Chapter 2 - West Wall

Nine days ago; the eve of the Festival of the Last Summer Evening.

"'It is time, Izrik,' I heard my grandfather say as he silently opened my bedroom door. I did not hear him climb the stairs to the third floor where my room is located, and yet I always hear him enter the house; the vast empty house that was once known as the Stronghold of House Kojima of the Shibafu Clan. Now, I am the only one who lives inside this huge house of twelve rooms. Only my grandfather and I are left of House Kojima, and he prefers to live in the barn across the barren fields of what was once a fertile tobacco plantation.

"I stood up from my bed and put down the book that I was reading under a dim lamplight. I took my partners, my twin swords—a daisho—that quietly rested on the left side of my bed. They are my loyal companions that I always share my bed with. I extinguished the flame from the lamps and then walked towards the door of my bedroom that my grandfather has left slightly open. I half expected this evening to be uneventful and peaceful like all the previous evenings. It was the eve of the Festival of the Last Summer Evening after all. It was always quiet and uneventful in the House Kojima during this time of the year as the rainy season begins and then soon, the winter. The other houses in the clan have started to prepare for the change in the season as the air in the land of the Shibafu Clan has started to smell like a wet towel. The houses in the Shibafu Clan supply the Five Kingdoms with the costliest things that people can live without—tobacco and wine. It represented how money was unnecessary to the life of a member of the clan if we were to live completely for our two main purposes only. And our clan's main task was to protect the members of the ruling family of the Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi and to protect the life of the Celestial Emperor.

"I pondered on my grandfather's words as I exited my bedroom. He has prepared me to succeed in my life's true mission—to find all the facts that are connected to a crime so foul that it dishonored my entire house. Our family was so dishonored that we were disbanded—my blood relatives were given over to other houses within the clan. There they are to be loyal members of those houses until the time that I was old enough to investigate what truly happened twenty-three years ago, and hopefully redeem the name and honor of our house which was once the most honorable and powerful of all the houses in the Shibafu clan.

"I climbed down the stairs slowly and silently. When I reached the ground floor, I followed the scent of brewed tea to where my grandfather was waiting. He was the best tea brewer I have ever known—not that I have known a lot of other tea makers other than him and the families of my childhood friends.

"I am not allowed to leave the capital until I was old enough to start my true life's mission. It was a mission that has been handed down to me before I was even a single winter old.

"The stairs lead to a landing that I consider to be the true center of the house even though it was not the geographical center. Going to the east of the landing will lead to the kitchen and the dining room, west leads to the living room, the south passage leads to the back of the house which opens to the dirty kitchen and the tobacco fields further south. The northern hallway leads to the front door of the house as well as the training grounds and an old fountain with twin carps at its peak and winding eels that lead some of the water down to a small pool below. I have never seen the fountain with water running on its surface except for days when it rained, but I imagine that it must have looked majestic and beautiful before the fall of our house.

"I followed the hallway to the living room where my grandfather was brewing a fresh pot of tea on the fireplace of the west wall. He had his twin jians on the oak table in the middle of two cushioned couches that face each other. He took the pot out of the fire as I entered the living room and poured tea on two ancient porcelain teacups.

"'It is time,' he whispered without looking at me as I appeared in the hallway. I stopped at the entrance to the living room and watched him finish pouring tea. It was one of his personal favorites—black jasmine tea with mint and dried coriander seeds. I walked slowly towards one of the cushioned couches and sat. The elaborate embroidery has long since worn out and faded and the wooden armrest has long lost its sheen. 'It is time, Izrik,' he repeated as he placed the teapot down on the table.

"'What do you mean?' I asked. I have long learned never to jump to conclusions. Especially when it comes to my grandfather. It was one of the earliest lessons that I learned from him.

"'The door that leads to the start of your life's mission has opened, child,' he said with a smile as he handed me a teacup filled with tea.

"'What do you mean?' I asked once more and shook my head. I maintained a puzzled look on my face to show him that I do not understand what he was talking about. Or that I would rather not jump to conclusions as he taught me, and that I would rather hear from him directly what he meant.

"'Your brothers and sisters. Your childhood friends have been invited to a meeting. A meeting that will lead to a mission. The first mission that will get them together once more after many years of being broken. Separated. I'm sure. The same sources that told me about this invitation to the palace have told me about the possibility of you getting invited to the same mission too; albeit in a different capacity,' he explained. He then paused and took a brief sip at his tea and admired his brew. I followed his example and took a sip of the tea as well. It was perfect. 'I do not know what the mission is, but I do know that your friends will need reinforcements soon, and you will be part of that reinforcement. You have all passed at the top of The Trials of each of your clans, and knowing the person who organized this mission, he would want the best, but not someone who is already popular because secrecy is very important and operating low key is critical to the success of this mission. He needs people who have just completed The Trials and have topped it to ensure that the skills necessary to complete the mission are present and in abundant amount. I'm sure,' he continued hurriedly with a slight smile. I have never heard my grandfather speak the way he spoke to me that evening. He was agitated; he sounded so excited that it bordered on sounding giddy. He sounded like a child with a new toy.

"'Your sources told you this?' I asked in a puzzled tone. My grandfather having very reliable sources of information was new to me and I was surprised when I heard him speak of these sources.

"'Our house may have fallen and disgraced, child, but the resources and contacts that our family has established over many decades were never lost. Our agents and sources of information have remained because no one else outside of our house knew that they existed,' he paused and took a deep breath. There was a slight change in his mood. It was so minor that it would not be noticeable to anyone else but me because I have spent all my years growing up with my grandfather. 'Our clan cannot disband what they do not know about, now, could they?' he asked in a tone that concealed a feeling of animosity towards our own clan. I was quick to dismiss it and considered it a mere disappointment. The kind of disappointment that has aged after so many years that it had taken a different form of its own. He would not want me to redeem the name of our house if he had grown disdainful of our clan. This I told myself and convinced myself of it. I took another sip of the tea to calm myself and never said anything about those thoughts that have bothered—albeit very briefly—my mind.

"'I am to wait for this invite then, and I should prepare myself for it will come soon?' I asked uneasily. I was still unsure what he wanted me to do at that point although he has already revealed what made him think that the time has come.

"'No, my child. What I am telling you is to get ready now! Tonight! Haven't I taught you to be prepared every moment of your life?' he asked as he stared straight into my eyes.

"'What do you mean? Offer myself up to whoever organized this mission and get the next leg of the mission started right away?' I asked. I was starting to figure out what he really wanted me to do, but I would rather ask stupid questions that assume anything. It was what he taught me to do.

"'Close, Izrik. Remarkably close, but not quite there yet,' he said while waving his index finger in the air. 'You need to start the mission yourself. I'm sure. Why wait for anyone to send you on the mission when you already know about it?' he asked and then paused. He looked like he basked at that moment that he was imparting an important piece of wisdom. 'Remember that your true mission is to redeem our family's honor. This mission with your friends is only a springboard—the drawbridge—so that you can leave the capital and start on your true mission. You only need this mission as an excuse to start gathering clues and to get yourself close to the people who might have something to give you to get you an inch closer to your true objective,' he explained in the same excited tone of voice that he forcibly tried to hush and keep in control.

"It started to sound so logical when he said it out loud. It sounded crazy to me at first, but he was right. Whatever mission I will get sent to was just the gateway that I need to enter so that I can start working on my true mission.

"And I intend to succeed in it. Failure is not possible for I was never taught how to fail at this important mission.

"'I understand, grandfather. I will prepare right away,' I replied resolutely.

"'You will get your equipment ready tonight and travel immediately to the Beno-Saar Outpost near the edge of the western wall of the city. You know where it is. Rest there, get as much sleep as you can. It will be some time before you will get enough sleep again. Take what you need from the Beno-Saar Outpost. I made sure to restock it regularly for our spies and informants in case they needed anything. Tomorrow, you will need to seek the wings of The Dove for she will help bring you to where you need to be. I'm sure,' my grandfather said slowly and in a low voice. He seemed wary that someone might be listening in to our conversation. I need not ask that no one is to know about our conversation that evening.

"'Seek the wings of The Dove. I understand, grandfather,' I replied back with a slight nod. I cannot figure out why or how, but there is only one clan that was considered as The Dove within our kingdom for they have the sacred duty as keepers of correspondences and messengers of the entire Celestial Dragon Empire. The Hatokotei Clan. And Taisen Anika of the Hatokotei Clan is second only to Midmoon Guunnar when it comes to the people that I trust the most.

"When you leave for the outpost, I need you to bring this with you and you need to keep it safe at all times. Always, my child. Always,' my grandfather said firmly as he brought out something cylindrical that was wrapped in layers of silken cloth from his back. He then carefully handed me the wrapped package and I opened it carefully.

"'The Verses of the Draconic Circle? Grandfather! Why are you giving this to me? This is too important to let it leave the Kojima Lands!' I exclaimed. I was so shocked. I completely forgot to keep my voice down in case someone was listening in to our conversation.

"'Correct. It is so important that it will be safer if you will bring it with you. If it remains here, it can easily be found and stolen. And I will no longer be able to safeguard it,' grandfather explained in the same calm and soft voice. His eyes were closed as he spoke as if the mere act of speaking about giving me the scrolls required a huge amount of will and strength.

"'I am not sure, grandfather. I do not know if I am strong enough to guard this,' I complained. I felt nervous merely holding the scrolls in my hand.

"'Your greatest advantage in guarding the scrolls is your anonymity. No one knows who you truly are except your friends. And no one knows that you have the scrolls with you,' he said the last words sternly. Part reminder, and part warning. I am to understand that no one else should know about my true identity and heritage, and no one else can know that I have The Verses of the Draconic Circle with me. 'You will need to learn beyond your studies, child. There is nothing more that I can teach you, but that doesn't mean that you cannot learn from other masters out there,' grandfather added. His face suddenly turned sad as he took a deep breath. 'I fear that I might no longer be here when you get back. Many of our informants have seen movement outside of our lands. Biding their time. We have spoken of this day before. You know this time would eventually come and I have prepared you for it. I'm sure,' he explained with a sunken heart. I decided not to talk about it. We have talked about evil people wanting to obtain the scrolls for far too many times. And that it will eventually be my duty to safeguard the scrolls until its true owner is found.

"'I-uh. Yes, I understand, grandfather. Are you sure it is wise for me to bring this with me on this mission?' I asked. I felt like I was carrying with me the lever that could set the world to self-destruct.

"Thinking about that thought once more as I write this, I suppose that in a manner of speaking, I truly was.

"'Once you have joined your friends on this mission, you will need to keep close to the twins. They will be of great help in keeping the scrolls safe,' grandfather instructed.

"'It is no longer the twins, grandfather. Mingmai died sixteen years ago. It's only Mingmei now,' I explained in a soft voice. The memories from that summer day flooded my mind that I had to force myself to keep focus; before grandfather noticed my lost focus; through strength of will.

"'That is sad. It is good that your mother was not around to find out about it,' grandfather said with a sigh. I was surprised that he never heard about Mingmai's death after all these years. He maintained the spy network of the family and yet never heard about Mingmai's death. I wondered what his informers have focused on all these years. 'The twins will always be the twins,' he whispered so lightly that I wasn't sure if I heard what he said properly.

"'What do you mean? About mother not being around to find out about Mingmai's death?' I asked. I was curious to find out about my mother's possible interest in Mingmai's death. She died shortly after I was born so I never really met her. And she likely hardly saw Mingmai and Mingmei as well since we were born mere months apart.

"'Mingmai is your mother's niece. The twins are. She was always close to the children of her siblings and treated them all as her own. Mingmai's passing would've surely devastated her and break her heart as if they were all her own children. I'm sure,' grandfather explained with a nod. He raised his teacup once more to his lips and took another sip.

"'Wait, why am I finding out about this just now? How am I related to Mingmei and Mingmai?' I asked in surprise. I placed my teacup back at the table instead of bringing it to my lips in anticipation of what my grandfather was about to say.

"'Their mother and your mother are sisters,' grandfather explained as he took another sip at his tea.

"'They're my cousins? You mean mother was originally from the Jerboa Clan?' I asked with a gasp of surprise.

"'No. They're both originally from the Scorpion Clan. Our house never marries within the clan. We are a very small clan and marrying within the clan will serve us no good. And before you ask, yes, Lynn is also your cousin. Her mother is the eldest of the sisters,' grandfather explained. He refilled his cup with tea and took another sip. He smiled at the obvious look of surprise across my face.

"'Why didn't you tell me about this before?' I asked in a tone of surprise and disappointment. I never would have dreamed that the Scorpion Grandmaster—Lynn's mother—was my aunt.

"'Your friends have been more than brothers and sisters to you. Do you think that finding out that they're your blood relatives would change anything about how you felt about them?' grandfather asked with a wink. He had a light chuckle after he took another sip of tea. 'You need to focus. You have a mission to accomplish and a most important relic to guard,' grandfather reminded me sternly as he raised his teacup towards my direction in a slight salute.

"'Yes, sir,' I replied and then took a deep breath to calm myself and maintain my resolve. I knew that each day would be an important mission starting from that conversation with my grandfather. 'By the way, grandfather. Did your informant tell you who organized the mission?' I asked as I remembered that missed detail.

"'Yes. It was the Dragon Grandmaster of the Amejisotugo Clan—the ruling clan. Kyoden Miramoto.'"