Part 3: Thorn

"The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked
together."
- Saadi

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Disclaimer: The Genso Suikoden game series is made and owned by Konami.
As I am neither a corporation nor Japanese, that would not be me. The
title of this fic is stolen from the title of a fantasy novel series by
Tad Williams, who is also not me. This fic brought to you by a random
cat. Sonya.

"My, my, if it isn't President McDohl! What brings you here all
alone?"

Tir looked up to see another man walking down the road beside
him. How could he have snuck on him? In any case, it took Tir a moment
to place the man's face. Leon Silverburg. Tir couldn't really say he
knew the man who had haunted the ruins of Kalekka: he had spent most of
his brief time with the Liberation Army closeted with his nephew Mathiu,
and had vanished shortly after the fall of Gregminster.

Tir stared suspiscously at the strategist for a moment. "What
business of it is yours?"

Leon laughed. "None, really. I find myself having the need to
travel north, and I was hoping I could prevail upon you to convince
General Hazil to let me through the northern defenses. Though I must
admit I am curious as to what the President of the Toran Republic is
doing walking through the middle of a war zone all alone."

Tir grunted. "You can convince General Hazil yourself."

"Most likely," Leon said with a nod. "Unfortunately, he is
ensconsed in that fortress," he continued, gesturing towards the
defenses on the northern horizon, "and the guards seem unwilling to
believe that I am the famed Leon Silverburg, so I find myself unable to
gain admittance to see the General. Perhaps you could aid me?"

Tir shrugged, and began to walk toward the fort. After a
moment, Leon followed, and Tir thought he could hear the strategist
muttering a few mild profanities under his breath. It took the two most
of an hour to reach the fortress gates. The guards at first did not
believe that Tir was who he claimed he was, but when he showed them the
Souleater, they came around quite quickly. Less than another quarter of
an hour later, the two were ushered into Hazil's war room, where the
general was meeting with his advisors.

The general rose to meet them. "President McDohl, it is an...
unexpected pleasure." When he caught sight of Tir's companion, his face
hardened. "Silverburg," he said levelly.

"General Hazil," Leon replied, with a nod and a slight smile.

Hazil turned back to Tir. "What can I do for you, President
McDohl?"

Tir walked over to the table in the center of the room, on which
a number of well-worn maps were strewn. "Has Kasumi been captured?"

"She has." A previously unnoticed figure detached itself from
one of the walls, and Tir quickly recognized the ninja Fuma.

Hazil hesitated before speaking. "She was taken defending Antei
from a raid led by General Granmeyer, your excellency."

"Where is she being held?"

"We believe she has been taken to Moravia Castle," answered one
of Hazil's advisors.

Tir grunted, and turned to leave. "You can't possibly be
thinking of going there alone?" Hazil exclaimed. "President McDohl, I
can't possibly let you put yourself in such danger."

Tir looked back over his shoulder. "She was captured because
she was looking for me. I will rescue her."

"President McDohl, I would like to see her freed as much as the
next man, but the risks are simply too great. The entire Jowston army
is between us and Moravia Castle!"

Leon spoke. "But what if the benifits outweighed the risks?"

Hazil stared suspisciously at the strategist. "Explain."

"You said General Frederick Granmeyer was leading the South
Window contingent here?"

Hazil nodded.

"That man is a tactician of no small repute, almost a genius,
but more importantly he's also the only South Window leader with any
taste for military adventures. If he were dead, Mayor Granmeyer would
pull South Window out of the war at the first sign of trouble."

Hazil frowned. "I think I see where you are going with this,
and I don't like it."

Leon continued as though the general had not spoken. "You
should know, General Hazil, that a small band should be able to easily
infiltrate Moravia. That band could just as easily assassinate
Granmeyer while rescuing the ninja." The strategist paused. "The
Jowston forces will be settling in for the winter. With Granmeyer dead,
they will also be demoralized. If you launched an assault, you would
take them unprepared, and push them back to Moravia Castle, and maybe
even retake some of the lesser fortifications north of here."

One of Hazil's advisors nodded. "It could work, General."

Hazil shook his head. "We don't have enough men. If I had a
few thousand more I might consider it, but we have too few troops to
waste on such a scheme." He paused. "President McDohl, I must ask that
you stay here until transport can be arranged to Gregminster. It is too
dangerous for you to be wandering alone."

"And what of me?" Leon asked.

Hazil grunted. "You can do as you wish, Silverburg."

"May I ask for permission to head north, then?"

Hazil paused, then sighed. "If that is truly your desire, then
go."

***********************************************************************

Kasumi stopped as she reached one wall of her small, unadorned
cell. She whirled about, then began to count the paces to the opposite
side. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. This ceaseless pacing was
mindnumbing, which was the point. It took her mind off of the gnawing
in her stomach that reminded her that it had been far too long since she
had eaten anything.

Her captors had given her plenty of water, but no food. That
they withheld until such time as she chose to cooperate and answer their
questions. She was lucky that they hadn't chosen a more violent means
of persuasion, but her position on the Provisional Council made them
think her far more important than she was. Therefore, they wanted to
keep her unmarked for any eventual ransom or prisoner exchange.

Likewise, she thought that they would give in and feed her if
she truly began to starve. Therefore, she was determined to do just
that. She just hadn't imagined that it would be quite this hard. She
had been taught any number of techniques for resisting pain, but they
availed her only slightly against her hunger.

Kasumi's eyes darted to the hallway outside almost before the
sound of footsteps reached her. Over the past week, she had begun to
look forward to these sessions, as the only event of any interest to
occur to her since her imprisonment. As the footsteps drew nearer, she
sat back against the wall farthest from the cell doors.

A few moments later the man who had captured her, who she now
knew to be General Frederick Granmeyer, came into her field of vision,
carrying a tray of meat and bread. He settled into a chair just outside
her cell door, then popped a slice of meat into his mouth and began to
chew loudly. Kasumi merely patiently watched and waited.

When Frederick swallowed, he smiled and looked at Kasumi for the
first time. "And how is my favorite ninja doing today, hmm?" She
didn't answer, and Frederick sighed. "Still not talkative, eh? It
would be much easier if you would cooperate, you know."

Kasumi remained silent, and the general slowly shook his head.
"You realize, ninja, that Mayor Pendragon is most displeased with you.
He insists that if you won't talk, we send you to the torture chambers,
and let the consequences be damned. I won't be able to protect you much
longer."

Kasumi shifted slightly. The mayor of Tinto would have to be
unreasonably angry to consider physical torture. The same concerns and
customs that were protecting her, after all, were what would protect him
if he were captured. Most likely, Frederick was simply trying to trick
her into talking.

Frederick shook his head. "You have a strong will, girl. But
then that's to be expected from a ninja, I suppose. Your people are
certainly giving our forces in Banner enough trouble." He reached for a
piece of bread and quickly broke it in two. He rose, eating one of the
halves of bread as he walked forward to the cell door.

"Here," he said, offering the remaining piece to Kasumi through
the bars.

Kasumi rose, then darted forward and snatched the bread almost
faster than Frederick could see. She then quickly retreated out of the
mans reach, suspisciously eyeing the bread.

"Go ahead," Frederick said with a sigh. "It can't be poisoned.
I just ate half of the slice myself."

After a moment, Kasumi began to eat, and he returned to his
seat, watching her with an overly interested eye. When she was done, he
spoke again. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me the location
of Rokakku now? Or maybe Kasim's patrol schedules?"

When Kasumi didn't answer, he chuckled. "I did not expect so.
After all, it takes more than half a slice of bread to buy a ninja's
loyalty. Isn't that right?" The last was dircted towards someone
outside of Kasumi's vision.

"I could not say. I know only my own price, not hers." Kasumi
stifled a surprised gasp. She recognized that voice.

"I suppose," Frederick said. "How much did I pay you again,
Kage?"

Though she couldn't see him, Kasumi could almost feel the other
ninja shrug. "40,000 potch, to serve as your bodyguard until the end of
the war."

"Let's see," Frederick began. "That's somewhere around 50,000
bits, I think. Or it was. Has the Toran Republic started minting coins
yet?"

Kasumi couldn't have answered that question if she'd wanted to.

Frederick shrugged, then turned to Kasumi. "I don't suppose I
could buy your loyalty with coinage, no?" Frederick paused. "Ah well.
That's enough for today, I suppose. Would you like anything to eat,
Kage?"

"No."

***********************************************************************

Lepant sighed as he watched the rest of the much-lessened
Provisional Council file out of the room. It had been another fruitless
session of arguing and worrying, with no real progress made on any
issue. The only good news was that a grain shipment had finally reached
the city, holding off for a time the impending mass starvation. But
not for long enough, and the Council had neither the soldiers nor the
brutality to put down the riots that would break out if food ran out.

It might have been a mistake to use Gregminster as the capital
of the new republic. It was an important symbolic choice, a sign that
the Toran Republic chose to be the heir to the Scarlet Moon Empire, a
move that helped to prevent the Empire's former territories from
shattering into a dozen weak, feuding nations. Yet with these benifits
came risks. The population of Gregminster was hostile to the new
regime, and it would take only the slightest spark to cause them to rise
up in rebellion. The city was perilously close to the front lines with
Jowston, and the remnants of the former Imperial army ravaged most of
the countryside.

With winter coming, Lepant hoped they were in for a few months
of quiet. Jowston couldn't possibly mount a new offensive on this front
with the Banner Pass under feet of snow, and the bandits were
hibernating in their lairs. If more soldiers were available, Lepant
would order an effort to wipe out the bandits while Jowston was quiet,
for if someone managed to regather those scattered bands into a
functioning army it would be an utter disaster, and the longer they were
allowed to exist the more that risk increased.

Yet there were no soldiers to be had. A bare skeleton force
patrolled Gregminster, and a few thousad guarded the entrance to the
Banner Pass. The rest were with Valeria on the other side of the
republic. At this thought, Lepant sighed. By the time he had any news
of the effort to stabilize that front, it would all be over. It was
frustrating, as it might very well be there that the fate of the Toran
Republic was decided.

Damn Jowston anyways. They were nothing but a bunch of jackals
who could only put aside their feuds to pounce on a weaker neighbor.
They had attacked the Scarlet Moon Empire both during and after the
Succession War, seeking to grab whatever land they could. To the north
their neighbor Highland survived only through near complete
militarisation and a devil's pact with Harmonia. And one could not
forget their long and bloody history with the Grasslands tribes.

Lepant slowly rose from his seat. These musings accomplished
nothing. Not that anything he could do would accomplish much now. It
was all in other people's hands, those of the generals and soldiers of
the Toran Republic. He could do nothing but wait, hope, and pray.

And the thought was perhaps what galled him the most.

***********************************************************************

Tir stared out over the balcony at the confusion that engulfed
the courtyard below. It was filled with a teeming mass of men and
horses, moving about in seemingly random fashion, yet he knew that in
those movements was a pattern that would by the end of the day see the
five thousand new arrivals properly settled in, both in the fortress and
the surrounding camps.

When the cloud of dust had been spotted on the horizon, all had
feared the worst: Jowston forces come to invest the fortress and starve
them all out. It would have been an audacious move, with winter already
arriving, but it had a far too great a chance of success for comfort.
The relief when the Torani banners had been spotted had been palpable.
Tir had heard that it was Valeria who led the reinforcements, but he had
not yet seen her. She was with General Hazil now, discusing whether or
not to implement Leon's plan for a counter-offensive.

The strategist himself was standing slightly behind Tir, an
irritatingly knowing half-smirk on his face. Leon had found reason
after reason to delay his departure north, and when Tir had pressed him
he had simply commented that he expected matters to become interesting
shortly, and he wished to observe. Tir now thought that Leon had
somehow known or suspected that Valeria was on her way.

Tir sighed, and turned away from the balcony's railing, only to
turn back only a few seconds later as a new commotion engulfed the
courtyard. He didn't see anything until he thought to look up, and saw
five dragons flying low overhead, and coming back around for a landing.
For all the poeple that filled it, the courtyard cleared surprisingly
quickly, and the dragons were able to descend with only a few moments
waiting.

One red dragon flew over by the balcony and began to hover mere
feet away from Tir. "I thought I recognized you, President McDohl," the
dragon's rider said as she removed the goggles she wore in flight.

Tir nodded to Milia. He tried to remember when he had last seen
the Dragon Knights' second in command. He thought it might have even
been before the fall of Gregminster - he couldn't recall seeing her at
the victory banquet or his inauguration.

"What are you doing here, anyways? I heard you were missing,"
Milia said, shouting to be heard over the beating of her dragon's wings.
Tir merely shrugged, and he saw her laugh, though the sound was lost.
"You can answer me once I'm on the ground!" With that, the red dragon
began to descend once again, and Milia had soon dismounted and left the
courtyard.

Tir sighed and turned again to leave, noticing that Leon had
already vanished. He supposed it was tiem to go meet with Kasim and
Valeria. There was a lot of work to be done.

***********************************************************************

Kasumi looked up at the sound of footsteps. Since her last...
session with General Granmeyer, her captors had begun to feed her
somewhat regularly, if rather poorly. She could already feel strength
returning to her limbs, and with this she was able to focus her mind on
escape.

One of the guards - it was almost always a different one every
day - appeared in her limited field of vision bearing a small tray. He
walked up to the cell door and gestured for Kasumi to back up. She
resisted the urge to smile as he entered the cell bearing a small loaf
of bread and bowl of watery soup from the tray.

Once the guard had placed the tray on the floor and began to
back up, Kasumi struck, grabbing the bowl and hurling it into the
guard's face with surprising force. As he began to stumble back, Kasumi
moved, leaping forward and grabbing the guard's sword from its sheath.
She whirled the blade around with impossible swiftness before stabbing
the guard in the gut, causing him to fall with a low gurgle.

Kasumi smiled, then walked through the still open cell door.
Sword in hand, she sprinted down the prison hallway past the row of
empty cells. She threw the heavy wooden door that awaited her aside,
bursting into a guard room.

Three more soldiers were there, playing cards. They rose,
swords half drawn out of their sheaths. Kasumi attacked the closest one
before he could fully rise, sword stabbing into his back. Mouth still
open in surprise, the guard collapsed onto the table as Kasumi withdrew
the blade, scattering the cards. As the other two began to circle
around to get at her, she leapt up on to the table, blocking a clumsy
attack from one of them. She then leapt again, landing near the far
door, and she was through it before the guards could react.

A few moments later she heard alarm bells beginning to sound
behind her. She knew she wouldn't be able to force her way through a
whole castle of soldiers, but she was hoping that they didn't know the
layout as well as she did. The same route she had used to break into
the castle earlier would serve to get herself out, she hoped.

With this thought in mind, she slipped through the closest
window. Having no sheath for her stolen sword and needing both hands
free, she was forced to abandon her sword, which she dropped to the
cobblestones far below. This done, she began to painstakingly make her
away across and down the castle's face, often having to pause beside a
window while guards searched the room it opened into.

Most of an hour later she gratefully dropped down onto a balcony
near the ground. She was now on the route she was more familiar with.
Near the end of it, actually. From where she was she ought to be able
to sneak her way out of the castle, or at least the main keep, rather
easily, particularly with most of the search effort focused on the upper
levels. After resting for a moment, she prepared to leap down to the
courtyard below.

Then she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She quickly ducked
under the hand, and whirled about to see the expressionless, masked face
of Kage. She struck with a series of fast punches, but the other ninja
easily blocked them. A wave of weakness ran through her, and she
cursed. She'd already over-exerted herself.

A moment later Kage struck, and she fell into unconsciousness.

***********************************************************************

"Hold on tight!"

Tir had thought that it was hard to hold a conversation over the
sound of dragon wings when the dragon was hovering. However, he had
forgotten how loud it was once the dragon really got airborne, and the
chill, roaring wind didn't help matters either. He couldn't see
anything in front of him but Milia's armored form, but to the sides he
could see the other four dragons flying in close formation.

All the dragons carried an additional passenger besides their
usual rider. Valeria and Fuma were riding on two of them. On the other
two were two soldeirs Tir didn't know, but Valeria had assured him they
were both excellent fighters during the meeting where they had hashed
out this plan. At the thought Tir felt the rune on his right hand pulse
in anticipation. There would be killing soon.

The plan was simple in its audacity. Since the prisons of
Moravia Castle were near the top, why waste time going through the
bottom layers when you had access to dragons? They were simply going to
fly north, swoop down on the castle, rescue Kasumi, and kill General
Granmeyer. At the same time, General Hazil would be preparing for the
counteroffensive, set to begin as soon as the rescue party returned.

Tir made the mistake of looking down as the dragon continued to
spiral upward. Spread out below him was the entire line of
fortifications, and the inumerable camps that surrounded them. It made
him a little guilty when he thought of how he had abandoned his
responsibilities by fleeing Gregminster. All these soldiers had chosen
to fight for him. They fought for the Republic, yes, but he was in many
was the embodiment of the Toran Republic, a nation that still existed
more on paper than in reality.

The dragons stopped climbing and began to fight their way north
against the stiff wind. Within moments Tir found himself chilled beyond
anything he could remember, even with the thick leather jacket Milia had
provided him. Almost as quickly though, the Souleater pulsed again and
the cold ceased to bother him. He knew it was there, but it did not
touch him in any way.

The dragons sped over the countryside, and Tir noticed how
desolate it looked. He hadn't noticed during his brief expedition to
the region before Jowston had captured it, but there were hardly any
signs of habitation here, save for the empty roads and occasional half-
ruined keeps. Jowston and the Empire had fought over this area so many
times, yet from up here it didn't seem worth the blood that had been
spilt over it.

Yet Tir knew why this area was so important. It sat astride one
of the only two safe routes from Jowston to the Toran area, and the
easier of the two. Banner Pass, the other, was closed by snow half the
year, while the rest of the border was closed by the impassable
Badlands, remnants of an ancient wizards' duel. Whoever held Moravia
Castle would gain back in trade taxes a thousand times the cost of the
war when peace came, and would be able to threaten the other nation's
heartland when war ressumed.

As the hours passed, Tir fell into a half-trance. The miles
sped by beneath him, but the only time he noticed was when the flight of
dragons had to make a detour to avoid being spotted by a column of
Jowston troops heading south to the front. As they traveled, the sun
slowly moved in its great arc overhead.

When they reached Moravia Castle, it was already beginning to
sink beneath the western horizon.

***********************************************************************

"Dragons!" The alarms began to sound from Moravia Castle's
watchtowers as soon as the winged beasts were spotted on the southern
horizon. Seige engines put in place for just this purpose were readied,
and as the dragons swept in, they fired. Massive stones were flung
through the air like pebbles, and mighty ballistas tracked the dragons
and fired.

However, the scaled monsters were too manueverable to be hit by
such attacks, though they were forced to slow as they swerved to avoid
the barrage. As the catapult and ballista crews raced to reload their
weapons, archers rose from concealment behind the castle battlements.

"Fire!" The shout came from a half-dozen different voices, and
as one the archer squads released a hail of arrows. The lead dragon let
loose with a burst of flame, stopping the arrows even as it continued to
race for the main keep. Other dragons dove or rose with surprising
speed, dodging the worst of the volley. The few arrows that hit bounced
harmlessly off the dragons' thick scales.

"Draw... Fire!" The second volley was fired at a steep angle,
as the dragons were already nearly overhead. Once again, their flame
and armor served them well as protection, but a cheer went up as one
screeched and swerved wildly, and arrow sticking out of its wing. The
cheer stoped as the dragon steadied itself just before crashing into a
small tower, and washed the tower's top with its flame. The men manning
the catapult atop the tower screamed as they burned, but a few moments
later were silent.

The dragon itself beat its wings and began to rise again, its
riders unthrown. It soon rejoined its brethren, circling the main keep,
almost daring the defenders to attack. They could not answer the
challenge, for fear of damaging their own castle.

The alarm bells were still pointlessly ringing as a dragon
swooped near the castle's bell tower, the highest. A moment later the
bells had been silenced in a burst of flame. Another dragon came in to
attack the walls, and the men guarding that stretch dropped their bows
and ran for cover, panicking by the oncoming nightmare. A few were too
slow, and died screaming.

The dragons continued these hit and run attacks for some time,
and nobody noticed that each dragon had left behind a passenger on one
of them.

***********************************************************************

Tir grunted as he hit the stone blacony, rolling to a halt. A
distant part of his mind told him that a number of large bruises were
already forming, but for the moment the pain was nothing but a minor
irritant. He galnced around at the other four people who had recieved a
similar landing as Milia's dragon flew away. "Is everybody all right?"
he asked distractadly as he rose, his mind already working on recalling
what he could of Moravia's layout.

Everyone nodded except for one of the two soldiers he didn't
know. "I hit my arm something bad," the soldier said, wincing as he
fingered it. "It might be broken."

"Can you keep up?" Tir asked, absentmindly scratching his right
palm. After a moment, the soldier nodded in reply, and Tir continued.
"Let's get moving, then."

The balcony doors were quickly found to be locked, but Tir
knocked the heavy wooden doors down with one blow from his staff.
Valeria whistled appreciatively. "I didn't know you were that strong,
Tir," she said.

Tir paused and frowned a moment. He wasn't that strong. Or he
hadn't been until recently. Souleater pulsed briefly, and he set aside
the thought for later consideration. "Let's get moving," he repeated,
and followed his own advice.

The room they first entered was fortunately empty, and the
infiltrators didn't encounter anyone as they raced the short distance to
the castle's prison. This luck ran out as they reached the guardroom
immediately outside the hall of cells, where eight ready soldiers waited
for them.

Fuma moved incredible speed, and one guard dropped, clutching
his throat. Tir was the only one to see the shuriken the ninja had
thrown. Before anyone else could move, he raised his right hand.
Souleater's power flowed out with unrestrained eagerness, hungrily
reaching for the enemy. There was darkness, a strange feeling of...
twisting, then screams, and then... silence.

When the darkness lifted the enemy guards were dead, fallen
where they had stood moments before. Tir knew that the corpses were
already cold, and that there was no mark on the bodies. Behind him, he
heard a nervous gulp from one of the two soldiers... he still didn't
know their names.

Tir wordlessly opened the next door, and stepped into where he
knew Kasumi would be. Two people stood near a cell on the far end of
the hall, and he recognized both of them. One of them was Kage, a fact
that caused Tir some small surprise. The other he recognized only from
descriptions as General Granmeyer.

***********************************************************************

Frederick's eyes rose and locked with the boy's. This could
only be the young McDohl he had heard so much about over the past few
years. The boy looked closer to fourteen than than the eighteen he had
to be. Could the old rumors that the Liberation Army's leader wielded a
True Rune be true?

Frederick slowly drew his sword, nodding to Kage. The ninja
leapt forward past McDohl, and one of the Torani soldiers dropped to
ground under a flurry of blows. Frederick saw a redheaded woman fly at
the ninja with sword outstretched before his attention returned to the
boy in front of him.

"You are General Granmeyer?" the boy asked, his pale eyes cold.

Frederick simply nodded. "You would be McDohl?" His answer too
was a nod. "Surprising that your handlers let you come here."

McDohl did not answer, instead shifting his staff to his left
hand before slightly raising his right. A chill settled into
Frederick's bones, and for a moment the world dimmed and spun around
him. Frederick shook his head, and it cleared. He advanced on McDohl.
"Whatever trick that was won't save you, boy."

McDohl frowned, his staff readying and leaping into place to
block Frederick's first, swift sword blow. He counterattacked, expertly
using his quarterstaff's far longer reach to force Frederick back.

"You're good for a boy," he commented as he danced back,
avoiding a low sweep. "Who trained you?"

McDohl grunted, but did not answer, instead pressing his attack.
Frederick retreated, dodging most of the strikes and blocking a few.
"Not very talkative, are you?" he asked.

Behind him he heard a door swing open, and he risked a quick
glance backward to see a man - another Rokkaku ninja, he guessed -
helping Kasumi from the cell. "Damn it all," he muttered as he saw Kage
being forced against a wall by the woman and the other Torani soldier
before refocusing on his duel.

Frederick raised his left hand, a harsh syllable springing from
his lips almost unbidden. Lightning arced from his mailed hand, leaping
at McDohl, who raised his staff as though to block the bolt. This
didn't avail the boy, and Frederick felt no small satisfaction at the
pained screech that forced its way out of McDohl's mouth.

Yet there was no time to gloat. Frederick spun about and
charged the two ninja behind him. The red-clothed ninja made as if to
protect Kasumi, but Frederick forced him out of his way without much
effort. Before Kasumi could react, he had grabbed her and his blade was
across her throat.

Frederick slowly turned around, bringing himself and Kasumi
around to face McDohl, who by this point had recovered from the shock of
Frederick's magical assault. Behind him, Frederick could see that Kage
was down, dead or unconscious. "If anyone moves, the girl dies,"
Frederick said coldly.

Almost immediately all movement stopped, and Frederick smiled.
To his side he could hear the other ninja stirring, but he did not rise.
Kasumi remained still, almost seeming paralyzed. Frederick spoke again.
"All of you. Drop your weapons." After a moment, McDohl complied, his
staff hitting the ground with a loud clatter. The other Torani followed
suit.

Frederick began to ponder his next move, but the choice was
taken from him as Kasumi moved with surprising swiftness, somehow
slipping out of his grasp faster than he could see. A curse escaped his
lips as he struck out with his sword at the fleeing ninja. Kasumi tried
to duck under the strike, but was too slow.

Even as she fell, the Torani leapt into action. The other ninja
sprung up, heading straight for Frederick. A wild sword blow forced the
ninja back, but Frederick knew that he could not prevail against so many
skilled foes for long. His quick mind began to race through his
options, but it was unable to find an acceptable solution.

The Torani woman was the next to reach him, and Frederick soon
found himself hard pressed. Whoever she was, she was an excellent
swordswoman, one of the best he'd fought in a long time. Frederick
retreated, trying to buy himself some breathing room, but the woman
pressed her attack.

A moment later, Frederick's tired sword arm was unable to
manuever his blade in time to force aside one of the woman's strikes,
and her sword scored a narrow line of fire down his side. At that
moment, he knew he was about to die.

"Valeria." The voice was McDohl's. "He's mine." He rose from
where he had been kneeling by the fallen Kasumi's side.

The woman facing Frederick slowly backed away, though she kept
her sword ready. Frederick caught his breath, watching carefully as
McDohl approached. His eyes darted to where McDohl's staff lay,
abandoned, on the floor. "You don't think you can defeat me without a
weapon, boy?"

McDohl's face was cold, and he raised his right hand. "Die."
It was a simple command, with no emotion.

Frederick blinked, and a moment later his world ended in
darkness.

***********************************************************************

It was almost a month after the raid on Moravia Castle. Winter
had fallen on the northern lands with full force. The army of the Toran
Republic had struck north with a force almost as strong. Leon
Silverburg's words had proven true, and the Jowston forces had been
driven back with surprising ease. Moravia Castle had been retaken in
the past week, and with that fall the fighting had for the most part
ended.

South Window's forces were already withdrawing, and reports from
Gregminster said an emissary had arrived to sue for peace. Tinto showed
no signs of following suit, but they could not muster the forces to
threaten the Republic alone, just as Toran could not risk an invasion of
Tinto. In fact, the war was already over, but it would be some time
before the diplomats and politicians caught up with the soldiers.

In a small courtyard nestled between the northern checkpoint's
main keep and the infirmary, Kasumi was slowly running through her
excercises, occasionally wincing slightly as she pulled at the
not-quite-healed wound on her back. She was fortunate: had the blow
landed slightly differently, she might have died or been paralyzed for
life. Even so, it was only recently that she had been able to leave her
bed, and it would be a while still before she was fully healed.
However, she would heal, and for that she was grateful. Even in her few
years, she had seen enough of death to know not to take her own life for
granted.

Once the wound was fully healed, she was to return to
Gregminster. She would rather have gone to Rokkaku, now free of the
Jowston threat, to help with the rebuilding, which was in full swing,
but her duty was in the capital. Fuma had told her on his last visit
that in a few months she would not be able to tell that Rokkaku had ever
been destroyed.

Somehow she doubted it. The images of General McDohl's sudden
assault were etched firmly into her memory, however much she wished they
might fade. She could still recall the heat of the flames, the panic
that had fallen on the village as the cavalry had rode through it,
striking down anyone in their path. She could remember her brother's
scream as he had been impaled on a lance... and she could remember the
feel of that soldier's blood on her hands, the first man she had killed,
but not by far the last.

She had never told Tir about that, she realized. She had never
mentioned the guilty joy she had felt when she had seen his father fall.
A part of her suspected she never would. There was little point, after
all. Sometimes the past was best left buried. Buried with the dead.

Kasumi heard footsteps behind her, and she turned around to see
Tir approaching, staff in hand. She was not surprised. His visits were
not uncommon, though they were not nearly as frequent as she might have
liked. She nodded to him in greeting.

Tir returned the gesture, and stood silently for a moment.
Moments before Kasumi would have decided to speak, he said, "I will
leave tomorrow."

After another moment, Kasumi nodded. She had suspected that he
had been planning to leave for the past week, but was only waiting to be
sure that she would recover fully. "What will you tell Vice President
Lepant? And General Hazil?"

Tir grimaced. "As little as possible. The Republic is strong
now. With the recent victories, it can weather my disappearance."

"I suppose." Kasumi was silent a moment. "Do... do you want me
to come with you?"

For a single, heart-rending instant, Tir seemed to hesitate, but
then he shook his head. "It wouldn't be safe."

"I can defend myself." Kasumi's eyes flared, but the fire
vanished at Tir's next words.

"From me?" Tir clenched his right fist. "Souleater wants you.
I can feel it right now, pulling at you." He looked at Kasumi, eyes
cold. "If you came with me, you would die."

As Kasumi searched for a response, Tir turned and began to walk
away. Just before he left the courtyard, he half-turned and said one
last word. "Goodbye." With that, he was gone.

It would be over three years before the two met again.

***********************************************************************

Author's Random Ramblings

1) And that's it. Given that this was supposed to be a short ~40k story
to be written in a week or two between chapters of Shades of Gray, it
took far longer than I expected. But that's okay.

2) I present the psuedo-official soundrack to MST:

Series OP: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Tamashii no Refrain
Tir Character Theme: Styx - Show Me The Way
Kasumi Character Theme: Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
Part 1 ED: Boa - Duvet (Acoustic)
Part 2 ED: Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper (Live)
Part 3 ED: Tori Amos - Enjoy the Silence

Wasn't that fascinating?

3) Thanks to Ryan Hupp for his excellent (but slow) prereading.

4) All C&C is of course welcome.

5) Previous parts of this story are available on my website and at