Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,41

after he swung it in his hand a few times, he could tell it was expertly made. The weight distribution and point of balance were sublime in the hand.

“See?” Soko said. “We need to speak to our blade master.”

Crow barked out a laugh. “He would never. Even if he could.”

Soko and Crow tried to spar with the foreign swords but were only good for entertainment, though thankfully they were as bad as each other.

“Here,” Soko said, offering his katana to Tancho. “Show him how it’s done.”

Crow was about to say no, even rebuke Soko for suggesting it, but Tancho got to his feet. Lithe as a fish through water, and smiling, he took the katana and bowed his head to Soko, then took his place opposite Crow.

A thrill ran through Crow. Was it anticipation? Was it excitement, or was it something else? His blood felt alive and his skin flushed warm at the thought of fighting Tancho. He wanted this like he’d never wanted anything.

He swung the katana, smiling at Tancho, and they began to circle.

“You know this is for fun?” Soko asked, now alarmed.

“Oh, yes,” Crow replied, not taking his eyes off Tancho.

“Fun,” Tancho whispered, and he lowered his stance as they moved about each other. He raised his sword, preparing to strike.

“Uh, Tancho,” Karasu murmured. “Remember who you are.”

From the corner of his eye, Crow saw the two guardsmen, Hikari and Unagi, get to their feet. But he didn’t dare look at them. He simply couldn’t draw his eyes away. He knew the others in the room were uncomfortable with this, but he was connected to Tancho by some charge between them, and he didn’t want to look away. His bones buzzed with it, his blood was getting warmer, and it felt so good he hummed with pleasure.

Tancho smiled at him, much like a cat would at a mouse. “You feel it.”

“I want it,” Crow growled.

“As do I,” Tancho replied, and he swung his blade at Crow’s neck.

He was fast but Crow blocked the strike, and soon as the blades hit, the charge between them exploded. Blue sparks and a bolt ignited up the swords, as if arcane lightning struck them from the sky. The jolt blew them apart, both men landing on their arses, and Crow dropped the sword as a stray bolt of blue power zigzagged up the blade’s edge.

“Crow!” Soko ran to him, just as Karasu and Kohaku ran to Tancho.

Crow sat up, his heart beating like thunder in his chest. The inside of his wrist burned, and he checked his birthmark, half expecting to see it blistered.

“Are you hurt?” Karasu asked Tancho.

Tancho sat up too, looking for Crow as Crow looked for him. “I’m okay,” he whispered, holding his wrist.

“Crow?” Soko asked, worried.

“I’m fine. The birthmark burns, that’s all.”

Soko found a cloth and poured water over it, then wrapped it around Crow’s wrist, and the burning subsided. Crow was watching Soko as he tended to him, and he hadn’t paid Tancho any mind for just a moment.

“I said I’m fine,” Tancho hissed at Karasu, trying to apply a wet bandage to his wrist. Then Tancho shot a rabid glare at Soko and growled, his voice low and full of warning, “Would you stop touching him!”

Everyone stared in stunned silence, and Soko slowly raised his hands and backed away from Crow. “Apologies, I forgot,” Soko mumbled.

The truth was, Crow had forgotten too. That whole weird ‘no one else can touch him’ thing seemed so long ago. “It’s okay,” Crow said to Soko, then he turned to Tancho. “He means no harm.”

“I know, I know,” he said, his eyes squinted closed. “Apologies.”

Everyone took a few moments to breathe and calm down. Hikari and Unagi were wide-eyed and horrified, and Karasu gave them an apologetic nod. “Can you please check on the horses?”

They nodded and made a hasty exit, and after a few moments silence, Kohaku stood up, the colour bleached from his face. “What in the abyss was that?” he hissed.

“I don’t know,” Crow replied in a whisper. “I felt . . .”

“As if I was made of fire,” Tancho replied. He met Crow’s eyes. “As if we both were.”

Crow nodded. “Arcane fire.”

Then a quiet voice from the far corner of the room spoke, feeble and centuries old. “It is in your blood.”

Everyone turned to find Maghdlm half sitting up, her head bandaged and one eye still swollen shut. “You cannot fight it.”

“Fight what?” Crow asked.

“The lacuna,” she replied, her voice weak. “You cannot bring harm