The Demon and the Nightingale

Chapter 2

        Fine spring weather had arrived in the kingdom of Yashima, complete with gentle sunshine and refreshing winds. But the serene and peaceful stillness of one of the land's vast and dense pine forests was broken by the ugly sound of a hulking, unkempt, brutish-looking ruffian vigorously slapping someone smaller and much frailer than him. Pak! Pak! Pak! The burly kidnapper's large, bony, calloused hand dealt several hard whacks on the head his victim, a frantically struggling young woman whose hands were tied behind her back, and a rough, cloth bag covering her head which served both as a blindfold since she couldn’t identify her kidnappers or know where they were taking her, as well as a means of muffling her screams and cries. “Shaddap, ye damn b***h!” The woman retaliated by kicking him on the shin. Despite being unable to see, her foot somehow hit its intended target, making the kidnapper yelp in pain. In a fit of rage, he gave her two bruising punches to the stomach. Doubling in pain, the poor woman went limp and slumped backwards against the other kidnapper who was holding her tied hands behind her, but still had a very difficult time controlling her.

            “Hey! Easy on 'er, willya? Baron Shingo's not gonna like it when ‘e sees ‘er all roughed up!” his partner, a shorter, skinnier fellow with a weasel-like face, snarled at him.

            The other man spat in contempt. “Damn b***h won' stay still! Imma gonna ask th' baron ta pays twice what 'e says 'e'll pay us!”

            “Ya dummy! Think ‘e’ll do dat when da baron’s tol’ us not ta lay a finger on ‘er?!”

            “Well, she ain’t so feisty now, is she?” the big man sneered, as he looked at their much-more-subdued victim who was now slumped to a sitting position on the ground. A lewd, leering expression came to his ugly, granite-like face. Looking down at her, the taller man thought, Th' baron says ta leave dis b***h alone … too bad 'bout dat. B***h looks like she's worth a few good f***s … never 'ad dat kinda p***y before ...

Aryah, as the former Northern Valedonian princess Ariadne now calls herself, was still reeling from the blows he dealt her. She barely heard her kidnappers arguing at each other because the cloth bag muffled their voices somewhat and her ears were still ringing from being smacked around by that brute. Even though her stomach hurt quite badly and will most likely be covered with bruises, she bit her lips to keep from crying out. If anything, she won’t give them the satisfaction of hearing her cries of pain! But did I hear them mention a Baron Shingo? Why would he want me kidnapped? And where did I hear that name before? Unfortunately, Aryah was finding it hard to gather her thoughts because she was still in a daze.

            As the kidnappers continued to argue, they were suddenly interrupted by the loud cracking of a twig - and the cracking sound happened to be that of a twig that someone else stepped on. The 2 froze - Baron Shingo gave them very strict orders to do the job quickly and quietly, with him promising to make it very much worth their while. But at that very moment, it seems like someone else is in on their secret little scheme.

            “Ya ‘ear dat?” the smaller man spoke. “We’re ‘n deep s**t if someone else ‘eard us!”

            “Bah! Yer a lily-livered chicken, Tarō, if yer gonna git all worked over dat!”

            “If I’m a chicken, yer brain’s full a’ s**t, Jiro! Whoever dat jerk is, ‘e’ll report ta da constables. Baron Shingo’ll 'ear 'bout it an' ‘ave us skinned alive!”

            “Calm down an’ quit fussin’ like an ol’ woman! I’ll jes' go find dat jerk an’ make mincemeat outta ‘im!” Jiro slapped a hand on the scabbard of a deadly-looking sword strapped to his side.

Tarō went silent. His partner’s reputation as a pretty good swordsman has been well-earned. Whoever was out there will be biting off more than he can chew - he hoped. “Jus’ make it clean n’ quiet! I can’t wait ta hand dis wench over ta da baron so’s we git paid!” he replied grumpily.

“Humph! We’ll be drinkin’ an’ whorin’ tonight afore ya knows it, Tarō, lemme tel’ ya!” The other man gave an ugly gap-toothed grin and sauntered off a few meters to where the sound of the cracking twig came from, confident that he’ll be able separate the intruder’s head from his shoulders in an instant. He found himself standing before a shadowy grove lined with plenty of trees                          and clumps of bamboo. Faint shafts of weak sunlight penetrating through the thick covering of leaves and gnarled branches were the only source of illumination in that place. A movement in one of the lower-hanging branches to his right caught his eye. A soft whooshing sound came from above, but it went buy so fast and just past the edge of his consciousness that Jiro wasn’t even able to fully draw his sword out of his scabbard. The weapon that whizzed by was an odd-looking, crescent-shaped blade honed to a fine razor sharpness. The deadly projectile unerringly met its mark and was found deeply embedded onto a tree trunk. Wordlessly, Jiro dropped to the ground, a somewhat dumbfounded expression in his face, his eyes open but unseeing - with his head separated from his shoulders …

Several minutes passed with Tarō getting more and more anxious. What’s keepin’ dat s******d? With trembling hands, he drew out his own rather rusty-looking sword. He knew he wasn’t much of a swordsman, but he was certainly desperate enough to protect the woman, not out of a sense of morals, but more out of a need to keep his pockets and his belly filled.

“Show yerself, ya f****r!” But as soon as he said those words, his neck was suddenly caught by a thin, black invisible wire, and he was jerked upwards into the dark canopy of tree branches above him. In the ensuing but very brief struggle he couldn't make out anything, and the deadly noose tightened, cutting into his flesh and strangling him till his eyes rolled almost to the back of his head while spit and blood flowed down from the corners of his mouth …

Thud! Aryah heard what appeared to be the dull sound of a solid object landing a few feet from her. It left her cold and even more frightened, because she was slowly realizing that while someone may have killed her captors, she would be at the mercy of whoever this other person is. Or, even worse - persons …

She struggled to get up, trying to fight through the intense pain she was still feeling in her midsection and her still-dazed state. All of a sudden, the ropes that tightly bound her hands fell off as if they were cut, even though she didn’t feel any knife. The next thing she felt was the heavy cloth bag being removed from her head. Blinking for a few moments, she was able to make out something solid and black in front of her. As her eyes gradually focused, she saw that it was part of some sort of upper garment worn by a tall man in black clothing and sandals. The fit of his garment was loose on the torso, upper arms and thighs, but his lower arms and legs were covered with what seemed to tight-fitting leather arm and shin guards that served as some sort of protection. The lower part of his face was covered by the same black piece of cloth as his outfit, and he wore a round-brimmed straw hat with a pointed tip. The brim of his hat cast a shadow over the upper part of his face, and she was unable make out his eyes. As she continued to gaze dumbly at her erstwhile rescuer, he lifted a hand to touch the brim of his headgear in a kind of salute.

“You’re safe now, miss,” he spoke in a soft voice. But before he could say more, there was the sound a whimper of pain behind him. “Excuse me,” he said politely in that same soft tone of voice. The strange, black-clad man silently went over to look at the still quivering body of Tarō. Drawing a short sword strapped to his back, he plunged it into the man’s neck. There was the squishing of blood vessels being punctured and the crunching sound of the bones of the spine being pierced. With a sharp upwards tug, blood squirted like a crimson fountain from Tarō’s neck as he went into a series of death spasms. The man looked up to face Aryah again and slowly walked towards her. Witnessing what may have been her very first killing up close, Aryah turned pale as a sheet, the sickening, metallic smell of blood filling her nostrils and make her stomach churn … and fainted. Fortunately, Kai was able to catch her before she hit the ground. He gave a small, sad smile at the unconscious, precious burden he carried.

I guess this is as close as I’ll ever get to hold you in my arms, my beloved …