World's Edge by Ryan Kirk Read Free Book Online

left his senses open, but nothing disturbed their slumber. Ryuu awoke in the morning refreshed, ready for the day. Moriko awoke as well, and Ryuu was excited to see she seemed to be in better condition than the day before. Together, they changed her bandages, Moriko grimacing as they came off caked in blood. She didn’t complain, though. Ryuu examined each of her cuts and was grateful to see they all looked clean. He had been most worried about infection.
    They spoke about what had happened. Moriko spoke softly, as if the mention of their attackers might bring them back. "Who were they?"
    Ryuu shook his head. "I don't know. They were strong." He paused. "I don't think they were from the Three Kingdoms. They didn't look like anyone I've ever met."
    Moriko's dark eyes were curious. "How can that be? Why would anyone outside of the Three Kingdoms want to kill us?"
    Ryuu wished he knew the answer to that question. "There are many things I would like to know. Here, look at this."
    Ryuu held the sword he had taken in front of Moriko and slowly turned it. He didn't want her trying to sit up and grab it for fear that her wounds might reopen.
    The sword was light, but very strong. The craftsmanship and the techniques used to forge it had to be different than any technique practiced in the Three Kingdoms. Most of the blade had been painted black, another reason Ryuu had a hard time seeing it in battle. It was a straight blade, a hand's width shorter than Ryuu's own sword, not curved at all.
    "Have you ever seen anything like this?" Moriko had been raised at the monasteries, so in some ways her education was better than Ryuu's.
    She tried to shake her head but grimaced in pain. "No. I've never seen a blade quite like it.”
    Ryuu turned the blade over in his hands. “It's an interesting design. Its reach is inferior, but it’s so fast that it's almost impossible to get past if it's being used for defense."
    Moriko closed her eyes. "I know. If you hadn't come along, there’s no way I could have lasted much longer. I couldn’t break their defense.”
    Ryuu brushed some hair away from her face and kissed her gently on the lips. "You fought well. I was barely able to defeat them myself. I snapped again, and if I hadn't, I would have also lost."
    Moriko's mouth turned up just slightly. "You're going to have to teach me how to do that."
    Ryuu wished he could. For the first time since he had first met Orochi, he worried that he wasn’t strong enough to face what was coming.
     
    When the sun rose the next day, Ryuu still hadn't left Moriko's side. He hadn’t gone more than a few paces from the hut the entire day. When she awoke, her voice was stronger, but she still wasn't able to sit up. When Ryuu changed her bandages, he saw most of her wounds had closed up, but just barely. She'd be on bed rest for a couple more days yet, at least. But all her cuts were clean and there was no reason she wouldn’t make a full recovery. He was thankful. Moriko surviving the battle had been closer than he cared to admit. He had noticed when cleaning her wounds that some of the cuts had come very close to major blood vessels. It frightened him to know how close to death she’d come.
    All morning Ryuu sat by her side, attending to her every need, which were few and far between. Moriko spent most of her time meditating, healing, and resting. In many ways she was handling her injuries better than Ryuu was. By early afternoon it was obvious she was tired of the attention. "I'll be fine. Go do something else. Get out of the hut."
    "It's not just your health I'm worried about. I'm worried that if I leave they'll strike here, and there isn't anything you or I will be able to do about it.”
    Moriko groaned, and Ryuu was certain that if she’d been physically capable of throwing something at him she would have.
    "Get out of here. Go check their bodies, see if you can find anything more useful on them. Then leave them for the wolves."
    It took some coaxing on