for the smaller, more speedy ones, his blade zinging out of its sheath. He quickly jumped against a tree and launched himself headfirst at his quarry. He swung his sword down and up, stopping his forward movement and converting it to a deadly swipe at a foe that seemed to leave rents in the air. Libetsu weaved in and out of the fray, dodging and striking in equal measure. It was as if he was dancing a very bloody, doom-stricken dance.
Tarsa and Sain, having jumped to the treetops, were taking on the demon mages. Tarsa and Sain were not strictly mages, but the others had no magical ability at all. They fought in tandem, one jumping at a foe and shooting green jets of light at it, and the other leaping to his right to cover a demon that was moving in on the side. The next moment one would be launching a ferocious dragon kick to the chest while on the opposite side the other would be coming in the opposite direction with a sweeping trip, sending the demon crashing to the tree limb it was standing on and shattering part of its nose, rocketing it into the seraph cord at the base of the skull. They were truly a sight to behold.
Meanwhile, Libetsu was having difficulty slaying a particularly ferocious snapper demon. Every time he slashed at it, it would block his blade with its metal armguard, then attempt to strike with a kunai knife in the other hand. Libetsu slashed several times until the demon got under his arm and drew its knife back. Libetsu let out a wail of terror when the aforementioned demon’s broken body fell directly onto the snapper. Libetsu, seizing his chance, plunged his blade deeply into the demon’s flesh, and kicked it for good measure.
Genjin was fighting a large demon with a club when this unfurled and, upon seeing his friend nearly killed, made a monstrous slice with his sword, cleaving the 3-foot-thick club in two. He then pounced, letting his rage seep into his blow, and, forgetting about his sword for a moment, punched the demon full in the stomach. The demon, not expecting that, keeled over and Genjin unleashed a mighty knee to the face, lifting himself and the demon off the ground. Genjin landed back on his feet. The demon did not. Genjin, pleased with himself, clambered over to Libetsu and clapped him on the back, congratulating him on his victory.
Tarsa and Sain dropped the last demon out of the treetops and, sensing victory, jumped down to their friends below. “That was fun!” Bellowed Genjin. “I haven’t kicked demon hide since the Battle of Fellsidka! We really need to do this more often!”
“Ummmm… no.” drawled Libetsu, his face white. That was plenty of excitement, thanks!” Tarsa seemed lost in thought.
“What I want to know…” began Tarsa “Is what a fist of demons was doing without a leader… it’s all very strange…”
He looked away, his eyes glazed over until Sain, back from retrieving his box that had been hastily discarded when the demons showed up, asked “dad… where did you put mom?” Tarsa’s eyes became wide as dinner plates. “Because…”
“Oh god!” Exclaimed Tarsa. “That’s where the leader went! They captured Rachael!” He was overcome by a sudden urge to destroy things as Genjin and Libetsu’s faces dropped. Sain, struck dumb, walked over to his father and sat next to him, his eyes scanning the trees in disbelief. Tarsa raised his head to the sky.
“I will get you, Jibbstikle! You will pay!!!”